In the Clouds

Lois Lane: Part 4

This might have been the first time in her life someone had addressed her as the best in the business. Sure, it was a common line, but somehow it seemed so genuine coming from him. Like he couldn't lie if he wanted to. Obviously it wasn't literal, but it still got a smile out of her. Lois had been learning from others for so long she hadn't realized she could now provide it too. Hopefully she could do justice to her mentors and give some meaning to Clark's words.
The new gravitas of her position was put to test a second later when he asked a complicated question. Why is Superman avoiding the cameras? Differently from the quick speech from earlier now she paused, not ashamed of being seen taking a moment to ponder.

"I'm sure there's a reason, it can't all be coincidental. What that might be though, it's an entire different issue. I don't think I know enough about Superman to make any accurate predictions, so don't take my word as law. If I made a guess it would be more based on what I'd do in his position than taking into account how his life must have been. I try not to do that. Projecting I mean. Sometimes it just leads to very faulty assumptions, like saying he necessarily functions similarly. The opposite of what we should do as reporters really. We need to try and think more like the target of our study, not the other way around. Now, thinking like a superpowered man that can travel faster than any vehicle known by man isn't really that simple. Has he always had these powers? If so, how was he brought up? Does he work for anyone? Some of the guys here at the office think so, it would explain why he avoids cameras - government facilities do value secrecy. But I don't know yet, the whole shtick doesn't scream organized operation to me. I know army men and that's not one. Maybe he just wants people to pay more attention to his actions than to his look or his words. Or maybe he just has a really weird voice. I can't tell for sure, but I'd be very disappointed if it were the latter."




Lois had obviously been giving the issue some thought. How could she not? She had watched him save multiple lives before her eyes and leave as soon as he could. Perry hadn't even assigned her to it - yet! - but that wouldn't stop her from pondering. If not because of her curiosity because people were entitled to know who they are putting their faith in.

-

From time to time she rose her eyes from her computer to check on how Clark was doing. He seemed to have already made his desk a little more his own with a portrait. The new hire had entirely diverged from her expectations. Lois had met so many investigative reporters that are charismatic, cut-throat, with a 'no one is standing in between me and my piece' sort of policy. And then there was Clark. His work is good, even if he referred to it as fluff pieces from back home. Perry doesn't hire bellow excellent. But he seemed almost naive to have chosen this industry, too genuine. While it was definitely refreshing she worried that'd be used against him. Yet Lois was curious to find out what the country boy optimism would add to the team.
An odd cough and a few too many bathroom breaks made her wonder if the city pollution was having a harmful impact on him, but other than that the work day had been going smoothly.

Lois thought about where to take Clark for lunch carefully. It had to be one of the nicer places around, after all the idea was to welcome him into the crew. But it couldn't be the nicest place otherwise everything from there would seem disappointing. Was she overthinking? Maybe a little bit. But it's important to overthink to do a job well done.
Something changed from earlier, that much was clear to the eyes as they sat down at the table. The awe in his eyes from earlier transformed into some kind of quiet saturation. She wondered if she had said something wrong for a moment before Clark finally broke the silence.
Lois let out a chuckle at the compliment, a particularly enjoyable question to answer. The difference of her behavior while inside the office and outside was noticeable, a change she had intentionally worked on for the sake of compartmentalizing aspects of her life. One too many times she had accidentally dipped into an interview kind of posture while talking to friends, and thankfully they called her out on it. That probably spoke volumes of how she saw herself.

"I didn't initially start off at the Daily, got an internship while I was in college on a smaller paper and started there. Not too many readers other than my dad so that didn't last long. That's the professional part, but in terms of wanting to report? That goes way back." Unconsciously she adjusted a strand of hair behind her ear, her body language showing her growing more comfortable to talk about personal aspects of her life - given they didn't involve colors.

"I didn't really know what reporting was exactly but I always loved telling stories. If I wanted to learn anything in school I had to make some sort of narrative for it. Don't even ask how I learned math. At some point my father was sent on missions outside the country - I should mention he's a General in the Army for this to make sense. He never really sheltered be from information on what they were doing and why. Not really the kind of knowledge a kid has. But the worst part wasn't knowing, it was how it felt like no one else knew. The papers barely talked about it, adults had no clue what was going on and I couldn't understand why. The first time I ever "reported" I stole some files from my dad's office and wrote a piece. Yes it had some glitter on it, but I still count it as my first published article since I glued it to the classroom wall. I got into so much trouble for that. But that was enough to become addicted. My story to combat ignorance and change the world started with glitter and pretty stickers."

Sam always said she asked too many questions, to which she liked to reply that it's because he offered too few answers.

"And Metropolis is home. Messy, complicated, full of variety. Sounds like my desk to be honest. I just love how there's always more to find out about it, like a never ending source of surprises. Granted, not all are good. But we don't get to choose to know only the good parts. God, I feel like I've been talking for so long, I'm sorry-" Lois spoke apologetically. She didn't usually speak so much about herself when first meeting someone. This was actually very out of character for her. But somehow it was organic. Just an easy connection."My turn interrogating, mister Kent. Why did you start reporting, and why move to Metropolis? Work or leisure?" He had made it clear he saw color already.