Not Crazy yet [Comprehensive British and American]

"Say hi to Eric for us," Martha Kent said softly, kissing her son on the cheek. "Don't be too impulsive when things happen, kid. Make phone calls often."

"Good mom." Clark kissed back his mother's temple, then straightened up and gave his father a hug. "I'll take care of myself. Trust me. Call me if anything goes wrong."

Clark walked out of the house with his luggage, and finally couldn't help but look back at the house he lived in for the past 18 years...

He finally left home.

………………

"Do you want to eat anything? If there is a kitchen, I can buy food."

Metropolis under the patter of light rain.Eric stared out the window at the alley below his house.He exhaled funnyly at the phone.

"Come on, I'm thankful you can find it here in its entirety."

When he heard the little Kent on the other end of the phone, he should have smiled too.Sugar Boy is as sweet as ever and has no temper at all.

Eric shook his head.

"Have you brought an umbrella? If you can't find it, I can go down and pick you up."

He looked at the alley that was already flooded.This apartment is very remote, and most of the residents are unemployed gangsters and prostitutes.He wasn't really worried about Clark, but the words came out of his mouth anyway.

Then Little Kent obviously laughed out loud, and the small town boy teased him shyly:

"Is this already your girlfriend's treatment? Your thoughtfulness makes me feel like a junior high school student...I'm already 18, Eric. 18 is not 8." Eric snorted at this. "I brought an umbrella. I bought some pasta. Oh... I found it, right here?"

Eric saw a dark blue umbrella appear at the entrance of the alley.The big boy grinned subconsciously, and Little Kent had indeed found the right place.

He really likes this family.Even though he knew it was meaningless... even if it would affect his determination, he still couldn't help but keep in touch with them.

Eric continued to stare downstairs, and he saw a hurrying bastard emerge from the other side of the alley...probably aggrieved that Clark was holding an umbrella, and the stupid idiot slammed his shoulder into the boy

Then the bastard was bounced aside, as if he had hit a wall.So he was thrown against the other real, wet wall.Eric laughed, and Clark seemed to want to help him... but the idiot also realized that this guy was not easy to mess with, and just ran away in embarrassment.He could imagine Clark's speechless expression.It made him laugh even louder.

And the small-town boy did shake his head...but for the friend he made fun of.

gloat.

Clark raised the edge of his umbrella and frowned at his friend standing by the window.Eric was still smiling, and they barely met each other's eyes, and the black boy even raised his chin provocatively at him.

Clark was infected by his friend's smile and couldn't help but laugh along with it.

………………

"what is this?"

Clark had showered and even changed into pajamas.He ruffled his hair.Lifting his chin, he clicked on the screen on Eric's computer.This made his friend give him a supercilious look.This kid has no siblings, so he doesn't have an accurate understanding of the boundaries of personal privacy, so he dares to ask anything directly.

But that didn't make Eric feel terribly offended.He couldn't tell, maybe he really wanted to talk to Clark.From the moment he'd agreed to let Clark come and stay, it might have been evidence that he wanted to confide in... his one and only friend.His only way to peep into the world's 'happiness'.He knew it was his only chance to regret it...but how could he forget Wakanda, how could he forget his father?His hatred drives him forward every day.But it's really painful, it's really heavy...

His application for enlistment has been approved.Even the preliminary training has been completed.He'll be leaving the Metropolis next month... and soon, he'll be on the battlefield.

His hatred never stops.It became his motivation...it was almost the reason for his life.He thought he would never be confused.But it seems that he really overestimated himself.He overestimated his awareness too much.

Eric still wanted to smile just looking at Clark... that weird boy.That silent supporter.The friend who never told him the secret.

They all have secrets.They all know it well.

Eric smiled smugly.He raised his eyebrows, and handed the specially bought guest mug to Little Kent.Clark retreated into the sofa, noticing that Eric was avoiding his gaze, and the uneasiness in his heart became thicker.

"A veteran told me." Eric wasn't about to tell Clark how offended the veteran's tone was. "It's an African tradition, 'scarification'. I'm going to use it to mark how many people I kill on the battlefield."

Clark was stunned, he had just 'carefully' looked at the written descriptions. "Warriors in African tribes would cut open the skin, inject ash and mud into the surface layer, and after healing, they would form bumps one after another, killing signs one after another..." Clark was almost dumbfounded.

Eric looked at Clark.The boy's expression was so serious, but his expression was so uncertain.It seemed that his words bothered Clark completely, disturbed him completely.

There are not many people in this world who really care about Eric, only three Kents.It looked like little Kent was going to fuck the other two with him.

Clark barely came back to his senses, frowned rarely, and stared at Eric closely.He sat up straight... Eric noticed from the moment he entered the door that this kid seemed to be taller than him.

Clark Kent looked at him.Those blue eyes stared at him sincerely.

"...I'm actually not qualified to comment on your choice at all. I still have some self-knowledge." He used a very strange word.He even used 'qualification'. "Your talent, your hard work... even your stubbornness and perseverance make me feel that you are the most special one among my peers."

Little Kent's hesitation several times made Eric feel unbelievable.

Clark has always been a man who can't learn to beat around the bush.Eric has known him for so long, and he has never seen him express his disapproval in such a tortuous way as today.

disagree.

How amazing.

"I don't know. I can't say why I'd want to stop you, Eric. I wasn't so disturbed when you tried to rush into battle. But...it's different. It's different." Eric was almost sure that Clark was Think and talk. "Jonathan must have talked to you a lot. He couldn't convince you, and I don't think I should try again. It's clear you know what you're taking on. It's clear you're ready…"

The small town boy frowned.He glanced at the ring on Eric's necklace.

"But now I think you may have taken too much. Whether you intend to really serve the country, or this is the first step for you to achieve your real goal." They can still look at each other.Still no one even felt guilty.They all have secrets. "I shouldn't tell my friends to be numb to killing. But the way you remember...I don't know, it's too heavy. You've always been like that, you've always been that special one. You've always wanted to be special the one."

Clark felt he had talked too much.He may have crossed the line.

Eric was the most different of all the people he knew around him.Eric, he has always been...whether it is the knife at the age of 14, or the choice that he gave up his great future to join the battlefield now.It's all about hinting at Clark, making him realize that his friend must have a big purpose that shaped Eric.make him different.It was a goal that had driven Eric as hard...and now, that goal had even cost his friends their lives.

This made Clark unhappy.This made Clark uneasy.He hates war, but he knows that he is powerless to prevent the suspicion of countries in this world from competing for their interests... He will never be so arrogant.He forced himself not to be arrogant.

Clark almost wants to exchange secrets with Eric.They all hide something from others, maybe Eric has similar troubles with him... But the Kryptonian boy just smiled wryly in his heart, and finally gave up the idea.He didn't even want his friend to be a perpetrator, he didn't even want Eric to join the army...but why?If Clark couldn't be proud of Eric, who would be proud of him?The choice he made was even greater than being a cop...but Clark just, really didn't like it.

"I'm not a good conversation partner." Eric stared at Clark.Little Kent looked very depressed.It seemed that he had no confidence in convincing him. "...if you do, you're just stupid, you know? If you want to remember how many people you sacrificed... there are definitely better options than physically hurting yourself."

Clark's last words stuck in his throat, and he almost slipped out several times.

He looked into Eric's eyes.Know that the other party is not angry.Eric was expressionless, as if he was already a soldier.But the temperament of the big boy still reveals a bit of confusion.It's like not quite sure yet.

'...Obviously you don't really want to make such a decision yourself. '

"...And if you do, I think the number of girls willing to date you will drop down to one in ten."

Clark felt guilty.

He still didn't dare to ask.He still chose to remain silent.He was still afraid of being rejected... He still didn't dare to ask Eric what he had to face, and why he had to bear these burdens... Clark really didn't dare to ask.Like if Eric came and asked him, what has he been hiding all these years?He didn't know where to start to answer... There are too many realities that people have to face.So much that I don't know how to speak.This made him unable not to be depressed, unable not to be depressed.He dreams of changing the world, but now he can't even convince his friends.

Eric's silence didn't last long.Probably less than three seconds...but it was too long for Clark.So long that he felt lost again and again.

How much he wanted to be arrogant and say 'Let me help you' to Eric... How much he wanted to...

But he just can't.

Eric judged that this was not something that could be said to him.Clark just had to accept it.What Clark can't solve, 'Superman' may not be able to solve.He's not a god, he's just like Eric... just a mortal.

...but so what.Even if Eric did give up on asking him for help.Don't you still want to talk to him?At least he was willing to listen to his opinion... Besides, even if Eric didn't ask him for help, would he really just ignore his friends?He won't let bad things happen...

Eric just laughed a few times to save face at first.Then... he tapped little Kent on the shoulder with his fist, and laughed out loud, frowning.

"You know I can kick you out of here right? Boy." Clark's mood turned from depression to depression.Eric didn't think he was spoiled...Clark was often astonishingly sharp, but sometimes naively astonishing.

He tried.Clark tries to help him.Work hard to stop him from becoming a legal murderer.

But Clark was unsuccessful.So he is very angry.

Eric couldn't help but patted the shoulder of his friend who was arching again.The black boy wanted to tell his friends too...in fact, his words did touch him.He should have helped him.But he just laughed, and he couldn't be honest.

"Even if it drops to only one tenth, believe me, there will still be no less than a company of girls waiting to date me."

Clark's reaction to his one-liner is a childish roll of the eye.Little Kent refused his reassurance.This conversation is actually quite weird, and there may indeed be some strange tacit understanding between them.Obviously the topic started with just a few brutal and terrifying pictures...but it involved the future plan of one of them.

The one who should be angry adds a cup of coffee to the one who is gesticulating.The latter, however, was still in a low mood, feeling lost... and also sulked for no reason.

—and he doesn't like coffee.

... The light rain in the metropolis did not last long in the end.It wasn't until three o'clock in the afternoon that the two finally got their mood together, and the older one accompanied the younger one to buy plain glasses because of Mo Ming's guilt.