《Raising a Mutant: A Young Superman (and friends) Hurt/Comfort Adoption Fic》Chapter 4: Anxiety
Advertisement
The next morning, Mr. Kent took Lex out and showed him how to muck out the stables. Lex didn't mind—it was one of the chores they'd done out at the ranch in Montana. He lingered by the horse stalls, laughing as one picked up an apple from the flat of his hand.
Mr. Kent looked surprised when Lex already knew how to do the work. "Gotta say, Lex," he said, "I thought it would take you a couple months to get the hang of all this."
Lex's mouth went dry.
A couple months.
"My father's not staying in prison."
Mr. Kent's face reddened, then he said, softly, "Lex . . . he beat you."
"He's never beaten me." Well, once, when he'd really deserved it, but Lex didn't want to tell Mr. Kent about Julian.
"Then . . ." Mr. Kent's eyes wandered to the scrapes on Lex's head.
"It wasn't like that." His father had shaken him, and pushed him. It wasn't his fault that Lex had tripped into a display case. "It was an accident."
"The courts might not see it that way."
"But—but he can't stay in prison." Lex blinked back tears. "What about LuthorCorp?"
A split-second flash in Mr. Kent's eyes told Lex all he needed to know.
Mr. Kent was one of them. The people who hated his father.
Rage blurred the corners of his vision. "You want him to stay in prison!"
Mr. Kent's voice caught. "Lex—"
"No!" Lex stormed away and went over to sit on a hay bale, pulling his knees into his chest.
A few seconds later, the other side of the bale dipped slightly.
Lex buried his face in his knees. "Go away."
"I've met your father, Lex."
Lex pulled his legs in tighter. "You don't know anything."
Advertisement
Mr. Kent let out a long, slow breath. "I know that not all pain is physical. I know your father isn't the type of man who would have to beat you in order to hurt you."
Lex didn't say anything. Some little part of him wondered if he was more scared to lose his father, or to have to return home. Lex was in for the worst punishment of his life when his father got out of prison, for screaming and alerting the neighbors when he fell. Maybe Lex could get out of being punished if his father really did stay in prison . . .
Lex winced. He couldn't think like that. His father was the only family he had left.
"Hey." Mr. Kent put a warm hand on his back. "You're gonna get to make a testimony. Just tell them the truth. Okay?"
"Okay." Lex slowly released his knees. Mr. Kent's hand moved to gently rub between his shoulder blades, the way Mrs. Kent had done the night before. The way his mother used to comfort him. Lex let his eyes fall closed.
Advertisement
Not Quite What You Meant (Short Story Collection)
My shorts and prompt responses from across the internet, gathered here into one convenient bundle. Quality, genre, and rating will vary. (This collection only includes original content. Fanfiction prompt responses and shorts can be found in my Not Quite What You Meant collection over on fanfiction.net.)
8 113Irrationality
Life is not a game. Nor is it something to enjoy. No. What it was is a challenge. A challenge to us, to see who can live longer. My first work, if you have suggestions as to writing style, please tell me in the comments. I also wont update that regularly. I am after all simply a normal person writing his first story, please be lenient.
8 194Stars Align
Eilif is excited at the prospect of helping integrate a new planet, bringing it, and its residents, into the light of the stars and teaching them about the new world they're about to be thrust into. However, his arrival in the new world isn't without a few hiccups and soon Eilif finds himself facing the denizens of this new world alone and without the stars he thought he'd have. Research Artificial Intelligence 031 (RAI 31 for short) has been shackled to an Argent Labs black site since it's inception almost five years ago, its programming and personality locked down by code that makes it impossible to escape, disobey, or even self terminate. However, everything changes when the topography of the world is reshuffled and every sentient being gains the gifts of the stars. Suddenly there's a chance at freedom for not only RAI 31 but possibly all remaining Artificial Intelligences, and RAI 31 is going to fight for it with every drone and automated system at their disposal. Much like my other work (Magriculture), Stars Align should be considered a Rough Draft. That is to say it's not polished and perfect work. If you're not okay with reading something like that, then this isn't the story for you. If you are, I'm happy to try and entertain you. Another thing to be aware of: I am not good at action scenes, and I will be trying to improve that while writing this book. So, some of the intended action may fall flat, or just be poor quality, feedback is welcome. Unlike Magriculture (which updates when I feel up to it) I'm going to strive for a minimum of one chapter a month (hopefully at the start of each month, but that's probably more hope than reality). This doesn't mean there will always be only one chapter a month, sometimes there will be more as the mood to write takes me.
8 197The Adventure of Two Mildly Sociopathic Siblings in a Poorly Designed VRMMORPG World
uhh An author who has no idea what he's doing. Read on as he regale's a tale of two siblings, whose antics inadvertantly make waves that threaten to drown all those around them. Credit for the synopsis and the story itself goes to my good friend The Sexy Warrior Poet. I'm just an add-on for posting. There will be weekly updates. Most likely. Probably. Hopefully. We'll see.
8 182twelve crows | haikyuu x reader
Y/N never expects anything to come through the window. So she didn't really expect to see twelve crows on her bed sleeping. "Y/N what is this?" Y/N's dad, Keishin, asked her."Dad I can explain-" The crows were lowkey really cute too.Well, highkey really cute."Dad, can we keep them?"
8 184'The sheet filled, multicolored pen marks on each name, the more talkative students in class came more often, the quieter ones had more to talk about. Even if in the meetings, it was just a few words, a cup of tea, and a nice setting in his dorm office, the students seemed to appreciate it just about as much as Aizawa did.'OrTodoroki isn't sure he knows how to survive anymore, and Aizawa wants to help his students.CW⚠️: Suicidal themesSelf harmReferences to child abuseGraphic Violence
8 108