Chapter 4 - Details

After he'd told her where he came from, not leaving anything out, and how he got to be … well, him … they sat quietly for a few minutes. She was looking intently at her hands in her lap; he was studying her with just as much interest. Then, she broke the silence.

"What can you do?" She asked timidly.

"Oh, um, well … I'm really strong – like really, really strong – and, um, superfast. That's how we got back here, I ran." He smiled a little at her but she didn't look up, so he continued. "I can also hear really well, and from really far away. See through things and see really far away too-"

"You can see through things?" She interrupted, looking at him for the first time since they sat down.

"Well, yeah …" he said, averting his eyes from her this time. That's usually the one that bothers people, especially girls. I remember when Chloe found out-

"That's cool." She whispered, breaking his thoughts and looking back at her hands. "What else?"

He shifted a little where he sat. "I can, um … well, I call it – to myself I guess – heat vision … make things really hot just by looking at them, start fire if I want." He paused. "You wanna see?" He wanted to smack himself for asking that, like it was some sort of trick. But then she said, "Yeah," smiling at him.

So he shifted himself forward on the couch by her and stared across the coffee table to the fire place. When flames erupted on the logs, she jumped a little and clasped her hand to her mouth. "Oh!" she giggled, then looked back at him beaming. He couldn't help but beam back.

"I can put it out, too," he grinned.

"Really?" she grinned back. And he aimed his superbreath directly at the fire, extinguishing it immediately.

She was staring at where the fire had been and sighed, "That's amazing!" Clark had never felt so good in his life.

"Anything else?" She asked, still looking at the fireplace.

"Um, well, I'm sort of … I never get sick or hurt … hmm, the only thing that seems to … do any damage … is Kryptonite … um, meteor rock." He added the last part just for clarification.

"Wow." She said softly and he smiled just watching her.

"I should be able to fly," he said suddenly and then wondered why he said it.

"What do you mean? Why can't you?" She asked quickly, turning her body to him and looking at him now.

"Well, I mean … I should be able to … the way the sun works with my body … but, well, Kara says I think too much." He blushed and looked down.

She laughed, just a little at first and then more when she couldn't help herself. When he looked back at her, questioningly, she said, "Yeah, that fits." And they both smiled. Then she cleared her throat and looked away.

He copied her and then said, "So, about that doctor."

But she was shaking her head, "I'm fine, really, Clark. Just tired." She paused and then said quietly, "I never got shocked." When he didn't respond, because he was just too busy watching her, she said, "Guess you should add 'fooling a lie detector' to your list of abilities."

She was fidgeting with her own hands again when he realized what she meant. "I didn't lie," he said quickly and before she could say anything to argue, "I meant every word, Lois."

At the sound of her name, she looked at him quickly, then darted her eyes away again. He wanted so badly to ask her if she meant what she said too but he didn't want to push her. It'd been a long day.

He was just about to offer to take her home when she heaved out, "I'm just so tired."

Seeing her sink a little, the weight of the day finally bearing down, he said without thinking, "Let's get you to bed then." It wasn't until he moved to help her up and caught her stare that he realized what she thought he meant. "No, I mean …" he fumbled over his own words and backed away slightly. Then looking down at the floor he said nervously, "You're tired. Stay. You can take my bed. I …" Fumbling again, he continued, "I'll stay on the couch."

She smiled a little at him, and then stood. Touching his arm, lightly, she said, "Thanks, Clark." And she walked slowly by him and up the stairs.

He fell back onto the couch and heard it crack below him but he couldn't bring himself to check the damage.