The Daily Planet. With solarsteel.

[dp_lois]

Lois sat at her desk, typing up the notes to her most recent story--one about a recent crime spree plaguing Suicide Slums. She reached out absently and took a sip of the coffee Clark had brought her earlier, not looking up from her computer. There were little red lines underneath nearly every other word of what she'd typed but she'd stopped seeing

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[solarsteel]

Clark eyed the coffee cup with a raised brow, noting it was the same one he'd set down a few hours before (his name was scrawled across the top as an inside joke), and inserted a memory stick into his computer to download some information he'd come across at the library for one of his own stories.

The sentimental mood pieces that drove his partner crazy.

Just like her smile was driving him crazy. They'd both been insanely busy lately, so it was nice to just exist in the same space together for a few minutes. "How's your day going?"

[dp_lois]

"Wonderfully slow. I'm almost caught up typing my notes for my last two stories, neither of which is due for two more days." She took another sip of the coffee. "What about you?"

[solarsteel]

"That sounds like paradise." He glanced around furtively to make sure no one was watching and took off his glasses, pinching the bridge of his nose. Not that there were much people around at this late hour.

"Zipping from one thing to another. I may invest in frequent flyer miles."

[dp_lois]

Lois grinned at him. "Somehow I don't think you'll need to do that." Her voice was light. She leaned forward a little. "Everything okay? You seem a little stressed."

[solarsteel]

Cue mock eyeroll. "Oh, I don't know. Half of those pilot don't log in as many hours as I do, going from one place to the next." His brow creased, then cleared, a sure sign that he was probably stressed and currently unwilling to talk about it.

Clark is stubborn like that.

[dp_lois]

Good thing that Lois is every bit as stubborn. He's definitely met his match.

She raised an eyebrow, leaning her arms on her desk and studying him.

[solarsteel]

He refused to look at her until the data from his search was downloaded into one of his many folders, encrypted from prying eyes and the wiped from the stick.

She was still staring. "One of the firefighters from the hotel blaze this morning is in a breathing tent at the hospital." Clark hadn't gotten to him in time.

[dp_lois]

Her expression softened. "Oh," she whispered. After a moment, she rose from her seat and moved over to sit down on his desk. She reached out and covered his hand with hers. "I'm sorry, Clark."

[solarsteel]

"At least everyone got out, right?" He took a breath, leaning forward to rest his head against her hip, in an unmistakably couple-y gesture, and just enjoyed the smell of the perfume she'd wore that day.

"Thanks."

[dp_lois]

She leaned down and pressed a kiss to the top of his head. "I'm always here for you," Lois murmured, lifting a hand to his shoulder.

[solarsteel]

There was a quiet, content sigh from somewhere in his chest, and Clark reached out to squeeze her hip in mute appreciation for it.

He straightened up a minute later, watching her from underneath his eyelashes. "Think I'm going to head down to the cafeteria and see what's still available."

[dp_lois]

She smiled faintly at that, and nodded. "And I'll...get back to typing my notes."

[solarsteel]

The frown Clark was now wearing suggested what he thought of that suggestion. "You don't want to come with?"

[dp_lois]

She cocked her head to the side. "Thought you'd never ask," she teased, sliding down off his desk.

[solarsteel]

"Brat." He rose as well, sliding his glasses back on before leaving the relative safety of their little hidey hole. "Stairs or elevator?"

[dp_lois]

"Elevator," she said, reaching out and taking his hand.