View source for 1742/Turns Out Clark's Not The Only One Who Cheats To Beat The Clock

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2020/05/19
|Location=Bullpen - Daily Planet Building
|Synopsis=Cindy sneaks in to work from a 6th floor window. Clark overhears her, and she has to come up with an excuse. At the end of the day she learns some new tips!
|Cast of Characters=981,45
|pretty=yes
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{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:981|Cindy Moon (981)}} has posed:'''<br>Cindy is fairly new to the Daily Planet, she's an intern who has been more or less unofficially assigned to Lois Lane, running all manner of errands for her to clear Lois' time for important stuff. As a bonus, she's been learning from one of the best. Albeit she has been rushing about now and then on boring menial stuff, at least she does get, on occasion, a chance to partake in the real interesting stories.<br><br>Then again, nobody would suspect Cindy was leading an exciting life outside the office, and sometime that life got in the way. Sometimes, she had to cheat to make it in on time.<br><br>Such is the case today, as she silently and carefully works about opening the 6th floor window from the outside, making sure nobody is around, before jumping in and closing the window behind her. Naturally, the last thing she'd suspect is for anyone not being around, to be able to spy on her peculiar method of arrival with say...telescopic vision or some crazy nonsense like that.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:45|Clark Kent (45)}} has posed:'''<br>For the past week, Clark has been a lot more busy than usual outside of the Planet. Perry calls it a return to normalcy for the ecclectic reporter and that's honestly not far from the truth. With everything going on around the return of Superman, Clark has to once again split his time being everywhere else in the world... and working a day job. <br><br>The fact that he's faster than most modern forms of combustion firearm projectile is a bonus. <br><br>Seated in his desk, Clark was ''day dreaming'' again. <br><br>Staring off in a random direction listening to the people of Metropolis, he only happened to hear the sound of a sixth story window opening after something (or someone) landed against the outside. Turning a fraction, he zeroed in on the anomoly, squinted and then stood up from his work to head towards the stairs. <br><br>"I'll be right back Jimmy, keep working on the layout would you? Lois needs this finished before the evening edition." The redheaded photographer gave a little chop over his shoulder, but didn't raise his head from his work. Clark, meanwhile, reached the stairwell and ''woooshed'' upwards to the door outside where Cindy had just made her entrance. Knocking lightly after adjusting his glasses, "Miss Moon? You in here?" How had he even known it was her? Let alone that she was in the Assistant editor for the sports sections office? <br> <br>

:'''{{#var:981|Cindy Moon (981)}} has posed:'''<br>Cindy was just closing the window, straightening out her outfit, before reaching for her purse. She was about to give her face a once over in her compact, making sure nothing was out of place, when she heard the knock on the door! Oh snap, and here she thought the Assistant Editor of the Sports Sections was in a meeting on the 2nd floor. But sure enough, the voice is Clark's, making Cindy look all the more flustered, as she sadly decides to sacrifice her mid-morning pastry for her excuse. One blueberry muffin left on Gary's desk, and she walks up to open the door from inside, "erm...Mr. Kent! Wow...how did you know I was here? It was supposed to be a surprise..." she murmurs nervously, looking all flustered, which was easy to do because she was actually flustered!<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:45|Clark Kent (45)}} has posed:'''<br>Clark pushes the door open and peeks in, first at Cindy and then around the office, "Is everything okay? I heard a commotion. It sounded like a bird flew into the window." He doesn't even try to defend why he, himself, was up on the sixth floor outside Gary's office. Nor does he have a blueberry to sacrifice in the service of cover identities. "Oh..." eyeing the pastry, "Oh!" The farm boys cheeks go beat red seeing Cindy here leaving surprise breakfast pastries, "I... didn't realize you and Gary were..." He clears his throat and tries to slip out backwards, temporarily forgetting the fact that she came in through the window. <br> <br>

:'''{{#var:981|Cindy Moon (981)}} has posed:'''<br>"Oh, no, not at all, I might have bumped against the window when I was working on the best placement for Mr. Westwood's surprise, see, I brought him a blueberry muffin," Cindy says with an endearing smile that somehow takes up half her face, as she motions to the prominently displayed muffin just inches off Gary's keyboard. "I figured maybe I could get a chance to cover sports if I shower him with enough gifts, like, you know, cover a UFC story or something like that! Wouldn't it be exciting to go in that lockerroom?" She squees, playing the part of a smitten teen, which honestly isn't that hard for her. Of course one flaw in her presented plan, is that, literally just about anyone could have gotten Gary that muffin.<br><br>She then realizes that Clark gets an altogether different impression, and that smile of her fades into an anxiously pale expression as she shakes her head and hands vigorously, "oh no! No! Nothing like that, eeww, he could be my dad...I mean, like, for assignments...I'm totally bribing him!"<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:45|Clark Kent (45)}} has posed:'''<br>Clark pauses in his retreat and glances back in at Cindy, scrutinizing with a furrow of his brow. "Oh, that's all? Well... I can't say as I blame you. I use to work the sports desk a few years back and I can tell you that he's allergic to blue-berries." Pushing the door open fully to look around the dark office with a turn of his head, adjusting his glasses as they sit on the bridge of his nose. <br><br>When he looks back to Cindy, it's with a grin. "Come on, Ms. Moon, grab the pastry.. I think I know how we can get you that job without sacrificing breakfast." Waving a hand to usher her out, "I made a few contacts while I was still working sports, one of them was a gym owner down at Ronin Athletics in New York. I did a feature on them and they owe me a favor. It wont be a pulitzer, but if you impress the Assistant Editor..." He shrugs and grins a little. <br><br>He doesn't mention it, the sound difference between someone hitting the inside and outside of a window, but who is Clark Kent to point out the inconsistancies in someones story?! <br> <br>

:'''{{#var:981|Cindy Moon (981)}} has posed:'''<br>"Well, it's tough for a girl to get a sports assignment, especially my age," Cindy mopes, before Clark relates how Gary is allergic to blueberries and she looks stunned. "Wow! You serious? Damnit! No good deed goes unpunished," she groans, but at least Clark was nice enough to remind her she probably doesn't want to leave the pastry behind. "Yeah, well, I guess I ought to take it if it'll harm him," she admits, grabbing the bag that curiously enough says 'Cindy' on it from when she put her order in.<br><br>"Seriously!? You'll help li'l ol' me? Thanks Mr. Kent, you're the bee's knees!" Cindy squees, hurrying out of Gary's office before he comes back from that meeting. Although, to be real, it's been 30 minutes and they haven't even finished discussing the agenda for the meeting.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:45|Clark Kent (45)}} has posed:'''<br>Clark slips his hands into his trouser pockets, waiting outside the door for Cindy to collect her pastry, "Well, of course, Ms. Moon." Reaching up to push his glasses higher on the bridge of his nose. "I was just starting out once too.. Farm boy from Kansas didn't get a lot of breaks in the big city. I remember when I first showed up, before Ms. Lane took a shine to me, it was always ''Clark, take the coffee orders'' or ''Smallville, where's lunch?''. Wasn't until a good friend of mine, Jimmy Olson, gave me the exact lead I'm giving you.." <br><br>Hands back in his pocket, pulling the door closed for her once she's exit the office. <br><br>"If I can offer you one piece of advice?" Walking along towards the elevators. <br> <br>

:'''{{#var:981|Cindy Moon (981)}} has posed:'''<br>"Hey, getting her coffee is what I do now! So you're saying I'm on the right path?" Cindy laughs, appreciating that a report of Clark's caliber is taken a moment to encourage her. "Oh, please do, I take any advice into consideration," she says while listening attentively, walking into the elevator with Clark.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:45|Clark Kent (45)}} has posed:'''<br>Clark hits the call button rather than returning to the stairs, "Two pieces of advice... Lois likes her coffee black and bitter like Mr. Whites stare. The second, however, is probably more... well no, messing up Lois' coffee is a sure fire path to the mail room, but still very important." Grinning sidelong at Cindy, "Make friends with the copiers and photographers.. Jimmy? Saved my bacon a number of times just by being well informed. They're always the first ones to catch wind of a scoop and if you're on their good side, you'll get a ring to let you know about it." <br> <br>

:'''{{#var:981|Cindy Moon (981)}} has posed:'''<br>Cindy just barely manages to bring her hand to cover her mouth as she bursts with laughter at the comparison between how bitter Lois likes her coffee to Mr. White's stare. While by no means a pro, Cindy has dabbled in superheroing, and was in some scary situations. Still, nothing was quite as scary as a Mr. White stare. Hell, she usually made sure to hide behind someone like Lois if she ever needed to set foot near his office. "I met a pretty nice photographer that works for the Bugle, a Peter Parker, so, yeah, I know how resourceful those guys can be. Thanks for the tip, real nice of you to help me. I mean...can you imagine if I left the muffin and then find out he's allergic when the ambulance got here? Sheesh, you really saved my ass."<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:45|Clark Kent (45)}} has posed:'''<br>Clark isn't Steve Rogers, and it's certainly not the first time he's heard foul language. Heck, he's been working with Lois for the better of a decade now, and that's most of her vocabulary, but there's a bristling in him hearing it from such a young person. Not that he comments, but he does give her a little look over the top of his glasses, smiling all along. "Like I said, Ms. Moon, we have to stick together-" That is empirically untrue. It's a dog eat dog world in the News business, but Clark's never subscribed to that. He's got a reputation as the ''nice guy'' in the Planet. "I believe I've heard of Peter Parker.. from social media, I mean. Some of his pictures on that Spider-Man fella out in New York, but wasn't he dating Supergirl for a little while? Heck, that'd be a story, let me tell you.." <br><br>Only a single wink, only a little nudge. <br><br>"You just talk to Jimmy this afternoon before you clock out and he'll send you right to a great story. I don't know if you're really interested in staying in Sports, but.. it can't hurt to develop a body of work to fall back on. Lois is a good resource too. Might seem like you're not going anywhere picking up coffee, but she's got an eye for talent and smells stories bleeding out of the walls. You stick with her and you'll eventually see your name on the byline." Grinning easily and honestly. "Doesn't hurt if you understand computers too.. I learned that the hard way." <br> <br>

:'''{{#var:981|Cindy Moon (981)}} has posed:'''<br>"Yeah...I saw the social media posts, I don't know how a dweeb like him ends up with someone like Supergirl, that was crazy. At first I thought she was doing a publicity stunt for charity or something, but, it seemed real enough!" Cindy says with a preplexed look on her visage. "I just thought it would be cool to try something I never did before, I mean, I get that the biggest stories will never be in sports." She nods at that last tip, "oh, I'm okay with computers, I mean...I'm no genius, but I can make it work!" She looks as if she's mentally taking notes of the suggestions, and when the elevator finally opens to the floor she's actually supposed to go to, she steps out while waving at Clark, "thanks for the tips Mr. Kent, I'll see you around lunch? If you're in that is? Have a great day!"<br> <br>
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