There’s Magic After All
Clark landed on the balcony of his apartment and stepped inside. Though he’d barely moved in and could still smell the fresh paint, it already felt more like home than the trailer ever had. He sighed in contentment as he closed the door behind him and smiled to himself.
The rapid tapping of paws on the floor announced Houdini. The setter darted around a corner and stopped a few feet from him, his body all tense and ready to attack. The hairs of his fur stood on end and a low growl escaped his throat.
Clark took a step back and held up his hands. “Sorry, buddy, I forgot you don’t like the suit.”
Houdini growled again and bared his teeth.
“Hey, It’s still me,” Clark tried to soothe him. “See?”
He took another step back and quickly spun out of the glaring blue and red into his regular clothes. Then he tousled his hair back in Clark fashion, pulled his glasses from the pocket of his shirt, and put them back on.
Houdini relaxed a bit and whimpered softly, seeming confused for a moment. Then he started wagging his tail again and approached Clark to greet him in the usual manner. Clark knelt to stroke his dog and buried his face in the soft fur. Though, technically, he no longer needed Houdini’s constant presence, he’d missed his friend while he’d been out.
He sighed softly and scratched the dog behind his ear. “I know, I liked the black better too, but this new costume allows me a freedom that MagiKal never did.”
The setter barked and licked his face, clearly just as happy to see him as he was to be back home. His heart swelled and he was sure that even though their new situation would take some getting used to, they would be fine.
“It was a car accident,” he whispered into the dog’s fur. “Seven people would have died if I hadn’t been there to save them. I really made a difference today, I didn’t just show a few fancy tricks. This is who I want to be. I know it’s all strange and new, but over time…”
He laid his arms around the dog, hoping to convey how much he still needed him, even if he no longer required his assistance.
Houdini barked again and then pulled at Clark’s shirt.
It was a gesture so familiar that it sent a shiver down Clark’s spine. His breath caught. It couldn’t be. He squeezed his eyes shut. It couldn’t be another hiccup! It had been three weeks since Lois had found him in Suicide Slum, three weeks since she’d removed the red splinter from his back. His powers had returned as soon as the sun had come up and he hadn’t had another hiccup since. He’d been so sure he was free!
But Houdini kept tugging at his shirt and whimpered softly and Clark felt like his world was going to fall apart.
Then Clark heard someone clear their throat. As he looked up, he sagged with relief.
Lois smiled at him. She leaned against the wall, her arms crossed in front of her chest and was watching his exchange with Houdini.
“Oh, I understand,” Clark said to his dog. “You’re trying to tell me that we’ve got a visitor.”
He once more ran his hands through Houdini’s fur, feeling the urge to apologize for the misunderstanding. Had the setter picked up on his tension? Clark’s limbs still felt a bit shaky as he got to his feet and smiled back at Lois.
“Hello, partner,” she said.
Her silky voice sent another shiver down his spine, this time of the pleasant kind and he drowned in the dark pools of her eyes. While he stared at her, mesmerized, he vaguely registered that she pulled something from behind her back.
She held out a card. “Perry asked me to bring you this. It’s your new press pass. You’re now officially a member of the regular Daily Planet staff.”
She pushed herself off the wall and closed the distance between them. Before Clark really knew what was happening, she’d flung her arms around him and was kissing him. Heat shot through his body at the contact. He moaned into her mouth as her tongue darted forward and teased him. He opened his lips to deepen the kiss and started suckling at her lower lip, tasting for himself how very sweet she was. He wanted to pull her even closer and show her exactly how much he loved her. He wanted to get on his knees right now and produce the ring that he’d been hiding in his pocket for the past two weeks. He wanted to do so much that he didn’t know what to do first. It seemed like too much and at the same time could never be enough to show her how much she meant to him.
“Thank you,” he rasped as they broke the kiss. “I owe you so much.”
She shook her head. “You owe me nothing. I was just glad I could help you become the man you’re supposed to be.”
Clark pursed his lips. “Not that I want to complain or anything, but I’m really not sure I’m supposed to be 'Superman'. That sounds awfully presumptuous. Can’t we change the name to something less… I don’t know… less boastful?”
Lois laughed. “Nope. Afraid not. That name is stuck. One of the downsides of saving the whole world. And as far as I’m concerned, it’s just right. You did great with that car accident today.”
His cheeks grew hot. “Thanks.” Clark swallowed against a dry throat. "I'm glad you came. After I spent most of the day running out on you, I wasn't sure whether you'd want to risk a date that might end up disrupted. I bet Perry already regrets hiring me."
"He doesn't," Lois said firmly. "Actually, I wouldn't be surprised if he may suspect something about Superman. But before you work yourself into a frenzy, if he does it's unlikely he's ever going to tell a soul, not even us."
"That's…that's good," Clark managed.
His heart was suddenly beating in his throat and he had a hard time trying to suppress the sense of unease that had taken hold of him.
"And now I'd really like that pasta you promised." Lois placed another kiss on his cheek and laid an arm around his shoulders to pull him toward the kitchen.
Clark followed her, the touch of her hand and the brilliant smile on her face sending a rush of excitement through him. He felt like he was walking on air. And as Houdini barked at him once again, he realized that it was actually true. His feet had left the ground.
With a sheepish smile, he lowered himself back down. Lois had spotted his slip and her grin had crumpled to an expression of concern. But he shook his head and stuffed his hands into the pockets of his pants, suddenly deeply embarrassed.
"Don't worry, it's not a hiccup." He stared at his feet, suppressing the urge to shuffle them. “It’s just, your presence is kind of distracting.” His gut clenched as he realized how creepy all of this must seem to her.
She cupped his cheek and made him look at her again. There was a gleam in her eyes as if she’d guessed what he’d been thinking about. His cheeks burned up and he swallowed hard, trying to come up with something to say that would explain his feelings without making a complete fool of himself.
“So, when you feel good about yourself, you’re actually floating on cloud nine?”
He chuckled and gave her a small shrug. “I can’t help it. With you around, I’m always on cloud nine.”
His breath caught as he drowned in her eyes. Right at this moment, he could sense that connection that for some reason they’d always had. It was stronger now than ever, linking them in a way that he’d never thought possible. The world seemed to have stopped turning, and his right hand - still deep in the pocket of his pants - closed around the small chest with the ring. Was this the right moment? Could he ask her to become his wife?
His heart hammered in his chest, but he let out a small breath and let the moment pass. It was too soon. The hiccups were gone, there was no need to try and squeeze a whole relationship into the scarce moments when his powers wouldn’t work up. He had time now to explore a romantic relationship with Lois, to date her and kiss her and learn how to love her with his powers intact. It didn’t have to happen tonight. Clark withdrew his hands from his pockets and gently placed them on her hips to pull her a little closer.
He’d take her to Smallville and ask her under the stars, he vowed to himself. When the time was right.
She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and leaned her head against his chest. “So, you float, when you’re happy. Is there anything else you haven’t told me about you?”
“Nothing I can think of. But ask away, I’m an open book”
She looked up at him and traced an S on his chest, imitating the symbol that he had on his Superman suit. “I don’t think you ever told me what name your birth parents gave you.”
“Kal El,” he replied.
She gasped. “Kal as in MagiKal?”
For a moment she was silent, but then she started to chuckle, which quickly turned to a full blown laughter.
Clark frowned. “Yeah, what’s so funny about that?”
“Oh, something I once said, when Jimmy first asked me to write about you.” She was still laughing and fighting to get herself back under control. “I said that there is no such thing as magic and that the only thing I might find out is why you can’t spell the word magical properly.”
He raised his brows. “And?”
She giggled. “I guess now I know.” Then she sealed his lips with a long, hungry kiss. “But I learned something else, too. There’s magic after all.”
The End
