Here we go! Found out this morning that friends of ours are getting an Extreme Home Makeover this week! So excited for them! There's a thread with links in OT if anyone's interested.
And of course hubby is in STL waiting for the All Star Game to start [without me!!! And it's not TOO hot and his food and drinks are free... /cries/]
Thanks, as ever, to Kathy!
Did I mention I sent Backwards to Labby as well as On the Other Hand? Of course, her inbox appears to have spewed OTOH back out [shocking!] and I had to resend it but it's done!
Anyway, here we go
.
Last time
"You already know who my first was," she pointed out when he stalled.
He stared at the deck of cards he held in his hands. "I haven't actually..." he finally said.
"You haven't?" Lois asked incredulously.
He shook his head. "I mean, there's been plenty of opportunities but..." He shrugged. "It never felt *right*. I didn't feel right being with a woman like that when she didn't know about me."
"You never just... lost control? Got caught up in the moment?"
"No. There's only ever been one time that I wanted to just... lose control and that time was interrupted."
"Okay. So tell me about that then."
He looked her straight in the eye. "It was the morning I woke up in your bed and kissed you."
*~*7*~*
He was practically holding his breath as he waited for her reaction.
"Wow," she breathed. "Me? Really?"
He nodded.
"I didn't know about you then," she pointed out.
"I know, but that's the only time I've ever really just wanted to lose control. I'm not saying that we would have if your mom hadn't shown up – I doubt we would have given that the door was open and everything else – but that's the only time."
"Not any of the other times you've kissed me?" she asked, suddenly staring at her bottle of water.
"I had tighter control of myself the other times. It had caught me completely off-guard – kissing your back like that and then kissing you. Besides we weren't in bed the other times we've kissed," he pointed out.
"True," Lois conceded. "Except..." She nodded towards the other room. "Earlier."
"That was different. Don't get me wrong, it was a very nice kiss, but it was a ruse and then Cat walked in."
"Have you ever kissed Cat?" she asked suddenly.
He grinned at her. "Nope. Not gonna answer that. You got more out of that truth than you deserved. So... Dare or back to the game."
"Fine. Dare." An evil little grin crossed her face. "I dare you to put the Suit on."
"What suit?" he asked, puzzled.
"The super suit. You know, blue spandex, red cape, underwear on the outside. Symbol of truth and justice the world over."
He groaned. "Seriously?"
"Seriously."
He sighed. "Fine." He headed towards the bedroom.
"You have one with you?" she asked incredulously.
"Yeah. Usually I wear it under my clothes but since I'm not officially back yet, I'm not. But I'm *almost* back so I brought one with me," he told her, opening the secret compartment in his suitcase.
He spun, stopping when he was fully clothed in the Suit.
He strode – he always strode when he was in the Suit – into the living room, cape billowing behind him.
He heard Lois' sharp intake of breath when she saw him and he smiled to himself. He knew the Suit had that kind of effect on many women – and probably more men than he cared to think about – but he was exceptionally glad it affected her.
He wished his powers were completely back so he could *really* impress her but...
Maybe they were back enough.
He pulled himself into a sitting position in midair, legs crossed Indian style. He didn't look at her but did hear her gasp as he slowly lowered himself to the ground, making sure his cape was spread... regally behind him. He rolled his eyes at himself.
"How's that?" he asked, shuffling the cards.
"Very... nice," she managed.
"Glad you approve."
Clark quickly won the next hand and a single truth from Lois.
"So, what was your first impression of Superman?" he asked.
"Superman or Clark Lane?"
He grinned. "I already know what your first impression of Clark Lane was. I annoyed you because you were busy baking and had to interrupt it to check me in."
She rolled her eyes. "Fine."
"Your first impression of Superman."
She shrugged. "I was... impressed. But then again, so was pretty much everyone else."
He waggled his eyebrows at her. "Did you think he was hot? Did you want to haul him off to your lair, or have him haul you off to his lair or whatever?"
"He could *fly* - who cared if he was hot?"
"But...?" Clark prompted.
"But what?"
"Did you think he was hot?"
Lois' eyes narrowed. "Why do you want to know if I thought Superman was hot?"
He shrugged. "I'm curious."
"He was... fine. I had no desire to run off to Metropolis chasing after him or anything though."
"And yet you did," he finished a bit smugly.
"No. I came to Metropolis chasing Clark Lane," she pointed out. "He's my... boyfriend. Not Superman."
"I'll remember that when you want to go flying," he told her, shuffling the cards.
He sighed as he lost a double dare before the flop.
Lois grinned smugly. "Okay, Superman. I want to see my boyfriend in significantly less clothes than he was wearing earlier so I can ogle properly. The spandex doesn't cut it."
Clark raised a brow at her. "Excuse me? Exactly how much fewer are we talking about?"
She shrugged. "I didn't say anything about *naked*, did I?"
"I thought this wasn't strip poker."
"Who said anything about stripping?" She waved a hand in the direction of the bedroom. "Go in the other room and come back in a pair of shorts."
"Just shorts?" he clarified.
"You can wear whatever sort of underwear you choose," she told him flippantly. "I won't look."
He sighed and walked towards the other room. "Can I at least wear socks so my feet don't get cold?"
"Sure," she called. "Socks are..." She stopped midsentence as he reappeared in front of her suddenly.
"Something like this?" he asked, looking down at himself. He was wearing a pair of sleep shorts and white athletic socks.
"Wow," she sighed.
"So you approve?"
"Does that bother you?" She tore her eyes away from him long enough to shuffle.
"Not really," he said with a shrug. "I'm glad my girlfriend thinks I'm ogleable."
"Is that even a word?" she asked, dealing the next hand.
"It is now."
Lois lost a truth to him that hand.
"Have you ever really been in love?" he asked quietly.
She stared at the hem of the shorts she was wearing, picking at a loose thread as she did. "I thought I was," she said quietly. "I thought I loved Lex but..." She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "I think I was in love with the idea of who I thought he was, but that wasn't who he was at all. Would it have lasted a lifetime if he'd really been the guy I thought he was and not a homicidal, suicidal drug boss? I don't know. I don't think so. Not..."
"Not what?" he said softly.
She looked up at him, tears filling her eyes. "Not like I think things could be with you. And that scares me."
He was by her side in an instant, enveloping her in his arms. "Why does that scare you?"
"The idea that so much of my future, my future happiness, is tied up in one guy scares me." She swiped at her eyes as she leaned against him. "What if we don't work out?"
"Why won't we work out?"
"Have any of your other relationships lasted?"
"Only one has to," he told her softly, his fingers brushing her hair away from her face. "Only one relationship has to last a lifetime. Like my parent. Like your parents. Like our grandparents. That'll be us."
"How can you be so sure?"
"I just am." He kissed her forehead and then her nose.
She shifted, turning so that her hands were on his chest as he finally kissed her.
Thoroughly.
Like she was meant to be kissed.
Like she was meant to be kissed by *him*.
And for the second time in his life, he wanted to just lose control.
*****
TBC
