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fandomweekly2021-12-30 03:35 pm
iluvroadrunner6) wrote in fandomweekly2021-12-30 03:35 pm
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[#115] Speak Up, Take a Stand (Superman & Lois)
Theme Prompt: #115 – Breaking News
Title: Speak Up, Take a Stand
Fandom: Superman & Lois (DCTV)
Rating/Warnings: PG-13
Bonus: Yes.
Word Count: 911
Summary: Lois works late and Clark swings by to give her some perspective.
The bullpen is dark, with an echoing silence to it that indicates Lois has stayed far past when she should, by any standard. Most journalists pull late hours, wanting to get their stories finalized for the next edition, but occasionally Lois puts these tendencies to shame, staying and working until the last of the procrastinators have exited the premises, and the janitors have worked around her in the echoing darkness.
She should be home, on her couch, with a glass of wine and a very greasy pizza, but she’s sitting at her desk at the Daily Planet, staring at the blinking cursor on the screen and trying to figure out where to start. She knows she can’t leave until the story has left her fingers and flowed onto the page, but she’s finding herself at a loss for where to start.
Absently, outside of her single-minded focus, she thinks she hears a whoosh of air rush past her window—a common place thing between planes and Superman flying overhead, so she doesn’t even look. A few minutes later, however, she looks up at the ding of the elevator, surprised to see Clark Kent striding through the bullpen, a pizza box in one hand and a six-pack in the other. It smells like heaven, and she doesn’t know how he knew, but her stomach rumbles in appreciation.
“What are you doing here?” she asks.
“I saw the lights on. Thought you might be hungry.” Part of the statement nags at her (how could he have seen her lights from the ground floor?), but not enough for her to pick a fight with him about it. Clark Kent is full of those little plausible lines, things worded carefully so someone can easily misconstrue them. One day she’ll catch him and figure out his secret, but until that day comes, he’s too sweet for her to keep away from.
As big as the question marks are, the core of him is good. And who doesn’t want that kind of farm boy charm in their life?
“And what if I told you I already ate?”
He smiles at her, a knowing smile like he’s already cracked her and spilled all her secrets. “That seems unlikely. Usually when you’re dealing with a story you can’t crack, you ignore everything else.”
Her eyes narrow. “It’s getting irritating, Smallville, how good you are at reading people.” She will reach for the box, however, clearing a space in her cubicle for them to eat. Clark steps back, grabbing one of the abandoned desk chairs and dragging it closer.
“Maybe I just like being able to read one specific person.”
A smile stretches across her face, teasing at the corners before she tries to smother it. That’s not the farm boy charm she wants, but it might be the kind she needs. “Well, that’s rather inconvenient.”
“Is it?”
“I pride myself on being an enigma. If you go around telling all my secrets, people will figure out how boringly predictable I am.”
He grins widely before flipping open the pizza box. “I promise, all of your secrets are safe with me. I’ll only use them for good.”
“I’ll hold you to that.” She reaches for a slice as she leans back in the chair. She can feel Clark watching her as her eyes wander back to the empty page again.
“Having trouble with the Sandberg story?”
“Have you ever had to write a story where… everything sucks?” Lois sighs as she turns to face him. “The quote-unquote ‘victim’ is a terrible person, the bad guy isn’t really bad at all, just a desperate person in a desperate situation, and your job is to relay the facts. And how you relay those facts is going to paint these people with a brush that is going to follow them possibly for the rest of their lives.”
“And you don’t want to make Amy Sandberg seem like the villain.”
“No, I don’t. The conservative sphere is going to do enough of that.” She turns back to Clark. “But I can’t be too sympathetic to her either, because she did a terrible thing. How do you balance that?”
“I don’t think you can,” Clark says softly, before setting down his beer as he leans back to look at her. “No matter how hard you try to control what people think, they’re always going to bring their own biases and experiences to the table. All you can do is give them the facts, and do it as kindly as you can.”
“Well, Roland Whitfield does not deserve kindness.”
“No, probably not. But the only way you’re going to change minds is if you’re fair to them both.”
Lois shakes her head because some people don’t deserve to have people like Lois be fair to them. Fairness is something the world has already given them in spades. Clark reaches over and squeezes her arm gently.
“You’ll get it right. I know you will.”
She glances over at him with a smile before nodding. “Thanks, Clark.”
“Anytime.” He then nods. “Take a break with me, eat some pizza, and then come back to it.”
“I think I can manage that,” she nods, before reaching for another slice and grabbing one of the beers. She could take a brief break. But once that’s done, it’s back to being Lois Lane, star reporter.
And not think about how much she’s enjoying Clark’s company. That’s a crisis for another deadline.
Title: Speak Up, Take a Stand
Fandom: Superman & Lois (DCTV)
Rating/Warnings: PG-13
Bonus: Yes.
Word Count: 911
Summary: Lois works late and Clark swings by to give her some perspective.
The bullpen is dark, with an echoing silence to it that indicates Lois has stayed far past when she should, by any standard. Most journalists pull late hours, wanting to get their stories finalized for the next edition, but occasionally Lois puts these tendencies to shame, staying and working until the last of the procrastinators have exited the premises, and the janitors have worked around her in the echoing darkness.
She should be home, on her couch, with a glass of wine and a very greasy pizza, but she’s sitting at her desk at the Daily Planet, staring at the blinking cursor on the screen and trying to figure out where to start. She knows she can’t leave until the story has left her fingers and flowed onto the page, but she’s finding herself at a loss for where to start.
Absently, outside of her single-minded focus, she thinks she hears a whoosh of air rush past her window—a common place thing between planes and Superman flying overhead, so she doesn’t even look. A few minutes later, however, she looks up at the ding of the elevator, surprised to see Clark Kent striding through the bullpen, a pizza box in one hand and a six-pack in the other. It smells like heaven, and she doesn’t know how he knew, but her stomach rumbles in appreciation.
“What are you doing here?” she asks.
“I saw the lights on. Thought you might be hungry.” Part of the statement nags at her (how could he have seen her lights from the ground floor?), but not enough for her to pick a fight with him about it. Clark Kent is full of those little plausible lines, things worded carefully so someone can easily misconstrue them. One day she’ll catch him and figure out his secret, but until that day comes, he’s too sweet for her to keep away from.
As big as the question marks are, the core of him is good. And who doesn’t want that kind of farm boy charm in their life?
“And what if I told you I already ate?”
He smiles at her, a knowing smile like he’s already cracked her and spilled all her secrets. “That seems unlikely. Usually when you’re dealing with a story you can’t crack, you ignore everything else.”
Her eyes narrow. “It’s getting irritating, Smallville, how good you are at reading people.” She will reach for the box, however, clearing a space in her cubicle for them to eat. Clark steps back, grabbing one of the abandoned desk chairs and dragging it closer.
“Maybe I just like being able to read one specific person.”
A smile stretches across her face, teasing at the corners before she tries to smother it. That’s not the farm boy charm she wants, but it might be the kind she needs. “Well, that’s rather inconvenient.”
“Is it?”
“I pride myself on being an enigma. If you go around telling all my secrets, people will figure out how boringly predictable I am.”
He grins widely before flipping open the pizza box. “I promise, all of your secrets are safe with me. I’ll only use them for good.”
“I’ll hold you to that.” She reaches for a slice as she leans back in the chair. She can feel Clark watching her as her eyes wander back to the empty page again.
“Having trouble with the Sandberg story?”
“Have you ever had to write a story where… everything sucks?” Lois sighs as she turns to face him. “The quote-unquote ‘victim’ is a terrible person, the bad guy isn’t really bad at all, just a desperate person in a desperate situation, and your job is to relay the facts. And how you relay those facts is going to paint these people with a brush that is going to follow them possibly for the rest of their lives.”
“And you don’t want to make Amy Sandberg seem like the villain.”
“No, I don’t. The conservative sphere is going to do enough of that.” She turns back to Clark. “But I can’t be too sympathetic to her either, because she did a terrible thing. How do you balance that?”
“I don’t think you can,” Clark says softly, before setting down his beer as he leans back to look at her. “No matter how hard you try to control what people think, they’re always going to bring their own biases and experiences to the table. All you can do is give them the facts, and do it as kindly as you can.”
“Well, Roland Whitfield does not deserve kindness.”
“No, probably not. But the only way you’re going to change minds is if you’re fair to them both.”
Lois shakes her head because some people don’t deserve to have people like Lois be fair to them. Fairness is something the world has already given them in spades. Clark reaches over and squeezes her arm gently.
“You’ll get it right. I know you will.”
She glances over at him with a smile before nodding. “Thanks, Clark.”
“Anytime.” He then nods. “Take a break with me, eat some pizza, and then come back to it.”
“I think I can manage that,” she nods, before reaching for another slice and grabbing one of the beers. She could take a brief break. But once that’s done, it’s back to being Lois Lane, star reporter.
And not think about how much she’s enjoying Clark’s company. That’s a crisis for another deadline.