( that's. unexpected. clark has a lot of shit to get back to, doesn't he? metropolis, lois, batman, the justice league--eventually, if not yet. probably. diana, maybe. whatever timeline this clark is from, clark generally has a shitton of things waiting for him somewhere. )
( in the quiet between storms, he's bored. bored enough to answer stupid questions like this, even. but he's careful to leave out details that may lead to shit he doesn't want to bring up. )
Red Robin's the third Robin to follow Batman, Kid Flash is the second to follow Flash. Wonder Girl's the second; the first was related to Wonder Woman. Raven's. . complicated, and Solstice was the result of Harvest fucking around with metahumans.
Mid thirties, you're an established reporter, dating Lois Lane--sometimes Wonder Woman.
( fucking weird but. )
You generally start the superheroing thing in your twenties. Start dicking around with your Kryptonian. . abilities years before though. Saving kittens from trees and the like.
( see, usually he used it to make people really fucking mad. like showing kon how he fucking murdered everyone. )
I take images and memories from my head and transfer them to yours. I don't need to be close to you to do it, but I can't shove every bit of information at once. I've got seventeen years of bullshit and a brain that processes data faster than yours does.
( it comes as a series of images—a photographic memory would be the best way to describe it; but like looking through a well-preserved recording. jon has never met zod, but he’s been given enough data on him through his years. the images themselves are memories of recorded footage; pristine and clear but not something he has strong feelings on, and that comes through, too: a mild irritation, the sense that zod could have done so much better but it was just a fucking waste in the end.
there’s zod on krypton, just before he was sent away to the phantom zone, hands cuffed and ticked off. there’s flashes of a conversation he’d had with clark himself, kryptonian ringing through clearly. understanding of what they’re saying despite the foreign language. flashes of zod and another kryptonian trying to construct a very large phantom zone portal, zod proclaiming his plans to pull doomsday out of the phantom zone, and both kryptonians walking into the phantom zone to retrieve—who the hell knows what, jon doesn’t. something about warworld, but before they can return, clark and diana, wonder woman, destroy the portal itself and trap them both inside. there’s no clear picture of that—but flashes of diana regardless, of a clark kent that’s about the same age as the one he’s sharing those memories with. )
[ It's a recording preserved with a Kryptonian's eye for detail. Clark takes in everything, including Jon's feelings regarding Zod.
(Clark had been angry with him. Angry like he'd never been with anyone else, but it had faded into shame and guilt at what he'd had to do. He's not good at staying angry.)
This is the first he's even gotten to see of Krypton, and it's bittersweet that he and Jon have no physical connection to it. He can hear and understand his own language, even make out some of the words, trying to commit them to memory.
He sees the other Clark, proud in his uniform. It's such a strange mirror.
( the accent is off, the same as a native english speaker trying to manage to speak any other language for the first time, but. when jon speaks again, it's not in english, but kryptonian. )
»I learn languages telepathically. As long as I've touched someone who knows it, I can speak it.«
No, I don't. Shortly after I found out where I was from, Zod attacked. He died in the conflict, and his followers are in the Phantom Zone, on their ships.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
[ audio ]
Why?
[ audio ]
But he'd be lying if he said Jon didn't have a little to do with it as well. ]
I've got to beat someone to the exclusive. [ A bad joke.
He sobers up. ]
What's going to happen with us?
[ audio ]
You stay on your side, I'll stay on mine?
( like come on. what else was clark expecting. )
[ audio ]
That sounds fair.
[ But he wonders sometimes if it can't be something else.
If he has the right. ]
Do you like cookies?
[ audio ]
( is he being sarcastic? it's. really not quite clear. )
[ audio ]
[ His jokes are the worst. ]
[ audio ]
Neither does Superman.
[ audio ]
What happened to him?
[ Will it break the timeline to ask? Actually, Clark doesn't know. He wants to change this if he can. ]
[ audio ]
( there's a beat, a moment's pause, before: )
My original timeline? Lost an infant and disappeared into the ether.
[ audio ]
It's a little relieving he doesn't just abandon his young son, but it also doesn't change the fact that someone else did. ]
How many of these timelines have you seen?
[ audio ]
( that he has seen directly, but it's a bit. complicated. )
Maybe four. That I've been to. I've taken a look at. . hundreds. Maybe more.
[ audio ]
[ Jon hasn't told him much of his past, and he's curious. He'll ask; the worst thing Jon can say is no or fuck off. ]
( sorry about the late, I missed this notification )
[ audio ]
Time traveling with a group of baby heroes.
[ audio ]
[ audio ]
Red Robin, Kid Flash, Solstice, Wonder Girl, Raven. .
[ audio ]
[ Yet.
He wants to hope. ]
How long were you with them?
[ audio ]
Red Robin's the third Robin to follow Batman, Kid Flash is the second to follow Flash. Wonder Girl's the second; the first was related to Wonder Woman. Raven's. . complicated, and Solstice was the result of Harvest fucking around with metahumans.
[ audio ]
How many of us are there? With the S.
[ audio ]
[ audio ]
[ He's quiet again. ]
How much older am I, usually?
[ Maybe he shouldn't be asking this question. When do I figure it all out? but keeping quiet about it isn't an option for him right now.
The worst Jon can say is not telling. ]
[ audio ]
You usually start up a lot earlier.
[ audio ]
I just. . . met Lois.
[ audio ]
But you're way behind the usual timeline. Not that there's much of a "usual".
[ audio ]
[ He's heard that from the others too. ]
Thanks. I wonder if we'll visit one of them from here.
[ audio ]
( fucking weird but. )
You generally start the superheroing thing in your twenties. Start dicking around with your Kryptonian. . abilities years before though. Saving kittens from trees and the like.
I hope we don't.
[ audio ]
[ Both visiting the timeline and this weird factoid about his dating life. ]
I've only met General Zod. Do you know him?
[ audio ]
( he’s. quiet for a moment, before opening his mouth and: )
I’m telepathic, you know. If you want information, I can just send it into your head. Faster that way.
[ audio ]
[ There's so much he doesn't know.
That other Clark didn't have the chance to know.
He's quiet for a little while. ]
Okay. . . how does it work?
[ Jon's clearly not uncomfortable offering it. . . ]
[ audio ]
I take images and memories from my head and transfer them to yours. I don't need to be close to you to do it, but I can't shove every bit of information at once. I've got seventeen years of bullshit and a brain that processes data faster than yours does.
[ audio ]
Then. . . we can try something else.
[ audio ]
there’s zod on krypton, just before he was sent away to the phantom zone, hands cuffed and ticked off. there’s flashes of a conversation he’d had with clark himself, kryptonian ringing through clearly. understanding of what they’re saying despite the foreign language. flashes of zod and another kryptonian trying to construct a very large phantom zone portal, zod proclaiming his plans to pull doomsday out of the phantom zone, and both kryptonians walking into the phantom zone to retrieve—who the hell knows what, jon doesn’t. something about warworld, but before they can return, clark and diana, wonder woman, destroy the portal itself and trap them both inside. there’s no clear picture of that—but flashes of diana regardless, of a clark kent that’s about the same age as the one he’s sharing those memories with. )
Just like that.
[ audio ] - sorry, holidays ate me
(Clark had been angry with him. Angry like he'd never been with anyone else, but it had faded into shame and guilt at what he'd had to do. He's not good at staying angry.)
This is the first he's even gotten to see of Krypton, and it's bittersweet that he and Jon have no physical connection to it. He can hear and understand his own language, even make out some of the words, trying to commit them to memory.
He sees the other Clark, proud in his uniform. It's such a strange mirror.
It takes him a while to reply. ]
What else do you have?
[ audio ] - np /o
( like what kind of answer did clark expect, really. )
I have everything I can remember. Most of it's not going to match up to what you remember.
[ audio ]
. . . Can you understand Kryptonian?
[ audio ]
»I learn languages telepathically. As long as I've touched someone who knows it, I can speak it.«
[ audio ]
Could you teach me?
[ audio ]
You can't understand Kryptonian?
[ audio ]
[ There wasn't time.
Another pause. ]
No, I don't. Shortly after I found out where I was from, Zod attacked. He died in the conflict, and his followers are in the Phantom Zone, on their ships.
I don't have access to a phantom drive.
[ They're effectively dead. ]
[ audio ]
( that's new. not them being in the phantom zone part, but the timeline of it all. and clark not being able to understand kryptonian. or speak it. )
Yeah, fine. Whatever. But you'll owe me.
[ audio ]
[ He cares for Jon, no matter what Jon might think, he's not going to turn him away because of anything he does.
Half of what he does is to push people away, anyhow. ]
How're you intending to do it?
[ audio ]
( which means spending time with clark. ugh. but a favor owed from superman's probably worth it.5 )
[ audio ]
I'm a quick learner.
[ audio ]
I'll come find you tomorrow. Not like there's anything better to do.
[ audio ]
[ He nearly adds take care out of habit, then disconnects the phone. ]