It was long past midnight, but Lois couldn't fall asleep. She was restless and ultra-aware that she was in Clark's bed.
I guess it would have been easier to fall asleep if Clark had been there. Some exhaustive nookie first, then she’d be exhausted and happy and sleepy.
The faint smell of him on his pillows and sheets made it feel like a cozy cotton cave that was the last safe place in Metropolis.
![[Linked Image]](http://cosgan.de/images/smilie/figuren/g080.gif)
: cozy cotton cave? *safe*?
In fact, knowing that Clark knew she was currently lying in his bed made it feel just that much more sensual.
CLARK: This Plexiglas aquarium, do you make those in kingsize?
Lois tried to pretend it was Superman, but she couldn't make the fantasy stick.
Too soft, huh?
Would he ever let her get that close? Was Superman friends with Clark like that?
Yes, Clark does allow Superman to…touch him intimately.
Or did they hang out together in the evenings, watching a movie or a game on the television?
They also play basketball against each other.
Then she felt a pang of regret that they never asked her to hang out with them.
She could sit between them, the bag of Cheetos on her lap?
Or was he afraid that she'd read too much into so much time spent together casually? Maybe that was why he stayed away.
No, that’s more because of the bro code.
Fine. She'd be nothing but friendly with Superman from now on. She'd exude trustworthiness with a dash of emotional distance. She'd be open and supportive, but she wouldn't flirt with him.
CLARK:
She’s falling for Lex after all. Or maybe Call-Me-Daniel
What would it be like to have Superman grab her like Clark had and take charge? What would it be like to have Clark do that again
Grab Superman and take charge?
.
.
.
It didn't matter anyway. Clark was never going to kiss her again. Maybe, once upon a time, there had been the possibility to move past partners and become something more, but that chance was gone now. Clark's heart belonged to somebody else.
Well…she could try to go undercover as a couple with him. Maybe in a sauna? Or a nudists resort?
There was no one else who would put up with her assertiveness and not call it something rhyming with 'witchy.'
CLARK: My mother always told me to not call a woman a bitca to her face.
They had complemented each other perfectly. She was the brains and he was the heart.
Aww…she just called him…not smart.
LOIS: Well, he did fall for the office tramp instead of me, so…
Between them they made up one half-decent person. Dating each other would have ruined that.
Because they might have ended up making a new decent person?
LOIS: What do you mean, you have take those pills regularly instead of just finish them up sometime within the month?
For a long while she stared at the moonlight coming in through Clark's window. She wondered if, somewhere in Hawaii, Clark was looking at the moon, too. The thought that he might be -- and that he might be thinking about her -- made it feel like he wasn't quite so far away.
So we shouldn’t tell her that he’s most definitely not in Hawaii, looking at the moon and thinking about her.
He'd been too tired to contemplate leaving, so he'd stumbled into the shadows and dropped to the floor.
Lois leaving early for a jog could have been awkward.
He didn't realize he had dozed off until he was suddenly startled into wakefulness when his front door opened. He lifted his head just as Lois exclaimed, "Oh my god!"
Oops? I just figured, even if you didn’t mention it, that it would be Clark who crawled up the stairs, not…
A moment later she was kneeling next to him, her hand cool against his forehead. "Superman? What happened?" she asked, her voice shaking a little. "Are you okay?"
Oops-Oops?
"Oh my god, you're bleeding." Lois grasped his hand, her eyes wide with horror. She rose, using the toe of her shoe to push away the glass shards. "What happened to you?"
Barry got beaten up while returning home from a late night bachelorette gig?
She lifted the washcloth and peered closely at his hand. "I don't know," she whispered. "It looks pretty deep. You might need stitches."
"No, it'll heal soon."
Wouldn’t it be awkward if it continued to bleed until he has his powers back in two days or so and he basically bleeds out from the cut in the meantime?
LOIS: *Awkward*?
"I couldn't find any kind of first aid kit, which is weird. Clark is the ultimate Boy Scout, you'd think he'd have provisions for everything."
Like Lois getting injured. For instance, what if she stumbles on the stairs and gets a gash on her knee?
CLARK: Don’t be silly. Superman would fly her to the hospital and make sure they do the full workup, plus a CT scan, testing for tetanus and drugs someone probably slipped her.
LOIS: Clark! I caught my foot on the stair and stumbled!
"I'm sure Clark wouldn't mind." She gave him a grin as she added, "I'm guessing his bed never sees this much action."
Lois. Superman. Lois *and* Superman at the same time.
Blood was smeared all over the left sleeve and shoulder of her shirt. She tiptoed through Clark's bedroom into the bathroom, taking pains not to invade Superman's privacy by glancing over as she passed the bed. In the bathroom, she'd pulled off her shirt and rinsed the blood out.
![[Linked Image]](http://cosgan.de/images/smilie/konfus/a015.gif)
That’s still the shirt she slept in? Not her work outfit, right? Which means she’s topless in the bathroom and Superman’s right next door…
She closed her eyes and listened, soothed by the sound of Superman's breathing. There was something reassuring in knowing that she wasn't alone in the apartment.
Yes, nothing should help against invading goons like a knocked out superhero.
"What was that?" Lois knelt next to the bed, leaning closer so she'd hear him.
"M' sorry."
"Sorry? You have nothing to be sorry for."
He swallowed, nodded. "Yes, I do."
Well…that wouldn’t be the first secret spilled while the spiller is out of it.
"You can't leave here. And, even if you could, you really shouldn't goad Luthor further by investigating this."
Maybe if he used a pair of handcuffs to bind her to him?
LOIS: The knock offs or the police type which would take me four seconds to open instead of one?
"And lunch," she added. "You're going to owe me lunch and dinner."
Clark nodded, grateful that he'd got her to agree to stay put. "I'll be back in an hour."
Oh boy. He’s so going to rue the day that he agreed to Superman playing house with Lois.
Chip looked nonplussed. "An exclusive? But… she's supposed to be doing a piece on infrastructure. How would that require her to enter protective custody?"
Mobsters involved in the infrastructure contracts?
After two circuits from the chair to Perry's bookshelf, Chip turned to face him. "Tell her I want her to call me before end of business today, or she's fired."
He does realize that she’s doing the boss, right?
Before Clark could answer, there was a rumbling beneath their feet. Chip stumbled sideways, Clark reached out a hand to steady him.
Uh-oh.
I'm experimenting with posting on Friday afternoons, in the hopes it will give you guys more time to leave
Michael
)
...
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--whether she knows it or not! )
. Tisk, Tisk, Tisk. 
But there is a bright spot, and that's all these lovely comments! 
First I desperately need to thank everyone for their kind words. 
/mutters about what it is that keeps some FoLCs accusing me of hacking their PCs and grabbing advance copies of the stories/
![[Linked Image]](http://cosgan.de/images/midi/konfus/c085.gif)
So, it’s just a rumor, then, that’s going around the printing press? What about the limerick they printed last weekend on how the famous reporter and the famous entrepreneur…