This fic came to me when I was washing dishes and thinking how Superman would deal with that...
All my thanks to my best friend for editing/beta reading my Superman fics :)
Additional note: This English version is unbeta-ed. You've been warned ;)
Dishes
It was Sunday morning at Kent's farm. Lois and the twins were silent while having breakfast in the kitchen. In the counter, the TV was showing images of Superman rescuing victims of a landslide in Asia. Seconds later, Clark entered the kitchen with his super speed, and they finished eating the meal soon after. Before the teenagers could leave, Lois cleared her throat.
"Boys, remember to clear the table and wash the dishes" said their mother.
"Dad, can't you just…" Jon moved his hands and continued: "clear everything for us?"
Jordan and Jonathan turned to watch their father. Clark smiled over the cup of coffee he was holding. He already knew how this was going to end up, but he still answered to his blond son:
"No."
"But… you would finish right away and everything would be squeaky clean…" Both teenagers mumbled completely in sync.
Lois stood up, moved close to her sons and grabbed them from their shoulders. It was time to tell them about the first domestic moments of Lois and Clark.
OoOoO
Moving in with someone is hard. You have to set strict rules to make sure neither part loses his or her mind when they are suddenly sharing their personal space with the other. Lois was mindful of that, but nothing had prepared her to deal with living with Superman.
Usually, Clark was the ideal partner: a real gentleman, helpful, sweet. He was always happy to please her. However, his responsibilities as a hero limited how much time he could actually help with the house chores.
She could deal with the general upkeep of the apartment, but cooking and dishwashing were completely against her basic instincts. The best reporter of the Daily Planet hated those chores.
Clark, on the other hand, had grown with the formidable Martha Kent. She was a great cook and he had learned all he could from her. His father, Jonathan, always insisted that a gentleman's duty was to wash the dishes if someone else had cooked. That didn't mean that Clark enjoyed washing dishes. On the contrary, it was a chore he despised. Washing dishes implied being very careful of not breaking any piece of his mother's china. And he couldn't even speed up the task. He would never forget the time he broke his grandmother's precious teapot after using his speed to finish early. It wasn't something he wanted to repeat again, so he rather helped his mother cook from then on.
That morning Superman stopped multiple crimes in Metropolis, and during the evening he prevented a terrorist attack in Europe and saved some miners from an explosion in the Middle East. Clark Kent also dealt with all kinds of unexpected situations on the Daily Planet during the rest of the day. Back home, he prepared dinner for both of them hoping too have a quiet night. Due to his kryptonian biology, he couldn't physically tire, but mentally and emotionally he just wanted to have some peace to get rid of the slight stress headache he had.
Thus, when Lois asked almost screaming in his sensible ears to wash the dishes after eating, Clark couldn't hold his frustration.
"Sweetheart, I'm not washing the dishes. Sorry, but I already cooked and won't do anything else."
"But Clark… You can wash the dishes in mere seconds," she replied immediately.
"The dishes won't get clean by magic, Lo. Doing it faster doesn't mean I won't have to."
"Ple…" The man stood, cleaned the table, and went to the kitchen.
He went back to the table and sat in front of Lois. The dishes were in the kitchen now, but he hadn't washed them. Clark took off the glasses from his face and massaged his temples. Lois noticed that her partner was more tired than what she would have imagined. Hadn't Superman been busy all day long and still had time to finish a ton of tasks at the Planet as well? Did he have a headache?
"Lois… Dishwashing using super speed implies that I have to control my strength a lot so I don't break anything. It's exhausting. And today's been… complicated. I don't know if I got enough control to do it." He said softly while studying the glasses on the otherwise empty table.
The woman was speechless. She could see how vulnerable Clark was right then and there. Saying nothing, she stood and started washing the dishes.
"Thanks sweetheart… I never imagined that I would see the great Lois Lane washing dishes one day."
"You are never mentioning this out loud, Smallville." Her sarcastic tone couldn't hide all the love she felt for her partner.
OoOoO
Both teenagers listened carefully to every word. It was a new point of view to their parent's relationship that they have never even considered.
"So, dad usually doesn't wash dishes because you had an argument when you started to live together?" asked Jon.
"It also helps that he broke my favorite coffee mug and great-grandmother Kent's teapot," said Lois while pointing at a corner of the kitchen that had always had some repaired china in exhibition. "He can only wash dishes at human speed as long as he isn't tired from saving the world...
Lois glanced at Clark. He slightly blushed and continued:
"Your mom left the broken china in clear view so we don't forget the rule. So, as long as you don't have my particular situation, I hope you'll listen to your mother and wash the dishes regardless if I'm home or not. OK?
Jordan and Jonathan nodded wondering how many small house rules came from their father's peculiarities.
The brothers washed the dishes; it was part of being a member of Superman's family.