#querl

It hadn’t been a bad kiss, it had been a very good kiss, Querl’s first kiss. Clark was a fantastic kisser and he had enjoyed making out with him immensely. It made his heart flutter and his lips tingle; it all came so naturally to him, and it felt amazing. Clark must have thought differently however because after only a couple of minutes he had pushed himself away from Brainy and was speeding out the door leaving a very stunned Brainiac 5 behind.

Clark had not returned until early the next morning.

Apart from a few awkward encounters here and there, things had returned to normal, but Clark, from what Brainy could tell, refused to touch him unless it was by accident or absolutely necessary. The kiss was not mentioned, and Brainy didn't want to jeopardise the delicate peace between them by bringing it up, so he remained silent. But nothing appeared to be able to relieve the throbbing pain in his chest; it hadn't ceased since Clark had left the apartment, and none of his normal day-to-day activities seemed to be helping.

With a groan Brainy pushed himself up into a sitting position, bringing his knees to his chest and resting his head softly upon them. He had started to put words to feelings, like happy or sad. Those were simple and he figured those two out in no time. But right now, he felt a mix of emotions and sometimes he found it difficult to put into words. He had started to list out his symptoms to help him reach a conclusion. He and Clark had thought of this strategy together and it had worked so far.

1)Tight feeling in the chest, 2) Difficulty breathing, but not enough to panic, 3) Slight shaking in the hands, 4) Heavy head.

With that list in mind, Querl concluded that he was upset, frustrated and anxious. Upset because he had obviously hurt Clark in some way, be it because he was a terrible kisser or something much deeper. Frustrated because things had been so awkward between them, he couldn’t think of a way to fix things, and anxious…because he didn’t want to be abandoned.

Taking a few deep, calming breaths Brainy tried to clear his head. ‘Maybe I can do something…to make it up to him' he thought. A nice gesture to show how much he appreciated him, and maybe…just maybe Clark wouldn’t ask him to leave. They could ignore the kiss forever and live happily together as friends!

Clark was always the cook, so perhaps he could prepare something for the Kryptonian when he returned from work. Querl leapt up from the couch and walked over to the kitchen with a renewed sense of purpose. Since he'd moved here, he'd seen Clark cook several times, but he hadn't memorised any of the recipes. Before he became organic, it would have been a lot easier. He could have recorded the whole thing and saved it in his memory files. But now, in terms of memorising, things were a little different. This did not bother Querl as he reached for the closest recipe book hoping to find something yummy that the two of them could enjoy together. Eventually, he stumbled across something that could work.

Chicken noodle soup.

He remembered Clark saying how much he enjoyed the soup his Ma made on the farm growing up, and despite the fact that his cooking could never live up to her expectations Querl decided that it was worth a shot and started gathering the needed ingredients. Thank goodness Clark had everything in the apartment since Brainy still couldn’t go outside not until he came up with a device that could disguise his true form. But that required a trip to the future…something he just wasn’t ready to do yet. He was sure when he decided to visit his friends, he would receive nothing but kindness, but that nagging thought still chewed away at his brain telling him that deep down…they all hated him for what he had done.

Shaking himself from his thoughts Brainy focused on the task at hand, refusing to squash the good mood he had put himself in. Things were going well and the recipe was easy enough to follow, but a problem arose when he started chopping the various vegetables the recipe required.

Now, Querl Dox was no stranger to accidents, he had caused a number of things to blow up in the past and even had limbs blown off. If he were born human, he was sure he’d be dead or at least severely damaged. But his body had always regenerated, and no matter how much pain he was in everything was usually back to normal in a matter of hours.

Apparently, with his new organic body…that was not the case.

While chopping the carrots Querl’s hand slipped slicing across the tips of his fingers. Lucky for him the knife had not taken off any of his fingertips but there was now a decent amount of blood dripping from his hand and onto the countertop. For a second, he stood there, frozen. Mesmerized by his own blood. After all, Brainiac 5 had never bled before…his old body did not produce blood. Sure he had seen blood before, many times but never leaking from his own body.

That moment of silent shock soon faded and the panic set in. “Ow.” He whimpered holding his bleeding hand tightly against his chest. Suddenly he realised he had no idea what to do, he had never had to deal with this before. And the sudden realisation of how vulnerable he was in this new body only made matter worse as he started to hyperventilate. ‘Should there be this much blood?’ he thought frantically as he looked around the kitchen as if it would give him the answer to all his problems. The cut wasn’t that deep, running from the tip of his left pinkie finger to his bottom pointer knuckle. He had lost no fingers…why was it bleeding so much?

It didn’t take long to discover that Brainy wasn’t great when it came to panic, Clark had been able to calm him down most of the time, but when he was alone it was a different story. He had even passed out a few times when it became too difficult to breathe…freaking Clark out in the process. But Querl didn’t want that to happen, not today. He had already caused Superman enough trouble, he didn’t need Clark to find him passed out in the kitchen bleeding.

So, with shaking hands, and staggered steps Querl reached for the nearby house phone. Clark had said he could call him whenever he needed, and even left his work number taped to the fridge. Brainy had never used it though, not wanting to bother him at work. But the Coluan was starting to panic, and his hand hadn’t stopped bleeding…he needed Clark. Dialling the number with his uninjured hand Brainy held the phone up to his ear praying for Clark to pick up.

He did.

After a couple of rings, Brainy heard Clark's voice through the phone, momentary relief washing over him. “Hello, Clark Kent speaking.”

“C-Clark” Brainy stammered struggling to keep his breathing under control.

“Brainy?” Clark responded, “Uh-do you think I could call you back I’m a bit busy”

Querl’s heart dropped, of course, he was busy. Clark had told him he had a meeting before he left for work and so he might be late home…but that had completely slipped his mind. “Um-“ his hand throbbed and blood had started dripping onto the floor. “It’s just…I cut myself and I don’t know what to do.” Querl couldn’t hold back the sob that tore its way from his throat. “There’s so much blood…I need you Clark please.” He cried even harder, unable to contain his panic any longer. “I don’t know what to do.” He whimpered into the phone.

A few moments of silence (Aside from Brainy’s quiet crying) passed before Clark spoke. “I’ll be there soon, just try to stop the bleeding.” Then he hung up. Querl nodded to himself sinking onto the floor, his shaking legs unable to support his weight any longer. He grabbed a towel that was within reach and wrapped it around his hand, hissing when the fabric made contact. He tried to control his ragged breathing as he watched the towel turn red with blood.

He didn’t know how long he had spent rocking back and forth on the kitchen floor by the time Clark arrived. The Kryptonian was by his side in an instant inspecting the injury carefully. “What happened?” he asked voice loud enough to make Querl flinch.

“Uh-I…I w-was trying um” Brainy was struggling to get the words out. “Soup.” He finally managed, wiping the tears from his face as they continued to fall.

“What? Soup?” Clark asked dumbfounded looking up at the ingredients scattered throughout the kitchen. “Were you trying to cook?” Brainy nodded. “Why? You’ve never cooked before.” He inquired as he helped Brainy to his feet, dragging him towards the bathroom. Brainy sniffled, struggling to catch his breath as he thought how burdensome this must be for Clark. God, he’d screwed up so bad. “Hey, hey…calm down you’re not in trouble” Clark assured as he sat Brainy on the edge of the bath kneeling in front of him. “Take a deep breath for me Brainy, everything it okay you’re safe here. I just wanna know how you got hurt.” Brainy nodded closing his eyes and focusing on his breathing but it was difficult when all he could think about was how much of a screw-up he was.

“Five things Brainy” He heard Clark say. They had done this before when Querl had his breakdowns, and it had helped, but he didn’t want to open his eyes and see the disappointment on Clark's face so he just shook his head. “Querl,” Clark stated. “Open your eyes.” At the sound of his real name, Brainy did open his eyes, it was rare for the Kryptonian to call him by his real name.

“Clark” He whimpered. “It hurts…”

“I know Brainy…five things you can see, tell me.” He replied, taking the younger’s hands in his own.

“Um…you?” Brainy asked.

“Yeah, that’s one what else.”

“T-the bath…mirror…f-floor” he continued.

“One more Brainy” Clark encouraged. “T-towels.”

“Fantastic, four things you can feel.” He continued.

The method continued until Brainy’s breathing returned to normal and he didn’t feel like he was going to pass out, although he still clutched Clarks hand’s tightly in his own. “Bette?” Clark asked, Querl nodded. “Okay, now tell me what happened.” He said, reaching for the medical supplied they kept under the sink. As he attended to Brainy’s hand the Coluan explained how all he wanted to do was make him soup for when he came home and ended up cutting himself instead of the carrot.

“You don’t have to cook.” Clark chuckled. “I don’t mind cooking”

“I know.” Brainy sniffled. “But…I just felt like I needed to do something.”

“Why?” Clark questioned as he finished bandaging his hand.

“Because of the kiss” Brainy mumbled a single tear rolling down his green cheek. “I didn’t want you to leave me.”

A pang of guilt stabbed at Clark’s heart, he hadn’t meant to make Brainy feel like that. He thought that if he just ignored it then they could go back to the way things were. He didn’t mind the kiss, it had been obvious that Brainy was inexperienced but it was the best kiss Clark had ever had. But Brainy was still figuring things out with his new body and all these new emotions that he felt like he was forcing him somehow…so he ran.

He shouldn’t have run, instead, he should have talked to Brainy about it. Maybe if he had then his friend wouldn’t be hurt. “Brainy…” he sighed. “Querl, look at me.” He said placing a finger under Brainy’s chin so he could see his beautiful purple eyes. “I didn’t hate the kiss, if that’s what you’re worried about…and I would never abandon you why would you think that!”

“Everyone else does.”

“Not me…not me Querl,” Clark said pulling the younger into a hug. He could feel Brainy’s arms slowly snake around him gripping tightly onto his shirt. “I just didn’t want to force you.”

“You didn’t”

“Brainy…”

“You didn’t force me!” Brainy exclaimed pulling away so he could look Clark in the eye. “I liked the kiss, I like you!” he sighed. “I’ve liked you for so long…that kiss meant everything to me.”

Clark didn’t know what to say, so instead, he just leaned in and captured Brainy’s lips with his own. The kiss was soft, gentle and conveyed every emotion he didn’t know how to express.

 They kissed a lot more often after that.