Previous Fic in Series: Just Another Day at the Park
Series ToC
A/N: This is a response to the 2021 Kerth Challenge #8: Five Words (Kiss, Cat, Move, Kick, Face)
It's also part of the "Challenged" series.
I hope you enjoy. 
(edited for links)
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Movie Night"I'm a tiger!"
The cacophony of popcorn in the microwave didn't quite drown out the sound of their daughter growling at top volume in the living room.
"Oh, a tiger?" The playful tone in Clark's voice brought a smile to Lois's lips as she watched the timer count down. "Are you a friendly tiger?"
"NO! I am a MEAN tiger, and I'm going to EAT all of you!"
The popping slowed to intermittent bursts, even as the growling grew more intense.
"Oh, no!" Clark exclaimed in mock-terror. "Who will save us from this hungry tiger?"
"Me!" came their older son's clear, high voice. "Because I'm…um…I'm water!"
Lois brought the freshly-filled bowl into the living room just in time to see the incredulous look on their daughter's face.
"Water?! That's stupid!" She folded her arms.
"Nuh-uh! Because a tiger is a cat, and cats hate water! So…" Their son waved his arms at his sister. "Splash! Splash!"
Clark smiled at the pair, his eyes dancing. At the far end of the room, the baby gummed a toy in his play-pen, completely uninterested in his older siblings' antics. Lois managed to dodge the children now racing around the sofa and set the overflowing bowl on the coffee table.
"Come on, you two! Let's start the movie."
At a speed that would have made Superman proud, two butts hit the floor in front of the couch, eyes glued to the television.
Clark turned to her as she reached for the remote. "What's this movie, again?"
Lois kept her smile in place. "The Princess Bride. I…think you'll like it."
He nodded his understanding and settled back to watch the film. Lois slipped her hand into his, giving it a squeeze.
The first time she had watched this movie had been with Clark, in his apartment, just a few months after he'd started at the Planet. At the time, he'd been incredulous that she hadn't seen it. Lois had been ready to dismiss it as a kiddie film, just as she'd been ready to dismiss her partner as a naive farmboy. In truth, she had underestimated both.
It was a beautiful fairytale, as read by a grandfather to his grandson in the "real life" bits. The farmboy Wesley had wormed his way into Buttercup's heart, just as Clark had eventually done with her. But then came the part where Wesley was presumed dead at the hands of pirates…
Lois had started to watch it alone after a clone of John Dilinger had shot her best friend. At the time, she'd thought that maybe watching his favorite movie would make her feel closer to him somehow. But the part where the Man in Black revealed himself to be Wesley, alive and well, had been too much for her. Her life wasn't a schmaltzy movie, and her true love wasn't coming back from seeming death. She'd ejected the tape from her VCR and tossed it into a corner to be forgotten.
“Death cannot stop true love; it can only delay it for a while.”
Now, the line brought a smile to her face. She looked over at her husband, who seemed to be enjoying the story even though there was still no recognition in his eyes.
They'd had other, more genuine brushes with death since then. There was the time she'd been nearly frozen to death because the man blackmailing her boyfriend demanded her corpse, or the time New Kryptonians attempted to disintegrate her fiance as punishment for choosing Earth and her over them and a loveless political marriage. There had been villains who'd tried to exploit her husband's vulnerability to Kryptonite, or his dependence on the sun. Then, just when life seemed to finally be treating them kindly with a beautiful family to raise and a new league of heroes to take the burden off of Clark, there had been one last job for Superman…
The giant and the swordsman began their search for Wesley, and Clark's breath began to quicken. Lois looked over and saw the familiar, faraway look in his eyes. “Clark?”
He gasped. “...air…”
She gave his shoulder a squeeze. “Clark, Honey, look at me.”
He managed, with obvious difficulty, to turn to face her, but his eyes remained unfocused.
Lois cupped his face in her hands and tried to pull his gaze into her own. “You're home now, Clark, okay? You're not in space anymore; there's plenty of air…” A sudden motion drew her gaze downwards. Clark's leg had started to kick.
Immediately, she stood. “Kids, help me move the coffee table.”
She took one end, and the two children took the other. They managed to wrangle it out of the way just as Clark started swaying. By some miracle, she caught him before he pitched forward, and lowered him onto the floor.
They paused the movie for a while.
The fit only lasted for a few seconds, and they waited as her husband once again returned to Earth.
“...Clark?”
He stared ahead, unseeing, though his head turned towards the sound of her voice. “...Lois?”
“I'm right here. It's okay,” she said softly, smoothing back his hair. “You had a small episode. It's fine now.”
She helped him return to his spot on the couch. The popcorn all over the floor could be cleaned up later. The children took their seats again, occasionally glancing at their father.
Clark's eyebrows raised when he saw the television. “Oh! I think I've seen this one…” His forehead scrunched. “...Haven't I?”
She squeezed his hand again. “You have, but it's okay if you don't remember.”
He closed his eyes, thinking. “Death cannot stop true love; it can only delay it for a while.” He looked back at her, his eyes holding an unspoken question.
She smiled at him. “I will never doubt again,” she quoted, and pulled him in for a kiss.
-END-
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