Still moving along.

Bob

I just laughed and laughed when I read this!

With all that rifling through Clark's closet, I kept waiting for one of them to accidently open the secret compartment.

Seriously, though, I think this is the first Lois and Clark disaster survival story I've ever read. I've seen many Nightfall stories, but never one where Clark doesn't divert the disaster. Way to come up with a completely new approach.

Another very excellent chapter... kinda like 'a day in the life of'. Warm fuzzies and an even warmer one to end on. Looking forward to what's coming next!

Cheers
Elizabeth

I, too, loved the rifling through Clark's closet, and I, too, loved that Clark didn't appreciate his ties, and I, too, half expected him and Lois to find Superman's suits!

Will that happen, by the way? What if Lois were to accidentally open the secret compartment and find the suits? Would she figure out that Clark is Superman? Could she get Clark to accept it? And what would the two of them make of Clark's seemingly permanent loss of his powers?

I, too, loved the warms fuzzies in this chapter!

Looking forward to more!

Ann

Loved the explanation of the pheromone incident!

I found it laughable that they had turned down dinner with Chef Andre in favor of eating in a soup kitchen or at a camp stove. I would love to see what would happen if Lois asked Lex to put up some of the families of Daily Planet employees who were finding it difficult to find adequate shelter. Wouldn't it be fantastic to see six little kids in diapers running around Lex' perfect ark?

As they were rifling through the closet it made me wonder why nobody seemed to miss Superman. I also wondered how Clark was able to get the materials to build a temporary wall in a city that was crumbling.

I am very happy that they realize that life won't return to normal in only a few days and am looking forward to reading the rest.


Elisabeth

Waffy in-betweeny part! Clark's explanation of the pheromone affair was inspired and the veil hilarious. Wonder if Lois is going to stumble on the secret compartment while she's living at Clark's.

Re the walls: Of course, with the bathroom only accessible via the bedroom, this means Clark has to wait till Lois is open the bedroom door before he can do anything in the morning.

Michael

Great part, Bob. I also enjoyed the soup kitchen vs Chef Andre discussion. Very funny.
Well, he ain't called a Boy Scout for nothing!

Now don't be hasty. Go ahead and pursue that thought. I won't mind.

Your descriptions of Martha and Jonathan were lovely (please let them be okay!) and I also loved the discussion about Clark's ties and the veil. I was also expecting them to find the super suits in the closet. Now I'm really intrigued about how you'll reveal Superman to both of them.

The idea about Clark being used to resisting his attraction to Lois during the pheromone incident was inspired. Poor Clark. He isn't going to have any secrets left by the time this is over.

Thank you all for the feedback. I've spent much of this week restructuring the story. I think that the flow will be better now and we can get to the end a bit more quickly.

Iolanthe:
I can't resist tie jokes. During the time I used to work at a place where the engineers were expected to wear ties, I amassed a great collection of non-standard ties including 2 Star Trek ties, several "Looney Tunes" ties and the best Batman tie I've ever seen. My son wants it but I keep it around just-in-case.


HappyGirl:
Thank you. As I've said, I hope that when I'm done, my interpretation doesn't disappoint. I would love to see another author who is better at A-plot than I am take a shot at something like this. At heart I'm really a B-plot writer and this much A-plot is difficult for me to handle.


Elizabeth:
I'm glad you are enjoying it. We will get back to the A-plot but when the B-plot calls I can't say no.


Ann:
I thought about having them find the Superman suits in this section but I "fudged" just a bit and assumed that the secret compartment was well enough hidden to escape accidental discovery.


c-mom:
I have to admit that I'm having a lot of fun with the explanations of things. As a diagnostic engineer i see people make these kinds of mistakes all the time. Based on a set of facts, there are usually many possible answers. If you are missing ONE essential piece of data you can come to very reasonable-sounding answers that are completely wrong.
* "Why did Clark keep his feelings to himself?"
* "Why didn't he react to the Pheromone?"
Since they are missing THE essential piece of information, they find other reasonable explanations. Like I said, I see smart people do this ALL the time.


Elisabeth:
Perhaps next time he'll think more carefully before making alterations to his apartment.


Hi BJ:
If anyone in Metropolis was to have a camp stove handy, I figured it would be Clark.


Thanks again for the feedback. You are all so kind. I'm not sure about the next few chapters. I hope to have 14 up before too long but I just don't know. It won't be more than a few days.

Bob

Bob: 1) Glad to see you're well-prepared for any tie eventuality!

2) Why in the world would they have engineers wear ties? My brother is an engineer. At his work, people are not allowed to wear ties for safety reasons. The tie might get sucked into the machinery and break a person's neck.
Besides, ties cut off blood flow to the brain and might disrupt the Engineering Creative Force.

3) Or do you only wear ties when you are in the Dilbert mode, dealing with the pointy-haired boss, the trolls from Accounting, and Catbert, the evil director of Human Resources?

Bob, I have nearly caught up with your amazing story, but I had to stop reading to comment on this.

Beautiful

Iolanthe:
I haven't worn a tie in years now. I keep them around just in case and for the annual Christmas party. Yes, I have a Grinch tie.


Corrina:
Lois had to find something interesting in his closet. If not a Superman uniform, then a veil was too fun to pass up.

I'm glad you liked that part.

Bob