Not 100% happy with this, but better out than in my google docs. Hope this fits the prompt.
***
“Alright, everyone settle down!” Perry yelled across the bullpen. His voice barely cut through the chatter of his employees, who were all talking over each other with varying degrees of intensity.
“Jimmy!” Perry called.
“Yeah, Chief?” Jimmy appeared beside him.
“Can you whistle, boy?”
Jimmy grinned and replied, “Yeah, Chief.” He stuck two fingers into his mouth and blew loudly. The entire room grew quiet, and all heads turned in their direction.
“That’s better.” Perry thumped Jimmy on the back appreciatively and turned to the crowd of employees. “Now, I know the new instant messaging system has a few glitches, but — “
“A few glitches!” Lois stood up from behind her desk. “I’ve already gotten three very inappropriate anonymous messages!” She cast a suspicious gaze around the room, causing several of her male colleagues to shrink behind their respective desks.
“In your dreams, Lois.” Cat laughed from behind her own desk, not even looking up, her eyes on her freshly manicured nails.
Perry held up his hand to stop the snickers that followed. “Alright, look. The geeks in IT promised me they’d have it sorted by the end of business today. Until then, no anonymous messaging! Anyone caught harassing a fellow employee will have a nice little chat with HR. Lord knows they have been on my tail since the pheromone incident…”
“Chief, no one should feel harassed at work.” Clark spoke up with a sympathetic glance toward Lois. “Can’t we just deactivate it?”
Perry rolled his eyes. “We can’t. Apparently, that’s one of the glitches.”
“I could take a look at it, Chief?” Jimmy offered. “I’m pretty good with this stuff.”
“I’ve been warned no one is to tinker with the program.” Perry said firmly. He clapped his hands together with enthusiasm. “Alright, back to work, people!”
***
Clark watched Lois from his desk. She sat behind her own desk, her brow set in a deep frown as she stared at her computer screen. Clark wondered if she had gotten another harassing message.
Were all men in the office creeps? He gave the newsroom a quick scan. Ralph sat behind his desk, snickering to himself as he typed one-handed, his other hand shoving a tuna fish sandwich in his mouth.
Clark looked away in mild disgust and turned to his own computer. He opened up the messaging program and found Lois’ name and began to type.
CK: Hey, don’t worry about the creeps. I’ll always have your back.
LL: Just what I need, another creep watching my ‘back.’
Clark’s stomach dropped, and he looked up from his computer to see Lois still typing, her expression furious. He was ready to yell out to her that it was just him she was chatting with when another message from her appeared on his screen.
LL: You guys are all the same. I bet the only decent guy left in this office is Clark Kent.
Clark’s heart skipped two beats. In the months he had known Lois, this was probably the nicest thing she had ever said about him.
He was suddenly desperate to know what else she might think of him.
His hands hovered over the keyboard as he considered his response.
CK: Clark Kent? He’s a nobody. What’s so great about him?
LL: I didn’t say he was great. I said he was decent.
Clark’s face fell. Oh. Still, ‘decent’ was something, wasn’t it? Better than ‘hack from nowheresville’ anyway.
CK: Oh, my mistake.
LL: He’s not perfect by any means.
CK: …is anyone?
LL: Well, there’s Superman.
There it is. Of course. Clark sighed and leaned back in his chair. Everything always came back to Superman.
He stole another glance in Lois’ direction. Her fingers tapped on her desk as she waited for him to reply.
CK: Superman isn’t perfect. It’s just an act.
LL: An act? I think saving the world on a weekly basis puts him pretty close to perfection, don’t you?
CK: I guess. If that’s your idea of perfection.
Clark heard her huff of indignation from across the room.
LL: Well, it’s not just that! Superman’s kind and gentle and does what he can to help others. He’s always there for you when you need him. He’s someone you can trust. A decent upstanding citizen.
CK: There’s that word again.
LL: What?
CK: Decent. Like Clark Kent.
LL: Well, I guess that’s true.
CK: You know, Superman’s probably just a regular guy underneath all that spandex.
Lois scoffed from behind her desk.
LL: It sounds like you’re a little too interested in what’s underneath Superman’s suit.
CK: Aren’t you?
Clark’s cheeks heated at his boldness. What was wrong with him? He was no better than Ralph! He snuck another glance at Lois. She, too, was blushing, chewing at her bottom lip as she stared at her screen, deciding how to respond.
He should stop. He turned off his monitor and reached for his coffee cup. He picked it up and hesitantly walked toward Lois’ desk.
“I’m getting some coffee. Do you want some, Lois?”
“Huh?” With a click of her mouse, she hastily logged out of her computer.
“Everything okay?” Guilt flooded him. He should have told her it was him in the chat straight away.
“Yeah,” she said, leaning back in her chair, her face thoughtful. “Hey, Clark, you’re Superman’s friend, aren’t you?”
“I guess. If someone like him could have friends…” Clark sat gingerly on the edge of her desk.
She leaned in close to him, her gaze intense. “Well, what does he do in his free time? Does he do regular guy stuff? Does he hang out in sweatpants? Play basketball with his buddies? What’s his favorite food? What does he do when he’s not out there saving lives?”
Clark swallowed nervously as he tried to figure out how to respond. “I don’t know, Lois. Maybe I don’t know him well enough after all...” he finally said, hating that he was lying to her.
Lois stood up, suddenly full of energy, and Clark could practically see the gears turning in her head. “Can you get a message to him? Tell him to meet me on the roof? At six tonight?”
“Um… I’ll try.”
She patted his arm and smiled. “Thanks, Clark.”
***
Lois wrapped her arms around herself as she stepped out onto the rooftop. The city lights twinkled below, and the crisp evening air made her shiver. She glanced at her watch. 6:10 PM.
She sighed and murmured under her breath. “Probably off saving the day…” She couldn’t expect him to be on time at the cost of someone else’s life, could she? Of course not! She knew how important he was to Metropolis and the world at large.
Still, she couldn’t help feeling disappointed. She really did want to talk to him. Just to get to know him better.
As friends.
Or maybe more.
“Lois,” a familiar voice called her name.
Lois’ heart rate increased, and she turned quickly to find Clark stepping through the roof access door, closing it gently behind him.
“Oh.” Her shoulders slumped. She could have sworn…
“He’s not coming, is he?” she tried not to sound too disappointed.
“He’s here.” Clark responded, his expression unreadable as he approached her with slow, purposeful strides.
Lois frowned. “Where?” She spun around on her heel. They were definitely the only two people on the roof. Was Clark playing games with her? Did he even contact Superman?
And… how exactly does he contact Superman, anyway? The only way she knew that for sure worked was to fall off a building. Yet Clark always seemed to find a way that didn’t involve risking his life.
“I just really wanted to tell you something.” Clark stood right in front of her now, his tone serious. “I thought it would be the… decent thing to do.”
“Tell me what?” Nerves flooded Lois’ body as she looked into Clark’s eyes. Why was he being so mysterious? And why did he look as nervous as she suddenly felt?
Clark squeezed his eyes shut and reached up and removed his glasses, reopening his eyes to look at her. “I’m him,” he said simply, a slight tremor in his voice. His free hand came up to brush his hair away from his face.
Lois stared at him. Her brain failed to compute what she was seeing. “Him?”
“Superman…” he said, his voice hesitant. “He’s me. Or I’m him. We’re the same person.” His hands went to his tie, loosening it with a practiced motion. Then, with a deep breath, he unfastened the top two buttons of his shirt, revealing the red and yellow crest that Lois knew well.
Lois blinked a few times, her brain still not working. “I don’t understand…”
She watched as Clark exhaled slowly, and then words tumbled out of his mouth like he couldn’t stop them. “I do wear sweatpants. I play basketball on Wednesdays and Saturdays. I watch football on Monday nights with Perry and Jimmy. And working with you these past few months has been the greatest experience of my life—”
“Stop.”
Clark’s surprised eyes stared at her as she pressed a finger to his lips, halting his nervous ramble.
“That was you earlier? In the chat, wasn’t it?” she asked.
He nodded in confirmation, his expression remorseful. “Yeah, I’m really sorry about that…”
She turned away from him, arms crossed, as she fought to process this information. Images of Superman filled her mind, every encounter she had with him rolling together and somehow merging into her partner. She couldn’t believe that the man she had come to know as her best friend and the hero she worshiped were the same person!
“I should have known,” she whispered.
“I wanted to tell you.”
“Superman really is just a regular guy.” Lois turned to face him. She took his glasses that dangled from his hand and slid them back into place on his face.
He gave her a small, crooked smile. “Most of the time, anyway.”
“What, now?” she asked him, unsure what else to say. Where exactly did they go from here? “What does this mean… for us?” She was in love with Superman—wasn’t she? And if Clark was Superman, did that mean she was in love with him, too? She knew Superman cared for her, maybe even more than cared. And Clark…
Well, Clark cared for her. He always had.
“Not sure,” Clark said, breaking her away from her thoughts. It comforted her that he seemed as uncertain about this whole situation as she was. She watched as a small, hopeful smile slowly spread across his face. He stood up a little straighter, looking like his confidence was returning. “I’m kind of hungry… I could fly us back to my place, and we could order a pizza and talk about all of this?”
“Pizza?!” Lois couldn’t help but laugh, and her body released any remaining tension it held. Clark had just revealed what she could only assume was his biggest secret, and he wanted to order a pizza??
“Well, it’s my favorite food…you wanted to know more about me, right?”
She patted his arm and laughed again. “I already know pizza is your favorite food, Clark!” she said. She looked into his eyes as she realized something. “I actually know a lot more about you than you may think…”
He looked pleased to hear this. “Still, do you want to?” He held out his arms for her, his expression still hopeful.
Lois didn’t hesitate. Her arms came around his neck, and he responded by effortlessly scooping her up and cradling her against his chest.
“That sounds like a decent idea....” she said, cuddling closer.
Clark smiled as they took to the sky. “Perfect.”
The end.
FDK can go in this thread if you like. ❤️
