Username: BkWurm1
Username of the prompt requester: Phillydragonldy - for Live Journal's Sunken Ship Challenge
The prompt: - Chloe is dog sitting Shelby and decides to confess her still very strong feelings for Clark to the dog's sympathetic ears. Because there is no way the secret would get out if Shelby is the only one she tells...right? (Hint: Wrong.) No Clark or Chloe as puppies please.
Title of the work: Sympathetic Doggie Ears
Pairing: Chloe & Clark
Type of fill: Fic,
Rating: General
Length: 6500 words
Author's note: Set four years after Clark first put on the suit.
FYI, in this world, Chloe never had a child. (Hey, the series officially ended with no word on who that kid belonged to and "season 11" will never be anything more to me than Brian Q Miller's illustrated fanfiction!.)
Sympathetic Doggie Ears
"Shelby! Dinner time!" Chloe tapped her fingernail against the metal bowl and called the old golden retriever's name a second time. "Shelby!" This time his ears twitched and Shelby slowly rose from his padded doggy bed in the living room. With a slow, but steady, click clack of his claws against the hardwood floors, he crossed into the kitchen.
"There you are boy." He gently wagged his tail at her voice and when the scent of his waiting meal reached his nostrils, even picked up his pace a little. Chloe stroked his long honey colored fur a couple times before giving him a final pat and going to the sink to wash her hands.
"Sorry about that Shelby. If I'd been thinking, I'd have washed my hands before petting you. When I mixed your hard and soft food together, I got some of the …let's call it gravy, on my hands," she informed him. Shelby didn't seem to mind and, apart from again gently waving his plumy tail at the sound of her voice, didn't look up from his dish.
"At least you are enjoying it." In the note Lois left, she informed Chloe the specialized soft food was a necessary change to Shelby's diet. Ten years ago when the Kents adopted him, the vet said he was at least a couple years old and for full sized dogs like Shelby, twelve put him firmly in the senior citizen category.
"If you ask me, you're looking pretty good for eighty-four years old."
Shelby's new feeding requirements left Chloe concerned. Too much in her life had come to an end lately. Shelby, she hoped, would be around for a long while to come. Thankfully, he was in pretty good shape for his age. Slower yes, a bit wider across the withers, and sporting a snow white muzzle but he was still the same sweet tempered, empathetic listener she used to sit with by the fire and his eager attitude this afternoon proved he still loved his daily walks even if he no longer tugged her along the path like he'd done when he first traded country living for life in the big city.
She'd only watched him a few times each year, usually when the go to neighbor kid was gone a couple weeks at Science Camp or away with his family on vacation, but it was enough to keep their bond strong and she always enjoyed the change in pace. In Star City, the schedule she and Oliver once kept was not so different than the one Lois and Clark still attempted now. For Chloe, the enforced daily walks let her slow down and smell the fresh air even if the required daily jaunts out also came with clutching a stinky bag of warm poo.
Hey, everything came with a price.
She tried to talk to Lois about the cost of rarely being home the same time as Clark, but each time, Lois had shrugged and said they liked it that way and she'd worry later if it became a problem. Chloe tried to explain it didn't work like that but Lois was set on finding that truth out for herself.
If she hadn't already found it out.
Chloe kept her suspicions to herself, but she was too good an investigator not to notice last time she visited that all of Clark's belongings had been moved into the home office. So had a really uncomfortable looking futon. Six months later, both the open futon (complete with rumpled sheets and pillows) and Clark's things remained. How long had Lois and Clark slept in separate bedrooms?
It had been four years since Superman was first seen saving the world. Three years since Lois and Clark first attempted to reschedule their interrupted wedding and two years since they stopped trying. Since then, Lois like to point out marriage was left over from a time when giving daughters away was a legal transaction. Her other favorite saying involved how marrying Clark would technically be pointless since Clark Kent was no more than an alias for an illegal alien.
Chloe disagreed with both sentiments but related to obsessing on the technicalities. After all, technically, impromptu drunken nuptials between a vigilante billionaire and woman with no identity tended not to be recognized in official legal records which, Chloe reminded herself, simply made everything easier after she and Oliver also stopped recognizing it as a marriage.
What was it they said about going out on a whimper?
Technically though- yup, see, she knew all about technicalities – technically her pseudo marriage ended with a final bang not a whimper but when she couldn't muster up the energy to care about Oliver's infidelity, Chloe knew it was pointless to go on pretending. Oliver agreed, though he made a few pointed comments about pretending that she still thought were unfair but in the end, she knew he wasn't entirely wrong.
Was it a good or bad sign that Clark and Lois were still pretending nothing was wrong? In the past Lois claimed they had an understanding but it was one Chloe did not understand.
Technically, she promised to butt out. That didn't keep her from worrying since Lois called and asked her to stay at the brownstone for an indefinite period of time. The empty closet in Lois's bedroom had her even more worried. Worried, but that was it. Beyond worrying, Chloe was determined to stay out of it.
"I'm not sure why I'm here Shelby, but on the bright side, I get to spend time with you."
Almost done with his food, Shelby paused from licking the bowl clean and looked at her long enough to do this twitchy thing with his eyes that made Chloe swear dogs came with eyebrows. Skeptical, judging eyebrows that asked just with who she'd really hoped to spend some time. Chloe leaned back against the counter and crossed her arms.
"Fine, I wouldn't hate it if he stopped by but that's not why I moved back to Metropolis. Oh, didn't I tell you, Shelby? I'm back for good." His tail thumped against the door of the dish washer in approval making a hollow sound. It was a more pleasant response than the snickering, 'Of course, you are', she'd had from Lois over the phone.
"I'm telling you Shelby, I love my cousin but I understand her less and less. I thought she would be pleased. Maybe she was, I honestly couldn't tell."
Lois's reaction reminded Chloe of the birthday gift Lois picked out and gave to her when she turned nine, a subscription to the Daily Planet in her very own name. Chloe had been thrilled but Lois relentlessly teased her for wanting it in the first place. She ignored Lois, an ability that had saved their friendship on more than one occasion, but Lois's sarcastic 'Of course you'd like it' still rung in her memory. Chloe shook her head, trying to clear away the confusion.
"Well, never mind that now. I'm back and you approve, so that's good enough for me." Chloe tapped her index finger on the apron of the stainless steel sink. Shelby's approval really would have to be good enough; with the extreme schedule Clark had been keeping, there was no telling if he'd even pop by. She pushed away from the counter.
"Tell you what, how about tomorrow we celebrate by heading over to…what was it called? That coffee shop by the other dog park, the one that's not a show dog hang out." Chloe snapped her fingers. "Dog Perks! I can have my first welcome home triple mocha latte and you can have one of their Bowser Biscotti." Just saying the name made her laugh. "God, I love Metropolis. As soon as Oliver and I were over, I wanted to come back – even before that if you want the truth. I just couldn't until I came to terms with…things."
Shelby looked up from his now empty bowl, either to ask her to expand her vague comment or inquire after seconds. Before Chloe could determine the proper interpretation, the windows in the living room rattled. The townhouse came with delightfully old fashioned floor to ceiling double windows that swung open inside. She'd call them French doors if the panes led to anything more than the empty alley separating them from the windowless brick wall of the neighboring building. The other owners in the building boarded over the uninspiring view years ago but Clark had seen the potential and restored the original feature, making it perfect for Superman's discrete comings and goings. Even for superheroes, house hunting always came down to location, location, location.
Expecting to see him come flying in on the evening's air, Chloe whispered a breathless, "Clark," but the window's stayed closed. She wasn't the only one fooled. Shelby bounded over like he was twelve weeks rather than twelve years old. He wagged his tail so hard his whole rear end swung right to left. He yipped and whined, pawing at the glass.
"Oh sweetie, he's not here." She opened the windows and looked around just to be sure. Only the warm breeze blew in. "See, just the wind." Mournfully, Shelby whined and then laid down with a groan, his head resting on his paws staring out into the alleyway. Chloe sat on the floor next to the disappointed dog.
"You miss him too. Yeah, I hear on top of extra patrols, he's been busy building the Watchtower Space Station. At least that's almost done. I'm sure you will see more of him soon."
The eyebrows were back in action giving the woe is me, puppy dog look pooches made famous. He let out a heavy sigh and returned to staring sadly at the empty alley.
"Now Shelby, you can't slip into a depression every time the window rattles," she instructed. She ran her hand over the retriever's back. Over on the coffee table, pages from that day's newspaper stirred as another strong breeze blew in. Chloe snapped her head toward the window, scanning the alleyway.
Nothing.
She sighed and then laughed. She needed to take her own advice.