671/The False Supermen Pt 1: Always

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The False Supermen Pt 1: Always
Date of Scene: 21 March 2020
Location: Lois Lane's Apartment
Synopsis: In the aftermath of being hit in the head, Clark and Lois find their relationship growing stronger.
Cast of Characters: Clark Kent, Lois Lane




Clark Kent has posed:
After the dangerous scene at the courthouse wherein poor Clark Kent got beaned in the head when a villain threw a car door at him, he's been in pain, resting on his couch. An ice-pack was placed on his forehead, and he has been set there to recover.... because Lois is present. Clark, of course, is injured, and not able to take car-doors.

It's not like he's Superman or something.

Clark's allowed his glasses removed temporarily, stolen at some point to set aside, but the icepack does wonders to cover most of his upper face anyway. Clark reclines back into the cushions, eyes closed, one hand lifting to adjust position of the icepack a little more.

Lois Lane has posed:
Part of the recovery process involves Lois sprawled partially over him, comfortably nestled up against him, her head resting against his chest. This was a vital part of the process. She's not planning on moving anytime soon, especially because then Clark might actually get up and try and do something other than resting.

"I love you, so you have to promise me you won't go getting yourself killed. You've been my best friend for years and I've barely gotten to scratch the surface of there being an /us/. It's new and it's strange and I wouldn't trade it for anything. But you have to promise to always come back to me."

She lets out a slow breath, her body sinking in entirely against him. It's nice to feel him there. There and whole and safe. There's no lasting damage, and she'll eventually get over this feeling of anxiety at him being in danger. There's even a tiny bit of guilt that it must be what he goes through regularly. How had he been able to keep himself calm all of those times she'd been in danger and narrowly escaped?

"I just want you here, with me, for however long I can keep you."

Clark Kent has posed:
"I didn't mean to scare you," Clark says, guilty, pained. He rests against her, changing position to draw his arm out and settle it around her better. It's so easy to envelope her; he's tall and broad, there's a lot of Clark to lean into and hold. "I know I heard you talking to me, saying my name a lot," Clark shares, in a whisper, hugging her a little more. "You were there, thank you for that. I... it means a lot." It truly does, really. He hasn't had that before.

"I'll try not to worry you again, Lois." He sighs, finding relief in the closeness. "I love you, too," Clark says softly, voice thick. "I.... I'm with you," Clark repeats, suffering under the weight of things. He can't promise he won't die. It's a painful, weird reality. He could die a second time. It isn't impossible. And in his heart in a deep place, he knows he'd sacrifice again. And dealing with that truth has been a big part of his pain and struggle to resume Superman. To walk into that loss again: putting others through it. Is it right to make Lois lose him, break her heart? But he can't focus on that. Instead, he focuses on their love, the positive, while they have it. While she keeps him.

"It's always been you. Always," Clark answers, lifting a hand to touch her cheek, with a gentle move of palm. He's always very gentle with her, brushes of fingers.

Lois Lane has posed:
Lois can't promise she won't die either. There are plenty of times she had come very, very close. Pure luck sometimes was the only thing that pulled her out of it. So a promise that he's here? She'll settle for that. What he does promise is sweet, and all she could ask for. He's still there.

But then he gives her another promise--this one's a bit bigger than just him being there. It's not a promise that he won't die, but a promise that he'd /always/ be hers. That, combined with the soft touches to her face, it certainly gets a look from Lois. It's one of deep love. She's touched. It means something to her. She leans in close to kiss him, but it's a soft, sweet, and short one... a show of her affection.

"I..." She begins, then considers her words. "I'm going to hold you to that. I'm going to keep you always." She pauses, as if there were more to that, but it doesn't come, not at first. Not because she doesn't want to, but because she wants the weight of it to mean something, not just be some afterimage of his words.

"I can offer you always, if you'll have me."

Clark Kent has posed:
Clark draws his head back a little, eyes open now, to seek out her eyes, to look into them deeply. His eyes are /so/ very blue. A huge blue sky in his eyes sometimes. The glasses are missing, but he's /distracted/. He's never really been quite this close: both physically and emotionally at the same time. Superman's never been here. This is now the province of Clark. The version of Clark lucky enough to be loved by Lois.

And the Clark that is reacting to what they've just said. There's something deeply heavy in what they've just exchanged. It felt like a lot more than anything they've crossed so far. It feels...

...scary. And powerful. And wonderful.

And for a second he forgets she'll hate his betrayal, from the lies. Because he wants this so much. He truly loves her so much.

He just lets out a happy, shocked little laugh and hugs her so tightly; she'd moved close for the kiss, which lets him draw her to him, his cheek to hers, with a muffled nonsense sound of happiness. The cool of the icepack is chilly in proximity, but the warmth of the emotions might make that less of an issue for her lingering close.

Lois Lane has posed:
"I'll take that as an 'I'm okay with this', then," Lois murmurs, her tone amused and playful. It's the affectionate tone she uses when she teases him because she's not quite sure how to face the emotion head-on. It's easy to read. Her arms settle comfortably around him, one hand coming up to run her fingers through the back of his hair, cradling his head softly against her neck. She's being careful with him, even still.

She wants him to be comfortable, right where he's nestled up to her, and her own eyes drift shut as her head tips just slightly to rest against his. There was weight in what they said and it was exciting new ground. He had loved her for so long and she had come to realize her own feelings that were there, but this felt like a step forward /together/.

Clark Kent has posed:
Clark smiles but doesn't comment when she's playful. He /knows/ her, and he knows it's her dodging a little. He's always patient with it, reading between the lines: he doesn't need to ask her to clarify.

Clark is not a stranger to powerful emotions. He's not even a stranger to powerful emotions related to Lois. That she's /with/ him in it, that he's sensing her return of them: that's the piece that's tremendous.

There's no overacting here, nor a sense of holding back to buffer or protect her from how he feels. Some element of shyness is natural, not faked, but all of the cowardly avoidance has always been something he put on as a show. He's not doing that: he's wrapped her in a warm, passionate embrace that encourages her to hold him in return, however she pleases.

'Always.' What does that /mean/? A hope that they can weather anything. An optimism to it that they'll be all right, that love can conquer. But does it mean... what it feels like it /could mean/? The door (and floor) just fell open on a lot of topics related to the future. They've discussed future loads of times: thoughts about what they want, in theory, with future romantic partners in life. Some of those chats happened in stakeouts, or other friendly situations between best friends. In some time that Clark comforted her in a breakup, and she vented that the guy didn't want what she wanted. But things are brought around home here, and the soft little reminder that he /does/ know that they want the same things. It's always fit together. The balance of career and family.

Clark turns, steadying the ice pack some, drawing it up a little bit, to kiss her. A loving kiss. From /Clark/ of all people. A month ago that would have been laughable to her, probably.

Lois Lane has posed:
Laughable to both of them, really. Had he dared dream of this moment at all, or had he pushed it entirely from his head? And now... now all it took was one good shove from the prospect of Clark being hurt (just the prospect, she simply didn't know it /couldn't/ have hurt him, after all) for things to come down like a house of cards. She had always joked that Superman was her weakness, but in this case it had clearly become Clark Kent. All her sharp edges were rounded around him, her little barbs less harsh and more playful, she was softer because she wanted to be, for him. He was her soft spot. Of course, leaving a vulnerable spot leaves you open to all kinds of things and while Lois was somewhat prepared, she hadn't expected the sudden surge of emotions.

It was hard to pinpoint when she'd developed feelings for him, exactly, but it was certainly not a recent thing. She'd been doing a lot of psychological burying of even the suggestion of that for /years/. So to uncover the feelings had happened sudden and quick and she hadn't quite realized how far they want. Which was a whirlwind of adjusting to strong feelings out in the open? which he certainly understood too. But she was truly just coming to understand just how deep those feelings could be felt.

The simple admission was an exchanging of 'I love yous', but somehow it felt incredibly weighty. It was an 'I love you and I want a future', which was more than they had. The love wasn't in question, it was a matter of how much it meant. How strong was it? It felt /right/ to say those words. An emotional whirlwind, but right. It even felt right that his words had brought about hers. She was usually the one blazing ahead and to see him being so bold and unafraid with his heart just made her want to gather him up and protect him with her own.

There's a sense of comfort, of naturalness to the way they're settled. "You're everything to me," she murmurs as she pulls back just slightly from the kiss. They were unplanned words just coming out when she feels the need to say them. She needed him to know his worth, his value, the treasure that he was that no one else really understood... not the way she did.

Clark Kent has posed:
In truth, Clark thought her job was her first love. Lois Lane, the reporter extraordinaire, who would give up everything in her life to make her incredible career happen. And to some extent, Clark is the same way: just about Superman. He's given up huge amounts of his own 'life' for what Superman requires and needs to function at peak. It's only with the 'death' of that role, and having to heal physically and mentally, that he's seen that his life can be more broad. That he can love for himself, and be a more balanced person for it. A balance of cape and reality.

"I'm willing to share you with your other dreams," Clark tells her, softly. "Your ambitious dreams make you /you/. You don't have to give anything up, with me," Clark promises her. He needed her to know that he embraces what she needs, supports it. Him being everything doesn't exclude. She can have him and more.

He's pulled the icepack aside temporarily, and is without the glasses to hide behind. Should she peek, it's a rare glimpse. It's Clark, but unshielded, his dark hair mussed from the icepack, eyes closed now, his /presence/ strong. With that charismatic backbone turned on, without the glasses and nerdy hairstyle, Clark's not a bad sight at all. Some of it may be the rose-colored glasses of love, but a lot of it probably isn't. He just hides. But right now, he's not: there's just a warm kiss, that will hold.

Lois Lane has posed:
It's entirely too tempting. A relationship, a best friend, a career... everything she might want and it was /right here/. Her career certainly was important to it, and sometimes it took the place of a relationship because it was easier that way. Finding the truth, informing people, moving people with her words--she loved that. Being able to do that with someone who understood what that means to her? Priceless.

Perhaps she spends a moment peeking. It's only enough so that she can take that brief glimpse of what goes on behind those glasses, just more for her to appreciate. He doesn't need the glasses. She loves what's behind them. Perhaps he understands that fully now. If not fully, at least a good bit. She'll have to be certain he understands.

The kiss is welcomed, embraced warmly as they connect again in the moment. Because they were having a moment, she could call it that. It lingers, Lois not really wanting to end what she felt was something of significance between them, not for the kiss itself, but for everything in the moments before that it represented.

Clark Kent has posed:
The kiss parts, and Clark opens his eyes to look at her.... and realizes what he's overlooked. ACK. He's not wearing his GLASSES!

His natural shyness might save it, though, because the 'oops?' incline of his head flows immediately into something she'll associate with Clark. And he reaches for the glasses, craving the safety net: though it may just read that he can't see her very well, and wants them for THAT reason. "There you are," Clark says lamely as he puts them on, and inwardly holds his breath.

And tries to move along, just to kiss her again as if everything were normal and fine. ALL FINE HERE.

Fortunately, he's 'saved' by a buzzing from his phone -- no, both of their phones, and Clark looks towards the coffee table, where his phone is located.

Lois Lane has posed:
Her eyes drift open, and Lois is looking at him, sans glasses. But he's the one that breaks it, pulling that shield up to hide behind again. "You don't need those to see me," she replies. She knows there's a lot of meanings in the words she says, but it still stands. He can take it how he likes.

She seemed alright with the plan to go back to the kiss, but the sound of the dual buzzing fully attracts her attention. "That's got to be work," she mutters. It's the only reason they'd /both/ be getting an alert. She makes a severely annoyed and grumpy sound in her throat and proceeds to untangle herself from his arms so she can properly lean over and get her phone.

"I'll see what it is," she offers, sliding the smartphone into her hands.

Clark Kent has posed:
Clark doesn't prevent her from moving at all; life intruding into things was both unwelcome and welcome. A discussion about how he looks without his glasses was NOT something he wanted to walk into. He settles the icepack more, watching her, then leans forward to start to try to go for his own phone, unless Lois prevents it.

The buzz? Something crazy is going on downtown: there's been a Superman sighting! Why isn't Lois there covering it, Perry wants to know?!

Lois Lane has posed:
Crap. The text causes a mild look of alarm to cross her face, only mild because she doesn't want to alarm Clark. Lois' free hand snaps out and slides Clark's phone farther away from him. He won't be able to reach it now without physically standing up to go for it. "Oh no you don't," she says, already getting to her feet. She leans in for a distraction kiss before she's already moving to get her coat and shoes.

"You're on bed rest, young man. Plus I think this is something I need to take care of anyway..." There's some guilt there. Did she push things too far? Had he maybe not heard her words properly after all? There was no way she could ignore this one. "Sorry Clark, I'll catch you after, I'll bring you some ice cream or something." Apology ice cream. She's already texting a response.

'Be right there. I've got this.'

Clark Kent has posed:
The distraction kiss is more of the thing that stops Clark than the phone being out of reach. "It's work?" Clark asks, perceptively. He knows the same thing she does: they both got a message at the same time. He doesn't know what it is, though: could be anything work related. It might not be serious.

Except for the mild alarm. Still, she didn't have a strong reaction. Still --nope, Clark saw the alarm, and he stries to get up again. Not that he'll probably get far, since Lois is still right there. And he's supposed to be injured. He can't both be weak, head-injury Clark AND go rushing after her.

"What's it about? The story about what happened on the courthouse steps?" Clark does want to know.

Lois Lane has posed:
A gentle arm pushes Clark back to the couch. "Easy there, Smallville. I said bed rest," Lois chides. "Don't make me hide your phone." She offers him an affectionate smile. He already gave her the perfect excuse. The ice-pack wet hair on Clark's head is ruffled gently with one of Lois' hands.

"Perry decided it was good enough to run with, he wants it in ASAP. I'll be back as soon as I can. I'll write fast." She is, at least, a pretty good liar. Hopefully he won't see through her this time. But she doesn't plan on giving him the opportunity to think about it too much. Shoes and coat fetched and on, she heads for the door. No need to tell him not to worry... the worst that could befall her now was a caps lock, right?

"See you soon, Smallville."

Clark Kent has posed:
She's a fast writer, Clark knows that. "Okay. I'm sorry I'm no good to help right now," Clark apologizes, but allows himself to be shooed to lay back and rest. If it really is what she said, there's no reason for him to follow her, not really. It's a good story, and he's happy with her claiming it. He's happy for a lot of things, really. His life isn't going badly. If he can shed some of the layers of lies, anyway. At least Lois gets to be honest.

"See you soon," Clark smiles, giving her a weak little wave, and relaxing back.

He can check his phone after she's gone, after all....