Fic: The Sounds Of Silence (1/1)
Title: The Sounds Of Silence(1/1)
Author: BradyGirl_12
Pairings/Characters: Clark/Lois
Continuity: Superman & Lois
Genre: Slice-Of-Life
Rating: G
Warnings: None
Spoilers: None
Summary: Lois contemplates her new Smallville surroundings.
Date Of Completion: June 9, 2021
Date Of Posting: June 12, 2021
Disclaimer: I don’t own ‘em, DC and Warner Brothers do, more’s the pity.
Word Count: 641
Feedback welcome and appreciated.
Author’s Note: Happy Birthday,
mithen! A little late, but better late than never. ;)
Cacophony,
Quiet,
Chaos,
Silence.
Sylvia Stone
“Surroundings”
1981 C.E.
Lois sat at the kitchen table. She was alone in the house, since Clark was off doing his superhero thing and her sons were in school.
It was the silence that captured her attention. Except for the twitter of the occasional bird, the silence was almost absolute. The quiet was something Lois was not used to in her surroundings.
She was an Army brat. She and her mother and sister had followed her father from base-to-base around the world: Germany, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Canada, and several U.S. states. All had their own sounds, often mixed with the distinctive sounds of an Army base: drill cadence, roaring jeeps, bugles blowing reveille, and the whip of an American flag in the wind flying from a shiny flagpole.
Metropolis had been noisy day and night, as befit a major metropolitan city. There was traffic, sirens of police cars and fire trucks, the rattle and clatter of trains on the elevated tracks, and the general verve and buzz of millions of people. Lois loved the noisy energy.
Smallville was a world away from all that. Here the wind whistled across the plains, rippling through fields of wheat and corn. Every once in awhile a truck rattled by on the road, but they were essentially out in the sticks.
Like Daniel Boone. If he could see the smoke from his neighbor’s chimney miles away, they were too close.
Lois drank ice-cold lemonade as she stared out the window. Was this silence one of the reasons Clark loved it so much here? Did it give him respite from constant clamor and responsibilities? Was a bruised spirit able to rest and heal here on the farm, close to green growing things and the soil of a planet that he loved dearly?
The Kent had adopted him, and he had adopted this planet. Superman would always defend Earth. She would always defend Superman.
Lois took another sip. Clark’s roots were here, in these cornfields, in this soil, in this farmhouse. Army brat and Smallville native: what a combo!
Her family needed a fresh start. Rest, rejuvenation, even in Hicksville, U.S.A. Maybe the peace and quiet would do her some good, too.
Oh, what would Dad say to that?
She poured another glass. One thing she could make was great lemonade. Her talents leaned more toward beverages than food. She could have been a world-famous bartender, she thought with a chuckle.
Lemon slices floated in the pitcher and her glass. The clink of ice cubes against glass sounded loud in the kitchen. A robin was chirping in a bush by the window.
A gust of wind heralded Superman’s arrival. He walked into the kitchen, his cape swirling around him.
“You know, anyone seeing you in here will think I’m cheating on Clark.”
“Aren’t you a sassy flirt?”
Lois smiled. “You flatter me.”
With a super-speed motion, the Man of Steel transformed into Mild-Mannered Reporter. He adjusted his glasses and took a drinking glass from one of the cabinets.
“Ah, your world-famous lemonade.” He poured himself a glass and took a seat at the table.
“World-famous, huh?”
Clark took a long drink. “That’s right.”
“I was just listening to the quiet.”
Clark smiled. “Guess there’s an abundance of that.”
“That’s right.”
Clark drained his glass and poured another. “I know it’ll take some getting used to, but there’s a peacefulness here you can’t find in the city.”
“Or on an Army base.”
Clark nodded slowly, taking a sip. The first glass was for slaking thirst. The second was to savor.
“There’s nothing like the sound of rippling cornsilk,” he said.
“Acres and acres of it.”
Clark drank slowly. “Sweet and golden.”
Lois lifted her glass. “Tart and sparkling.”
“Somehow, they go together.”
Lois smiled. They clinked glasses and drank in silence.
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This story can also be read on AO3.
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