Wow!Diane, this was excellent from start to finish! As I've told you many times, I love the way you write Lois. You capture her just perfectly.
The entire story is just so full of witty lines and clever twists that I'm in awe.
And then this final scene with Lois and Clark... it's WAFFy, angsty, funny all at the same time. And you've left them just on the cusp of something more than friendship, and did it just perfectly too.
Erica already commented on those last lines, but I have to quote them too:
"But, sir." Nigel quirked an eyebrow upwards after taking a sip of his champagne. "No one looks down on you. You're a king in your tower, and no one can touch you."
Lex looked up at the sky, noting a small blinking light that traveled along the skyscape. A lone firefly buzzing along in the bleak world overhead. He saluted the departing plane.
"Only until someone learns to fly, Nigel. Only until then..."
Most intriguing!! So I definitely smell a sequel here. We have to get Clark past his fears about going public, of course, and into his Superman costume. And we
have to see Lex learning how prescient his semi-idle remark was.
Great stuff, Diane! Now get this on the Archive!
/me rushes off to make some additions to her Kerth list Wendy