4/Valentines and Stakeouts

Valentines and Stakeouts
Date of Scene:	15 February 2020
Location:	Eastside - Queensland Park
Synopsis:	Lois and Clark do a long stakeout on Valentine's Day.
Cast of Characters:	Clark Kent, Lois Lane

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Clark Kent has posed:
There's a loud rap on the passenger side door, and a waggle of something white. Clark's returned with food. Their long stakeout seems to be extending out into something neither of them really expected.

The pair are parked out in the parking lot of the strip joint 'Man-meat', and have been there hours, waiting for their senator to surface, and there has been need of a few rotating breaks, including the most recent that sent Clark (after losing the rock-paper-scissors with his paper choice) to fetch sandwiches.

Clark lifts the bag and the drinks in his other hand, indicating that he needs Lois to lean over from the driver side to unlock his door for him so that he can climb back in. The outdoors is cold and wet, though there's currently a break in the rain. It's caused a fog to appear on the inside of the car from the campout, which made Clark's shape outside a blur: but there's no question about if it's him or not: he's a familiar shape and polite 'wave-wave-help-me?' manner.

Lois Lane has posed:
Leaning over to the driver's side of the car, Lois pulls the handle and gives the door just enough of a nudge to allow Clark to get it the rest of the way. She checks to make sure he does indeed have it before retreating back to her side of the car. "Get lost out there? Can't say I'm sure how long you were gone, honestly, because I've been staring at this building so long that it could have been /forever/."

Lois leans over to help take the food from him so he can get inside, glancing at the exterior of the car. "You got lucky, though, with the rain. I bet it would have poured on me if I lost." She smirks.

Clark Kent has posed:
The bag gets juggled, as Clark uses the side of his forearm awkwardly to get his door open all the way, and then hands in first the bag of food, then the Strawberry Kiwi Snapple that he chose for her. "I'm not sure I /didn't/ get drowned," Clark sighs. He's not soaked, but he does need to peel off his wet jacket, putting it carefully into the backseat as he climbs in, twisted around to try to spread it out so it can dry a little bit. His button-up light blue shirt is ill-fitted and a bit rumpled, like always: the rain just brings out the wrinkles.

"There's also, um, Mango," Clark supplies, pausing to read the orange label on the other drink as he sits down and shuts his door. "And I got one Mocha-Frappuccino, it's in the bag, but that was all they had for coffee products."

Lois Lane has posed:
Fishing through the bag, Lois seems happy with the results. "Nice work." She might be the slightest bit disappointed that there's not more in the way of coffee options, but she'll deal with that later. Putting the drinks in the cupholders, she briefly glances between Clark and the outline of the club.

"You know, Smallville, this could have been an entirely different evening if you went in undercover." It's a casual statement, as she pulls out the sandwiches from the bag and offers what she assumes is his towards him.

Clark Kent has posed:
"/Me/?" Clark asks, with a quick little explosive breath from his cheeks. Annnnnd there's the blush that she no doubt intended to cause. "You'd blend in as a patron, I don't know what you'd expect me to do in there," Clark points out, logically, uncomfortably. "You know, if we're talking undercover: you could go make a friend," he adds, pointing at a group of eight women that are piling out of their car to their right, chatting loudly about how they're going to enjoy 'Singles Awareness Night'. Sometimes known as Valentine's Day.

Clark accepted his sandwich on his thigh, and then attempts to open his Mango Snapple. He works on it a little while, failing. The man also struggles with pickle jars.

Lois Lane has posed:
"Relax, it was a joke," Lois offers, certainly looking amused. "I know you'd have a hard time convincing a crowd of women you were a stripper. Not really your sort of thing." She reaches over, wordlessly taking the Snapple from him. She opens it, steals a sip, then hands it back. "Anyway, while the option of going undercover is still open... mm, I'm good here."

She doesn't, of course, explain why she's fine where she's at as she unwraps her sandwich and takes a bite of it while watching the club's door.

Clark Kent has posed:
"I didn't bring my stripper... pants. Or whatever," Clark describes, as if that were the only reason why he was saying no, with a small gesture vaguely at his lower body. Whatever it is strippers wear. Really not Clark's sort of thing, to even know the proper lexicon.

There isn't really even a sigh as Lois takes the drink from him, he just waits to get it back, accepting it with the removed sip with his usual complete tolerance of Lois's affectionate abuse.

"Thanks, Lois," Clark even says, putting it in the drink holder and unwrapping his sandwich more slowly, trying to not dump it on his shirt. He has enough food stains on various garments as it is, and this shirt was hanging in there in just the 'rumpled' category, not 'stained' as well.

Lois Lane has posed:
Lois is silent for a few moments, only for the sake of eating, as she carefully watches the door. "You know, I'm starting to think she's going to be in there all night. They've probably got some Valentine's Day special... two for one--" She stops herself, laughing. "I don't think I want to know what the special is, to be honest. It doesn't even sound like a /good/ strip club." She picks a piece of lettuce out of her sandwich and eats it on its own. "Company's definitely better out here anyway."

Clark Kent has posed:
Clark's got his gaze down in the food, and has now gotten a big bite of his turkey sandwich in his mouth, so he doesn't answer right away, just lifts his gaze first to her, then follows her eyeline out through the foggy windshield.

Clark then watches her as she comments about the company, and his eyebrows drop a little bit with a quiet empathy. "Did you have to cancel your plans to sit out here?" Clark asks, cautiously, after he swallowed; he doesn't talk with his mouth full. She may have had a Valentines' date, after all, and she's stuck there with him eating sandwiches and drinking Snapple. "Break some guy's heart?" Clark adds a softened smile, supportive to his friend.

Lois Lane has posed:
There's a bit of an honest laugh from Lois at the suggestion of a hot date. "Not this time, I'm afraid. So don't worry, you aren't taking me away from anything special. I probably would have ended up with a glass of wine, a hot bath, and a book. So... my usual Friday night."

Her attention shifts to her side. "So what about you, Smallville? No one in your sights? Someone working at your local bookstore who you've made eyes at secretly between shelves?"

Clark Kent has posed:
Clark is having another big bite of sandwich, looking down at his food as she describes her lonely friday night. He doesn't really comment about it, shyness or something else. He has a little bit of a distant look, but that isn't unusual for Clark, sometimes it's like he's gone somewhere else. "Me? No, not really..."

"Speaking of things in our sights," Clark says, sitting forward, and adjusting his glasses up his nose. "That car, that black sedan, is going around to the back, isn't it?" Clark asks, pointing to a car that is very casually and slowly driving around towards the back entrance to the building. For someone with bad vision, Clark tends to be fairly intuitive about such things.

Lois Lane has posed:
Lois sits up quickly from where she had comfortably settled into the passenger seat. She leans forward, as if the foot of distance decreased between her and the car was somehow going to make a difference. "What? Oh! Yeah, I think you're right."

She puts her sandwich back into the bag simply to get it out of the way. "That's gotta be her. Unless there are /two/ VIPs in there tonight, which is entirely possible. Either way, someone doesn't want to be seen walking out."

Clark Kent has posed:
"On foot or stay in the car?" Clark wonders. Instead of putting his sandwich away, he's just trying to eat it quickly, which has made for a sort of speedy picnic of chewing of two more bites. The guy was hungry, it seems, and it wasn't like they were running over there. He's quiet because he has to chew, and drink his snapple, though he starts to put the last bit of sandwich away by rolling it in the wrapper neatly on his lap, blue eyes down on that project for the moment.

"I think we should drive over, and hop out, try to talk to her as she exits?" Clark suggests after swallowing.

Lois Lane has posed:
"Good instincts," Lois replies, leaning towards the window to try and get a better peek. "Yeah, if we can get the car in somewhere that'd make her have to walk past us, that'd be perfect." She's ready, even if Clark's finishing his sandwich. She looks something like a cat ready to pounce.

Clark Kent has posed:
"Ready," Clark says finally, licking some mayo off of the heel of his palm quickly, and shuffling items around. He'll be on camera duty if necessary, and he prepares it. But he pauses.

"Oh no, is that her already?" he says quickly, and rapidly puts on his seatbelt. Of course Clark would do that, even if they are going across a parking lot; Clark and his safety.

Accross the way by the sedan, a small group has emerged, including the dark-haired senator Elinor Dawling, with one of the male employees next to her, slowly exiting the establishment.

Lois Lane has posed:
Lois rolls her eyes at the seatbelt, not considering it necessary until... suddenly their quarry is right there. And with company. "Looks like she's taking home a Frank. I'm sure that says a lot for 'family values'." She doesn't exactly floor it, but she certainly moves the car forward more swiftly than probably expected.

Bringing the car around, she tries to position it so that the sedan will have to entirely move around them to retreat. "Got you now," she mutters.

Clark Kent has posed:
And off comes the seatbelt again once the car has zipped across the parking lot. The swift arrival of the car does, of course, alarm those standing there. "Let's do it, I assume you're on point," Clark replies, letting himself out with camera in tow, prepared to double-team the senator with Lois. They've done this manuever plenty of times: piece of cake.

"Senator!" Clark calls, giving Lois time to get closer while he moves more towards her car instead of towards her. "Your office has been diligently uncovering corruption related to the expansion of the Mutant Resettlement statutes for years; what changed? The public should hear YOUR story," Clark coaxes.

Lois Lane has posed:
With the car firmly in park (Lois isn't insane after all), the woman retreats from the car and moves around to flank, aiming in the direction of cutting the senator off. "Senator Dawling, Lois Lane, Daily Planet. I'm hoping that you'd be interested in an exclusive interview regarding your recent policies and... habits?"

There's no threat, but there's the implication that some things that have been seen can be unseen if it helps in the pursuit of a real story--there are all kinds of things a senator could share, and certainly enough for a solid story.

Clark Kent has posed:
The senator is, of course, very aware, and she attempts to slip around them, uncomfortably, and shielding herself. As Lois gives the implication, Clark lowers the camera at the same time, to help cement what Lois is offering. They want an interview, and will overlook the rest of it.

"It's all right, Linus," the Senator sighs at one of her assistants that starts to get up in Clark's face and steer the more meek reporter backwards. "The Planet is a good move, if they're /discreet/. Take their information," the Senator sighs, but does make it to the black sedan. Her 'Frank' stays back, knowing better than to stay close now that there's reporters. He is doing a vanishing act back inside the club.

The assistant instead scowls, but accepts a trade of information with Clark, in front of him.

Lois Lane has posed:
The female reporter seems pleased with the turn of events, Lois smiling charmingly at the Senator. "I can assure you, Senator, the Planet's more interested in stories that matter. I doubt anyone wants to read about someone picking up a cut of meat at their local deli." She lets her gaze land on the man in his retreat inside, though it's mostly to just remember his appearance if she needs it later. For investigative purposes, of course.

Lois lets Clark handle the informational details, moving around towards the far side of their car so she can prepare to move it to aid in the Senator's forthcoming retreat.

Clark Kent has posed:
Clark flips a thumbs up to Lois quickly when she checks on him, moving up onto the sidewalk to get out of the way as well, fine with catching up with Lois and the car around the front of the club after the senator's entourage has gotten clear of the place.

Clark does in fact do just that, to come jogging around a group of patrons ('Hey there Saaaailor, need a Valentine?') before he moves to the passenger side and rejoins Lois. Flushed. But elated. "Got it; bright and early Tuesday," Clark says, offering a high-five.

Lois Lane has posed:
"Looks like you've got a career in there if you ever decide to take up dancing," Lois teases, but then offers him a victory high-five. "I wasn't sure for a second if she was going to go for it. She's smart, though. We're a much better option than anyone else and hopefully she'll realize that means she should /always/ come to us."

She grins. "She's not gonna fall for that trick again, though. That was very well executed, Smallville. It's almost like we're good at this or something."

Clark Kent has posed:
"I just played defense; you got her," Clark says generously. "And THIS is a story," Clark agrees. "Either she puts out the fire and we have a new angle others don't, or we have nothing to lose with going ahead as we are with the corruption getting swept under the rug."

With a pleased breath, he relaxes back in the carseat. "I'm ready to get out of this car, though." He checks his watch: an old habit, he prefers it to using his phone to tell time. The band is broad and worn. "Still time to have wine and a bath, probably," Clark says, with a brief warm, quick smile at his best friend.