Thanks, as always, to Kathy!
And I am not evil!
NOT!
EVIL!
/me points to NK fic and Man in the Suit fic...
NOT!
EVIL!
Last time
Lois shut the main door behind her mom, turning to lean against it. "How are you?" she asked heading towards the bed. She crawled onto it and stretching out next to him.
He turned towards her, burying his head in her shoulder. "That was the hardest thing I've ever done.
She wrapped her arms around him holding him close for the first time since the battle ended. It was their first few moments alone since before the Council had arrived early that morning. A few tears streaked down her cheeks. "I'm so glad you're okay," she whispered, one hand playing with the hair at his temple.
"Me, too. When Ching was standing over me, I understood what Nor had been talking about – the no mercy thing. I don't have that in me, Lois, and he would have killed me if it hadn't been for Trask's insane desire to be the one to do away with Superman. And Trask would have if Nor hadn't gotten in the way."
"I love you, Clark." Lois' arms tightened around him.
"I know, honey. I love you, too." He closed his eyes and relaxed into her embrace.
*~*30*~*They laid there together for what seemed like an eternity before Lois spoke again. "Clark, this is really too much. This bedding alone was several hundred dollars for a regular king size and this bed is bigger than that."
Clark nodded against her. "I know."
"I guess it's going to take some getting used to," she said with a sigh, resting her head on his.
"What's that?"
"Being part of a family with money. A big gift at my house for years was a candy cane." She sighed again. "I mean, not really, but there were a lot of years where Christmas was a craft, and a wedding present was a quilt Mom and I made, often out of the best parts of clothes Lucy and I had out grown, not a whole bedroom suite."
"The last thing any of them would want to do is make you or your family feel uncomfortable," Clark told her, shifting until he was sitting next to her against the headboard. "If it really does, or if you think it'll bother your parents because they can't do something big, then we can decline and I'll talk to them privately about why."
Lois shook her head. "No. Mom and I talked about it earlier. They're just happy we won't ever have to struggle like they did, but Christmas... birthdays..."
"You know that doesn't matter to my folks, or Gramps either. They love being able to do nice things for people. My mom couldn't make a quilt to save her life – you should have seen how many tries it took to make my first cape – but she can buy a nice one. And I'd bet serious money – or naked chores – that they talked the store *way* down on the price. Gramps is a great haggler, but Mom puts him to shame. It would surprise me if they got less than 15% off the ticket price and probably more like 25%."
Lois looked up at him. "Naked chores?" she asked with a raised brow.
He shrugged, a twinkle in his eye. "Well, not *here*, but at home. If I'm right, you have to do the chores naked. If I'm wrong, I do."
"That's not fair," she told him. "You can do all the chores in like eight seconds. I'd never know you didn't have clothes on."
"Normal speed."
"Fine," she muttered. "But *I'm* not asking if they got a discount." She rolled to the side, getting up and heading for the closet. She returned a minute later with a box in her hand.
"What's that?" Clark asked, taking it from her.
"Speaking of clothes, I was watching a little bit of NASCAR the other day and one of the commentators said something about Superman so..." She shrugged. "Open it."
He eyed her warily as he opened the box. He looked at the contents and then back at her. "What's this?"
She smiled innocently. "Well, the announcer said that Superman wears Jimmie Johnson pajamas so..."
Clark laughed as he pulled out the flannel pants and socks. "No shirt?"
She shook her head. "Nope."
He pulled her to him. "I happen to have it on good authority that Superman's wife prefers he sleep in next to nothing," he murmured before kissing her soundly.
"True, but not when other people are around, like when we stay here – just in case."
"The door has a lock," he pointed out.
"Still." She drew a random pattern on his back with one finger. "How are you? Really?"
He sighed. "I'm... okay. I'm glad that everything's over, that the appropriate Kryptonians are in custody. I'm still stunned that Trask was alive and that he probably saved my life."
"Me, too." She sighed deeply. "Nor saved your life, too you know. Have you heard if he's going to make it?"
Clark shook his head. "It's still touch and go, last I heard."
Lois brushed the hair off his forehead. "You look exhausted."
He nodded. "I am. Grateful, but exhausted. All I really want to do right now," he admitted, "is fall asleep in your arms. That's all I've wanted to do for the last couple of hours."
"You should have said something. Everyone would have understood if you wanted to go to bed and I wanted to stay with you."
"I know."
She stood and headed back to the closet. "Put your new pajamas on," she called over her shoulder.
By the time she emerged a few minutes later, Clark was leaning against the headboard. He chuckled. "Really?"
She shrugged. "Superman wears Jimmie Johnson pajamas. Superman's *wife* wears Superman pajamas."
"Well, I also happen to have it on good authority that Superman prefers his wife sleep in slightly less."
She climbed in next to him, her brow furrowing as he winced when she smacked his arm lightly. "What? That hurt?"
He nodded. "A bit."
"You've been putting on a front, haven't you? You're in a lot of pain? I'm going to call your dad." She started to get back out of bed.
He stopped her with a hand on her arm. "No, it's not that. I'm just sore and tired and I didn't want everyone to worry. I didn't want 'Clark' to be all banged up at the same time 'Superman' was earlier so I managed pretty good at work and I knew how concerned you and my parents would be..." His voice trailed off as she glared at him. "I'm *fine*, just tired and sore. I promise. I wasn't... trying to keep it from you. I just didn't want to get into all of it in front of everyone. That's it."
She sighed and moved back towards him. "Then you need to get some rest."
Clark grimaced as he lowered himself to the pillow trying to get comfortable before Lois situated herself around him. "I love you, honey. I couldn’t have done this today without you. Getting that kryptonite from your house was a stroke of genius. If Zara's men had gone out there after Ching and Nor were down... I'd have been done for." He closed his eyes briefly then sighed. "Now that we got comfortable, we're about to have company."
"What?"
"Trey asked if he could speak with us for a minute."
Lois sighed. "Great." She nodded towards the sitting area. "In there?"
"Sure."
He leaned heavily on Lois as they walked into the attached sitting room. He'd been okay as long as he kept moving, but now that the adrenalin had worn off and he was winding down...
Trey appeared in front of them as they settled onto the couch.
He bowed slightly. "Milord, milady. I will get straight to the point. After consultations with the other members of the Council, we have a proposal to make."
"What's that?" Clark asked wearily.
"We would like for you, Lord Kal-El, to return to Krypton with us to take your position as First Lord with Lady Lois as our First Lady."
*****
TBC
Jimmie Johnson Jammie Pants http://store.nascar.com/sm-for-bare-feet-jimmie-johnson-mens-socks-3-pack--pi-3050361.html
