boobwindow | mask or menace • contact

We should probably talk at some point, yeah?

[This is Clark actually trying.]

[ At least she got a nice day at the beach the other day.

She doesn't respond immediately. Half of her delaying it purposely, but the other half not sure what to write in response. By the time she does reply, it's been nearly two hours. ]

Probably.
At the very least I'm capable of talking now.

Text? Call? In person? Whatever works for you. It's just pretty obvious that pretending nothing happened would make things much worse sooner or later.

In person is really the only way to do this.

[ Every other way seems much too cowardly for her.

Ugh, feelings. ]

I think so as well.

I should be off work in half an hour, tops. Where should we meet?

I should probably come by Maurtia Falls.

[ She'll just be careful not to catch anyone's attention and start a panic. ]

There's no one at home but me right now, does that work?

Sure. I'll see you in twenty?

[ She's going to taking her time getting there, too... ]

I'll have drinks and something to eat.

[Like he wasn't already baking some cookies, just in case.]

See you soon.

[ And she does take her sweet time getting to Maurtia Falls, avoiding attention the whole way since she's sure the last thing anyone wants to see is the face of the woman who wrecked some of their apartments.

She lands a block away from the housing so she can walk the rest of the way. Again, trying to stall for some time. There's a lump situated in her throat.

When she gets to the door, she rings the bell and takes a few steps back. ]

[He hears her before she knocks, of course. He was too impatient not to unconsciously spread his hearing towards the door, waiting for her. But he waits until she's ready, and when she does knock he's there to open the door with (what tries to be) a reassuring smile.]

Hey, come in. I hope you weren't busy?

[ When he answers, it's hard not to meet those gentle eyes of his and feel terrible she ever lashed out at him. A lot of that wasn't really her, but some of it was and that's what's been gnawing at her since.

She hadn't realized herself she was still mad about certain things. She knows she has a tendency to bury her feelings, but this was a bit of an eye-opener for herself. ]

Not at all. I don't work weekends unless there's a problem in the building.

Good, good. [He hates this. He usually tries to be honest and open with his feelings, but he isn't good with actual confrontation- and he's especially bad at it when he knows he's making people awkward. And he doesn't need any kind of superpower to read Karen's body language.

He just wishes there were another way.]

Do you want something to drink? Coffee? Tea? I made cookies.

Coffee is fine.

[ Alright, she can't resist cookies. If they're a recipe he's picked up from Ma Kent there's definitely no way she's going to turn down a delicious treat.

She steps inside, trying not convey caution, but she doesn't march right in they way she normally would. She takes her time, looking at the hall and trying to get a feel of the house and who else lives here. ]

Who are your housemates?

[And so he goes get the coffee maker ready, trying to mask the slightest wince. He really misses watching Verity around, but most of all he misses Rikki.]

Two girls- or, a woman and a little girl. Have seen them around but I... [He pauses, looks at the coffee maker and shrugs.] Let's just say I have been a bit too busy to do anything more than leave some apple pie and other treats for housemates to enjoy.

And it's honestly hard to watch them come and go.

[ She chuckles lightly at the thought of apple pie being "too little" an offer for his housemates. Classic Clark. ]

Oh. [ She pauses, looking around again. ] Getting new housemates all the time? That does sound like a pain. They still don't give you a heads up when you've got a new person in the house, do they?

[He shakes his head.] Nope. I actually met one of my old housemates at a Swear In, and the other through the network because she got admitted to the hospital on her first night here.

But it's worse when they just leave. You've been here for a long while though so I'm probably not telling you anything you don't already know.

[ She nods and her hands slide into the pockets of her jeans, feeling her arms are too idle for comfort. ]

The ones I roomed with are still around save for one. He left a long time back, but I also moved out a while ago myself.

I still don't understand the method they use to pick who comes and who goes. Who stays and who doesn't.

[Soon he was done with the coffee and he handed her the mug as he motioned towards the living room.] Take a seat? Mi casa es tu casa, even though I obviously haven't been doing a good job at making sure you knew that.

[ She takes the mug by the cup itself since she doesn't necessarily need to keep up appearances in an empty house. She takes a sip, but as soon as Clark cuts straight to the chase she ends up swallowing the coffee wrong. ]

U-Uh...

[ She coughs, rubbing her sternum as they enter the room. ]

Look, I... I'm not sure what came over me. Besides the obvious, I mean.

[He shakes his head as he takes a seat.] I know you wouldn't hurt her, or me, like that. Not out of the blue, not because you'd had a nice day. I don't blame you for that.

[He can't speak for Tea, but he's sure she blames Kal more than she blames her.]

But I'm also pretty sure they didn't force those feelings in you. They were hidden, or at least deep enough I didn't notice them. Am I wrong?

[ Karen sets the mug down against her knee, avoiding his gaze. ]

No.

[ She bites down on her lip. ]

I don't know. I guess I never really came to terms with Kara's arrival.

[ She and Clark were often busy with their personal lives when they weren't out saving the day, but it did feel like before Kara came to Earth that they spent a bit more time with one another.

She feels like a jealous schoolgirl, honestly. It only makes sense Kara would need Clark's guidance. ]

Kara's arrival... [He looks down at the table, shaking his head. How can he explain it, without hurting her feelings?]

It changed a lot of things. For you and me, I suppose, but at the time I didn't really realize that. She was a Kryptonian from my own world, my own timeline, I just- [He wasn't alone anymore, he didn't have the weight of a dead world squarely on his shoulders. He wasn't the last remain of a dead race in his universe. But he can't voice that, not without hurting Karen's feelings.]

But it never, never changed the fact that you're family. That I respect you, both as a hero and as a person. Kara needed me, you didn't. Or I thought you didn't. Just like Kara never needed the Kents, but Kon did.

I thought I was giving each of you what you needed. [But never gave a second thought to what they wanted.]

[ Without a doubt it hurts, but she listens quietly and tries to put herself in Kal's boots. In fact, hadn't she been there when she was reunited with Earth-2's Superman and Lois? If the circumstances had been different and they had been able to take her back to her world without consequence, Karen knows she would have taken it. ]

I was... I'm still [ she chews on her inner lip apprehensively ] worried [ she doesn't want to use "scared" ] that I'll lose everything I've gained.

I've already lost my universe's Superman. I just... wanted to belong somewhere.

[ Her shoulders fall and she withdraws in on herself, embarrassed at all to admit this much. ]

I have the JSA and work and others, but you're a big part of my new home.

And I want to be!

[He lifts her hand, reaching for her. He stops himself in time and aborts the motion, just letting the hand down with a sigh.]

I want to be a part of your home, because you're part of mine. It's not a competition, it's not a you or Kara, it's an and.

mask or menace • contact

text;

text

text

text

text

text

text

text

text

text → action

action

action

action

action

action

action

action

action

action

action

action

action

action

action

action