Kal-El was an alien, therefore, his mind was nothing like a human being's – maybe even beyond human comprehension. However, because Kal had lived on earth (under the guardianship of two very human parents) ever since he was just a little baby – he could think very human thoughts. He even had a human name! His birth certificate (forged of course) read 'Clark Jerome Kent'.

To tell the truth, Kal felt much closer to the name 'Clark' than he ever did towards 'Kal', or Superman, which the majority of the population now knew him as. In fact, he didn't even know that his real name was 'Kal' till he was much much older. And 'Superman' just sounded silly and cliché sometimes.

He liked being called Clark – and recently – *especially* when it rolled off the tongue of a certain someone who had a hobby of dressing up as a giant bat to scare the living daylight out of criminals.

The Batman, yes, although Clark much preferred to call him Bruce (when criminals weren't in earshot distance of course, Clark had perfect appreciation for the importance of secret identities – and he was very pleased to be among the select few who could call Bruce 'Bruce' when he was in his bogyman attire).

Bruce too, like Clark, was known to much of the population as his alter-ego – 'Batman'. Despite his rivalling fame to Superman, he couldn't say 'the majority of the population' this time, because Bruce Wayne, the man himself was quite a celebrity as well. The young multi-billionaire was even dubbed 'Prince of Gotham' by the tabloid magazines and newspapers alike. Clark liked to read these newspapers (and the magazines in the privacy of his apartment, as this was just too un-Clark-like to be seen doing in public).

Oh how Clark loved to think about this epitome of a spectacular social-economical phenomenon a billion times per second in his super brain. He was so love-struck these days that he just wanted to think about Bruce all the time, day and night – even during missions. Now that would have been classified as 'distracted' if it were to apply to any normal human beings, but being neither normal nor human, this classification failed miserably on Clark. Yep, Clark's super brain could handle several levels of intense concentration all at the same time. It was true. That was how Superman could manage to stop a robbery and evacuate a tsunami plus saving a life in one perfect flow – as in one millisecond he was tying up a criminal at mach 3 while homing in to the coordinates of an approaching tsunami, and next he was sweeping someone off the beach while interpreting a distant sound of distress as that of a feline in jeopardy, and in a flash he was catching a kitten falling out of a tree.

It was because of this extraordinary ability that Clark could afford to think about Bruce 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and yet never stuff-up a mission (none that's attributable to distraction anyways). Maybe it was a little like the subconscious to a normal human mind, Clark speculated.

Despite being an alien, Clark's thoughts could be so very human – especially the little fantasies about Bruce and him living in a cottage by the farm – a perfect replica of ma and pa's life from memory (may also be due to limited imagination).

Clark would imagine himself drinking coffee at the pinewood table, reading the daily newspaper while Bruce was making fried eggs and bacon in the kitchen. He liked to imagine some children about the house too, maybe two – both perfect replicas of the little Bruce he remembered seeing in his lover's old photo albums (Clark's subconscious clearly wanted to make human clones).

He imagined working on the farm in the summer heat, feeling the sun fill him with power and energy. Bruce would be home minding the garden and feeding the cats, the dogs, the horses, and maybe a bird or two. Clark would come back for lunch, Bruce's delicious sweet corn soup and lasagne would be ready and waiting. Bruce would ask how his morning was, and give him a soothing peck on the cheek.

In the lazy afternoon they would go shopping in the local markets. Clark would be pushing the trolley while Bruce picked out the best priced items and placed them in the cart, into a green bag (of course they wouldn't use those nasty, visually polluting plastic bags. Superman shall try and save earth in every possible way – including environmental awareness). Bruce would be planning their meals for the next 2 weeks, and buying ingredients according to plan A all the way to plan D (just in case any food gets burnt or ravaged by a number of pets). After shopping they'd go to a movie – watch something romantic like 'Gone with the Wind'.

When they returned home that night, they would play with their kids, tuck them to bed, and read them bed time stories about superheros till they sank into pleasant dreams filled with adventures. They would then sit outside on the veranda, cuddled together and count the stars; or they could huddle on the couch and watch a late night movie till Bruce fell asleep on his shoulder. Clark would gently wake him and tell him to go to bed. The latter would move groggily to the bathroom to brush his teeth and take a shower – always conscious of hygiene no matter how tired he was. Then Clark would follow suit and finally join Bruce in the bed. They would snuggle and fall into peaceful slumbers after exchanging 'I love you'.

Clark loved to fantasise perfect domestic days like this with Bruce.

Clark also loved to share everything with Bruce. However, Clark still felt like withholding this little fantasy from Bruce would be the best course of action.

Somehow, he didn't think Batman would appreciate being cast in the role of a house wife like his ma.