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Dev doesn't know where Cosmo and Pam are right now, but he and Hazel are in their apartment, supposedly with their permission. Hazel is leaning over the back of the couch, kicking feet that barely reach the floor as she inclines over the back, apparently just for fun because there's plenty of room to sit. “You know, I’ve never seen your mom around before.”
His eyes flick to her briefly. They’d had a long day of adventuring and he was currently unwinding with his tablet, trying to get through a particularly difficult puzzle. It was nice to just be near her even when they weren't doing anything together per-say. “Well, yeah. I don’t have one.” he says.
“ You don't? ” Her hand slaps over her mouth. “Sorry!” She looks so embarrassed he can't help but laugh.
“Oh relax.” He rolls his eyes, and the tension loosens from her shoulders. He fiddles with the puzzle on his tablet as he talks. The level he’s on is time sensitive so he doesn't have the luxury of giving his full attention to it or her. “I’m a clone, I never had a mom .”
“You're-” Something must throw off her balance at that moment, because suddenly her careful pendulum over the back of the couch fails, and she practically rolls over the couch cushions and onto the floor. “You're a clone!?”
She scrambles upright with a ferocity that frankly scares him.
“Yeah?” he takes his eyes off the puzzle just long enough to make a mistake that puts him back a few seconds. “What, are you jealous or something?” he says smugly, and waits for her to bite back.
Instead she says “Like a clone-clone ? like in the movies?”
Like the movies? “I guess.” He didn't think of it like that , but sure.
“So you were born in, like, a big vat filled with green goo?” Her hands gesture wildly, “Do you remember it? Do you have cool powers?”
His attention fully leaves the puzzle now “Ew, why do you have to describe it like that- and no, why would I remember that far back?”
“What about powers?”
Something in him bristles and he’s not entirely sure what or why. “I’m not a mutant, Hazel .” He snaps.
“ Are you sure? ”
She doesn't mean anything by it. She’s just curious, excited, but something about the question twists in his stomach. Is he sure? Of course. Why wouldn't he be sure?
A sound trills from his tablet, a big ‘Game Over’ message is covering the screen but he can't find the energy to be upset about the game anymore. “I think I would know if I had superpowers by now.”
She groans, something between disbelief and disappointment. Something about it rubs him the wrong way. “If you're a clone, why are your eyes different from your dad's? Aren't clones supposed to be identical?”
Right, his eyes. She'd seen them before without the contact lenses he usually wore and had only just grown comfortable with the idea that she knew at all. Suddenly he isn't comfortable at all.“I- Dad doesn't know.” He pulls his legs closer. “He said it could be a lot of things. They're just like that, OK?”
He remembers asking at some point about his eyes. It was possibly something about ‘recessive genes’, or a flaw with the DNA replication, or just a strange quirk of the growth conditions. It might mean there's something worse wrong with him. But they won't know until something happens so it's not useful to stress about it.
“Wait, wait, wait- if you're a clone does that mean your dad has backups of you somewhere?”
He bristles “No! I'm not just- Ugh.” He can't find the words. He doesn't want to be here anymore. Hazel is baffled when he suddenly marches off the couch and toward the door.
“Where are you going?”
“I need to cool off!” He doesn't want to say something he regrets. His hand is almost trembling as he shoves his sunglasses back onto his face in the hall. He doesn't know why what she said upset him so much, they were just questions, dumb ones sure, but thinking about any of that makes him feel gross. Less human .
He snaps his fingers and the au-pairs that were lingering in the hall rush to his side form a seat for him. “Take me home.”
Vaguely he is aware that there were attempts before him. He’s not entirely sure how many, but he was the only one to ever make it to being ‘born’ anyway so they couldn't be very important. Lots of people have ‘miscarriages’ before their first kid, at least that's what his dad said. This was just the same.
He knew how he was made, and if his dad had given him superpowers he doubted he would ever shut up about it. He knows because when he asked it was the most excited his dad had ever been to talk to him. Sadly enough it was probably the best memory he had with his dad. “Where do babies come from?”
His eyes had lit up and he’d smiled at Dev. Actually smiled at him, like he was proud . “Well, you weren't made the way most kids are.” He started “ You were cloned, which means you're better than them.” He’d talked him through the whole cloning process, the machines, their names, their uses, the production troubles. Most of it was too complicated for Dev to really understand, but it hardly mattered.
He felt special. Important. And it was genuine .
At some point later he realized he still didn't know where most kids came from and asked. That time his dad looked uncomfortable and made an au-pair explain. He didn't like that explanation nearly as much.
The au-pairs let him off outside his front door. Coming inside it didn't take him long to hear the telltale sound of spurs.
“Dad?”
His dad is pacing languidly around the kitchen on his work tablet and his eyes flick to him just long enough to let Dev know he’s heard. He’s clearly in the middle of work, it makes Dev feel awful for interrupting, but he’s always in the middle of working, they’d never talk at all if he waited until he was done.
“Are- are there backup clones of me?”
Dale's eyes rest on him, and he can feel himself shrink like he always does when he’s interrupting his dads work. “Devin, do you know how expensive you were?”
He opens his mouth to reply but his dad beats him to it.
“ Very . If I find out you're trying to do something stupid because your little school friends convinced you you're immortal I'll kill you myself. You’ve got one life just like I do.”
He lets out a breath he didn't even realize he was holding.
“I’m human, right?”
“If you’re not I have a big fucking problem on my hands.” he grumbles. His voice is growing impatient but Dev can’t get himself to stop.
“And I’m not going to- to mutate or something?”
He doesn't respond right away. His hand drags exasperatedly down his face with a long and heavy sigh. He sets his tablet down on the kitchen table, crouches and clasps a hand over the boy's shoulder. “Dev, I am not a biologist. I have no idea what your DNA is doing and frankly, as long as you're alive and kicking I do not care. Is that everything? Because I am busy .”
He sniffles and nods. Then, before his dad can fully pull away, wraps his arms around him and squeezes. His dad mutters something, but lets him hang on for a few seconds longer before gingerly untangling Dev's arms and pushing him away. “Thank you.” He says in a small voice.
“Yeah, yeah. Don't do anything stupid.” he says, picking up his tablet and quickly scuttling out of the room.
He rubs the tears from his eyes and feels a little silly for even being upset. A chime from his phone made him blink. Right, Hazel . When he checks there are multiple messages already.
Hazel: Im really sorry Dev
Hazel: I didnt mean to upset you
Hazel: Im was being invasive Im sorry
He stares at the messages from Hazel on his phone. He doesn’t regret leaving when he did, but maybe he could have done it a bit more tactfully. He bites his lip as he considers his reply. Considering how much he’s blown up before she must be terrified right now. Another wave of shame washes over him.
Dev: I’m not mad you didnt know
Hazel: I dont want you to feel like you have to tell me things that make you uncomfortable to talk about. Still friends?
Dev: Yeah
He would talk to her tomorrow and they would smooth it all over at school. Maybe he would explain himself to her, or maybe he really wouldn’t have to. He stares at Hazel's last message for a few moments longer, then, finally sends one more message and turns off his phone.
Dev: Thank you