Poker Face | Bruce Wayne

twenty nine

PRESENT DAY

Clark chuckled at the redheaded cameraman. "Come on now, Jimmy. You can't say that about him."

"It's so true, though!" Jimmy complained. "Perry's such a dick to me for no reason! Like, I'm not I.T! How the hell is the broken printer my fault?"

They were currently at the annual Daily Planet banquet, otherwise known as the only time of year that Perry White even considers being kind to his employees (and that's only due to the copious amount of white wine the man consumed there every year). It was hosted at an event hall in downtown Metropolis, and Clark, although not one for big parties, always enjoyed going because it gave him an excuse to guide Lois home by the waist after she inevitably drank too much, like she always did.

Said female reporter suddenly approached the men, already halfway to her nightly goal of two whole bottles of wine. As she slung her arm around Clark's, the red liquid in her glass nearly spilled on the floor. Clark's hand immediately darted out just a little too fast for his comfort, but everyone at the event was luckily already drunk enough that they didn't notice.

He plucked the glass from her fingers and Lois gave him her rare grateful grin, which made his chest twist with adoration.

"Heya, Smallville." Her voice had a slight slur to it, and her breath smelled like mint and alcohol. He could hear that her heartbeat was a little erratic— it was maybe an invasion of privacy, but he couldn't help himself, he liked to listen to it.

"Hi, Lo," he greeted, although he had already done so on two separate occasions in the last few hours— she just didn't remember it. Clark didn't mind, though. Usually, she didn't want him to use her nickname, and drunk Lois seemed to enjoy it, judging by the smile on her lips.

Jimmy, who was more than aware of Clark's affection for the other reporter, rolled his eyes playfully, excusing himself over to the bar.

"You know," she began as she swung herself around to face him. Clark put a hand on her waist to steady her from toppling over. "I was just on the phone with guess who?"

Clark looked up in mock thought, like he totally wasn't listening when Lois got a call and heard Meredith Elias' voice on the other end. "I don't know, who?"

"Meredith!" She replied with a laugh. "She's actually on a flight right now to Manhattan for some conference, so she gave me a call. Meredith is sooo funny, Clark. I don't know why so many people are afraid of her! She gets such a bad rep for no reason."

"I think Meredith's a lot scarier when you work for her, Lo. But as friends she's kind. She did give me the keys to a sixty-thousand dollar vehicle."

"Ugh." Lois rolled her eyes. "I know. She still hasn't given me one yet! That's not fair."

She pressed her lips into a pout and Clark's eyes fell down to her lips, painted in a pretty red color. The thought of kissing her briefly flickered across his mind.

"You can drive it sometimes if you'd like," he offered.

Her face lit up. "Really?"

He chuckled. "Really."

"Oh my gosh, Farmboy, that would be incredible." She clasped her arms around his neck and laughed, making a silly smile pull at his mouth. She suddenly pushed herself up on her toes and his brain short-circuited. She tugged his head down, biting her lip to contain a grin. "Do you wanna know a secret? It's reallllyyy secret, though, Clark. Like, you can't tell anyone."

"Uh," he breathed out, his mind running through about a million scenarios of what she could possibly say. Did she know he was Superman? "Of course I won't."