she didn’t need the vocal confirmation ; she knew the minute the door opened that keely wasn’t there. however caught up she might’ve been in her room, however hyperactively she was running around his apartment, she almost never missed the chance to run and hug her when she stopped by to pick her up - still at that stage of childhood where such a bright greeting was just kinda standard. the fact she couldn’t hear her feet on hardwood floors and couldn’t see her in the immediate space was all she needed to know, and makena…-  she didn’t LIKE it, but a feeling that would do neither of them any good had started to settle in the pit of her stomach the minute that the realization struck. whenever they had been at their worst, and she had stormed off for a few hours to confide in her mum, neena had urged her to count to ten when she could feel her patience wearing thin. she had been young and full of rage, then, so she hadn’t heeded the advice ; but now she was older, and tired, and a mum herself. she was BEYOND frustrated, and she didn’t want the explanation - she wanted her daughter all packed up and ready to go - but with a flare of her nostrils and a deep, unhappy sigh, she started to count, one, two, three- “why is this a problem, cooper?” four, five, she couldn’t help the instinct of FULL naming him, even when she was trying to keep her cool, six- “she’s supposed to be here, like we agreed-” seven, eight, she had been feeling the absences moreso, lately, relying on keely’s presence almost TOO much to get her through an otherwise trying time, nine, ten, “we’re, just…-” fuck. she ran a hand through her braids, her frustration - at him, at herself, never clearer. “we’re supposed to be seeing my parents, today. later, but- today. how long is it gunna take?” 

he should take it. he fucked up. but it wasn’t that big of a fuck up, was it? cooper got his dates wrong in an already too complicated custody schedule. he had bene taking this for five years now, rarely giving it back because he was changed. you’re not that guy anymore, his mother had JUST reassured him last night. let it gooooo dad, keely, sensing the tension, had sung from his parent’s living room (disney’s frozen was on, movie night with pop and all that). cooper stepped back, he could just- breathe. hold it in. he’s not this guy anymo- why is this a problem, cooper. “rao’s sake, mak-,” RAO, what a drama king. the usually very guarded about his past cooper let the pseudo deity’s name slip into conversation in front of people who knew, the ones that had been around when it had actually been a damn religion- this was jut kara, mostly. and those who would know second hand- his dad, siblings, mom, kena now, apparently. “can ya get off of my ass for like, half a second?” he moved out of the doorway, leaving the invitation for her to enter, or perhaps for him to leave. “in case you forgot, i could be there in less than a minute if i wanted to. so. not a big deal.”

“Perhaps you are some big softie now, miracles can happen after all.” Althea teased to lighten the mood a bit. She had tried to stay as reclusive as she could, just leaving to teach or dance. She wasn’t affected as badly as others were, but it was still upsetting to watch other people struggle. Especially when she wasn’t on the best of terms with Cooper. “And I want to be happy, I guess I’m just - I’m just figuring out how to get there.” She smiled softly at him before looking down at her lap. “But, thank you. I appreciate that.”

“me? i’ve always been soft.” it’s what got him in trouble in his pre-earth days. “just depends on how we’re using the term.” cooper didn’t like to think about it, so he moved on. “i want you to be happy. i feel like a broken record telling you this. so- anything i can do. let me know and you’ve got me. okay? anyway-,” he wanted to push this issue further still, because he hadn’t learned his lesson. soon, he would hold her accountable for that. “keely doing ballet classes. how do we feel about it?” 

’ done properly, parenting is a heroic act. ‘ / @coopkents.

“ the hero thing was for my parents - it’s not really my THING, superboy. “ maybe at one point it was her thing. gaia always wanted to be just like her parents and in some ways she most definitely was. but the hero business wasn’t for her , she was happy with traveling the world and living her life to the fullest. 

“there’s parenting, there’s vigilanting, and then there’s the mixture of both. it always turns out super well, but you know that better than i do, probably.” that wasn’t fair to his super-hero parent. clark had always done his best by lor-zod cooper. and he turned out fine, okay? “you’ve never been an x-woman though? aren’t your presidents the co-presidents of that team?” there were multiple teams, he knew that. he always knew more than he let on. though, gaia likely saw through that by now. 

“Everybody wants to go to heaven, but no one wants to die.” He leaned back against his chair, shutting his eyes. There was a burning sensation when he did. That’s how long it had been since he last got a good night’s sleep. Now that he finally had a chance to catch up on sleep, it simply felt… abnormal. Ryan was running on espresso shots and sugary snacks. Somehow, he felt energetic enough to live out the rest of the day. “It’s quite a juxtaposition.” He sighed, crossing his arms.

“alright, socrates” his friend was tired, but there wasn’t much he could do about that (cooper could leave, he could not initiate a conversation when ryan’s eyes were already shut, etc.) plus, it was impossible. while cooper had never, and would never, have the opportunity himself to take advantage of caffeine, he’d seen ryan down two espresso shots just a few minutes ago. big deal, he guessed. “can’t you be into the idea of heaven, but not ready to go just yet? solved it.” 

“God, Cooper. I’m so sorry, I am.” Althea immediately felt even more guilty for the fight they had, she didn’t know he had gone through that much. She took a box of food out and handed it to him. Tentatively, she sat across from him and placed her own food in her lap. “About that fight, I’m sorry. You were right.”

“ah, who knows. perhaps fatherhood has made more sensitive to these things.” unlikely. it had just been a rough couple of weeks. his mom’s insistent texts about repairing things with althea, combined with his mildly guilty conscious, combined with the events of spring fling, had added up. “it’s your life thea. ya know. we just got these opinions about one another’s lives and- who am I to be giving advice, right?” he trailed off, looking at the food on the table. this was already turning out more extra than he thought it would be. “we’d, I’m speaking for your niece as well, just like to see you happy? I dunno- look, you know mak and I- I loved mak. i wanted things to work out with mak. but even if you took keely out of the equation, we weren’t good for each other back then and we knew that and- now we’re not together. i know what you’re going through sucks. but you’ll be okay at the end of it.”

“ thanks , pal , ” she replied , before lightning up and taking a drag. “ knew i could count on you. ” she wasn’t expecting to see him that night , but she’s not really surprised by anything these days. “ kinda slow , but i don’t mind , ” her faced pulled into a deniro-like expression. “ the only people that come to a bar like this on a monday are regulars , so it’s all real nice and familiar. ”

running into cooper wasn’t anything of note — they saw each other often enough. however , this wasn’t the usual setting. “ so what brings you here on a monday night ? ”

“Hi Cooper.” She caught the eye roll, but ignored it. Pick your battles, she told herself. She walked in, doing a look around at the apartment, and gave him a raised eyebrow. “What happened here?” She asked as she placed the food on a counter.

“ah. combination of things.” he watched her cross the room, he plopped back down on his couch. “forgetting my daughter, essentially telling my daughter’s mother to fuck off-,” he was still, very obviously sore about the events of the spring fling. “-getting into a fight with my sister-”

being a teacher was never something teddy had really thought about but ever since he started working at delilah’s, the idea of making this a permanent thing started to sound better and better. yes the sound of screaming children gave him raging migraines but the smiles and idiotic little kid sayings make up for it in their own way. “ oh samantha ! i’m gonna get you ! “ teddy bellowed as a young girl play screamed and started to run. it was after pick up time and her mother worked a bit later so she trusted him to just play with her in the local park until she got out. “ i GOT you !! “ the large blonde exclaimed as he playfully picked samantha up and threw her other his shoulder, in that moment, he noticed someone nearby. “ don’t worry - i’m not kidnapping her ! “ he yelled out, realizing afterwards that it definitely did sound like he was kidnapping her which made the laughing screaming coming from samantha not look too good. 

‘look dad! it’s mr. altman from my old school!’ and then before he could remind her that they were on their way somewhere, off keely kent ran, not a care in the world, as if they hadn’t been on their way to something. he sighed- if he had just had the time to home school keely (he was home schooled- and he turned out fine!)- another needless social interaction could be avoided. perhaps if this had happened at a different time, cooper would have had a better attitude toward seeing keely’s old teacher, one she adored, one she raved about, ‘I think he’s like us dad! i can tell’  ‘there is no like us, keely, eat your peas’  (in reference to his heritage, and then hers as well, a tightly kept secretly that keely probably should never have been informed of this young). he took his time catching up to her, “-if you’re taking kids then you’re welcome to this one. she’s started cello lessons recently and won’t eat her peas.”

the inhuman prince looked down at his shirt which was ruined, it was hard to find good clothing nowadays especially since he tended to be a bit picky outside of his royal regalia. his mother would of told him to calm down, that its just a shirt but then again, she was the queen and shirts like this meant nothing to her, nothing to her extensive wardrobe filled with dresses of every imaginable purple. “ maybe you should watch your kid and idontknow, be a good dad. “ admittedly, dads were a very sore spot for him, especially seeing people being good dad’s. it just reminded him of all the crap his dad put him through and how he’s only just recently seen the error of his ways. 

“that’s a leap.” he saw something in this guy that looked familiar. how easily angered he’d become over- nothing. and then the inability to chill the fuck out over it. cooper recognized it. that had been him all throughout his young adulthood. development, that’s what his mom would call this. he would call and tell her about it later. regardless, it didn’t give this fella any sort of right to be yelling at his daughter (and her friends). “they’re just kids. doing what kids do. leave them out of- whatever it is your shit is.” 

Althea hated how she spoke to Cooper. No matter how right he was or unwarranted his advice was, she never should have talked to him in the way she did. Therefore, she decided to try to make peace in the only way this family seemed to know how: with food. She knocked on his door tentatively.

“Coop? It’s me…I have an olive branch to extend…”

@coopkents

He heard her enter the building, and the hit the stairs- he considered hopping out the window. Rather that and be immature then another fight he’d have to explain to his mother later on. He could just- not answer the door. The not home excuse never worked on any of his siblings though- they would see or hear him. “hi thea”, he said, a small eye roll followed. “come on in-,” to his...out of the ordinarily messy apartment. 

“ not many kyrptonians lied about being a mutant there though. “ leroy replied boldly as he crossed his arms over his chest, his hands were a bit itchy but that was just because he’d accidentally left on his eating gloves which were a bit thicker so he could wash them easier. “ i-i don’t make mistakes, my powers don’t make things up. “

“right.” cooper felt proud of his personal growth, just a few years ago he would not have handled this nearly as well. “so you’re claiming that I am a Kryptonian. I’m telling you that I’m not. hypothetically, what I am effects you in no way, there’s not need to bring it up to me, or anyone else.” He lifted his eyebrows. It was meant to come across not as a thread, but as a caution. “you seem like a cool kid, I don’t want us getting off on the wrong foot.”

patience was something that ahura didn’t lack but used very sparingly, especially when it came to children. so loud, so rambunctious and messy. the royal inhuman prince was walking through the park when a couple of children accidentally threw two of their water balloons at him which were meant for another child nearby. immediately, the man threw off his shirt and glared at the children as they immediately ran. “ i will kill those children and wear them like hats ! “ he angrily exclaimed. 

Park days. Cooper let Keely run out the energy from a too-syrupy pancake breakfast, while he read the paper. He was barely on the second page when he heard the commotion, Keely hadn’t been throwing a water balloon- but she was participating in the events unfolding. His ears were very much tuned into Keely specifically- she breathed in. Not scared (Keely thought that she was invincible) - but it caught her off guard enough for a shake, and she was already moving back toward him. He stood from the bench, and shouted as he moved in that direction, “hey, buddy, ya wanna calm down? shit happens.”

“ coop , what are you TALKING about ? “ she sighs heavily. “ we haven’t dated in YEARS , cooper. we’ve been broken up for awhile and you’ve been having this somewhat thing with makena… “ she presses her fingers to her temples out of frustration. “ no we weren’t. we been here at paragon academy for months now. are you okay ? “

“Gaia we were just- at- Xavier’s-,” but now he was looking around. They were not at Xavier’s. Cooper had never been to this place before. He was quieter now- soaking in the chaos around him, “who’s makena? I don’t-” his eyes were wide when he pulled out his phone, 2019. “I need to call my mom or- what’s- I don’t- what is this?”

Raya nodded at his appology, honestly it was all she’d really needed in that moment. “It’s fine.” Was all she could think to reply, looking around the place. “I take it Keeks isn’t here?” It was a question she was pretty certain she already knew the answer to, but the blonde wasn’t about to drag him out of his wallowing hole if it meant leaving her niece home alone. Keely might have been pretty badass for a five year old, but even she knew it wouldn’t bode well. She leaned forward in her seat when Cooper went on to explain, an outward portrayal of her willingness to listen. 

Her relationship with her biological brother was far different to her relationship with Gerry, but even so, she did care about him…More than she’d like to admit. Waiting for him to finish his trail of thought, she nodded faintly. “Yeah, seems to have effected everyone regardless of species. I mean, apparently it even got my mom stuck in binary and she’s usually immune to…pretty much everything.” The kyrptonian commented, as though to emphasise a point Coop had already made. “But back to you.” She added with a small smile. “Do you wanna talk about it? – Or would you rather just punch things?” Raya knew what her preference would be if the roles were reversed at least, so she figured she’d give him the option. 

“she’s with Kena today.” Cooper generally picked himself up for Keely’s sake. She had very quickly forgiven him for the weirdness that had occurred the night that he had forgotten about her. Keely had not been let in on the knowledge of what had happened to him, or anyone that had been at the event. She knew that something was off though, she was intuitive like that. 

Cooper didn’t want to talk about his situation, he would though, as there were a lot of things in this like that he did not want to do. But had to do. He could not help what had already happened. “I take it you were not in attendance then?” good for her, everyone seemed to be reeling from it. “what’s it mean for her to be stuck in binary?”

the younger man looked down at his feet, that day now coming all back to him. how he’d accidentally bumped into cooper, the skin to skin contact and those memories of his childhood swirling around his head. he was thirteen, young and scared, especially with those awful events from a childhood that wasn’t his now in his mind, he pushed it all down immediately. now it bubbled right back up in the stupidest way. leroy shook his head. “ i-i’m sorry.. i’m not.. i shouldn’t of said anything but i’m not misremembering… it’s just my powers, i’m sorry. “ 

“ya know, I’m not saying you’re wrong. I did spend a lot of my young adulthood at that school. But so did- a lot of other people.” he paused. what did this little shit know? And why couldn’t he just leave it be? what idiot readily approaches a kryptonian ready to bring up something like his past? “it’s an easy mistake.”

“yeah! it didn’t help the situation!” her voice was louder than it needed to be, but it wasn’t quite yelling. “and it was kind of a bitch move, and i never really apologized for it, so i’m sorry. but i was just freaked out for you and i didn’t know how to deal with that and yelling at you was always easier!” she took a deep breath. she had just ‘yelled’ at him again, so clearly nothing had really changed. “did you hit your head or something?” she asked, stepping closer now and physically inspecting his head, she was starting to get worried, he seemed very shaken up about this. “wait, so you remember nothing about the past couple of years? not even kena or keely? do you remember what happened to achillies? “ her voice cracked at the use of his name. she wasn’t sure if it was due to lack of use or the charge of emotions that came with speaking it.

“ah well, apology shelved for later discussion.” He moved away from her reach, her questions, none of which he had answers for, spurred his own. “who’s Keely? What’s happened to your brother?” fuck sakes, he pulled out his phone once again. The lock screen was a picture of a toothy five year old in a chair with her feet up on the desk, she had the same wide eyes as him. Cooper didn’t take the time necessary to process this, and instead took a look at the date. “it’s 2019??”