[Third Person Pov]
Clark, seeing that Lois wasn't buying his shitty excuse for even a second, inwardly sighed in resignation. Thankfully, his Kryptonian brain worked faster than his nerves ever could, and within moments he pieced together a slightly more believable alternative. It wasn't perfect, but it would have to do.
He subtly motioned for Lois to follow him into the other room, making sure no one else was paying attention. Lois immediately obliged, her sharp eyes narrowing with intrigue as she trailed behind him. Her curiosity seemed to grow with every passing second, and Clark could practically feel it pressing into his back.
"Okay, now I'm curious about what you really have to say," Lois said once they were alone, crossing her arms and arching a brow. "Krypto? It doesn't take a genius to guess what exactly that is referencing."
"First off, it's not any of your business either way. I'm only telling you this because you honestly scare me," Clark replied flatly, his expression completely unreadable.
Lois snickered, looking him up and down in exaggerated disbelief, a small grin tugging at the corner of her lips. "You're scared of little ol' me?"
"Yes. Because if I don't set the record straight, you might spin the story in whatever way you fancy. Who knows what you might come up with? I honestly wouldn't put it past you to somehow paint this as Superman and I being in a homo-erotic relationship," Clark said with a straight face, not even blinking.
"Phttt—Bahahaha!" Lois burst into loud, uncontrollable laughter, doubling over as she clutched her stomach. The sound was so sudden and explosive that it drew glances from across the room.
Her knees buckled, and she had to grab onto Clark's arm to steady herself, tears streaming down her cheeks as her face turned bright red. She wheezed between breaths, trying and failing to compose herself.
Clark, meanwhile, closed his eyes in quiet defeat. 'The things I have to sacrifice in order to keep my identity a secret… farewell, my dignity. You will be dearly missed.'
It took several long seconds before Lois finally began to calm down. "Ow—my stomach. It actually hurts from laughing! Haha—ow," she managed between ragged breaths, still struggling to fully recover.
"Are you done?" Clark asked in the same monotone voice, utterly unamused.
"W-Wait, give me a second… pheww. I don't remember the last time I laughed that hard," Lois said, fanning her flushed face and wiping at her watery eyes.
She inhaled deeply and let it out slowly, forcing herself back to composure. "Do you seriously believe I would do that?"
Clark met her eyes evenly. "Are you saying you wouldn't have?"
Lois froze for a moment, genuinely considering it. After a brief pause, she shrugged. "Touché. It seems you know me better than I even know myself."
'Why wouldn't I?' Clark thought awkwardly, immediately shoving that line of thinking away. 'Now come time, it's time to act my ass off and put a performance worthy of an Oscar'
He began to fidget slightly, clearly embarrassed now that the laughter had died down. "Okay, just promise me this. You can't tell anyone what I'm about to tell you. If you do, I'll resort to murder."
Lois gave him a wary grin. "You know, sometimes you scare me with how easily you talk about murdering me."
Clark didn't respond. He simply stared at her in silence, which somehow made it worse.
She raised both hands in surrender. "Alright, alright. I promise not to say anything to anyone. We're off the record."
Clark deflated a little at that, some of the tension leaving his shoulders. He looked away and muttered something under his breath.
"What was that? I didn't quite catch it," Lois asked, tilting her head in confusion.
Looking deeply embarrassed, Clark finally admitted, "I said you were right."
"About?" Lois blinked, clearly not used to seeing Clark this flustered.
Clark brushed his hair down, letting it fall partially over his face as if he could hide behind it. "About me being a Superman fan…"
Lois stared at him blankly for a moment. 'Why… why the heck is he so cute all of a sudden?' she wondered in disbelief. Seeing someone as big and broad as Clark acting this awkward and bashful was doing something dangerous to her composure.
"I mean, duh," Lois replied, as if that had always been obvious. "But what does that have anything to do with Krypto? I mean, it was only recently that we found out Superman was from the planet Krypton."
Clark let out a slow breath, his shoulders rising and falling as if he were preparing himself for ridicule. "The thing is… I met Superman before. A long time ago. Before he even became Superman." His voice softened slightly as he continued. "He saved my life from a pretty tragic accident when I was little. I was terrified at the time, I mean completely frozen with fear. But to calm me down, he started telling me his story. Where he came from, what he could do, how he was still figuring everything out. It worked. I remember just staring at him and thinking it was the coolest thing I'd ever heard. He was like a literal superhero straight out of a comic book, complete with his own origin story." Clark exhaled again, but this time the sigh carried genuine admiration rather than embarrassment.
"So about a year later, when I got Krypto, I named him after the planet of the hero who saved me. You know… as a tribute." Clark's eyes shifted away as he finished speaking, his ears faintly red as he avoided Lois' gaze.
'Kill me now. My dignity is officially deceased. I'll be sure to hold a small, respectful funeral for it later,' he thought miserably, internally cringing at the effort it took to keep up this flustered persona.
'He's… he's an absolute dork!' Lois thought, pressing a hand over her mouth to hide the smile threatening to break free. 'He's so adorable. Oh my gosh.'
"But why would you want to keep something like that a secret?" Lois asked, genuine confusion still lingering beneath her amusement. "Superman isn't exactly unpopular."
"Look at me," Clark said, gesturing down at himself before adjusting his glasses nervously. "I don't want to be seen as some geek or obsessed fanboy who worships a superhero. Do you have any idea how lame that sounds? No one would ever take me seriously again."
"Okay, okay, I get it," Lois replied, though she was already starting to laugh again, trying and failing to stifle it behind her hand. "I have to say, Clark, you're way more childish than I initially thought. But I'll admit, it has its own charm."
Before he could react, she grabbed him by the collar and tugged him down just enough to press a quick kiss against his cheek, leaving a bold smear of dark lipstick behind. "Don't worry," she said lightly. "Your little obsession is safe with me."
"Ahem."
Both of them froze and turned toward the source of the sound. Nino stood a few feet away, staring at them with an unreadable expression. "I'm not interrupting something, am I?"
"Yeah, you kind of were," Lois replied without missing a beat. "I was just about to push him down and have my way with him." She sighed theatrically, as if mourning a missed opportunity.
"Wha—!" Both Clark and Nino nearly choked at the same time, staring at her in absolute disbelief.
Lois giggled, clearly pleased with herself, and stepped away from Clark. "Relax, I already had my fun. You can have him for now." She shot them a mischievous smirk before walking off with an easy, confident stride.
Nino's cheeks flushed a noticeable shade of pink as she watched Lois retreat, her glare lingering for a moment longer than necessary. "What was that all ?" she asked stiffly.
"Ignore her. She's mentally ill," Clark said flatly as he wiped the lipstick from his cheek with the sleeve of his shirt. "Anyway, what's up?"
"Your grandma is looking for you," Nino replied, still sounding awkward. It was obvious from her expression that Lois' words and actions had unsettled her far more than she wanted to admit.
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