Ficlet: Right Under Her Nose | DCU | Lois, Clark/Bruce | PG-13 | 1/1
Title: Right Under Her Nose
Fandom: DCU (general comics, canon-light)
Characters/Pairing: Lois, Clark/Bruce
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 929
Prompt: For the 2010 World's Finest Gift Exchange: F13: At the Daily Planet Christmas party, Lois makes some surprising observations. Either pre-slash, in the longing phase or established relationship but not outed.; For the 2010 DCU Free For All Winter Holidays Challenge: Holiday Party, Champagne; For bradygirl_12's 2010 DCU Fic/Art Snow Winter Holidays Challenge; For kissbingo: Type: Eskimo
Summary: At the Planet's annual holiday party, Lois hears and sees things that set her mind spinning.
Disclaimer: DC and WB own everything, the schmucks.
Author's Notes: Apparently, my Lois muse was not about to wax poetic about finding out something was up with the boys. XD And hee, just one more WFGE fic to finish now, whoo! \O/ Will probably be up tomorrow (late, naturally, but that's just how I roll :p).
Right Under Her Nose
Out on the hotel terrace, Lois was grateful to have been able to sneak away for a well-deserved cigarette. Damn party, every year it was the same: drunken shenanigans, new couples one-upping each other beneath the mistletoe, the old lechers from Sports and Business hauling out the same old disgusting pick-up lines, Gil spiking the egg nog. At least Jimmy and Clark seemed to be behaving themselves, the freakin' angels that they were.
Not that that stopped Lombard from making a lewd pass at her when she'd inadvertently stepped under the mistletoe. She shuddered again to think about it.
Out here, though, even in the crisp cold of Metropolis in mid-December, it was blessedly quiet, the noise of the annual Daily Planet holiday party muted. The quick rush of nicotine flooding her didn't hurt, either.
Taking a long drag off her cig, she crossed her arms and huddled into her coat as much as she could to ward off the cold, shivering a little. Despite the frosty air, though, Metropolis really was beautiful this time of year, she thought, with all the twinkling lights, the dusting of snow that had started falling earlier in the day. She imagined Centennial Park would be a winter wonderland tomorrow, if the snow kept up. And Jimmy would probably jump at the chance to go take photos. Maybe she'd even tag along for the hell of it. Who knew?
At that, Lois laughed to herself, at herself. Just look at her, getting sentimental and soft in her-
The hushed murmur of a conversation caught her attention then, a sense of urgency and tension in the tones, and her train of thought was lost to her instant focus on the two male voices, her instincts smelling a story.
Nonchalantly, she turned her head just enough to catch the pair out the corner of her eye. The two were partly shrouded in shadow, and-
Holy crap. It was Clark. And Bruce Wayne, of all people.
What the hell? What on earth could the owner of the Planet have to talk to Clark about?
Willing down the rushing of her own pulse in her ears, she took another drag off her cigarette and made like she was gazing out at the city, leaning against the balustrade.
“-will have to call O and get a team in undercover.”
“I want to call Zee personally, make sure she's up to speed.”
O? Zee? Who the hell were they? And why the hell was Wayne talking about people going undercover? Oh, how Clark suddenly owed her some explanations.
Her mind spinning with unexpected images of the Gotham party-boy as an American James Bond, Lois tried to shut out the rest of the noise of the party going on just inside the glass doors.
“I'll create a distraction so we can slip out,” Clark said, something in his voice very different from the man that Lois knew and worked with every day, a calm confidence she'd never known was there.
“Thanks,” Wayne said in return with a slight nod.
And before Lois's very eyes as she slipped her gaze over to them once again, Wayne leaned in close to Clark, took his bicep in what looked like a firm grip, and added, “Be careful,” before pressing a quick kiss to Clark's lips.
A kiss.
A kiss that Clark returned with seeming fervor, his expression almost pained from what Lois could see in the half-shadow.
The two parted with a final nuzzle, their noses brushing, and Lois couldn't help her own blush at seeing something so... so intimate, snow falling silently around them, idyllic and-dare she think it?-romantic. But then ire rose in her at not having had a single clue that Clark was somehow involved with the Planet's billionaire owner-and boy, did they seem to be involved!-the two of them a story that she might not even be able to report sitting right under her nose, undetected for years.
He was such a dead man.
Flicking the last of her cigarette away, Lois turned to head back inside and get the hell home already, too many things on her mind now to deal with more drunken idiots, only to come face to face with Clark as he headed for the door himself, Wayne suddenly nowhere to be seen.
Where the-?
But the deer-in-headlights expression on Clark's face froze her in place. Aw, shit.
“Wh-how much did you hear?” he asked.
For a split-second, Lois started to lie, 'nothing' sitting on her lips, ready to roll off, but her damn conscience got the better of her as she saw Clark's pulse jumping in his neck, snowflakes melting in his hair as soon as they landed, his air of embarrassed innocence just too much to take.
“Let's just say you owe me. Big time,” she said, grabbing for the door handle.
Clark swallowed visibly.
“Tomorrow night, my place, Chinese. I'll pay, you spill, and whatever you say goes no further than my living room. Deal?”
“O-okay,” he nodded in return. Then, with a quick glance in at the party, he looked back to her with a raised eyebrow behind his thick glasses, his demeanor seeming completely altered once again. “Say, can you give me a hand with something?” he asked, lifting a mostly-full champagne flute that she hadn't even realized he'd been holding.
Returning a smirk of her own, Lois was only too happy to help him spill the champagne all over himself as soon as they got inside. If anything, it was a good way for Clark to start making up for however many lies he'd told her over the years. Oh yes, Clark's full-disclosure would be delicious, and her retribution would be sweet.
~*~*~*~
Fandom: DCU (general comics, canon-light)
Characters/Pairing: Lois, Clark/Bruce
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 929
Prompt: For the 2010 World's Finest Gift Exchange: F13: At the Daily Planet Christmas party, Lois makes some surprising observations. Either pre-slash, in the longing phase or established relationship but not outed.; For the 2010 DCU Free For All Winter Holidays Challenge: Holiday Party, Champagne; For bradygirl_12's 2010 DCU Fic/Art Snow Winter Holidays Challenge; For kissbingo: Type: Eskimo
Summary: At the Planet's annual holiday party, Lois hears and sees things that set her mind spinning.
Disclaimer: DC and WB own everything, the schmucks.
Author's Notes: Apparently, my Lois muse was not about to wax poetic about finding out something was up with the boys. XD And hee, just one more WFGE fic to finish now, whoo! \O/ Will probably be up tomorrow (late, naturally, but that's just how I roll :p).
Right Under Her Nose
Out on the hotel terrace, Lois was grateful to have been able to sneak away for a well-deserved cigarette. Damn party, every year it was the same: drunken shenanigans, new couples one-upping each other beneath the mistletoe, the old lechers from Sports and Business hauling out the same old disgusting pick-up lines, Gil spiking the egg nog. At least Jimmy and Clark seemed to be behaving themselves, the freakin' angels that they were.
Not that that stopped Lombard from making a lewd pass at her when she'd inadvertently stepped under the mistletoe. She shuddered again to think about it.
Out here, though, even in the crisp cold of Metropolis in mid-December, it was blessedly quiet, the noise of the annual Daily Planet holiday party muted. The quick rush of nicotine flooding her didn't hurt, either.
Taking a long drag off her cig, she crossed her arms and huddled into her coat as much as she could to ward off the cold, shivering a little. Despite the frosty air, though, Metropolis really was beautiful this time of year, she thought, with all the twinkling lights, the dusting of snow that had started falling earlier in the day. She imagined Centennial Park would be a winter wonderland tomorrow, if the snow kept up. And Jimmy would probably jump at the chance to go take photos. Maybe she'd even tag along for the hell of it. Who knew?
At that, Lois laughed to herself, at herself. Just look at her, getting sentimental and soft in her-
The hushed murmur of a conversation caught her attention then, a sense of urgency and tension in the tones, and her train of thought was lost to her instant focus on the two male voices, her instincts smelling a story.
Nonchalantly, she turned her head just enough to catch the pair out the corner of her eye. The two were partly shrouded in shadow, and-
Holy crap. It was Clark. And Bruce Wayne, of all people.
What the hell? What on earth could the owner of the Planet have to talk to Clark about?
Willing down the rushing of her own pulse in her ears, she took another drag off her cigarette and made like she was gazing out at the city, leaning against the balustrade.
“-will have to call O and get a team in undercover.”
“I want to call Zee personally, make sure she's up to speed.”
O? Zee? Who the hell were they? And why the hell was Wayne talking about people going undercover? Oh, how Clark suddenly owed her some explanations.
Her mind spinning with unexpected images of the Gotham party-boy as an American James Bond, Lois tried to shut out the rest of the noise of the party going on just inside the glass doors.
“I'll create a distraction so we can slip out,” Clark said, something in his voice very different from the man that Lois knew and worked with every day, a calm confidence she'd never known was there.
“Thanks,” Wayne said in return with a slight nod.
And before Lois's very eyes as she slipped her gaze over to them once again, Wayne leaned in close to Clark, took his bicep in what looked like a firm grip, and added, “Be careful,” before pressing a quick kiss to Clark's lips.
A kiss.
A kiss that Clark returned with seeming fervor, his expression almost pained from what Lois could see in the half-shadow.
The two parted with a final nuzzle, their noses brushing, and Lois couldn't help her own blush at seeing something so... so intimate, snow falling silently around them, idyllic and-dare she think it?-romantic. But then ire rose in her at not having had a single clue that Clark was somehow involved with the Planet's billionaire owner-and boy, did they seem to be involved!-the two of them a story that she might not even be able to report sitting right under her nose, undetected for years.
He was such a dead man.
Flicking the last of her cigarette away, Lois turned to head back inside and get the hell home already, too many things on her mind now to deal with more drunken idiots, only to come face to face with Clark as he headed for the door himself, Wayne suddenly nowhere to be seen.
Where the-?
But the deer-in-headlights expression on Clark's face froze her in place. Aw, shit.
“Wh-how much did you hear?” he asked.
For a split-second, Lois started to lie, 'nothing' sitting on her lips, ready to roll off, but her damn conscience got the better of her as she saw Clark's pulse jumping in his neck, snowflakes melting in his hair as soon as they landed, his air of embarrassed innocence just too much to take.
“Let's just say you owe me. Big time,” she said, grabbing for the door handle.
Clark swallowed visibly.
“Tomorrow night, my place, Chinese. I'll pay, you spill, and whatever you say goes no further than my living room. Deal?”
“O-okay,” he nodded in return. Then, with a quick glance in at the party, he looked back to her with a raised eyebrow behind his thick glasses, his demeanor seeming completely altered once again. “Say, can you give me a hand with something?” he asked, lifting a mostly-full champagne flute that she hadn't even realized he'd been holding.
Returning a smirk of her own, Lois was only too happy to help him spill the champagne all over himself as soon as they got inside. If anything, it was a good way for Clark to start making up for however many lies he'd told her over the years. Oh yes, Clark's full-disclosure would be delicious, and her retribution would be sweet.
~*~*~*~