[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

[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."

[eirenikos]

She opens her mouth, stares at him, and the finally closes it. Hadn't Chloe and Lois made some sort of bet years back about this?

"Ace file clerk by day, saving the world by night. Like Batman. Oh, and I really missed you."

Eirene stretches across the booth at the point to plant a quick kiss on him.

[hero_farmboy]

Oh, probably. Chances are, Chloe won.

He doesn't have much of a chance to return the kiss before she sits back down on her side of the booth, but his smile is genuine enough to indicate he probably would have, had he not been taken by surprise.

"I missed you, too. Five years alone kind of sucks."

[eirenikos]

Yeah, Eirene'd place her money on Chloe too. The woman is more stubborn than a locomotive when she wants to be.

"Yes, yes it is." The rueful grin on her face, because, hey, she just kissed him for the firs time in years, suggests that Clark isn't the only one who's been celibate.

"How about I buy you lunch and you catch me up on ... everything?"

[hero_farmboy]

"Sure. Lunch sounds great. And you can do the same."

Beat.

"At least on things from your end. I think Chloe's about talked my ears off over the past few weeks making sure I knew every minute detail of every news event that's happened since I left."

Which would be why the Batman comment didn't get much of a reaction. Clark might even be tagging along with Lois next week when she skips off to Gotham to interview one Bruce Wayne for the society pages.

[eirenikos]

Aha. Which means Clark probably knows how many times she's visited her 'cousin' since he left to go meditate with polar bears. Could be why she's blushing. Probably. Also, if she knew Clark had a future chance to meet Batman, she'd be totally jealous.

"Groovy. Here or somewhere else? With tables." Since he's packed into the booth like a tuna in a sardine can ... and she really has been hanging out with AC too much. It's not her fault he's the closest thing she really has to family here.

[hero_farmboy]

Chloe, to no one's surprise, has been somewhat coy in talking about what Eirene has and hasn't been up to, or how many times. Probably because it's been often enough that she's lost count - five years is a long time, after all - but also because she feels it's up to Eirene to tell him. He can respect that.

It doesn't mean he hasn't asked Chloe about it regardless.

"Wherever you like. I'm not really up on what the good places to eat are around here anymore."

[eirenikos]

"Fair enough. How about we stay here and get a table, because you look like you're not trying to breath so the table doesn't break." Also, Eirene's starting to get hungry, now that the strain of her recent activities has begun to fade.

Lifting a hand into the air, she holds it up long enough to get the attention of the waitress. "There's an excellent steakery place a few blocks from here."