Fic: Eternal Flame | DCU/SR | Clark/Lois | R | 1/1
As presented to 12days_of_clois!
Title: Eternal Flame
Fandom: DCU/Superman Returns
Pairing: Clark/Lois
Rating: R (just in case, for naked Clark, and Lois swearing)
Word Count: 1,856
Prompt: For 12days_of_clois: #20: Eternal Flame
Summary: Lois is having the worst Valentine's Day in history. Just when she thinks the day is a completely lost cause, things take a surprising turn.
Author's Notes: This is set almost a year and a half after the events of Superman: Aftermath, so... today! No worries if you haven't read Aftermath. Pretty much everything is spelled out in the fic. Clark and Lois are married now, and they share custody of Jason with Richard. They also live in Lois's old apartment, as seen in STM and SII. ^_^ This fic also happens to fit bradygirl_12's 2008 DCU Fic/Art Valentine's Day Challenge, and merfilly's Valentine's Day Flashfic Challenge. And! I just received the chocolate scented bath spa set my hubby ordered for me as a surprise. *wibble* Guess what *I'm* doing later (a la Lois in this fic)? ^_~
Song Notes: I fell in love with "Eternal Flame" when I was ten years old. Sung it to myself endlessly for days at a time. Lyrics can be found here, though every line makes an appearance in the fic.
Happy Valentine's Day, everyone!! :D
Eternal Flame
As soon as Lois took one look out the lobby doors at the Daily Planet, she mentally dug in her heels. Oh, hell no. Not after the day I've had... Bad enough that her Valentine's Day had turned into a total wreck as soon as she'd left the house, but really. Rain? Why!? And not just any old rain, either, but pouring buckets of cats and dogs, curtains of rain sluicing in great waves as they descended, angrily punishing the pavement outside the building. No way.
Standing off to one side as other staffers made their way out of the building, she stared, disheartened, at the waterlogged city before her. Maybe she could call for Clark. Just this once. Surely he wouldn't mind giving his wife a warm, dry lift home. Surely!
But the reality of the situation slammed into her like a Metro bus with no breaks. Clark was still out working that earthquake in Indonesia. Damn. Of all the times to be... No, she shook off her train of thought, discouraged. It doesn't matter how bad a day I've had. Other people have had worse. A lot worse.
Gathering her last bits of resolve, tattered after the disaster February 14th had been, she pressed into the revolving doors. The doors swung around, and in an instant, she was immediately assaulted, the rain pouring right past the collar of her coat and down her shirt. Dammit, she gritted her teeth, forcing down the sneer that pulled at the corner of her mouth. That's right, I'm soaked. And not just a little soaked... Ugh, she could feel the water soaking through and underneath her bra. Of all the places... she grumbled as she stepped out over the sidewalk to hail a cab at the curb.
Instead of a cab, she got a hardy splash of filthy water from the gutter when the next yellow taxi flew right past her to pick up another staffer she recognized from international. Bitch.
Another three tries finally netted her a ride home - can't believe I left the car at home today, she groaned to herself as she slid into the back seat - and she couldn't give the address of their apartment fast enough. The ride, as it turned out, was like the worst of roller coasters. Careening around turns, swerving from lane to lane, even cutting off a flower delivery truck. Serves them right, Lois silently cheered at that particular move, more than a little bitter about the holiday.
Finally home, or at least, inside the building, she attempted to wring out some of the water still dripping from her hair, coat, and skirt. Ruined, she grumbled. All ruined. She wouldn't be able to wear her heels again at all; suede has never taken to water well.
And if all that wasn't enough, just another in a long string of sappy love songs was playing in the elevator as she rode it up to their floor. Damned elevator music, she seethed.
...give me your hand, darling...
She wanted nothing more than to strangle the bastard that had programmed that particular selection into the music system.
Romantic BS.
...do you feel the same? Or am I only dreaming...
When the elevator dinged and at last admitted her to her floor, she heaved a sigh, thankful Jason was with Richard for the week. Their little boy did not need to see Mommy soaked and miserable, ready to kill the next person that said the wrong thing to her. No, definitely better that he was out of the apartment today.
But it just wasn't fair that she didn't have a better reason for him to be with his other dad. She'd have wanted nothing better than for Clark to be waiting for her with a hot bath and a candlelit dinner, maybe a jar of chocolate body paint and a blindfold. God, they hadn't had a romantic evening alone in months. Damn disasters.
...I don't wanna lose this feeeeeeeling...
Great, now the elevator music was stuck on an endless loop in her head. Just what I need. Turning the key in the lock, she swung open the door and stepped inside, immediately stripping off her coat and kicking off her ruined heels. Blech.
...I believe, it's meant to be, darling...
Door shut and locked behind her. Purse tossed onto the coat rack.
“That's it, I'm getting a bath,” she whined to the empty living room, stripping off her clothes as she headed back through the bedroom to the bathroom, peeling away layers sticky with Metropolis rain. A few turns of the faucet and a stopper in the drain. A squirt full of bubbles. A few vanilla and lavender scented candles to relax with. The bathroom light turned off. There.
...is this burning... an eternal flame...
Relaxing into the tub had never felt so good, the heat easing the ache in her body, the aroma of the bubble bath and the candles easing the ache in her soul, if only marginally. She realized she could probably fall asleep there if she wanted to.
But what good would it do for Clark to come home to her drowned corpse floating in the tub? Dammit.
Resolving to stay awake, she washed her hair, scrubbing out the filth of city rain and replacing it with strawberry scented shampoo and conditioner - Clark's favorite, if not hers. At least she could indulge him that, if he ever got his ass home.
But, God, why did it have to be today, of all days, that he had to attend to a major disaster? Still not at all used to sharing him with the world, she grumbled to herself about damned heroes and their Mission, as their friend in Gotham would put it.
And that only made her crankier.
...I watch you when you are sleeping, you belong to me...
She didn't notice the frustrated tears slipping down her cheeks until she absently reached up to swipe them away. Dammit, she choked on a sob.
“Lois?”
...say my name, sun shines through the rain...
“Clark!?” she called back at the sound of her husband's voice, her heart lifting, soaring with it.
The bathroom door swung open, and Clark smiled down at her, leaning against the door jam and crossing his arms over his chest. “Honey, I'm home,” he teased.
“No time to change?” she lifted an eyebrow at him, eying his wet uniform with a smirk to cover the fact that she'd let herself cry.
“You sounded upset. I didn't want to waste any time.”
“Hmph, where were you an hour ago?” Lois grumbled, her face falling with the frustration of her day.
“Still in Indonesia. I was double checking the worst of the devastated areas for victims. You know there's nowhere I would have rather been than here with you.”
A heavy sigh. “I know. I'm sorry.” As water dripped down from her hair, she swiped a hand over her face again, hoping he couldn't see how bloodshot her eyes probably were. “I just... just had a really bad day, Clark.”
With a faint, gasping breath and a sudden expression of regret, Clark wasted even less time kneeling next to the tub and gathering his wife into his arms, bubbles squishing out of the way. “I'm so sorry, Lois... I heard what happened with Tom.”
“Heh,” she chuckled dryly as she let his heat envelop her. Even better than the bath. “Well, he just picked the wrong day to get on my nerves.” Arguing with the City Editor over a piece on the Mayor's reelection campaign hadn't been on her list of priorities at all. Especially after what would soon become known as the 'Infamous Espresso Incident'.
Clark drew back just a little to look her in the eyes. “Lois, no day is a good day to get on Mad Dog Lane's nerves,” he smirked wryly.
“Damn right,” she agreed, dropping her head onto his shoulder.
...a whole life so lonely, and then you come and ease the pain...
“Your suit's all wet, and I'm getting bubbles all over it,” she sighed absently, feeling too mentally exhausted to offer up anything intelligent.
“I came in through the same rain you did, Lois, it'll wash,” Clark chuckled gently, still holding her close over the side of the tub. After a moment, he drew back. “All right, scoot over.”
Lois blinked at him as he let her go and stood. “What?”
“Scoot over,” he smiled mischievously, detaching his cape and pulling off his boots. “As in, make room.”
“But... there isn't enough room in here for the both of us!” she gaped at him as he made short work of stripping off his uniform.
But damn, he was a sight to behold. She never could quite get over it.
“Sure there is. Here, stand up,” he suggested, offering her his hand.
...close your eyes, give me your hand, darling...
With her eyebrows lifted, she took it, and braved the cold bathroom air as he stepped in beside her.
The brush of a kiss against her lips, and he was sliding down into the tub, pulling her with him. “Lay back.”
And that was it. They fit, albeit a little awkwardly, with Clark's knees sticking up out of the water. “How did-?”
Clark let out a hearty chuckle. “It's a bigger tub than you think,” he smirked, his lips grazing her ear as he piled the shimmering bubbles back over top them both, Lois nestled onto his lap and laying against his chest.
...do you feel my heart beating? Do you understand...
The steady thump of his heartbeat beneath her was the most soothing thing she'd felt all day, the warm weight of his arms around her holding her close was all the reassurance she needed. Laying her head back, she nuzzled into his neck, breathing in his unique scent.
...do you feel the same? Or am I only dreaming...
Finally, all the frustration of the day began to evaporate.
“Better?”
“Much,” she drawled, her heart feeling that familiar ache she suffered when in Clark's presence. No matter that they'd been married a year already. No matter all the things that had passed between them before, all the anguish and tangled mess of his disappearance and return. With Clark... it was like...
...sun shines through the rain...
Exactly.
“I love you,” she whispered, tilting her face up to kiss his jaw and catching the candlelight flickering in his dark eyes.
...I don't wanna lose this feeeeeeeling...
“I love you so much, Lois,” he sighed in return, shifting to kiss her properly, hands ghosting over her belly beneath the bubbles and the water.
“Mmmmm...” she murmured, heat deep inside her beginning to rise as she shifted on his lap, feeling his firmly muscled body and baby-smooth skin against her back, legs, and behind.
...or is this burning... an eternaaaallll flaaaaaame!!
Finally, Lois gave herself over to the sappy love song looping in her head and the desire stirring in her even as she felt Clark's beneath her. At this rate, Valentine's Day might not be such a lost cause, after all...
* * * * *
Title: Eternal Flame
Fandom: DCU/Superman Returns
Pairing: Clark/Lois
Rating: R (just in case, for naked Clark, and Lois swearing)
Word Count: 1,856
Prompt: For 12days_of_clois: #20: Eternal Flame
Summary: Lois is having the worst Valentine's Day in history. Just when she thinks the day is a completely lost cause, things take a surprising turn.
Author's Notes: This is set almost a year and a half after the events of Superman: Aftermath, so... today! No worries if you haven't read Aftermath. Pretty much everything is spelled out in the fic. Clark and Lois are married now, and they share custody of Jason with Richard. They also live in Lois's old apartment, as seen in STM and SII. ^_^ This fic also happens to fit bradygirl_12's 2008 DCU Fic/Art Valentine's Day Challenge, and merfilly's Valentine's Day Flashfic Challenge. And! I just received the chocolate scented bath spa set my hubby ordered for me as a surprise. *wibble* Guess what *I'm* doing later (a la Lois in this fic)? ^_~
Song Notes: I fell in love with "Eternal Flame" when I was ten years old. Sung it to myself endlessly for days at a time. Lyrics can be found here, though every line makes an appearance in the fic.
Happy Valentine's Day, everyone!! :D
Eternal Flame
As soon as Lois took one look out the lobby doors at the Daily Planet, she mentally dug in her heels. Oh, hell no. Not after the day I've had... Bad enough that her Valentine's Day had turned into a total wreck as soon as she'd left the house, but really. Rain? Why!? And not just any old rain, either, but pouring buckets of cats and dogs, curtains of rain sluicing in great waves as they descended, angrily punishing the pavement outside the building. No way.
Standing off to one side as other staffers made their way out of the building, she stared, disheartened, at the waterlogged city before her. Maybe she could call for Clark. Just this once. Surely he wouldn't mind giving his wife a warm, dry lift home. Surely!
But the reality of the situation slammed into her like a Metro bus with no breaks. Clark was still out working that earthquake in Indonesia. Damn. Of all the times to be... No, she shook off her train of thought, discouraged. It doesn't matter how bad a day I've had. Other people have had worse. A lot worse.
Gathering her last bits of resolve, tattered after the disaster February 14th had been, she pressed into the revolving doors. The doors swung around, and in an instant, she was immediately assaulted, the rain pouring right past the collar of her coat and down her shirt. Dammit, she gritted her teeth, forcing down the sneer that pulled at the corner of her mouth. That's right, I'm soaked. And not just a little soaked... Ugh, she could feel the water soaking through and underneath her bra. Of all the places... she grumbled as she stepped out over the sidewalk to hail a cab at the curb.
Instead of a cab, she got a hardy splash of filthy water from the gutter when the next yellow taxi flew right past her to pick up another staffer she recognized from international. Bitch.
Another three tries finally netted her a ride home - can't believe I left the car at home today, she groaned to herself as she slid into the back seat - and she couldn't give the address of their apartment fast enough. The ride, as it turned out, was like the worst of roller coasters. Careening around turns, swerving from lane to lane, even cutting off a flower delivery truck. Serves them right, Lois silently cheered at that particular move, more than a little bitter about the holiday.
Finally home, or at least, inside the building, she attempted to wring out some of the water still dripping from her hair, coat, and skirt. Ruined, she grumbled. All ruined. She wouldn't be able to wear her heels again at all; suede has never taken to water well.
And if all that wasn't enough, just another in a long string of sappy love songs was playing in the elevator as she rode it up to their floor. Damned elevator music, she seethed.
...give me your hand, darling...
She wanted nothing more than to strangle the bastard that had programmed that particular selection into the music system.
Romantic BS.
...do you feel the same? Or am I only dreaming...
When the elevator dinged and at last admitted her to her floor, she heaved a sigh, thankful Jason was with Richard for the week. Their little boy did not need to see Mommy soaked and miserable, ready to kill the next person that said the wrong thing to her. No, definitely better that he was out of the apartment today.
But it just wasn't fair that she didn't have a better reason for him to be with his other dad. She'd have wanted nothing better than for Clark to be waiting for her with a hot bath and a candlelit dinner, maybe a jar of chocolate body paint and a blindfold. God, they hadn't had a romantic evening alone in months. Damn disasters.
...I don't wanna lose this feeeeeeeling...
Great, now the elevator music was stuck on an endless loop in her head. Just what I need. Turning the key in the lock, she swung open the door and stepped inside, immediately stripping off her coat and kicking off her ruined heels. Blech.
...I believe, it's meant to be, darling...
Door shut and locked behind her. Purse tossed onto the coat rack.
“That's it, I'm getting a bath,” she whined to the empty living room, stripping off her clothes as she headed back through the bedroom to the bathroom, peeling away layers sticky with Metropolis rain. A few turns of the faucet and a stopper in the drain. A squirt full of bubbles. A few vanilla and lavender scented candles to relax with. The bathroom light turned off. There.
...is this burning... an eternal flame...
Relaxing into the tub had never felt so good, the heat easing the ache in her body, the aroma of the bubble bath and the candles easing the ache in her soul, if only marginally. She realized she could probably fall asleep there if she wanted to.
But what good would it do for Clark to come home to her drowned corpse floating in the tub? Dammit.
Resolving to stay awake, she washed her hair, scrubbing out the filth of city rain and replacing it with strawberry scented shampoo and conditioner - Clark's favorite, if not hers. At least she could indulge him that, if he ever got his ass home.
But, God, why did it have to be today, of all days, that he had to attend to a major disaster? Still not at all used to sharing him with the world, she grumbled to herself about damned heroes and their Mission, as their friend in Gotham would put it.
And that only made her crankier.
...I watch you when you are sleeping, you belong to me...
She didn't notice the frustrated tears slipping down her cheeks until she absently reached up to swipe them away. Dammit, she choked on a sob.
“Lois?”
...say my name, sun shines through the rain...
“Clark!?” she called back at the sound of her husband's voice, her heart lifting, soaring with it.
The bathroom door swung open, and Clark smiled down at her, leaning against the door jam and crossing his arms over his chest. “Honey, I'm home,” he teased.
“No time to change?” she lifted an eyebrow at him, eying his wet uniform with a smirk to cover the fact that she'd let herself cry.
“You sounded upset. I didn't want to waste any time.”
“Hmph, where were you an hour ago?” Lois grumbled, her face falling with the frustration of her day.
“Still in Indonesia. I was double checking the worst of the devastated areas for victims. You know there's nowhere I would have rather been than here with you.”
A heavy sigh. “I know. I'm sorry.” As water dripped down from her hair, she swiped a hand over her face again, hoping he couldn't see how bloodshot her eyes probably were. “I just... just had a really bad day, Clark.”
With a faint, gasping breath and a sudden expression of regret, Clark wasted even less time kneeling next to the tub and gathering his wife into his arms, bubbles squishing out of the way. “I'm so sorry, Lois... I heard what happened with Tom.”
“Heh,” she chuckled dryly as she let his heat envelop her. Even better than the bath. “Well, he just picked the wrong day to get on my nerves.” Arguing with the City Editor over a piece on the Mayor's reelection campaign hadn't been on her list of priorities at all. Especially after what would soon become known as the 'Infamous Espresso Incident'.
Clark drew back just a little to look her in the eyes. “Lois, no day is a good day to get on Mad Dog Lane's nerves,” he smirked wryly.
“Damn right,” she agreed, dropping her head onto his shoulder.
...a whole life so lonely, and then you come and ease the pain...
“Your suit's all wet, and I'm getting bubbles all over it,” she sighed absently, feeling too mentally exhausted to offer up anything intelligent.
“I came in through the same rain you did, Lois, it'll wash,” Clark chuckled gently, still holding her close over the side of the tub. After a moment, he drew back. “All right, scoot over.”
Lois blinked at him as he let her go and stood. “What?”
“Scoot over,” he smiled mischievously, detaching his cape and pulling off his boots. “As in, make room.”
“But... there isn't enough room in here for the both of us!” she gaped at him as he made short work of stripping off his uniform.
But damn, he was a sight to behold. She never could quite get over it.
“Sure there is. Here, stand up,” he suggested, offering her his hand.
...close your eyes, give me your hand, darling...
With her eyebrows lifted, she took it, and braved the cold bathroom air as he stepped in beside her.
The brush of a kiss against her lips, and he was sliding down into the tub, pulling her with him. “Lay back.”
And that was it. They fit, albeit a little awkwardly, with Clark's knees sticking up out of the water. “How did-?”
Clark let out a hearty chuckle. “It's a bigger tub than you think,” he smirked, his lips grazing her ear as he piled the shimmering bubbles back over top them both, Lois nestled onto his lap and laying against his chest.
...do you feel my heart beating? Do you understand...
The steady thump of his heartbeat beneath her was the most soothing thing she'd felt all day, the warm weight of his arms around her holding her close was all the reassurance she needed. Laying her head back, she nuzzled into his neck, breathing in his unique scent.
...do you feel the same? Or am I only dreaming...
Finally, all the frustration of the day began to evaporate.
“Better?”
“Much,” she drawled, her heart feeling that familiar ache she suffered when in Clark's presence. No matter that they'd been married a year already. No matter all the things that had passed between them before, all the anguish and tangled mess of his disappearance and return. With Clark... it was like...
...sun shines through the rain...
Exactly.
“I love you,” she whispered, tilting her face up to kiss his jaw and catching the candlelight flickering in his dark eyes.
...I don't wanna lose this feeeeeeeling...
“I love you so much, Lois,” he sighed in return, shifting to kiss her properly, hands ghosting over her belly beneath the bubbles and the water.
“Mmmmm...” she murmured, heat deep inside her beginning to rise as she shifted on his lap, feeling his firmly muscled body and baby-smooth skin against her back, legs, and behind.
...or is this burning... an eternaaaallll flaaaaaame!!
Finally, Lois gave herself over to the sappy love song looping in her head and the desire stirring in her even as she felt Clark's beneath her. At this rate, Valentine's Day might not be such a lost cause, after all...
* * * * *