Special thanks to Alisha as always
.
Special dedication to Andreia [Ultrawoman] for finding Norcross and Judd's first names when I couldn't find the ep!!!
Rules for the 'UnGame' were transcribed from the rules sheet complete with capitalized words so don't blame me for that. See end for more.
I went into a bit more detail about the A v. B plot in my reply to the last FDK thread. Overall, there will be some A plot eventually but it's mostly B plot.
It'll be Monday here in like 3 minutes so... here goes!
And yeah, the Martha letters *will* be along soonish.
Chapter 5
*****
"Clark, can you believe this?" Lois looked around in wide eyed wonder. "I've never seen anything like this in my life."
They sat in the back of a long stretch limo, complete with mini bar – which was stocked with their favorite sodas and a few snacks – and a TV with a selection of movies, if they chose.
Not knowing how long they had until they arrived at their destination, they settled back into the plush seats and watched the lights of downtown Metropolis float by. They didn't speak much, but instead enjoyed the view, speaking only to point out an item of interest here or there.
Sometime later, they pulled up in front of what appeared to be a club. Surely, Aunt Louise wasn't sending them somewhere where they would be carded.
As they still sat, wide eyed and mouths agape, the rear door was opened by the driver. "Mr. and Mrs. Kent, the Blue Note, Metropolis' finest jazz club awaits. The maitre d has all of the arrangements made. I will return to pick you up later this evening. If I have not yet arrived, tell the maitre d and he will notify me that you are ready to leave."
He held the door as Clark stepped out. Clark turned and held out his hand to help Lois. The black shawl wrapped around her back and threaded through her elbows did little to block out the chill in the air and she was glad the walk to the door was a short one.
They were soon seated next to the dance floor, not too close to the band, but not too far away either. They were able to talk as the smooth sounds of the local band floated through the room.
"Now, I know we changed the bet, but do you trust me enough to order for you?" Clark asked.
"Sure. If I'm going to be cooking for the next month, we may as well get a good meal now."
Their waiter brought them each a glass of water and informed them that their tab was completely taken care of – they were free to order as they chose.
"For an appetizer, we'll have the fruit and cheese platter and for my entrée..." Clark looked over the menu for just another minute. "I'll have the Grilled Atlantic Salmon with saffron rice and spinach with the house salad on the side. My wife..." He winked at Lois. "...will have the Pepper Crusted Seared Ahi Tuna with white rice and seaweed salad. I'll have a Pepsi to drink and the lady will have a Diet Coke."
"Very well, sir. Your appetizer will be ready in just a few moments." He walked towards the kitchen, leaving them to enjoy the music.
"Ladies and gentlemen, we have special guests with us this evening." The lead saxophonist spoke into the microphone. "Newlyweds, Mr. and Mrs. Clark and Lois Kent. For various reasons, they have yet to enjoy their first dance so, please, give a warm Blue Note welcome to the young couple."
Lois' face had turned three shades of red and Clark cleared his throat nervously. Scattered applause sounded throughout the club as Clark pushed back from the table and helped Lois to her feet. He took her by the hand and led her to the dance floor. He grasped her waist lightly with his left hand and gently pulled her close to him. The unmistakable strains of "Unforgettable" floated through the air.
Lois felt Clark's breath playing with her hair as their bodies moved slowly around the dance floor. She began to sing in a low voice. "Unforgettable, that's what you are. Unforgettable, though near or far. Like a song of love that clings to me, how the thought of you does things to me, never before has someone been more, Unforgettable in every way..."
She paused.
"Don't stop," Clark whispered.
She smiled slightly and then continued. "That's why darling, it's incredible that someone so unforgettable , thinks that I am unforgettable too."
They did little more than sway together in time to the music as the instrumental interlude floated in the air. When it was time for the lyrics to continue, Lois began to sing quietly again. "Unforgettable, in every way. And forevermore that is how you will stay. That's why, darling, it's incredible that someone so unforgettable thinks that I am unforgettable too."
The applause picked up again as the song came to an end.
The man came back to the microphone. "So, not only do we have a handsome couple who can dance, but a beautiful woman who can sing."
"Clark," Lois hissed as she smacked him on the chest. "I didn't think anyone else could hear me."
Clark smiled at her. "You sounded wonderful."
The man continued to speak. "Since we don't want to completely embarrass our newlyweds, how about the rest of you join them on the dance floor for 'Fly Me to the Moon'?"
Clark spun Lois in a pirouette as other couples joined them on the dance floor. He pulled her back close to him and rested his cheek against her hair as the strains of the old song filled the air. By the time it was over, they were summoned to their table.
They enjoyed their fruit and cheese until it was gone, just in time for their entrees.
*****
Hours later, Clark lay next to Lois and pulled her back against him, their bodies molding together as they had the night before.
He loved her. He somehow knew he had loved her the first time he saw her in line at journalism camp. Ever since he had first kissed her the day before they left camp and then at their wedding and later that night when they had found themselves kissing in their sleep, he had longed to take her in his arms and kiss her like she deserved to be kissed.
His arm tightened around her slightly, the flannel of what she claimed were her most comfortable pajamas sitting softly against his arm.
How on earth did he expect to keep his feelings to himself when he was so close to her all night every night? When he longed to not just hold her, but to kiss her and make love with her as married couples were wont to do?
Well, he had already availed himself of the shower – the cold side of it – once and had taken a quick trip to the arctic last night after their make out session on the couch.
And how did he plan to explain to her that he was an alien? Somehow he knew she'd understand, but would she feel slighted that she hadn't been allowed to choose for herself? To make the decision to marry him with all of the facts?
Marry him. That brought him back to the predicament forefront on his mind. How did he plan to keep the almost overwhelming desire for the woman next to him under control for the foreseeable future?
Cold showers and quick flights to the arctic. That was the only answer he could come up with, at least for the time being.
Eventually, he hoped, he would get used to it and he would be able to accept the platonic nature of their marriage without the ever present reminders that it was anything but a normal one.
*****
The next morning they began their apartment hunt. Most of the apartments they thought they'd be able to afford without dipping into Lois' and Lucy's inheritance regularly were in parts of town they wouldn't even consider – even if the judge hadn't warned them she wouldn't let Lucy live with them in one of those areas.
Finally they found one in their price range in a slightly better part of town. It was a one bedroom, semi-open floor plan on Clinton. A call to the landlord led to an appointment after lunch.
They sat in a small deli near the Daily Planet, grateful for the shelter from the January wind. They could actually see the famous globe from their table.
"Clark, I want to buy a paper when we leave here."
He looked at her, puzzled. "Lois, we got a complimentary paper at the hotel. What exactly do you think we've been looking through all day?"
She shook her head. "No, I want to go buy one at the Daily Planet. There's a newsstand inside – or there used to be – and I want to buy one there."
Clark laughed. "Okay. We can do that. We have another hour before we need to head over to Clinton Street. And it's not too far from here. A couple stops on the subway."
"I guess buying a day pass was a good move then."
Clark nodded. "Yep." He swirled what was left of his soda around in his glass for a moment before he spoke again. "I have to go back to Kansas."
Lois looked at him, one eyebrow cocked. "What?"
"I have to get packed up and some of my stuff moved to storage at Wayne's. He called this morning while you were in the shower. Some people approached him the other day who want to rent the house furnished, but there's a few things that I don't want to leave out – my mom's china for instance. I'm not sure I want to bring it here just yet, but I don't want to leave it either. And I need more clothes. I brought enough to last a week and we're rapidly approaching that time period."
"We have a washing machine, Clark. We're even taking it with us to the apartment, if we get one with a washer/dryer hookup."
"I know and I was going to suggest swinging by your house for a couple hours today to see Aunt Louise and Lucy and do a load of laundry, but I do need to go back, and I'm probably going to need to drive so I won't have to ship everything back." He sighed. "That means we need to get a car by this weekend preferably. It's a 20 hour drive. If I leave Friday, I can be back Sunday."
"Clark, that's ridiculous!" Her eyes flashed at him. "There's no way you can do that."
"I'd rather try to leave on Thursday," he conceded. "I can drive all night and get there mid-afternoon on Friday in case Wayne needs me to sign anything or whatever. I can get a good night's sleep and pack up on Saturday and leave either late Saturday or very early Sunday and try to be home late Sunday night."
"I don't think so. Not by yourself. I'll go with you." She stabbed her fork into her salad and took a bite.
He sighed. "Lois, you have two finals on Friday."
She slumped back in her seat, defeated. "I know. I just don't want you to have to drive all that way by yourself."
"I don't really want to," he admitted. "I like to sleep in as much as the next guy, but I really don't *need* much sleep and when the sun comes up it'll reenergize me and wake me up about half way through the trip. I may fall over dead to the world as soon as I get back here though, especially if I want to make it to my first classes on Monday morning." He had to convince her not to go. He knew he'd be fine and if she wasn't there, he could do things much faster – including moving his spaceship and its contents someplace safe. Just where he wasn't sure yet, but he'd figure something out.
Lois nodded. "I guess that's the best way. So we have to find an apartment and get a car in order for you to be on the road on Thursday evening. Sure. We can do that. No sweat." She stared in the direction of the Daily Planet for a few minutes before speaking again. "I want to work there someday, Clark."
He covered her hand with his own. "I know. Me, too." After a minute, he cleaned up their table and took the paper back out. "I'm going to look through here some more and see if there's anything we missed."
Lois took another section of the paper for herself, idly flipping through it. "Look at this, Clark." She started to read from the small article on the bottom of page B5. "'Former Daily Planet reporting team Billy Norcross and Serena Judd announced their separation yesterday, due to irreconcilable differences. In a letter to Daily Planet editor Perry White, they stated that they remembered fondly their days as reporters for this paper and continue to wish everyone at their former place of employment well. Their wedding in the fall of 1981 made a big splash in the newspaper world, as the Pulitzer nominated, Kerth and Meriwether Award winning duo formalized their personal relationship. Not long after, they left the Daily Planet to pursue other interests. The press release indicated that divorce proceedings were likely to follow in the near future.'"
"Wow," was all Clark could manage.
*****
"Clark, this place is a dump." Lois sighed as she tried not to step in a pile of something. She wasn't quite sure what it was. She stood on a landing at the top of a small flight of stairs that led down into the living room. The whole place was covered with literally inches of dust. There were cobwebs and several of the cabinet doors hung by only one hinge. One was sitting on the floor, having been disconnected all together. Arches on either end of the living room led to another area. Lois walked down the stairs and started towards that part of the apartment.
"I know, but it's about all we can afford. I have got all my stuff lined up with UNT Met and the internship at the Star, but it doesn't pay much and I was lucky someone else dropped out so I could get it. I'll get a job working part time delivering pizzas or something. The foster care stipend will help a little bit too, but..." He shook his head as he followed her into what must have been the bedroom. "I'm afraid this is as good as it's going to get for now." He moved over to stand behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her to him. "I'm sorry, Lois," he whispered softly. "This isn't what I wanted for us, what I wanted our life to be like."
She leaned her head back into his chest. "I know, Clark. But we have our whole lives ahead of us. It's only temporary. We'll make it out of here." She wrinkled her nose. "I do like the windows and balcony and that loft up there will work for Lucy. The stairs look sturdy which is saying something given the rest of this dump."
"We'll fix it up. The landlord said we could do whatever we want to it. And once it's done we get two months free rent."
Lois sighed. "We'll have to use some of the inheritance to do fix it though. There's no way we can come up with enough money in time otherwise."
"I still have some of my inheritance too. Not much but Wayne would give it to me if I asked."
Lois shook her head. "You already used most of it to fix up the farmhouse. We'll use some of what Mom and Dad left. Technically, Aunt Louise controls it right now – or will once everything is settled – but as long as we're not being frivolous, I don't think that she'll prevent us from doing pretty much whatever we want with it. I want to save as much of it as possible for Lucy's college fund."
"I know, and I don't start classes for another week so I can get most of it done between now and then and then go job hunting before I leave for Kansas."
She turned in his arms to rest her head on his chest. "And someday we will be the best reporting team the planet has ever seen."
Clark laughed. "Don't you think we need to get degrees and a job first?"
Lois pulled back. "Speak for yourself. I don't *need* either one of those to be the best." She turned and headed towards the door. "Of course, it will make winning a Pulitzer easier."
"You think?"
"I said easier, Kent. Not impossible." She turned to face him and suddenly grew serious. "Somehow, Clark, I know we can do anything. As long as we do it together." She held his eyes for a long moment and then turned to walk out the door.
*****
"What? Lois, that is ridiculous!" Clark stood in the middle of their new apartment, paintbrush in hand and stared at her.
"Why?" Lois stared at him.
"You're a senior, Lois. You need to focus on your schoolwork."
Lois threw her hands up. "Clark, I'm at the top of my class. I rarely need to study because I just don't have to. Even without the eidetic memory. So, why is it, you can work and I can't?"
"Because. I'm in college. I don't have the structured schedule you do. Besides, I'm your husband. It's my job to take care of my family. Right now, that's you and Lucy. So you shouldn't have to work."
She rolled her eyes. "Whatever, Clark. We're a family now and in a family everybody does their share. Right now, your share is college, internship and as much of a part time job as you think you can handle. My share is to go to school and get a job. We have to have money, so we have to work. Both of us."
"Fine. But I don't have to like it." Clark looked around the little apartment. "I'll finish fixing this place up tomorrow and then it'll be livable before the social worker gets here." He frowned. "But even if it's done in time, I really don't want you and Lucy moving in until after I get back from Kansas."
Lois nodded her agreement and studied the things that Clark had managed to accomplish while she had been in school. "I don't know how you've gotten so much done."
Clark grinned at her. "I'm good. Now, where are you working?"
"That fast food place a couple blocks from here."
Clark eyed her. "I'm not so sure about that."
"It'll be fine. It's close enough I can walk on nice days and the neighborhood isn't as bad as some of the other places we looked at."
"Fine. But I'm going to walk with you whenever I can."
Lois rolled her eyes. "Fine."
"We still need to get a car though."
"I know." Lois chewed on her bottom lip thoughtfully. "I have to have a way to get me and Lucy to school and back. And you have to go to Kansas... How can we find a reliable used car we can afford? We don't have any money in savings..."
Clark sighed. "I can't believe Pete totaled my truck last week. I told him he could use it but..." He locked the door behind him as they left the apartment. "Lois, don't bite my head off here, but what if we used a couple thousand of the insurance money to buy a car that we won't have to worry about too much." He held up his hands. "Hear me out. We might be able to scrape together a couple hundred in the next couple weeks, but anything we find for that price will probably not be very reliable. And I need to be able to take it to Smallville and back. We're going to have to sell your mom's car. We've already talked about that. But if we take 3 or 4 thousand and buy a fairly recent model car with good gas mileage to take you two back and forth... I am not talking about a 'Vette or anything, just a nice used Honda or Toyota or something."
Lois nodded. "I wish Aunt Louise hadn't sold Mom's car so fast. You could have taken it and we could have used it until we found something. I mean she had an offer, for full price which paid off the loan but... I had thought about using the money already. There isn't really any other way to get something that's what we need at this point. There should be enough from the sale of Mom's car to get us something."
"We'll find something." He snapped his fingers. "I'll call Pete. His dad was getting ready to sell his old car. I'll see if he has yet. He's the mechanic in Smallville so we'd know it had been taken care of and he'd give me a good deal. Pete's been one of my best friends since kindergarten and besides," he grinned, "he owes me for wrecking the truck."
Lois rolled her eyes at him. "It's not his fault a cow ran out in front of him." She looked at him quizzically. "Do cows run?"
Clark laughed. "He went around a corner and there shouldn't have been a cow in the middle of the road but there was."
"Well, is it in our price range?"
Clark shrugged. "Probably. It's about 6 or 7 years old, so I'd guess so. I'll call him from your house and see."
"How will you get back to Smallville then?"
"I got an open ended round trip ticket. I'll just have to make arrangements with the airline." That was only partially accurate. Clark would fly himself home, making sure his 'flight time' was when Lois would be in school. There would be no problem with Kent Airlines being overbooked.
*****
"The 'Ungame'? What's that?" Lois curled up in the chair in the hotel room they called their own for one more. Her hair was still damp from her shower and curled down her back.
Clark shrugged and opened the box and held up the red and white sheet. "Let's see. Rules and Secrets of Success with the ungame'." He opened it and started to read. "How? 1. Determine the length of playing time. For optimum results, 45 minutes to an hour is recommended."
"Let's start with 30 minutes and go from there," Lois interjected as she glanced at her watch. "It'll be about time for dinner then."
"Okay. 2. Players are encouraged to sit CLOSE together. The UNGAME works best with 2-8 people of ANY AGE."
"Two players, obviously." She stood and moved to the couch. "Sit."
Clark grinned and obeyed, sitting on the other end of the couch, facing her. "3. Players agree to REMAIN SILENT except on their turns." He eyed her. "Can you do that?"
"Of course," Lois huffed.
"4. Select the deck of cards to be used. Deck number one contains lighthearted topics and should be used first. Deck number two contains more serious topics and works best AFTER a group has practiced SHARING, LISTENING and INTERACTING with deck number one."
"Number one it is. We'll save deck two for another time."
"Sounds good to me. 5. Play begins when someone draws a card from the deck. If a TOPIC card is drawn, player should read it aloud and respond in 2 or 3 sentences. NO OTHER PLAYER CAN COMMENT AT THIS TIME." He looked at Lois.
She threw up her hands. "I can be quiet!"
"Okay," he grinned. "6. Person to the left draws a card and game continues until time is up. Extra time may be desired at the conclusion for open sharing."
"Okay." Lois held out her hand. "Hand me half of deck one and we'll take turns."
Clark handed over half of deck one. "Who goes first?"
"I will." Lois flipped over the first card. "Well, this is appropriate. 'If you could spend one whole day with your best friend, what would you like to do?'" She thought for a moment. "The day after our wedding. It was perfect. Room service, bubble bath, games, pampering at a salon, limo and dancing at an upscale jazz club – what could be better?" She put the card on the bottom of her stack. "Your turn."
Clark pulled his card. "'Talk about competition.' I think this one should have been yours." He grinned at her. "Competition... I'm competitive. I want to be the best at what I do, but winning isn't everything. I don't want to compete with you about important stuff. Games and bets over laundry is one thing, but I never want to compete with you over big stuff where it gets in the way of us."
Lois nodded. "Me either." She pulled the next card and made a face. "Talk about your favorite sport and why you like it." She thought for a moment. "I guess baseball because you don't have to pay attention all the time if you don't want to."
Clark pulled his next card. "Tell about your favorite magazine and why you like it." He put the card on the bottom of his stack. "Easy. Sports Illustrated. Enough said."
Lois laughed. "Figures." She read her next card. "Complete the sentence: 'My favorite time of day is...'" She thought for a moment. "Evening. When things are winding down and I can finally relax."
"'Describe the most unpleasant job you have ever had to do.'" Clark thought for a second. "Horse Inseminator." Clark shook his head at her look. "Trust me, you don't want to know."
Lois wrinkled her nose. "Better you than me. But what worries me more is that you had to think about it. What other jobs have you done?" She held a hand up. "Never mind. I don't want to know." She flipped over a card. "'Describe something you like to do that seems out of the ordinary.'" She thought. "I like to read the paper. I don't think that's normal for a seventeen year old girl."
Clark pulled his next card. "'Share a scary dream.'" He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. How much could he tell Lois without telling her everything? The timing for that just wasn't right. "Sometimes, when I'm really tired or really stressed out, I dream about my parents dying. It's not always the way they actually did die, but I always try to save them and I'm always just a bit too slow or not quite strong enough or something."
Lois reached over and grasped his hand lightly. "Clark, your parents dying was not your fault. There was nothing you could have done – you were only ten."
Clark sighed again. "Yeah, I suppose." He shook it off. "Your turn."
"'Tell about a family tradition that you enjoy.' Every Christmas we'd spend a day putting up decorations together. We never really got along the rest of the year, but that one day, we always did and by the end of the day, there were lights on the house and the tree was up and we would make cookies and drink Vernors – because Santa didn't like milk at our house – he liked Vernors."
"We'll do that together if you want. Decorate for Christmas, that is."
She nodded.
He pulled a card. "'Tell about a 'special' gift you received when you were a child.' You know I was adopted right?" Lois nodded. "My birth parents left some stuff with me and when my parents found me, they kept the things that my birth parents left. Someday I'll show them to you, but I don't have them with me."
"I'd like that." She looked at her next card. "'What musical instrument would you use to describe yourself? Why?'" She wrinkled her nose. "Pass. That's stupid."
"'Tell about a secret desire you have.'" Clark looked over at the lovely young woman who was his wife and knew that he could not share the secret desire that had enveloped him since they had said 'I do'. Lois wasn't ready for that and he would never push her. He went with something else instead. "I want to hear you sing again." At the look on her face, he backpedaled slightly. "Not right now, but sometime."
Lois nodded. "Maybe. 'Describe the 'greatest' dessert in the world.' Easy. Chocolate layer cake with chocolate frosting and mini chocolate chips on top."
Clark laughed. "So chocolate would be a good present for you?"
Lois nodded. "Yep." She glanced at her watch. "It's been almost half an hour. Last question and then it's time to order dinner and I'd like to go take another one of those long soaks if it's okay with you. It's the last chance I'll get and I'm pretty sore from working last night."
Clark nodded and pulled one more card. "'Say something about space travel.'" Another deep breath. Why did he get these cards? "I think it could be possible. I think there could be life on other planets. I think there could even be beings out there who look human." Might as well get her reaction.
Lois looked at him wide eyed, her tone belying her look. "Do you think they walk among us? Waiting to take over the world?"
Clark laughed uncomfortably. "I doubt they're waiting to take over the world, but you never know – they could be walking among us."
Lois laughed. "Sure, Clark." She stood. " I'm going to go try to relax for a bit." She headed for the bathroom.
"Lois?" Clark called after her.
She turned. "Yes?"
"I enjoyed this. Maybe we can do the second deck sometime soon? Help us get to know each other better?"
Lois nodded. "Sure. Maybe later." And she disappeared into the bathroom.
*****
The room had gotten chilly enough that Lois put on another favorite pair of pajamas and curled up on the couch under a blanket.
"Ready?" Clark asked her. When she nodded her assent, he handed her half the stack of cards. "Deck two." He pulled a card off of his stack. "'Which of your senses do you value the most?' That's easy. My sight."
Lois looked at him oddly. "You wear glasses."
He gulped guiltily – he was going to have to tell her and soon. "I know, but sight is more easily correctable than say losing your sense of smell. And besides," he winked at her. "With my sight I get to see my beautiful wife."
Lois rolled her eyes, admitting to herself, yet again, that this marriage was more serious to Clark than it was to her. She glanced at her next card. Knowing the answer in her head, maybe it was more important to her than she would ever let on. "'When do you feel the most peaceful?'" She blushed slightly before answering. "When you hold me before we fall asleep. That is when I feel the most at peace and the most safe. Like everything is right in the world."
She refused to look him in the eyes as she said it, but Clark would take what he could get. Maybe there was hope after all. He pulled a card, not wanting to embarrass her more. "'Talk about something beautiful you saw this week.'" So much for that plan. "You, when I saw you come out of the bathroom that night, all dressed up. I have never seen anything more beautiful." When he saw how uncomfortable that made her he continued. "Er, no. Forget I said that." He winked at her again. "The sunset out the plane window was beautiful. Yeah. That's it."
She blushed again, grateful that he had changed his answer. "'If you could have a committee of three people – living or dead – to help you make decisions, whom would you choose?'" She thought for a minute. "Perry White. I've never actually met the man, but I have read about him and he *is* the editor of the Daily Planet. That has to mean something and since I would *love* to work there someday..." She paused before continuing. "Albert Chow. Anyone who can make that much money must know something about something and Lex Luthor creeps me out, even though he's local and Chow isn't. And you," she continued quickly. "You're my best friend and so I trust your advice."
Clark nodded. "Ditto all three, except you, you know?" He pulled a card. "'Share something that no one knows about you.'" Why did he keep getting these kinds of questions? If he didn't know any better, he might think that someone had stacked the deck. "Well, I wouldn't say no one knows this, but you don't. The circumstances of my adoption when I was little were unusual. I don't really want to talk about the details right now, but I will tell you all about it someday." How did one tell his wife that he was an alien anyway? "For now... I was a foundling. My adoption wasn't normal." He looked at her, his eyes pleading with her not to ask any more questions about it for now. "Is that enough for now?"
She looked at him, chewing thoughtfully on her bottom lip, before she nodded. "When you're ready, you'll tell me." She hated being kept in the dark about anything, but she realized Clark wasn't going to talk about it right now and that, if they wanted this marriage to work on any level, there was going to have to be some modicum of trust. And somehow she knew that if she trusted him on this, it would mean a lot to him. And so she'd let it go. For now. She sighed as she read her next question. "'What would be the most difficult news for you to accept about someone in your family?'" She threw up her hands. "I don't know. That they were controlled by aliens or something. You know, like that movie where everyone who was controlled by aliens had an X on the back of the neck. Something like that. I mean I've already gone though drunks and cheats, so aliens must be next, right?"
Clark groaned inwardly. How difficult this was going to be eventually. He moved on. "'Share a childhood experience of embarrassment.' When I was 10, about two weeks before my parents died, I saw them, um, you know, um, 'going at it'." He used finger quotes to help make his point. He didn't mention he had seen them through the wall. "That was not good. I loved my parents and on some level I knew they did those kinds of things, but seeing it..." He shuddered. "That was something I didn't need."
Lois shuddered with him. "I did that once about two years ago – walked in on them. They didn't do that kind of thing often I don't think – they fought too much even after they got back together – but still... Not good." She continued. "'What would you like to achieve with your life?' Easy. Couple of Pulitzers, a few Kerths, a happy home, eradicate all evil from the world. Next."
Clark laughed. "You don't want much do you?"
"Nope."
"'Complete the answer: "I hope..."'" He looked at Lois with all seriousness. "I hope I can help you win those Pulitzers and Kerths and eradicate all evil from the world, but most of all I hope I can help you make that happy home."
"Thanks, Clark," she said softly, holding his eyes for a moment before looking away. She looked at the card in her hand. "'How do you feel when a TV program is interrupted by a special news bulletin?' Annoyed as all get out. Especially if it's a show that I enjoy that is just getting to the good part and then I don't know what happened."
"'What do you think is your purpose in life?' Easy. To help people in any way I can." That 'any way' included ripped doors off cars or putting out fires with freezing breath was not what he cared to include at this point.
"'Talk about a recent news story that has captured your interest.' I knew you were adopted and then orphaned so I've always sort of paid attention to stories like that. There was on recently about Lex Luthor opening an orphanage for kids – Beckworth something – but..." She shook her head. "Something about it seemed off. Maybe it was the way he talked when he was at the podium... I can't put my finger on it, but something bothered me."
"That's interesting. I'll have to see if anyone at the Star is doing a follow-up and see what I can see." He looked at the next card. "'What kind of emergency scares you the most?'" Not again. "The kind where I'm not strong enough or fast enough or whatever to help. Especially if you were to be in danger at some point."
Lois rolled her eyes. "You really are a boy scout aren't you? 'Share your feelings about financial security.' I want to be financially secure. I don't want to live paycheck to paycheck my whole life. I know it won't be easy, but I would like to get ahead at some point. And I don't want to use the inheritance money to do it. I want that to be for Lucy's college."
Clark nodded. "Me, too. 'Describe divorce in three words.'" Clark held up a finger with each word. "Not. Gonna. Happen." At Lois' look, he continued. "I think that as long as we care about each other, we can work through anything. Any problems we have. At least that's what I want. What my parents taught me."
"Even if you fall in love with someone else?" Lois looked at her hands, unwilling or unable to make herself look at him.
In an instant he was kneeling by her on the couch. One finger lifted her chin so she had to face him. "Lois, I know you aren't in love with me and I know it's hard for you to believe that I am truly in love with you because we know each other so little really. But I promise you, that is never going to happen. You are the only woman in the world for me. Ever. Period. End of discussion. I knew the second I bumped into you at Journalism Camp that someday, somehow I would find you again and I would marry you."
Tears had begun to stream down Lois' face. "Are you sure, Clark? Even if it's been ten years and I am still not ready to..." she gestured towards the bedroom. "...you know."
"Ten years?" An eyebrow raised. "I hope it's not that long, Lois, but I will wait for you, however long it takes, I promise." He pulled her close to him. "I promise," he whispered.
*****
TBC
UnGame notes: For the first deck, I split it into 2 stacks and pretty much used what was pulled. Deck 2, however, was stacked.
