Thanks, everyone, for your responses!
Chris, Lois *does* need to be hit upside the head. Fortunately, she's good at getting herself into the type of situations that result in being hit upside the head, so I can probably arrange that in due time
Laurach, I don't have the butt poem but would love to write it. It would make a very funny epilogue, I think. Unfortunately, I'm the pits with poetry. Of course, who's to say these women are any better?
Why didn't he just say...take Clark! But I guess you have a reason.
Yeah, I think being forced to work with Clark at that point would have pushed Lois right over the edge, and for all Perry's bluster, he doesn't want to do anything that's going to cost him his star reporter. He's not going to force them to work together, and she's not going to do it voluntarily.
Plus, from a sheer technical standpoint, I don't want to completely re-write the pilot. Everyone's already seen it anyway, and I'm not comfortable with the idea of how much "borrowing" I'd probably wind up doing if I put Lois and Clark together on the Messenger investigation. With her investigating with Jimmy, I can cover the investigation indirectly, drawing on what people remember from the pilot, and focus my writing on the mess she and Clark have gotten themselves into.
Terry, it sounds like you and I share a similar worldview, at least as regards Lois and Clark's behavior in this story. I don't completely agree that a person can't be of "good character" and still engage in casual sex, only because I think anyone is capable of having his or her judgment compromised, especially when faced with an intense attraction to someone else. We all do things from time to time that violate our personal code of ethics, and if we're lucky, they're small things that are easy to remedy. This was a bigger thing, and it's going to take time to resolve.
In this case, I think "casual sex" is the oxymoron. Though for different reasons, neither of these people is really capable of it. Lois was trying it on for size, thinking that she could just bury whatever feelings existed when she was done with them, and Clark had his fingers crossed (figuratively) when he agreed to just one night. He was hoping to talk her into more, and it wasn't until she disappeared before he even had the chance that he realized how foolish and short-sighted he'd been.
I've put these two characters into a situation where they're forced to confront this mistake immediately - because it makes a story - but I think there would be consequences - fallout, as you put it - for them even if they'd never seen each other again. I can't imagine Lois ever venturing out as Wanda Detroit again, for instance, and I certainly can't see Clark ever giving his hormones quite such free rein.
I could probably ramble on some more, but my coffee break is over and I need to start my day. Thanks again to all who took the time to offer feedback
Caroline
