there’s a stiffness to barney’s shoulders at that trail. as if he’s waiting for a judgement or a verdict to be laid down on him. his brain rolodexes through what he’s done this week. wincing inwardly at himself if only because while nothing stands out as particularly heinous this week, there’s probably something he’s missed.
what he didn’t expect was kon’s name.
which…in hindsight, perhaps he should have expected. and upon hearing it barney’s heart rate slows and he visibly relaxes. fingers unclenching around the constellation mug his coffee formerly occupied.
it takes him a moment to get to the crux of the words. and when he does, he blurts out, “you’re wantin’ to make sure I’m not a creep. I got it.”
a hand gestures to the small table. moving to sit himself and feeling his back twinge a bit at the motion. sipping his coffee for a moment as he struggles on how to go from there. he can’t really blame superman for this. and it’s nice to know there’s someone else who is vested in kon’s well-being.
still. the fact was he was sitting here having coffee with one of the world’s greatest heroes. what did you say to that?
“best laid plans an’ all tend to go awry when you got the weight of the world on your shoulders.” it’s said kindly, knowingly if not for like experience but for the fact barney can read the papers and he knows what superman’s days likely look like. he’d struggle to.
admittedly, barney’s still distracted and touched beyond words that he’s considered important in the eyes of someone as bombastic and larger than life as superboy. “kon’s a good kid. he’s wild ‘n I don’t really understand half of what he’s talkin’ about when he’s goin’ off on social media this and that. but…” barney shrugged, eyes flicking to the S on superman’s chest. “he wears the S well. an’ just don’t wanna see him jump into takin’ on the weight of things without gettin’ a chance to be who he wants to be. outside of the world’s expectations.”
“that’s not exactly it - ” clark says, politely interjecting the bluntness with a clarification that’s important to him, because he doesn’t want barney to think this meeting is about that when it’s really about the gratitude he feels for being involved in kon’s life.
he’d already done his own background checks prior to coming here; knows more than enough about this man to understand underhanded government powers at play, and while he’s just as ready to bring that up, he also knows theres a time and place, and a first time introduction is not it.
he visibly softens at the way barney talks about kon, though, as if hearing the things that he hadn’t known he needed to hear; that kon’s a good kid, that he’s young and silly still, and doing the ‘S’ proud just like he promised he would. things that clark already knew, but he worries that the world will percieve it differently, because he’s kryptonian, because he’s a clone, because he’s young and impressionable, and - despite what he might think underneath that leather jacket and those sunglasses - extremely vulnerable.
“he is a good kid,” clark repeats, glancing down into his mug with a faint smile.
“handles his... situation a lot better than i probably would have at his age.” and there isn’t really anything clark can do to change that. the world’s responsibilities are already kon’s burden; this soon, this young. a regret that follows clark right behind dying, having his dna stolen, and the domino of problems that followed.
“superboy still has a lot to learn, though. like handling his powers through his emotions, his impulsiveness, and ability to work with others...” he pauses, glancing off to the side, listening to the sound of superboy’s voice bickering with robin on a mission far away from here.
“so, it’s good he has... someone responsible looking out for him outside of hawaii.” probably more responsible than clark, and he hates that; he has no idea how to handle suddenly having a teenager on his hands. he would have never brought a child into the world and put them through this. “but i know it’s not easy dealing with a growing kryptonian, my ma and pa can attest to that. and from what i gather, kon comes by often, so if there’s ever any... if he breaks something on accident, or - swallows your pantry dry, let me know if there’s anything i can do and i’ll do it.”
“he hasn’t given you trouble, has he?”
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