Moment 4 ~ Requiem Part 1
"Hey Kent, any idea when Lois'll be back?"
Clark looked up to see Steve Lombard, sports reporter and resident Daily Planet flirt standing next to the woman in question's desk. A flash of irritation ran through him at the seemingly innocent question, because he didn't know, and he hadn't heard from Lois again since her middle-of-the-night voicemail.
"I don't know. Why?"
Steve grinned, holding up what appeared to be two tickets.
"I got these passes to the Met U basketball game this weekend. I was hoping the lovely Ms. Lane would like to accompany me."
The slick grin on the other man's face, combined with the fact that he was continuing to throw himself at Lois – not an uncommon occurrence Clark had discovered upon joining the Planet – gave Clark the sudden urge to toss one Steve Lombard through the nearest window all the way clear across town to Met U at that very moment.
Instead, he took a deep breath, and stood from his chair, inwardly gloating that he had a good four or five inches on the smarmy sports reporter.
"Lois doesn't like basketball."
Which, wasn't entirely true. Lois preferred football, but she liked basketball fine. Not that Steve needed to know that.
Steve arched an eyebrow at that. "And you know that, how?"
Clark shrugged as nonchalantly as he could. "We've been friends a long time."
"Even so, don't you think you should leave it up to her? Maybe Lois would be up for a night out, even if it is a basketball game. Especially after spending the last few weeks in the hospital with the Olsen kid."
"Or maybe she'd just wanna hang out and catch up with her friends," Clark retorted, trying to keep the hint of irritation out of his voice.
A knowing smirk suddenly appeared on Steve's face. "And by friends you mean you?"
Just a few weeks ago, if someone had called Clark out regarding Lois the way Steve had, he's sure he would have blushed and stuttered his way through a half-hearted denial. The feelings burgeoning inside of him at that point were too confusing, and he had done his best to avoid dealing with those feelings and all that they meant.
But now? Now he answered Steve's smirk with his own.
"For starters."
Steve simply nodded at that, an amused look on his face.
"Well, I guess it's a moot point anyway, since you don't know when she'll be back."
"Right," Clark affirmed coolly.
The two men looked at each other, sizing each other up.
"Just so you know, I have no intention of giving up on getting a date with her," Steve warned good-naturedly, though in reality, he knew that he didn't stand a chance against the man standing across from him. He'd seen enough of the two of them together in the few short months they'd sat across from each other at the Planet to know that if they ever stopped being so stubborn, there'd be nothing that would keep them from each other.
With a confidence Clark didn't quite feel, given Lois' avoidance of him in the past couple of weeks, he responded, "Knock yourself out."
With a chuckle at that, Steve turned and left the bullpen. Clark grabbed his coffee mug, with a little more force than was actually needed, and took a long sip of the warm liquid. Sitting back down, he glanced over to the still achingly empty desk across from him.
Steve wasn't her type, of that Clark was fairly sure.
Of course, he wasn't sure where he stood with her at the moment either, given their communication in the last few weeks consisted multiple voicemails he'd left on her phone and one she'd left on his.
He realized, though, that it didn't matter. He had no intention of giving up on her. Lois Lane was a tough nut to crack, no doubt.
A grin pulled at the corners of his mouth at his next thought.
It was a good thing he had super-strength.
