lanelloislane

[lanelloislane]

wondxrwoman​:

.

Even the very implication that Lois had given up on her life’s work was enough to make Diana smile, fond, against the edge of her phone. Lois had sold that story well, to make people believe it. It had been impressive. 

She wondered, however, if everyone had been fooled, mind floating towards Luthor. The thought made Diana shift, a bit restless. “Would you be willing to come talk with me sometime soon?” Diana asked. “Maybe… a nice picnic in the woods?” She’d bring extra blankets. The ground might not be frozen still, most days, but it surely wasn’t soft. 

.

“Of course,” Lois hummed, immediately more serious than she’d been moments before. She’d love to talk to Diana in person, so they could say the things they couldn’t over the phone. So she could hug her friend and so Diana could see everything was okay, really. “I’d love that. I could pick us up some pastries from town?”

Maybe some sandwiches too, from one of the restaurants that would let her take it to-go. Yes, a picnic would be nice. It’d definitely be more achievable than some other nice things that Lois was yearning for.

[lanelloislane]

warukuzuri​:

Shit. Why would Akihiro move to Sokovia? He knew why Daken would (mayhem, foolishness, and money to be made), but this wasn’t Daken. “Just looking for new opportunities. Got tired of the same thing everyday, y’know?” He replied. That sounded boring enough. 

“And I moved from Japan since my-” shit. Fuck. Too far. “Family did. The whole family moved over when I was younger.” That sounded awful. “ I wish I had a more exciting answer for you, but i’m pretty boring.” Daken laughed. This was going downhill, fast. “I wish I had some exciting story to appease your journalistic spirit. I mean, I think I saw Alpha Flight once, but that’s not anything to write home about.”

.

Lois was more than familiar with people who tried lying to her face about this, that, and the other- it used to be her job to find those lies, to push and press until they told the truth for her to share with the public. Her companion seemed hesitant all of a sudden, and Lois couldn’t help but wonder if his first answer was common or too common. 

“Oh?” Lois raised her eyebrow, leaning forward with a pleasant smile that she’d once heard described as wolfish. She really shouldn’t be harassing him about the details- it was his life, something she didn’t need to pry into -but it was just so very interesting. A little pushing couldn’t hurt, right? She let out a small laugh at his jest, nodding. “Believe me, the journalistic spirit is long gone, now. I just do press releases. Besides, I don’t think anyone is boring- we all have our stories. Sokovia is a hell of a place to look for new opportunities, though. What made you come here of all places?”

[lanelloislane]

wondxrwoman​:

.

Well, Lois wasn’t wrong. The words made Diana’s lips quirk in amusement; such a very Lois statement to make. And so very accurate. (Of course it was. Who would know Clark better than Lois, after all?) 

“Many things were unearthed, yes,” she replied. “I’ll have to tell you when we can actually sit down and speak face-to-face. Off the record, Ms. Lane,” Diana added with a private little smile, just for herself. 

.

Lois leaned back in her chair, relief settling on her shoulders yet again. She knew Diana was the right choice for this- her only choice, yes, but the best one she could have gotten. The reassurance that it wasn’t for nothing was something Lois didn’t know she needed so badly, but now that she had it it was something she was certain she’d been aching for.

“I’d love to, Ms. Prince,” Lois hummed, grinning at the open air in front of her. “You’d have nothing to worry about. My investigative reporter days are long gone.” As far as anyone at her work knew, anyways. She was sure Diana knew better because Diana always knew, but Lois had managed to slip under the radar so far, her digging unnoticed. Long gone, indeed.

[lanelloislane]

wondxrwoman​:

.

“That would be me, as well,” Diana said, smiling a little bit into the phone as Lois covered up the momentary wobble in her breath. Always, as the phrase went, tough as nails. But Diana knew her well, and knew how soft her heart was. And how much Clark’s choices had hurt her. And how much their current standing, the unsureness, surely still did. 

How horrible, Diana had thought more than once. For two people to care so deeply for each other, but to remain separated by choice and circumstance.

“Though it was my fault for allowing him to go from the start,” Diana amended, because she deserved the blame. “I worried it was a bad idea, but. You know how convincing he can be.” A sigh. “He’s going to be staying under lock and key, from now on… I doubt he’ll enjoy himself.”

.

“You’re my hero,” Lois muttered, running a hand down her face. Diana had always been a friend- Clark’s friend first, but a friend to Lois all the same -and she’d never once let her down. The panic button was a gift that Lois was thankful for beyond words, proof that Diana cared for her even if she and Clark were fighting. 

“It’s not your fault,” she sighed, a thin smile on her face. “You couldn’t have known what was going to happen and Clark is an idiot who would’ve gone anyway.” Lois’ smile only grew as Diana went on and she snorted. “I’d prefer he be bored than dead. I think most people would. Did you get anything good from the ball, at least?”

[lanelloislane]

warukuzuri​:

“In the area. But your building sits between me and the shopping areas, so I must wander by quite often. Are you in the habit of peoplewatching?” Daken said with a smile. No, Daken worked in the building. Maybe he used the back entrance, and didn’t really interact with the other employees. They never wanted to interact with the people who did the dirty work. He was content to go in, do his job, and leave, and not think about anything he’s done.

“Oh I could imagine. I live here now, but I’m originally from Japan, but I moved here from Canada. So i’m totally off my rhythm here.” He looked around. “This isn’t a big city at all, but i’m from the ‘Very North’ part of Canada. Having neighbors and stuff is novel.” Part of that was true at least, after all, the best lies were routed in truth. But for some reason, Daken felt bad for lying to her. It came natural to him, and he didn’t even consider telling to truth for some reason. it was just more interesting to make things up, and keep up the lie.

.

Maybe that was it. He lived here, walked by the building often, probably had visited the shops at the same time as Lois on some occasion. That would explain why she thought she knew him. “Not often,” she hummed. “Only when I’m bored or eating out by myself.”

Lois nodded, listening to his story with interest. “Really? Canada to Sokovia is a big move, was it for work? That’s why I came here from the States.” Japan to Canada was a big move too, and she was interested in the story. The curiosity she felt for these sorts of things was helpful at times, helping her with her job when she needed to find leads on stories, though she figured it wasn’t polite to pry into this man’s life like that. So, she’d ease it with just the one question.

[lanelloislane]

wondxrwoman​:

.

“Good. I’m glad,” Diana replied, meaning it. She couldn’t help it. Because for all that she knew Lois was formidable—truly one of the strongest women Diana had met in man’s world—she was still so very human. And there were times Diana worried that Lois’s fate had been sealed when she had met Clark. (Maybe, just maybe, the way Steve’s had when he had met Diana.) Why else would danger seek her out so doggedly?

“He asked about you, you know,” Diana said into the phone, softer. No need to clarify who. Because of course Clark had. “After the ball.” Not that Diana was going to campaign for Lois to forgive Clark when she, herself, barely had, but. She knew that under Lois’s steely exterior, her flame for Clark still burned bright. And that she would want to hear it. “I stroked his hair and told him he was a fool, like you would have. Though, maybe a bit less bitingly.” The thought made Diana smile, a bit. “In case you wanted to know.”

.

He. Clark. Every time she thought about Clark, she had to ask herself if she knew where they stood. It was complicated and scary, and honestly the most stressful part of her life right now. They weren’t okay, far from it, but at least they could talk. Sometimes. About some things.

“He better have,” Lois drawled, though she wished her voice was a little less shaky. She let out a laugh that sounded a little too wet and sighed, ducking her head. She did want to know. About him, how he was, what was happening. “..Yeah, uh. Thank you.”

After a beat, she huffed. “Did he get in trouble for going? Please tell me somebody yelled at him for me.”

[lanelloislane]

wondxrwoman​:

.

The spike to Diana’s anxiety calmed when Lois confirmed that she was physically alright, because—well, that was generally all that Diana could really help with. Meaningfully. Something tangible. She was always willing to offer an ear for the other woman, however. Whether or not it actually helped. More and more, Diana worried that all the soothing words and comforts she offered weren’t even half of what those she loved needed. 

The question made Diana audibly sigh over the line. “No,” she responded. Then amended, “nothing permanent, anyway.” Because she’d consider both kryptonite poisoning and a heart attack some kind of hurt. “And you? Nothing happened to you?” She had to be sure—Lois was almost supernaturally endowed with the ability to attract trouble. 

.

“Good,” Lois muttered, the relieved warmth in her chest spreading just a bit further. She needed the confirmation and she knew Diana wouldn’t lie to her. Not about this, not when it was so important. Not when the people that Lois cared about were involved.

“No, no, I’m okay Diana.” Lois smiled, stress unable to fight against the humor she found in the question. Of course, Diana would still worry. She was a hero both in name and in her actions every minute of every day. Lois really hoped she was someone like that, too. It was something she admired about her friend. “Besides the stresses of a party gone wrong, I escaped unscathed. Mostly I’m just- kind of freaked out. But it’s better now. Thank you.”

[lanelloislane]

warukuzuri​:

“I’ve walked by that building a few times. Can’t say I’ve ever had a reason for going in.” Daken chuckled, hoping that she didn’t recognize him. Daken had seen her a handful of times, walking near the few meeting rooms that the ISA agents were corralled into when they needed to be used. But he was masked, most of the time. Sometimes.

“Of course! Yeah. I’ve heard your name around. Didn’t know there were big names around here. I thought this is where they shuttled all the losers.” Daken smirked at his own joke. One fault of going by his name for his ISA work was that he had to use fake names for his day-to-day life. As well as his full sleeve tattoo usually selling him out.

.

“Yeah, that’s fair,” she smiled, smoothing out her jacket as she spoke. “Really, it’s not anything impressive and tourism is kind of discouraged.” It was an office building after all, under the supervision from some of the most despicable people Lois ever had the displeasure of meeting.

Lois gave him a polite smile and snorted at his joke. “Well, I wouldn’t really call myself a ‘big name’. I kind of like it out here. People are nicer here than in the city, and there’s so many things to do around here to help out.” That, and it was a lot easier to find superheroes when you were right on top of them. “If that makes me a loser, so be it. What about you? Do you live around here?”

If so, that would explain why he was so familiar. She might have spotted him before.

[lanelloislane]

wondxrwoman​:

Diana was exhausted. With all the revelations the masquerade had brought, then everything that had happened with Steve, Question, and Bruce—she felt wrung-out, stress tensing her shoulders and gnawing at her mind. More fires to put out. More research to do. More dangers lurking around every corner. 

But. She could still never turn away a friend. When Lois Lane lit up her phone, Diana pushed aside the files she’d been reviewing and lifted the phone to her ear. 

“Of course,” Diana replied, pushing away from her desk. “Are you alright?” She presumed as much, or Lois would have hit the panic button Diana had given her years ago when it had seemed that Lois would no longer welcome Clark’s protection. 

.

“Depends what you mean by alright,” Lois sighed, relief audible in her voice as she sat down in a chair nearby. “Physically? Yes, I’m alright. I’m just- worried. Tired. I needed to talk to someone.” 

She wanted to talk to someone. A friend. Lois was concerned about Clark, about Kon, about Diana, about all the people she knew were in hiding somewhere in Sokovia. She was worried about the UN and Luthor and what they’d do. Everything was an all-encompassing mess at the moment.

“I was at the masquerade,” she began, trying to edge at the weight in her mind. “I saw what happened. Was anybody hurt?”

[lanelloislane]

lastsonofkrypton​:

“I like to think they had a certain folksy charm to them. I did leave out a lot of details that might have made me seem … less like a human interest story.” Growing up an alien wasn’t as Garrison Keillor as you’d think, even in Kansas. “People like stories about 4H. They’re whimsical.”

Clark could talk to Lois forever. Or not talk to her. He liked just sitting with her, like when she worked on a crossword and chewed on her pencil eraser thoughtfully, and then complained about the taste. He was aware that she was just on the side of angry, and not simply because Lois was often just on the side of angry. She owned property there. There wasn’t really anything he could do to fix it other than lie, and he hated to lie to Lois, despite being preternaturally good at it. 

“Diana is definitely one of my friends, yes.” He knew that would put Lois’s back up, but telling her about himself and telling her about everyone were two different things and he knew exactly which was okay and which wasn’t. “Around. I’ve mostly been helping people. There isn’t really enough agricultural infrastructure for them to rebuild beyond subsistence farming.” He glanced in the direction of the tower. “Funny you should mention that. I’ve had to get used to there being a lot of people who want me dead. They pop up everywhere. Besides, I don’t think all of them want me dead. Maybe 60%. 65 on a bad day.”

.

“Uh-huh,” Lois deadpanned, raising an eyebrow at him. “Whatever you want to tell yourself, Kent. I’d rather read an academic textbook but, to each their own.” Maybe it was the fact that he’d told her so many stories of his childhood over the years that they all had sort of blended into an eternal blob of Clark-related knowledge in the back of her mind. Any charm she’d found in them was long gone at this point.

Her accusatory eyebrow slid down once again and she frowned at him, trying to be as unamused as she could possibly get. He was avoiding answering her questions, not even trying to hide the fact. His answers were related but not direct and she couldn’t help but feel like Clark was holding her at arms length. 

Telling of him, she supposed.

“Clark.” Lois’ tone dropped, frown pinching. “I’m being serious. You shouldn’t be in the city- it’s too dangerous for you and your friends. It’s not too big of a place to search around if you have a giant home base smack-dab in the middle of it.”

[lanelloislane]

We Need To Talk || Lois & Diana

|| @wondxrwoman​

The ball had been a disaster- suffice to say, Lois was in a state of low-grade panic. She was doing her best to dig through whatever files she could get her hands on but with the security breach on the night of the event, it was harder to do so without catching suspicion. Really, she was afraid for Clark. She’d been able to recognize him almost as soon as he dropped, which was quite worrying. He should be okay, but.. well, it wasn’t like she’d seen him since.

She paced her apartment once, twice, before letting out a sigh and pulling her phone from her pocket. She needed to talk to someone and she only had one person in her phone she could call about it. One moment later and she was searching her contacts for the woman, hitting the call button beside her name as soon as she found it.

“Diana?” Lois sighed as soon as the call was picked up. “It’s Lois. Can we talk?”

[lanelloislane]

lastsonofkrypton​:

Clark grinned back at Lois, unable to contain it. He put his hand up to cover his mouth because right now, she would NOT appreciate the gesture. “As I recall, you were always asking Superman. I don’t think you ever wanted a statement from Clark Kent.” People generally didn’t ask questions of Clark Kent, which was the way he liked it. He’d always liked that Lois was the one in the spotlight. He wanted that for her, she thrived on it. And she did this little hair flip on camera that made Clark’s knees a little weak sometimes. But they weren’t thinking about that. 

“That’s a good question to start with.” He rubbed his nose, a nervous habit he’d adopted to make him seem more human. “A friend brought me. I was … well, I was dying. And I don’t know about you, but I’ve discovered I’m not a huge fan of dying.” He didn’t want to tell her exactly who had rescued him. She knew how to keep a secret, but she shouldn’t have to, and they weren’t his secrets anyway. “I needed to recover. There were … shards inside me. Which, unpleasant! But after that, I didn’t really know what to do. I couldn’t go back.  Everyone would be in danger. And … I’d failed. Everyone.” He bit his lip and tried to smile. “But anyway, it’s not a very good story.”

.

“Yeah, well I think I was doing the world a favor, keeping all those stories of farm life in Smallville out of the papers,” Lois drawled, rolling her eyes. “I think it’d have bored some people to death, if they even stopped to read it.”

It was strange, talking to Clark like this. Talking to Clark at all. They used to be friends, years ago. Then something more. Now? It was like standing in the middle of a frozen lake, where any step could send you tumbling into the ice water below. Mines everywhere, ready to tip the balance of pleasant into smacking Clark in the face and possibly searching for an adequate brick to bash against his stupid invulnerable head.

Lois pursed her lips in an attempt to avoid biting them, lacing her fingers together in a way that seemed anything but casual. Clark sounded depressed, which was honestly pretty new from him- and not in a good way. “Your friend. Diana?” she asked, because Diana is the only one she could think of that would know how to save his life from that missile. Or maybe Batman, but really what the hell had even happened to Batman? He wasn’t even in Gotham anymore, which.. well, it put points towards him being in Sokovia, which was a terrifying thought. Pulling away from that, she let out a hum and leaned back. “No. It’s not a very good story at all. Next question, then.” Lois smiled, more of a twist of her lips than something happy. “Where are you staying? Because I work in the giant UN tower in the city. Giant tower, Clark. Full of people who want to kill you.”

[lanelloislane]

risingblackwidow​:

Natasha leaned against the window of the coffee shop, observing the world around her. Listening and taking things in. It was part of the process, wasn’t it? understanding the context of this little area they were occupying, filling in the blanks for things that might seem like nonsense to those who didn’t know what to look for. She knew, though. She had been doing this her whole life. Listening, absorbing, processing, and connecting things as necessary.

As yet, she had heard snippets here and there. There was a high stakes gambling ring run under one of the restaurants in town, if her read was correct. Nothing to really look into. She wasn’t a cop and she didn’t care about such things. Thus far, that was about all she had heard when her attention was captured by a commotion at the entrance nearby. 

The woman apologizing caught Natasha’s attention. She was familiar somehow, though the redhead would need a moment to place why. Still, the instant spark of interest was worth pursuing, so she had on a pleasant smile as she tapped lightly on the woman’s shoulder. Her demeanor was different from how she was normally perceived, and her fiery hair was tamed back and twisted into a braid under a cap. Just an innocuous Sokovian woman, for all intents and purposes. “You look like you could use this,” she said, offering a stack of napkins and nodding to the coffee on the front of the other woman’s shirt. 

.

Lois let out an irritated sigh as the person pushed past, leaving her with coffee streaks down her jacket- at least it was dark enough to mostly hide the damn stains. There was a tap on her shoulder and she glanced up, coming face to face with a red-haired woman in a cap. She gave a relieved sigh at the offered napkins and nodded, taking them.

“Thanks,” she said gratefully, pressing napkins into her shirt to soak up as much of it as she could. “I really hate coffee stains,” she muttered, pausing a moment to rub her temple. They really were annoyingly impossible to get out, especially if the clothing in question was white.

Reminded her of days when she had to try and wash blood out of her clothes due to Metropolis’ villain of the week deciding the city was due to explode once again. Eugh.

[lanelloislane]

warukuzuri​:

Daken had been camping in the coffee shop, doing a bit of personal spying. The ISA was pretty dry in missions right now, and it was either sitting around the office like some corporate drone, or sitting somewhere where the coffee wasn’t shit. But today, he had taken his tea to go, when his chosen target had chosen to leave earlier than expected. Daken waited until a few people exited after his target, and he was about to exit when someone ran into him. Daken just managed to raise his hot to-go cup above both of their heads to avoid spilling it over everyone.

“It’s-” Daken watched his target disappear around a corner. Shit. “fine. No harm done.” He plastered a fake smile on his face as he looked down. This woman looked slightly familiar. But Daken deals with a lot of people every day. Maybe she worked in the same building? Or was one of those corporate drones that worked with a superhero team. 

With the threat of his coffee not spilling down his shirt avoided, Daken took a step back and lowered his cup to a normal height. 

“Have I seen you somewhere before?”

.

It was a narrow escape for Lois’ blouse and she was lucky that the man she’d run into had the reflexes to lift his coffee as to avoid either of them getting coffee dumped on their fronts. She let out a relieved breath at his response- she knew of too many people who would get more than angry at her for such a thing and an annoyance like that really wasn’t what she needed this morning.

At his question, Lois examined his face a bit closer and nodded sharply, finding him familiar. “Probably. I’m Lois Lane- I work for the UN, I’m usually in the building.” If he didn’t fully recognize her face, he’d probably recognize her name- it was both a blessing and a curse, really. She could get so many places on basis of name alone, but she always tended to get recognized at the worst of times.

[lanelloislane]

maryjancwatson​:

…

“It is going well! At first it was a little…overwhelming, but I think I’ve gotten the hang of it now.” Overwhelming was certainly one word for it. Mary Jane was thankful for her time working under Tony Stark, considering she would have been even more unprepared if she hadn’t spent time as his assistant. “Still working on learning the language, but that’s getting better every day.” The more she heard it, the better she was doing. She might still absolutely sound like an American trying to speak the language, but at least she was understanding it now.

“Thanks for the offer, though. I appreciate it. There’s not very many friendly faces around, so…” That was an understatement, but she was getting used to that as well. “I am also always up for a coffee break, so I’ll need to take you up on that.”

.

“That’s good,” Lois hummed, giving a smile to the other woman. She too had been doing her best to learn the local language- had been doing pretty good, in her own opinion. All the stuff going on recently, though, had certainly been a lot to handle- so yeah, she understood.

She nodded her head, letting out a sigh. “Yeah, it’s a little wild out here. But hey, we two can stick it out together. No need to let all the friendly faces drift away in the sea, right?”

Lois glanced up with a smile as the barista returned and she paid for their drinks, handing over MJ’s before leading the way out of line. “Got time to sit? Or is it more of a to-go kind of day?”

[lanelloislane]

request for you to not be a bitch

request denied

[lanelloislane]

lastsonofkrypton​:

Her hair was different. Should he compliment it? He was never sure about the etiquette there. He’d once told her he liked her bangs in the middle of covering a failed assassination and she’d told him he was an ass. Tricky. He’d have asked her, because she was the one who usually knew best about these things, but it would defeat the purpose. 

He nodded and cuddled the cat a little more. “There’s a cafe around the corner I like. We can meet there in a bit. I’ll just take the cat to Magda. She finds them homes for me. We bonded - never mind, not important.” He disappeared before she could start yelling at him again. Dropping off the cat (Magda called him Cat-Man and he didn’t even correct her that he already knew Cat-Man and the guy was a bit weird), and walked into the cafe. Of course Lois had beaten him there. Sinking down across from her, he reached for glasses he no longer had. Habit. 

“I finally get to be interviewed by Lois Lane. Been waiting years for this.”

.

Her smile pinched as she listened to Clark ramble on about cats and some lady he knew, fondness and annoyance swirling in her chest in a confusing jumble. Lois was annoyed at the nagging thought that yeah, her emotions would be just as scrambled for the next few months at least. She snorted once he was gone, calling in her absence and power-walking down the sidewalk and, within five minutes, she had herself a seat at a table near a window. It was a nice café, she supposed- Clark vouching for it made her certain it at least had good coffee. Good enough for Lois, that is. A smile crossed her face as he sat down across from her, not having to question how he’d gotten back so fast. She knew.

“Years, eh? And yet I remember you always declining to comment or outright refusing when I asked.” She could remember dates, too. Mornings with the sun through the curtains and covers pulled up to her chin. Coffee breaks from work, terrifying flights tens of stories up with only his arms around her waist to keep her from falling to her death. She could remember Clark. Lois smiled a bit wider. “Alright, Mister Kent. If this is an interview, I suppose I should ask some questions.”

She leaned forward, her tone sharpening and her smile sliding off her face like a fallen mask. “What brings you to Sokovia?”