Good chapter, Beth! I'm glad that nothing happened between Lois and Kal. Not that I expected anything to happen, but really, Kal totally unprepared for any sort of intimacy at this stage. If he had succumbed to Lois's advances, I'm sure he would have run away from her, and maybe he would never have come back.
I'm glad Kal took care of Miranda och the 100% solution.
I had to giggle at this:
The worst part about it was that she wasn’t even sure if he was attracted to humans. It was one thing to be shamelessly throwing herself at someone who might appreciate a part of it, even from an objective standpoint. It was another thing entirely to be throwing herself at someone who would have no appreciation for it whatsoever.
It seemed silly to her, but that’s just the way it was. Maybe it was a feminine pride thing.
Well, Kal really
is attracted to her, and I'm very glad to see it. But like I said, he is
so not ready for a romantic relationship:
Lois, I am not interested in romance with anyone here on Earth.”
“But… You said there’s attraction…”
“Yes, there is that. But I can’t ignore the reason why I was sent here.”
“The reason?” she asked with curiosity. Up until now, she had thought that he was sent here because it was the only planet his parents knew of that he could live on.
Kal sighed. “My parents sent me here with the hope that I would use my abilities to help people here on Earth. They knew that the yellow sun would give me these strange abilities, and they hoped that I would use them for the greater good. A romantic relationship would only distract me from that purpose.”
Lois described Kal perfectly here:
“Who wouldn’t want a relationship with a moody alien who has such severe survivor’s guilt and PTSD and whatever else that the thought of living a life is just too terrible for him to comprehend.”
Lois is right, Kal suffers from survivor's guilt and PSTD and perhaps a few other diagnoses as well. But as Lois also noted, telling him so won't help. Kal isn't open to reasoning about this. He has to be shown that he can love and be loved. He has to feel a lot of love, and hopefully the sort of love that doesn't make many demands on him, before he can be ready to give love in a romantic way.
Hopefully, though, even this Kal is Lois's soulmate, and therefore some part of him will hopefully respond well to the fact that Lois wants him to find love for himself here on Earth. With her, hopefully. Wouldn't that be nice, Kal?
Ann
This fic is AWESOME, and you need to post more ASAP.