By Andrea Lynn Dunham (Andrea.Dunham@fmr.com)
Summary: Lois and Clark take a leisurely stroll through the park — and not even his being called away can ruin their blissful mood.
Disclaimer: The characters in this story are the property of DC Comics, Warner Bros., and December24 Productions. They are used here without permission, but no copyright infringement is intended. This story may be reproduced and distributed as long as no money changes hands. Oh yeah, the characters may be theirs, but the ideas are mine, mine, mine!
Authors Note: This is just a little something I wrote during lunch. Call it a vignette…just a slice of life piece.
(coming at ya from my new location: Andrea.Dunham@fmr.com)
***
She leaned over his shoulder, her hair lightly brushing his neck and the side of his face. His senses immediately went on alert, anticipating. Her scent surrounded him, lightly masked by the perfume he had given her. In an instant he reflected that no one on earth had such a powerful affect on him.
"How about lunch?" she said into his ear.
Her warm breath against his skin sent a shiver up his spine and he half expected her to kiss him, but she didn't.
He turned to face her and saw in her laughing eyes that she knew exactly what she was doing to him.
"You keep it up, and it will be a very long lunch," he said with a smile.
"Couldn't resist," she said simply.
He saved what he was working on and logged off his computer. Then he turned back to face her.
"Well, I'm all set here. What did you have in mind for lunch?"
She grabbed her pocketbook from her lower desk drawer. He escorted her to the elevator and she slipped her arm through his as they walked up the steps.
"Oh, I don't know. It's such a nice day I thought we could walk through the park and just get a couple of hotdogs or something," she replied.
"You? Ms skim milk, sugar substitute, no-fat danish…you will eat hotdogs?" one eyebrow rose as he spoke.
"Well, once in a while can't hurt."
"In that case, our bench awaits."
They stepped into the elevator and he pushed the button for the ground floor. On the second floor it stopped and three more people got on, giving each other significant looks when they saw the couple already aboard. Everyone knew about the romance in the city room. News travelled fast, and gossip travelled even faster.
Everyone got off on the ground floor and Lois and Clark left the building hand in hand. Lois had a slight smile on her face which made Clark happy. At first she had been hesitant about letting anyone except their closest friends know about their relationship. She hadn't wanted to go through the humiliation of people talking about her behind her back, saying she couldn't keep a man, if things between them didn't work out. However, a lot had happened in the months since they'd started dating. Lois knew that her relationship with Clark was going to last for a long time to come.
The park was only a block away from the Daily Planet building and soon Lois and Clark were strolling leisurely along a gravel path in one of the remoter sections of the park. The trees had been allowed to grow and fill in, forming a small forest within the city. Lois liked it better than the well manicured, highly populated parts of the park where one had to jump out of the way to avoid being run over by renegade rollerbladers.
They walked along slowly with their hands lightly joined. They didn't need to say anything to know that they were connected on a level beyond the spoken word.
The silence was broken by a scream that tore through the air and seemed to emanate from about two hundred yards away, around a bend in the path. Lois dropped Clark's hand and turned towards him.
"You'd better get going," she said.
He was already loosening his tie and he quickly spun into costume.
"Wait right here?" he said. It was both a request and a question.
"I'm not going anywhere," she replied.
In an instant he was out of sight and Lois sat down on a large boulder by the side of the path. She pulled out a book that she had begun carrying for just such occasions and began to read. The rock was covered with moss and quite comfortable, and the book was engrossing. She hardly noticed the time slipping by.
She had finished two chapters by the time Clark reappeared, clothed in his normal attire.
"Sorry it took so long," he said. "The woman was pretty upset and I had to take her home after I dealt with the mugger."
"That's OK," she said. "Hey, what have you got in your hand?"
He looked at her with an impish grin and held a paper bag towards her.
"I stopped on the way back—two dogs with everything."
Lois made room on the rock for Clark to sit down and eagerly began unwrapping the food.
"This is great," she said in between bites.
"Glad you like it, Lois. I wasn't sure if all those toppings would be too much for you."
"No way! This is the only way to eat them. I always say, if you're going to do a thing you may as well do it all the way."
Clark glanced down at his watch after bolting down his food.
"Wow, we've been gone almost an hour," he said. "Well, Perry probably won't mind. Things have been kinda slow at the office anyway. I wonder when it'll pick up."
"Yeah, things have been quiet — sort of like the calm before the storm. It's been kind of nice though, don't you think?"
Clark looked down into Lois' serene face, somewhat surprised. Had he just heard Lois say that it was *nice* to have things calm?
"I mean," she continued when she noticed him looking at her strangely, "we've been able to spend a lot of time together in non-life threatening situations. I've really enjoyed it."
Clark thought back over the previous two weeks. It had been nice. They'd shared long evenings talking and watching movies and falling asleep in each other's arms. They'd even stopped by Smallville for dinner a couple of times, much to the joy of the Kents. He had, of course, been kept busy moonlighting as Superman, but that had been more or less routine — no diabolical masterminds out to rule Metropolis.
"You're right," he said finally, "it's been wonderful."
"Then again," Lois said thoughtfully, "if we don't get a really big story soon I think my brain is going to atrophy. And don't even get me started about this year's Kerth award — we *still* don't have anything that could even be nominated!"
Clark put his arm around her shoulder and she snuggled into his embrace, looking up at him expectantly.
"That's my Lois," he murmured.
Lois would have replied, but Clark lowered his head to kiss her and she was more than happy to oblige.
–FINIS–
THE END
(awalkin.txt)