I just want to jump in here and let the gentle readers in on my thoughts on a few things.
Roger brought up several good points and I will try to explain my thought process on three of those.
First off, of course Lois continually contradicted herself. This is basically a BatP and HoL story arc, and we know that she constantly contradicted herself during that time. (which is one of the reasons why I never liked it). Here, like hatman did in his part, Lois is so confused about stuff that she is constantly on the defensive, and we all know that Lois' first line of defense is to attack. We see her continually having arguments with Clark and defending Luthor to him. Clark brings up the subject of Luthor and Lois immediately turns the tables and makes it about Clark's failings. But I would bet if Lex came up to Lois and denigrated Clark, she would rise to his defense like a momma bear protecting her cubs. That's just the way she operates. Especially during this time of constant stress and confusion.
Next, Roger brings up the point that Clark did tell Lois his secret. I disagree. He didn't sit down and in a gesture of trust and friendship, share his most precious secret with her. No, he threw it in her face in a fit of pique. She had just rejected his pledge of love and asked if he could contact Superman for her. The implication was clear. Lois thought she was in love with Superman and needed to talk to him before she could even consider what Luthor had to offer. Naturally Clark was hurt. But in this case, he felt he had to hurt her back. His response was, in effect, to slap her in the face with the fact that he was Superman and she'd already rejected his love, so, tough luck sister.
Lastly, Lois' and Lex's sleeping arrangements for the upcoming trip to Paris are mentioned. Most notibly, the fact that those weren't mentioned. I'm not really sure if Lois would even think about those (even if she should). She and Lex have been dating, but so far it has been a pretty chaste arrangement. I don't imagine that they've gone any farther in the physical intimacy department than a goodnight kiss and hug. So there really is no immediate reason for Lois to think that Lex would expect her to sleep with him in Paris. And, Lex, for that matter, if he's as smart as he claims to be would know that Lois wouldn't expect to be jumping into bed with him, but with Lex, you never know. Still, back to Lois, with everything else on her mind and to suddenly have this trip to Paris and a big gala affair throw at her, it's a lot to take in. Maybe she hadn't really even had time to think it through that much. It's a valid question, but one I decided to let the next writer deal with. It could be funny to have Lex and Lois walk into the big fancy Parisian hotel and have Lois ask, in all innocence, "Where's my room?"
Like I said, that and some of the other confusing actions that have been laid out by me and those before me are now in the hands of the next challenge takers in line. I merely wished to see how deep I could dig the hole for Lois and Clark, now it's up to ther rest of you to find the way for them to get out
Tank (who wants to let everyone know that any grammatical errors in the story aren't his fault because his beta reader has been kidnapped and he isn't sure when they'll be able to free themselves for the arduous duty of being his beta reader)
