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Peja's Wonderful World of Makebelieve Import
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Published:
2020-11-05
Words:
571
Chapters:
1/1
Kudos:
14
Hits:
1,148

Free To Be Seen

Summary:

Lyle likes being invisible. But he never has been to Brainy.

Work Text:

Free To Be Seen   

 

Lyle likes being invisible. He doesn’t have to try and pretend to fit in that way – he can just disappear. He’s never fit in, not ever. Too smart, too outgoing, too weird, too free with his feelings and emotions…too much of a rebel.

 

Too smart, period, because he knows he’s never fit in, and he realizes how little that matters in their regimented universe, a universe so focused on no one being out of line and everyone being the same that individuality is just a word in the dictionary, meaningless unless applied to history. Until the day when it’s the statistical outliers – the Legion – that save the day from madness beyond the stars and prove that differences do matter, and they are important.

 

Even his parents never understood him, but that was okay, since he barely understood himself. All he knows is that he wants the chance to find out. And the Legion…the Legion understands more of his motivation than anyone ever has.

 

Except…even in the Legion he doesn’t fit in. He used his brain to give himself his power, and it’s only really useful for stealth. He can’t take out villains with one punch, and he can’t even share his invisibility without it taxing him. He spends most of his time on missions trying not to get killed so he can get back and ‘hang out’ with Brainy.

 

Somehow, no matter how stealthy he’s being, Brainiac 5 always knows he’s there. He knows Brainy is smarter than he is, and he feels a kind of giddy relief at finally not being the best at something; the fact that it’s the person who helped him, who believed in him, is just icing on the cake. Cosmic Boy, the nass-head, isn’t relying on him to dig them out of ditches, he’s relying on Brainy, however much it galls him, and Lyle is the back-up that he doesn’t even realize is there.

 

Lyle’s okay with Cos being generally annoyed with him; Brainy’s occasionally sarcastic and not-nearly-as-derogatory-as-one-thinks comments more than make up for it. He’s never had a real friend before, and to Lyle, it’s the greatest thing in the galaxy.

 

But because of the lack of interpersonal contact that everyone suffers from, it takes a while before Lyle realizes exactly what his feelings towards Brainiac 5 are. It was never hero worship, though there was a bit of appreciation for his intelligence; respect for someone whom he admired. And yet, Lyle still finds himself trying to impress Brainy, and he does manage it on a fairly regular basis.

 

It isn’t until he finds himself getting irritated with Nura for all the time she spent trying to attract Brainy’s attention that he realizes why he likes Querl.

 

Lyle Norg was intelligent. That didn’t mean he was smart; especially when it came to emotions. He was better at emotions than Brainy, but then, so was Cosmic Boy.

 

It figured that Lyle’s falling in love with the man who could be termed his best friend went just as unnoticed by him as he does by most people.

 

Most people…except Brainy. Querl Dox always saw the real him.

 

Maybe he isn’t the only one feeling this way. And even if he is, well, Lyle’s smart enough to figure out where Nura went wrong.

 

And he’ll succeed. Because he wants it – wants Querl – more than anything since his freedom.