Chapter Forty-Six: Under the Same Roof
Metropolis was as busy and bustling as it had been when Silvia left. Honestly, she had never gotten use to South Africa so she was relieved to return to the city she grew up in. The weather was a lot more preferable there too. Instead of being engulfed in sweat, Silvia could feel the newly damp air sinking, bringing a delicate awareness of her skin that she hadn't had for a while.
Clark's apartment kept in most of the cold which, for the moment at least, was welcome. If it ever became a nuisance though she knew she could just stand close to Clark and instantly feel his warmth. The lucky bastard didn't feel the cold or the heat.
Silvia grunted and jumped to press one side of laminated paper against the wall. The blu-tack stuck to the surface and kept it there. She sighed in contentment, stepping back with her hands on her hips to look at her handy work. Posters were now splayed against one side of the bedroom wall, all of classic action movie heroes.
Clark, who had to leave for a brief meeting with the Justice League, returned to find Silvia standing proud in front of the pictures. His eyes widened. When Clark had asked her to live with him he hadn't thought about her obvious obsession... Somehow he felt a little silly for not foreseeing this.
The contrast was immediately apparent. Clark's (and now Silvia's) room was spotless and fairly reserved. There was nothing inside apart from the necessities - a bed, clothes and a wardrobe to put them in. It reflected him well, but now Silvia's influence clashed with the previous simplicity. Never did Clark think that the day would come when he would be greeted by Arnold Schwarzenegger's face upon arriving home... even less that the poster would be watching him sleep.
It took much longer than it usually would for Silvia to sense his presence, she was too lost in admiration for the action movie collage she had created.
Her blonde hair whipped quickly through the air as she turned, eyes beaming and mouth stretched into a grin. "Welcome back, Dorothy!"
Clark, despite not being too thrilled about the change in decoration, still felt something swell in his chest. There was something so heartwarming about returning home to the person you love. It reminds you constantly of why you're fighting for a better world. Clark cracked a smile right back at her, grateful that he had convinced her to return to Metropolis with him.
Silvia stepped beside him, linking her arm with his. Her eyes flicked back up to the wall with a contented sigh. "Aren't they just so cool?"
Clark glanced back at the wall in confusion. Arnold, Bruce Lee, Sylvester Stallone, Jackie Chan, Dolph Lundgren... All he saw were a bunch of actors in makeup and a carefully selected wardrobe. Sure, they were talented. Especially Bruce and Jackie for their martial arts backgrounds, but he wouldn't exactly call standing in front of a camera and waiting for them to edit in the danger 'cool'.
"Uhh... I guess?" Clark answered, unable to hide the amusement that leaked out in his voice. Silvia faced real life-threatening situations every day and was now living with one of the most powerful beings on Earth... but old action heroes were what she considered worth mentioning. She really was odd. "Is this what you were doing the whole time I was out?"
Silvia let out a nervous laugh. "No, I also did that."
Clark's gaze followed her hand as she pointed across the room. Sitting on top of the only set of draws in the room was a bunch of action figures. Clark shook his head. His bedroom was starting to look a lot like it belonged to a five year-old boy...
This wasn't something he could complain about though. He liked that there was a reminder that their relationship had progressed. The man shrugged off the new atmosphere, walking over to the cupboard and sliding loose fitting clothes over his costume.
"Well, think you can take a break from ruining my room?" Clark smirked turning to gesture out the door. Silvia only now started noticing the delicious smell coming from the living room. "I brought lunch."
The blonde dashed out of the room faster than he had expected. Clark chuckled and stepped over to the doorway to see her rummaging through the plastic bag placed carefully on the table. She pulled out a box with a grin and collapsed into the couch. Fried rice without the shrimp, it was her favourite Chinese food.
Silvia reached for the remote and turned the television on with a quick, and almost inaudible, 'thank you'. It was lucky that he had super hearing or he might not have heard it at all. Clark shook his head light-heartedly. She always managed to make words of gratitude sound like ones of annoyance.
As Clark sauntered over to grab his own food he could hear Silvia flick to channel 7. They had a movie reviewing show on at the moment, and knowing Silvia, she barely missed an episode.
The large man finally sat next to Silvia on the couch, passing her a few spring rolls that she took without even glancing at him. Her eyes were glued to the screen. They widened and a smirk quirked in the right side of her lips.
"They're making another movie about you?" She said, holding back a laugh. "You'd think they'd give it up after the first few years."
Clark's attention instantly turned to the television as well. On the screen was an early released poster of the new Superman movie; Dawn of Justice. It almost made Clark want to make an official announcement to stop making movies about him... but that felt like a breach to people's rights.
"That looks nothing like me." He groaned, stuffing a dumpling into his mouth. "Isn't that Magic Mike?" Clark asked, mouth full.
Silvia blinked at his comment, brow wrinkling. "Why do you call him Magic Mike? No one calls him Magic Mike."
"I didn't realise you cared so much about Magic Mike." Clark quipped, expertly wielding his chopsticks as he piled more food into his mouth.
"I don't. He looks like a monkey. And if you say Magic Mike one more time I'm going to strangle you."
Clark grinned teasingly, knowing very well that she couldn't hurt him even if she wanted to. "What's your beef with Magic Mike anyway? Every other woman seems to think he's attractive."
"Every other woman's wrong." Silvia said stubbornly, shooting him a half joking glare at the name. "He's nothing special."
"Or maybe he just reminds you too much of Bruce." Clark chuckled.
Silvia shrugged in response. "Maybe he should be playing Batman instead then. There's no way he can pull Superman off. He looks like he's constantly in a bad mood."
"Well, in that case, he'd make a pretty good Reaper."
That broke a smile onto her face. Still, she gave a huff. "No way. I'm too cool for him."
Just as Clark was about to reply, Silvia wrapped a hand over his mouth to hush him. A trailer for the movie had just started and she looked eager to see what monstrosity they had created. Clark didn't seem as keen. Movies based off Superheroes were fairly common, in fact, they were a guaranteed way for studios to make money. It was similar to making a show based off historical figures, they just guessed their way through the parts that weren't documented... and that was most of it with Superheroes.
They had made a decent amount based on Batman (despite him rarely working outside of Gotham), a few on Flash and Green Lantern, they even had a dozen on Shazam (Billy loved it, by the way). Every hero was quickly subject to movies... villains, however, were different. There was a large controversy over making murderers more famous than they already were. It was probably a big reason Reaper hadn't been subjected to it. Honestly, Clark was jealous that she hadn't suffered through it... They always got an alarming amount wrong.
Clark was almost too nervous to watch the trailer but his curiosity weighed out in the end. His eyes found the screen again just as a cinematic shot of Channing Tatum flashed across it. He was wearing a costume uncanny to Superman's... but he didn't fill it out as well.
The red cape was flowing behind him, likely held up by invisible strings behind the scenes. He was hovering over a criminal, hands on his hips. Now more than ever he looked like the complete opposite of Clark...
"Tell me where your hideout is, don't make me use force." Tatum growled, completely out of character.
The criminal cowered, and struggled to form words. Instead of waiting he rolled his right hand into a fist, striking it right across the criminal's jaw.
Silvia and Clark jumped at the action, faces paling with shock. If Superman had really done that the criminal would have been obliterated... but he seemed fine in the movie. They must have powered him down again... Silvia didn't understand why they didn't just make a Batman movie if they didn't want to make Superman accurately powerful.
"That's... terrible." Clark said in shock.
"Yeah..." Silvia replied, a smirk on her lips. "We're totally going to see it."
"What? No way. I never watch these things."
"Well, you are now."
The scene jumped, music playing in the background reminding them that it was just a trailer. The next character that appeared had their mouths falling open in disbelief. A woman wearing all black leather, a mask obscuring her face with a hand drawn skull on the front.
"I'm in a movie?!" Silvia screeched, unsure whether to be excited or terrified. Thankfully, the trailer decided that for her.
Reaper was holding a gun in her hand in one shot, standing over a bloody corpse, then the next minute the scene changed and she was tied to a chair. Her mask was off and Silvia gasped at the sight. Angelina Jolie... That looked nothing like her!
The woman struggled against the rope, whimpering and crying out "Save me, Superman!"
Silvia felt her blood boil in her veins. "What the fuck?! I would never say that! I don't need his help against a stupid piece of rope!"
She was pointing to Clark and yelling at the television as if it could hear her. The reporter felt a laugh arise in his throat. "Get use to it. They never get anything right."
Silvia slumped in her seat, crossing her arms and pouting angrily at the screen. "Is it too late to switch sides again?... They never made these when I was a vigilante..."
Clark moved closer to the fuming girl, patting a hand through her hair teasingly. "Yeah, we're living together so I'd say it's too late."
The screen flashed again and this time Reaper was standing with Superman, both of them holding each other's hands. Changing Tatum stared down at Angelina Jolie, trying to look loving but his expression was the same as in every other movie he was in.
"Stop killing people, Reaper... for me." He said in a voice more suiting for Batman.
"Anything for you, Superman!" Jolie cried, jumping onto him with a sobbed "I love you!"
Silvia inwardly cringed. Not only was the dialogue horrendously written, but their characters were laughable at best. "I don't want to watch it anymore..."
Clark was the one that seemed amused now. Their moods had completely switched sides. "Oh, that's too bad because I actually want to see it now."
The blonde glared over at him. She wanted to continue being frustrated, but when she saw the smile beaming on his face, she couldn't help but feel a weight lift from her chest. As irritating as their adaption of her was, this was only the first one that had been made. Clark probably had a ton about him. If he could ignore it then so could she... or so she thought.
The last part of the trailer came up, Reaper cuddling up to Batman in fear. Superman was fighting in the distance and Batman stood in front of her to defend the girl from Bane.
Silvia's whole face scrunched up once more. Bane?! She could take him on with one hand and a broken leg! And she would die before she ever got that close to Batman... She'd prefer to jump out of a plane with no parachute.
"Are you fucking kidding me?!" She yelled, standing up this time in the midst of her outrage. Fried rice spilled all over her lap and pooled onto the floor. A spring roll that was still held in her hand was crushed beneath the tense fist she was making. "I'm going to find whoever wrote this script and toss them off a building!"