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schizoauthoressWritten for my friend ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
_sephet_, and based in a DCU AU of her creation. Happy 23rd, hon!
****
Title: Learning Curve
Author: D.L.SchizoAuthoress
Rating: PG
Spoilers: Teen Titans v3 #100 (AU of, takes place after)
Warnings: lots of characters being introduced, somewhat fluffy
Prompt: "I know immature is your middle name -- but what's mine?"
Word Count: 1472
Summary: The farm is busier than ever, for an unusual reason.
Learning Curve
Bart ran. Arms full of books, he ran across the country, zig-zagging through forest and desert and around the occasional lake in semi-tangible moving-at-superspeed form. Raven had offered to take him along when she teleported from the Tower to the Kent farm, but the sort of thing always felt a bit like cheating to Bart. It was okay if they were in the middle of a fight or doing the superhero thing, but didn't feel right to be blipped from point to point instead of doing it himself.
Maybe it would have made more sense to have this informal classroom session at the Tower -- for one thing, there was a lot more space than the small Kansas farmhouse afforded them -- but they had to make exceptions. Bart and Raven had agreed to take on the task of teaching these boys, and they would have no success in an environment that had the three on edge (and by extension, would be hurting Raven with their distress). Bart was ashamed of his own role in making the Tower an unsafe place, at least in the minds of his students, and he could understand why they wouldn't want to go there if they could help it.
"Hey, Kon!" Bart called out, spying his best friend some distance away as he hit the edge of the Kent property. Kon waved. Bart slowed down enough that he could make sense of Kon's words:
"Ma set them up in the barn!"
He shifted the books to one arm, flashed Kon a thumbs up and replied, "Okay, thanks!" Then he let the books settle securely back into his grip and headed for the barn beside the farmhouse. A small dust devil, more than a little bit straw and sawdust, whipped up in his wake when he pulled himself to a halt inside the barn. He grinned at Raven and their three students.
"...And here's Bartholomew with the reading material," Raven said smoothly.
"Bart," he corrected her. He glanced at the boys. "Call me Bart."
"Okay!" The middle 'triplet', the one who resembled Kon during most of his Young Justice days, smiled brightly at him. The other two didn't say anything -- the youngest-looking one just watched him from behind the round-lensed sunglasses he'd refused to relinquish despite otherwise changing into civilian clothing, and the shaved-bald 'triplet' only nodded in silent agreement.
He was a little relieved that they weren't all staring at him, and directed a warm smile at the one who'd spoken. But he also didn't blame the other two for their reticence. They'd been cloned from Match at the behest of Superboy-Prime, to act as tools in the mad villain's insane revenge scheme, and the Teen Titans had reacted to them very poorly. Not only had they assumed that the three clones were mindless drones under Prime's control, but Ravager and Robin had been willing to kill the clones. If Kon hadn't freaked and flat-out ordered the Titans not to harm them, the three clones might all be dead. In fact, the eldest-looking one of the 'triplets' had been near-fatally stabbed by Ravager to start with. The only reason he was still among the living was because Kon had removed the improvised kryptonite 'stake' and flown him to the sun to heal.
"I know that Prime totally skipped everything he could when it came to knowledge downloads, and if he was working from Match, most of that would be degraded anyway, so I got a couple of first and second level readers to start with, just to assess where you stand." Bart zipped around the improvised classroom to deposit one copy of each book near each student.
"A little warning next time, Bart," Raven said softly, her brows drawn together in a faint expression of discomfort. Bart noted her small gesture toward the eldest-looking clone, and felt contrite. Of course he'd be the most skittish.
"Sorry! Did you guys already introduce yourselves, or do we get to do that next?"
"Raven said to wait for you." That came from the youngest-looking one this time. It was kind of weird to hear 'Kon' sounding so hesitant, but Bart reminded himself sternly that this wasn't Kon he was talking to, any more than Inertia was a version of him. "I'm Matt. Mat-El."
"Nice to meet you, Matt," Bart replied. Almost before he'd finished his sentence, the middle 'triplet' burst out with,
"My name's Jon-El! Or Jonathan Kent! But you can call me Jon either way!" For some reason, that made his brothers both roll their eyes at him -- something that Jon either didn't see or chose to ignore. Bart smiled sympathetically -- Jon reminded him a little bit of himself -- and Jon grinned even more. "Oh, and he's--"
"Let him say, Jon," Raven interrupted smoothly.
Jon blushed, and the last 'triplet' rested his elbows on the 'desk' in front of him -- really, an old flip-top sewing table from the attic. "My name is James." His voice was low and soft, just barely loud enough to be heard.
"Nice to meet you, too, Jon and James." Bart moved over to the whiteboard set up against one wall. "Shall we start with reading, then? And we can take a short break, and then Raven will cover math."
His fellow teacher smiled slightly. "That sounds acceptable."
All three of the latest Kent boys looked eager to begin. Bart laughed. "All right then. Let's dive right in. Open the yellow books, that's the first level reader..."
****
"Jon's got a crush, Jon's got a cru~ush!"
"Shut up, I do not!!"
James chuckled, watching his little brothers flit around in the barn after Raven and Bart had left. Jon was floating in roughly the middle of the room, both hands curled into fists as he pouted and fumed at Matt's teasing. Matt darted around him, making faces and coming up with mocking little songs about how much Jon was in lo~ove with Bart. Every so often, Jon would make like he was going to grab for Matt, but Matt would avoid him and laugh at the attempt.
"You could have been more obvious," James mused. "I'm not sure how, but it must be possible."
"Oh, you shut up, too!" Jon shouted, frustrated.
"You're the one who's been talking enough for all of us! Shut up squared!" Matt shot back.
"If you two would pull your heads outta your butts--"
"Jonathan Kent!" Ma exclaimed, scandalized. "Where in the world did you learn that language!" All three of them had been so focused on their argument and one-upping each other that they'd missed Kon and Ma walking in through the big open door of the barn.
Jon lowered himself to the ground, hanging his head and looking as sorry as could be. "Didn't learn it, 's just in there..." He scuffed the toe of his shoe in the dirt. "Sorry, Ma."
"Don't get mad, Ma!" Matt interjected, worry clear on his face. "I was teasing him! I made him upset."
"And I didn't stop either of them," James pointed out, looking thoughtful. "I should have, shouldn't I? Before it got that far."
Kon laughed quietly. "Seems like we can either blame them all or let it slide...?"
"Well..." Ma put on an unconvinced expression, prompting the three younger clones to exchange worried glances. Then Ma smiled. "I suppose I can excuse it just this once. Since this was your first school day, and first day with guests. You're bound to be excitable." They all brightened up at that. "But!" Ma said sternly, "I think you all know what is good language and what's bad. I don't want to hear you using bad language with each other again!"
"We won't, Ma!"
"Never ever!"
"Promise!"
"Me, too," Kon said, using his TTK to tug his 'younger brothers' close enough for a group hug. "I'll be nice to them, no matter how silly or annoying they get."
"Hey!"
"That's mean!"
"Bad language, Ma! No supper for Conner!"
"I'll decide the punishments, boys." Ma said calmly. "Maybe we'll let his friends have a day off, and Conner will have to teach you boys..."
Kon went pale. The triplets made faces. "Aw, Ma... anything but that!" all four boys chorused, then exchanged slightly surprised looks with each other.
Ma just laughed. "Go wash up, supper will get cold."
She stood there in the lengthening twilight for a while after her 'herd' of boys had charged into the house. It was a full house now, perhaps not the one that she and her husband Jonathan had planned on, all those years ago, but one that she hoped would be just as happy.
"I wish you were here, Jonathan," she whispered. "But if you're watching, I'm sure it will be a hell of a show."
_sephet_, and based in a DCU AU of her creation. Happy 23rd, hon!****
Title: Learning Curve
Author: D.L.SchizoAuthoress
Rating: PG
Spoilers: Teen Titans v3 #100 (AU of, takes place after)
Warnings: lots of characters being introduced, somewhat fluffy
Prompt: "I know immature is your middle name -- but what's mine?"
Word Count: 1472
Summary: The farm is busier than ever, for an unusual reason.
Learning Curve
Bart ran. Arms full of books, he ran across the country, zig-zagging through forest and desert and around the occasional lake in semi-tangible moving-at-superspeed form. Raven had offered to take him along when she teleported from the Tower to the Kent farm, but the sort of thing always felt a bit like cheating to Bart. It was okay if they were in the middle of a fight or doing the superhero thing, but didn't feel right to be blipped from point to point instead of doing it himself.
Maybe it would have made more sense to have this informal classroom session at the Tower -- for one thing, there was a lot more space than the small Kansas farmhouse afforded them -- but they had to make exceptions. Bart and Raven had agreed to take on the task of teaching these boys, and they would have no success in an environment that had the three on edge (and by extension, would be hurting Raven with their distress). Bart was ashamed of his own role in making the Tower an unsafe place, at least in the minds of his students, and he could understand why they wouldn't want to go there if they could help it.
"Hey, Kon!" Bart called out, spying his best friend some distance away as he hit the edge of the Kent property. Kon waved. Bart slowed down enough that he could make sense of Kon's words:
"Ma set them up in the barn!"
He shifted the books to one arm, flashed Kon a thumbs up and replied, "Okay, thanks!" Then he let the books settle securely back into his grip and headed for the barn beside the farmhouse. A small dust devil, more than a little bit straw and sawdust, whipped up in his wake when he pulled himself to a halt inside the barn. He grinned at Raven and their three students.
"...And here's Bartholomew with the reading material," Raven said smoothly.
"Bart," he corrected her. He glanced at the boys. "Call me Bart."
"Okay!" The middle 'triplet', the one who resembled Kon during most of his Young Justice days, smiled brightly at him. The other two didn't say anything -- the youngest-looking one just watched him from behind the round-lensed sunglasses he'd refused to relinquish despite otherwise changing into civilian clothing, and the shaved-bald 'triplet' only nodded in silent agreement.
He was a little relieved that they weren't all staring at him, and directed a warm smile at the one who'd spoken. But he also didn't blame the other two for their reticence. They'd been cloned from Match at the behest of Superboy-Prime, to act as tools in the mad villain's insane revenge scheme, and the Teen Titans had reacted to them very poorly. Not only had they assumed that the three clones were mindless drones under Prime's control, but Ravager and Robin had been willing to kill the clones. If Kon hadn't freaked and flat-out ordered the Titans not to harm them, the three clones might all be dead. In fact, the eldest-looking one of the 'triplets' had been near-fatally stabbed by Ravager to start with. The only reason he was still among the living was because Kon had removed the improvised kryptonite 'stake' and flown him to the sun to heal.
"I know that Prime totally skipped everything he could when it came to knowledge downloads, and if he was working from Match, most of that would be degraded anyway, so I got a couple of first and second level readers to start with, just to assess where you stand." Bart zipped around the improvised classroom to deposit one copy of each book near each student.
"A little warning next time, Bart," Raven said softly, her brows drawn together in a faint expression of discomfort. Bart noted her small gesture toward the eldest-looking clone, and felt contrite. Of course he'd be the most skittish.
"Sorry! Did you guys already introduce yourselves, or do we get to do that next?"
"Raven said to wait for you." That came from the youngest-looking one this time. It was kind of weird to hear 'Kon' sounding so hesitant, but Bart reminded himself sternly that this wasn't Kon he was talking to, any more than Inertia was a version of him. "I'm Matt. Mat-El."
"Nice to meet you, Matt," Bart replied. Almost before he'd finished his sentence, the middle 'triplet' burst out with,
"My name's Jon-El! Or Jonathan Kent! But you can call me Jon either way!" For some reason, that made his brothers both roll their eyes at him -- something that Jon either didn't see or chose to ignore. Bart smiled sympathetically -- Jon reminded him a little bit of himself -- and Jon grinned even more. "Oh, and he's--"
"Let him say, Jon," Raven interrupted smoothly.
Jon blushed, and the last 'triplet' rested his elbows on the 'desk' in front of him -- really, an old flip-top sewing table from the attic. "My name is James." His voice was low and soft, just barely loud enough to be heard.
"Nice to meet you, too, Jon and James." Bart moved over to the whiteboard set up against one wall. "Shall we start with reading, then? And we can take a short break, and then Raven will cover math."
His fellow teacher smiled slightly. "That sounds acceptable."
All three of the latest Kent boys looked eager to begin. Bart laughed. "All right then. Let's dive right in. Open the yellow books, that's the first level reader..."
****
"Jon's got a crush, Jon's got a cru~ush!"
"Shut up, I do not!!"
James chuckled, watching his little brothers flit around in the barn after Raven and Bart had left. Jon was floating in roughly the middle of the room, both hands curled into fists as he pouted and fumed at Matt's teasing. Matt darted around him, making faces and coming up with mocking little songs about how much Jon was in lo~ove with Bart. Every so often, Jon would make like he was going to grab for Matt, but Matt would avoid him and laugh at the attempt.
"You could have been more obvious," James mused. "I'm not sure how, but it must be possible."
"Oh, you shut up, too!" Jon shouted, frustrated.
"You're the one who's been talking enough for all of us! Shut up squared!" Matt shot back.
"If you two would pull your heads outta your butts--"
"Jonathan Kent!" Ma exclaimed, scandalized. "Where in the world did you learn that language!" All three of them had been so focused on their argument and one-upping each other that they'd missed Kon and Ma walking in through the big open door of the barn.
Jon lowered himself to the ground, hanging his head and looking as sorry as could be. "Didn't learn it, 's just in there..." He scuffed the toe of his shoe in the dirt. "Sorry, Ma."
"Don't get mad, Ma!" Matt interjected, worry clear on his face. "I was teasing him! I made him upset."
"And I didn't stop either of them," James pointed out, looking thoughtful. "I should have, shouldn't I? Before it got that far."
Kon laughed quietly. "Seems like we can either blame them all or let it slide...?"
"Well..." Ma put on an unconvinced expression, prompting the three younger clones to exchange worried glances. Then Ma smiled. "I suppose I can excuse it just this once. Since this was your first school day, and first day with guests. You're bound to be excitable." They all brightened up at that. "But!" Ma said sternly, "I think you all know what is good language and what's bad. I don't want to hear you using bad language with each other again!"
"We won't, Ma!"
"Never ever!"
"Promise!"
"Me, too," Kon said, using his TTK to tug his 'younger brothers' close enough for a group hug. "I'll be nice to them, no matter how silly or annoying they get."
"Hey!"
"That's mean!"
"Bad language, Ma! No supper for Conner!"
"I'll decide the punishments, boys." Ma said calmly. "Maybe we'll let his friends have a day off, and Conner will have to teach you boys..."
Kon went pale. The triplets made faces. "Aw, Ma... anything but that!" all four boys chorused, then exchanged slightly surprised looks with each other.
Ma just laughed. "Go wash up, supper will get cold."
She stood there in the lengthening twilight for a while after her 'herd' of boys had charged into the house. It was a full house now, perhaps not the one that she and her husband Jonathan had planned on, all those years ago, but one that she hoped would be just as happy.
"I wish you were here, Jonathan," she whispered. "But if you're watching, I'm sure it will be a hell of a show."