Hi!
After a week of catching my breath Fury is back. Again, I’m sorry about the delay and hope my little vignette helped tide you over in the meantime
Special thanks to Kmar for pointing me towards episodes with a phone in Clark’s bedroom and of course, her and Mona’s usual great work as betas.
Oh, and the train disaster mentioned in here was the one before Clark resolved the hostage situation this morning, way back in part 15 or so.
Michael
Disclaimer: The recognizable characters and settings in this story are the property of D.C. Comics, Warner Bros., December 3rd Productions, and anyone else with a legal right to them, and I have no claim on them whatsoever, nor am I profiting by their use. It’s just the original stuff, that would be mine, written down to bring some entertainment to other FoLC.
The setting is right after “Season’s Greedings” in Season 2.
Blocks in >> << are literal thoughts by the character.
Rating: PG-13
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Last time Lois and Clark discovered that unless they’d stop obsessing about past mistakes, they wouldn’t be able to go forward. And then they did go forward
Part 24 /
TOC /
Comments **********
Clark wrapped his arms around the bundle of beautifully glowing flesh that was presently snuggled against his side. “Wow…,” he whispered, pressing a soft kiss against Lois’ tousled tresses.
His lover purred contently and craned her neck to look up into his eyes from where her head was resting on his chest. “Yeah…,” she replied dreamily. “Wow, indeed.”
Clark couldn’t believe how insanely happy he was, not to mention, how lucky. Two nights ago, he had thought he had found heaven on earth, only to realize that one lie was all it took to be pushed down into hell. But no, he had promised Lois not to dwell on past mistakes. He had forgiven her for her insane acts, and she had apparently chosen to forgive him as well. So life was good, at least within their own little world, his thoughts briefly drifting to the horrid mess Intergang had left him with.
“You know, you said the same thing after the first time we made love, too,” he told her softly, suddenly remembering their last peaceful words from two nights ago.
“I did?” Lois asked him in wide-eyed wonder.
“Yep, right before you dozed off,” he answered her with an adoring chuckle.
“Mm, good,” Lois purred distractedly, her right hand playing with his left nipple, tickling him and trying to return a little of his own teasing.
“So, what happens now?” Clark asked her after a few minutes, during which he had simply contented himself with watching the naked form of his lover as she let her hand trail over his torso.
“What’s supposed to happen?” she asked him lazily, her attention more focused on her idling hands than his face.
“Well, as much as I enjoy lying here with you by my side, I doubt we will be able to keep it that way forever,” he tried to introduce a measure of reason into their situation.
“Do we *really* have to?” Lois pouted, her big, dark eyes once again shining up at him, even as her hand had drifted further south.
Clark’s eyes followed the path of Lois’ hand and she soon managed to steer him towards less worldly thoughts. A quick tease from Lois and Clark gasped in delighted surprise, before scolding her in mock exasperation. “I thought you were sated?”
“Yeah, well,” she drawled. “That was *minutes* ago, and now, now I’m hungry again.” It was right then that her body decided to validate her last statement with a very loud and insistent growl from her midsection. “Oops,” Lois giggled. “I guess you’re not the only thing I’m hungry for.”
“Apparently,” Clark chuckled. “So, how about we get you something to eat first and then return to satisfy the rest of your appetite with dessert,” he tried to reason with her, fully aware that Lois might just decide to ignore her body’s demands and go directly to the calorie-burning dessert.
Lois looked as if she was about to do just that when her body again – and very audibly – announced its needs. “Fine,” she huffed with a longsuffering sigh. “Food first, *dessert* later,” she conceded, before rolling on her back and then sitting up in bed, turning so she was facing him. Her feet were pulled up and her chin rested comfortably on her knees. “So, what do we have at home?” she asked him, now completely focused on the task of getting her stomach filled.
>>Lois really doesn’t do *anything* by halves,<< Clark mused, before he, too, sat up and scooted back until he could lean against the headrest. “Actually, not much.” Lois looked at him in surprise and he quickly amended apologetically. “Well, I did get home *after* I had supper in Smallville and it’s not as if I had time to shop during the past two days.” Affording her a lopsided grin, he went on, “And it’s not as if getting takeout is a major hurdle for me, so…”
“Probably not,” Lois quipped. “Wait…” she began, as her eyes lit up with a conclusion. “That Chinese takeout you got during the Messenger story, that wasn’t…”
“Authentic?” Clark supplied. “But why, yes, it was. Freshly prepared by my favorite Chinese restaurant in Shanghai.”
“Shanghai, huh?” she smirked to her stomach’s renewed protest. “So, how about you…”
“…fetch us some authentic Chinese food?” Clark asked her for confirmation, even though he was already plotting the best flight plan for this time of the year. He did try to steer clear of flocks of birds, jet streams, and flight corridors during his long-range cruises. It just made things easier.
Lois nodded. “But you will have to translate our fortunes again,” she told him with a wink.
“It’s a deal, then,” Clark confirmed and leaned forward to peck a kiss on Lois’ lips, before he got up and went into his living room to fetch a fresh suit from the hidden compartment inside his closet. He’d only managed to get two steps away from the bed, when Lois’ sharp whistle resounded in his ears. Apparently, she really did appreciate the view he was affording her, Clark thought with a self-satisfied grin.
Clark opened the sliding door and pulled at the tie-hook that was mounted on the right wall. As the retractable panel in the back of the built-in closet slid aside, he pushed his shirts out of the way to reveal his colorful work-clothes.
“So *that’s* where you keep them,” Lois’ wondrous voice drifted to him, before he noticed her getting up from the bed and quickly sneaking up behind him. “No wonder I couldn’t find them.”
Clark decided to ignore the implications of this statement for the moment and instead reached into the closet to pull one of the electric blue suits from the rack. Then he bent forward to grab a fresh pair of boots as well, just when Lois’ hand soundly made contact with his pulled-taut hide. “Lo-isss,” Clark hissed in mock exasperation before twisting around and grabbing her sneaky limb with his left hand. Using the lever to pull her close, he wrapped his right hand – suit and everything – around her back before sealing his mouth onto that of his lover.
Lois’ tongue immediately demanded entrance as her free left hand ran up and down his spine, before she moved it to his hair, pulling him even tighter against her inviting lips. Her left leg sneaked alongside his right thigh and he could already feel himself getting very distracted again.
He quickly pulled away from their intoxicating kiss, drawing a despondent mewl from Lois in the process. “Lois, I thought you wanted me to grab us some Chinese food, you know, egg rolls and…,” he flirted, before Lois’ loudly protesting insides settled the matter. “No, Lois,” he tried to stop her sternly. “I’m going to fetch us something to eat, and *then* we can return to the more recreational activities.”
Clark stepped back two steps after he had disentangled himself from Lois’ leg and arms, trying to calm his raging hormones with a couple of deep breaths.
Lois sighed in disappointment as she stood there with her now folded arms and watched him calm himself down. “You know, breathing exercises aren’t the only relaxation technique,” she pouted. “And some of the others would have been so much more fun.”
Clark sighed and smiled at her apologetically. “Lois, you know just as well as I do, that that would have led to us spending the next hour or so *helping* each other relax.” Another, already extremely desperate sounding growl confirmed the rightness of his decision, but he couldn’t help asking, “Lois, when *did* you last eat.”
“I…,” she began as Clark stepped into the right leg of his suit. “I did have some chocolate when I got here…,” Lois trailed off, scrunching her forehead in concentration. “There was a bagel on the way to work and-” Her eyes lit up. “-I did have a tub of Rocky Road yesterday evening.”
By now he had managed to pull his suit up to his waist and was fiddling with the sleeves – getting dressed in this thing at super-speed really *was* so much easier – and carefully bit back a heartfelt chuckle. “Lois,” he sternly informed her instead. “Chocolate is *not* a food group.”
“Speak for yourself,” she shot back with a disapproving tone of voice.
Clark had to swallow hard at the sight of her. Having a stark naked Lois in front him as she tried to look all bossy only served to remind him how she liked to be on top. And now he knew that this very much extended into *other* fields besides work as well. Perhaps it really would have been better to let Lois help him relax instead of resorting to breathing exercises. Lois’ body angrily reminded him of the fact that not everyone in their relationship could sustain themselves simply by making love in the sunlight. Resigning himself to his fate, Clark quickly finished pulling his suit on, determinedly pushing all lewd thoughts aside as far as possible. Which was about as far as he could push a jumbo-jet after an encounter with kryptonite.
“All set and ready to go,” he sighed a few seconds later, just as he finished pulling the suit’s zipper up on his back.
Lois harrumphed, pirouetted, and strode back to the bedroom. “All work and no play,” she muttered indignantly, but her swaying hips most definitely spoke a different language.
Clark followed her, reminding himself to turn *right*, towards the small balcony, and not left, towards the bed and Lois. A few steps later he had caught up with his partner and gently returned her earlier appreciation of his backside with a playful pat of his own.
“Hey!” Lois exclaimed and turned around. “I thought you wanted to get us something to eat?” she asked him indignantly, even as the sparkle in her eyes told him a very different story about her concerns for her modesty.
Shrugging, Clark merely smiled at her teasingly before he picked up his jeans and shirt from where they’d landed after his brief but necessary trip to the drugstore around the corner. “Just returning the favor, Lois. Just returning the favor,” he quipped as he stowed away his street clothes and strode towards the balcony exit.
He was already rising from his hidden launch pad when he heard Lois mutter about ‘handsy’ superheroes from Kansas. Oh well, he shrugged unperturbed, but still pushed himself to go as fast as possible. After all, having a naked Lois at home sure wasn’t something to be taken lightly.
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Lois shook her head and sighed happily as she flopped back down on the bed and stretched out on her back. She really loved her uninhibited lover. “Love,” she tried the word out. “My Love.” Another dreamy sigh followed. Who would have thought that she would ever find love like this, in the most unlikely of places and the most unlikely of scenarios?
She could have sworn that she would never be able to forgive him, and that Clark would never be able to forgive her as well. But no, apparently she had been wrong. And right now, being wrong felt darn good. “Love…,” she whispered again. “I’m in love with Clark.” She giggled. Who would have thought that Lois Lane would be able to say those words out loud?
Well, Clark would be back soon with lots of bamboo containers filled to the brim with steaming delicacies and she’d better use the time to freshen up a bit. After all, crying and making love did tend to leave you a bit disheveled. And having done both, well, she guessed it was probably a good thing that Clark liked her natural look.
Lois pushed herself back to a seating position and bent forward to pick up the discarded sweater. After she’d managed to straighten out the tangled material, she slipped it over her head and stood up. The gray shirt was long enough to fall over her hips and she decided to forgo the matching sweat pants.
She was just about to venture into the bathroom when the phone rang. Contemplating for a moment, Lois finally decided to pick it up. After all, it wasn’t *that* late and everyone knew that they were friends and partners and would often be spending the evenings discussing their stories or hanging out. Lois quickly retraced her steps to the bedside table and the source of the shrill ringing. And besides, she reasoned, the phone call might be Perry, or Jimmy, or Bobby, trying to reach Clark with information on a story. And she couldn’t let him miss this call, now could she? Especially if the caller was a source; he might not want to leave a message, or might need some persuasion, or simply might not be willing to wait the five rings until the answering machine took over.
The phone had merely made it to its third ring when she finally picked it up and answered the call. “Clark Kent’s apartment, Lois Lane speaking,” she identified herself to the caller.
“Lois?” a soft, female voice asked in surprise on the other end of the line.
“Ma- Martha?” Lois managed to stammer.
“Yes, Lois. It’s Martha,” Clark’s mother confirmed in a delighted tone before Lois heard her call out, “Jonathan! Jonathan, Lois is on the phone and she’s at Clark’s!”
“Uh, hi, Martha,” Lois greeted her hesitantly, extremely worried what Clark might have told his parents about the last two days. After all, he *did* have this unhealthily close relationship with his parents and if he’d told them what a bitch she’d been… No, she wouldn’t contemplate the idea of his parents disapproving of her.
“Hello, Lois?” the deeper voice of Clark’s father joined the conversation a moment later.
“Mr. Kent,” Lois supplied as she began to nervously pace around the bedroom, carrying the base of the modern, black phone in one hand and the handset in the other.
“Jonathan, please,” the older man requested, asking Lois to address him less formally. “And it’s so good to see you at Clark’s place. The boy has been worried sick after everything that has happened.”
He had been worried sick about her, Lois wondered. Of course, if he had talked to them before he’d learned *who* was behind Anonymous, that was probably true. So his parents didn’t know what a bitch she’d been. Just that she’d been drugged and had that their son had sex with her while she’d been drugged. Oh god, this was even worse, she thought, swallowing nervously even as her left hand distractedly worked the cord around her forearm.
“You *are* talking again, aren’t you, Honey?” Martha interjected, a hint of worry on her voice.
Lois couldn’t help but let a smile drift into her voice above her worry. “Yes, Martha. Clark and I…” She shook her head dreamily. “We have been able to hash things out, so to speak.”
“Oh, that’s so good to hear, Lois.” Martha sounded extremely delighted at the unexpected news, before continuing in a somewhat more serious tone. “So, could you get Clark on the line, please?”
“Ah, no, he’s out right now,” Lois responded slowly. Why did Martha want to talk to Clark? Was she trying to find out whether she was making things look better than they were, which she wasn’t, actually. “Getting takeout, you know.”
Martha took a moment before she replied. “Yes, it’s almost seven in Metropolis and I guess between the courthouse situation and the train disaster, there hasn’t been much time for getting something to eat.”
“Train disaster?” Lois asked in surprise. “What train disaster?”
“You don’t know?” Martha suddenly sounded very worried. “Clark hasn’t told you about it? There were so many dead, our poor boy must be sick with guilt,” she fussed.
Lois furrowed her brow and moved her left hand around to untangle the phone cord, whose twisted state was becoming a serious hindrance to her movements. Clark was feeling guilty about a train disaster? She hadn’t noticed a thing. Was he keeping it all bottled up or had she just ignored his feelings so much that she’d been oblivious to his plight. “He… Ah… He… hasn’t mentioned it. I’m sorry, I didn’t know.”
“No, don’t be, Lois,” Martha soothed. “I’m sure with everything that has happened to you, you couldn’t have known that something was off.”
“That’s just the thing,” Lois responded distractedly. “Clark didn’t look depressed or guilty about anything. Except, well… the mess our personal lives had been in.” Lois raised her left arm to prevent the cord from getting caught at the foot end of the bed.
“Are you sure?” Martha asked slowly.
Lois thought about it for a moment before she answered steadfastly. “Yes, Martha. I am sure. After all, I did get to soothe his worries and his sorrows time and again when Superman came to me.”
Martha sounded a little unsure. “Okay, Lois. But you will keep us posted?”
“Of course, Martha,” Lois acquiesced.
“Good. And the two of you have to come and visit as soon as possible,” Martha extended the invitation.
Lois’ heart jumped at that. Meeting the parents of her boyfriend, even if in this case she already knew them as her best friend’s parents; it was something she’d never done before. She swallowed convulsively. “Thank you, Martha. I’ll make sure to tell Clark.”
“Thanks,” Lois could hear potential mother-in-law reply. “Clark is really lucky to have found you.”
Lois blushed at the undeserved praise. “Please, Martha. I’m just… Clark and I… It’s the least I can do.”
“You seem to be doing quite a lot, Lois,” Martha supplied gratefully.
Swallowing, Lois decided to leave things as they were before exchanging her good-byes with the older couple. After they’d hung up, she replaced the phone on its cradle and put it down on the bedside table next to the table lamp already standing there.
Had their budding relationship really acted as a countermeasure to his obsessing about not being able to do more? And what was this talk about a train disaster? She would have to make sure to ask Clark over supper, she thought, making a mental note before hastening off to the bathroom.
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tbc
