agoodyarn | @houmaprotector: years later

@houmaprotector: years later

[ ooc: from here]

[ Some things are the same as they would have been. Some things aren't.

He'd been in college for biology instead of philosophy, but Jonathan Kent had still died in the twister. He'd traveled the world, searching for something, but instead of seeking out where he'd come from, it was to learn more about the world. To most, it might seem like he was doing anything but trying to put down roots, but for Clark, that was exactly what it was. He was cultivating the soil of the world, anchoring himself into the earth on the whole, a home that was just too large for him to stay in one place. He needed to learn the earth, all of it, and somehow, even then, he'd stumbled on the ship that his people had sent centuries ago.

And then several things had happened. Several, world-changing things.

And after all of that, after everything that'd happened, he isn't quite sure where to go, what to do. He knows it's time, knows that he finally needs to take root in one place, but he isn't sure where. No, to be honest, he isn't sure if he should, if his instincts are right. He wants to be in Metropolis, wants to be with Lois, but he isn't sure after everything that's happened if the people of the world will let him.

That's why he comes to the swamp. That's why he comes to the treehouse.

This time, he knocks.]

Dr. Holland?

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[things have changed. Abigail has returned to the swamp- changed in a way that might be disturbing to others. To him she's beautiful.

That doesn't change that she is the avatar of the rot. When Alec tells her someone is coming she takes off deeper into the swamp and he is...

Proud? Worried? He has watched the boy travel across the planet just as he did and seen the green's interest peak. such a powerful being would make a fine avatar.

No. No one will be avatar again, carry this burden again.

When the boy comes to the swamp Holland can't help but feel a swell of pride. Of respect. It's the closest he'll ever come to a...protege. A worthy one. And yet...

He has touched the green.

The swamp thing materializes out of nowhere. He's a bit taller and broader then the boy- no man might remember. Years have passed and he has less concern for human shapes.]

...clark. what brings you back to...the swamp? It's good to see you.

[thankfully with abby back, he's had more time to speak. Use his vocal cords.]

[ A part of him had been afraid. He wasn't sure if what the World Engine had done might have harmed his friend, and another part of him was afraid that even if he hadn't, that Dr. Holland would hold the crimes of his people against him, whatever damage they'd done left on his account. The fact that he's being greeted like a friend is such a relief and he smiles warm and wide as he nods to the Swamp Thing. ]

I thought it was time for me to come back and see you. Especially since I'm going to be putting down some roots soon enough.

[ He tilts his head to one side, and there's a gentle grin in there, the same sunshine smile he'd had as a child. ]

You sound good.

[Alec is profoundly quiet for a moment. The green thinks in terms of survival, not judgement. It's his job to judge.]

I've been...busy. You shook some things up and there are more...realms out there then-

[There's a voice from above.]

Then he wants to admit to you.

[Can a swamp monster face palm? Look annoyed? Cause that's where he's at as a woman paces out from behind a tree. She flexes her wings and looks to the swamp creature before smiling a fanged smile.]

I see you know my husband. I didn't think he had any...friends lately.

[She almost says human. Almost. Instead she tilts her head to the side and Alec rolls his eyes.]

I've known Clark- [Alec pauses.] Clark? Or Mr. Kent?

Always Clark.

[ Dr. Holland had met him when he was barely a teenager, 14 and scared of himself, scared of everything. Even if he's an adult now, there's something to relationships that span that long that always boil down to that first time. He's the Tree Man, Dr. Holland, and Clark is Clark.]

And we've known each other a long time, ma'am. Since I was small.

[ He's no more scared of Abigail than he is of Alec, though he can't quite look at her. He tries, to be polite, but his vision does odd things and he wouldn't like to make a face at his friend's wife, after all. That'd be rude. He gives her a respectful nod of the head in greeting regardless before turning back to Dr. Holland. ]

I am sorry about everything. That wasn't- [ He pauses, because he knows a little about the Green, has felt it, even if it was years ago. That sort of thing doesn't fade even from people without a perfect memory. ]

I chose Earth. I'm only sorry they made me choose.

Clark. [he has kept an especial eye on this boy as he's continued his work, his human work. To have made such an impact in such a way on such a figure is...

All he could have asked.

He looks to Abby who looks surprisingly fond at them both.]

I've known Clark since he was a child. He's...been picking up my human work to my absolute and utter shock.

[he's gotten much better at lying. As impassive and mysterious as a tree. Looking over the boy he smiles.]

The green has been keeping an eye on him.

[if clark were watching abby he might catch a glimpse, a flicker of emotion, deep rooted pain. When she speaks however she is passive.

Gods keep close counsel.]

Oh.

[she doesn't touch him. Her hand hovers inches from Alec's shoulder before she nods.]

When you ask him to stay for dinner. Which. You should. Grow him something nice to eat.

[she smiles that fanged smile again before nodding.]

Lovely to meet you Clark.

[she doesn't take off this time. Instead Alec gestures.] come. Let's talk. I want to hear from you what you've been doing.

[ Clark notices. He isn't sure what it's about, isn't sure what it means, but he notices. He makes a mental note, to be gentle around the subject of the Green around her. She seems nice enough from what he can tell, even if his eyes still don't quite focus on her.

As Alec gestures, he gives her another nod, a proper good bye of course, before following along behind him for a moment, jogging to settle at his side as they start to walk.]

You picked more fertile soil than you might have guessed. [ It's a place to start. ] Apparently, my father was a scientist as well. On Krypton. He tried to save the planet, but the leading council didn't listen to him.

Part of the reason I'm here is that he wanted to make sure no other world had to suffer the same fate.

Edited (extra word) 2018-08-18 13:41 (UTC)

[is this what pride feels like? One encounter with one student. What feels like years ago.] My father was a florist. He taught me how to look for good stalks and stems and strong seeds.

It seems like our fathers had that in common.

[the distant sound of a heron echoes through the swamp and alec pauses to smile.]

Knowing what you know now about earth I guess you can imagine why I stay in the swamp apart from the more...obvious reasons.

[the green teams with life around him.]

Are they at least trying to listen to you? Humanity?

[ He smiles a little, at hearing about the elder Holland. Nods along to it, since Jonathan Kent taught him the same. There's something in common with both of his fathers, and that's worth smiling about.

The comment about his swamp gets a sympathetic nod, but the question, well, that earns Alec a low chuckle.]

Mostly, they're just trying to adjust to me. To the idea of something like me existing. Half of them want to know why I didn't conquer the world already, considering what I can do, and the other half want to know why I haven't fixed everything.

[ His shoulders drop, just a little as he looks out at the swamp, through it, far enough to see it's end.]

I don't know if they'll ever understand. At least, not for a while, anyway.

[ He can't help a sigh.]

I have found a few companies I might try and work with to get your formula out into the world doing good. Wayne Enterprises is looking the most likely, though Kord and TylerCo are still in the running. It's their reach I'm worried about, and how much they could dedicate to the project.

[Alec pauses.]

Our formula.

[the swamp thing's features are firm.]

You keep a fern that's very fond of you. They've been...telling me things.

[he holds up a hand.] I won't take no for an answer. You've become an ally to the planet, to the green, now it's our turn to help you. My turn.

Knowing that however, I want to know how we can.

[not if.]

[ Clark looks like he's going to argue, but the look on Dr. Holland's face makes it clear he won't hear any objections. The mention of his fern makes him laugh, just a little. He can't help it. ]

I talk to it like I'm talking to you. It helps me think.

[ It helps him debate, whether something is a good idea or not, whether he should do something or stay out of it.]

And I guess if you happen to have any old contacts at Wayne, someone I could talk to about possibly getting a job...

[ He scrubs the back of his neck. ]

Lois said she could get me something at the Planet, but that's not really-

[ He pauses for a moment and glances back to where they'd left Abby. Ducking his head-]

I suppose you know about Lois.

[ He's definitely talked to the fern about Lois.]

[he has some memories of himself as a human, one of those being how awkward he was around Linda. With Abigail...

He worries about her. the fern does talk. It's a dutiful creature and a part of him in some small way. That makes him feel good about this. That the boy has remembered.

he needs to know that it's not impossible ]

When you first met me I would have said there is no place in this world for beings...for people with great power to love. That it puts our loved ones in danger. Abigail-

[he looks up to see her, a dot in the sky.]

Abigail was human, like I was. Circumstances of her history led us together but when she assumed the role of avatar of decay we had to seperate.

We were fortunate to find each other again but even if we can't be together physically...

We are still together. You need someone.

[he chuckles] truth be told lois reminds me of Abby in some ways. Willing to fight for what's important.

...that's more important then the formula but as for Wayne Enterprises...

I know a man you should contact.

Edited 2018-08-18 17:28 (UTC)

She's my world.

[ He bites his lip a little, licks it in a nervous tic, and folds his arms in front of him as he tries to think of what he's going to say. ]

The world is so big. I know just how big it is. I made sure I do. But it's hard to... get my hands around all the time. She's like-

[ He looks over at Dr. Holland. ]

It's hard to remember every single green thing, but it's easy to think of you. And how you're connected to all of it. That time in the Green with you... it keeps me anchored.

Lois is... like that. She keeps me anchored to the people. Reminds me of all the reasons I do what I do. I like to think I do something similar for her.

[ He lets out a long breath before turning back Dr. Holland. ]

I'll take any help I can get.

[To say he's touched is an understatement. Standing before this young man he realizes that all this pain and suffering was worth something.

Yet it also put him in danger. No point of lying about it. Hesitating, the plants around them pause.]

There's an office in Metropolis. Woodrue. If he's still there. He's a good man. I-

[No. Alec.]

I am proud. Beyond proud that the green grounds you. It will always be your ally, but it is also dangerous. You know that now that you've studied it, and you've only seen the surface of it. It is so much deeper then you, or I, could imagine.

Be watchful of it. Wary of it. [And of me. But he can't bring himself to say that until-] And myself. Especially as you live your life. The green has seen you and in my...desire to help you feel safe here on this planet I might have caused you harm.

[ He can't help that he looks confused at that, because he certainly knows that the Green is like any other living force, that it wants more than anything to survive. He's learned that lesson well enough. But to be wary of it, to be watchful of even Dr. Holland-]

What do you mean?

[ He can't believe that, that his good friend would ever cause him harm. He's never been afraid of Dr. Holland, not since he was very small, and he can't imagine being so now.]

I have held onto this position for a very long time but not so long as I will.

[He sounds very tired.] Or at least as long as I hope to. When I brought you into the green it took note of your abilities and even if you're not from here...

[his expression is weak.] You remember me as a man? you saw me as a human being.

[He pauses.] That's not what I look like now in the green. The battle that brought Abby back to me killed me a second time and made me of the green in full.

[he's so worried. Worried and it shows that this sounds crazy. That this one good act he had done might be undone.] I had a professor that said science is just magic that we don't understand. It's a...a far deeper truth then many of us realize. Then I realized until now.

Clark [His voice is soft.] the green doesn't like me. It doesn't want me to do this job that I've wrested from them. It wants a champion with great power that they can augment.

[ Clark listens to all that he says, reaches out a supportive hand when he says he's tired.
Nodding when he's asked about that vision of him in the past. When Dr. Holland mentions dying, Clark can't help but wince and there's something to the way he licks his lips, lets his teeth dent them, that says he's wondering if there wasn't something he couldn't have done, that he wishes he had been there to help him, to save his friend when he might have needed saving. Especially when he keeps going, admits that, well- ]

Sometimes, what we want and what we need are two different things.

[ And his voice is gentle, protective even, of Dr. Holland, of his friend. But there's something else there as well, a certain kind of steel underlying all of it. It becomes more blatant as he keeps going. ]

The Green might not like it, but if you weren't who you are, I wouldn't be on this path. I wouldn't be fighting so hard for their cause. But I'd tell them the same thing I told the US Government: I won't be controlled.

[ He lets his shoulders go down a little. ]

If they're smart, they'll realize that this way, they get both you and I working for their cause.

[This is both good and bad. It's bad because the green is an impassive massive monster. A huge being, a powerful and wonderful force that Clark has only scratched the surface of and yet-

He's good.

There's the good too that makes Alec feel more human then he has in years. If there's one being who won't be a puppet - it's Clark Kent. superman.

He can't smile, but the green around all of them brightens. Bright green blooms. He gestures.]

...Wayne Enterprises. Woodrue and failing that...

I feel like I'm painfully out of touch.

Enough about me however. Tell me about Lois.

[ Clark doesn't know, can't know. But he knows himself. He won't be a puppet. And if he has to make it more difficult than it's worth for the Green, he will. What he is, his strength, what he can do... it's a responsibility. And he has to make sure that it's used in a way he truly believes in or-

No, there's no 'or'.

But he's glad that Alec believes somewhat in what he says, at least enough for the flowers to bloom. The bloom makes him smile in return.]

Only if you tell me about Abby. I think she said something about a 'husband' there?

[ The business can wait. They both know he'll do his damndest to get this done right. And he doesn't forget things. ]

[Ah. That.]

When I first...changed, Abby was one of the few people who pitied me. she felt sorry for me at first, but we...

[Glossing over the years of difference, of her first marriage, of his predecessor. Of their daughter -]

We outlasted quite a bit. We married - she became known as the woman who married the creature locally and we had some trouble with the locals, but we passed all that.

[he looked away] We were recently drawn into a conflict and she assumed her own mantle, the avatar of the rot.

[He studied his feet.] This is the price that comes sometimes, when you love people. We were seperated for a long time, but a second conflict brought us back together. She lost the title but that doesn't change that she's...as dead as I am.

[It doesn't change that I killed her. That her body is buried in the swamp and her form is as empty as mine.

He shakes it off.]

As the avatar of death, of the rot, she couldn't come to the swamp. Since she lost the title she was able to return and we have been...together. We still can't touch - I'm life and she is death - but we can be in the same room.

She and I both have hope that one day enough of the rot will fade from her and she and I will...

Be able to be together again.

[He shrugs, sheepish, smiling.] This is why I say love without fear. It always works out.

[ He listens to the tale, to all of it, without shock or pause. After all, isn't he a child sent from another world that somehow found a loving home on this one? Isn't his own body a strange and wonderful miracle in so many ways? Dr. Holland has never glossed the truth to him before, and so it's hard to believe he would now. It's been enough years for all of that to have happened.

As before, it makes him wish he'd come back. But he'd never been sure if his friend would be there, if he would greet him, and it was easier to focus on the work instead of the fear that he wouldn't come back, undermining all the good that'd been done for a young boy trying to figure out what kind of man he was going to be.

So he nods, to everything Dr. Holland says, and he can't help but smile back at the last words he gets. Yes, love without fear. He couldn't agree more. ]

...when we met, a Kryptonian robot had just stabbed her for taking a picture with the flash on and I had to sear the wound closed. It was... an introduction, to be sure.

[ He stares out into the swamp as he continues.]

She tracked me down, after that. Found me in Smallville, told me she was a reporter, tried to understand who and what I was. But when I asked her to, she let it go. Let... me go. To live my life.

I didn't see her again until the message from Zod. And then, well-

[ There's a blushy little chuckle there.]

I can't imagine how I lived without her now.

[It's hard not to think of him as the boy he knew. He's genuinely good - a pure force that this earth needs. What he needs, Alec will do his damndest to give and protecting Lois-

He makes a vow then. Lois won't end up suffering the way Abigail has suffered. I will make sure they stay safe.]

...When I first met Abigail she thought I was a monster that I'd...killed me. Strange introductions lead to the best relationships.

Ours included.

[He gestures] Are you hungry?

[ The comment about strange introductions has him swaying a little in Dr. Holland's direction, a clear sign of affection. Yes, he's certainly glad they met all those years ago. But-]

I never say no to something to eat.

[ Though there is the slightly awkward realization that he generally keeps to vegetarian fare... and he's not sure exactly how that will go over here. So he leaves it at that, content to see what Dr. Holland provides. He'll eat it, whatever it is. ]

[Alec raises a hand and a sapling begins to grow out of the earth. The trunk begins to pull itself out of the earth. The drunk twists and pulls and the green pulses. The clearing is alive and anyone with heightened senses can probably pick up on the sheer amount of...magic in the area.

That's all it can be. Alec has his hands raised up above his head like a priest. The tree finishes growing and the Swamp Thing lowers his hands.]

...They're delicious. I promise.

Edited 2018-08-24 01:51 (UTC)

[ Clark watches with wonder as the whole thing happens, his senses not really equipped to pick up on the magic, but the sensitivity he has to magic has a tingle filtering through at this outright display. When the fruit has been finished, he can't help a delighted laugh that slips out as he leans over to take one of the fruits. He plucks it carefully, putting a hand to the branch with a nod as if to thank the plant as well, before digging in.

It is, as promised, delicious.]

Thank you, Dr. Holland.

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@houmaprotector: years later

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MY FEELS.

Same Same. Sorry had to DM and then passed out.

No worries!

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