So...there you have it. As you can now see, with this one I wasn't interested in writing the "LNC get trapped in snowbound cabin, make love, and their relationship changes dramatically overnight" story. Or even the "LNC get trapped in snowbound cabin and Lois discovers CK=S" story.

The point of it was to chart the course of something more ethereal than that. The flicker of something starting that would grow in the future. The small spark that would become a flame.

Hope you enjoyed it anyway - even if it wasn't what you were expecting. Or hoping for.

Oh, and apologies for the dismissive ending to that gang. I'd actually planned to get rid of them in much more detail. But then Lynn mentioned this idea in passing and soon as I read it that was it. Their fate was sealed. Those gits ruined my plans for a PWP Waff fest without Aplot. They simply had to die.

LabRat

Labrat,

Why would we be disappointed with this story?

It was lovely and WAFFy and I for one really enjoyed the whole ride.

Hope this means the muse is finally back.

Avia

Wow this was much more real then the usual stories. Very sweet. I loved what she etched on the glass and also the robert Frost Poem. Mine is "Two roads diverged in the woods and I chose the one less traveled." Or something like that<g> Seem like you did just that in this fiction. Good job. Laura

Just loved your story, LabRat!

Simona

Hi,

Great story.

Awww. A lovely sweet WAFFy story. I love it, despite no PWP or huge revelations. Just the lovely revelation of hidden sentiment, and a strengthened resolve. Absolutely love it.

That's a very good point, Maria. A very...very...good point. She says through gritted teeth before muttering 'dangit' under her breath and then smiling sweetly at Maria.

Don't suppose you'd accept that the smuggling gang used superglue on it before they left?

No, didn't think so.

Good catch! I've fixed it.

Thanks for the fdk so far, everyone! I'll leave it to the end to properly thank you individually but for the moment, I'm delighted that you enjoyed it.

LabRat

This is one of those stories I'm have a very difficult time writing feedback for. I keep writing, deleting, re-writing, and deleting all over again. I just can't seem to put into words how I felt about this story!

All I can think to say is, I was most definitely *not* disappointed by the ending. It was perfect. I would quote all my favorite parts, but then I'd just have to quote the whole chapter, and what would be the point in that?

I loved Clark tenderly caressing her hair as she sleeps, and confessing not only his love but also his fears to her. Loved even more that she remembered the next day!

For some reason, your description of the dog in bed with Lois just had me laughing out loud.

I must admit, I was sort of hoping Clark would find a reason to go into the kitchen and see what Lois had written on the window, but, after reading the entire story, I think it is better like this. Just a hope of a new beginning. Clark talking himself into not giving up on Lois, and Lois deciding maybe it is about time for her to open up to Clark. I think I'm going to cry....

Again, all I can do is compliment you again and again on your excellent writing style, and tell you this story was an absolute pleasure to read!

- Vicki

edited to take out my comment about the bullet holes in the car, since I see you were posting at the same time I was, and you addressed the problem.

Sometimes the things you least expect are the most pleasant. This was different, but no less fabulous!

Right on! I internally had a field day when I read this!

Oops, going to be late for dinner with the parental units tonight, gotta cut myself off now! Two thumbs up!
JD

This was... mmmmm, wonderful, Rat! )

Hmmmmmm... you know, I like that icon so much, I'm going to do it again.

I haven't had a chance to comment earlier, since I was so busy catching up on reading the story. Since I finally made it to the end, I wanted to let you know how much I enjoyed reading it.

I think your ending works wonderful (and I have no trouble to ignore the unresolved situation of the gang ). A promise for a future together instead of major relevations or declarations of love and major changes in their relationship, which would make this a less realistic story.

Excellent work, LabRat!

Aww, I love it. A lot. I don't suppose a sequel is in the making? /me looks at Labby with irrisistable shiny puppy eyes

About the dog - old mutt? didn't you say he was a labrador? And Cougar? And I thought this was Homer's big cameo.

Julie

Very sweet and satisfying. Beautiful ending to the story, just right in fact.

I love how you have their inner musings following the same lines and their hopes for the future are shining inside them. You just know they are going to make it..awwwwwwwwwwwww!

Great job!

~Liz

I love sleepy Lois's rambling, run-on thoughts. Those were really fun to read.

Oh, great. So when does kissing mean anything, Lois? Come on, think about it. When are you going to have an evening that doesn't involve trauma, danger, cheating death by inches, and quite possibly a chase through the dark? Face it. You're Lois Lane. It's just not a proper evening out if someone doesn't try to kill you.

LOL, I really like the image of Lois's finger spelling things out for her while her head is occupied with slightly different matters. I definitely like her leaving it there. Very nice.

Really like this, too:

Nice to see Clark seeing sense about his other side, too.

Sentences like this are a little confusing. I know what you mean, but...

Anyway, I, for one, am certainly satisfied with the ending. It's a good step forwards for them, a turning point.

Of course, if you wanted to explore what happens next, I'd have no objection...

Great story, Lab.

Paul

Yep, I have to agree with the others-- it's a great story and you ended it just right!

It would have been relatively easy, I think, to end this story with the usual sort of scenarios you described at the start of this FDK thread, but you'd probably need more than 7 parts. Instead, you chose what I think was the harder route-- you brought Clark out of his desolation and you brought Lois out of her isolation (somewhat). As you said, it's a beginning-- and it works wonderfully here.

After all, even with all the action and desperation at the start of the story, it really is an exploration of the very early stages of Lois and Clark's closer relationship, isn't it? You have introspection at the beginning, you have hints that Lois isn't thrilled with Lex, and you put them in a position where they have to rely on each other's strengths. Lois has to let go of some of her independence and trust Clark's split second decisions when the bullets are flying; they have to feed each other's determination to keep going when they are numb with cold, and they have to pool their resources to get warm. Clark is forced to rely on Lois' strength of character and determination, when his powers are essentially gone and he is experiencing hunger, cold, and exhaustion-- feelings that are foreign to him. Without the ability to just swoop in and save the day, he must rely on her as much as she relies on him.

Clark was so desolate the night before; then the act of just holding his love in his arms while she slept helped him to work a lot of that angst out. Knowing she was asleep, he started to talk. He told her a lot of the things he wanted to say but never did, for whatever reason: Lois' standoffishness, his reluctance to reveal his secret, people shooting at them-- you know, the usual stuff! :p

And yes, it was really neat that Lois recalled much of what he said to her, and that it meshed with feelings she had been forcing out of her thoughts. Yet recalling Clark's words (and deeds-- his gentle stroking of her hair and cheek-- kept those thoughts creeping back. And each time she examined those thoughts, they were easier to accept, weren't they? Her unconscious writing on the window sort of focused those feelings, I think.

And the return of Clark's powers-- you set that up so nicely, as well. The joy he feels at their return is an echo of the joy he feels as he realizes that he can offer Lois something that Lex never could-- his love. And that by keeping his hope alive, by offering his love steadfastly, he can overcome any possible negatives that being Superman could bring to their relationship.

I really enjoyed this-- on the edge of sleep, when many people's thoughts are disjointed, you've got the babbler extraordinaire following a pretty cohesive thought pattern-- the rhyme, the tie-in with her thoughts of the Frost poem at the beginning of the whole adventure...

I'm saying it clumsily (after all, it's 3am here), but it's an excellent story, Labby. You didn't disappoint me. You ended the story on a hopeful note that allows the gentle readers to put their own future on it-- but you've guaranteed that we (with the possible exception of Tank) will imagine a bright future for our duo.

Oh, yeah, and the bad guys coming to such an anticlimactic end? Hey, them's the brakes, fellas (er, or not, on an icy bridge). <Sorry for the inadvertent pun!> You were so busy shooting at innocent reporters that you ignored the weather. Somehow, a river bottom is kinda fitting. Akin to the bottom of a barrel, or sinking to the depths... or something. <More bad puns; even worse, these were intentional!>

And you gave the dog a home! Now Lois doesn't have to take him home with her! I bet she's really happy about that!

~Toc

Wow! What a cool way to end that. You've done a fabulous job of giving us the Lois side of things. And Clark knows that something has subtly changed...how sweet. I adore the build that has him holding onto his dream. Very 'ethereal' and keeping with the snow and the dreamy atmosphere.

This was gorgeous.

Sherry

I just so much enjoyed this story. The whole thing made me want to wrap up in a cozy blanket and have a cup of hot chocolate!

Mostly, I loved that it is a story about a promise - not the whole, hog-wild, love love love stuff, but something so much more real. Lab has so completely caught, for me anyway, the way I can imagine Lois and Clark's relationship blossoming. Small, baby steps, but going forward all the same. Even though these two didn't end up in bed together or declaring their undying love and devotion, the whole thing had such a happy, promising ending that you just know the eventual conclusion at some point further down the road.

Love the heart at the end. I loved it so much, I had planned to include it in the trailer, but it seemed too much of a spoiler, so I left it out. Since the story is finished, I'm going to post it now. This is what I imagine Lois drew on that frosted window pane.



Excellent story, Lab. Thanks for letting me get a sneak peek at it. Of course, now you've whetted my appetite. I hope we get to see some more from you and your Muse very soon.

Lynn

Cute ending!

Jose

Wow! Well done and Bravo Lab!

TEEEEEEJ

I really loved the ending of this story... it was a refreshing change from the norm (which is not to say the norm isn't much appreciated as well... ) to leave things so open and unresolved. Granted, we all know what happens, but still...

Next, please!

I sincerely hope you DON'T fix that-- it added to the humor of the section. I'm sure it would be very funny even if you did fix the reference, but hey, with all that babbling, it works as it is.

~Toc

Thanks, everyone, for such wonderful feedback.

Sorry I haven't been back before this, but it's been a complete bear of a week so far, and haven't had time to sit down and properly think to do your comments proper justice. :p

Just wanted you to know that your thoughts have been truly appreciated. And I'll be back very soon to respond in more detail.

LabRat

And...I'm back. Well, I'm glad that no one seems to have been disappointed. It hadn't occurred to me till late on that one of the disadvantages to posting this in chunks with time inbetween each segment was that the flow of the story would naturally send you all – or most of you <g> - in the opposite direction to the one I was intending to go. So I'd gotten just a smidgen concerned this was going to be an anti-climax for most of you. I'm delighted that you enjoyed it.

And, hey, you never know – I might just do that 'trapped in snowbound cabin and have wild night of passion' story at some point, all the same. <g> Maybe I haven't got all that snow out of my system yet.


Yup. Drowned. Which is the least they deserved. That'll teach them to mess with my Muse.



LabRat

Oh hi Labby I loved it

MDL.

LOL, that's not stupid, MDL. I think that's the way many of us stretch our vocabulary.

Glad you had fun while learning. <g>

LabRat

I've read it slowly and carefully more than a few times now. And I'm still just speechless. Absolutely clueless as to how to comment on this.

I waited because I wanted to say something smart here...in this spot right here...see? But I've got nothing besides pure, jaw-dropping awe for how beautiful this is, poetic, tender, fragile.

In my mind Superman returns to fix the window and sees his valentine. But he doesn't rush back to her directly and say "guess what I saw?!" because it's just enough for him to know.

Like Lois already partly knows. Just as Clark does when he's upstairs watching her from the window. That space between knowing it and saying it. Captured so perfectly by your words, like the image on the window.

Man, Lab. Man, man, man...you just kill me with Your Absolute Awesomeness. I want you to go away and write something else immediately. I'm not kidding. None of this waiting a year between fics!

CC

CC:



Thank you!

LabRat

What a fabulous story, Labby. As always, your incredible talent awes me, and you did your usual marvelous job writing something that blends humor, passion, introspection, action, danger, and tenderness seamlessly. How do you DO that?

I'm glad you gave Cougar a home and devoted human; I could've visualized Clark acquiring a pet or taking him to Smallville if necessary (Lois, no way!) but this way was better. I also thought it hilarious that the warm body pressed up against Lois was Cougar and not Clark (speaking as someone who often finds my dog and two cats sleeping in between my husband and me :rolleyes: )!

I liked how Lois worked through her ambivalent feelings for Lex as she woke up, and loved her thought processes regarding how unexpected Lex's proposal was based on their relationship up to that point - this was something that always bothered me too and I'm glad you brought it up! I also LOVED that Clark worked through his feelings about Lois and how he came to the conclusion that he DID have a lot to offer her besides lonely dinners and an empty bed since he loves her. YES!! And he figured that out himself without seeing what Lois had etched into the frost on the window (which was lovely, by the way).

Loved it, loved it, loved it. When's the next story going to appear? Tomorrow? How about today?

Vicki

hey..?..! YEAH!!! When?

Awwwwwww, Vicki, thanks for the lovely thoughts. I'm glad you had fun with this one.

Tell me about it! Homer usually sneaks up onto our bed around 6am and gradually worms his way up to stretched out full length in the middle of the bed (most usually on his back with all four legs in the air). We wake up two hours later teetering on the edges of the bed, freezing, with no covers. And then he looks at you like, "What?".

As for the next story...er...um...well, considering that the two I want to get started on finishing - Second Degree Burns and Eye Of The Storm - are both er...epics...not any time soon would be the answer there! I've got about half of them done, but there's a heck of a lot of writing and plot workout still to be done on them.

Thank you both, Vicki and Roo, for the interest and the nag though. I'm sure the Muse is listening.

LabRat

LabRat

Sorry I'm so late here.

Thank you for an absolutely amazing story. I love it.

Tricia

Oooops! No, it wasn't. <g> Apologies to Jeff (whose challenge that wasn't) and to James (whose challenge that actually was).

They say the memory's the first to go, you know.

Tricia!! You can be late all you like. <g> Thanks for taking the time to comment - much appreciated.


LabRat