The after-party.

Clark and Lois were walking along the corridors of Smallville High, on a mission to give Chloe her birthday present. After all the witchy shenanigans during the party, the crazy and dangerous shenanigans of the following day, and the awkward tension of the day after that, they felt it was better to give Chloe her present when everybody was feeling like their normal selves once more. It was after school hours so the place was empty but Chloe was still busy working at the Torch.

"Seriously Clark, did you wrap that blindfolded?" snarked Lois, pointing to the badly wrapped gift in his hands. There was tape all over the shiny blue wrapping paper, the red ribbon had become twisted and loosened, and the decorative red bow was sitting on top looking rather forlorn.

It would be a pretty impressive effort from someone having been blindfolded, Clark thought. In reality, it did look amateurish but he wasn't going to be fazed. "It's what's on the inside that counts."

It hadn't escaped his notice that Lois was a lot less tomboyish since starting at Met U. Her choice of clothes were much more feminine and she wore her hair down and loose rather than tying or clipping it in any way. It really suited her and seemed to mellow her rough edges. The personality was still the same however, but the package was far less likely to stir irritation in him from the off. Maybe someone had caught her eye on campus and she was trying to impress them. Clark smiled inwardly. As long as she didn't speak, she probably would impress them.

Chloe was sitting by her computer at the Torch, putting some finishing touches to an article for the next issue when she saw her cousin and her best friend enter carrying a large gift-wrapped box. She knew they were going to bring over her present, yet it still amazed her that they'd chosen to pool together for one great gift. They would argue to the contrary but there had been many occasions where the pair of them were in sync. Very much like a couple.

Chloe took the package from Clark and set it on the table. She couldn't help but point out the shoddy handiwork of the gift-wrapping. "Gee, I wonder who wrapped this present?"

"I have many skills. This just isn't one of them," said Clark defensively, drawing a smile out of the two cousins.

"We would have given it to you at the party," explained Lois, before ideas of what may or may not have happened at the party became uppermost in her thoughts, "…but then…well, I don't know what comes after 'then', I think it involved words like 'naked' and 'dancing'."

She suddenly felt extremely nervous, especially as Clark was still standing beside her. When they'd woken up in the Kawatche caves, Clark was there. She knew he must have some idea of what had happened because she had no memory at all. The last thing she could remember was meeting Lana with Chloe before the party. She'd woken up only to find that she was dressed like a dominatrix, and she wanted to know why. Clark hadn't exactly been forthcoming about the attire, only saying that the three of them had been possessed by the spirits of 17th century witches. Still, Lois needed to know if she'd done anything embarrassing.

"You didn't happen to see any of that did ya?" The blush was inching its way up her neck.

Clark knew he held all the cards here. Neither Lois nor Chloe had done anything in particular that they might wish to erase from memory, but what harm was there in making them think they'd partaken in a hedonistic thrill ride? While Lois was airing her fears, he made a point of avoiding eye contact with the two cousins just to see how they might squirm. It was a way to get back at them for having been emasculated while they were possessed, and just a bit of harmless fun.

"Well it's all kinda fuzzy." He didn't sound at all convincing.

Lois began to squirm as the blush crept up further, but Chloe looked at him, dubious about his claims.

"How fuzzy?"

"I just recall a few birthmarks."

Clark beamed wide as he looked them both in the eye. This time, Chloe was the one to squirm while Lois half-smirked at his cheek for toying with them. Still, her face was blushing profusely now.

"Oh god!" Chloe uttered, a little mortified. "A girl waits her whole life to turn 18 and she can't even remember her own naked birthday party."

Lois then decided to turn the tables on Clark. She'd often accused him of checking her out even though she knew he hadn't, just to annoy him. She didn't know if he'd checked her out at the party or at the caves, but he had walked into her dorm a week earlier and watched her air guitaring to the strains of AC/DC. Given how little she'd been wearing, he must have had a good ogle at her.

"See…witch-hunts, memory loss and a miraculous rescue by Clark 'The Pervert' Kent. Another typical day in Smallville!"

She grinned smugly at him, raising her eyes, leaving him to stare at her incredulously for being dubbed a pervert. He hadn't perved over any of them while they were possessed, and he hadn't perved over Lois when he'd caught her rocking out in her dorm. He'd simply not paid attention to anything else at that moment. Wait, was that perving? He was now getting annoyed again.

Chloe broke up the tension because she still had a present to unwrap. "Alright, present time."

Sitting down on her chair, she tore away the wrapping paper to reveal a white box. Opening the box, she saw the typewriter. The glossy black keys, the brand new ribbon and the manufacturer's name stamped onto the back plate where the paper was fed in. Only one thought came to mind when looking at it - Nellie Bly. Chloe was so touched, her eyes began to moisten.

"Oh my god, you guys!" It was soft-spoken to denote how taken aback she was, and she put her hand on her heart.

"It's an Underwood from 1899," Lois explained, though she knew Chloe would recognise it.

"I know. It's the model Nellie Bly used when she was writing in New York at the turn of the century."

"We figured two great reporters should own the same typewriter," added Clark, to point out the thought process behind such a gift.

"Thank You! I love it." Chloe was getting overcome with emotion. She got up and stepped over to Clark and Lois, giving each a kiss on the cheek. "God. Thank you!"

Clark smiled. "You're welcome."

"This is the best birthday I can't remember."

They all laughed, and Clark and Lois both nodded to each other. They had successfully managed to put their bickering aside briefly to come together and do something that left the one person who meant so much to them both absolutely thunderstruck. Not only was the gift of high sentimental value to Chloe, but it was a joint gift from her two favourite people in the whole world, and that meant more to her than anything else. She would soon rock the world as a reporter.

FIN.