So this little vignette was perfect for today. It was a slow day for me, too; a lazy, too-much-dessert and too many hamburgers kind of 4th of July. I've been Lois-and-Clark-ing my days away here lately (in a way that only a teacher on summer break can) and I've fallen back in love with my favorite show (it was that darn pic of Dean and Teri back together in Australia that did it). Anyway, all that to say that I'm so glad to see that after so many years, people are still posting stories and giving life to these characters. I love it!
Specifically, I loved that I could see all this happening. Lois's boredom, Clark offering to get her coffee, her checking him out as he walked away ... speaking of that, this para had me giggling:
She followed his steps with a glare, until her eyes found his posterior, and her gaze softened. A wry smile turned at the edges of her mouth as she appreciated one of her partner's better assets. God, he looked good in his tailored slacks. How she'd overlooked him for the better part of a year, she'll never know. Pheromone-Lois had seen it, why hadn't she?
What she'd give for an ounce of Superman's x-ray vision.
Ha, Pheromone-Lois. That's great - I've never heard it described quite that way, but it makes total sense for her to think back to that situation in that way! Made me smile.
I wasn't completely sure what season we were in until you had Lois mention Lex and the room go a bit quiet, people stopping their work to look at her. Love the way you had her do it boldly:
"I said," he met her gaze head on, "maybe everyone's just burned out. The city might need a break after, you know...."
"After what? After Lex? You can say it."
She felt a couple of other stares landing on her at the mention of the name, and she crossed her arms and jutted out her chin proudly. He was her fiance. Heck, he was nearly her husband, had Clark and Perry not stepped in when they did. Even then it'd taken her longer than she was proud of to admit the truth to herself, so if anyone had the right to bring the man up, it was Lois.
Yup. This is Lois. She messed up, but she's not backing down. Wanted to note, too, that this para made the end - when she tells Clark her true feelings towards him - believable for me. You can tell by the way that she throws Lex's name into the conversation that she's made her peace with what happened and she's ready to move on... in the form of Clark Kent
Coolest thing for me in this story? I love that we get to see the first time they go back to Centennial Park after... well, everything. That's something I never thought about, but I love that you did it here. I thought the double-meaning "What are we doing here?" question was great, too.
Their conversation was really well-done here, too, in particular this line from Clark:
"It's not your fault. If anything it's mine." She risked a glance at him, only to see his hurt directed at himself now. "I thought I could handle being just a partner with you, or just a friend. But turns out it's harder than I thought to just... turn off my feelings."
It makes sense that it would be hard for him to slide back into that friendly, partner role after laying his heart at her feet, regardless of what he said to her to take it back. I like that you had him bring it up. One note on that line I quoted, though - I had to reread it (and the lines preceding it) a few times before I realized that it was Clark talking. Maybe it just needs a speaker tag before you have her glancing at him? I like that it's from her POV and she can see the hurt on his face, but I was confused for a second. (Could just be me reading this at midnight, though!)
The kiss was terrific (my favorite part of any story involving these two!) and I liked how you had Lois wanting to play a little hooky now that their feelings for each other were out in the open. All in all, it was a great vignette - thanks for posting! I really enjoyed it.
Tracey
