Delightful chapter full of action on both the A and B plots. I really like the way you are continuing both of them.
“All together... 347. But a lot of those are dialects.”
Lois' mind boggled. She couldn't even name 347 languages, let alone speak them.
“Is that one of your powers?” she asked, deliberately keeping her voice low.
He shrugged. “I don't really know. I've always had an ear for languages, and I've travelled a lot. But I don't know if it's a super thing or not.”
Clark sharing a little of just what he doesn't know about himself shows his vulnerability, even though Lois has hurt him.
“Why do you do that?”
He looked up at her, his glasses still hanging off the tip of his nose. She stifled a giggle. He looked like an absent minded professor.
“Do what?”
“Pull your glasses down like that.”
“Oh.” Self consciously he slid them back up. “My vision powers won't work through them.”
She looked at him strangely. As Superman, she'd seen him look through – and burn through – materials much tougher than glass, so why would a simple pair of spectacles stop him?
“Why?”
“They're not normal glass- it's lead crystal glass.”
“Why lead crystal?”
“I can't see through lead. It was my parents' idea. When I first got my powers sometimes I'd have trouble controlling them. The lead crystal stopped me from using them when I didn't mean to.”
Love this description and his explanation.
“Suddenly I know why all of his excuses are so flimsy”, she muttered under her breath. It was harder to think of them on the spot than she thought it would be, and she didn't even have the distraction of trying to get somewhere in a hurry.
Yes! She's seeing how hard it is to be Clark.
Not quoting everything here, but love the description of Clark opening up to Lois and explaining why he left and won't return as things stand now. Glad to see Clark expressing his anger, which he often doesn't do openly. Leaving before he thinks she'll stomp on his heart is heart-wrenching, and totally understandable after the ways she treated him in the past.
I can't help but wonder how Clark would have reacted if Lois had shared her feelings for him first, but then she doesn't realize he's in love with her and that's why he left. It's fascinating to see how Clark responds to the revelation of his secret before her declaration of love (if she'll even confess that). And ironic that he probably would have reacted better if she'd confessed her love first, the opposite of what he did in the series. Interesting spin in that it seems as though they may both be confessing in the order that is best for themselves, not the other person. I never thought of that in the series, but it gives an entirely different perspective to Clark's proposal in ATAI - and Lois's reaction.
Looking forward to more, and resolution of this cliff hanger. Soon I hope?
