backwordscompatible | IC CONTACT (HAVEN)

He called to make sure I was still here.

[He won't admit the relief that fills him every time he hears Kon's voice. If Kon didn't call he'd probably end up calling himself.]

He's a good kid. You two should be there for each other.

[She laughed. A weak, slightly choking sob, but remnants of humor were there.]

That sounds like something he would do.

[For a moment, she wondered if she would be getting any of those calls whenever he wasn't within eyeshot.]

We are. I mean, I stayed with him for a long while after he first told me, while we waited for Wally and Robin to come back so we could tell them.

I just...needed a few minutes alone right now. [To finally cry]

[He knew Kon would have Zatanna, just like Zatanna would have Kon. It wasn't even the dating thing, or at least not only that. They were family, they had each other's backs. And, because he hadn't gotten an answer the first time:]

Are you okay?

[I'm fine]

[Anybody but Kal might have gotten that answer, but he was one of the few she couldn't lie to.]

No.

But...I will be. Eventually.

Eventually. [He agrees, because he knows how that feels. He just isn't sure how long 'eventually' will take, especially when maybe they keep on losing more and more people as time goes. Maybe it will be Kon tomorrow, or Jo. Maybe it will be Kal himself.]

I'm not... good at this comforting thing but you know I'll do my best if you need it.

[She offered a weak smile at that.]

You're better than you think you are.

[One hand. That's all it would have taken for her to count the number of people who would be able to comfort her at all right then. And one of them wasn't even in Haven.]

Do you... want to be alone?

['Because I don't' is pretty heavily implied.]

[A pause. Weighing the pros and cons, because she both did and didn't.]

I've...been alone for a while already.

Sometimes I really need to be alone, and having people around just makes it worse. Sometimes it's the opposite.

Exactly.

And I think, this time is one of those. The opposite, I mean.

[The only answer she gets after that is just a knock on the door.]

[Surprise, surprise.]

[So much so, she didn't even bother to get up. Just use her magic to open it a crack.]

I'm here, Kal. [There was little doubt in her mind it was him.] Come on in.

[And come on in he does, not surprised at her lack of surprise. They know each other that well, apparently.]

I have apple pie. I... I didn't remember if you liked it, but it was Conner's favorite. It seemed fitting.

[As if on cue, her stomach growled. Loudly.]

...and just in the nick of time.

I guess I didn't eat enough for breakfast earlier.

[The smile is just enough of a smile to make sure she sees it. No more.]

Apparently having roomates has perks. Who though, hm? [He offered her the first slice.] Though I'm sure you know that dating one of them definitely doesn't hurt.

Kon doesn't bake for me.

The closest he comes is sometimes opening a can of peaches for me to steal--I mean share.

To be fair he doesn't really have any baking genes on him. [Or so Clark thought, he never actually had any reasons to try. Cook? Sure, wouldn't have survived on his own without it. Baking was for professionals like Ma.]

Is there a story about peaches I should know about?

Actually, that's about 90% of the story, right there.

I woke up one morning and met up with him in the common area, where he was eating from a can of peaches. So I stole one. Then another. Eventually, we just ended up sharing the rest of the can. Not very exciting, I'm sorry to say.

[Her expression softened a little. As simple and relatively dull as the moment had been...it was a good memory.]

I'm pretty sure you aren't supposed to eat that many at once but... well, I was a teenager too. I ate whatever.

Especially in this place. [Says the man nomnomnoming on his favorite food right now.]

I'm glad we get these... silly little moments. It's what will keep us going.

[She assumed he wasn't serious about the "that many" line, given how rare it was for anyone to consume a full stomach's worth of food in one sitting. It hadn't been all that much. Half a can each? That had only consisted of so many pieces.]

It's worked so far.

Having you and him and the others around...I don't think I would've made it this long if it hadn't been for all of you. Silly little moments and all.

[Fresh peaches? Awesome. But a lot of canned peaches contain weirdly high amount of sugar. Combine that with the fact that they aren’t exactly in the means to be having a healthy died… yeah. Kal can be pretty weird about food for someone who doesn’t actually need to it.

But he’ll keep his dad-ying at bay.]

I know for sure I wouldn’t have. I was… a different man when I got here. Maybe not drastically, maybe not too obvious. But I’m… grateful that you’ve helped me open up.

[She was still a teenager; "sugar" was practically its own food category for her.]

I'm not even sure I remember what you were like when you first got here.

To me, it's like you've always just been...you.

I remember you being the first magician I ever met. I should have been intimidated since it worked on me, but I was just... intrigued.

You? Intimidated?

There isn't a single person in Haven who could intimidate someone like you.

If only. Do you want a list? I could give you one but I'd have to go to North to make it.

IC CONTACT (HAVEN)

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