Playlist
Title: Break the Ice
Fandom: DC
Pairings: None
Characters: Clark Kent/Superman; Bruce Wayne/Batman; Jimmie Olsen; Lois Lane
Word Count: 569
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: None
Synopsis: A wallflower at an office party is often unnoticed by many...and so is the new guy. Well, not always unnoticed...
A slight explanation beforehand:
I was bored...and I was messing with my Zune, and you know how my imagination goes, yes? Well, every song has a story behind it, or a story to tell with it. Since my other projects are on hold until I get my data back, I figured it'd be good practice to engage in something to keep me occupied. So, I give you a playlist of short stories that may or may not be related, with songs for titles. Hence the series title "Playlist". If you don't know how the song goes, feel free to look it up. :) It kinda helps.
So far none of these stories are related. :)
( Ring-a-ling )
( I hate everything about you )
Song 3: Break the Ice
“Let me break the ice…And I mean to get you right…”
- Britney Spears “Break the Ice”
Whoever said that getting to know other people was easy was lying through their teeth.
Clark stood on the far side of the wall, uneasy for the first time and feeling like a sore thumb in a forest of pointers. He stuck to the wall, a fruit punch in one hand and his glasses in the other, staring into the red liquid as if it were kryptonite in its raw form. He couldn’t smell that anyone had spiked it, and for once he wished that some juvenile had done so.
Coming to these types of things was not his cup of tea, and neither was following the woman who seemed to make everything a competition. Lois was in the midst of the party getting all the hot tips, the scoops, and trading secrets with the best of them, and he…well, he was on the wall staring at them as they moved about in comfort, at ease with the world and the world at ease with them.
He was still fairly new to the circuit of the Daily Planet, and fairly new at other things. A year into it and he still couldn’t quite believe that the world had taken such a shine to his alter ego. He’d started at the paper a month ago and been introduced to Lois Lane, the top reporter in her field and the best of the best. Yeah, she was the best all right…she was the best at getting into the heart of the matter and getting into some serious trouble. The girl was a mayhem magnet at it would suit him best not to hang around her too often. It was probably for the best that she called him “Smallville” and that he acted like the shy clumsy bumpkin he pretended to be. No posture, no taste, and not a lick of sense of how to approach a woman tactfully.
That was probably the more amusing part, especially when he pissed her off intentionally. She was more fun to tease because she assumed so much. Either way, it was established that she was his rival, and that she would hold no qualms in making that known with every chance available to her.
Leave it to Lois to upstage the new guy at his first office party, not that he really knew about it. He’d kind of stumbled into it, and then someone was directing him over to the punch bowl. Things like this always made him feel…awkward to say the least. It didn’t help that he could hear the snickers of various people commenting on his suit and how out of date it was, or his near coke-bottle glasses sitting on his face.
He sighed, resigned to just lean against the wall and do nothing and say nothing…
“Not your thing either, is it?” someone asked.
He shook his head, looking down at his punch and then up at the kid who never seemed to let go of the camera. Jimmy, he believed his name was. “I know the feeling,” Jimmy said. “I don’t like office parties either.”
“I didn’t know about this one…” Clark sighed.
“New guys rarely do. Senior reporters plan it and never say anything, always letting the new guy show up without a bit of warning. It’s kind of a way to test them I suppose...” Jimmy mused. “Either they blend in like Lane over there, or they just keep to themselves. I think it allows Perry to see what kind of initiative the new guy has. At least, that’s what I think. Why else would he allow this to go on?”
Who knew. Clark shrugged and got a smile out of the kid, welcoming the unexpected company of him and his chatter until someone else called him away. Jimmy waved and said he would be back in a few, but Clark knew that a few moments could be the rest of the party.
He went back to the wall, watching everyone...until someone slipped by him again and stuck to his side much like Jimmy had. Only this person was taller, broader, and oozed confidence. He glanced at him in his peripheral vision, almost taken aback when he realized just who was staring at him sideways.
“Y-you-“
“I know who I am…but I don’t believe we’ve properly met,” the man said. “I haven’t seen you here before.”
“I…I started here about a m-month ago…” Clark stammered. “B-but…what…w-what are you doing here??”
The man laughed a bit, something glinting in his eye as he looked to the mingling office members. “I usually stop by from time to time…I do own several properties…and this happens to be a recent purchase,” he said. “I had a meeting with Luthor as well…and that was amusing.”
“Amusing? How so?”
“Oh…he’s a walking ego trip. Does he seriously think that for a moment I’m going to allow him to use my money to finance anything that has to do with the destruction of a living symbol of hope?”
“Meaning Superman…”
“More or less. I suppose Superman could be considered a danger under the right circumstances, but I hold no convictions either way.”
“How do you feel about other possible prospects of Luthor?”
“Eh…some of them are valid ideas. Others…need serious work. And you can quote me on that one.”
He was tempted to run to his desk and get his pad and paper, but the urge died when the man took his cup and drank the entire fruity thing he’d been staring at. “Ugh…I know this. Lois made this…she always liked giving people diabetic specials,” he groaned. “Mmm…gross. You want something real to drink?”
“I..uh…what do you mean?”
“What I mean…is I’d like to get to know the new guy…and prepare myself for the line of questioning you could throw at me in the possible future.”
Clark couldn’t quite believe his luck and his misfortune. He’d only read about things like this happening, but this was surreal. “What makes you believe I’ll be the one questioning you?” he asked rather than answered. “How could you deduce such a thing just from talking to me for five seconds?”
“Well…you’re observant for one,” he said, smirking a little. “Two…you don’t schmooze. Three…the wallflower is often the one who goes unnoticed and knows everything in a short time. Don’t tell me you haven’t figured out the patterns of this party without having to be told by Jimmy.”
He had, and he wasn’t sure if that bothered him more than this man hitting it right on the nose. “I should give you more credit where it’s due,” he said, “Mr…”
“Please…call me Bruce,” he said. “Just not Brucie. The ladies think it’s a term of endearment and I’m none too fond of it.”
“Clark…Clark Kent. A pleasure to meet you.”
“Hmm…I can share that sentiment. Come on…let’s go find something that’s not full of sugar.”
And just like that, the ice Clark had felt forming around him was broken by a single man. He followed him, hearing the whispers and giggles turn into silence. Everyone was staring at him now, and he kind of liked it. He waved at the stunned faces, and stuck his tongue out at Lois just for the hell of it.
That was probably the beginning of the end of the new guy scrutiny. The pool that had been in place on whether or not the new guy would get one of the bigger stories was won by the smiling photographer taking a picture of Lois’s jaw hanging agape.
Previous song: "I hate everything about you"
Next song: "Something in your mouth"
wowzers! :) Next song is a bit smutty.
Fandom: DC
Pairings: None
Characters: Clark Kent/Superman; Bruce Wayne/Batman; Jimmie Olsen; Lois Lane
Word Count: 569
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: None
Synopsis: A wallflower at an office party is often unnoticed by many...and so is the new guy. Well, not always unnoticed...
A slight explanation beforehand:
I was bored...and I was messing with my Zune, and you know how my imagination goes, yes? Well, every song has a story behind it, or a story to tell with it. Since my other projects are on hold until I get my data back, I figured it'd be good practice to engage in something to keep me occupied. So, I give you a playlist of short stories that may or may not be related, with songs for titles. Hence the series title "Playlist". If you don't know how the song goes, feel free to look it up. :) It kinda helps.
So far none of these stories are related. :)
( Ring-a-ling )
( I hate everything about you )
Song 3: Break the Ice
“Let me break the ice…And I mean to get you right…”
- Britney Spears “Break the Ice”
Whoever said that getting to know other people was easy was lying through their teeth.
Clark stood on the far side of the wall, uneasy for the first time and feeling like a sore thumb in a forest of pointers. He stuck to the wall, a fruit punch in one hand and his glasses in the other, staring into the red liquid as if it were kryptonite in its raw form. He couldn’t smell that anyone had spiked it, and for once he wished that some juvenile had done so.
Coming to these types of things was not his cup of tea, and neither was following the woman who seemed to make everything a competition. Lois was in the midst of the party getting all the hot tips, the scoops, and trading secrets with the best of them, and he…well, he was on the wall staring at them as they moved about in comfort, at ease with the world and the world at ease with them.
He was still fairly new to the circuit of the Daily Planet, and fairly new at other things. A year into it and he still couldn’t quite believe that the world had taken such a shine to his alter ego. He’d started at the paper a month ago and been introduced to Lois Lane, the top reporter in her field and the best of the best. Yeah, she was the best all right…she was the best at getting into the heart of the matter and getting into some serious trouble. The girl was a mayhem magnet at it would suit him best not to hang around her too often. It was probably for the best that she called him “Smallville” and that he acted like the shy clumsy bumpkin he pretended to be. No posture, no taste, and not a lick of sense of how to approach a woman tactfully.
That was probably the more amusing part, especially when he pissed her off intentionally. She was more fun to tease because she assumed so much. Either way, it was established that she was his rival, and that she would hold no qualms in making that known with every chance available to her.
Leave it to Lois to upstage the new guy at his first office party, not that he really knew about it. He’d kind of stumbled into it, and then someone was directing him over to the punch bowl. Things like this always made him feel…awkward to say the least. It didn’t help that he could hear the snickers of various people commenting on his suit and how out of date it was, or his near coke-bottle glasses sitting on his face.
He sighed, resigned to just lean against the wall and do nothing and say nothing…
“Not your thing either, is it?” someone asked.
He shook his head, looking down at his punch and then up at the kid who never seemed to let go of the camera. Jimmy, he believed his name was. “I know the feeling,” Jimmy said. “I don’t like office parties either.”
“I didn’t know about this one…” Clark sighed.
“New guys rarely do. Senior reporters plan it and never say anything, always letting the new guy show up without a bit of warning. It’s kind of a way to test them I suppose...” Jimmy mused. “Either they blend in like Lane over there, or they just keep to themselves. I think it allows Perry to see what kind of initiative the new guy has. At least, that’s what I think. Why else would he allow this to go on?”
Who knew. Clark shrugged and got a smile out of the kid, welcoming the unexpected company of him and his chatter until someone else called him away. Jimmy waved and said he would be back in a few, but Clark knew that a few moments could be the rest of the party.
He went back to the wall, watching everyone...until someone slipped by him again and stuck to his side much like Jimmy had. Only this person was taller, broader, and oozed confidence. He glanced at him in his peripheral vision, almost taken aback when he realized just who was staring at him sideways.
“Y-you-“
“I know who I am…but I don’t believe we’ve properly met,” the man said. “I haven’t seen you here before.”
“I…I started here about a m-month ago…” Clark stammered. “B-but…what…w-what are you doing here??”
The man laughed a bit, something glinting in his eye as he looked to the mingling office members. “I usually stop by from time to time…I do own several properties…and this happens to be a recent purchase,” he said. “I had a meeting with Luthor as well…and that was amusing.”
“Amusing? How so?”
“Oh…he’s a walking ego trip. Does he seriously think that for a moment I’m going to allow him to use my money to finance anything that has to do with the destruction of a living symbol of hope?”
“Meaning Superman…”
“More or less. I suppose Superman could be considered a danger under the right circumstances, but I hold no convictions either way.”
“How do you feel about other possible prospects of Luthor?”
“Eh…some of them are valid ideas. Others…need serious work. And you can quote me on that one.”
He was tempted to run to his desk and get his pad and paper, but the urge died when the man took his cup and drank the entire fruity thing he’d been staring at. “Ugh…I know this. Lois made this…she always liked giving people diabetic specials,” he groaned. “Mmm…gross. You want something real to drink?”
“I..uh…what do you mean?”
“What I mean…is I’d like to get to know the new guy…and prepare myself for the line of questioning you could throw at me in the possible future.”
Clark couldn’t quite believe his luck and his misfortune. He’d only read about things like this happening, but this was surreal. “What makes you believe I’ll be the one questioning you?” he asked rather than answered. “How could you deduce such a thing just from talking to me for five seconds?”
“Well…you’re observant for one,” he said, smirking a little. “Two…you don’t schmooze. Three…the wallflower is often the one who goes unnoticed and knows everything in a short time. Don’t tell me you haven’t figured out the patterns of this party without having to be told by Jimmy.”
He had, and he wasn’t sure if that bothered him more than this man hitting it right on the nose. “I should give you more credit where it’s due,” he said, “Mr…”
“Please…call me Bruce,” he said. “Just not Brucie. The ladies think it’s a term of endearment and I’m none too fond of it.”
“Clark…Clark Kent. A pleasure to meet you.”
“Hmm…I can share that sentiment. Come on…let’s go find something that’s not full of sugar.”
And just like that, the ice Clark had felt forming around him was broken by a single man. He followed him, hearing the whispers and giggles turn into silence. Everyone was staring at him now, and he kind of liked it. He waved at the stunned faces, and stuck his tongue out at Lois just for the hell of it.
That was probably the beginning of the end of the new guy scrutiny. The pool that had been in place on whether or not the new guy would get one of the bigger stories was won by the smiling photographer taking a picture of Lois’s jaw hanging agape.
Previous song: "I hate everything about you"
Next song: "Something in your mouth"
wowzers! :) Next song is a bit smutty.