411/Yank That Stitch

Yank That Stitch
Date of Scene:	10 March 2020
Location:	Joe Coffee, Chelsea, New York City
Synopsis:	Log 411, wherein Lois gets the 411. But not really, because Steve manages to succeed in keeping Clark and Superman separate, but encourages Lois to follow her heart in the process, which will probably lead to kicked Feels.
Cast of Characters:	Lois Lane, Steve Rogers

---

Lois Lane has posed:
The message had specifically been relayed: No Janet, not work related. Lois was certain that would be altogether confusing, but those were the only details she'd give besides setting up a time and location. The rest of it needed to be a conversation.

Lois is dressed casually, simple jeans, a purple blouse, and flats. She sits at a small table tucked as /far/ away from others as possible--she might even be missed if not specifically searched for. She's had two cappuchinos already, the second cup empty next to her on the table. She looks... slightly frazzled.

Steve Rogers has posed:
Zero indication of a necessity for the shield means Steve too arrives to Joe Coffee as incognito as can be managed. Granted, he wore a pensive frown during his entire ride to the outskirts of Bryant Park on his motorcycle, and it takes some effort to erase it from his fine features on approach to Lois's table. In his shearling-lapel leather jacket and jeans, combat boots and a Dodgers baseball cap, he pauses first at the table. Hands remain in his pockets and he's got an easy little slouch projected as he tilts his head a little at the young woman.

"Mysterious, Miss Lane," he comments, barely smiling. "Mind if I get something before we sit down 'nd talk?"

Lois Lane has posed:
"Shoo, go get some coffee, you're gonna need it," Lois says. Apparently, she's demonstrating the fact by being half-way done with her second. She leans on the table, glancing over at him. "I need some... advice?" She's not sure what she's asking for, but she gives him the motion to go retrieve some coffee.

Steve Rogers has posed:
"Oh." A quaint sound of transparent surprise. "Advice," he echoes, eyebrows disappearing up into the shadows of the bill of his cap. "Sure, lemme...lemme get a grande or something." Giving Lois a quick smile, the Captain then goes to fulfill this plan. He ends up with a mocha sans whipped cream, though he does wander to the counter for a few shakes of chocolate powder atop it before returning the lid to place.

The chair makes an understated scrape on the flooring as he sits down. A moment to scoot himself back into place and now there's Steve Rogers giving her an expectant, patient look. His coffee is settled before himself, fingers interlaced about the cup. "Alright, shoot. What's on your mind?" he asks quietly.

Lois Lane has posed:
Lois takes in a deep breath. "So, all of this?" She gestures between the two of them. "Top secret. Not a word." She's got to make certain that details don't get back to people they shouldn't. "So first, I need you to be entirely honest to me." A pause. "Has Clark ever, uh, talked about me to you? For advice or just talking about me in any sort of non-work related sense?"

Steve Rogers has posed:
"Sure, top secret." The way Steve says it stamps a seal of secrecy upon it to be kept indefatigable. Granted, he's intrigued, but he conceals the accompanying concern as best he can behind a long sip of his mocha. His brows knit regardless.

But what a question to ask. Steve wrinkles his nose slightly and frowns off to one side of the table's surface, beyond Lois's elbow in thought. "Not that I can think of. Haven't seen much of him since the suit fitting," the Captain explains as his eyes return to the young woman's face.

Lois Lane has posed:
Lois looks... disappointed and relieved at the same time. It's a very odd mix of expressions as she lifts her cup to take another sip. "So, he's never said anything? About me at all? Never asked for advice?" She gives him a serious look. "I am only asking because it's very important." Well, it's true. It is. "It's a matter of..." Life and death doesn't really work here, and she's got no more of a real explanation.

"Oh hell," she mutters.

Steve Rogers has posed:
"Really, Miss Lane, I can't think of a time he's mentioned you other than as a professional coworker." At this point, there's a weird little wiggle of the man's foot. He's managed to mute the worst of it, but now his heel is beginning to bounce off the concrete below it. Thank god for the sound-muffling soles.

He takes a leap and after blowing a short sigh, asks, "Is there trouble? Do I need to go check on him?"

Lois Lane has posed:
"Ah, uh, no, he's not in any trouble, he's fine, I was just..." Lois looks incredibly awkward. "I'm sorry, I know I don't know you very well but you're the only one who knows both Clark and the, uh, other person involved in this situation. I mean, technically Janet knows but she's very harsh on Clark..." She takes a very rapid sip of her coffee.

"I'm really sorry about this." She's a little flustered, definitely not her usual self.

Steve Rogers has posed:
One can see the wheels turning behind those true-blues if one looks up to meet them. Clark, he knows, yes, and somehow, Janet's not involved. The speed of his heel popping off the ground has increased even if the rest of his body in view is markedly more composed and still.

"No, 's'fine, Miss Lane, 's'really no trouble. 'm glad to hear Clark's doing alright. Figure he's been busy lately with everybody stepping into the political ring. Nice expose with Stark, by the way. Thought you handled him well," Steve notes with a half-smile just shy of showcasing a dimple. Maybe pointing out a job well-done will settle the reporter's nerves? "Though 'm not sure about whom this other person is 'nd not sure about how helpful I can be without the knowledge." His admission comes with a little wince, the partial smile still remaining.

Lois Lane has posed:
"I promised him a nice coat of paint for his first interview, so I did. He had some good speaking points and he's certainly a better choice than Lex Luthor at this point so I can't complain," Lois says. Talking about work seems to calm her a little, it's not /personal/. Whatever she's talking about is personal.

"Okay," she looks back at him seriously. "You and I have a mutual friend, who has recently visited the Avengers after a, uh, bit of a break. You know who I'm talking about?"

Steve Rogers has posed:
"Can't help but agree." A lift of the man's coffee follows in salute to Lois's opinion about the current candidates. He does note that his fellow conversationalist seems to be more settled with the topic steered briefly into the safer, known waters of work. This is noted for future encounters by the Captain, who takes another deep sip from his coffee. It's about half-gone already -- this bodes interestingly for the duration of their talk.

Steve lifts his eyebrows at the look shot to him. "...think I do," he hedges before continuing more thoughtfully. "Got a penchant for arriving at the drop of a hat 'nd red capes?"

Lois Lane has posed:
"Yeah, that's the one," Lois says, slowly. She's not entirely sure how to phrase this. On one hand, being entirely blunt seems the easiest route, but it sounds so... unfeeling. "So, that mutual friend of ours has been visiting me a lot recently because..." Why is it so awkward to explain? "... because we're romantically attached?" She doesn't mean for it to sound like a question, but it does anyway.

She clears her throat, then downs the rest of her cup. "So there's that..."

Steve Rogers has posed:
"Oh."

Yes, Steve, eloquent. There go his ears, pinking at the tips, and he stills his bouncing boot with literal physical effort against the stone.

"Congratulations then, Miss Lane, he's good people." That it need be stated out loud isn't necessary in the least, but there's respectful friendliness in the Captain's words. His coffee cup is shifted to his other hand in order to slouch comfortably back into the chair, free hand tucked into his coat pocket. It's a display absolutely counter to the feeling of slowly walking into water with an undertow he's expecting to knock him off his feet at any second.

Lois Lane has posed:
Lois nods a few times. "Yeah, I'm very happy because he is good people. He's amazing. It's something I've wanted for a long time. And I think we're both really happy." She leans forward a bit, suddenly very attentive. "That's not the problem. The problem is /Clark/." She clears her throat, but instead of waiting, she just continues.

"Clark and I went undercover to try and get into a place for a story, and we needed a cover so I kissed him." She hesitates for a second. "... and I liked it."

Steve Rogers has posed:
"Oh?"

There's an echo in here.

This he says after Lois reveals the central point of the issue at hand. Ever so slowly, without looking away from the young woman, he puts both feet flat upon the ground beneath his chair. It takes pulling from every minute of thespian experience to project the appearance of genuine mild surprise and empathy. The knowledge smacking off the front of his forebrain like a bird repeatedly off a window is that, of course, Clark and Superman are one and the same.

But...privacy is a fragile, easily broken gift to be granted, and Steve's not going to fumble this one if he can manage it.

"So...you're conflicted about feelings for your coworker 'nd for our friend we share in common," he says slowly, wanting to confirm this.

Lois Lane has posed:
"Clark's never just been a coworker, though. He's my best friend. I see him pretty much every day of my life. I work with him as a team... he's always there," Lois feels the need to explain the importance of this situation. "He's just never shown any interest. Not the entire time I've ever known him did he ever really show interest."

There's a longer pause this time. "Until I was fake kissing him and I'm pretty sure he was /real/ kissing me back." She's not sure she wasn't real kissing him either. "I... honestly didn't know who to talk to because you're the only one who knows both of them well enough to at least... I don't know, listen?"

She frowns. "That's why I was hoping maybe Clark said something to you, maybe he expressed interest so I'd know that I wasn't just imagining whatever happened."

Steve Rogers has posed:
Round and round the coffee cup turns as Steve listens, silent on its route, rotated by his fingers. He's an excellent listener as it turns out, his attention keen while not pressuring, chin slightly tucked so the bill of his cap is dropped lower.

He's also desperately wishing Janet were present, if so the practiced socialite could reach across the table and take Lois's hand and pat the back of it while uttering some reassurance meant to both placate and make the young woman laugh.

"Well..." Steve peters off as he goes to rub at the side of his neck. His eyes travel off to one side again and by all appearances, the man is thinking hard about whether or not there's a solution to this whole debacle. "So...you work with your best friend 'nd he kissed you like he meant it, but you didn't mean it, so...you're worried about hurting his feelings because you're involved with our friend 'nd not Clark. Could...kiss Clark again to make sure it wasn't a real thing from your end?" Even as he offers it, there's a little wince around the corners of his eyes.

Lois Lane has posed:
Lois very neatly stacks her dishes, the plates placed on top of each other and the cups stacked one on the other. There might be no Janet, but Janet wouldn't take it as seriously as Steve would. It's /Steve/ she needs sitting in that chair right now. Someone who would at least understand the situation a little better. He knows the vastly different Clark and Superman, after all.

"Uh, well, I kind of have a feeling that I wasn't really /faking/ when I kissed him. I intended to and then a second later I realized that I liked it and /he/ liked it and we haven't said a /thing/ about it." She looks to the table in front of her for something to fuss with and finds nothing there. No distractions.

"But it doesn't matter if there's something on my end because you even said he never said a word about me. He's never shown any interest but that /one kiss/. Am I missing something?"

Steve Rogers has posed:
"Well..."

More hedging, though Steve covers by further rubbing beneath his ear before he shifts in his chair. It scoots back so he can bring a boot up to rest across his knee. He takes up his grande coffee again, gone lukewarm by now and half-gone as it stands, and settles it over his belt. Only then does he look up again at Lois.

"...don't think you're missing anything just yet. You should probably talk to Clark. Might be feeling like he's in the same shoes 'nd that you don't want to talk about it either," the man decides logically. "I don't see him turning away a chance to smooth things out if things're awkward. He's also good people. He probably thinks the world of you." A hand spreads off the coffee cup. "Nothing wrong with a little straight-talk, right?"

Says the man who still keeps the privacy of Superman behind his teeth.

Lois Lane has posed:
"So I'm basically supposed to ignore the fact that the man I've basically been in love with for /years/ and instead go to someone else who I might have feelings for but has never shown any interest in me and just /ask/ him? What if he says yes? Then what am I supposed to do?"

The frustration is clearly there for Lois. "And I'm just supposed to ignore feelings for one of them? How do you just go around hiding your feelings for someone like that when you see them every day?"

Steve Rogers has posed:
"Never said it'd be easy." Steve shrugs with another lift of his hand away from his coffee cup. His lips form mostly a smile; the wince is about his eyes still. "Or that you have to do that either, it was just a suggestion, the whole...kissing Clark thing I mentioned earlier," he finishes almost as all one word.

The soldier goes silent for a little, eyes gone distant off to one side, and then comes the sigh. "Mean...'ve been in a similar set of shoes." This is offered out almost as an olive branch in the face of her frustration. "Loved a woman during the war, but there wasn't any time to tell her. Saw her at every officer's meeting, sometimes on the field itself during missions, never had a chance." His smile now contains a shadow of weariness. "Thinking maybe the way you go about it is that you ignore how busy you are, your work, whatever article's next on your desk, 'nd you go talk to Clark. You let him down easy, tell him...tell him you know he'll always be there for you, no matter what, and that your heart's safe."

Lois Lane has posed:
Lois isn't so sure about this advice. His story, though, does help. He at least partially understands what that's like. Maybe Steve never got his chance, but at least Lois has a second chance. For what? For /who/? She looks between the empty spot on the table in front of her and Steve.

"So I should just... put my foot in my mouth? I don't want to /hurt/ Clark. If he does have feelings for me then I'm just hurting him. If he doesn't, then I've made an awkward mess of things. Ugh, this is a mess. I'm not sure what's worse, ten years of waiting for our blue and red friend to want something or ten years of possibly having someone I care about right under my nose."

Steve Rogers has posed:
Slowly, nearly sagely, the Captain seated across from her nods agreement. "Ten years is a long time. Sticky wicket," he agrees about the whole situation with a squinted look off to one side as he brings the coffee up for another deep sip. A frown down at the drink is disappointment: how very dare it get towards cold now.

"Still...gonna have to rip a stitch one way or another, I think." Lois gets a sympathetic gaze. "Can also just not say a thing 'nd see if he breaks stalemate, though it's not any less awkward for you both if you don't talk it out."

Lois Lane has posed:
There are times that Lois forgets Steve is just as delightfully sweet and wholesome as Clark. Then other times, he says 'sticky wicket' and she has to try very hard not to laugh. It does make Lois smile, however, which is an improvement to her anxious fussing. "I think I'm gonna have to do the rip a stitch method, because if I let this stalemate go he's gonna go for another ten years."

She laughs, but it's a begrudging laugh. "There's no /way/ Clark is ever gonna say something to me about feelings. Even after that kiss. He knows about... blue and red being with me. I've talked about it with him. I know Clark. If he ever had any feelings, he won't tell me now. He's a martyr, he's a martyr in everything. He'd rather see me happy. Which doesn't help, really. He's a good guy. They both are."

Steve Rogers has posed:
"Then if Clark knows about the other guy 'nd he'd rather see you happy, he'll understand better'n to keep on thinking about kissing you, right...? Seems to me that you're saving that man a lot of agony by pulling the one stitch instead of letting him get dragged along behind the truck of his own confusion in matters...?"

Steve tilts his head slightly without looking away from Lois as if to ask her to see his point of view.

Lois Lane has posed:
"So... you think it's just better I tell Clark how I feel and just... let him down easy. Regardless of how he feels about it?" Lois is unsure about the idea of an open conversation. Changing things with Clark seems like a dangerous rabbit hole to jump into. There's a chance it won't go so well. She's definitely looking conflicted. "... you think that's better than just pretending it never happened?"

Steve Rogers has posed:
A wee hint of a dimple shows for a split second.

"From the man who waited too long to talk with somebody he owed an explanation...don't," Steve replies quietly. "You could get hit by a bus tomorrow 'nd where would Clark be? Or maybe he could get hit by a bus, but either way: pretending it never happened doesn't answer questions, lets uncertainty fester, 'nd sure as hell is a distraction during stake-outs." He lifts those golden brows up and out of sight again and shrugs. "Rip that stitch."

Lois Lane has posed:
Lois makes a face. "I don't want you to be right but you're probably right." She heaves a heavy sigh, letting her shoulders drop in defeat. It's a tough thing to accept, but maybe just being honest would be good. Maybe having a conversation ten years in the making would be worth having once and for all.

"Steve, can I ask you for one last favor?"

Steve Rogers has posed:
And he thought he was safe by the manner of Lois demuring about the stitch-ripping, but not quite. Steve falters minutely in bringing his booted foot back down to the concrete, his gaze flickering around the young woman's face as if he were attempting to read her mind before the question even left her mouth.

"Sure, Lois, what's the favor?" The word tumble out of his mouth, proving once again that Captain Rogers has a lingering White Knight streak yet.

Lois Lane has posed:
"Be a friend to Clark. Look after him. If I... if I really screw things up somehow, if I hurt him, I doubt I'm gonna be the one able to be there for him. I don't want him to be alone." The words are a little harder than Lois anticipated saying and she picks up her empty cup and looks inside to see if there's any left in there. Cold drops of coffee are emptied into her mouth before she sets it back down. "Do you think you could do that? It would mean a lot to me."

Steve Rogers has posed:
"You can count on me." The words fall out too as if the Angel on His Shoulder were knocking them free like the last crackers in a box. "Won't let Clark be by himself if he ends up needing some time away from work."

Or however Superman decides to frame the whole affair. Steve decides that he might offer the man an actual drink if he does show up after this discussion Lois is sure to enact. He throws back the rest of his coffee in one fell colder-than-lukewarm mouthful and then sighs. "Anything else you can think of while you've got me here as a sounding board?"

Lois Lane has posed:
"That's all I needed. Thank you for this, Steve, I mean it. I wish I could have given you a little less of a bombshell conversation but... haven't really had the chance to work it out anywhere but in my head." Lois offers him a kind smile. "So thank you for being a sweetheart. Tell Janet hello but do /not/ tell her anything about this even if she pries. Or make something up about me writing a story."

Because she knows Janet will pry.

She pauses. "On second thought, don't tell Janet."

Steve Rogers has posed:
Steve's mouth, open to contribute his thoughts on the wisdom of walling out the Wasp //yet again// in regards to something involving Superman, closes with a silent snap. He frowns off to one side before adopting another patient expression.

"Sure, Lois...let her know we talked about some...upcoming interview or something important, like...an election piece or...fashion week in Milan," he decides even as he tries desperately to spin up an even more convincing idea.

Lois Lane has posed:
Lois sighs. He's a hopeless liar. "Tell her we talked about my piece on Tony Stark." That isn't a lie. That's entirely true. They did talk about it for a momentary breath of time. "And how he'd be a better president than Lex Luthor." She smiles a little, trying her best to look innocent. "The best lies are based on truth."