[Superman's not a big fan of robots, really. Not counting the ones in the fortress — those are fine, sometimes even decent company (when the other option is no company at all.) Hoards of violent, out-of-control robots released by some failing 3D printing company that had opted to make a small army very strange-looking but dangerously effective automatons to punish the people for Metropolis for, he doesn't know, not buying enough of its original products, or whatever? Very much not good company.
It's fine. None of them are that tough and they're not strong enough to injure him. It's mostly the crowd control that's a pain, zipping all over to make sure that no civilians are harmed until he's whittled down the swarm to just about nothing. And it takes a while. By the time the last robot is smashed, multiple news outlets are on-site. Superman spots a familiar face among them, and by the time he's finished speaking with the district policeman in charge in order to brief him on the events of the last hour or so and offered some guidance on how to coordinate the cleanup (the worst of the damage is only visible from the sky), he's not at all surprised to see she's made her way closer.]
Afternoon, Miss Lane. [The smile is no less heartfelt for being the same genial one he offers any Metropolis civilian who takes the time to talk.] Got your story planned already?
[It's not the first, second or even third time they've spoken while he's in the guise of Superman, but after a couple of years it's begun to feel a little...off somehow, after getting to know her better as his real self. Still, he's not going to be a jerk about it, or even let it show. It's not her fault. And he does enjoy their conversations.]
For @thisisontherecord - the Etraya-compliant identity reveal and such
[Clark goes back and forth on the idea for days before taking any actual steps to move it beyond only that, an idea. More like weeks, really, or months if he counts from the time he had that first wistful thought. Not a solid, steady 'I want to tell Lois I'm Superman and I believe I can trust her with that knowledge,' more like 'I wish she knew.' A simple, passing thought, probably prompted by one of many times he'd skipped a staff meeting or been late to a working lunch with Lois — or worse, missed it entirely, and gotten a disdainful-at-best, disappointed-at-worst look from her. He doesn't even remember anymore. It doesn't happen every day, sometimes not even every week, but it's enough; after three years a pattern has emerged, and Clark knows that Lois trusts him but won't rely on him.
It's fine. He can live with being the Daily Planet reporter everyone knows is time-blind. If it bothered him that much, he could shift his career, go freelance, craft a much more flexible schedule. In a way it's even a good thing, because if everyone thinks Clark Kent is a flake, no one is going to think he's secretly Superman. It's exactly what he wanted, and much much much better than having people look at him and really see him. Except...sometimes he really wishes Lois would see him.
He's not completely un-self aware. He knows it's not not related to the fact that he has a huge, planet-sized crush on her, that he would really like to ask her out on a date, that sometimes he thinks she might say yes, that it could never go anywhere serious with Lois still in the dark about his alter-ego. But he's also got a handle on his crush, is very accustomed to keeping a lid on it — except, apparently, when it comes to Jimmy, because Jimmy seems to have radar about this sort of thing, but Jimmy is also a bro who has promised never to breathe a word of it to Lois — and Clark thinks he could live with it even if he knew for sure that Lois would never, ever see him in a romantic or...other light.
But he still wishes she knew. He still keeps thinking of telling her, thinking about what he'd say, imagining how she might react. It's not just because he has feelings for her, it's because she's his friend, really and truly, but when he looks at her, knowing what she doesn't know, couldn't possibly know...it also feels like there's this distance between them, one Lois doesn't even know is there. Clark doesn't like it. He's also the only one who could ever cross it.
And he's lonely. It's as simple as that. Maybe that's not fair to put on Lois, but it's been a long time since anyone in his daily life knew him, really knew him, and it's gotten harder time. Even if Lois never wants to go out with him, even if she's seriously pissed off at him for lying to her for years, he wants her to know him.
So finally, after spending ages making a decision and then promptly un-making it — he's going to tell her, he absolutely is not going to tell her, he has to tell her, he can't tell her — Clark forces the issue while he's still in a 'want to tell her' stage, before he can swing back in the other direction, dropping by her desk on the way back from a trip to the water cooler toward the end of the day.]
Hey, Lois? I was wondering — would you have time to discuss something in private, later? I was hoping we could — there's something I wanted to talk to you about.
[Oh gosh. He sounds like an idiot. All those words and he barely managed a single complete sentence.]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
For @bakerline - time for Superman to get DUMPED
It's fine. None of them are that tough and they're not strong enough to injure him. It's mostly the crowd control that's a pain, zipping all over to make sure that no civilians are harmed until he's whittled down the swarm to just about nothing. And it takes a while. By the time the last robot is smashed, multiple news outlets are on-site. Superman spots a familiar face among them, and by the time he's finished speaking with the district policeman in charge in order to brief him on the events of the last hour or so and offered some guidance on how to coordinate the cleanup (the worst of the damage is only visible from the sky), he's not at all surprised to see she's made her way closer.]
Afternoon, Miss Lane. [The smile is no less heartfelt for being the same genial one he offers any Metropolis civilian who takes the time to talk.] Got your story planned already?
[It's not the first, second or even third time they've spoken while he's in the guise of Superman, but after a couple of years it's begun to feel a little...off somehow, after getting to know her better as his real self. Still, he's not going to be a jerk about it, or even let it show. It's not her fault. And he does enjoy their conversations.]
For @thisisontherecord - the Etraya-compliant identity reveal and such
It's fine. He can live with being the Daily Planet reporter everyone knows is time-blind. If it bothered him that much, he could shift his career, go freelance, craft a much more flexible schedule. In a way it's even a good thing, because if everyone thinks Clark Kent is a flake, no one is going to think he's secretly Superman. It's exactly what he wanted, and much much much better than having people look at him and really see him. Except...sometimes he really wishes Lois would see him.
He's not completely un-self aware. He knows it's not not related to the fact that he has a huge, planet-sized crush on her, that he would really like to ask her out on a date, that sometimes he thinks she might say yes, that it could never go anywhere serious with Lois still in the dark about his alter-ego. But he's also got a handle on his crush, is very accustomed to keeping a lid on it — except, apparently, when it comes to Jimmy, because Jimmy seems to have radar about this sort of thing, but Jimmy is also a bro who has promised never to breathe a word of it to Lois — and Clark thinks he could live with it even if he knew for sure that Lois would never, ever see him in a romantic or...other light.
But he still wishes she knew. He still keeps thinking of telling her, thinking about what he'd say, imagining how she might react. It's not just because he has feelings for her, it's because she's his friend, really and truly, but when he looks at her, knowing what she doesn't know, couldn't possibly know...it also feels like there's this distance between them, one Lois doesn't even know is there. Clark doesn't like it. He's also the only one who could ever cross it.
And he's lonely. It's as simple as that. Maybe that's not fair to put on Lois, but it's been a long time since anyone in his daily life knew him, really knew him, and it's gotten harder time. Even if Lois never wants to go out with him, even if she's seriously pissed off at him for lying to her for years, he wants her to know him.
So finally, after spending ages making a decision and then promptly un-making it — he's going to tell her, he absolutely is not going to tell her, he has to tell her, he can't tell her — Clark forces the issue while he's still in a 'want to tell her' stage, before he can swing back in the other direction, dropping by her desk on the way back from a trip to the water cooler toward the end of the day.]
Hey, Lois? I was wondering — would you have time to discuss something in private, later? I was hoping we could — there's something I wanted to talk to you about.
[Oh gosh. He sounds like an idiot. All those words and he barely managed a single complete sentence.]
You can say no if you want.
[Jeez.]