Nexus continuity
It's the day before Valentine's Day. To Clark, however, it's just another day. In fact, chances are it hasn't even occurred to him that it's nearing on any sort of special occasion. As far as he's concerned, he and Anna are just meeting Chloe and Jimmy for a cup of coffee and small talk at the Talon. Nothing special
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Having loads of fun at it, in fact.
(As usual, the entire rest of the kitchen makes jokes at her expense - unflagging optimism and the ability to never, ever look tired are something people must either mock or envy bitterly. As usual, Anna is all smiles.)
"Energizer Bunny coming through," she says as she ducks between Vivien and a cartful of empty dishes.
"You're not pink enough," comes the quick-paced reply. "And you need bigger ears."
Three people laugh. Anna just grins and carries on.
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This time, though, somebody notices.
"Anna?" Vivien sounds worried. "Hey, Energizer, your hand."
She looks down, feigning surprise. "Huh? Oh, that. Guess it's worse than it looks - it barely hurts."
Vivien frowns. "Don't give me that. And don't be so careless around the stoves - this isn't the first time."
"Honestly, don't worry about it," responds Anna, laughing it off and covering up the puffy red mark on the base of her thumb. "It'll be gone by tomorrow, I promise."
One way or another.
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As is, she simply flips the latest in a series of crepes - they're popular today - and catches it neatly on a plate. Vivien applauds. Anna snorts and hunts down a banana.
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"I was planning on it." He shoves everything off the desk onto the floor and pushes Lois up against it, kissing her once more.
After a moment, she pushes him back. "Not that I'm complaining, but isn't this a little sudden? I mean, all this time, one kiss, and all of a sudden, you like me? What about Anna?"
"She's not here, is she? Besides," he leans in to kiss her again, "she's getting boring."
Lois stops him yet again. "No, I mean it. This is for real, isn't it?"
"Oh yeah," Clark grins. "This couldn't be more real."
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"I need your girl-advice," he says, giving her the second cutest pair of puppy-dog eyes she's ever seen.
"Heh. Still can't think of a V-day present for Chlo? Isn't this a little late?"
"Well, I sent her flowers at the Planet, but-- well--"
"--you can't think of what else," she finishes, nodding. "Flowers're good. Hell, I'd say leave it at that if it was me. But if you really want to spoil her..." Anna trails off with a grin.
"Yes?" Jimmy presses eagerly. "Come on, make with the ancient dead-girl wisdom here."
She chuckles. "I know just the place. Walk with me."
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"A chocolate shop?" asks Jimmy, disappointed. "The way you were talking this place up I was expecting some kind of palace."
"Not just any chocolate shop," Anna corrects. "A real honest-to-goodness European chocolatier. C'mon, let's see if they've got anything for you ( ... )
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"Wow! This is a beautiful detour, but what are we doing up here?" Lois asks, eyes the chest-high wall that separates them from the edge of the building.
Clark nods toward a light off in the distance. "That's Oliver's balcony over there, isn't it?"
"What, that tiny speck under the clock tower?" Lois squints and then gasps when Clark jumps up onto the wall. "Clark, this isn't funny. You can come back down now."
"Or you can come up here with me.," he suggests, pulling Lois up with him and holding her close, "I'd like to see Oliver do this."
And then he jumps, sailing easily toward Oliver's balcony. He hasn't felt this free since he made a similar jump over a year ago now, in a decidedly different place. He fully intends for this to end in a far better place than a glass bubble in the sky.
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"Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound. I can't wait to see what else you can do."
He grins, backing her up against a wall. "Well, I'm fast, but not too fast."
"You're being very bad," Lois scolds him teasingly. "You know, the last time I was here, I was with a good friend of yours."
Clark shrugs. "Obviously he wasn't that good. I better make sure you didn't spell my name wrong." He grabs the collar of her shirt and rips it open, tossing her jacket across the room and smirking again at the tattoo. And no, the fact that he's about to do with Lois what he wouldn't do with Anna in Oliver's apartment isn't lost on him ( ... )
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"Fancy meeting you here," says the blonde girl. "I have a feeling I should be thanking you for a certain cake my wonderfully adorable and yet completely uncreative boyfriend just gifted me with."
"Yeah." Anna grins shyly. "He came to me for advice a while ago, and I led him in the direction of my favourite chocolatier. The rest was all Etienne's doing. You like?"
"It was amazing," enthuses Chloe with a returning grin. "We're going to do the ceremonial first cut later. I just wish he could have come here with me."
"I'd wish the same about my boyfriend, but I think we both know how badly that'd turn out ( ... )
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She clenches her jaw, too busy being angry to respond with words.
It's too easy to recognize the signs, though, so after the moment of blinding rage passes she stops herself from saying anything hurtful. Dammit.
She has to get him out of here before he does something else he'll regret later.
Unfortunately, trying for a fire-move in front of all these people would not be wise. Also, she doubts she can get his consent, and she's seen people after they were moved without their permission. It can trigger some very nasty flashbacks in torture victims - especially, ironically enough, people who've been through the kind of pervasive techniques used by Jasmine.
Anna doesn't think she can put him through that for any reason short of preventing him from committing an imminent murder.
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