• May 23, 2017 (Mon-El staying at the Kents' residence) •

Clark kept his word and looked after the Mon-El situation himself. Since he couldn't persuade Bruce to adopt him because it was more than clear that the man had enough children on his hands, probably more than he could handle even for him to take in an adult alien as well, so by the end of some deep thinking, Clark offered Mon to come and live with his family.

He had been kept under strict observation by the YJ for two days but by then they had all reached an agreement that the alien from Daxam had no malicious intentions.

Daxam had been deteriorating and would have exploded just like Krypton had done so years before and Mon-El took the option of escaping via spacecraft. Crashlanding on Earth wasn't part of his plan but now that he was there, he was learning to adapt to the situation.

Along with him, the others were also learning to adapt to him.

They didn't know what kind of a person Mon-El was but so far, he hadn't caused any extreme havoc. He had light brown hair and dull blue eyes and though he physically resembled a human, he probably had powers beyond the reach of an average human and was much more like a Kryptonian instead.

Naturally, they thought he would have a better bonding with the Kryptonians, namely Clark and Kara, but then they learned that Daxamites and Kryptonians held a lot of prejudice among them. Their planets had literally been at war with one another at some point in the past.

But as Connor wasn't technically a Kryptonian despite having the abilities of one, Mon-El thought it safe to befriend him. Agreeing to stay with the Kents had also been a decision he wouldn't normally take but he had no other option so he reluctantly gave in.

However, just one day with the warm and loving Kent family made him realize that it was a good decision indeed. So Mon-El decided to bury all the prejudices and start afresh with his newfound friends on planet Earth.

"You said Kara is coming too," he was in Connor's room while the latter was teaching him how to play video games.

"Yes, by dinner."

"Okay," he mumbled, trying to focus on the game but was visibly distracted.

"Why are you so enthusiastic for her to come?"

"I want to apologize," he put down the controller, blue eyes connecting with Connor's, "I reacted terribly when we first met."

"You know what they say on Earth," a teasing smirk tugged upon Connor's face, "the first impression is the last impression."

"Ah, that's terrible..." He sighed, looking quite disappointed.

"Why? Did you wish to leave a good impression on her?" Conor put down the controller as well, after easily finishing off Mon's player in the game, "or am I missing something here?"

"It's not like that," he looked away, "I feel bad that I almost killed her."

"Oh come on, she's a Kryptonian. You can't kill her that easily," Connor remarked.

"If only I had been a little more aware of my surroundings, I would never have done that."

"Don't worry. She'll come here tonight and if you apologize, I'm sure she will accept it. Fr all I know, she must have forgiven you already," he tried to reassure him, patting his shoulder lightly, "our Kara's like that. Nice and sweet."

"That's... Great, I guess."

"Stop overthinking. Everything's gonna be fine." But then Connor shrugged nonchalantly, "besides, you don't have to worry about leaving any impression. That has been done already by someone else before you."

"Wait, what?" His ears perked up, "what do you mean?"

Connor hid a smile, "oh, nothing that important."

"No, tell me. What do you mean someone else?" Something seemed to spark briefly in his blue eyes and he had stood up, towering over Connor.

Connor's eyes widened in alarm, recalling his unstable state a few days earlier, "chill, dude, it's not that big of a deal for you to take your weapons out at me."

That remark seemed to have instantly deflated him and he stepped back, "sorry."

Connor noticed the sudden change and stood up as well, reeling him into a hug, "no need to say sorry, bud. I get it."

Mon froze at the gesture, not knowing how to respond to that. He was standing stiff as a statue so Connor let go immediately, thinking that he had probably made him uncomfortable.

But not wanting to make the situation more awkward, he continued talking to him as if nothing happened.

"Okay enough of Kara. Sit and let's talk about you," he changed the topic, making him sit back down in the beanbag beside his, "how was your life at Daxam? You never told us in detail."

"There's nothing to tell in detail."

"But still, who were your parents? What was your life like?" Connor obviously had a lot of but he noticed the somewhat sad look on his face and stopped, "oh I'm sorry, I am such a dumbass that I forget to be empathetic of other people's feelings."

"It's alright..." He dismissed the apology.

"You don't have to tell me if it makes you sad."

Mon shook his head, a slight smile taking over his face, "I'm not sad. I'm just not accustomed to this behavior so I'm processing."

"Oh..."

"I'll tell you everything, probably because you're the first one who's shown interest."

"I'm just very curious to find out about other's life experiences," Connor elaborated, "I find it fascinating."

Mon had been made aware that he was a Kryptonian clone, all thanks to the YJ not giving it a rest even in front of their guest. So he could understand why Connor would be so interested.

He leaned back, eyes glistening with nostalgia, "my parents were Lar Gand and Rhea. As for what my life was at Daxam, it was way better than the rest of our people, a fact for which I feel guilty now."

"And why's that?"

He sighed, the nostalgia turning into an almost bitter look, "I was the prince of Daxam."

"You're a prince?" Connor looked back at him in shock, "like your parents are the king and queen of the entire planet? You're royal?"

"Yes," he replied, "on Earth, you people have a different concept of being divided into colonies... Countries, I mean. On Daxam, there's just one colony that encompasses all the Daxamites and one royal family who rules over the entire planet."

Connor was processing the newfound information so he didn't say anything just yet.

"I don't know what became of them," he resumed though his voice had lowered considerably, "I would never have left if not for my mother and bodyguard who persuaded me to save myself. I don't even know if Daxam exists anymore or has met the same fate as Krypton."

Silence engulfed the two and as Connor wasn't accustomed to the absence of sound, he began to feel awkward. But he didn't want to make Mon feel smothered so he forced himself to stay quiet and give him space.

"Sorry to interrupt you two but everyone's calling you downstairs," Kara's voice broke the silence at last and Mon turned to the source of sound immediately.

"How long were you listening in?" Mon asked, his tone slightly stiff despite trying not to be harsh.

She shook her head, choosing not to reply to his question, "we could help you send a signal to Daxam if you want to."

He could see she must have heard everything or nothing but she didn't seem willing to tell him what she knew. So he let it pass.

Besides, he had to apologize to Kara, that was the priority at the moment.

"I... I'm sorry," he spoke up, "I overreacted that day when we first met."

Kara wasn't expecting that but smiled reassuringly, "hey, it's okay. I understand what you must have been going through at that time. There's no need to apologize."

"Thank you." He looked relieved to hear that from her.

Connor flung an arm over Mon's shoulders, "see, what did I tell you? It was nothing to worry about."

"Dinner is laid out. Everyone else is waiting downstairs," Kara told them and as expected, Connor had bolted down the stairs in a flash.

Kara and Mon were left alone in the room as a result. However, they didn't stay there and came out to go down to the living room.

"Connor seems to have accepted you as a friend," Kara remarked, trying to be friendly towards him.

"Yeah. He's good company."

"And what about you?"

He paused at the first step of the staircase, "what about me?"

"Are you adjusting well here?" She asked cautiously, "I mean, if there's anything you have a problem with, you can always let us know."

"No, everything's great. All of you are really kind to me," but the latter remark was mumbled in a barely audible voice, "even though I don't deserve it."

She didn't understand what he meant by that but if he had started to trust Connor enough to tell him about his past, maybe someday he would start trusting the others as well.

"I don't know why you think that," she replied, taking a few steps but turning to face him, "you're a good person, I'm sure you too deserve all the good that's kept in store for you."

His eyes flickered and it seemed as if he was about to say something. But Lois and Connor's voices calling them to come down had interrupted them.

"We'll continue right where we left this off. For now, let's go to dinner or else we'll have to starve ourselves," Kara smiled and then descended the stairs with Mon following close behind.

***