17689/Turning the Page

Turning the Page
Date of Scene:	18 April 2024
Location:	Lois Lane's Apartment
Synopsis:	Lois and Jon share a bit of conversation and are soon joined by M'gann M'orzz. Secrets are revealed and things take a turn for the fascinating.
Cast of Characters:	Lois Lane, Jon Kent, M'gann M'orzz

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Lois Lane has posed:
    It is evening. Lois has only just got home. She has time to lock the door, stare at a clock that is telling her it is 9:34 PM, and without pause, tosses her bag on a kitchen chair, only to have it tumble over to the floor. She doesn't even look back.

    Instead, she opens the french doors of her balcony and steps out into the night air. Outside, the sky is clear, though there aren't many stars one can see. Metropolis is bright, beautiful, and laid out before her in a view she never tires of.

    But her eyes don't focus on it. She just leans on the rail of the balcony and stares out. It's been a day.

Jon Kent has posed:
Jon is wearing his Superboy uniform -- much like Superman's, though the shoulders are red. He is supposed to be patrolling tonight but he has been having difficulty focusing lately. So instead he is floating in the middle atmosphere of the planet, eyes closed, trying to filter out the many sounds and smells of Earth. The smells are much less a problem up here, but the noises, oh the noises! Superman has been training him how to filter them out, but when he's tired and has poor focus he struggles.

Then one set of sounds in particular reach his ears. His crystal blue eyes open and a slight smile hints on his lips. "Mom," he mouths silently. He peers downward to get his bearings. He is directly above Metropolis. He turns and rockets down toward the city, his red cape fluttering behind him. Within moments he is hovering in the air about fifteen feet from Lois' balcony.

"Am I disturbing you?" he asks earnestly in that voice of his, at once so gentle and yet rippling with power.

Lois Lane has posed:
    Lois doesn't hear his arrival, and is startled by his voice. Clearly he has drawn her out of some deep thought. Considering her expression, it was probably not a happy daydream.

    Seeing him, though, brings a smile to her face. "Never," she replies gently. "Do you have time for an old woman tonight?" she asks playfully. "I'm not sure what's new and exciting to watch, but I would appreciate the company."

    She looks over her son, taking him in, as a mother should. "You are well? Sleeping enough?" Lois isn't sure how much Jon needs to sleep, but she is quite able to slide into a mom role.

Jon Kent has posed:
The caped young man float gently over and lands on the balcony so lightly that he wouldn't have torn a piece of rice paper were it under him. His gaze takes in Lois like that of a son who has lost his mother and found her again. She is, of course, not his actual birth mother but after having been here on this version of Earth for so long with no legitimate hope of ever finding which of the infinite other Earths is his real home, Jon's brain is unable to distinguish this Lois from his mom. Though sometimes he spares a thought for how tortured those two parents somewhere in the multiverse must be every day.

Utterly incapable of lying, even to be polite, Jon responds, "College is hard. I've been stressed and having trouble sleeping." He walks closer to his mother. Like his father, Jon's body radiates more heat than a human's. "But I'm okay. Honest."

Jon reaches out and puts his hands on Lois' shoulders. "You are /not/ an old woman. You're beautiful and one of the most important journalists on Earth." He smiles genuinely, an expression that suits his face well.

Lois Lane has posed:
    Lois will never get over the fact that somewhere, somehow, she-or another version of herself-brought this miracle of a child into the world. She cannot comfort that other woman, or reach across the worlds to let her know that Jon is okay. But she can treat him like a son. More than just treat, though, she is feeling it in her heart.

    "I can understand that. I had my hard times in college, as well. Honestly in some ways, those sleepless nights never go away." She reaches out, wanting to place her right hand gently on his cheek. "You are strong, Jon. You will do well. Don't obsess over grades or any of those trivial things. Just do your best, be yourself. No matter what."

    When he compliments her she cannot help but laugh. "Well, it is nice that you think so. But.. hm. You know, this doesn't feel quite right." She moves closer. She is definitely aiming for a hug now. "Have you eaten yet?"

Jon Kent has posed:
Affection for this who are important in his life flows from Jon like water from a stream. He easily pulls Lois into a hug, wrapping arms that could crush steel around her with reverent gentleness. "Well it's not like if I don't get good grades I'll be unemployed," he says with a grin, resting his chin on his mother's head. "I could be a full-time superhero."

Releasing Lois from the hug at the mention of food, the young man cocks a grin on one side of his mouth. "You know me, I can always eat," he says enthusiastically. "D'you wanna order Thai?" He peers down at himself. "I don't exactly have my wallet on me though." Blue eyes peer back up at Lois.

Lois Lane has posed:
    Lois has never birthed a child, but when she's hugging Jon, it somehow just makes sense to her. Maybe it's the multiverse just making things right. That's a comforting thought to her, that there is some cosmic sense of justice that does its best.

    "Thai sounds really good." The wallet comment has her laughing. "As if I'm going to let my son buy our food!" She is smiling, though. Her reaction is certainly overdone. "I can get some delivery. We can't have you doing speedy pick-up, no matter how tempting that might be."

    She has her phone out in moments. Well, after she goes to pick up her bag and fetch it from her bag. "So, there are two good options. One is normal thai, one is this new fusion place. I've never tried it, but they keep sending me fliers for a free appetizer. Any preference?"

Jon Kent has posed:
Jon lives on a farm 1,200 miles away in the middle of Kansas. He blinks a few times. "Fusion? What is that?" He makes a vague gesture with his hand. "I trust you. Order whatever you think will be good. "I'm not super hungry so don't get me a lot of food." He finds a seat on the balcony and sits. His face screws up in concentration. "Actually, just to be safe, you prob'ly should order me a lot of food."

The caped young man watches his mom for a few silent moments. Then: "Do you spend much time with dad? With...with Clark?" Jon's a meddler.

Lois Lane has posed:
    "You know, I think it's just when they want to call themselves a Thai place but add in cheeseburgers or pasta. It tastes pretty good, but I think since I'm with you, I will stick with something I know you will like."

    She's flitting her way through an ordering app. Lois had a mind to get a lot of food. Jon is a big, strong, and in college. This all speaks to big portions in her mind.

    The Clark question is enough to make her fumble the phone for a moment. She nearly drops it. In the moment, it is rather like a cartoon character fumbling a bar of soap.

    "Oh, Clark and I?" she smiles uncertainly, "I... well. I'm not sure really." She frowns thoughtfully. A few more taps. Two appetizers, three main courses, and dessert.

    In the lamest ever re-direction, she says, "It's weird but this Thai place has the best carrot cake in Metropolis." Ma Kent's desserts absolutely destroy it, but Lois can't pester her coworkers mom for treats, either.

    "How about you, Jon? Is there anyone you are interested in?" This is Lois doing her best Uno-reverse.

Jon Kent has posed:
"Not really," Jon says with a shrug. Super powers or not, at this moment he's a college student being asked by his mother about romantic interests. He even gets a slight flush to his cheeks. "Who has time? I have studies at college. Studies at the Justice League. Plus my work on the farm. I commute 1,200 miles a day each way." He shrugs. "Plus my Jon Kent persona is a bumbling nerd. Who wants to date that?"

Jon stands up and walk closer to his mom again. "So. Clark?" Earnest blue eyes study his mom carefully. Hearing her heartbeat is trivially easy.

Lois Lane has posed:
    Lois forgets how inconvenient it is that her son-and her romantic interest-can read her so very easily. She cannot control that heart of hers. Not literally or metaphorically.

    "Well, some of us really are attracted to those bumbling nerd types, Jon." She realizes in that moment that her mom brain has walked right into that trap, too. She sighs softly at herself.

    "I want... to ask him, yes," she says, getting, perhaps, a bit sensitive on this topic. "But more than that, I want him to ask me. I mean out. Not just out."

    Her violet eyes focus on Jon's face. Her heart is betraying nervousness. This topic is extremely delicate. "I somehow feel like I'm not supposed to tell you about my lacking romantic life. Isn't that a rule? You aren't supposed to worry about me and your father. After all, you are proof that it will work out in the end, right?"

Jon Kent has posed:
"If the two of you just keep falling back into work waiting for the other one to make the first move, the years will keep passing by," Jon chides Lois affectionately. "And I get to worry about who I want to worry about. I'm a worrier. It's in my DNA."

He slides open the glass balcony door and stands aside to let Lois pass first. A gentleman, just like his father. "Let's get something to drink while we're waiting for the food. Got any Cherry Pepsi?" If Lois enters, he'll follow her in but not before stopping for a moment and peering out into the city nightscape, hearing the things he hears, smelling the things he smells. Bah. Even Superboy deserves a night off to hang with his mom. He walks into the apartment and slides the door shut.

Lois Lane has posed:
    Lois nods, "You are right. And if I'm not careful, well. Someone else is going to pluck him up. I noticed this woman who works the fashion beats eying his shoulders the other day." She doesn't bristle visibly, but the heartbeat is all it takes. Lois really needs to just tell Clark the truth, obviously.

    "Cherry Pepsi? What mother would not have her son's drink of choice!" She smiles at his behavior, though. "Always a gentleman, just like your father." As for the drink, it is one of the few things that is in her fridge, honestly. If Jon looks inside, he will see it is quite barren in there. Mostly it is a condiment storage chest. Her freezer is little better. If it wasn't automatically defrosted it'd have been frozen solid a while ago.

    "Straight, or on the rocks?" she asks, getting back into a more playful mindset.

Jon Kent has posed:
Bedecked in the Superboy suit, Jon leans casually back against a kitchen counter. A normal college student lounging in his mom's kitchen, but wearing one of the most recognizable uniforms on Earth. It's a bit surreal. An honest smile plays across his lips, reaching his sparkling blue eyes. "Right from the can is fine, mom. Thank you."

He pops open the soda and drains half of it in one pull. "So how's work? Got any big stories in the works? Need me to beat up anybody for you?" A joke, of course.

Lois Lane has posed:
    Lois is probably the only person (outside of Kansas, anyway) for whom this scene is somehow /not/ odd. It's her son, in his work uniform. A beacon of hope, justice, and goodness that lights the world. If anyone ever gets in one of those mom bragging contests with her, they will have their work cut out for them.

    "Wow, you were thirsty. I swear, I have no idea where it even goes. Oh, and work is fine. Big stories? I'm working on a few, and they assigned me a puff piece to repay a friend of the staff. I'm hoping to dig into this rumor I heard about a new drug coming out of Gotham. I can meet my source tomorrow night. You... may want to keep an ear open just in case that goes wrong."

    She is grinning at the last. "You know, if it ends up less than ideal I might get myself in a bit of trouble." Her? Trouble? Who'd ever imagine it.

Jon Kent has posed:
A more sober looks falls over Jon's features. He nods in Lois' direction. "Make sure you have your ELT on you," Jon says gravely. "You know dad or I will be there in a blink if you get in over your head. Just don't wait until you're actually falling of a building or whatever to click it." A wink.

"So I was on the Lunar Colony the other night," Jon mentions casually like he was talking about the weather. "Diana Prince had a ceremony. Lotta people were there. It was super fancy. Thankfully I was able to wear this cuz I don't have any fancy clothes." He drains the rest of the Cherry Pepsi. "It was...so peaceful up there. I couldn't hear /any/ of the sounds from Earth. I was listening to this orchestra play and I was able to just focus on the music and not have to simultaneously filter out the noises of seven billion people." He lets out a gentle sigh. "It was nice."

Lois Lane has posed:
    "Never leave home without," says Lois. She smirks, "And I always use it with plenty of warning. I'm sure Clark would agree... that I should perhaps use it faster. But honestly, you and your father move so fast and I do not. Besides, if I knew about the trouble before it was upon me I would avoid it."

    Considering how much she is willing to risk herself in the pursuit of a story, that is perhaps a little bit of a stretch. But that isn't the main concern right now.

    "So at least the vacuum of space keeps you from all our human racket, then. That's a good thing. I'm happy you had a break. And all you had to do was go to the moon." She can't help but ask, "What it is like up there? As a very human woman, I can only enjoy that vicariously through you. I'd like to hear more about the ceremony, too."

Jon Kent has posed:
Jon's face immediately brightens. "It's an enclosed base! You could go. I bet if I talked to Ms. Prince she would arrange the transportation! Do you want me to ask?" Jon really never asks for /anything/ and almost never injects his own desires into a situation. But clearly he seems excited about the idea of impressing his mother by taking her to the Lunar Colony base. Imagine that, Superboy thinking he needs to impress his mother. But boys are boys regardless of their species.

"Food's here," Jon says. There is not yet any indication of that, but of course he knows. "I'd go get it, but..." He peers down at himself and gestures with his hands. "Might be hard to explain."

Lois Lane has posed:
    "Go to the moon with you?" Lois looks at her son for a moment. Yes, of course she wants to! She's so curious. "I don't need special training? And, are you sure it's okay? I don't want you to get in trouble on my account." Yes she does! Well, not a lot of trouble. But she is so excited about this.

    "I wonder if they would let me take pictures and record some video for my social media show." Lunar Lane would be a fun tease. "But I like this so much. We can have a mother-son outing! On the moon! Oh my, I will be able to jump really high there, won't I? It'd be a taste of what you are so used to. Leap tall buildings in a single bound!"

Jon Kent has posed:
Seeing his mother truly carefree like this tears through Jon like blissful lightning. He is grinning ear to ear and those crystal blue eyes are glittering happily. "Well the base itself has normal gravity. I dunno how it works but they do something or other with technology. But maybe we can get permission for you to suit up and go out on the surface. I'm not sure how that works. But it can't hurt to ask."

He snaps his fingers in excitement and accidentally uses too much force because he's so focused on his great idea. It likely is a bit painful to Lois' ear, but nothing serious. He's just all jazzed and unfocused.

Lois Lane has posed:
    "So not only do they have a base on the moon, it has normal gravity. So humans can stay up there indefinitely without having issues with muscle atrophy and bone density loss!" She has interviewed people on the ISS before. "That sounds like a few stories in itself. But I won't let work ruin it. Something I've learned over the past two years, Jon. You don't experience life if you only see it through the lens of new sto record."

    "But let's hold that thought. I have food to get." And sure enough, her phone finally reacts to let her know a driver is here. "I'll be back soon!" And so she is. The trip down and back up is quick. In no time the smell of Thai is flooding the place as Lois sets two large bags of food on the table.

Jon Kent has posed:
By the time Lois gets back up to the apartment, the table is fully set by Jon, including whatever Lois' favorite beverage of choice is. Once Jon completed that task, he had to figure out what to do with the remaining one minute and 55 seconds of the two minutes that Lois was gone.

There is a super-tummy-growl once the smell of the food hit's Jon nostrils. He begins to unpack the food. "Sit down and relax. I'll serve. What do you want to start with this evening, madame?" He lays out all of the options in a row and begins putting serving utensils in the packaging. He even goofily drapes a towel over one harm like a waiter.

Lois Lane has posed:
    Lois settles into her seat and looks up at Jon. Her drink of choice? As weird as it may be, she is drinking some trendy brand of spring water. Oddly clean, considering her usual obsession with caffeination.

    The food she has ordered includes an abundant amount of crab rangoons (real ones, not the cream cheese stuff!), chicken satay skewers with cucumber salad, and then the main dishes of pad thai, coconut curry, and drunken noodles.

    "I would like a bit of each. I rarely get a lot of variety, honestly. When I'm on my own I can be a bit lazy about things. If left to my own devices, I just come home and do research or write." Lois finds a way to fill up all her free time with work time.

    "The rangoons are really, really good. And if we have room, there's the cake. I ordered three slices." Just in case.

Jon Kent has posed:
"Three slices?" Jon teases as carefully dishes out generous portions of everything to his mother. "What are you going to eat for dessert?" he teases. Once Lois' food is portioned out, Jon piles it high and deep on his plate. Our boy is hungry. "I can't even find words for how amazing this smells!"

Once Jon gets enough hungry bites onboard to at least get him past the distracted stage of hunger, he smiles at Lois. "This is so metropolitan. Late night dinner with my mom. I mean, only in Metropolis. Or maybe New York. I dunno. It's nice, right? Doing something like this?" He smiles warmly, innocently, and earnestly at Lois.

M'gann M'orzz has posed:
'Megan Morse' is fairly well known in the building for her baked goods. She bakes often and consistently, and generally has extra to share around with her neighbors! And it certainly doesn't hurt that the hall outside her apartment regularly smells of bread, cake, and cookies.

Today she was baking for a bake sale to be held at Metro U to help raise money for some of the foreign language classes to get to travel to the countries whose languages they've been studying! Per usual, Megan has gone a little overboard (sue her, Martian physiology!), and has extras to share. She's knocked on doors and offered cookies, cupcakes, even a few pies! Now it's Lois' turn.

Knocking on the door lightly, she calls out, "Miss Lane? It's Megan, from down the hall? I have some extra pastries that are freshly baked. Would you care for a few of them?"

Lois Lane has posed:
    Lois laughs, "Well, if you can take on all three of those slices, they are yours. I can always have them run a whole cake up here, too." Nothing is too good for him, after all. "You will have to tell me more about school, too. Did you find your professor yet?" She has a point to make there, but she'll get around to it after Jon answers. Assuming he can stop eating long enough to speak.

    It makes her think back to when she first met Clark, somehow. It all seems so very long ago now. The years have added up so fast. Not her favorite though in the world, admittedly.

    "And I do hope you take the time to have fun. It's not all about profession and, yes, you are super important, but you deserve to live, too."

    And then there is a knocking on her door. "Oh it's Megan! You really should meet her. She's wonderful." Uh-oh, is that the glint of meddling in her eyes? Surely not. She would never. But she does get up and open the door.

    "Megan, I thought I caught a whiff of heaven when I walked by your door earlier." Twice. "I'd be happy to. But only if you can come in." She turns to Jon and realizes that this is going to be a bit of a leap. "Superboy was in the neighborhood for an interview with me. Would you like to say hello?" Who wouldn't, right?

Jon Kent has posed:
Grinning at his mom, Jon winks. "I'm not gonna eat all the cake. But I will at least look at you with a pathetic puppy dog face while you eat yours." He shovels some more prodigious mouthfuls of food into his face. Then he sighs. "I'll be honest, I have been running around like crazy between school and the Justice League. I haven't had time for anything fun." He steeples his eyebrows and looks earnestly at his mom. "And you're one to talk, workaholic."

Then the knock on the door comes. Jon stands and turns to meet the newcomer that his mom introduces. For some reason, when Superboy looks at Megan he momentarily chokes on some food he was swallowing and coughs several times in a row. He looks surprised. Maybe it's the coughing fit that took him unawares. "Nice to meet you, Megan," Superboy says as he walks forward and holds out a hand. "Miss Lane was indulging me in some dinner and pretending that my life is interesting enough for an article."

M'gann M'orzz has posed:
Smiling at Lois when the door opens, she holds up a platter that's laden with pain au chocolat, allspice cupcakes thick with a light and fluffy whipped cream icing flavored with just a hint of vanilla custard, and no less than six different types of cookies! "Oh! Well, thank you, Miss Lane. I'd be delighted." Stepping inside, she looks towards Superboy, lifting a brow as he chokes on a mouthful of food. The temptation to probe to make sure he's alright is there, but resisted.

Instead, she shifts the balance of the platter to one hand so she can reach out with the other to shake his, "Megan Morse. It's truly a delight to meet you. I hope you have an appetite! I have a tendency to.. over-prepare." Pausing, she chuckles and shakes her head, "That's a lie. I just love baking and sharing it with friends and neighbors."

Glancing between the two, she offers a bright grin, "I think any hero's life is interesting enough to warrant an article, really. You can fly, you save people, you stop villainous plots in a timely manner, and all before we sit down to dinner! It must be fascinating!" She asides to Lois, "I'll admit that having superheroes like Superman and Superboy partially helped me to decide to go to Metropolis U. It's just so much safer here on the whole than either New York or Gotham."

Lois Lane has posed:
    Lois is very observant. There's... a kind of odd vibe she notices. Her keen, insightly, reporter mind swiftly concludes that these two are obviously interested in each other. Actually that's really just her mom brain pushing the reporter mind to the side. But what to do?

    "Megan, I bet in all that baking you forgot to eat." She's not sure at all that is the case, but she's just laying out the excuse for what is to come. "I insist that you grab a seat and join us. We have enough food here for three, easily, and with those lovely gifts you have brought over, it'll make for a perfect feast." She is playing it up.

    "Superman and Superboy are amazing. They've saved me far too many times to count. Though perhaps I should allow them to relax a bit. There are a lot of other people out there waiting for their help, after all."

Jon Kent has posed:
With the politeness of a Kent, Superboy takes the platter of baked good from Megan and sets it on the table. "Yes, please, Megan, I hope you'll join us for some food. Let me set a place for you." He goes into the kitchen gets all the items for another place setting. Odd that he knows exactly where everything is in Lois' kitchen. Maybe he used his x-ray vision...

After setting Megan's place and getting her something to drink, Superboy sits. He still has some food left on his plate but the smell of the freshly baked treats are more than he can bear. He picks up a peanut butter oatmeal cookie and takes a bite. He closes his eyes for a moment. "So good."

After taking a few more bites of his Thai Superboy asks Megan, "How do you like studying International Relations at Met U?" He peers at her as he takes a drink of his Cherry Pepsi.

M'gann M'orzz has posed:
"I haven't made dinner yet, no. I'm afraid the counters are somewhat occupied by all the trays and pans and racks..." Megan offers a sheepish smile and lifts a small shrug. She would have eaten, really! Sometime... when she remembered... totally doesn't forget that she doesn't NEED to eat food all the time.

With the platter taken off her hands, she laughs, "Well, I guess I'm staying for dinner then, thank you both." Moving to take her seat at the table, she smiles towards Superboy, "Thank you, you didn't need to.. but thank you." Because he set the place for her AND got her a drink. Something that she would normally choose for herself, too! There's a chuckle when he sneaks one of the cookies, "Please, help yourself. There's... peanut butter oatmeal... cherry cheesecake... salted caramel and chocolate chunk.. candied ginger with toffee bits... oh! And the pillowy looking ones are 'cloud cookies'. Gluten-free, but still very good! Also very coconut-ish flavor."

Looking back to Lois, she grins, "Oh, I'm certain they can still save you AND others. They seem like they're fairly quick on their feet... or... cape? Either way!" Lifting the glass to her lips, she blinks when Superboy asks about her studying. "You... know what I'm studying? Oh, uhm... well... it's... I think I'm perhaps not as.. as.. ruthless.. in my ethics class as the professor would like, but I always felt that diplomacy needs to start with ethics. How can you set a good baseline for future interactions without having mutual respect and equal treatment?"

Ohhhhhhh, the temptation to probe his mind is even stronger now! There aren't THAT many people she interacts with enough on campus to know part of her dual major. Do they have a class together, perhaps? But. The ethics stand and she keeps her mental powers to herself!

Lois Lane has posed:
    Now that wasn't quite expected. Not Jon's politeness. Her son is amazing. Even without the powers and the cape she'd count herself lucky to have the best son in the world. Well, in deference she'd say in a tie with Martha Kent. The surprise is the menion of Megan's major. Lois, admittedly, did know Megan's course of study, but how in the world did Superboy?

    Lane plays her cards well, though, and nothing shows on her face until she wants it to. How to explain this little slip-up of her son's? Oh yes.

    "My apologies, Megan. It's my fault. We got to talk about things, and knowing how these superheroes are, I was suggesting Superboy have some fun, find a friend who can show him around the town. You came to mind immediately."

    Honestly, the more Lois thinks about it (and she thinks very, very quickly), the better this idea sounds. It is something she would have done, given just a bit more time to think about it. She laughts softly, "I know, I meddle horribly. I am very sorry, I just thought you both would have fun."

Jon Kent has posed:
Superboy takes in a deep breath but otherwise hides his discomfort. He screwed up and he knows it. When he first showed up this evening he even told Lois that he was tired and distracted. This just corroborates that. But Super Mom to the rescue! Superboy nods as Lois provides an explanation. "Yes, she was giving me the rundown. On you. And stuff." He takes a long, long drink of his Cherry Pepsi.

But when Lois starts her Momly Meddling Superboy's face turns beet red and reflexively he looks right at her and exclaims, "MOOOOM! PLEASE!"

And there you have it. He can fly well past the speed of sound. He can catch bullets out of the air. He can simultaneously hear every sound on the entire planet. But he just left that enormous matzah ball hanging out there like that.

Superboy -- Jon -- lets out a groan and flops his head down on his arms on the table. "Oh man," his muffled voice says from against the table. "Oh man oh man oh man. I can't believe I just did that."

M'gann M'orzz has posed:
"Oh! Oh, well, that certainly makes sense. And I'm flattered you would think of me, Miss Lane! I'd be happy to.." Megan trails off as Superboy drops the OTHER shoe and announces the thing that he's probably not supposed to announce out loud like that. And yet...

Megan looks even MORE relieved! She lets out a breath with a whoosh and smiles broadly, "Oh thank goodness! It really does take some extreme mental gymnastics to NOT say the things that are RIGHT on the tip of the tongue." Looking to Lois, she offers another of those sheepish smiles... and she changes color.

Well, to be more specific, her skin turns green! And the sclera of her eyes turn black, making those red irises stand out even further. She offers a hand out to Lois with a smile, "I'm terribly sorry for all the deception, Miss Lane, but I'm sure you understand the importance of secret identities. I'm M'gann M'orzz... you may know me better as Miss Martian."

Glancing sidelong to Superboy, she lifts a small shrug and gives a wry smile, "It was taking everything I had to NOT read your mind and figure out how you knew me. But it's a huge relief to not have to keep that held back now."

Lois Lane has posed:
    Lois is just trying to recover from the first shock when Jon says /that/. But this is Lois Lane. A woman who hit the likes of Metallo with a crowbar. Sure it didn't hurt him, but it bought time for Superman. And well, sure, this is a mess, but she can figure it out.

    "Listen, Megan, I shou-" she begins, only to be cut off when Megan reveals her own secret. That was not expected. For a heartbeat Lois has her jaw on the floor. But she recovers quickly. She shakes M'gann's hand. "I certainly understand. And I appreciate that you shared the secret with me. I do have a few of those I have to keep, so I am familiar with the drill."

    Her eyes shift from Jon to M'Gann, though. There's a mischievous glint in them. "Plus this means you are even more perfect to setup for a date. You both know the whole superhero drill. I already know he never takes a break. And when you aren't baking you are probably saving the worlf full time, too, M'gann. Is it okay to call you just M'gann? I should realy have asked that first."

Jon Kent has posed:
Superboy rises to a standing position, peering wide-eyed at M'gann. He blink-blink-blinks as he stares at the Martian. He looks at his mother. He looks at M'gann. He looks at his mother. He looks at M'gann. "Megan, by Rao! You mean the whole time we were dating you were M'gann the entire time? And you didn't tell me?" He's not upset. Just surprised. And besides, he's guilty of the exact same thing.

"Mom, we already dated for a bit," Jon tells Lois, gesticulating like young men do when they don't know how to parse what's happening. "But we didn't know...y'know...all the secret stuff."

Jon/Superboy sighs and starts to pace as he begins putting the pieces together. He has no idea how what to do now so he does the only thing he can think of: he grabs another cookie and shoves it into his mouth.

M'gann M'orzz has posed:
Nodding to Lois, M'gann's smile warms, "Of course, Miss Lane. M'gann or Megan is just fine, whichever is easiest for you, I certainly respond to both." There's a bit of a blush at the mention of being a perfect setup for a date, turning her cheeks more of a hunter green. "I actually just got out of a relationship, so maybe a little..." And there goes Jon again. This time M'gann's eyes go wide.

"JON?!" Because she's a good Martian and never mindreads the people she's close to, and they'd both gone out of their way to keep up the secret identities, each believing the other was wholly human and not 'in the game'. So now comes M'gann's shock!

Still, in the face of Lois' rallying, she clears her throat quickly and offers an embarrassed smile, "Well, Miss Lane, this is certainly turning into one of the most interesting dinners I've ever attended. But.. he's right. We did date. As Jon and Megan. We, ah, we called it off mutually on account of prior commitments taking up too much of our collective time."

Which has her looking back to Jon with a chuckle, "Which certainly makes more sense now. No wonder we struggled to get through entire dates, we were both chasing off after heroics!"

Lois Lane has posed:
    So Lois is a reporter. She works with the facts and lives with the truth. However, Lois is also a mom, and she has an agenda. Sadly, agenda sometimes means her judgment is not perfect. Her mother was gone long before meddling could be experienced. So Lois has only her own instincts.

    "Oh wow, so you are already dating." That's almost what Jon said! She claps her hands together, "That's amazing. Wow, I suppose this means my eye isn't so bad." That's an interesting bit of revisionist history, but she is rolling with it.

    Then M'gann explains the rest. "Well, then, doesn't that mean you now both understand things?" Lois almost goes into her personal experiences with a superhero, but does not. First, those experiences were horribly unsuccessful thus far, and second, they are private.

    She leaans back to look from M'gann to Jon. She shifts slightly and goes into what Jon might recognize as, serious mode. Her posture becomes absolutely perfection and she regards the two with curious eyes.

    "So... backing up a step or three. You dated, realized you did not have time due to your heroic commitments, and then called it off. Only now you know each other. You can see that both of you will always have these commitments." She looks down at the table, then back up. "You have a lot of new information to consider. And it's not my place to interfere further, but I will say this: not many people are lucky enough to end up in my kitchen, dispelling illusions like this. As I see it, this all calculates into a second chance. Take your time and give it serious thought. This may change everything. Or it may be that the lightning escaped the bottle."

Jon Kent has posed:
As Lois goes into Warp 10 Momming, Jon groans. He stuffs a third cookie into his mouth. The boy's a stress eater. Closing his eyes, he says, "Well, okay, I mean, at least you're not interfering, mother." And they said Jon Kent couldn't use sarcasm!

Drawing in a deep breath (as he wipes cookie crumbs from his Super 'S' emblem), Jon says to Megan, "Okay, I mean obviously this is a big surprise for both of us. But we ended things on positive terms so I think we can navigate these waters. And obviously, I will protect your secret with all my strength. And, um, ho-hopefully we can, um, continue to be in each other's lives and as we move forward we will be able to show...show each other the, um, proper professional, um, you know, professional..." He sighs. "I'm basically babbling now, aren't I?"

His hand starts reaching for another cookie.

M'gann M'orzz has posed:
M'gann blushes harder when Lois starts in on the 'already dating' part, but she doesn't stop Lois, sort of fascinated by watching her go into full Mom Mode. This is a new experience for M'gann. Her mother was NOTHING like this, and well, her mother is no longer around to even offer any advice, even if she'd had any beyond 'overtake and subjugate'... or worse.. kill.

So while Jon is working through horrible embarrassment and grief.. M'gann is soaking up the Momming eagerly, attention rapt on Lois, smiling brightly. It probably doesn't escape Lois' notice, even if Jon isn't paying super close attention.

The question, however, has her nodding and looking towards Jon with a faint smile, "It was never that we didn't like each other.. but I think the pressure of trying to date someone that's not in the know, on top of college, and hero things.. it was too much." She lifts a shrug, "I would.. be open.. to considering it."

Looking back to Lois, she smiles warmly once more, "You're a wonderful mother, Miss Lane. I can see where Jon gets a lot of his personality from. I only wish my parents had been this supportive and.. caring." Loving. She sees Jon plowing through all the cookies and quickly streeeeeeeetches an arm out throught he doorway to grab one of each of the cookies before he can shove them all into his mouth. They're put on a small plate along with a napkin and the arm winds back in to set the plate in front of Lois with a smile, "I know you like the cookies better than the cupcakes."

Turning her attention back to Jon, she smiles, then chuckles, "Please, Jon. It's alright. I trust you with my secret, and I will do everything in my power to protect yours. Both of yours. As for the rest... your mother is right. We should consider things. Think about it. And.. if it works out, then perhaps we can try again with better understanding. If. I'm not going to push for something you don't want." Turning back to Lois, she grins, "He gets flustered so easily, it's one of his more adorable qualities."

Lois Lane has posed:
    Lois meets M'gann's smile and reaches out to pat her on the hand. "You have something to consider. And, honestly, not in front of an audience. I'm terribly curious what you will decide, and I won't deny that I have a vested interest in Jon's happiness." The reporter looks at Jon, who is clearly needing a bit of relief from mom-pressure and then back to M'gann, who is so clearly enjoying mom investment.

    Damn but Lois hopes this works out.

    "I should let you two go. And get that time to figure it all out. Oh, and one last thing. I'm sorry, I know I'm saying too much, Jon, but I just cannot sit here and let you be as stupid as I've been in romance." A breath in and she lets her posture soften. Her words, too, are softer. "You aren't out to save the world. Nor to even save each other. There's this delusion in the world that your lover has to be a perfect puzzle piece to match you, to fill in your every gap. But that's not a fair expectation. No one can live up to it." A pause and she looks at both of them in turn, "Not even people as wonderful as you are. Ultimately that peace and acceptance has to start inside you. And when you have it? You are going to be able to support the one you love without fear or shame. So... take it seriously. Think it through. But let it be fun."

    She gives no time to protest, and little time to respond. She will hug anyone who wants one! And kiss the top of Jon's head. But then?

    "You know how to lock the door on the way out. I'm... going to get ready for bed. And I'll get the food put away. Take all you want, of course, both of you. Goodnight!"