2012-06-26 Super Apology

Two nights ago saw the arrival of Lor-Zod and his pod from outter space. The following day saw Lois absorbed in her work and just not talking to anyone. The following morning, she's typing at her computer, harding breaking to drink from her coffee. Hitting a few last key strokes, she finally asks over her monitor at Clark, "You ever had someone you looked up to, shatter your faith in them?" She pauses. Her keys clack in that familiar 'and send' sound. She stands and graps her purse. "I'm out for the rest of the day. See you tomorrow, Clark," she says, not bothering to look at him as she goes to make her way out. Should he look, that article is still on her screen, with a 'message sent' window hovering at the bottom right corner of her screen.
Clark sighs and waits a bit. 5 minutes perhaps. Then quietly logs out his computer and makes for the roof. On his way, he ditches his outer clothes in the same place he always does and ducks out a window to take flight. Then it's his ears that listen for her as he wanders. Finding her should be easy. Talking to her will be hard.
Very hard. Especially as Lois takes a nice public sidewalk toward her apartment not far away. Not that she's moving to try to keep anyone from finding her, she even stops by a food vendor to buy some pho noddles to eat later, rather it's that she's in very public areas.
Superman lands upon her balcony and waits for her to make it home once he's pretty sure where she's going. He leans against the railing, going over in his mind what he plans to say.
Keys jangle in the door. Bang, door closes. Keys jangle to lock the door, then clatter to the counter. Some shuffling as Lois kicks off her shoes and sets her food on the table. A few beeps and she turns on her radio to Joan Jett power chording her way through 'I Hate Myself for Loving You'. Oblivious to the Super on her balcony, Lois pulls off her jacket and makes her way toward her bedroom. Must... get.. out.. of... work... suit!
As Lois begins making her way for the bedroom, Superman bangs upon the metal part to the sliding glass door in an attempt to get her to hear him. He stands back, holding his arms behind his back.
What the? Lois stops at the sound of knuckles on aluminum. She looks at the balcony, spotting the silohuette of someone standing there. She makes her way over, tossing her coat on the back of her sofa, and slides the blinds open. Face to face, Lois looks up at Superman. Her lips part slightly, voilet eyes growing wide. "Superman," she asks the glass in front of her.
Her hand reaches out to slide the door open, half expecting the vision to slide with her patio door like a bad joke.
"You're probably really mad at me, and I don't blame you," Superman begins. "Please let me explain."
He stands there, not having been invited in. It seems clear he'll stay outside if that's what she wishes.
Lois blinks.
Lois's heart is pounding, and her breath is suddenly faster and deeper than it was a moment ago. 
"Mad?" She pauses. "No, Superman. This isn't mad," she tells him then turns away to get her coat off the soda. 
"Close the door behind you. Electricity ain't cheap," she calls over her shoulder, tone flat and very not-swoony.
Superman does as asked, but he stays near the window just in case. "Look, there's something I have to tell you. And I don't want to make it seem like a childhood secret where we prick our fingers and swear, or use pinkies or whatever, but I need to know you'll keep it between us."
In her very messy bedroom, Lois flings the coat away. She yanks off her work skirt and her button up sleeveless blouse. Both of these get added to the random pile of clothes she tosses everywhere. From the dresser, she pulls a baggy tshirt and yoga pants. "You can say it's 'off the record'," she snips back as she flings open her door and tugs the shirt on the rest of the way. There could be a heartbeat where bare tummy is exposed before it is gone. 
"Of course, I'd rather you started with, 'Lois, I'm an idiot. Will you please let me apologize to you and hear out my reason why I lied to your face?'," she rages, clearly having been thinking about this for a while. She's not looking at him, cause she knows if she does that'd be the end of it. He makes her too weak in the knees for her to stay mad. Must be strong! Must be unlike swoony Disney Princess!
"Lois, I'm an idiot. Will you please let me apologize to you and hear out the reason I lied to your face? It's because I'm an alien." Superman sighs and looks to her with raised eyebrows. "I'm an alien from the planet Krypton which exploded. My cousin, and that boy you saw...They're descendents from Kryptonians too. We're aliens, and that's why we have our powers, and I wasn't ready to tell you. And I'm sorry."
Alright. That wasn't what she was expecting. Lois blinks, stops with her hands poised to collect her noodles. She turns to look at him, eyes confused and awed all at once. "What," she asks, a scoop the furtherest thing from her mind.
"I'm an alien. I was sent here by my parents who knew the planet was about to explode. My uncle sent my cousin here two. I crash landed and was found and raised by two great people who taught me how to be a good person. How to be a good human. But I'm not really a human. I look like one, which is why I was sent here. IT's why Earth was chosen." Superman shrugs, "So now you know."
A million things run through Lois' mind, all in the span of a heartbeat. What gets asks could be taken a host of different ways, "How many of you are there?"
"Three, I think. Well, I have a dog too." Superman exhales and looks to her, "For almost my whole life I only thought there was me."
Commence swoony. Lois' false bravado, the hard shell she shows all the rest of the world, cracks, crumbles, and falls away. She steps up to Superman, reaching to put her hand to his face, to cup his cheek. Her brows knit in sympathy, eyes threatening to mist over, and the corners of her mouth pull down in shared heartache. "I'm.... so sorry," she says as all of her anger disappears, just that quickly.
Superman smiles down at her and shakes his head. "Don't be. I'm happy with who I am and my heritage. I just fear the negative reaction from the public. My parents included so much in my shuttle that I've been able to learn both about my heritage and have lived a happy life here on Earth. I wouldn't trade it. Well, I would of course, have wished that my homeworld survived, but I don't regret my life."
His smile. His gentle head shake. Lois' heart flutters for a completely different reason. Must she withdraw her hand? Keeping it there any longer would seem awkward, wouldn't it? Slowly Lois begins to pull away, not wanting to think as she must to help Superman with his PR problems, and yet wishing to do nothing but. "Yeah. After movies like 'Idependence Day', it's easy to see why we'd be a little spooked about space aliens," she murmurs, then snerks with a grin. "At least you're not green and scaly with slimy tenciles and no eyes?"
Oh God! What just came out of her mouth? Superman makes her say the stupidest things. Lois blushes... mightily.
Superman breaks out in a relieved chuckle, "No then my birth parents probably would have sent me to Isalai 4." He smiles down at her again and allows her to pull away.
Blushing, Lois is a little let down that he didn't move to stop her retreat. Blushing, she takes a step away now, hands coming to her hair to fuss with it a bit. She chuckles too, even if it doesn't really make any sense to her. She's just laughing at his jokes, because she likes the sound of his chuckle. Still gazing into those impossibly - no, inhumanly - blue eyes, Lois loses track of what she was thinking about, and falls into an awed sort of silence.
"Well...okay..." Superman says, looking relieved she doesn't seem to be repulsed or anything, "I guess I should...you know...get going."
"Do you have to," Lois blurts out and immediately blushes. "I mean.. right... Cause someone... probably needs saving." She presses her lips together, finds them dry, licks them once, finds a chapped bit, and licks again to pull her lower lip between teeth. Nervous twitch she NEVER shows at the office.
"Well, no, I mean. No Lois, I don't have to leave yet." Superman turns back and just sort of stands there awkwardly. He doesn't really know what to do with his hands so they look a bit uncomfortable at first before dropping to his sides.
He's staying? I mean.. He's staying! Woo! Lois's eyes brighten at that, and her heart skips a beat and then... she too stands awkwardly. A glance about, mind casting about for SOMETHING so he'll just keep staying, and Lois spies her food. "Do you want some noodles," she offers, very girlishly turning to rummage through the bag. "They should still be warm, or hot, that is. Though I don't suppose that's a problem for you, cold food I mean, cause you know, the whole eye-laser... thing," she rambles, blushing the WHOLE time.
"Yeah, noodles would be fantastic." Superman grins, "Over the years I've learned how to control the heat waves that come out of my eyes pretty well. I don't often use it for food heating, but I might try it if I get into trouble...in a situation without microwaves, I mean."
Whew! Lois smiles and grabs the noodle bag to take to the living room. On her way, she grabs for Superman's hand to pull him with her to sit on the floor and have a living room pho noodle picnic! "A world without microwaves - I'd DIE," she laments, perfectly giggly and girly now that the air's been cleared.
Superman's hand is pulled and he follows along to sit upon the floor. "I have lied to you in the past, Lois. There's things I need to keep from everyone. I guess this is just the first time it's been so apparent."
Screechin halt. He WHAT? Lois frowns, the good mood disspelling again at the admission. She blinks a few times, eyes on the food. She watches her hands pull out the stirofoam containers, the scent wafting up with them. "You... have?" Ouch! Dagger... heart! -gurgle- The ache is easily apparent on Lois's usually strong, independent woman exterior. Where is that exterior now? Somewhere... over there.... with her button up blouse.
"You've done the same thing, Lois. Don't pretend that you've been completely honest with me. You haven't." Superman's reasoning makes sense to him, at least. "These secrets I've kept. It's not because I've wanted to. It's because I've had to."
His reasoning makes sense to him, but not to her. "I have not," she starts defensively, that hard shell starting to creep up before her violet eyes meet his blue eyes. She sighs then. "I think... we all have our secrets..." She pauses, studying his gaze. "I don't like it. I understand why you need to, a little... but that doesn't mean I like it. And I don't ever have to like it," she states defiantly at him, lifting her chin a tiny bit. Oh, but staying mad at Kal! Oh, so hard. Any harshness crumbles again. 
"Look. Can you at least promise me that if there's something you can't tell me, that instead of lying to me you'll just tell me that you can't tell me yet? Please?" Her eyes threaten to mist again.
Superman nods, "Yes, I can promise you that."
"Thank you," she says, tone soft again, sholders relaxing. Her heart's still a little bit pitter patter, but not like crazy wild any more. She keeps peering into his eyes for a few moments more, then blushes when she realizes it. Turning back to unpacking the food her mind casts about for something to talk about and settles on the first thing that comes to mind, "My coworker's jealous of you." DUH! He's Superman. What guy ISN'T jealous of him?
"Oh really," Superman says. "Do tell?" He folds his arms over his chest, not being able to wait to hear this one.
Lois winces a bit, the blush fierce now. "I mean! Who isn't, right," she stammers, trying to make is sound normal. Oh, who's she kidding. She rolls her head about, the thought evident, before she nods. "Yeah. He.. ah... walked in just after your left, that afternoon of the car crash? He asked if we were..." she blushes again. "...you know..." And a mantra is struck up: please don't make me say it, please don't make me say it, please don't make me say it...
Superman shakes his head, "No...I don't know. He asked if we were what?"
Oh god! Why ME?! Lois is Zoidburg-red as she offers some of the noodles to Superman. One bowl, one fork. Someone planned to eat solo, and yet they are still offered. She looks up at Superman's face, tries to seem composed, but ends up grinning girlishly. One shoulder comes up. Her head goes down to meet it. "Well... he didn't exactly.... he hinted... It's silly..." She stammers a bit before, "An item." There! I said it!
"An item?" Superman asks with a grin, "Well you can te..." His voice trails as something catches his ear. A fire. Not far off. People calling for help. A children's cry. Superman stands abruptly, his cape falling down towards the carpet. "I've got to go."
You can... what?! Lois's cheek pale as the adrenaline of having Superman stand abruptly kicks in. "Someone's in trouble," she asks as she sets the noodles down and rises herself. She doesn't wait for him to confirm, but instead reaches out to give him a push to the arm. "Well? Go!"
And he does, in a second he's gone admist a whoosh of air, with the door still open behind him.
Lois follows behind, knowing she'll never catch up, but it doesn't stop her. Her hands on the balcony door, she peers after him and sighs a softly spoken, "Be careful." Will he hear? Does it matter? To her, not really. It's the emotion in the words that hold the significance to her. He's so amazing. So strong, so gentle. A lot like that Rogers fellow. Unless being an alien let's him shape change too (which cares its own not-so-squeaky-clean possibilities), these two can't be the same person... even if they act like it. I mean, they look nothing alike, and Lois has a way with faces.
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