Four times they didn’t and the first time they did

1. Drunken Sojourn

The world is spinning and Clark’s smile is a bit sheepish but golden all the same and Richard can’t stop starring at it. Richard wavers on his feet, his knees almost buckling beneath him, but Clark holds him close with one of Richard’s arms wrapped around his shoulder. Clark is steady on his feet, even after six beers, he doesn’t look a bit intoxicated, and Richard wishes he was still stable enough to stand on his own two feet. But his world is tilting dangerously and he doesn’t want to hit any concrete. Of course his world is tilting and spinning anyway, it doesn’t really need alcohol to make Richard hit the ground with a sickening crack.

Not since Superman returned.

The thought is supposed to be bitter, spiting, but it sounds wistful even in the privacy of his own head. The memory of Superman’s wounded body lying on the floor of his seaplane takes the sting out of his thoughts and morphs them into something mournful and yearning. He shakes the thought and the memory away; he doesn’t want to think about Superman or Lois or Superman and Lois. Instead he focuses on the solid warmth of Clark’s body next to his and leans a bit heavier on Clark’s shoulder. Clark doesn’t seem to notice.

Richard isn’t really surprised that Clark isn’t drunk. They’ve been going out for drinks together regularly for the last few months and no matter how much Clark drinks, or appears to be drinking, he never, ever gets drunk. He’s tried to find out where Clark managed to build up his tolerance for alcohol during their lunch… appointments …. (not dates, definitely not dates), but Clark has always managed to deflect questions like that.

“Here we are.” Clark says and Richard finds that they’re standing in front of the house Richard shares with Lois. There are no lights on and no one’s home because Lois is out of town and Jason is staying with Richard’s parents for the night. He frowns and shakes his head slightly, because he can’t remember where the past fifteen minutes have gone. He turns to Clark, intending to thank him for his time and to apologize for being such a drunken nuisance.

But somehow the words turn out muffled against Clark’s mouth and Richard is gripping those broad shoulders, pulling that solid body closer to his and a moan escapes his throat. Clark’s lips are smooth and soft against Richard’s and his mouth is such a strange combination of spice, beer and raw desire that if Richard’s head hadn’t been clouded by the alcohol before he wouldn’t have been able to tell you his name now.

He doesn’t know why he’s reaching for Clark, not entirely. But Clark has a beautiful mouth and he’s smart and funny and interesting, once you look past the clumsy, dorky exterior, the adorable clumsy, dorky exterior, Richard thinks. Richard just might have developed a crush on him, just might have, a little one, nothing to be concerned about. So why is he kissing Clark? He decides he really doesn’t care.

Somehow he ends up against the side of the house, Clark pressed up against him and he’s being devoured by Clark’s mouth. He tries to respond to the kiss as best as he can and he’s tangling his hands in Clark’s thick, dark hair, pulling at the strands and his hips are grinding against Clark’s and it’s so good, so hot and Richard thinks that if this goes on much longer he’ll be flying with the stars, high above the clouds.

He’s hard and aching and so is Clark and he really, really wants to open the door and pull Clark inside and have his wicked way with Clark. Or force Clark to have his wicked way with Richard. He doesn’t really care right now, but he wants Clark and he opens his lips wider, moaning into that gorgeous mouth and really, what harm could it do?

“Clark, yes, please,” he whispers, whimpers, against Clark’s mouth and he opens his eyes to look at him and almost freezes when suddenly, inexplicably, he sees past the glasses into alien blue eyes. His brain makes a click, connecting dots scattered across the sky. The shock is enough to release him from his alcohol induced haze and he abruptly remembers that he has a fiancé and shouldn’t be doing this and the knowledge that Clark is…. Clark is…

Clark releases him and steps back, looking unsure and dorky-like and Richard thinks that Clark probably doesn’t realize what Richard saw.

“We shouldn’t be doing this…” Richard whispers, and Clark nods.

They don’t say anything else after that, Richard simply goes inside and Clark goes… away. Richard suppresses the urge to look out the window and look for him, both on the ground and in the air and instead crawls into his empty bed. He can still feel Clark’s impossibly solid and strong body pressed up against him.

2. Guilty As Charged

It’s a late night at the planet, Jimmy has gone out for food a while ago and he isn’t back yet. Jason is sleeping on the couch in Richard’s office. Lois is sitting in front of her computer, the screen highlighting the way she’s nibbling on her lower lip and her fingers are quickly moving across her keyboard. Richard stands in front of the elevator, furiously jabbing at the button, he needs to get air and in a desperate bid to escape the thick silence between him and Lois he decides to go up to the roof. He knows that Lois takes her cigarette breaks there every now and then, but the story she’s working on has consumed her on such a level that Richard knows she won’t be needing a cigarette for a while.

The air is cool and the small breeze makes his hair stir. He jams his hands into his pockets and walks to the edge of the roof, looking over the city, leaning against the balustrade. He thinks about burying his head in his hands and crying but decides that it’s a bit too dramatic for his tastes and settles on a deep sigh instead. The lights of Metropolis stretch out before him, tiny spots of colour into the vast darkness of the night.

His relationship with Lois is crumbling and he knows it. He can feel it in the heavy silence between them whenever they’re alone and Jason isn’t there to distract them. He can see it in the way that she’s replaced their family picture on her desk with just a picture of her and Jason. He can hear it in the way she sighs “Superman” in her sleep or the way she moans it underneath her breath when they have sex. And while he would like to say that it is Lois’ fault for loving another man and having another man’s child, he knows that it’s not true.

A part of the blame lies with him, because ever since that time he got drunk and kissed Clark (so good, so hot, want you, please Clark, yes, please) he’s been distancing himself from Lois as much as she’s been pulling away from him. A hollow chuckle escapes Richard as he thinks of how he and Lois are both panting over Superman now. Richard idly thinks that if he had to fall in love with someone else while being engaged with Lois, why couldn’t he at least fall in love with someone he could be with?

The painful truth is that he and Lois will break up soon, because they can’t keep living like this, neither of them can, and then he’ll probably end up alone. Because when Lois is free and single, Superman will swoop in and claim the woman who’s always loved him and the child that is his, and Richard will no longer be in the way. At least Lois will be happy and Jason will have someone who can help him when all his powers start surfacing and really, that’s all that’s really important.

A harsh gust of wind makes him close his eyes and brace himself against the concrete briefly before opening them again. He turns around with the vague notion of going back inside and nearly jumps out of his skin when he sees the primary-coloured Boy-Scout hovering in the air in front of him. Something clicks inside of Richard’s brain and he wonders how many times Lois actually came up here to smoke and how many times were secret rendezvous’ with the man she is hopelessly in love with.

“Superman,” Richard says as a way of greeting.

“Mr. White,” a flash of annoyance at being called that flashes through Richard, but he ignores it, “I hope you’re not planning to jump.”

Richard glares at him. “Is that what you told Lois every time you met her up here?”

Superman gives him an even look, but Richard thinks that there is a flash of surprise mixed in there somewhere. Superman slowly lowers himself to the floor of the roof and stands there, still looking tall and imposing and a thread of unwanted desire unfurls in Richard’s belly. He shivers as those eyes stare at him and his mind briefly takes him back to that night when he looked past Clark’s glasses for the first time to see someone wholly new buried beneath.

Clark Kent was Superman and Superman was Clark Kent, but who they both were remains a mystery.

“I’m sorry,” Richard amends, because he really has no reason to be such a dick. It’s not Superman’s fault that Lois and Richard fell in love with him. “I didn’t mean it.”

Superman gives him another look. “I wouldn’t blame you if you did.”

Richard’s heartbeat is speeding up, beating a wild staccato against his chest and the blood rushes to his cheeks when he realizes that Superman can probably hear what his presence is doing to Richard. He clears his throat and stubbornly refuses to act embarrassed. He takes two steps forward, intending to walk past Superman towards the door.

“Well, I didn’t and that’s that. Lois and I will be breaking up soon, I’m not sure how long it’ll take before we’ve both had enough, but it’s coming. After that, you and Lois can set up shop and I can get used to seeing Jason calling Clark Kent “daddy”.”

He glances sideways to look at Superman and feels a faint brush of satisfaction at the look of complete and utter surprise on his face. “How do you know?”

Richard shrugs. “I just …,” he really doesn’t want to tell Clark the real reason why he backed of that night, “I just saw past the glasses one day.” And that is close enough to the truth that his heartbeat won’t give away the lie. Superman is looking at him, his eyes unreadable, but beautiful as North Polar Lights.

And then, one way or another, Richard is pressed up against the door leading to the elevator and Superman has lifted him of his feet, pressing their hips together. Richard’s legs wrap around Superman’s waist instinctively and he’s being kissed within an inch of his life and Richard really has no idea how they ended up in this position. He suspects Clark used super-speed.

The fabric of the Suit is pliable and warm underneath Richard fingers and he unsuccessfully looks for an opening so he can slip his hands underneath it and touch Clark’s skin. It’s unfair that Clark can roam his hands all over Richard’s back and chest, driving him crazy, while Richard can’t do the same. Finally, Clark releases his mouth, but continues with peppering kisses on the side of Richard’s neck and Richard really doesn’t know what is going on?

“Wha- What….?” He tries, but his voice isn’t working or maybe his brain isn’t because his voice has no problem releasing a keening wail when their hips rock together.

“You know,” Clark murmurs in his ear and his voice makes Richard’s nerve endings crackle, “you liked Clark first, then Superman. I want… I want…”

He suddenly releases Richard and staggers back, looking disoriented and slightly confused and it’s so strange to see an expression that usually belongs to Clark on Superman’s face. But there is hunger too, underneath the surface, and Richard shivers. He realises that he’s cold, because his shirt is hanging off one shoulder and he’s holding his pants up with one hand. It’s dizzying to think that Superman almost had him naked on the roof of the Daily Planet.

“You don’t know what you do to me.” Clark says, almost mournfully.

Richard swallows, his heart hammering inside his chest and slowly starts to get dressed again. He needs to get back inside, needs to go back to Lois and Jason and he can’t stay up here. He’s never cheated on a woman before and he doesn’t think it’s a coincidence that the only two times he’s ever come close is with Clark. So while he’s willing and wanting and ready for it, he’s not that kind of man, he’s never been that kind of man.

He doesn’t want to be that kind of man.

He gives Clark a sad look and turns around, reaching for the door knob. “Lois and I will be over soon, which one of us you want….” He doesn’t finish the sentence and merely goes back inside.

He doesn’t know what will happen when he and Lois break up, but they’re not broken up yet and Richard is not the kind of man who cheats on a woman he’s loved for a very long time. The small voice that tells him he’s already cheated because he kissed another man, did a whole lot more then kissing, is ruthlessly silenced. He decides not to feel too guilty about it.

3. The Right Timing

Richard is unpacking one of the last boxes when the doorbell rings. He leaves the box on the dinner table and goes to open the door of his new apartment. It’s at the top floor of one of the thousand huge, skyscraper apartment buildings in Metropolis and the master bedroom has a skylight big enough to fit two grown men. Richard refuses to believe that buying an apartment with a skylight was a move made out of the hope that Clark might end up living here, with him. He and Lois have been officially separated for about two months now.

He’s been staying in a hotel and only moved in to this apartment three days ago. It took him quite a long time to find something that he liked, but this apartment has bewitched him. It has two bedrooms, so Jason can have his own room when he comes to stay. The kitchen is roomy and modern, with warm yellow colours and lots of natural light from the big windows facing the Metropolis skyline. The living room is in soft beige and green tones and the bathroom has white and blue tiles.

He’s planning to re-paint the master bedroom, because red and black just isn’t his style and Jason’s room will have to be re-done too because at the moment it’s still pink with a bunny-theme. Jason would want something with airplanes, or frogs. Richard will have to ask him.

When Richard opens the door, it’s Clark who’s standing in front of him, wearing jeans and a dark red t-shirt. It doesn’t surprise him as much as it should have, maybe. For two months they’ve been going places together, bars, restaurants, movies, even a few art exhibits in several galleries. And his crush has been morphing, changing into something deeper that terrifies him because it’s bigger then what he felt for Lois and until recently she was the person he’d loved most in the world.

He jams his hands in his pockets and steps aside to let Clark in. “Hey, Clark.”

“Hello, Richard. Nice place you got here.”

Richard shrugs. “It still needs some work. I need to redo the bedroom.”

Clark smiles and takes of his glasses and he tucks them away in his pocket and Clark’s face blends perfectly with Superman’s face. He’s devastatingly handsome and Richard wants to call him by his name and drag him to his bedroom, but he doesn’t know whether he should call him Clark or Superman. He wants to ask, but he’s not sure how Clark/Superman would take it.

Richard gives Clark a tour of the apartment, even showing him the bedroom and his eyes linger on the skylight. He gives Richard a look and Richard can feel a heat starting in his belly and he wants to reach out and touch and kiss and… He mentally shakes himself, because maybe this isn’t the time yet, even if his heart tries to convince his mind that they’ve been dating for two months now.

He quickly leads Clark to Jason’s bedroom. “I’m going to have Jason pick out some paint or wallpaper or something. I don’t think he’d like this.”

Clark smiles and runs a hand over the walls. “So Jason will be staying here some nights?”

Richard nods. “Lois and I talked about it. Jason still thinks that I’m his father, and Lois doesn’t want to tell him yet about….” Richard doesn’t finish talking because he’s not exactly sure how much Clark knows (but he suspects Clark knows enough) and they’ve never talked about it before.

“About Jason being my son.” Clark says.

Richard nods and clears his throat. “I think she’s waiting for Superman to sweep her of her feet and set up shop with her. At the mean time she still needs someone to pick him up from school and watch him while she’s working on a story.”

Clark sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “I know. I’m not sure if she believes Superman will be able to be a full-time father while moonlighting as a superhero, but I know that she’s… she hinted at her and I beginning a relationship again the last time I saw her as Superman. I’ll have to make it clear that… I’ve found someone else.”

That heat flares into Richard’s stomach again and this time there’s no helping it. He reaches out to touch Clark and Clark reaches for him too and then their arms wrap around each other. Clark’s kiss is soft and tender and it’s wholly different from the heated and forceful kisses they’ve shared together in the past. Richard sneaks a hand underneath Clark’s t-shirt and he feels the strange, pliable, invulnerable material that is the Suit.

“Clark…” he whispers, ready to ask Clark to take it off and make love to him right there on the floor, but Clark interrupts him.

“Kal, call me Kal.” Clark’s eyes are wide and blue and his mouth is soft and teasing and Richard is having trouble concentrate.

“What?”

“That’s my name, Kal-El. I want you to call me that.”

Richard finally has a name for the mixture of Clark and Superman and he smiles broadly. “Kal.”

They kiss again and Kal’s hands are deftly working on removing Richard’s clothing and he’s not objecting, no he’s not and he starts yanking on Kal’s shirt, trying to get the point across and yes, yes, yes, they’re going to do this. Kal slowly lowers them to the floor and they’re finally going to do this and Richard can hear Kal moaning his name and it’s so good, so good….

“Daddy? Are you home!”

Jason’s voice is like a foghorn breaking through the moment and Richard curses himself. Why has he given Lois a key to the apartment again? Kal is looking at him with wide eyes and they quickly scramble upright. Richard starts putting on his clothes as fast as he can while Kal quickly fixes his hair and puts on his glasses. Clark Kent smiles at him and says. “I’ll go stall them.”

Richard quickly finishes dressing and tries to only feel relief that he and Clark didn’t make love on the floor of what will be his son’s bedroom.

4. No Surprises

Richard opens the door to his apartment, acutely aware of Clark’s broad figure behind him. It’s been a week since they’d almost made love on the floor of Jason’s bedroom, a week where Richard had gone to France for an assignment and had ended up chasing leads through Belgium and Germany. This is his first night back and while he should be exhausted, seeing Clark sent the butterflies in his stomach in overdrive and he felt wide awake.

When he’d arrived at the planet, still carrying the suitcase he’d driven with across Europe, he’d gone to see Perry first thing. Then he’d started cracking on the story, before saving it to his computer. He only had to edit it a bit tomorrow, and then he could send it in and he could get caught up with some of his paperwork. When he’d been leaving, intent on going home, he’d caught Clark getting up from his desk.

Their eyes had met from across the bullpen and Richard had felt his knees wobble when Clark’s eyes had gone dark, his pupils going wide with desire. So Richard had waited outside of the building, where the people in the bullpen wouldn’t see him waiting for Clark, and when Clark had left the building not ten minutes later, they’d gotten into Richard’s car together. And now they’re here and Richard can feel Clark’s eyes boring holes into the back of his head.

He takes of his coat and throws his suitcase onto the sofa, he loosens his tie and turns to Clark, who’s taken of his glasses. Richard reaches for him, debating to himself whether he wants to take this to the bedroom, where the colours of black and red are still dominant, or whether he’d rather do it on the living room floor, which is closer but not exactly more comfortable.

Kal comes to him with a smile on his face and Richard starts picking apart the façade of Clark Kent along with the ill-fitting suit. Kal lets him, moving when Richard needs him to take of his pants and then Superman is standing in Richard’s living room, but the hair and the expression are all wrong, and he’s still Kal. Richard doesn’t know how to get the Suit off, so he stops there and Kal smiles.

Slowly, Kal starts to take of Richard’s clothing, first the tie and then Richard’s shirt. His undershirt follows quickly and then Kal’s hands are working the zipper on Richard’s pants and he realizes how hard he’s become with anticipation alone. Kal is looking at him, a heavy, heated look in his eyes and Richard swallows. Then his pants are falling to the floor, followed by his boxers. He toes off his shoes and steps out of his pants and takes off his socks. He stands naked and erect in his living room and he can feel a fiery blush spreading over his body at the look Kal is giving him.

They wrap their arms around each other and Richard can’t help the small moan he makes when his body comes in full contact with the warm fabric of the Suit. It feels strange against his skin, pliable but indestructible and warm and soft and slippery and Richard decides that it’s definitely alien materiel. Kal grabs the cape and wraps it around Richard, surrounding him in the strange fabric.

Their mouths meet, reaching for each other and Richard is only dimly aware of Kal tightening his grip on Richard’s waist as they levitate towards the ceiling. They hang suspended in mid-air, their kisses growing more and more heated and Richard really wants nothing more for Clark to take off the suit and make love to him. He’s been wanting this for so long and they’ve been interrupted every time and who knows how much time they have?

So when Kal suddenly pulls away, an apologetic expression on his face, Richard can’t really bring himself to feel surprised. Kal lowers them to the ground and sets Richard gently back on his feet, as if he’s afraid he’ll hurt Richard by moving too roughly.

“I have to go, there’s a hostage situation in the UN building and…” he trails off, unsure.

Richard nods. “It’s fine, you should go. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Kal hesitates and Richard faintly hopes that Kal will say he’ll be back before that. But Kal just nods. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

5. Making Peace

When Richard allows Clark inside, he simply turns around and flops back down on the sofa. He watches as Clark takes of his glasses and his tie, hesitating briefly before sitting down next to Richard.

“Are you alright?” Kal asks softly.

Richard shrugs. “I’m fine.”

Kal hesitates again. “Listen, about yesterday…”

Richard interrupts him. “It’s not about yesterday, it’s fine. I’ve just made peace with it.”

Kal frowns. “With what?”

“With the fact hat we’re never having sex.”

“Wha-What?” Kal splutters, looking utterly surprised. “Why would we never have sex? I mean… we didn’t seem to have any trouble with it before.”

Richard pouts. “Except for the fact that we never actually did it! Come on, Kal, we’ve tried to have sex for four times already! I suppose the first two don’t really count because I was still with Lois and it would have been wrong of us. But first Jason and then yesterday the emergency, what’s next? The apartment collapsing under Fate’s efforts of trying to make us understand that we aren’t supposed to have sex?”

Kal stares at him, a soft smile on his face. “You know you’re adorable when you rant.”

“My point is….”

“Third time’s the charm?” Kal asks, interrupting him. He lifts a hand to reach for Richard’s tie, which he didn’t bother to take off after work, and uses it to pull him closer. Richard doesn’t resist, figuring it won’t do much good against a man who can pull airplanes out of the sky.

“I love you.” He says, because suddenly it seems terribly important that Kal knows it.

Kal smiles. “I love you.”

And they kiss, soft and needy and clinging to each other tightly. Richard opens his mouth wide for Kal’s questioning tongue and they levitate of the couch, towards the bedroom. Richard’s clothes seem to melt away from his body and when Kal takes of Clark Kent’s clothes followed by Superman’s Suit, Richard strokes the soft skin on his chest.

Richard is only dimly aware of his voice begging fore more, “More, yes, please, Oh God Kal, yes, please, I want you, want you, love you, take me, take me now, please, please, it’s so good, yes!”

And Kal is moaning above him, saying words in a language that Richard doesn’t understand. His smooth voice has turned slightly rough and husky and Richard loves the sound of it as he wraps his legs around Kal’s hips, urging their bodies closer together. Time seems to pass in a haze as Kal drives him crazy with desire and lust, his fingers stroking and kneading and his eyes are dark and yet impossibly blue.

“Kal!” His moan turns into a sharp cry as finally, finally Kal is inside of him and it feels so good, so heavenly good that Richard can’t stop moaning and crying even if his life depended on it. It’s slow and steady love making and Richard thinks that he won’t be able to take much more of it, so Kal needs to speed up now. Kal moans something that might have been “Richard”, but Richard couldn’t tell for sure.

And then there’s heat, heat, heat everywhere, consuming him, moulding him until he shatters into a million brilliant pieces. His cry curls out of his throat, his back arches taut as a bowstring and Kal is moaning loudly, his voice stroking the edges of Richard’s frazzled nerves. They remain in the moment, suspended in time and when it’s over Kal’s heavy weight on top of him is comforting and beautiful and Richard relishes in the feelings of affection and love and in the soreness of his body.

“I love you.” He whispers into Kal’s ear and he feels Kal’s smile against his shoulder.

When the night is over, Richard has screamed, whimpered and moaned those words into the air around them as there is nothing to interrupt them.

FIN