#I think he'd be happy staying in smallville not 24/7 but as his main base

[redrobin-detective]

love grows where it is planted

"Oh shoot, I’m all out of hot pads,” Ma frowned looking at the feast she had made. “Temperature doesn’t bother you boys, can one of you bring the corn out to the table?”

“Got it,” Clark said, reaching for the pan.

“No sweat,” Conner said at the same time as he also reached for the pan. They stared at each other with near identical eyes, each of them with one grip on the handles of the dish.

“I said I got it,” Clark demurred politely, pulling the corn a little closer to him. 

“Yeah and you already took out the potatoes so it’s only right that I bring out the corn,” Conner said with a frustrated frown. He tugged the dish closer to him. Clark was older, more responsible so he was supposed to be the bigger man and not roll his eyes and sigh. But it sure was hard to resist. 

“Oh for goodness sake, you two,” Ma groaned, grabbing a thick towel off the stove and pulling the pan out of both of their hands. She bustled with it to the table and set it down with a mighty thunk. “I worked hard on this meal so I don’t think it’s too much to ask you two to behave.”

“Sorry Ma,” Clark apologized, seating himself at his usual spot at the dining room table. He never felt more like a kid than he did sitting here, the same table that somehow survived all through his childhood misadventures. Conner mumbled something to Ma before sitting down in a defeated slump. Clark raised an eyebrow, would it kill the kid to sit up straight for dinner?

“Right, it’s so nice to have both of my boys home,” Ma beamed between the two of them. “It’s been too long since we’ve shared a meal together.” Something that probably wasn’t a coincidence. Clark tended to announce his visits ahead of time only to arrive and find Conner had ‘business’ to attend to with the Titans. Or just Tim if Batman’s grumblings were anything to go by. Clark spent very little time with his clone and it seemed the feeling was mutual. So he must say he was a bit surprised when Ma asked him to fly down for dinner only to find Kon and Krypto playing in the field. 

“Thank you, Ma’am, it smells amazing,” Kon said with a grin. He had his fork and knife in hand, clearly ready to get started.

“Conner, I’m no less your Ma when Clark is here so please stop it with that Ma’am nonsense,” she sighed. “And don’t wait on this old lady, dig in boys it’s not getting any warmer.”

Conversation proceeded well for the first part of the meal. Ma spoke of what the neighbors had been up to, how the corn had been doing this year. Clark explained the latest story he was researching, what trouble Lois was getting into and a funny story involving Jimmy the other day. Kon went into the details of a Titans mission, one Clark had gotten a briefing on last week. Clark waited for Ma to stop him but she seemed engaged, asking questions about the mission and the other teens. They looked so at ease together. 

Clark stabbed at his porkchop. It would be stupid and petty to say he was annoyed of how well his mother and Conner got along. Ma had always been so strict with his powers growing up and, even as an adult, she didn’t like hearing about cape stuff when he came to visit. But Kon had been using his powers on and off all evening and, from the way it sounded, kept Ma up to date with his superheroics. The double standard just irked him, maybe this was why Bruce’s many, many children were always bickering. 

“Alright, I hope you boys saved room for dessert. I made your favorites, apple for Clark and pecan for Conner,” Ma said, shuffling back into the kitchen, leaving Clark and Conner alone. The room fell into silence. 

“Didn’t know you liked pecan pie,” Clark said awkwardly. “It was one of Pa’s favorites but I’m not a fan, Ma hasn’t made it in a while cause of it.”

“Oh I mean, all her pies are good, y’know?” Conner shrugged, playing with his fork. They didn’t speak again until Ma came back with two heaping pie slices for each of them. 

“I can’t stomach another thing right now so I’ll just grab a coffee but I wanted to talk to you kids about something so stay there,” Ma said, talking as she poured her coffee. “It’s nothing bad I promise but it is important.”

“It’s about the farm,” Ma said finally as she settled herself down at the table. “I’m not going to live forever so I wanted to talk to you boys about what to do with it.”

“Ma,” Clark said, the apple pie turning bitter in his mouth. Losing Pa had devastated him, he didn’t even want to think about his mother...

“Put those big, wet eyes away, Clarkie,” Ma said sternly but softly as she gripped his hand. “Hopefully it’ll be a long ways off but it’s still something we need to discuss as a family.” She glanced over at Conner and reached for him with her other hand.

“Now right now, Clark gets everything: the house, the farm, the money, all of it. Course that will was made before Johnny died, before you came along, Conner.” 

“Yeah but that shouldn’t make a difference,” Conner muttered, his shoulders hitching up to his ears. “I mean, Clark’s your kid, I don’t see why he shouldn’t get it. I really appreciate you letting me crash here but I’m just-”

“My grandbaby,” Ma interrupted squeezing his fingers. “I don’t care that you came from a test tube, you’re mine just as much as Clark is.” Clark averted his eyes so he didn’t have to see the soft, vulnerable look in the other’s eyes.

“Clark, you haven’t lived on this or any farm in a decade. You come out and help during the harvest but it’s not the same as running a farm full time,” Ma said turning back to him. “You’re a city boy now and I’m proud of you for finding your place so I can’t ask you to pack up and move back to Smallville.”

“I-” Clark started to defend but, once he thought about it, he thinks she was right. He loved this land but did he want to give up everything in Metropolis, his life with Lois, for it? Maintaining a farm wasn’t something that could be done part time. 

“I’ve been thinking for a while of leaving the farm to Conner,” she continued. 

“What?” Kon screeched, leaning over to choke on his bite of pie. 

“Oh don’t act so shocked, you’re a natural,” Ma laughed. She glanced over at Clark with proud eyes. “Took him a bit to get the hang of it but he’s got a good sense of the land, of where to plant, how much to water. You don’t have Clark’s special touch with the livestock but you have the heart of a farmer, Conner Kent.”

“I don’t know,” Conner laughed awkwardly, flushing visibly from the praise. “I just did what you showed me to do. I mean I do, like it I mean. It’s peaceful, quiet, I like seeing the results of my work but I uh,” he looked down at his plate. “I don’t know if I could run this whole place by myself.”

“Well not even Superman can operate a farm even a small one alone, which is why Clark would help you,” Ma smiled. “He could still come down and help with the harvests, take over for a few days when you’re busy with you hero business. You would have the land and the house but maintaining it would be up to both of you.”

“I could help, tell you what my Pa taught me and work the land with you,” Clark said slowly. “If that’s what you’d like, I’d much prefer you to have it than to sell.” Conner was quiet across the table, Clark looked up was surprised to see the boy hunched over with his elbows on the table looking like he was doing his best to fight back tears. 

“Oh baby,” Ma said, standing up and placing her hands on his shoulders. 

“I’ve never had any place I really belonged, nothing that was mine,” Conner said thickly. “This land, it’s got a lot of love and history in it. You’d trust me with that?”

“Of course, Conner,” Ma leaned down and hugged him from behind. “A farm doesn’t care who you are or where you come from, all it cares is the love you give it. And I’ve seen you honey, you love these fields, these skies. God I wish Johnny had lived to have met you, you two would’ve gotten on so well.”

“Kon,” Clark said, the boy lifted his wet eyes to him. “This is your home, as much as it was mine. I love it too but it wasn’t what I needed but maybe it could be what you need.” Conner didn’t say anything just nodded his head and went back to looking at his plate. Ma stroked his hair a moment longer before giving him some space to clean up the plates. 

Conner and the farm. It would have seemed unbelievable a few years ago but this boy seemed very different from the young clone Clark had first met. He’d done a lot of growing when Clark hadn’t been watching, become someone his father would have loved. Clark was sorry he missed that.

“I don’t think I’ll be able to convince Tim to move out of Gotham,” Conner said after a few minutes.

“What’s Tim got to do with this?” Clark blinked, Conner blushed again and ducked his head lower. 

“You know I love Timmy but I’m telling you as your Ma; you wait until you’re out of high school before you put a ring on his finger, you hear?” Ma called from the kitchen. Now it was Clark’s turn to choke. He hadn’t realized Tim and Conner’s relationship had progressed so much. What else had he missed in Kon’s life while he was too busy feeling strange about the whole thing?

“I wasn’t gonna-” Kon blushed harder. “Yes, Ma.”  

“Good, well I’m glad we had this talk. We’ll keep going over the specifics but I’d like to get that will changes sooner rather than later. That’s not something I want to leave to chance.” Ma smiled from the kitchen eyes landing softly first on Conner then on Clark. “Alright, lets get these dishes washed and dried so you kids can go for a little flight while the sun’s still up. Clark’s known these skies a lot longer than you, hun, I’m sure he can show you a few nice spots.”

“Yeah,” Clark smiled. “That’d be nice. What do you say, wanna go out for a spin?”

“Sounds good,” Kon smiled back shyly.

“You can tell me more about Tim,” Clark waggled his eyebrows. “He’s always so polite with him but Bruce acts like he’s some sort of gremlin. Who knew we’d both have tastes for trouble causing brunettes.”

“Clark,” Conner moaned, burying his face in his face.

#i have very strong feelings on the nature of kon and clarks relationship #both feeling too awkward and weird about each other to have a solid bond #and also about Ma and Kon's relationship #of him wondering if he really belongs with the Kents and Martha unbashedly thinking of him as her grandson #Kon also gets a pass on some of the super stuff bc a) grandkids get it easier but b) kon is doing stuff teen clark wasn't #he NEEDS to talk out some of those issues and to not feel so trapped and isolated #i a l s o have strong feelings on farmer kon #listen 2019 YJ comic sucked overall but I love that they made Kon a farmer on gemworld #he can be a punk farmer raising his crops in between missions #i think he'd all be into woodcarving maybe with his heat vision #just making something on his own something that's HIS #I think he'd be happy staying in smallville not 24/7 but as his main base #ofc I was sad most of this fic bc I purposefully wrote this pre-infinit crisis aka when Kon dies #bc imagine you just get the will changed for Conner to inherit the farm when Ma dies #only for him to pass before ma and clark #that loss of potential that what if especially since clark never really got to know Kon #ofc Kon comes back but the implication still makes me sad