Just another reminder that this will be the last post before December 1st. I should be online over the next week, but probably just for short periods of time.
Question on the dinner scene – there was disagreement among my betas on whether it was too long or not. I tend to think it is, but am not sure what to cut. What do you think? Is it too long? Parts that really should just go? Maybe the whole thing?
Thank you as always to Beth, Carol, and Kelly for their fantastic work as betas!
From Chapter 9
I shook my head. “You shouldn't apologize "cause I was finally ready to talk and you weren't ready to listen. You're right. We promised to always be honest with each other and I didn't do that.”
Chad gave a slight chuckle. “Well, when we made that agreement, neither of us thought we'd ever meet an alien or… what is he exactly?”
“He doesn't know,” I said. “His guesses are alien or "science experiment'.” Chad shot me a look of surprise, so I explained. “Those are his words, not mine. Like I said, he has a lot of issues with this.”
Chad tilted my head up to place a kiss on my lips.
“I'm glad he felt he could talk to you,” he said. “I'm sure he needed that. And I'm honored that he was willing to share that secret with me. I really am sorry for getting so upset at you this morning. I guess I was more tired than I thought.”
“No more secrets,” I promised him.
Chad smiled. “Until the next time you meet a man who can fly?”
“No, I mean it. Next time, I'll tell you anyway.” I laughed knowing the chances of there being a next time were pretty slim.
Chapter 10
Clark was deep in thought when I entered the newsroom. He didn't even notice me come in and put my purse in my bottom drawer. “Hey,” I said as I came up behind him. “How'd the interview go?”
“Good,” Clark said. “I'm writing it up now, but we should talk about it. I think there's more to it than what the DA's admitting to.”
I smiled. “Oh, good. I could do with a nice meaty investigation,” I told him.
Clark turned around to smile at me, but his eyes lingered on my face a bit longer than normal. “Is everything okay?” he asked.
“What?” I asked, although I suspected I knew what he was asking.
“You look… your eyes are a little puffy,” he said gently.
“I told Chad this morning,” I whispered.
“It didn't go well?” Clark asked, looking instantly remorseful. “I'm sorry. I shouldn't have made you do that. I shouldn't have ever put you in this position.”
“Clark!” I said to stop his torrent of words. “It's okay. Chad understands. Really. It just… well, it took a little while to get past the fact that I was keeping a secret from him to what the secret was. Once he knew, he was okay.”
“So, you guys are...”
“We're fine. Really,” I said, blushing a little as I remembered just how Chad had shown me how fine we were. It made me a little later to work, but I was already late, so who cared?
“And dinner tonight is still okay?” Clark asked.
“Oh, right. About that,” I started, remembering Chad's request. “Chad wondered if we couldn't bring something in. He just… I think he feels weird knowing this without talking to you about it and he can't really do that in a restaurant.”
Clark nodded, “That's more than fair. Anything in particular you guys want me to bring in?”
“No,” I shook my head. “You know we're not picky. Although, I could go for Chinese food,” I told him. “But it's fine if you'd rather have something else. Chad almost always prefers Thai to Chinese so he will be happy if you to ignore my request.”
************************
“Wow, there's only three of us here, Clark,” Chad said with a smile as Clark came in laden down with food.
“Well, I know, but… Lois said she wanted Chinese, but that you prefer Thai, and then I thought since I was already in the area I'd stop off and get some Japanese.”
“What area were you in?” I asked as I took in the bags in his arms. “Little Asia?”
“Well, um… I was sort of in… Asia,” Clark admitted, blushing furiously.
“What do you mean you were in Asia?” Chad asked.
“I went to China to get the food for Lois and Thailand and Japan are only short flights away,” Clark said.
“Short flights away?” Chad grinned. “How long does it take to get from China to Thailand using commercial air travel?”
Clark shrugged. “I'm not sure. Never traveled that way.”
“Wow. Puts a whole new spin on being Superman. I never considered the fact that there's no need for Superman to have Chinese take-out from Ming's Szechwan when he can just pop on over to Beijing,” Chad said.
“Well, the Chinese food is actually from Shanghai,” Clark said.
“And the Thai food?” I asked.
“Chiang Chai,” Clark said. “It's in northern Thailand, so a little closer to China. And the Japanese food is from Nagasaki which is in the southern part of Japan.”
“Wasn't Nagasaki one of the towns hit during World War II?” Chad asked.
“Yeah,” Clark said, “but it's been completely rebuilt. It's completely different than most war torn cities look, I think.”
“Well, I know it's not quite like flying for us would be, but I appreciate your traveling to get the food,” Chad said, helping me dig into the bags.
“What's that?” Chad asked pointing to brightly colored… meat of some kind? It wasn't clear. But strips of something on rice.
“Sushi,” Clark said.
“Oh wait,” Chad said. “I've heard of that before. It's the raw fish thing from Japan, right?”
“Raw fish?” I said, and I could feel my nose wrinkle.
“Yeah,” Clark said. “It's actually quite good, but I know it sounds a little weird.”
“Japanese people eat raw fish?” I asked. Chad and I had had Japanese food once before and we both had chicken teriyaki – it was good, but very like Chinese food. Nothing like raw fish.
Clark smiled. “You know, there's a sushi place opening in Metropolis.”
“Where?”
“Near the Flowers building. It's supposed to be the new craze,” Clark said.
“Raw fish is the new craze?” I asked in disbelief.
Clark nodded. “Anyway, in case you didn't want to try that, I brought you some other traditional Japanese food.” He opened a plastic container with some sort of soup. “These are udon noodles,” he said, using a chopstick to pick up a thick white noodle. “And this is essentially soup with vegetables in it and the noodles.”
He covered the soup back up and moved over to a different bag. “The Thai food is pretty simple. I got spring rolls and pad thai,” he said, “but my favorite thing to get in Thailand is dessert.” He opened a container filled with rice and… what was that fruit again? It was bright orange and a little slimy looking. “These are mangoes on sticky rice. Do you like coconut?” he asked Chad.
Chad nodded his head and Clark smiled, “Then you'll love this.” Moving to the last of the bags, he said to me, “I didn't get you any chicken as Chinese tend to cut their meat with the bones and I didn't think you'd like that, but I got you dumplings which are kind of a Chinese staple and shrimp.”
“It has the shell still on,” I said.
“Just try it,” Clark smiled. “They really know how to cook it. It's delicious.”
“Do you eat it with the shells?” Chad asked.
“Well, the Chinese do,” Clark said. “It's not as weird as it sounds. It takes kind of like potato chips – salty and tasty.”
“The shrimp tastes like potato chips?” I asked, picking one up. Clark and Chad watched as I put it in my mouth. “It does sort of. I mean, not really, but I can see what you mean. It is good.” I smiled. Who knew? “Maybe I'll even try the… whatever it was called. The raw fish thing.”
“Sushi,” Clark smiled at me and I could tell that he was already more relaxed than when he had arrived.
We got plates out and each took a little bit of each of the foods Clark had brought.
“So what are your favorites?” I asked Clark.
“I know it's silly as it's the cheapest thing here, but I'm a huge fan of the Chinese dumplings. But I pretty much like all of it.”
Chad gingerly took a piece of the sushi. “So I just eat this?” he asked, looking at it as if it might bite him.
Clark laughed and pulled a small plastic container towards him. “Put some soy sauce in here and mix it with the green pasty thing. It's called wasabi and it's spicy – it's a type of horseradish, so if you don't like spicy food, don't add too much.” We all watched Chad mixing the green paste into his soy sauce. “Now, dip the sushi into the soy sauce and eat it, fish side down.”
Chad dipped the sushi into the little bowl of soy sauce and then his chopsticks got the better of him and he dropped the whole thing in. He got it out, but most of the rice seemed to be still be with the soy sauce.
“Yeah, the rice is a little sticky, but it still falls apart pretty easily,” Clark said as Chad put the fish in his mouth.
For a moment, neither Clark nor I moved as we watched Chad chew. Finally, he smiled, “That was really good. I mean, I'll be honest. I didn't expect to like it, but it's so tender.”
“Of course it's tender. It isn't cooked!” I insisted.
“You should try it, Lois,” Chad said.
I glared at him before I took a piece of sushi. “How is this different from the piece Chad had?” I asked. Chad's piece had been a dark reddish color, but this one was pinker.
“Chad had a piece of tuna. That one is salmon,” Clark said. I wished I hadn't asked. Somehow I thought it might be easier to eat this if I forgot what it was.
I borrowed Chad's rice laden soy sauce mixture and gingerly dipped the salmon in. I managed to get it out without dropping it and almost rushed it towards my mouth as I felt my chopsticks slipping. I got it in at the last minute, although I forgot to put it upside down.
It wasn't bad and Chad was right – it was tender. Still not my favorite food, though. “It's okay,” I said, “but I like the udon noodles better.”
************************
We had finally finished all the food Clark had brought – or at least all the food we could eat, and had gathered in the living room with mugs of hot chocolate. Mine had marshmallows, but neither Chad nor Clark would admit to wanting them, too. Men – I'm sure it was just because they were around each other.
“So,” Chad said as he settled back into the couch beside me. “I… I haven't been sure how to say this, but I wanted to thank you for being comfortable sharing your secret with me.”
Clark nodded. “I'm sorry I asked Lois to keep it from you for so long. It's not something a lot of people know. Except for my parents, it's really just you and Lois,” Clark said.
“Well,” Chad said, “now that we know, hopefully we can be some help. I mean besides not getting annoyed when you run off in the middle of dinner,” he grinned and Clark blushed.
“Yeah, I am really sorry about that, too,” Clark said.
Chad nodded. “I know and really it's not a big deal. We certainly didn't expect you to leave those hostages to die or whatever just so my chicken didn't dry out.”
Clark smiled, “I didn't think you would, but I appreciate your forgiving me even though you didn't know why I was running off.”
“Well, really, I meant being more helpful than that. Like giving you more than one person to talk to on a bad day,” Chad said and I reached over to take his hand in mine. I wasn't surprised by his actions, but that didn't change the fact that sometimes I remembered how proud I was that this wonderful, understanding man had picked me to be his wife.
“Thank you,” Clark said softly.
“So, can I ask you a question?” Chad asked.
“Sure,” Clark said and I could see he was trying to be open to this conversation, but as with most conversations about his abilities, he was uncomfortable.
“Do you need to eat or sleep?” Chad asked.
“Um… I don't seem to need to eat, but I enjoy it,” Clark said and I opened my eyes in wonder. He had never mentioned that to me. Imagine not having to eat! I'd never exercise again as I could just stop eating when I had gained a couple of pounds.
“But I do need sleep,” Clark continued. “Just less than most people. I can get by on a couple of hours every two days or so.”
“Wow! You could get so much done that way!” I said, and then blushed as I realized what I had said. Clark held down the same full time job I did and still had time to be Superman. Clearly he made use of the time he was not asleep.
“So, if you don't need food or sleep, where does your energy come from?” Chad asked. I smiled slightly. Sometimes I thought Chad should have gotten a job in a lab somewhere rather than practicing medicine. He had such a love of experiments and pushing the knowledge of science and he had limited use for that passion in practice.
Clark shrugged. “I don't really know, but I think maybe the sun,” Clark said. “I notice sometimes that I feel better when it's sunny out.”
Chad nodded. “But you don't know? Don't you wonder?” he asked.
Clark blushed. “Sometimes, but… I guess I prefer not to think too much about the fact that I'm different.”
“But you're not different so much as… better,” Chad said with a little bit of awe. “I mean, think of all that you can do. What is it that you can do anyway?”
Clark shifted uncomfortably in his chair and I wondered how to let Chad know to ease up on the curiosity. “I can fly, of course,” Clark said slowly. “And I can set fire to things with my eyes and freeze them with my breath. And I'm super-fast and strong. I can see through things as long as they are not lined in lead…”
“You can't see through lead?” Chad asked.
“No,” Clark shrugged making it clear that it was just another thing he had accepted about himself years ago.
“I wonder why,” Chad said quietly as he thought. “So how fast and strong are you?”
Clark shrugged again, “I don't really know. I've never not been able to run fast enough or lift something or whatever.”
“Don't you wonder what your limits are?” Chad asked, but even he finally saw that he was making Clark uncomfortable. “I mean… given your second job, don't you worry that one day you'll have to deal with something you can't handle?”
“Not really,” Clark said. “I guess in a day to day thing it seems unlikely. Most of the stuff I deal with is pretty simple.”
“But what if… I don't know,” Chad thought. “A plane was about to crash land. Wouldn't you want to know if you could save it?”
“I'd just do it,” Clark said “and find out.”
“But what if you couldn't and it crash landed on you and killed you?” Chad asked.
“I… I never considered that, but… I don't know,” Clark said. “I couldn't not help. What if it was easy for me?”
“Okay,” Chad said. “What if… I don't know… a giant asteroid was hurtling through space towards Earth. Would you be able to stop it? I mean, assuming it's the size of Metropolis or New York or something.”
“I'd go, I guess,” Clark said. “I mean, again, I couldn't just wait for it to hit, could I? An asteroid that size would kill all life on the planet, so it would kill me if it hit, right?”
“But wouldn't you like to know?” Chad asked and I squeezed his hand slightly. “I'm sorry. I don't mean to… I'm sorry,” he mumbled.
Clark stood up. “I understand, but… I really don't wonder. Like I said, I try to think about it as little as possible.”
“I'm sorry,” Chad said again.
“I know,” Clark said quietly. “Um… I think it's time for me to head home. I told Rachel I'd call her tonight,” he said as he shifted nervously from foot to foot.
************************
“I made a mess of things, didn't I?” Chad asked after we shut the door.
“I told you,” I said gently. “Clark's really sensitive about this. He really… it's sad, but he's sort of ashamed of himself.”
“I can't imagine being him and not having a thousand questions about myself,” Chad said.
“I don't think we really know what it's like. I think it might have been really scary for him as the powers developed,” I said.
Chad nodded. “I guess. You're right,” he said, leaning forward to place a kiss on my nose. “If I try to imagine learning I could do all those things as a teenager, it might not have seemed so cool.”
“Can you imagine trying to fit in when you can fly?” I asked.
Chad gave me a sly grin. “No, but the x-ray vision would have been fun. Starting with the girl's locker room.”
I swatted at his arm. “Good to know.”
“I would have used it on you, too, you know,” he said.
“Well, that makes me feel so much better!”
“Hey!” Chad said, snaking an arm out to grab me around the waist and bring me closer to him. “I bet you were cute in your gym shorts.”
“We had gym together in the ninth grade,” I pointed out. “I don't think you even knew I was in that class.”
Chad blushed. “So, I was stupid in the ninth grade,” he smiled at me. “But if I had had x-ray vision maybe I would have wizened up to how attractive you were sooner.”
“Good to know,” I said.
“You know,” Chad nibbled on my ear. “I think I'm developing some x-ray vision right now. Care to join me upstairs and confirm or deny?” I giggled as he leaned down to pick me up.
