Oh, Wendy-- this is just classic, see?-they're-truly-soulmates, sweet Wendy-fic!! They've both gotten their misconceptions out of the way, and feel confident enough in each other that they can show their affection and cautiously but optimistically look forward to being a couple.
I liked this:
She flushed, but that didn't stop her commenting with a grin, "I'm always happy to point out when you're being an idiot; you should know that by now."
It was just so Lois! The not-so-wary, confident-that-she's-loved Lois. And Clark-- your gentle "growly Clark"-- now that he's been snapped out of that destructive cycle of self-recrimination and false negative self-perception-- is just perfect! He can take the lead and demonstrate his affection openly, and boy! he sure got over the "afraid to touch" thing! Oh, I know he's being lovingly gentlemanly (or gentlemanly loving, can't decide which!
), but still,... smoochies!, as Liz so succinctly put it!
Well!
(Happy sigh!) I'm out of breath in a nice, positive sort of way--
And they aren't just riding off into the sunset, are they? Lois has again, very matter-of-factly taken Clark back through what happened with Trask, and shown him what his parents already knew: he did what he could. He could have gambled; couldn't really have been blamed for taking a chance that he could beat Trask (after all, he was under extreme duress, and in that sort of desperate situation, people sometimes do desperate things). But he
didn't-- while it came close to destroying him emotionally, he held on; bided his time-- and Lois, as she said, provided the distraction he needed to act. The moment he saw that chance, he took it-- weak or not, there was no hestiation when it mattered.
Clever of you to have him (and Lois) realize that this whole situation is being compounded by the rescue worker's trauma. I think it makes the whole situation-- the experience at Trask's hands and the recovery-- much more believable. This could have been brushed over, in favor of the exciting, action-filled rescue and the smootchies after the misunderstanding, but you didn't brush over it. Instead, you give it equal time.
And they trust each other quite a lot, don't they? The last major barrier has fallen: their internalized and erroneous ideas about each other. With that out of the way, they can concentrate on bringing down Luthor, fixing all those things Tank would rather leave unfixed
, and THEN they can ride off into the sunset (after more smoochies, of course!).
~Toc
So true!
Sorry! I am trying to get this up to twice a week now that the story's finished and my amazing, incredibly patient BR has approved it. 