15406/Since When Do Kryptonians Get Sick

Since When Do Kryptonians Get Sick
Date of Scene:	01 August 2023
Location:	Kent Apartment, Metropolis
Synopsis:	Clark and Lois.
Cast of Characters:	Superman, Lois Lane

---

Superman has posed:
Clark's trip back to the apartment isn't too long, but it feels like it. Kara watches over Clark as they're a shared ride together. "I'll be fine," he says and eventually ge out at his stop. The man takes a few steps, there may be a small sway here, a pause there, it's a little labored, but nothing too out of the ordinary. He doesn't look drunk. Clark definitely looks unwell.

Taking the elevator up, he leans against the corner and just waits. Sweat pours down hs forehead. The elevator doors go "Ding!" when they make it to hs floor. He slips out and staggers toward his door. Leanng against the door for support, Clark fishes out his keys and pops it in. Then he slips inside, as best as possible. It's probably more of a clumsy stagger than a slip.

Heavy foot falls follow Clark, and he shuts the door, and forgets to lock it. Honestly, it looks like he has a bad cold or flu.

The man's sweaty, probably has a fever by his standards, but visibly shivers. Clark goes to snag a blanket, while undoing his tie. Without a word, he'll flop onto the couch the second he gets a blanket around himself. A croceht one that's dark blue and light blue Ma Kent made for when he moved. It's a nice warm blanket that he use dfor comfort more than anythng. Now, it's being used for comfort -and- warmth.

Wherever Lois Lane is, she will see two voicemails waiting for her. "Hey Honey. Kara and I tried waiting for you, but we're here at Lexcorp. Chief wanted an interview and we could wait for so long. Love you," and then she can hear Kara in the background.

The next voicemail, "Honey. Coming home. Don't feel," the words come between heavy labored breathing. "Good," he'll add after a long pause. And Kara may have sent her own voice mail, or texts, voicing a lot of concern. Clark clearly sounds sick, when has Lois -actually- seen Clark sick?

Lois Lane has posed:
Sitting across the desk from Lois, Metropolis's Deputy Mayor shifted uncomfortably. The man was normally assured, polished even, but Lois's reputation had a way of eroding one's self-assured veneer.

Lois clutched a pen in her hand, a notepad resting on her top thigh. Her phone was already perched on the stop of the desk set to both record and transcribe the interview, her gaze steady and piercing. "Deputy Mayor Givens," she began, her voice cool yet inviting. "Recent financial reports suggest a possible misuse of funds allocated for the city's infrastructure. Can you explain these discrepancies?"

The question hung in the air like an uninvited guest. It was a simple enough inquiry, but the implication was as clear as the Metropolis skyline. Lois watched, her gaze unwavering, as Givens stuttered his way into a response.

It wasn't until after the interview that Lois got the barrage of text messages, a pang of guilt at leaving Clark and Kara waiting for her quickly morphing into actual worry. She grabbed a cab, and instead of going back to the newsroom, it carried her back across town to her apartment. It was a few hours after Clark got there, but it was as fast as she could manage. Up the elevator, she went to open the door with her key, but a little twist of the knob had it opening even without it...

"Clark?"

She pushes the door closed behind her and locks it, setting her bags on the floor and moving straight to the man lying on the sofa. She leans, worried lips pressing against his forehead.

Superman has posed:
Clark is breathing slowly and he gives a soft yet somewhat weak smile. "Hey honey. Been a whle," he smiles at her. The glasses are still on, so Clark looks like he's had a rough time. "How did it go?" Clark figured she was working on a story. He turns a little to look up at her as he is comfortably on the couch, despite looking disheveled.

Lois Lane has posed:
"Don't you 'hey honey' me," Lois chides gently, an apprehensive smile touching the corners of her lips. She reaches down to take his glasses, slipping them off and folding them to set on the end table, then she perches just on the edge of the sofa at his waist so she can look down at him.

"What's going on? What are you feeling right now?"

There's sympathy in her eyes and her touch, but not nearly as much in her voice. That's where the bulk of her stress and worry seems to come out, dismissing the question about her story without even a flicker of hesitation. When Lois was in problem-solving mode, she brooked no distractions.

Superman has posed:
"Like I imagine how a bad cold or flu feels?" Clark replies with question. "I sweat, but feel cold. I've got a cough I can't shake," he sniffs a little bit. And he's clearly has a case of the sniffles.

"It happened during the interview. I shaked Lex's hand and something hit me," Clark admits knowing this will send Lois down a path. "Kara never came in contact after I shook his hand," he says softly. Then hs sky blue eyes flick to her, "And I had to do it twice to address our parting." She can tell he didn't -want- to do that.

"Lex bought my story that it was a bad Triple Belly Slam from Big Belly," just a bad meal of Big Belly Burger.

Lois Lane has posed:
"You think Lex Luthor infected you with something?"

Lois was already bristling, and that 'path' that was so visible in her eyes currently looked more like a broad, empty, multi-lane highway that led straight into the front doors of LexCorp. And she was already gassing up her tank, preparing to drive it directly into the building. What kind of experimental agent did Lex have his hands in (literally) that could make Superman /sick/?

And if Lois was worried about contamination, it didn't show. She leaned over to kiss his forehead again, sweeping her fingers across his hair.

"Have you ever been sick before? If you have, I've never seen it..."

Superman has posed:
"Not really," Clark admits, knowing some injuries may have caused him to be sicked. However, it wasn't like this. There's nothing Clark could point in the direction of a cause. "You don't need to worry about me," he says softly looking at her for a moment. Sky blue eyes looking back at her for a moment.

His gaze breaks from her as he closes his eyes. Trying to breathng out, center himself more. All of it makes him not too great. Still, he will adapt as best as he can. It's weird to be sick.

Lois Lane has posed:
"Sweetheart," Lois whispers softly, patiently, "you can stop bullets and leap over buildings. You've never been sick a day in your life, but you look like you've been hit by a truck while holding a chunk of kryptonite. Did you seriously just tell me not to worry about you?"

She draws in a breath and lets it out slowly, watching him close his eyes. Her fingers sweep across his hair again, then draw a line down his cheek.

"I'll get you some water. Are you hungry?"

Superman has posed:
"I'll be fine," Clark tries to lie. His sky blue eyes looking at her for a moment. "I hear soup helps," he admits. Honestly, Clark isn't sure what will shake this? Time, rest, both? Something else added to the mix? It's not overwhelming, but it is disarming.

Sky blue eyes close for a moment. "I'll be," he tries to sit up a little, but it takes some effort. "Water might be nice," he admits.

Lois Lane has posed:
"Stay. Rest."

Lois reaches out and places her hand on his chest to try and stop him from sitting up, but it's a little like placing her hand on a Mack truck to keep it from rolling forward. Her words are soft but firm, still filled with concern.

"I'll get you some water to drink and warm you up some soup. It'll take a few minutes. You need all the rest you can get. God knows your metabolism must be going haywire right now."

But then she's standing, placing one final kiss on his forehead and moving into the kitchen.

Superman has posed:
Clark tries thinking on it as Lois is in the kitchen. Just tryng his best to dissect earlier events. His mind rolls over the same details agan and again.

"Kara and I did the same thing. We went in at the same tme. Got scanned one after another. But I felt fine after security. We both did. It only hit me when I did one thng," Clark admits and it's a detail that seems like nothing. However, it's the only difference. "I shook Lex's hand. Twice," he admits.

"Kara didn't. The second she saw I wasn't well, she tried to keep her distance, respectfully. And she took all the photos," Clark says as his brain goes over details.

Lois Lane has posed:
"Let's start with what we /know/, then," Lois says, still in the kitchen. She doesn't shout the words, either. She speaks as conversationally as if he was standing right beside her, even if he was half-a-house away.

He can hear her putting a pot on the stove, opening the soup, turning on the burner.

A moment later, she's emerging with a big thermos of cold water. One of those that have the sport top so it doesn't matter how horizontal he gets.

"You /know/ you went to LexCorp and got sick. You /think/ the only thing was different was that you shook Lex's hand, which may or may not help."

For a moment, while waiting for the soup, she perches next to him again.

"We /know/ you've never been /sick/ before. Never had a cold. Never had so much as a stomach ache. You've always been in absolute top shape, /except/..."

It was a leading question. She knew where she was going with it.

Superman has posed:
Clark knows exactly where she's going with this. It's where his mind wandered a few tmes. "Kryptonite," he admits, somewhat weakly.

"That's the thing. I don't remember seeing anything that looked like Kryptonite in his office. And we -know- if Kara had, she would have spoken up," he says filling in more concrete detalis along with speculation, presumption, etc.

Lois Lane has posed:
"Kryptonite," Lois repeats.

She nods at his words, lips quirking thoughtfully to the side.

"Here. Drink," she encourages gently after listening to him, opening the top and handing the thermos of water to him. "So, the only way that we know you can be weakened... short of some catastrophic, world-ending event.. is through kryptonite. But, Kara's not suffering any ill effects, that we know of. You didn't see any in his office, but..."

Her eyebrows lift. "You keep coming back to that handshake. Do you think it's possible that Lex had kryptonite on his hand? And if he did, did he do it on /purpose/ to try to get a reaction out of you? Do you think he suspects?"

Superman has posed:
Clark takes a drink from the thermos. He follows her instruction, "Yes. Pending other aliens, similar," he admits and takes another drink.

"Also correct about Kara," Clark admits. Although, he hasn't texted Kara in the last few minutes. The messages from Kara in Lois's voicemail sounded fine.

"Maybe? If someone makes a jewel out of it, or even copies those jade rings, and make one out of Kryptonite. But Kryptontie glows from the energy it emits. I didn't see a glow," but there's a lot they don't know about Kryptonite. Rumors of different colors are possible.

"He seemed to buy my story about big belly burger. If he calls for me, cover," Clark admits knowing Lois may need to run interference if Lex does a follow up.

Lois Lane has posed:
"If he calls for you, I'll tell him you're feeling much better but were pulled off on another assignment, so I'll be taking over the in-person interviews."

It's weird. It didn't sound like a question. Or an offer. It sounded more like a declaration of fact.

"Glow or not, Lex is up to no good. And we don't fully understand what he's capable of. Bullets bounce off of you, so I assume needles do, too. He couldn't inject anything into you. If it's that, it has to be something that was either aerosolized or skin-on-skin. If he doesn't /know/ you're Superman, maybe he was working with something experimental just before you arrived."

Superman has posed:

That's what Clark wanted. They're working together. He said what is needed, and she provided a solution. Clark will leave things open ended for Lois, because Clark trust's her skill and versatility.

"You might need to talk to Kara. Look over her photos, they saw a picture is worth a thousand words. She probably has twenty thousand words, at minimum," he looks at Lois and gives a soft smile. "Some might tell a story we don't know about -yet-." He hoped Kara would find somethng that they missed.

Lois Lane has posed:
"I'll call her," Lois promises. "She's going to want an update, anyway, but I'm still quarantining us for the rest of the week to make sure it's not something that's contagious. If /I/ get sick, we'll know it's not kryptonite. Or, at least, not /just/ kryptonite. And, with any luck, we'll have prevented the spread any further."

Of course, that also meant they would absolutely have to call the CDC and have some super uncomfortable conversations that Lois didn't want to have.

Then she's rising again, moving back into the kitchen to check on the soup she'd started on the stove.

Superman has posed:
"What?" Clark didn't consider that. Soemtimes he likes Lois around for that reason. Clark likes to see the hope in everyone. And he knows that's not realistic. So, Lois is a nice counter balance sometimes.

"I don't think," Clak begins then pauses. It's possble, but that's croossing some lines he thinks Lex wouldn't cross. Not because of mortality, but because it's not the smart play. A move like that is loud. It brings a lot of attention to him.

Lois Lane has posed:
"...that Lex Luthor is capable of engineering a bio-weapon that may or may not be specifically targeted at Kryptonians and may or may not have intentionally or inadvertently released that weapon today?"

Clark had to raise his voice so she could hear, but once more, her voice was just as level as if she'd been sitting on that couch with him as she stirs the soup.

"Time will tell."

There's no fear in her voice. If she got sick, they'd deal with the consequences of that, but it was too late to isolate from Clark now. Not that anyone short of Superman himself could have kept her away, anyway.

"Regardless, there's some digging that needs to be done. Even if Lex is /just/ messing with kryptonite and not a biological agent, that alone is ominous."