The following Friday, all the paperwork containing Diana's new identity was completed. After Bruce gave it to her, she immediately went to Clark's apartment. Where she found him lounging on his couch, just as he was the week before. But he was still in his work clothes, he probably hadn't been home from work very long. Over the past week, they had seen each other, but hadn't done anything boyfriend/girlfriend related. Clark wanted to wait for her ID to be finalized so they could be an official couple. It was agreed that they would have a date as soon as they had a background for Diana.
"Hey Diana." Clark said without looking as soon as she opened the door to his balcony. "I take it your paperwork is all in." He said, now noticing the envelope in her hand. Instead of her Amazon armor, she wore a green Grecian dress that fell just past her knees, leather sandals that laced up her calves her bracelets and lasso. It was her normal attire during her down time, except for a pair of black, thick framed hipster glasses, that were basically the feminine equivalent of his own. She was still a stone cold knockout, but they changed her look just slightly. He couldn't stop staring.
"Yes. I thought we might look at it together." She said taking the seat on the couch next to him after he moved his legs out of the way.
"My name is Diana Aretha Prince, I'm 23 years old, a recent graduate of the University of... What are you looking at?" She asked noticing his eyes hadn't left her since she flew in.
"You're wearing glasses, I wasn't expecting them."
"You wear glasses. Why wouldn't I? I want to blend in. Is it a problem?"
"No, no problem, I just don't really think they're necessary."
"No? Then why do you wear them?"
"I don't know, it's just habit by now I guess. I've not worn them, and nobody put it together, not even Lois. I showed up not 3 minutes after Superman saved her, without my glasses, and not a word from her."
"I've always wondered if Lois is as brilliant as you say, if she can't see that, then what does she see? It was obvious to me who you were the minute I saw you. I still don't understand how anyone could not."
"I don't think it's that she can't see it. I think she doesn't want to. It's not just Lois, but everyone seems to have this notion that I'm some perfect hero who flies around all day saving everyone from everything. I haven't said otherwise so they don't think anything else. I bet it's the same way with you, and that works to our advantage."
Diana wondered what he meant by that, he seemed rather perfect to her. "So I shouldn't wear glasses?"
"It's up to you."
"Ok. I think I'll keep them, just to be on the safe side." She said while adjusting them, as she still wasn't used to wearing them. "Moving on, I'm a Greek/American, I was born in Boston, but my mother is from Athens. She had me through a fertility clinic, and my father's identity is unknown." Which was totally fine with Diana, since she didn't have a father anyway. "I have a drivers license, passport, high school and college diplomas and a bank account with $400,000 in it."
"Bruce gave you 400 grand? Just like that? I swear he has too much money."
"Ollie gave me half, he told me to buy a car when I learn how to drive, or just take yours. Speaking of which, I didn't know you had a car."
"Yeah, a Chevy Volt, Bruce gave it to me, another example of him having too much money. I almost never drive it, but it's parked downstairs in the lot underneath the building."
"Oh, ok. Is there anything else I'll need?"
"You'll need some proper clothes." Clark said as he got up and walked over towards his bedroom. "As nice as your gowns are, they're a little bit conspicuous. I anticipated you may not have given this any thought, so I took the liberty of buying you some clothes." He came out of his bedroom holding a cardboard box that had been delivered by UPS earlier in the week. He handed the box to her, "I hope everything fits. I guessed on the sizes."
"Oh thank you. I hadn't given much thought to clothes until just today. I wondered how I would go shopping without drawing too much attention to myself. Perhaps I won't have to just yet." Diana opened the box and started going through the clothes inside, revealing pairs of both black and blue jeans, both pink and green sweaters and 5 short sleeved t shirts of various colors, also at the bottom of the box was a sports bra. Picking up the sports bra, she held it out in front of herself slightly confused. "You actually went to a store and purchased these things?"
"No way. I ordered it all online, what would I look like buying women's clothes? And I know what you're thinking. But there's a good reason I got that." He said pointing at the bra she was holding out towards him. "I overheard you say once, you never wore one, so I got it. It's a plain and simple one until you can get your own. If you don't wear it... It'll... not be good. Um... you should go to the bathroom and see how everything fits." He wanted to end that conversation quickly.
In the bathroom, Diana tried everything on, the pants and shirts seemed to fit. She had seen other women dress like this, and the clothes didn't look any different on them than on her, but they felt awkward. Wearing long pants wasn't something she was used to. She had to admit though, he was right about the bra, the t-shirts were far too thin to not wear one, and just wearing the sweaters would not work either. She did however wonder how he figured out the correct size for everything he bought for her. He said he never used his x ray vision on her, she mostly believed him about that, but maybe he looked at her more than she thought. Satisfied in her blue jeans and green sweater she stepped out of the bathroom to where Clark was.
"Well Kal, what do you think?" She then mentally chastised herself for not calling him Clark.
"Shnazzy." He said in a monotone voice, while giving two lackluster thumbs up. Diana noticed the neutral look on his face, she wondered if he liked the clothes she wore. She suddenly felt self conscious. He rarely made any comment about her appearance, and now that she asked, she felt slightly disappointed in his response. She was hoping he would love the way she looked. "Well, we said we'd have a date once you got all settled. How about tonight?"
"Ok." Diana said with a smile, the date was what she was looking for. But she still didn't understand his slight hesitation about everything.
"Alright, let me get changed. Then we can go."
"What will we do?"
"Um, how about we just take a walk, and see what happens from there?"
"That sounds alright." She responded, wondering if all dates were so informal. She thought more planning went into these things, but since Clark had so much more experience, she would follow his lead for now.
Minutes later Clark & Diana were stepped out of the elevator and walked towards the exit. "Have a good evening Mr... K-Kent." Said Adam, the man who worked behind the front desk. When Clark looked up he noticed Adam was staring wide eyed at Diana, and figured she was the reason for his stammering.
"Take it easy Adam." Said Clark with a wave, and without breaking stride he and Diana walked out of the building.
Adam turned to Sam the security guard, who sat silently the whole time. "Was that Kent's girlfriend?"
"Must be." Sam said.
"Damn! She was fine. I didn't know he could pull somebody like that... Wait a minute, when did she come in? I remember Kent coming in when he got off work, but he was alone. I would have remembered if she was with him. Have you seen her before?"
"No, I don't think so."
A block away, Diana and Clark walked side by side when suddenly he turned around and looked back at his apartment.
"What is it?" Diana asked, turning to look herself.
"We should have flown out. The guys at the desk saw you leave, but not come in, so now they're confused."
"Oh, I didn't think of that, sorry."
"It's fine, I didn't think of it either, I'll just ask you to come in through the enterance if you're going to visit me often."
"Oh, ok."
"So... have you figured out where you want to live yet?"
"Not really, somewhere in Metropolis would be best. We could see each other not matter where we lived, but that wouldn't be very covert. Do you know of anyplace? Maybe your building has an empty apartment?"
"No, my building is full. Even if it wasn't only my apartment is suitable your needs. Remember, you'll need some specific things in an apartment."
"Like a balcony that doesn't overlook the street that's good for going in and out."
"Yes, and that's not the easiest thing to find around here, but we'll figure something out."
"Kal, I mean... Clark. In case someone asks. How did we meet?"
"Good question." He said, thinking back to their first meeting. "I have no idea, have you thought of anything?"
"Not really, perhaps we met through your job at the Daily Planet?"
"Eh, I don't know about that, that would be rather out of character for me."
"How so? Maybe you were interviewing someone, and you met me after, and we went from there."
"No, that doesn't really work, because when I'm working I get in the zone, and everybody I work with knows that. I get focused in, and don't quit until I get it done." As he spoke he put his hands around his head like blinders.
"Hmm. I guess you're right about that." She knew that about him, he would get focused that way about Justice League matters as well. He always said that Clark and Superman were very different, but she wondered if they were more similar than he let on. "But we'll have to come up with something, if we run into anyone you know, they're bound to ask."
"You're right. But before we dwell on that too much, how about we get something to eat?"
"Ok, lead the way."
As they walked, Diana tried to take in everything, restaurants and bars were filling up, and people walked the streets seemingly with only the thought of having a good time. She couldn't help but notice the stark differences from the world she grew up in. Men and women interacting, smiling and laughing, nothing like she was taught as a girl. There was music from a small parking lot nearby, people had begun dancing, like a makeshift nightclub. Everyone seemed happy, even the police horse was happy, with all the people petting him, Diana got the impression that he loved nights like this. Even with everything going on around her, the thing that most stood out to her, was that once the crowd got dense, Clark held her hand. She felt his grip against hers, it wasn't particularly firm for her, but she suspected that it would have injured anyone else. She wondered if he was subconsciously trying to tell her something.
Clark picked a small family owned restaurant, that was away from all the party people downtown. For a Friday night it was rather empty, the food was great, and the masses hadn't discovered it yet. Which was one of the reasons Clark liked it so much, he preferred to do things low key. He liked to live his life with as little hassle as possible. As they walked in, they were immediately ushered over to a booth by the window and given menus. The waitress, Jane, a blonde woman in her early 30's, knew Clark well.
"Mr. Kent, great to see you again, how are you this evening?"
"I'm doing great Jane."
"And hello to you, miss."
"Hello." Diana said with a smile.
"Can I start you out with something to drink?" She said directly to Diana, who was scanning the drink menu.
"Water will be fine to start."
"Alright, and Coke and Grenadine for you?" she said turning to Clark.
"You know me so well." Clark replied with a charming smile.
Jane turned back to Diana, "I'm pretty sure I know what Clark will order, but I'll give you a few minutes to look over the menu. I'll be right back with those drinks." Jane then stepped away.
"You eat here a lot?" Diana asked.
"Yeah, I like it here, the food is great, the atmosphere is relaxed, and the food is great."
"I see." Diana looked around, trying to get a sense of the atmosphere, most of the patrons were older, at least in their 50's, Clark and Diana were clearly the youngest people there. It was much more informal than she was accustomed to. As Wonder Woman she often wined and dined with people at fancy upscale restaurants, but those were business outings, this was a date. It was bound to be different.
"Well, I'm gonna have my usual, the handcrafted bacon burger, with an order of fish and chips. You know what you want?" Clark said.
"I think I'll have the Louisiana whitefish sandwich, have you ever had it?"
"I haven't had it, but I've heard people say it's pretty good."
Diana smiled, as Clark seemed to be relaxing a bit. Until they got to the restaurant he seemed a little on edge. As the night went on, his sense of humor began to come out. She didn't always understand the things he found funny, but it still fascinated her the way he would find the strangest things funny. Their meal was excellent, and the conversation flowed freely. They even came up with a story to tell people about how they met, it wasn't Diana's favorite explanation, but it did mirror their first meeting fairly well. They also made plans to go apartment hunting and clothes shopping over the next few days.
During the meal, they talked mostly about growing up different than everyone else. Diana's powers were accepted and praised, and when Donna arrived she had a sister who's powers rivaled her own. Clark never had that, Kara had been found only a year ago, and most of that time she was on Themyscira learning to control her power. He was alone most of his life, having to hide all of his gifts. During that conversation she gained more insight on the man he truly was. She knew the mask he put on as Superman, and she saw through the mask of mild mannered reporter, Clark Kent. The real man was who she wanted to know, that was why she wanted a relationship with him. He fascinated her from the moment she saw him, and she wanted to know why.
After the meal, instead of walking back to his apartment, they found a place where they could take to the sky. Still wearing street clothes, they just hovered for a moment, high above Metropolis. "The city is so beautiful from up here. Staying on the ground, was very different than I expected." She observed out loud.
"Yes it is. People like us, we could do anything we want, but I think staying grounded allows us to see the true beauty of the place we live in. I'm glad you're doing this, learning to live in this world, it will help you in your mission. Goodnight Diana, I'll see you tomorrow."
"Goodnight Clark." She responded with a content smile, before signaling her Justice League com link, "Watchtower, transport, Wonder Woman." Clark watched her fade away, and took flight towards his apartment.
"Well, that was an interesting night."
