[Road Not Taken] A necessary conversation

[presspasskey]

It's been a hectic few days, between the weekly-supervillain-attack and the near end of the world descending on the earth. And Perry'd come into town, too--making all of Lois' days far more work-intensive, if only because she now has to put up with his yelling.

(She's thrilled to have him around again, but she'll be tortured before admitting that.)

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[eppes]

And lo, there is a knock on the door to disrupt her train of thought. Clark hasn't honestly meant to ignore her, it's just that between trying to stay on top of his Planet duties while keeping an eye on the rest of the world is exhausting. Factor in walking the new owners of the Kent farm through a crash course in organic farming and you've got one tired alien.

He's holding a package of maple donuts in front of him when she opens the door, quite possibly as a reason to speak to him longer than a glare. And if she tries to take the the bribe and run, he's perfectly fine with utilizing his speed and wandering in anyway.

"Hi."

[presspasskey]

"Just a sec!" she calls when she hears the knock, and after a few moments of audible scrambling and a muffled curse (yes, the apartment looks like a minor disaster area, as someone's been tossing her research everywhere, as usual, or her living-space would be neat), she does manage to get to the door.

She looks surprised (pleasantly so) to see him for a moment, and then her eyes fall on the box of donuts. "Oooh, donuts!" is her only greeting, immediately opening it and yanking one.

(Sorry, Clark, but Lois Lane has her priorities.)

After taking a bite she gives him a quick grin. "Hey, Smallville. What'd'ya need?"

Because if he's bribing her, he wants something.

[eppes]

She always does, he's known that - if not from day one, at least from day two or three. The box is easily let go of, and he sidles in past her while she's eating, although his progress forward is impeded by the relative chaos in her apartment.

"Thought maybe we could talk." About what, Clark is vaguely sure she probably has an inkling, but he isn't sure how to begin. Coming out and asking if she plans on running an in-depth 'behind the scenes' editorial on the world's newly unveiled hero is harder than it looks, and he doesn't want to offend her.

If only because she jumps to conclusions faster than a bunny towards a carrot.

[presspasskey]

Lois looks rather possessive of that box of donuts before she sets it down, tearing into the donut with another few bites as she gives him something of a puzzled expression.

"Sure," she replies after a moment, still looking faintly puzzled. She sticks the donut in her mouth long enough to move a pile of file folders off of a chair so he can sit. Hopping up onto the counter, she absently crosses her legs at the ankles and leans forward.

"So what's up?"

[eppes]

The chair is a welcome distraction. He maneuvers it closer to the counter, fussing briefly about placing it just so before sitting down and propping an elbow on her kitchen table - careful not to be anywhere near her notes or laptop.

"Is this a routine or?"

[presspasskey]

Lois rolls her eyes with tolerant good humor as she watches him fuss. Still his question makes her pause and give him a highly puzzled expression. Something's up, and while she has her suspicions what this is about now...

She honestly hadn't thought he'd want to talk about it.

"Clark." Her eyes are direct. "Have you ever known me to do that?"

[eppes]

"Yes. To be fair, it's usually when you're trying to get information out of someone."

It's probably not the best way to go about this, but waiting for a more opportune time just isn't on the cards. Not with everyone and their uncle trying to get a word in with the primary colored hero, and all the criminals attempting to up the ante in regards to planning the perfect crime.

A madhouse, more or less.

"If this isn't a good time, let me know."

[presspasskey]

Lois opens her mouth to start to object, but changes her mind after a minute. He might just have a point there, after all. Still, that statement merits some protest. "Not to my friends."

And, well, whatever else is going on--whatever else he might be doing with his life--they are still friends. Or were, anyway, last time she checked, and losing that is not something she's quite prepared to contemplate.

She just rolls her eyes and waves the sad remnants of her current donut at him. "I swear to god, Kent, if you don't quit acting like I'm a freaking fanged cobra or something, I'll shove this down your throat so fast you won't get to taste it." Realizing that probably isn't reassuring at all--and wishing she could think at least once before opening her mouth more often--she gives him a quick grin and takes another bite. Yeah, not much of a threat. "It's fine, otherwise I wouldn't have let you come in in the first place. So what's up?"

[eppes]

Clark is going to keep his mouth shut on defending himself against that statement. He's seen her verbally steamroll friends and family alike, even if she does have a point about the severity, and it's really not worth getting into an argument over.

"It's called being polite and using the manners Mom raised me with." Oddly, he doesn't seem intimidated at all, apparently just trying to make sure there isn't anything pressing on her schedule for the next little while. With Lois, one never knows. "Talking. That's what's up. You, me, mouths moving."

[presspasskey]

The look she shoots him is half appreciative of and half thoroughly exasperated with the snark. Still, Clark can and will actually stand up to her, and it's one of the things that makes him actually entertaining to deal with.

Polishing off the donut and eying the box for a moment, as if weighing the cost (too much fat and sugar) versus the benefits (donut!) of having another one, she comments almost absently, "Well, I think we've already managed that one."

[theboyscout]

"Idle chit chat maybe. But now we get to talk about feelings." He pauses for effect, leaning over to snag one of the donuts for himself, and draws out the silence by inspecting the chocolate coating on the surface.

"Such as how you felt having a bird's eye view of the city's newly unveiled ... helper." Because he's still not comfortable saying superhero yet, especially in relation to himself.

[presspasskey]

Lois actually reddens slightly and tries to will herself not to think of how he'd looked, hovering outside Air Force One. Who knew Clark Kent, dorky farm-boy extraordinaire, had it in him to look... well, regal? Superhero, sure; impressive in flight? That was unexpected.

So she covers by snatching the donut out of his fingers. "Nu-huh. My bribe, fairly paid and received. You can get your own sugary death in a box."

Still, she's not quite looking at him. She's still not sure how they're supposed to be playing this, if she's still not supposed to know (even more than she'd been in denial all those months between throwing down with Tess at the Planet and that alleyway and the Book of Rao). "I figured it was only a matter of time before everyone involved had enough of the skulking-in-alleyways, honestly."

She's avoiding using either second or third-person pronouns.

[theboyscout]

He's not sure why she's blushing. If it is blushing. She could be embarrassed about seeing him -- and why hasn't he thought of that. Finding out one's recent partner is someone she's been chasing down for an interview for years? Yeah, he can see how she'd be seriously annoyed over that.

"You're mad at me."

[presspasskey]

And now Lois just gets a distinctly confused expression. How on earth he made the logical leap from uncertain talk about his night job to her being mad at him is really not clear to her.

"Uh... no?" She gives him a sidelong look that says louder than words What crack are you smoking? "Why would I be mad at you?"