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Jonathan bounded up the steps to the farmhouse, relishing in his high spirits. He had just spent the last few hours hanging out with some actual, real-life friends in downtown Smallville. And, okay, it was downtown Smallville, but he could at least celebrate that he was with three other people for a good stretch of time and didn’t pick up on any extra emotions or random thoughts floating around. His control had improved so much from when he first became aware of his powers and now it was finally feeling like he could hang out with people the same way that any normal person could.
At the door, he was greeted by a wave of frustration combined with fear and… nausea? The emotions were almost strong enough to knock him backwards. It was coming from Jordan, Jon immediately knew. Jordan was probably always going to be instantly recognizable for him. And whatever was happening with him was clearly a big deal. Tightening his defenses so the emotion was less intense, Jon followed his senses into the living room where Jordan was.
He was sitting on the sofa in the middle of the room and holding a pillow tightly in his arms. He stared blankly ahead, and Jonathan wondered if he was coming down from a panic attack of some kind.
“Jordan?” he asked, cautiously stepping further into the room. “What’s wrong?”
“Hey,” Jordan returned, attempting to sound casual but not succeeding. He hadn’t turned to look at Jonathan, choosing instead to keep his eyes trained at some mysterious spot in front of him. “I heard you get dropped off,” he told Jon. “How was the diner?”
“That doesn’t matter right now,” Jonathan brushed off. “Jordan, I can tell something’s wrong. What’s going on?” He sat down beside his brother on the sofa.
“Of course you noticed,” Jordan grumbled. Jonathan didn’t bother to respond to his twin’s irritation. Jordan didn’t have Jon’s empathetic abilities, but his hearing could pick up on a lot of clues about Jonathan’s emotional state. They had both had to just get used to knowing that kind of thing about each other, despite the awkwardness it sometimes created.
“Okay, so don’t freak out,” Jordan explained, “but my x-ray vision just sort of… kicked in a little bit ago.”
“What?! Dude, that’s awesome!” he punched Jordan’s arm in excitement. “It just popped in all of a sudden?”
Jordan turned towards him at that, about to answer, but what little colour he had instantly drained from his face, and he shot out a hand as if he needed help to balance. Jonathan grabbed it instinctively. He pushed down the wave of panic that came from Jordan with the physical contact. Touching someone always made any emotions Jon picked up more intense. Jordan was clearly really struggling.
“What’s wrong? Where’s dad?” he suddenly realized that the rest of the house was empty except for Jordan.
“There’s an earthquake in Japan,” Jordan gritted out, still holding tightly onto Jonathan’s hand like it was the only anchor point he had. “Dad was just starting to teach me about focusing when we both heard it. It’s pretty bad, Jon. I told him he had to go, and I’d be fine here for a while.”
“Except you’re not,” Jonathan pointed out. “You’re saying that you have this new vision power, and you don’t know how to use it at all?”
“Well, I can use it a bit,” Jordan defended. “I can sometimes focus if I keep looking at the same spot. But even then, it’s hard.”
“And Dad just left you? No offense, dude, but you’re kind of a mess right now.”
“Yeah, well, Dad doesn’t have your half-Kryptonian empathy abilities,” Jordan shot back. “I may have fudged how okay I was doing. And, anyway, we both knew that either you or mom would be back soon.”
“You should have sent me a message,” Jonathan insisted.
“Can’t see; can’t text,” Jordan explained. “And you were out of range for telepathy.”
“Sorry,” Jon apologized. They would have to work on that.
“You’re not my babysitter, Jon,” Jordan snapped. The unease was making him short-tempered, Jonathan recognized. “Yeah, okay, I’m not having the time of my life right now, but I’m fine.”
“And yet, you’re still holding my hand,” Jonathan teased.
Jordan scowled and snatched his hand back. But the rapid movement must have knocked off his focus again because Jonathan felt a sudden spike in discomfort emanating from his brother.
“Jordan-”
“I’m just dizzy,” Jordan insisted. “Want to see how you’d handle it?”
Jonathan gasped as Jordan suddenly shoved a mental image towards him. Jon’s vision was briefly replaced by the sight of the living room erratically zooming in and out along with layers of the house being peeled back by x-ray vision and then replaced again without any logic.
“Jeez,” Jonathan choked. He blinked and his vision blissfully returned to normal. “That is terrifying.”
“I’m trying to keep things steady,” Jordan frowned, staring at a spot on the ceiling. “But I’m not very good at it yet. Dad was having me practice staying calm so I could focus better.”
“I don’t know how anyone could stay calm when you’re seeing the floor melt away,” Jon muttered.
A ghost of a smile flickered across Jordan’s face. “Yeah,” he agreed. “And staying calm has never been something that’s come easy for me,” he admitted.
He was really fighting two problems, Jonathan realized. The new power in addition with the mental battle to control his emotional responses to the new sensations. Jon might not be able to help with the new power, but emotions were definitely his specialty.
“Hey, can I try something?” he asked Jordan. “With my powers?”
“Sure,” Jordan shrugged. “What do you want to try?”
“I think I can help you stay calm,” he explained. “Then maybe you can focus better on controlling your vision.”
Jordan slowly turned his head towards his brother and squinted at him. Jonathan really hoped that Jordan could keep enough focus to actually make eye contact rather than x-ray his head.
“You think that you can help me keep my emotions in check?” Jordan asked Jon. “That would be… really helpful right now.”
“Sort of.” Jonathan found he was really warming up to the idea. He was sure he could help his brother this way. “I’ll just push out some calming thoughts that might help things go in the right direction. Kind of how I can send emotions out with my telekinesis. But it’ll be on a way lower scale.”
“Okay,” Jordan nodded. “Honestly, I’d try anything at this point.”
“Great.” Jonathan hesitantly stretched out his hand. “Um, I’m just going to…” He put his hand on his brother’s forehead. “Touch helps,” he explained.
“I know that,” Jordan rolled his eyes. “You don’t have to be weird about it.”
Jonathan closed his eyes and took a deep breath in, bringing himself to focus inward on his powers. Instinct told him that the energy he used for telekinesis was too explosive for something like this, so instead he thought about his powers as waves in the ocean, gently pushing out calming, relaxed energy that overlapped on itself before drawing back and away from Jordan.
“Whoa…” Jordan’s voice already sounded more relaxed than before.
“You feel that? It feels okay, right?” Jonathan checked.
“Yeah, it’s good,” Jordan replied. “Weird, but good.”
Jonathan sent a few more waves Jordan’s way, wanting to make sure his brother’s anxiety was calmed completely so he could practice his new power.
“Okay, I’m going to stop now,” he explained, pulling the waves back inside him before opening his eyes to look at his brother. “You’re still doing okay?”
“Yeah,” Jordan nodded.
“How do you, uh, feel?” He fidgeted with the hand that had rested on his brother’s forehead. Was it just his imagination, or was it tingling a little?
“I feel like I’m floating on a cloud,” Jordan replied with conviction. He was staring straight up at the ceiling and had a slack smile on his face.
“Okay…” It was a more enthusiastic response than he was expecting.
“Jon. Jon, listen,” Jordan urged suddenly. He sniggered to himself
“To what? There’s no one else here.”
“Oh, right,” Jordan snorted. “I forgot you can’t hear it. The stupid chickens from down the road keep chasing this barn cat…” He laughed again. “I guess you have to hear it yourself for it to be funny.”
“Maybe…” A suspicion was starting to form in Jonathan’s mind. “Jordan, are you sure you feel okay? I think I might have, uh, overshot with the powers a little.”
Jordan frowned a little, still staring up with glassy eyes. “Everything’s fuzzy. Like a peach. Do you think we still have any frozen peaches in the freezer? We could make smoothies.”
“Shit.” Yeah, that made things pretty clear for Jon. “Jordan, I’m so sorry. I think I screwed up.” He felt a hot lump rise in his throat. Jordan should never have trusted him.
Jordan turned a lazy head towards his brother. “You. Did not screw up.” He wagged an unsteady finger towards Jon. “I’m definitely not freaking out anymore. So whatever you did was awesome because I’m totally good to go. Oh! We should go out, Jon! Get some chili cheese fries at the diner.”
“We’re not going anywhere right now,” Jonathan shot back.
“Oh, right. You just got home.”
“Jordan! You’re acting… drunk, or high, or…something. That’s what I’m trying to tell you.”
Jordan frowned. “I do feel kinda weird,” he admitted.
“Yeah, no shit, Sherlock,” Jonathan scoffed. “Look, I must have messed up somehow and made whatever I did to you way too strong.” Why had he been so stupid to think that he could do this without testing anything out beforehand?
Jordan reached out and pawed clumsily at Jonathan’s face before managing to place his hands on the sides of Jonathan’s head.
“Jon. S’okay,” he reassured. He stared straight at Jonathan, and Jon could almost believe Jordan could see him properly. “I’m feeling better than before, at least.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. I’m totally calm now. I could definitely practice all my new vision stuff. Hey, did you know that your brain looks disgusting?” So much for normal vision returning. “I can see right through your skull,” Jordan laughed. “It’s suuuuuper gross.”
“Okay, I think you need to sleep this off.” Jonathan stood up decisively. “Upstairs, because Mom’s coming home at some point. Hopefully you can sober up before I have to explain to her what I did.”
“’Kay,” Jordan nodded. He stuck his hands out towards his brother, squinting helplessly up at him. “You gotta lead me, though, Jon, I have no idea how the hell to get up there.” Then he collapsed back on the sofa, shaking with laughter.
Somehow, Jon managed to drag his brother up the stairs and deposit him safely in his bed.
“You’re staying, right?” Jordan asked as he settled into his pillow.
“Yeah.” Jonathan didn’t want to leave his brother alone when he was clearly still affected by Jon’s powers. “If you’re okay with that?”
“Course I am,” Jordan nodded. He gazed up at the ceiling in fascination. “I can see all the clouds above the house,” he told his brother. “Want me to show you?”
“Uh, probably not a good idea,” Jonathan spoke quickly. “I don’t know what’ll happen if I get a rebound of whatever I sent you. At least one of us needs a clear head.”
Jordan laughed. “Dude, I just realized: this is probably the only way I can really get drunk or high. I don’t think anything else will have an effect on me anymore.”
“Jordan, I’m not going to whammy you whenever you want to have fun at a party. This was an accident.”
“Aw, you’re so responsible, Jon. And you’re no fun.”
Jonathan sighed. “Just go to sleep, Jordan. I promise, you’ll feel differently about it when you’ve come down off the psychic mojo.”
“We’ll see,” Jordan mumbled, his eyes already slipping closed.
***********************************
When Jordan woke up, he could instantly hear that Jonathan was still in the room. That at least was familiar, although his vision still shifted wildly before he forced it back into focus on a spot on the ceiling. He could hold his attention there as long as he didn’t try to move his head.
“Jon?” His hand twitched instinctively, searching for some connection with his brother while he couldn’t see him.
“Jordan!” There was a scrabble of movement before Jon’s voice spoke again, this time closer to Jordan. “How are you feeling? Are you… back to normal?”
“Well, I feel sober, at least,” Jordan replied dryly. “I don’t know what you did, Jon, but you could make a fortune selling it out of some seedy alley in Metropolis if you ever wanted to.”
“I’m so sorry, Jordan,” Jonathan apologized. “I shouldn’t have even tried to use my powers like that.”
“Jon. Stop apologizing.” Jordan took a moment to mentally prepare himself, and then pushed himself up into a sitting position. He turned his head carefully in the direction of his brother’s voice. The room flickered and wavered as he did so, but eventually he had success and could see his brother’s face through a determined squint. “I wanted your help. And I’m fine now.”
Jon guilty face softened. “No desire to start belting Irish sea shanties or eat through the entire fridge?”
“Ha ha. I never actually wanted to do any singing, you know. And, hey, I don’t even have a hangover! So your psychic whammy is better that booze in a few ways.” He found himself unintentionally zooming in on his brother’s eyebrows, and Jordan quickly found a new spot in the room to look at. It was getting a little easier to focus, he just struggled with maintaining it. At least he had his other senses to keep himself grounded. He could hear another person moving around in the office downstairs. “Mom’s home?” he noticed.
“Yeah,” Jon replied. “I, uh, told her that you were wiped out with the x-ray vision and were taking a nap.”
“Well, that’s partly true.” Jordan grinned at the wall, not ready to put in the effort to look at his brother again.
“I figure we can tell them both about it when Dad gets home.”
Jordan didn’t have Jonathan’s empathetic powers, but he could sense his brother’s nervousness by the increased heart rate and his tense breathing.
“It’ll be fine, Jon,” he reassured. “Okay, Dad will lecture about how we shouldn’t have tried anything when we were home alone. But nothing too bad happened in the end.”
“I guess.”
“And, hey, now we know that you can influence someone’s emotions outside of what happens with your telekinesis. Maybe we can just focus on the exciting new power, and they’ll forget the whole solo practice thing.”
“Have you met Mom and Dad?” Jonathan asked dryly.
“It’s worth a shot,” Jordan grinned. “Anyway, you’re going to have to practice this new power no matter what.”
There was a moment of uncomfortable silence, and Jordan almost turned to check on his brother before Jon spoke up.
“Do you think I really have to?”
“Well, probably,” Jordan shrugged. “Our powers both seem to work the same; ignoring them doesn’t solve anything. You need to learn to control this new ability so you don’t use it accidentally.”
Jonathan shuddered. “It just freaks me out,” he confessed. “I didn’t even think I was pushing out to you that much, Jordan, and it hit you really hard. What if I’ve been unconsciously affecting people with all kinds of emotions? Just like I was unconsciously reading people?”
Jordan frowned. “You think you’ve been changing people’s emotions and not even realized it?”
“Yeah.”
Jordan thought about it for a moment. “I don’t think so,” he decided. “It always takes you effort to not read people, right?”
“Yeah. It’s harder when I’m tired or there’s a lot of people.”
“Right, but whatever it was you did to me earlier took effort for you to do. It wasn’t like that energy was just leaking out of you.”
Jon took his first full breath since the start of their conversation. “You’re right,” he agreed. “I think I would have to be purposefully pushing it out.”
“Exactly,” Jordan nodded. “It’s the same with me, you know. Some of my powers, like the heat vision, feel like they take energy to use. But the hearing is sort of always running in the background. This new vision thing is feeling a lot like the hearing, but I hope I can get to the point where it’s more something that I only use if I want to. At least, that’s how it seems to work for Dad.”
“How is the crazy vision, anyway?” Jonathan asked.
“Still pretty crazy,” Jordan replied, blinking at the studs in the wall that flickered in and out of sight. “But it’s better than before. Don’t… take this the wrong way or freak out or anything… But I think your psychic whammy is still helping me somehow. I don’t feel all loopy or anything like I was before, but the anxiety is still gone. It’s a lot easier to focus on what I’m supposed to be looking at.”
“Well, at least it’s good for something.”
Jordan was about to reply when he heard a familiar whooshing sound accompanied by the creak of the back door.
“Dad’s home,” he told his brother. Carefully, he pushed himself off the bed and focused on the bedroom door, locking in the image of the solid wood as best he could. “Ready to face the music?”
“Yeah,” Jonathan nodded. He grabbed Jordan’s shoulders from behind. “But I think you should let me steer you for now. You may be sober again, but I still wouldn’t trust you to wander around this house on your own.”
“Thanks.” Jordan gladly let his brother guide him through the doorframe as it flickered in and out of view. “See, I always knew you were a good influence on me,” Jordan grinned.
Jonathan scoffed. “Yeah, we’ll see if Mom and Dad agree after they find out you spent the last hour high as a kite thanks to my ‘influence’.”
“If only there was a way to just make them chill out for a bit…”
“Jordan!”
Jordan was glad to hear the laughter present in his brother’s voice. It seemed he was feeling at least a little better about his strange new ability. And Jordan was also feeling more settled. Scary new powers seemed to be the norm for both of them recently. But at least they had each other as they muddled through it together.