Finally, we both decided--without words--that it was late enough to stop for the night, and we set aside the computer and our notes, and we headed into the bedroom.
Oooo yet another facette of sharing a bedroom. We've had comfort, friendship, and now, budding love
It was strange, I thought, that the only night I was really uneasy about sleeping in the same room as Clark was the night I finally knew the real him.
Wel, now the question is, do we cuddle?
I readied quickly--dressing in a nightgown rather than the casual pajamas I had been favoring lately--but then paused and looked at my reflection in the mirror.
Oooooo hint-hint! /imagines the nightgown from the illfated late-night visit after the proposal/
The Lois Lane I used to be *had* disappeared. But she hadn't been buried; she had been transformed, like a changeling that took on a new, better, more durable shape.
When I stepped fully into the room, Clark turned from making up his cot to face me...and then froze. His hands were poised in mid-air, the blanket held slackly between his fingers, his dumbstruck expression lit by the lamp beside my bed.
"Uh, Lois... I... I hadn't figured... You... And me... Umm..."
so slowly, seeking once more to calm that untamed, beautiful creature before him
Yes, don't frighten her. She might kick.
And I'm not strong enough to stop him anymore--"
That's not the issue. I'm more worried about fake Loises popping up.
"If Luthor sends *him*, I...I won't be able to--"
They should have kept the Kryptonite?
"Is it...it's not because of my secret...is it?"
/slaps head/ Hmm... /slaps head of doofus/ Even if he thinks she knows *the* secret.
Finally, I opted for simplicity and shrugged. "I didn't know your secret when I dived into the ocean after you."
"What if...what if I'm not? Lois, you said I didn't give up in that cell, but...I thought some very bad things while trapped there. And I think...I think I
...would not feel happy when after I successfully saved Luthor from suicide."
And then there's this one:
...would make sure no one else is in grave danger before resucing Luthor when I see him prancing on top of his balcony railing."
"And though I might not actually act on any of those dark thoughts, I do know that I would do *anything* to stop him--to stop *anyone*--from hurting you."
So, turn him itno a marshmallow?
Alone because the man I had thought was a paragon of virtue was, in the end, not as untouchable and unimpeachable as I had imagined him to be.
And yet, just why is he still helping Luthor, then? Because of the Kryptonite? Or because he gave his word? It doesn't really add up, does it, Lois?
Quietly, I shut the bedroom door behind myself and padded across the living room.
Are you actually recreating the scene from Barbarians? Will Superman utter the infamous phrase? Did Lois really go out and meet Superman without a robe?
"There were some...bad things...happening, Lois. I wanted them to stop."
The whole Nigel thing. And Superman trying to get Lex to give up?
Things like you getting hurt, Lois--that was never supposed to happen. He said it wouldn't."
"Don't worry, kiddo, I'm not going to hurt the pretty lady or the guy who looks like you."
"But he's all I have, Lois!"
Lex. Father. And yet, to Lois...
"He's family, Lois! That's all I was ever taught--loyalty to family. It's all I've ever known!"
Again. Father. And to Lois... Clark, his brother.
"Stop living in fear! You can end this all! Family *is* important, so--"
Wonders if Superman hears 'kidnap me now, as Father commands.'
"Do what *he* wants you to do!"
And then I would be able to tell Clark what I had so recently discovered myself.
Oh dear.
"I can make you a hundred shooting stars, Lois--a thousand--whatever you want."
That can't be good.
"They look and sound magical, but they're only there for an instant, appearing and disappearing far too quickly."
What a great analogy between shooting stars and supermen.
"Barely alive before fading away," he murmured despondently. "Dying alone in the dark."
DC so has a point re the warrenty. And
But who had ever voluntarily, willingly, freely *wanted* me? Who...besides Clark?
Awwwwwwwww
"Lois..." Superman gave one slow shake of his head. "Don't do this."
And he will hear Father talking about how his attraction to Lois is just an infatuation with a nice face. Not real. No reason to disobey. No reason to not act against her.
"Lois, I...I *need* you. I need you to save me."
This is *really* bad. but he's still remarkably stable.
"I wanted you to tell me--"
That I'm real. That I don't belong to Lex. That I'm *good*.
"You know all our secrets now, Lois...but do you know *his*?"
Clark talking about Cloneman/Lex or Cloneman talking about Clark/Superman?
Great part. And lot's more anxiety left for part 21. There's got to be an awful cliffhanger
Michael
