15239/Dinner With Lois

Dinner With Lois
Date of Scene:	26 June 2023
Location:	Lois Lane's Apartment
Synopsis:	Lois Lane and Jon Kent enjoy dessert and pizza (in that order) and an evening of bonding and conversation.
Cast of Characters:	Jon Kent, Lois Lane

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Jon Kent has posed:
It's Monday evening. A few days ago, Lois invited Jon to come by for dinner, just the two of them. Lois has been going through some rough times and it is very important to Jon to be there for her. It's how he is. His father, Clark Kent, Superman, is one of the mightiest beings in existence with a host of powers at his disposal. But his greatest power is that of engendering trust in others, his ability to be a /friend/. Jon has inherited this from Clark. He has a way of putting people at ease that belies his young age.

And so the doorbell rings. Jon is outside in the hallway holding a pie so fresh it's still a little warm. His grandmother -- Martha Kent, called Ma Kent by most -- made it. Cinnamon raisin apple. It's her specialty and most-requested pie.

Lois Lane has posed:
The last two years have been rough for Lois. She lost Clark. She gained a son that she hadn't actually given birth to (yet!). She got Clark back (sort of). And all throughout, there had been one catastrophe after another -- some literally nearly world ending, some closer to home.

It's enough to drive a person to drink. Or.. do something harder.

But that's exactly what Lois was trying to stop. The first time she'd met Jon had been in a drunken stupor. She'd been about to pass out on the Milano when he started talking to her, and then, the next thing she knew, she was pressuring him enough for details that he confessed to being her son. From the future. And the next morning? Well, she'd been so wasted the night before that she barely remembered the conversation. It had all seemed like a hazy dream until Jon was still there. Still happy to see her... even if a little disappointed.

And that disappointment had gnawed at her.

She'd been normal, rebellious Lois about it at first. She didn't need him. She sure as hell didn't need him to look down on her because he wasn't living up to some expectation he had from a future self that probably wasn't even going to happen. So, she'd been a little hard to deal with at first, but he'd stuck with her. Clark had asked him to.

Eventually, Clark came home from the prison they were holding him in, and while they exchanged 'I love yous,' their time together was limited.. and often strained by any number of factors. Lois's assignments, Superman's world saving, Jon's presence, and -- not the least of which -- Lois's addictions.

It was time for her to clean up her act. For Clark. For Jon. For herself. The mother Jon knew didn't smoke -- he said she'd told him 'Lung cancer doesn't just hurt you, it hurts those that love you.' He'd told her that while she was complaining about needing a smoke. In space. So, Lois got help. AA. NA. The patch. Stock in a chewing gum company.

And over the course of the last year, that's what she's been doing. Throwing herself into her work as much as she always has, struggling to stay clean, seeing Clark when they could, and.. spending more time with Jon than she expected. From future son to true friend, Jon was an anchor for her -- an anchor to a future that /he/ was counting on her to live up to, and an anchor to a present that she wanted for herself now.

When the knock comes out the door, it takes a couple of minutes for Lois to get there. She's already out of her work clothes, and she's wearing an oversized 'I <superman> METROPOLIS' sweatshirt and a pair of yoga pants. She's pulled her hair up into a messy bun, and she looks.. not exactly okay. She looks tired. Not drunk. Not high. Just.. tired. Emotionally. Physically.

And when she's sees that it's Jon? She blinks. Once. Twice. And her hand comes up to cover her mouth.

"Oh, Jon. I'm so sorry." There's disappointment in her eyes. Disappointment in forgetting her own.. son.. was coming over for dinner. "I completely forgot."

But she's stepping back, none the less, to let him in.

"Come in. I can order something for us.. or we can reschedule, if you'd rather."

Jon Kent has posed:
Jon's young eyes scan Lois up and down. True, he is from another universe than this one. True, he won't be born (in his home universe) until next fall. But this woman standing in front of him /might/ be the only mother he could ever know again. And this place is SO MUCH like home. And she looks and speaks and walks SO MUCH like that alternate universe Lois.

Strength.

That's what she has. That's really what anchors Jon to her. She is strong like his alternate universe mother. Even in her weakness she is so damned strong. What mortal could possibly deal with all of the stressor she has dealt with -- addiction, a romance with the most well-known hero on Earth, a son from another universe, space travel, abductions, journalism in a world where literal alien races attack the Earth, etc., etc., etc. -- and still come out the other side fighting?

If she could step outside of herself and look in, she would be amazed at what she sees. But Jon can't tell her that because sometimes there are things you can't believe about yourself when others tell them to you. You just have to get there on your own. Or not.

So what does Jon see? A woman carrying the weight of the world...and /winning/. He doesn't see a bone-weary mother who has forgotten dinner with her son. He sees a hero. He steps in silently and sets the pie down -- and oh gosh does it smell amazing! -- and wraps his so, so strong arms gently around his mom. He just stands there quietly, a pillar and a son and a friend.

Finally, after long moment, he whispers, "It's okay, mom. It's okay."

Lois Lane has posed:
There was still that niggling little voice in Lois's mind... /You forgot him on purpose. You don't need him. Just like you don't need Clark./ But that was the same voice that drew her back to the recreational drugs -- the ones that helped her 'focus,' kept her awake, gave her inspiration, and made her forget. Not.. forget. Just.. not think about it all for just a little while.

She felt weaker than she had a year ago, but what Jon saw -- what she couldn't yet see -- was that her true strength came in fighting those urges, in healing, and in struggling for a better life for her family.

A family that was hard to envision, sometimes, when she was sitting in her apartment alone.

Lois's arms wrapped around Jon and for a moment, she just clung there, hanging on to his infinite strength and kindness. Traits his father had in abundance. What had he gotten from her? They hadn't talked much about 'future' her (or alternate reality 'her') other than just cursory mentions.

"No," Lois whispers after a long moment of just savoring that connection, then leaning back from him and placing her hands on his cheeks. "It's not." And in that moment, she looked a little more awake. A little stronger. "I got so busy working on copy for tomorrow that I lost track of what day it was. Sit. I'll order us something."

She smiles, finally releasing him and walking over to where her phone sits on a counter.

"The pie smells wonderful. What do you feel like for dinner?"

Jon Kent has posed:
Lois could dredge the twin lakes of Jon's eyes for judgement until all the stars burned out and the universe suffered heat death, and she would not find an ounce of it anywhere in there. He smiles when she touches his cheeks. There's something about that touch that hits a good nerve for him.

He picks up the pie from wherever he set it down and carries it to the table and places it in the center. "Gram made it. Apple raisin. I could eat three of them," he says with an embarrassed laugh that lets a bit of blush into his cheeks that are already ruddy from youthfulness.

He slides out a chair and sits. "Well, I could wreck some pizza like nobody's business," he says. He bites his lower lip against a grin. "Pie for dinner AND for dessert?" he inquires.

Lois Lane has posed:
"I knew you must have gotten /something/ from me," Lois laughed, swiping through her phone as a grin tugged at her lips.

She might not have recognized all of the ways that Jon was a mixture of she and Clark when she first met him, but over the last couple of years, it was hard for her to look at him and not see them now -- the features that were her own that stared back at her as if she'd been looking into a mirror, the features that were Clark's that she...

That she missed. More than she liked to admit.

"Done. They'll be here in twenty-- wait. That's one of /Martha's/ pies?"

Lois's eyebrows lift, and that grin of hers turns.. wicked.

"I mean, we're both grown-ups.. I don't really see reason to /wait/. I mean, we can save /some/ of it for dessert..."

Her eyes lift to Jon for a moment, but only for a moment. Then she's on her way to the cabinet, getting down a couple of desert plates, some forks, a serving knife. And soon enough, she's on her way back to the table with them.

"How are you?" Her eyes lift to him sincerely. "What have you been doing, recently?"

Jon Kent has posed:
Jon's eyes glitter and grow wide at the mention of dessert before dinner. What a sheer stroke of brilliance! As Lois retrieves plates and utensil, Jon eagerly removes the foil. He flew back to Metropolis from Smallville, and the freshly baked pie is still just a little bit warm! Not many people have the luxury of a freshly baked, warm Ma Kent pie.

"Well I just wrapped up finals in my first year of college at Metropolis U." He breathes in very deeply and exhales. "Whew, it was tough stuff. So many classes. So many exams. So much studying." He grins a little. "So many girls."

He picks up the pie server and cuts the pie into QUARTERS. Yes, that's right, he cuts the entire pie into FOUR pieces. One piece for Lois. One piece for him. Two pieces in reserve for later. Hey, don't blame Jon! Lois started this!

"In between I have been keeping up with dad, you know, professionally. I was accepted into the Justice League as a recruit, so hopefully I won't screw that up too badly." He rolls his eyes. "Spoiler alert: I probably will."

Lois Lane has posed:
"When will you know your grades?" Lois asks eagerly, though even as he's cutting the pie, her expression turns a bit stern. "I expect to hear a good report. Don't let the attention from all of those girls go to your head and distract you from what's important." She was new to this whole 'mom,' thing, but she'd seen enough examples to know how to fake it -- and fake it 'til you make it had been a guiding tenet of her whole life, whether it was just getting started in journalism or going 'under cover' for a story.

It always seemed to amuse her a little to 'pretend' to be a mom. She still very much suffered from imposter syndrome for some very understandable reasons, but she was trying to be there for Jon, just like he was there for her.

Maybe she was expecting to see him cut the pie into eighths, though, because when he scoops the whole quarter out onto her plate she suddenly laughs, the sound light and warm. Genuine.

"Thank you." She doesn't comment more. She just lets the amusement linger, erasing most of the rest of the fatigue in her eyes... until 'dad' is mentioned. It's a little flash of pain, like getting pricked with a needle. Hardly visible and gone after an instant.

She wanted to ask about Clark, but she didn't. This was her time with Jon, and Jon was not their courier pigeon or spy. If Clark wanted to sit down and share a pie, he knew where she lived.

"No, you won't." She reached out a hand and touched his forearm gently, giving it a reassuring squeeze. "And if you screw up, you have too much of your father in you to /give up/. Remember.. you never actually /fail/ until you stop trying."

And with a final warm smile, she starts to pull out a chair for herself.. and stops. "Oh! What would you like to drink?" She's already on her way to the fridge. "Milk for the pie? Water? Juice?"

Jon Kent has posed:
The young man rolls his eyes a bit at the mention of attention from girls. "I don't get much attention from girls," he admits with just a hint of dejection in his voice. "My, you know, public persona is really nerdy and clumsy." He shrugs slender shoulders briefly. All they see are oversized, hand-me-down clothes, thick-rimmed glasses, and me tripping over everything." He quickly shakes his head. "I...I'm not complaining. I wouldn't trade it for the world. But there's a price you pay for this kind of life, for these powers." He licks some stray pie filling from his thumb. "Sometimes I wonder what it's like to just be normal. To be able to play sports and date girls, maybe get married someday and have a family."

He quickly shakes away the self-pity. He's a warrior and warriors don't wallow. "Milk, please, mom," he says.

The word 'mom' rolls off his tongue so naturally. In that moment -- possibly for the first time? -- he calls Lois mom like she *is* his mom. There's no subtext there whatsoever. Just a son enjoying grandma's pie with his mother. He looks at Lois with a smile, and his blue eyes -- the blue eyes of Superboy -- glitter warmly.

Lois Lane has posed:
There were so many subtleties in tone and inflection. Lois had maybe not 'gotten used' to the name 'Mom' over the last two years, but she'd given Jon the option of what to call her, and she'd meant it. If it made him feel more comfortable to be here, to see her, to call her 'Mom,' it wouldn't kill her to have a nickname.

But two years later -- it almost didn't feel like a nickname, anymore. She returns that smile with a little, knowing curl of her own lips. If it hadn't been for him, she wouldn't be where she was: four months clean, two months sober. She'd fallen off the wagon a couple of times and gotten back on. Recovery was a long, hard road.

Milk retrieved, Lois fills two glasses and replaces the jug, bringing them back over with some napkins and setting them down. Dinner -- part one -- was finally served.

"You'll get attention from the right girls, whether you're Jon Kent or Superboy. The ones that don't care about your clothes or whether you wear glasses. The ones that find it charming when you're a little clumsy and want to take the time to get to know you for who you are." Genuine affection shows in her eyes as she takes her seat and crosses her legs, picking up her glass of milk and tilting it towards him in offering of a toast.

"To us and to not being normal -- because who wants to be one of those families that just sit around staring at their phones like zombies and not talking to each other, anyway?"

Jon Kent has posed:
With a very pleased grin, Jon lifts his milk glass and taps it gently against Lois'. "To not being normal." He's sitting so straight and tall and proud right now. One can practically see his cape billowing in the wind. He drains the entire glass in one drink. No wonder Clark sends money to Martha every month.

He shovels a healthy mouthful of pie into his mouth, and he talks around the chewing. Ma Kent would scold him for that. "Tell me what you're doing!" he blurts out with warm insistence. "What Pulitzer Prize winning story are you writing?" He bites his lower lip against a smile and watches his mother with interest. He's no fool. Lois Lane can find stuff that the Justice League satellites don't know exist.

Lois Lane has posed:
Lois smiles at the tap of the glass and brings her own back for a sip, covering her mouth to keep from openly laughing and swallowing at the same time as she watches Jon entirely guzzle his. If he'd been a true 'guest,' she might have offered to get up and get him a refill. As it was, he knew where the milk was, and she wanted some pie!

So, she carves herself off a forkful. But, this time, she learned her lesson. Instead of taking the bite, she waited, and.. sure enough. More laughter, as he shoves the whole quarter of a pie in his mouth. Ma Kent would definitely have scolded him, but Lois just watched him with amusement. And /then/ she took her bite.

It was hard for her to understand because it was so new. Sometimes, she felt like Jon made her miss Clark more. Other times, she was grateful that Jon reminded her of Clark. And still others, she was grateful for Jon in ways that had nothing to do with Clark -- simply because they had developed their own bond over the last couple of years. One day, maybe, she would really understand all of the complex feelings that went in to a relationship with a child.. and all of the different ways you could love them.

"I just got back from Sao Paulo a few hours ago," she says. Which explained why she looked so tired -- and how she'd forgotten dinner. She hadn't made the excuse when she could have. Lois didn't make excuses. "It was a.. twelve hour flight? I was there for two weeks investigating the increased activity in the Cobra Negra Cartel. The used to be small, but they've suddenly grown their ranks. There are rumors that they've already gotten into the government, even -- not just bribes, but their own people."

Jon Kent has posed:
Oh, right, Lois, you're not strong at *all*. You just came from Sao Frickin Paolo investigating a powerful drug cartel, and you don't even have super powers.

As Jon finishes his pie, he sits utterly engaged in his mother's tales of her international journalistic investigations. He could be at the Hall of Justice listening to the likes of Wonder Woman or Batman or the Flash, but *this* is where he wants to be and *these* are the stories he wants to hear. There is no social politeness here. The kid is *enraptured*.

Eventually the pizza is delivered and the conversation zigs and zags as conversations are wont to do when moms and their sons have an entire summer evening to while away. But eventually Jon's eyes grow heavy and his head nods a bit. Even at super speed, it's a significant flight back to Kansas. So Jon ends up in the guest room, collapsed and passed out on the bed. Lying there he looks part boy and part man, one foot in the past the other in the future.