Clark was happily adding dashboard drums to the songs playing on the radio. It was going to be a great day, he decided. The car roof was down, the sun was shining, they were going at a speed that Lex had characterized as somewhere between illegal and insane, and heading to Gotham City. He'd only been there once or twice, but he'd seen a lot more of it in the movies and on television.
"Hey, Lex," he shouted, to be heard over the radio and the wind rushing past. "D'you think we'll actually *see* the bat dude?"
"Only if we drink enough!" Lex smirked.
"Oh, come on, I think it would be neat if he were real. You know, swooping out of the dark-"
"Accompanied in his solitary crusade only by the elusive, mysterious aroma of guano," Lex interrupted.
"Saving the day, fighting crime."
"Whatever, Clark. Sounds like an urban legend to me. You know, a bit of mythology invented to assuage society's unconscious needs and fears." Lex sounded tolerant rather than pissy lecture guy, at least. Maybe he was even relaxing a bit.
Clark looked at him for a while until Lex shot him a dubious glance.
"Are you having fun? I mean, is this...pretty good?" Clark hoped the answer would be yes and that Lex wouldn't laugh at him for asking.
Lex frowned slightly. "Hadn't thought of it." He looked sidelong at Clark again. "But yes, this part, at least, it's fun."
"Cool." Clark grinned at him and went back to playing the drums. He was starting to get some ideas. Some *good* ideas.
***
"I'm just running out for a bit, be back." Clark was kind of hoping Lex would ask why, kind of hoping that he wouldn't. Instead, Lex looked up from his laptop and nodded vaguely. He should have known that it would take something like "I'm just running out to tell the world my secret on Jerry Springer" to get Lex's attention when he was thinking about money. Lex had said something about how even in Gotham, he wanted to use cash as much as possible, just in case Lionel had found out about their new identities, and was wondering if he'd made a mistake by putting so much of their cash into accounts under their new names. The market wasn't great for converting gems to cash, but perhaps if he started with some of the lower-value ones, it would be enough to hold them until they were more certain. Then he'd started muttering about how many lots and which sizes and which auction houses, and Clark hadn't even cared much when Lex had begun calculating.
When Lex hadn't been paying attention--and that was most of the time--he'd started writing a journal of what he'd have liked their trip to be. He'd changed himself and Lex to college roommates, changing their names again, and had added a lot more good excitement, and maybe kind of exaggerated Lex being uptight, but he still liked the results. He hoped one of the newspapers or magazines would like it. He'd submitted electronic queries to a few, and gotten a potential bite from the Gotham Tablet. They wanted a print copy to review. It was a minor paper but a major sign of interest, or at least he hoped so.
As he printed the file out--when he and Lex settled down, they'd get a printer, he silently promised himself--he leafed through the Gotham Post. Tours every other Friday. He'd kind of like to see that. If a newspaper was maybe, and he repeated the maybe to himself very loudly, going to print his story, then he'd like to see what it was like.
On the way back to the rented-by-the-week apartment, Clark stopped and bought a paper, mostly because it had an "artist's depiction" of the bat on the cover. He wondered if the guy really wore a cape like that. Or was it a cloak? Idly trying to remember the difference, he kept at the back of his mind the question of whether he'd look good in a cloak. Or cape. Black was more Lex's color, though. Green? Naah. Not that he was thinking about it. Just the thought that red or blue would be good colors popped into his mind automatically. He ran up the stairs, imagining something like that billowing behind him.
***
"Dear Clark Kent,
"It gives me great pleasure to inform you that we would like to include "Pretty wild and a bit crazy" in an upcoming issue of The Gotham Tablet. Please fill out and return the enclosed forms confirming your acceptance of the rate ($.02/word, payable upon publication) and authorizing publication.
We hope that you will continue to consider The Gotham Tablet for further submissions.
Sincerely,
Paula McNally."
"Hey, Lex," he shouted, to be heard over the radio and the wind rushing past. "D'you think we'll actually *see* the bat dude?"
"Only if we drink enough!" Lex smirked.
"Oh, come on, I think it would be neat if he were real. You know, swooping out of the dark-"
"Accompanied in his solitary crusade only by the elusive, mysterious aroma of guano," Lex interrupted.
"Saving the day, fighting crime."
"Whatever, Clark. Sounds like an urban legend to me. You know, a bit of mythology invented to assuage society's unconscious needs and fears." Lex sounded tolerant rather than pissy lecture guy, at least. Maybe he was even relaxing a bit.
Clark looked at him for a while until Lex shot him a dubious glance.
"Are you having fun? I mean, is this...pretty good?" Clark hoped the answer would be yes and that Lex wouldn't laugh at him for asking.
Lex frowned slightly. "Hadn't thought of it." He looked sidelong at Clark again. "But yes, this part, at least, it's fun."
"Cool." Clark grinned at him and went back to playing the drums. He was starting to get some ideas. Some *good* ideas.
***
"I'm just running out for a bit, be back." Clark was kind of hoping Lex would ask why, kind of hoping that he wouldn't. Instead, Lex looked up from his laptop and nodded vaguely. He should have known that it would take something like "I'm just running out to tell the world my secret on Jerry Springer" to get Lex's attention when he was thinking about money. Lex had said something about how even in Gotham, he wanted to use cash as much as possible, just in case Lionel had found out about their new identities, and was wondering if he'd made a mistake by putting so much of their cash into accounts under their new names. The market wasn't great for converting gems to cash, but perhaps if he started with some of the lower-value ones, it would be enough to hold them until they were more certain. Then he'd started muttering about how many lots and which sizes and which auction houses, and Clark hadn't even cared much when Lex had begun calculating.
When Lex hadn't been paying attention--and that was most of the time--he'd started writing a journal of what he'd have liked their trip to be. He'd changed himself and Lex to college roommates, changing their names again, and had added a lot more good excitement, and maybe kind of exaggerated Lex being uptight, but he still liked the results. He hoped one of the newspapers or magazines would like it. He'd submitted electronic queries to a few, and gotten a potential bite from the Gotham Tablet. They wanted a print copy to review. It was a minor paper but a major sign of interest, or at least he hoped so.
As he printed the file out--when he and Lex settled down, they'd get a printer, he silently promised himself--he leafed through the Gotham Post. Tours every other Friday. He'd kind of like to see that. If a newspaper was maybe, and he repeated the maybe to himself very loudly, going to print his story, then he'd like to see what it was like.
On the way back to the rented-by-the-week apartment, Clark stopped and bought a paper, mostly because it had an "artist's depiction" of the bat on the cover. He wondered if the guy really wore a cape like that. Or was it a cloak? Idly trying to remember the difference, he kept at the back of his mind the question of whether he'd look good in a cloak. Or cape. Black was more Lex's color, though. Green? Naah. Not that he was thinking about it. Just the thought that red or blue would be good colors popped into his mind automatically. He ran up the stairs, imagining something like that billowing behind him.
***
"Dear Clark Kent,
"It gives me great pleasure to inform you that we would like to include "Pretty wild and a bit crazy" in an upcoming issue of The Gotham Tablet. Please fill out and return the enclosed forms confirming your acceptance of the rate ($.02/word, payable upon publication) and authorizing publication.
We hope that you will continue to consider The Gotham Tablet for further submissions.
Sincerely,
Paula McNally."