[AU] SV Futureverse

[dovelike]

Metropolis Children's Hospital

Days like today are what keep Eirene coming back to this small hospital in the middle of Kansas. Watching a thirteen year old with once-inoperable pancreatic cancer walk down the hallway to her parents, who are standing with the resident cancer specialist and trying to figure out what happened.

Eirene knows and she glances down at her hands with a faint smile.Miracles. One 'twenty year old' volunteer can do more in the weekend mornings she volunteers than the vicious decease still trying to kill a host of other kids on this floor. If she's lucky, she can save another life today, but her energy reserves haven't been replenished by rest in the last few days.

She's settled into a booth at the corner diner not half an hour later, sipping an herbal tea and flipping through the Planet for anything out of the ordinary. For the curious: she looks like any other college student; a Met U sweater, jeans and Birkenstocks.

Comments

[hero_farmboy]

The door of the diner chimes open and closed several times while Eirene's there; it's on one of the busier corners in the heart of downtown Metropolis and is a favourite spot for Daily Planet and LexCorp employees to stop in for lunch or a quick coffee.

One of those occasions is a little different, although it's anyone's guess if Eirene notices immediately or not. Or at all. But there's a familiar tall, dark haired man stepping up to the counter, giving the waitress behind a near stunning, though still merely polite, smile and ordering a cup of coffee to go.

The suit might throw things off a little.

[eirenikos]

It's a pretty good bet that Eirene doesn't notice right away, she's too busy reading one of Chloe's bylines expounding on the evil that LexCorp has become - now a multinational business under Lex's ruthless grip. Fun stuff.

Only when her tea runs out does the blonde glance up and towards the counter, intending to flag down the harried waitress when she gets a chance and-- the suit is surely noticed first, and then the frame it covers.

And then the face on the frame.

"Clark!"

[hero_farmboy]

His head turns immediately at the sound of his name, confusion settling on his features to begin with. It's not Chloe, she's chasing a story in Washington DC, and it's not Lois, she's chasing a story in New York. And it's defintiely not Lana; she's... it's just not her.

When he does recognize who it is, the counter, waitress and coffee are abandoned and Eirene will find herself enveloped in a rather tight bearhug.

"Eirene! What are you doing here?"

[eirenikos]

First, Eirene is going to return the bearhug, and just stand there for a long time. It's been ages and ages, almost five years, or maybe just over, since she's seen him and she's not going to let go. In fact, the goddess just might bury her face against his chest for a full minute.

"AC snuck me in last week through the Talon, but he had to go deal with some Orca problem up in the Arctic, so I'm hanging out here."

Eventually she pull back a couple of inches and grins up at him. "You sure look good in a suit, Mister Kent."

[hero_farmboy]

This feels good; familiar. Like it did to see Chloe again, or his mom. He gives her a gentle squeeze just before she steps back and grins right back at her.

"He did, huh? I haven't had a chance to catch up with him, or any of the guys, yet - I just got back in town a few weeks ago myself - so I guess I can't go yell at him for not telling me." He pauses to get a better look at her and his brow furrows, just a little. "How are you doing?"

[eirenikos]

"Yep! We stopped by to say hello to your mom, but she was running late to catch her plane back to D.C."

And now that amused expression on Martha's face actually makes sense now. Obviously the senator knew her son was back -- and didn't feel the need to share such information. His sudden scrutiny pulls her attention back to the present.

"Just pushing myself a little hard lately, that's all. More importantly, how are you. Is ... is it finished?"

[hero_farmboy]

The waitress, clearly displeased that the hot guy in the suit has been scooped out from under her, brigs Clark's coffee to Eirene's table and slaps down to menus. Clark just gives her another polite smile in return.

"Mom's good. I went to see her pretty much first thing, of course." Then it's back to Eirene. "Yeah, you know, you look a little tired. Terrible of me to say I know, but you do. You shouldn't work yourself so hard." All this is said while ushering her back into the booth and he then crams himself into the opposite side.

"And yeah, it's... over. I'm back for good."

[eirenikos]

Eirene offers a pleasant smile to the other woman anyway, along with a "Thank you, ma'am," and then sits there and stares at her long-missing boyfriend. He looks, well, good. Not just in the physical sense, his genetics made him gorgeous, but the calm and collected air he has about him.

"We can move to a table if you want, I don't mind." She plays for time by folding up the newspaper and setting it to the side. "You said that before you left. 'Dont work so hard'. It should go without saying by now that I don't listen until you sit on me." Pause. "Gods, I'm glad you're back."

That blinding smile? Is not going anywhere soon.

[hero_farmboy]

"I told that to all of you and none of you listened," he shakes his head amusedly, stirring sweetener into his coffee. "I come back and Lois and Chloe are gallivanting around the country running from story to story and my mom's still fighting the good fight up in Washington. And you're still running yourself raged." That last part comes out as a good natured accusation, but there's an underlying genuine concern.

"Trust me, I'm glad to be back. The arctic was great and all but it's certainly no Metropolis. Or Smallville, for that matter."

[eirenikos]

Eirene shrugs lightly, distracted as the waitress stomps back with a second cup of tea for her and completely ignores the next 'thank you' with a low hmph. "Well, this isn't my world so I don't have vast, unlimited amounts of energy. Not that I'm complaining," she adds quickly. "I love it here."

Right. Tea. With a completely innocent expression, she lifts the cup to her mouth and takes a sip, while one sandal prods his shoe under the booth's table.

[hero_farmboy]

"Then you should be resting more," he chides gently but immediately. "You know you can't go on here like you can in your own world. You shouldn't be pushing yourself to your limits. You do what you can, you recharge and then you go back out again." It's an old lecture by now, once he started when she first began to visit this world more and more frequently.

"Where've you've been staying?"

[eirenikos]

"I do. Two hours of sleep every night before I head out and see who needs help." See, Clark? His lectures have been taken seriously, even if the long list of 'suggestions' has been paired down to a handful that she thought were realistic.

Her hand might slide across the table at this point to settle on his.

"There's a Motel 6 halfay between here and Smallville on the interstate. Only takes a few minutes to get to, either way."

[hero_farmboy]

"Two hours is hardly enough." His fingers curl around hers instinctively and he makes no mention of her feet toeing his shoes."You look tired." Which is what worries him. It doesn't usually show if she's been taking care of herself.

"The Motel 6 is hardly goddess worthy," he grins. "I just got an apartment myself, downtown."

Beat.

"Well, not downtown downtown. I can't afford that, but it's nice. In its own rundown little way. I like it, at least and it's in my budget."

[eirenikos]

"It is when Eirene Sullivan stays there," she mumbles quietly, remembering his initial reaction to the alias that she and Chloe had come up with on her first visit to the area. "But that's great. I'll have to come over sometime and have a cup of coffee there." Hopefully he'll get the hint.

The sandal withdraws after a moment when she remembers he wouldn't feel a slight nudge at all, and really, kicking someone you haven't seen in half a decade is kind of rude.

Softly, "I haven't slept in three days." Pause. "But! There are now three kids at the hospital who don't have cancer." Eirene looks rather proud of herself.

[hero_farmboy]

"That's great," he replies, squeezing her hand a little. "It really is. But you're not going to anyone any favours wearing yourself out. Not sleeping for three days is only going to mean you're out of commission longer than you normally would be to recharge."

Pause.

"You know you're welcome over for coffee whenever you like."

[eirenikos]

"I know. But those kids were in the finals stages, and there's another one who only has a few weeks left, at best, than I should go talk to as well." Although, she might not have a chance to do so today, considering the faintly worried expression on Clark's face.

So she smiles.

"I was hoping that was the case. Okay, I have to ask, what's with the suit?" Because when they said goodbye last, he was still very much into the plaid.

[hero_farmboy]

"Naps, Eirene. They're wonderful things. Besides," he continues, lowering his voice, despite them being in one of the back booths, "no one's expecting you to cure everyone. No one can do that. You do what you can while still making sure you're not jeopardizing your ability to help at all."

Then he sits back and shrugs, a tad sheepishly. "I had a job interview."

[eirenikos]

"I'm not allowed to nap. Shelby takes that as a cue to start slobbering all over me." Being attacked for attention by a dog getting on in years is actually one of the reasons she keeps stopping by the old farm to harass the new residents, but it also doesn't make for much sprawl-n-sleep, either. At least the new owners are tolerant.

But enough about her. "Oh? What sort of job?" Look, interested face.

[hero_farmboy]

"Been annoying the Hubbards, have you?" It's teasing. Clark knows full well the farm's caretakers have a soft spot for the Kents and their friends, and made sure they all knew they were more than welcome to visit while Clark and Martha were away.

"I think we're going to be getting the paperwork done up for them to buy it outright from us." There's a small frown at that and he starts turning his still full coffee cup in a slow circle on the table.

[eirenikos]

"Hey, they keep telling me it's okay to come back. Somehow I believe them every time." Cough. They're nice and they treat the animals right, which is always good enough for her.

"Oh. I'm sorry, Clark." That's enough to put a small dampener on her joy about his return. "Did you talk it over with Mrs Kent?" Eirene might settle her other hand over the coffee-twirling one now.

[hero_farmboy]

Yeah," he nods, eyes still downcast to the table. "I mean, she's got her life in Washington and with me living in the city now," he shrugs, "just doesn't seem to make much sense keeping a farm, you know? It's small enough that Ben and his wife can retire there and still do some work, and his son take over theirs."

It's all very logical. In theory.

[eirenikos]

Uh-huh. "And it's your home. Have you told her how much it means to you?" Eirene is going to hazard a guess that he hasn't, because Clark tends to think of everyone but himself. Then again, Mrs Kent is a very astute woman, and might have figured it out already.

"If it makes you feel better, I could lug a bale of hay over as an apartment-warming present."

[hero_farmboy]

"We both know what it means, but," another shrug and his fingers nudge against hers gently, "it's time to move on. Doesn't make it easy, but it'll be well taken care of by people we trust. It's the best we could ask for."

Then his mouth quirks into a small smile. "You know, I was thinking I might go for actual furniture, budget aside."

[eirenikos]

Her own fingers tighten against his briefly in sympathy. "I know. Dad and Hera ended back up on the mountain as it's caretakers." Not that they'd ever left for more than a decade or two, and time is more mutable in her world.

"Dude, that's crazy talk. Real furniture. Next you'll be telling me that you intend to start working for Mister White as an ace reporter."

Someone may have been hanging out with AC a bit too much recently.

[hero_farmboy]

He nods and then there's that sheepish look again.

"I wouldn't say that's where I intend to start, but that was sort of what the job interview was about. I think it's more likely I'll be an ace file clerk before anything else."