by bobbart:I suspect that this universe will never lead to a relationship or even mild friendship between Lois and Clark. This Lois strikes me as (dare I say it) almost Lex-like in calculating how to use Clark. She is making a cold, calculating decision to get close to him for purely mercantile reasons. The fact that she’s entering the partnership with such base purposes suggests to me that she’ll never see Clark as anything other than a means to an end.
Good point, Bob! But I see this Lois as "damaged" Lois. For whatever reason (her upbringing, her parents, the thing with Claude), she's become this cold, calculating user-reporter. Now she's someone who lashes out, who can't believe that anyone could have a friend or be a friend.
Corrina shows this very well.
"You don't trust me," I say, doing a pretty good job of making it sound like an accusation when the truth is that trusting me with this particular secret would rank as one of the stupidest moves in the history of the newspaper business.
So, right now, we have bitter, angry, driven Lois.
And I agree with
BJ, too:
I daresay that Lois's realizations throughout this piece that Clark wasn't responding as expected would soon change her tactics. It's Clark's ability to keep his cool, yet still show Lois that he can't be pushed around (eg. the wild goose chase through the Metropolis Reclamation Facility in search of a godzilla doll) or in Corinna's story - Clark's determination to keep his source's secrets - that will ultimately shift Lois' mercenary attitude to respect. Once he's inside that first defense, she won't stand a chance.
Because this Clark refuses to fight back. He just stands up for what he believes in. He won't respond to Lois's pokes or threats or insinuations or clever ploys. He'll just do what he thinks is right. Lois will wonder how he can be like that. She'll come to respect him (heck, she's already starting that at the end of the fic!) Then, as BJ said, she'll really start to like him. And because she likes him and he likes her, she'll start to like herself a little bit more too. And then it'll snowball.
