[Facebook] A tale of two men?

[presspasskey]

Lois had been... okay, not avoiding Clark per se--she wasn't going out of her way to be where he wasn't or anything. A little less present by his side during the day, maybe. She decided to forgo her habit of stealing his coffee, and of sitting on his desk and keeping him from working until he'd agreed to proofread for her

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[smallvillekent]

He hums in agreement, backing her up until she hits the wall. He has to lean down a little to reach her, but it's not too uncomfortable.

"Do you still want that coffee?"

[presspasskey]

Lois nibbles a little on his lip. "Only if you do."

Some part of her thinks that of all the massively unwise decisions she's made, this may beat them all.

She honestly doesn't care.

[smallvillekent]

"I'm good."

He kisses a path down her jaw to her neck, his hands caressing her sides. He's confident that if she wants him to stop, she'll say something. She's not exactly shy.

[presspasskey]

Lois is by far the bolder of the two, although she's more than happy to let him set the pace right now. She's never sure what he's expecting from... whatever it is they are, these days.

Which is probably part of why she just laughs softly, running her fingers through his hair. "Yes, you are," she murmurs absently.

[smallvillekent]

He laughs against her neck then lifts his head to smile at her. "Are you okay?"

[presspasskey]

She smiles reassuringly back at him. "More than," she promises, just before leaning forward to kiss him again.

[smallvillekent]

Mid-way through the kiss, he puts his arms around her and lifts her up, spinning them around so he can walk her toward the couch.

[presspasskey]

Lois hesitates a moment, not sure if this is entirely the wrong time, but--

"Can I-- ask you something?" She pulls back to eye him uncertainly, almost shyly. It's the one thing she's never dared to ask him and always wanted to.

[smallvillekent]

"Yes. If I can answer it, I will." He sits back, keeping his hands to himself and listening attentively.

[presspasskey]

"It's just--"

She looks away briefly. "I don't know what to call you sometimes," she finally admits, before smiling slightly with a mix of whimsy and uncertainty. "And-- well, 'Superman' just seems... impersonal sometimes?"

She touches his face lightly. 'Sometimes' translating to 'when I'm trying to convince myself I'm not falling in love with you.'

[smallvillekent]

'Call me Clark,' is the first thing he wants to say. It's a good thing she can't read minds.

"My birth name is Kal-El. That's what my parents called me, and what some of my enemies call me. You can call me that, if you like."

[presspasskey]

Lois knows--absolutely knows, from the way he phrased it and this feeling he's been around longer than he tends to imply--that he's leaving something out.

And it hurts a little, that there's a part of his life he doesn't want to share, but... well. Superheroes are like that, in her experience, and she knew what she was getting into when she started flirting with him.

"Kal-El," she says tentatively, just to test it out. "It's-- nice." She sounds a little puzzled, but sincere. "Does it mean anything?"

[smallvillekent]

He nods, taking her hand. "It means 'Star Child,'" he says a little sheepishly. "I didn't pick it out, obviously..."

More than ever, in that moment he wants to just come clean and tell her the truth. Tell her that he's really Clark and that's the name he prefers. That he sees her every day and that hiding the truth from her is one of the things he hates most about this job.

But then he thinks about how much danger she'd be in if the wrong people found out she knew, and he can't put her at that kind of risk.

[presspasskey]

Lois smiles wryly now, leaning forward to kiss him again. It helps, it really does.

Even if a part of her wishes--

But it's not what he needs, and so she pushes the feeling away. "Well, that certainly suits you," she drawls lazily, threading her fingers through his and pulling his arm around her again.

[smallvillekent]

His arms go around her easily, and he rests his forehead against hers.

"Only a few people know that's my name. Everyone else just calls me Superman."

[presspasskey]

She nuzzles briefly at his nose.

"Do you mind? That I asked--or that I know, I guess."