Notes: I received a prompt from the fantastic exlibrisfangirl on Tumblr:
OTP Prompt Challenge: Clois and Pet Names, please!
and here we are. :)
Smallville
He could still remember the first time she'd dubbed him Smallville. It wasn't momentous by any means, or at least the surrounding circumstances weren't. They didn't have a break in their story that day or even a new lead. They had been out interviewing so many shop owners that Clark was starting to lose count, and when Lois had stepped to the side he'd assumed that she had found someone else with a story until she shouted at him. "Hey, Smallville? You drink coffee, right?" He had looked over to where she was standing at a small, Persian coffee shop with an expectant look. The new nickname had caught him so off guard that he hadn't even answered. Lois had just bought him a coffee to go with hers and teased him about needing help to focus.
The joking Smallville and Kasas nicknames stood on their own for a while, but others made their way into her vocabulary. Hon. Dear. Babe. Love of my life. Sometimes teasing, sometimes intimate, and sometimes both. One time she'd even tried Kal-El on for size, but that perfect nose of hers had scrunched up as she'd wrapped her arms around his neck, tipping up on her toes so that she could whisper directly in his ear. "You'll always be Smallville to me, no matter where you were born."
For years, it had been a term of affection that the woman he loved used for him. It was part of him. Part of them. Which made the fact that they were seriously considering this even more ironic.
"Second thoughts yet?" he asked as he met her at the railing that encircled the deck just outside the house he'd grown up in. He handed her a mug of steaming tea as he set his own on the wood that was in desperate need of a repaint. Another thing to add to his list.
Lois pulled in a deep breath, her eyes focused on the fields in the distance as she wrapped her hands around the mug. "It's a change," she said carefully. "But one I think we need." Clear blue eyes flickered over to focus on him. "All of us."
He knew the grin was goofy, but he couldn't help it around her. Sixteen years of marriage and he still felt the need to pinch himself every once and a while. "I think so. But, you do know…."
"Oh no," she sighed, amusement dancing in her eyes even if she feigned exasperation.
"... I won't be the only Smallville resident in the house now."
Lois barked a laugh, pulling back instantly from her mug so she wouldn't spill hot tea all over herself. "Oh, babe. I love you, you know that, but we're just going to live here. You are Smallville."
He blinked owlishly at her from behind his rimmed glasses, working through exactly what she meant. His hesitation only seemed to amuse her more and she tipped up on her toes, pressing a kiss against his scruffy cheek. "And I love you for it."
Clark set his mug down so that his arms were free to circle around her waist, pulling her in close. She leaned up and in so that she met him halfway in the kiss and he felt her fingers wrap around the fabric of the back of his jacket. He had to force himself to break the kiss to give her a moment to breathe, and as she pulled in steady gulps of air he leaned his forehead against hers, letting his eyes drift close. "I love you, Lois Lane," he murmured softly and found himself tugged back into the kiss.