Title: Gemstones
Author: Tayler
Rating: PG
Summary: Clark gives Lois an odd birthday present. It might just be exactly what she needed.
Spoilers: None
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Notes: This is the first one-shot that I was able to keep as a one-shot instead of making it somehow morph into an amazingly long story. It's just a cute little thing I wrote awhile back for my mom's birthday. Please tell me what you think.
Gemstones
The storm caused lightning to streak chaotically across the sky, lighting up the land below before fading away and plunging it back into the darkness of the tumultuous night. Rain poured down from the dark, heavy clouds and splattered down to the ground below, drenching anyone who was unfortunate enough to be coming home at such a late hour. The street was abandoned except for a small car driving slowly through the rain to prevent an accident, and a young woman who ran down the street until she stopped suddenly at the door to one of the small rental houses that lined the normally busy street.
The door to the small, cramped home slammed loudly as the woman entered. She stood somberly at the closed door and turned to lock each of the three locks that were newly installed for her protection. When it came to living in this part of the city, one could never be too careful.
She stood there dripping from head to toe, looking miserable. The storm had been sudden and completely unsuspected. The cold water dripped down from her soaked clothing and her long hair clung sloppily to her face. She glanced around the dimly lit living room and stormed off into her bedroom to get out of the sodden clothing. The wet clothing was then thrown into the bathtub to dry and the fuzzy, white robe that hung from her bathroom door was wrapped around her shivering form. She grabbed a towel off of the rack and made a half hearted attempt to dry her tangled mess of hair before sighing and throwing the towel into the laundry basket.
Feeling slightly more comfortable and definitely less wet, she reentered the living room and slowly approached the small wooden table that was strategically placed at an angle next to the big, comfy recliner. Her confidante stared back at her silently.
"Hi, Sapphire. How was your day?" she spoke to it in a tired voice.
Receiving no response she plopped herself down into the recliner and continued to gaze appreciatively at Sapphire.
"I'm so stupid. I work all day and end up staying way later than I had planned, and I get rained on when I try to get away from work to come home to prepare for my date which will now be cancelled because you can't have dinner in the moonlight when it is raining cats and dogs outside. When I finally get my time to unwind, I spend it talking to my fish. What is wrong with me?" Lois frowned while continuing to watch Sapphire swim aimlessly around her aquarium.
"I'm sorry, sweetheart. It's nothing personal. I just know that if anyone besides myself was sitting in their living room having small talk with their pet fish, I would seriously laugh my ass off while making fun of them mercilessly."
Sapphire swam to the top of her tank to nibble at an air bubble.
"Does that make me a hypocrite?" Lois rambled on.
Sapphire continued to swim. Lois looked at her thoughtfully as if Sapphire was really giving her a well-thought-out answer.
"I suppose you are right. I am a big hypocrite. Does it make me a bad person?"
Sapphire stopped swimming in circles and floated steadily staring at its owner.
"Sometimes I'm not so sure. If I'm such a great person, them why does my life have to be so damn hard?"
A bubble floated lazily away from Sapphire's lips and up to the top of the tank.
"Don't look at me that way. You live in a mini- aquarium by yourself."
Sapphire refused to look away, and released another tiny bubble from its mouth.
"Well, yes, I live by myself too, but…? I suppose that this dinky house could be looked at as my fishbowl. How pathetic is that?"
Sapphire continued to swim left and right, back and forth across Lois' field of view.
"Smart fish," Lois muttered.
Sapphire slowed her swimming pace briefly as if she was accepting Lois' comment as a compliment.
"Why did I let Clark convince me to get you? All you do is analyze me and make me feel like a complete loser."
Sapphire stopped again and stared sadly at Lois. The look on the blue fish's face appeared to be one of sympathy. 'You're not a loser.' The fish's tiny expression seemed to throw the thought into Lois's mind. She smiled weakly at her little fish.
"You are such a pretty fish though. You're much prettier than Ruby. You're more inquisitive too."
"Ruby must be a boy fish." Lois concluded.
Lois thought back to the day months before, when Clark came to her small house and forced her into going to the pet store. It had been her birthday and he had wanted to give her something special. Clark obviously had no idea what the word special meant. Who thinks that a pet fish is the 'it' gift to give? Well, Lois couldn't complain too much, once, back in high school this boy in her class who had been stuck as her Secret Santa had given her a stapler. She had been speechless. A stapler. That topped the list of odd gifts to give a classmate. What high school student went around asking people to give them a stapler? Lois was definitely not one of them.
Although she knew that the gift could be worse and she shouldn't complain, it didn't stop her from moaning and groaning the whole way there. She ultimately let herself be led into the aisle with all of the fish. They searched for thirty minutes. Several times she heard Clark mutter something about not believing that picking out a fish could be so difficult. Every time Clark pointed out an acceptable looking fish, Lois quickly rejected it. Her reasoning was that if she had to get a fish, she wanted the perfect fish.
Her eyes had fallen on the small betta fish just as she was about to give up all hope. The poor fish just floated there listless and pathetic. It looked completely alone and depressed. It looked the exact way she felt. Her heart went out to the sad, little fish. This would be her fish.
She had pointed out the sad, blue fish to Clark and couldn't help but notice his small smile.
"What?"
"Nothing," he replied casually while examining the fish. "I think it is cute."
"Don't get all sentimental on me, Smallville. It is a fish. It is not cute," she answered with confidence. It is kind of cute
While Lois went off to find the perfect fishbowl and supplies, Clark couldn't help but glance casually at the red betta fish that was floating in the bowl next to Lois' betta fish. Maybe he should get a fish too. It didn't seem like too much trouble. By the time they left the pet store, Clark ended up with a fish of his own, and they also bought one for Chloe. Lois had practically bought out the store when it came to buying fish supplies. When Clark told her that he wanted to get a fish too, she just had to drag him over to admire the styles and varieties of betta fish aquariums. Clark never realized that you needed so many supplies for one small fish. They each had their own aquarium with heat regulator, and filter. They stocked up on betta food and bought an information book about how to care for your betta fish. Clark looked into his wallet and realized that he barely had enough to get gas for the drive home. "Expensive little fish." he sighed heavily.
Buying the betta fish had been one hurdle for Lois and Clark. Naming them was a completely different predicament. For the whole ride home, Clark pestered her about what she would name the fish. He refused to let her keep his gift if she refused to name it.
"That is not what you are going to call that fish." Clark spoke sternly.
"Why not?" Lois replied stubbornly. "It is a fish. Let me keep things simple and call it Fishy?"
"That is pathetic, Lois. Use your imagination."
"I'm not four years old, Clark. You are talking to me like I am a preschooler watching Barney the Dinosaur. Forget using the imagination," Lois answered sarcastically.
"Please pick a name other than Fishy," Clark begged.
"I will think about it when we get back to the farm. Maybe Chloe has an idea for a name."
Lois, Clark, and Chloe each sat at a separate chair in the Kent kitchen while staring at three traveling fish containers. Silence hung over the table like a cloud. The three little fish, one red, one blue, and the last yellow, floated unaware of the troubles their new owners were having.
"Clarkie?" Lois suggested.
Clark groaned and an echoing groan accompanied it. Lois looked up from her gaze on the fish and stared at Clark.
"What? The second groan wasn't from me. It was from Shelby," Clark smirked while pointing to the dog lying under the table.
"Fine. No Clarkie." Lois grumbled.
"What about…? Never mind." Chloe mumbled as another idea was erased from her mind.
"So maybe I was wrong when I thought Chloe would be helpful when naming the fish," Lois said while avoiding Clark's amused smile. She regained her focus on her little blue fish. The sad betta didn't appear to be as depressed as it had been in the pet store. It was swimming in circles causing sunlight to reflect off of its fins. The light caused the fish to shimmer like it was made of blue diamonds. Lois smiled. Her fish had a name.
"What about Sapphire?" she suggested, pointing to her shining, blue fish.
"Sounds appropriate. It looks like a Sapphire," Chloe agreed.
Clark smiled and gazed thoughtfully at his own fish. "Well, if yours is going to be a Sapphire, maybe I should call mine Ruby. We can have gemstone fish."
Lois now sat in her living room smiling at the memory. It was a cute idea. The three little fish would be their gemstones. It was a unique way to name them. Lois laughed and stared lovingly at Sapphire. "I can't believe that Chloe ended up naming her little yellow fish Topaz? Chloe insisted on having her fish continue the gemstone naming pattern. It just had to be Topaz. Chloe never fails to amuse me."
A sharp knock on her door brought Lois out of her conversation with Sapphire.
"Who could that be?" Lois wondered.
The knock sounded again. This time it was louder and more urgent.
Lois carefully peered out of the peephole and smiled. She quickly undid the three locks and let the drenched figure enter her house.
"What are you doing here?" she asked as water dripped down his face.
"Well, since we couldn't have our first date out in the moonlight as I had planned, I figured that we could spend it inside watching the lightning." He raised his hand, and showed her a bag full of Chinese food that he had purchased on the way over. "Are you hungry?"
Lois smiled as she stared at the drenched man in front of her. "You are a strange one Clark Kent," she laughed as she took the bag from his hands and set it down on the coffee table. "Did you bother to use an umbrella?"
"Nah, I forgot it at home," he replied while trying to ring out his drenched white t-shirt.
Lois finally became aware of the fuzzy robe she was wearing. "Oh, let me go change into something nicer and I will bring you the plaid shirt you forgot here last week."
"Stay comfortable. I didn't mean to intrude or anything," Clark apologized.
"No. It's okay. I will be back in a second." Lois ran off into her bedroom, leaving Clark standing awkwardly in the middle of the living room. He gazed around the room until his eyes rested on Sapphire swimming happily in her aquarium. It was a good present after all.
Lois appeared again in front of him dressed in one of his old plaid shirts, and small, baggy shorts. "See, I'm still comfortable and now we can match." She tossed him his own plaid shirt.
"Thanks, Lois." he smiled gratefully as he put on the shirt and tossed the waterlogged one over by the door.
Lois's eyes widened at seeing Clark's wet chest even if it was only for a moment. She coughed as she tried to find her words. "Sit down," she finally said as she plopped down on the couch and gestured toward the spot next to her.
Clark gladly obliged and sat down. Their first date was about to begin. Sapphire looked on in silent admiration. The fish had seen all of the quiet glances that had passed between Lois and Clark. It was about time they actually started dating. Sapphire was a smart fish. She knew what those quiet glances meant. She had a feeling that from now on, she would be seeing a lot more of that Ruby fish. Maybe Topaz would visit, too.