4340/Home Sweet Daily Planet Home

Home Sweet Daily Planet Home
Date of Scene:	08 December 2020
Location:	Bullpen - Daily Planet Building
Synopsis:	Terry finally returns to the Daily Planet to discover he still has a job. He tells Lois and Clark that he's getting ready to reveal his big secret and they give him some elder-reporter advice. Then Lois tries to figure out what's bothering Clark and everyone sticks their feet in their own mouths.
Cast of Characters:	Terry O'Neil, Lois Lane, Clark Kent

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Terry O'Neil has posed:
Two days after that UFO crashed into the Titans' tower, a rather frazzled-looking redhead steps out of the elevator at the Planet. It has indeed been three months since Terry O'Neil gave any signs of life- disappearing on the very same day that the Titans vanished into the wormhole, presumably dead.

Then again, a lot of people vanished that day in the wake of the Warworld invasion. Some were rescued from the rubble... others were not so lucky, and a few remain unaccounted for. Until today, that was also Terry O'Neil.

"Hey Brigitte! Nice to see you!" He says as he walks throught he entrance, smiling nervously and pressing on into the bowels of the bullpen. Heads snap to follow his path. Right now, he is wearing a bandage on his arm and a few on his neck and face... for show, as there are no injuries, but it will stop some of them from asking him where he has been for the moment. At least, until he gets a chance to talk to Lois.

He heads for the familiar desk, in the hopes that the only one who knows his secret in the Planet is there*.

*Well that's not exactly true. There's also Kara.
**And Clark, but Terry doesn't know Clark knows, because he doesn't know Clark's secret, but Clark knows and, presumable, he also knows that Kara knows.
***Do we need to draw a diagram to track these things?

Lois Lane has posed:
Shockingly, Lois is actually at her desk. Not that she doesn't do her work -- she's still one of the most prolific reporters at the Daily Planet, but she does a lot of 'work on the road' and is just good enough to get away with it. But today, she's sprawled at her desk, reading over some research she's doing for an article with her feet kicked up on the corner of her desk, blue tinted sunglasses on because she's still a little hung over, one hand holding her tablet and the other holding a vape pen she idly drags off of as she works.

There's a neglected mug of coffee beside her hand and she's leaned in the direction of the window, so she's mostly vaping out of the cracked open side of it instead of into the office in general. A furrowing of her brow comes in reaction to whatever she's reading, but it's not bad enough for her to start complaining about. "...Holy f*ck I told everyone you were dead." She rasps out at Terry, her tone dead pan flat enough that he might think she's serious. "I mean, legit, they let me print your obit for the life insurance. You gotta get a better policy, man." By the last bit, it's probably likely she's teasing.

Clark Kent has posed:
Clark Kent is also at his desk, which is organized as if it's about to be sold or get married. Seriously how many file folders can one man work into the tiny desks Perry White affords his star reporters? Clark had come in to do some research on the ZZGU case when, well...

Clark raises an eyebrow, and silently moves Terry's face on The Big Wall from 'Missing/Presumed Abducted' to 'Here/Maybe a Shapeshifter.'

There are normal news bullpins, and then there's the Daily Planet. Clark sometimes wonders if Lois is the only normal reporter that works here, and then he realizes that she'd be incredibly insulted by being thought of as 'normal'. More importantly, Vorpral probably has no idea who Clark is, or that Clark has some idea of where he'd been. How to address this?

"Hello." Clark says mildly, looking up from his research and giving Terry a tight, reserved first job interview of a smile.

Terry O'Neil has posed:
The redhead swallows. "Wait, you did wha-" he pauses then, and remembers who it is he works for. Used to work for? Might be working for? Lois' brand of humor requires refreshment, and he has been missing for three months, spending time among mad people- and not in Wonderland.

He was hoping he could get Lois alone, Clark's presence puts some obstacles in one of the items in his agenda... or, does it? He thinks about this twice, and realizes that it isn't actually an obstacle at all. Mostly, a test.

"I... just came back from being lost in space," he says in the tone that one might employ when saying 'I am going out to the store, does anybody want anything? Alien abduction? Complementary two-for-one alien probes?' "I tried to reach out but my service provider only gave me two bars out there."

Is he joshing Lois back for that tease? He suddenly remembers the video that would have triggered on his dead man's trigger. The one where he told Lois that he had figured out Clark's big secret... the reason for why he was always running to this place or another in the middle of stressful situations.

The one where he advised Lois to suggest that Clark look into support groups for IBS.

"Um... did my... um... did my video hit your email by any chance? Also, how fired am I?" he glances nervously from Lois to Clark and back.

Lois Lane has posed:
"Alright, you got me. I was considering it but, really, your life insurance policy is shit and a good intern isn't worth it, so I had them put you on FLMA after all the mess went down. I guess I can tell them to pull you off and you got at least five stories due by the end of the week, capiche?" Lois asks him flatly, a long grin across her thin mouth as she finally bothers to pull down her legs off her desk. "Oh, shit. Someone got me coffee." Lois notices her neglected Starbucks -- that she definitely got for herself and was carrying when she walked in the office. She swaps out her tablet for it, but keeps the vape pen in hand.

Another frown crosses her lips at the question about the video. She looks genuinely confused, pale eyes moving from Terry towards the tablet as she finally abandons her nicotine and types in a brief search. "Uh...no video from space, not that I see. Why? What was in it? Did we lose some legit good footage? Damn." Lois grumbles, before looking back over to Clark, "Did you get an email? I definitely didn't. And I also *definitely* told you he wasn't dead after a few days...I think I did, at lest." She shares a wry grin with Clark, trying to get the man to relax a little before she looks back to her intern. "Ain't fired. Just double duty. Gotta make it up to me."

Clark Kent has posed:
"You sometimes have to shake insurance out of Perry." Clark says, softly, "He should really know better, but considering that no one really wants to insure anyone who works for the planet...and he's just from that generation, I suppose." Not the most eloquent sentence Clark'd ever come up with, but it basically summed up his feelings on their boss's occasional dillainces with skinflintdom. At least he wasn't that maniac Jameson. If there was ever a guy with a prophetic mustache...

"You thought he might've gotten grabbed by the Warwolders." Clark reminds Lois, "Which I said was possible, but kind of a jump. I suppose I was wrong. How on earth did you get back, Terry?"

"You should really warm that up." Clark says in regards to Lois's coffee, before leaning over to listen to Terry's story.

Terry O'Neil has posed:
Terry ponders Clark's question, and then he says, very carefully: "I... hitched a ride back with some aliens. The, um, UFO that sort of crashed against the Titans' Tower? Was kind of my ride." He glances at Lois and clears his throat a little.

"I sort of got evicted while I was, you know, missing. Turns out that if you miss rent for three months and can't be reached by phone, they throw your stuff out." He grins, "So I'm kind of going to be couch surfing a bit until I figure things out. But there's also something... else."

He sits down and leans forward. "Miss Lane. You remember that... thing I told you about? Before I went missing?" that rather identity reveal he gave Lois in the break room. "I have coem to a decision."

He shoots Clark an apologetic glance while speaking to Lois, "I would like to make my condition... public. But I still want to do work here. Is that something that could be workable?"

Lois Lane has posed:
"When have you *ever* known me to be wrong, Kansas? Come on now." At least a dozen times, probably far more, but that's the sort of thing Lois has a short memory for and a whole lot of confidence to help her forget. She flashes Clark a little wink, as if to say she knows she's full of BS but she trusts him to play along. "And all the kids drink their coffee cold these days. I'm just reclaiming my youth." Her husky voice deadpans, as she takes an adventerous sip of her somewhat stale cup of joe.

Then Terry drops that bomb. She blinks, all casual teasing falling off her face, before she tilts her blue glasses forward and stares at Terry over the rims, considering if he's serious for a few heartbeats. "...Come on. I really should heat this up. You wanna tail along too, Kansas. We probably could use that brain of yours." And, with that, Lois is leading the way off to the little break room on hopes it'll be empty. It's not. Two other reporters are dallying there, but as she walks inside she states flat and sharp as possible. "Out. I need the room. Don't ask. Dead guy's back. Leave." And her tone is serious enough that the junior reporters don't even bother to ask, They just clear out. Lois shuts the door behind the trio, not talking about this in the middle of the news room.

Clark Kent has posed:
"I keep a list, acutally, Lane." Clark says, but there's a fond little smile on his face. Otherwise he's focused on the story; as Clark and Superman, one of his most important skills is active listening. What Terry's saying...he really needs to have a talk with the Titans, maybe the League should do some welcome home ceremony to help improve communication, avoid these miscommunications in the future...and what he's not saying. "Personally I thought that was what the vape pen was for." Says the man who wears suspenders and an belt, "just in case".

Lois actually acknwoledges he has a brain. This is trouble. Coming out as a Superhero? Not unprecedented, it's even become kind of common since most of the Avengers unmasked...Clark doesn't really approve, not everybody can afford Tony Stark's security system, but...that's a conversation for his other identity.

It could be something else, though. Clark does what he does best, and gets up, moving like a very polite sherman tank through the office. "What's going on, you two?"

Terry O'Neil has posed:
Terry's march towards the room makes him feel a little like he's about to engage in the Walk of Shame. When the premises are vacated, he quickly busies himself with a glass of water- water is important, hydration is king, it's the reason why every time someone has an upset they bring 'em a glass of water, right?

IF that's true, how come nobody has ever said 'Thank goodness, the water is here?'

Shielded with his flimsy defense, he turns to face Lois and Clark. "Er... I sort of entrusted Miss Lane with a secret."

Wait. Why was Lois bringing 'Kanses' into this? She was no fool, and her trust wasn't exactly given away in crackerjack boxes. He had come to rely on her pawkiness. This meant that Clark was someone who could be trusted with this?

Did it? The reasoning felt sound, but he had just spent three months in an environment where sound reasoning was an afterthought. He could have only done worse if he had gone back to Wonderland for three months.

Well. Here went nothing. "It's a secret... identity. I guess." He glances at Lois, are the eye lasers coming out?

Lois Lane has posed:
Looking between them, Lois has a long smirk across her lips now. The serious nature of the conversation is only confirmed by the fact she pulls off her blue shades and tucks them down the front buttons of her shirt, hooking the glasses arm on her bra to it sticks in place. Her eyes are certainly a bit bloodshot from the night before, but dead serious as she looks between the two.

"So... if you wanna do this, Terry, sure. You know I got your back. Hell, I kept your job here warm for three months and was practially pullin' double duty without an intern, so you know, I must like you or something." She smirks, rolling her eyes to the heavens for a moment, before she stalks over to busy herself at the microwave. Clark was right, the coffee needed reheated, and she needed coffee for this talk.

"Kansas is here because he's about as all-true-American normal as you get. So, he can probably give you a better run down about how this is gonna go than I will. I think you can do it, but it's gonna make being a normal reporter with a normal job really f*cking hard. And if you decide not to... well... Clark's the only other person in this office I'd trust with my life or a life secret, so he'll keep his yap shut."

Clark Kent has posed:
Secret identity could mean damn near anything, but Lois's reaction confirms it.

"I may have a professional obligation to the truth, Terry, but I'm not about to use it to put someone's life in danger." Clark says, carefully couching his words in case Terry wants to back out. Lois has already established him as no idiot, though, so playing dumb is basically out of the question. "Obviously the final decision is Perry's, because that kind of...attention isn't just a risk to you, but everyone here you work with."

"But we're not a normal paper. We cover a world that's becoming more extraordinary every day." Clark continues, sounding unusually confident. "Alien contact, genetic war in the streets, paranatural phenomena, these aren't relegated to the tabloids and the Fortean Timex anymore. And the Daily Planet was the first to adapt to a world that's a bit more super than it used to be."

"Do you mind if I ask what brought this decision on?"

Terry O'Neil has posed:
Terry smiles at the mention of Lois keeping his job. "You have no idea how much that means to me... coming back to look for home /and/ work might have been too depressing..." he sips his water. Thank goodness for water. Even if he opened the wrong tap and it was hot water. He is briefly reminded of that one time his mother had one hell of a hangover and couldn't be effed to even make hot coffee, but sat at the table and scooped up the coffee dust with one finger, stuck it in her mouth and drank a sip of hot water.

That had been one hell of a New Year's Eve party.

"It's been brewing for a while, but it came to a head during the last leg of the trip back. Troia and I were talking and I was tying myself into knots about how to explain this disappearance. She brought up some valid points and... well. When we got back, I asked my family."

Lois has not yet met April, but they're aware of each other's work. Terry promised Lois she'd talk to April about potentially collaborating on the podcast-

And then the Fire Na---Warworld invaded.

"April says she doesn't care. In he mind, she'll still be in as much danger as she was before. But also just as protected. Her apartment is kind of crazy central anyways- Harley Quinn is still living with her. Batman and Robin stopped by the apartment the other day, apparently, so Gar and I joked that next we would see Superman hovering by the window with cookies..."

He pauses. "He probably bakes good cookies. Anyways, I spoke to my mother about it and... same with her, what with her already being a private investigator and having done work to put a few supervillains behind bars in a few cases..."

He sips the rest of his water, "I guess that being stuck in a different dimension without any voyeuristic intention- literally we couln't communicate out of it- and not knowig if we'd ever coe back... put some things in perspective for me. Here I am, needlessly overcomplicating an already complicated life, and I am already dating my boyfriend behind one face but pretending I'm not with him when I've got another one on... and the Planet and... so on and so forth."

The mention of Perry's decision makes him nod slowly, "Yes... if he'll have me. And before you say anything... I plan on working just as I have before," this is to Lois, emphatically, "I do my full hours. Superhero business in the after hours and on days off. The only time I'd leave would be because there's an /emergency/ that my Titan team-mates would need me for. And even then, I'd wear my GoPro and could get you guys firsthand footage of what happens..."

Then it occurs to Terry that he hasn't actually clarified who he is to Clark. "...I'm Vorpal. You know. The -er. Cat guy."

Lois Lane has posed:
Coffee in hand, Lois stalks over towards the door of the break room and just slides the lock. Better to be safe than sorry, even if the tenor of her motions is that of someone who has the suggestion of THEY are locked in here with HER, not the other way around. She then looks back to both the men and moves over towards the little, dilpidated old couch where she's slept more than one night. She perches on the edge of it, considering this all.

"Clark's right... Shit, Kansas, did you get smarter over night? You're being right about an awful lot of things today." She stretches one leg over to playfully push at the side of his ankle, before she sprawls back into settling on the couch. Then she's looking more serious at Terry, her coffee between her hands, "Perry'll probably be all over it. It'll definitely get us way more hits and mean probably most of your articles will outperform half the other stuff on our webside for your name alone, Terry. And this is a dangerous business already. Having you here ain't gonna make it worse."

Clark Kent has posed:
Harley Quinn's living with April O'Neil.

Clark needs a second to process that one; he'd heard she'd quit working for the Joker, but, well, the last time he saw the clown was...

Clark forces himself to listen to a kid line up why exactly a secret identity is a bad idea. Donna Troy, huh? A familiar well of guilt builds up in Clark's gut, and he all but misses Lois's shot. "Hmm? Just, ah, something I've thought about. Remember that Gangbuster kid I interviewed a few years ago?"

"I appreciate that you've discussed this with your family, but I think there's some things you haven't considered, Vorpral." Wow Clark wasn't very surprised there. He is an ace reporter, though, maybe he suspected? "For instance, getting called that all the time. Going public means no down time, not really. The Titans have a good support group for that, but burnout is a thing to consider...and you can never undo going public." Not entirely true, but he doesn't want this kid thinking with those particular kinds of portals.

Terry O'Neil has posed:
Terry nods, listening to what both Clark and Lois have to say. "That's true. I also thought about what no downtime means. Being called 'Vorpal' isn't the worst, really, considering that until I finally chose a codename some of my friends were calling me 'Snaggepuss'-" a quick glance at Lois, expecting her to laugh, "Or Hello Kitty."

He takes a few breath to process, something his mother taught him to do. Breathe in, breathe out, cogitate, contemplate, but don't expostulate or expectorate. "Several of my team members have done away with the two lives. Wally West. Raven. Kori, Victor and Gar don't have much of a choice in hiding who they are. The only ones who keep the mystery about them are Hawkeye and the Bat-kids. I actually don't know their identities, they're the only ones. But from what I hear, it's very much a Batman thing."

Well. He didn't know Dick's identity. Not did most of the new Titans. The old guard- Vic, Donna, Gar, et al, did. But the Titans were good at being a family, and that included keeping boundaries.

Unless it was in respect to the refrigerator. Tales are told of the turf wars Gar, Cait, Kori and Wally have engaged in at one point or another.

"Whatever happens... I want you both to know how much I appreciate this. I think... this is the right move to make. I've been torturing myself at nights, sometimes, when I write as Terry as separate from the things I do as Vorpal. While I haven't really lied about anything, it feels... it doesn't feel as genuine. And, well... I'd be the first in this field. To go public, I mean. I'm petty sure there's metas all over the place in newspapers."

He's not looking at Lois, he's totally not thinking of Kara.

Lois Lane has posed:
This whole mess gets a concerned, slightly frustrated look from Lois. She sees both their points about the mess and, clearly, cares for both the men in different ways. Frustrated enough and coffee just not good the second time around, she restlessly gets up and off the couch to stalk over to the window instead. She shoulders the old thing open and swings one leg out, so she can smoke out the side of it while she muses all things that have been set in front of her.

She pulls out her metal sided cigarette case, flipping it open and slipping one free between her lips. She gets it lit a moment later as the chilly early winter wind cuts in through the open window. "If this has really kept Terry here up a lot of nights, and I suspect it has considering he's been stuck in *outer f*cking space*, I suspect he's gone over the time issues and a million other possiblities. If he wants to do this, Clark... best play we got here is to support him and stand up for the kid in front of Perry. Besides, it'll get him off our backs for a few days because he'll be all over this Vorpal situation. Maybe we can even take some holiday time off." Lois laughs. That's never going to happen.

She then takes another drag of her cigarette and looks back towards Terry, pale eyes flickering across his face for a heartbeat or two. "If you're sure, you're sure. I got your back. Maybe sleep on it one more night. Maybe rip it off like a bandaid. I dunno. I ain't some wise old profit. Last thing to think about... government is gonna be all over your ass too. Trying to experiment on you, get you on their teams, or some military squad or something. Just...keep eyes out for Washington. You know they're everywhere."

Clark Kent has posed:
Clark frowns.

Is he the coward, here?

He then thinks, briefly, of the time Mxyzsplk messed with his identity, making him into someone else. At least for now, Superman NEEDS Clark Kent to function, and he's being selfish by projecting his needs onto this young man who just went through a traumatic experience that Superman should've stopped. Clark's lip very nearly curls at the thought of Mongol, or Brainiac, of how he's been off his game lately.

"Of course. Like I said, I was just thinking of that old interview, how the young man who was Gangbuster wanted to share his story." Clark says, subtly hunching to reinforce how mild mannered he is. "Terry if you think this is the right choice, we're behind you. I've seen SHIELD agents try to pressure Planet reporters before...you remember, Lois, when Perry actually threw the one out of the building?"

She's right, though. Between SHIELD, the DEO, the Avengers and whatever's off the books, Washington certainly had their hooks in the meta community. "Maybe the Justice League should set up a fund, or something, for public capes." Clark thinks out loud.

Terry O'Neil has posed:
"Oh yeah, trust me- I know what you mean about Washington and SHIELD. You remember when I interviewed Captain Marvel and brought up the alien that she recovered... she wasn't happy, let me tell you!" Terry chuckles, "I have a friend... Colette... sort of watches out and reminds me to be wary of agencies that'd want to get their claws on me... but the way I see it, the more public and well-known I am, the harder it might be for them to get away with it. Gar's made a career out of being public." He pauses and scratches his chin, "Then again I'm pretty sure being the adoptive son of Steve Dayton has helped as well... but I digress. If someone would talk to the Justice League about that... that'd be interesting. The closest I've ever gotten to any of them was when Wonder Woman came to visit the Tower and she gave me her cloak and..."

At this, the redhead turns as crimson as his hair, and says in a very quiet voice "And I. Er. Fainted. But you know. It was sunny. I'm sure it was sunstroke." You can't get sunstroke during a sunset, Terry. "Well, there was that time when Superman came back from the dead and I was like, five feet aaway from him, and Gar was so overjoyed to see him that he hugged him." That was the picture they used for the Superman Returns copy. He took it, of course.

"I mean it, about keeping my hours. I can't be the Cheshire cat all the time. If I am in that form too long, I can get sort of... you know, loopy." A quick glance at Lois. "Okay. Loopier."

He takes a deep breath, and nods, "Okay. I'll take your advice and sleep on it for three days. Because it's, you know, symbolic. If by Thursday I am still resolved... I'll let you know and we can go to Perry's office..." and what will be, will be.

"But I do have stories. About what we found inside that black hole. Seven planets with civilizations. And a history... you are not going to believe how absolutely /insane/ it was."

"... I should start writing the copy now if I plan to be on schedule... oh!" he snaps his fingers, "I had forgotten. You guys have the exclusive that the missing Titans are back. I told Donna I'd come to you first because we haven't announced anything. Nobody so far knows that we were inside that crashed UFO... which incidentally belongs to some blokes who were kind enough to give us a ride back. We're trying to keep their presence on the down low while the ship gets repaired because... well. You said it. Vivisections and all that."

Lois Lane has posed:
"Then you got three days. Meanwhile, get to writin'. I want that footage about the black hole on the news cycle tomorrow morning, and your exclusive about the Titans coming back out this evening before someone else scoops us, alright? We're not your therapists and decisions are made, so come on, make a move, we don't pay you to sit around and drink coffee!" Lois exclaims to Terry, though there is just a hint of a smile cracking through on the corner of her lips. She shoos him out of the back room, but isn't leaving from her window sill yet. She's still got half a cigarette.

Then, pale eyes turn towards Clark, and she gives him a long, slightly narrowed gaze. "Kansas. What's on your mind? You got something rolling back there... I can tell." She knows him too well, even if she'd never guess at what, she can sense the bit of discomfort in him. The man is her best friend and she knows when he's chewing on something. "We just had the intern spill he's a super hero. Whatever's bothering you isn't gonna be that wild, I promise. I'm listening." The last words are said a bit softer, an edge of true concern behind her voice. Lois might genuinely care about the man.

Clark Kent has posed:
Clark raises an eyebrow at Lois's very best impression of an editor. "If you could hear yourself." Clark says, finally, chuckling a little, a low sort of thing like tectonic plates moving. "All you need is the cigar."

"That does sound like a good story." Kara must've been too distracted with her evil alternate double...that's his life, thinking these things all the time..to warn him about civilized worlds being found by the Teen Titans. "I get the feeling aliens are going to be on everyone's mind for a while, to be honest."

And here's the problem. Clark cares about Lois deeply. He can't help himself; as Clark and as Superman she's been a friend, a rival, a flirtation, a nuscience, an inescapable part of his life that he never really expected or anticipated. Superman had a plan for handling being Superman, and here Lois Lane was making him feel.

Well, human. But he can never quite bring himself to really, really close the gap between them, and at this point it's been so long...what would she even think of the lie that he's kept going all these years? This woman who hates lies more than anything else?

So Clark finds what he always does; a half truth. "Genoshia, honestly." Clark says. "Between Mongul and Braniac, we could use a little news about aliens that doesn't end in 'invasion'. And I suppose I'm worried about how quiet Magneto's been about everything."

Terry O'Neil has posed:
"Yes, ma'am!" Terry says, reacting as if he'd been zapped with electricity, standing up straight. "Think about it- the Titans are basically, as far as we know, the first Earthlings to set foot inside the world behind a Black Hole. And to travel back through a White Hole. That's kind of big news- one small step for the Titans, etcetera."

He flashes a grin at Lois and Clark. Not one of the dazzling Cheshire-level ones because he needs to be the cat to pull that off, but a high-wattage one anyways.

"I'll get the footage off my GoPro and get the approach to the Black Hole up tomorrow. But first I'll get on that copy for this evening..."

He stops at the door and pops the lock, "And... thank you. To both of you." He grins, and disappears.

A few seconds later, his hand opens the door again, flips the lock, and closes the door.

Just in case the conversation wasn't over for Lois and Clark.

Lois Lane has posed:
"For the evening news cycle!" Lois calls after him. She's not an editor, exactly, but she is a senior reporter and she does manage him, so the deadlines make sense. But then he's left her and Clark alone, with Clark giving that half truth of an excuse about what's on his mind. Her blue eyes only narrow more. She's silent for a handful of heartbeats, staring at him from across the room in her window perch.

"...Sure. You were probably thinking of some of that, but... that's definitely not what's making your eyes look like that. Something's...wrong. And maybe it's about Terry, but... Not entirely. Hell, Clark. It's *me*. Talk to me." Lois really is that good. She's not a super hero, but she's one of the best reporters in the world. She knows people. She knows *Clark*.

Whatever this is is actually more important than her cigarette, so she flicks the rest of it out the window and stands up, pulling shut the glass behind her to shut out the cool of the winter. She steps over to him, icy fingertips reaching for his hand for a moment. "Seriously. Whatever it is. We can manage. We've been through worse shit."

Clark Kent has posed:
It WAS the truth. Clark doesn't want to have to fight the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants but it sure looks like there is going to be an upswing in a post-Genoshia world. His clone-brother-son is dating what is totally a mutant, while he's at it, and that kid's been avoiding him, and how is he going to beat up a whole UNIVERSE that wants to eat his cousin and.

And is this it? Is this the moment? Lois looks different. Sincere. There's no buzz getting between her and the world, for once. Clark thinks about her beautiful, bloodshot eyes, accusing him and pleading with him at the same time. What if, just this once, he trusted someone who didn't spend all of their time in funny pajamas?

What if you said what you FELT, Kal-El?

"We should do something." Clark accidentally says the quiet part out-loud. Abort, ABORT. "As, like, people, instead of reporters. Dine and dash at Chez Joey's, see the zoo before Luthor paves it over, embarrass ourselves at Jimmy's holiday party."

Lois Lane has posed:
Blue eyes study him closer, brow slightly furrowing as she can practically see some struggle behind his eyes and just can't put her finger on what it is. Lois squeezes his large hand a little tighter, always so slight in comparison to him but never scared to touch him. Never scared *of* him. Though, there's been plenty of times she's been protectively scared for him, even if he's the size of a line backer. Her head tilts, trying to coax that truth out of him.

And then it comes. Not what she expected at all, but something she had considered once or twice before. Goodness knows she's flirted with him, but never thought he took it seriously. Now, Lois is blinking, forgetting to breathe for a moment before she blinks, "...Are... are you *asking me on a date*? Is this a ...date? Or you mean just... hanging... Out. Don't we do that already? It's nto always work..." Is it? She blinks again, "A... date-date? I mean, you could find someone better to take to Jimmy's party. And...there's.." Now it's her turn to be holding something back. Hesitating. Maybe there's another man? "It's...complicated."

Clark Kent has posed:
Oh.

"Oh!" Clark says, a big smile on his face as if he'd just gotten socks for Christmas and grandma knit them so they were more 'wool bladders' than actual, proper socks. "Oh I had no idea! That's great! I mean. A little embarrassing but I'm kind of impressed! Who can hide a boyfriend in a room full of reporters!"

It literally does not occur to Clark that she could mean Superman.

"You should bring him by sometime! Hiding him from Steve I guess, I wouldn't be surprised. Look I'm just going to go...." Clark gropes for an excuse, and opens the door. The lock breaks as though it was made of butter; Superman had no idea Terry'd locked them in to begin with. "Phone my cousi. Mother. Cousin and mother. About Christmas. Ha ha ha who broke the door, okay!"

Lois Lane has posed:
"It's not! I... I'm not..." And he's already out the door, headed off on the worst excuse she's heard in ages, and Lois is suddenly very mad at herself. "F*ck." She hisses beneath her breath, shoving a small fist into the old couch that doesn't deserve it, but she's pissed. "...guess I know what I'm doing tonight." She mutters to herself, picking up her stale coffee with dreams of getting wasted enough to forget just how embarrassing this whole incident was. Fortunately, Terry's going to fill in story gaps, so she can take it easy a few days.