(no subject)

[dovelike]

There is a particular tree near the edge of the forest that Eirene has adopted in the few weeks since her transformation. It has low enough branches that she can reach and climb easily, and the foliage is close enough together to form a protective barrier when she wants to just watch life go by.

Her door has not returned yet but she had a wonderful few days in Smallville, so it seems to be a matter of balancing the good with the bad. This evening, she can be found in her tree watching the sun set and trying not to wish like hell that she had someone to hold her.

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[hero_farmboy]

Chloe was gone when Clark woke up that morning. How the hell that happened he doesn't know, but what he does know is likely where she went. And there isn't anything he can do about that; it's between her and Riley now. That doesn't mean Clark isn't headed to the same place.

It's just not after Chloe.

He does his level best to ignore the heartbeat that rings in his ears the second he enters Milliways and focusses until he can hear another one. And then he heads toward it.

[eirenikos]

It's funny, how a person can be so completely obviously to most of the things around them that they trip over the few that are important. In Eirene's case, this is literally. About two minutes before Clark appears, she decides that the branch has become less than comfortable, and begins make her way down.

Timing, as always, seems to have a sense of humor. It wont be until she finishes dropping to the ground, straightens up to dust herself off, and then pivots to go find some tea that she'll notice the approaching figure.

"Evening," she manages, in a fairly casual tone.

[hero_farmboy]

"Hey," he replies, coming to a stop a few steps away from her. A respectable distance, as he's almost become accustomed to giving her these days.

"Sky watching?" He asks, nodding up at the tree.

[eirenikos]

"Yes." She clears her throat after a minute, hands nervously sliding up and down her arms. "I ... I'm sorry for going to your homeworld without prior notice, Clark. That was not well done of me, and I'll try and make sure it doesn't happen again."

There. Now she feels slightly better, because she's been feeling guilty about surprising him so badly since she got back.

[hero_farmboy]

The what now? Forgive Clark for looking utterly confused because, well, he's plain forgotten the last time they saw each other was at the Talon and he was mad that she was there.

"Oh. Right." Obviously, he's not mad anymore. "Don't worry about it, I overreacted. I was just kind of surprised to see you there."

[eirenikos]

"Thank you." Yeah, ok. Now there is this huge expanse of silence between them that makes Eirene extremely uncomfortable. Or nervous. Or both. She's trying not to show that, and appear as calm and unruffled as a former goddess should be. "It's a lovely town," she finally ventures. "I'm going to look for a place like that when I'm not Bound anymore. It felt very much like home."

Beat.

"You're very lucky."

[hero_farmboy]

"Yeah, I am."

That expanse of silence returns and keeps getting bigger, as Clark shoves his hands in his pockets and alternately stares up at the sky and at the ground.

After a few minutes, "We need to talk."

[eirenikos]

Eirene glance back up at him, very carefully lowering her hands to her sides once more. His face is so dear to her, moreso than she even remembered from the glimpse in Chloe's apartment, but the sombre cast of his features does little to settle her nerves.

"Then talk, Clark."

That doesn't quite come out as snappish as she'd've liked.

[hero_farmboy]

Well, now he has to say something, doesn't he? Truth is, he hasn't planned this, doesn't have a prepared speech to make. He doesn't even know where to begin.

"Um," it's a classic Clark Kent start, at least, "so about us." He glances up at her quickly. "Are you even interested in 'us' anymore?" Because if not, he'll just be keeping his mouth shut.

[eirenikos]

That ... takes a while to penetrate, giving Eirene the semblance of a statute, albeit one dressed in a hippy skirt and a tank top. She cocks her head to one side, staring at him in some measure of disbelief, before her gaze drops to the ground.

She really wants to ask him what he's on, having heard that phrase used repeatedly in bar recently. What Clark gets is, "Yes. Which makes me something of a worm, doesn't it. One of those people who can't stop loving someone no matter how terribly it hurts."

[hero_farmboy]

"No, it doesn't." And he's not just saying that because it's him she's in love with. "We don't choose who we love and there's nothing wrong with it when we find out we do." That's something he's learned in the last day, for what it's worth.

"I care about you, Eirene," he continues quietly. "More than I thought I did. More than I wanted to."

[eirenikos]

Her gaze lifts again after a few moments, expression altogether wary - something he won't be able to fault her for, not after their last few meetings. Her throat works futiley for a second or two, before she finally manages to get out something coherent.

"I'm ... sorry? Not sure what you want me to do about that." Which is, sadly, probably not what he wants to hear.

[hero_farmboy]

"Nothing. Never mind." Clark shakes his head a couple of times and then almost looks as if he's going to head back tot he main bar. "I just wanted you to know that."

[eirenikos]

The touch of her fingers against his might provide an adequate reason not to go. She's taken a step forward, the action not-quite automatic, but close. "Please..." She doesn't want to beg. It demeans her in a way that few who have not been born immortal can understand, but it seems that the rules keep turning themselves upside down with him.

"You're here, under your own volition. We will talk and--" Then drops his hand, as if only now realizing she clung. "I'm sorry."

[hero_farmboy]

The touch is unexpected and he stills at the feel of her fingers.

"I'm not worth it," he says suddenly, when she lets his hand go. "I have way more emotional baggage than you can dream of and I've already hurt you more than I ever wanted. Not that I wanted to hurt you at all but I couldn't ever promise you that things would be perfect or easy or--"

Clark pauses briefly, still staring down at the ground, lips twitching into a frown. "It would be a lot of work if we tried again."

[eirenikos]

"I have a vivid imagination, Clark. You might be surprised at some of the things I dream of." That would be her sadly lacking attempt at humor, at least until she gets the irregular beat of her heart under control.

Somehow, it's safer to sit under her tree at the base, instead of pacing around in the growing gloom and run the risk of tripping over something.

"No one has a perfect relationship -- with anyone." Long pause. "I -- was under the impression you wanted little to do with me. Has that changed?"

[hero_farmboy]

"I don't know," he answers with a sigh after watching her arrange herself underneath the tree. "I was under the impression I wasn't good enough for you, I still am for the most part. I just don't know that I'm willing to let that work against me anymore."

[eirenikos]

"I never said that." It's a point she feels she has to bring up, no matter how badly the conversation might go after this. She's also getting a small crick in her neck from looking up at him.

"Might as well sit down and ... well, talk," Eirene suggests, her tone mild. "And tell me what the bad news is."

[hero_farmboy]

"I never said you did," he retorts, taking a seat a few feet away from her. "It's me. It's what I think."

Then he pauses for a few minutes. "Even if we're going to just try and be friends again, I need you to understand some things about me."

[eirenikos]

Well, it's wrong. But she'll refrain from saying that out loud. Causing another fight isn't something she's got an endless supply of energy for now anyway.

"Okay. I'm listening." Eirene watches him closely, already bracing herself for whatever comes out of his mouth.

[hero_farmboy]

Clark picks at the grass around him nervously.

"It's just," he shrugs, "there are always going to be people in my life who mean a lot to me. Who've meant a lot to me for a long time, and they're not just going to go away." Well. Not anytime soon, anyway.

[eirenikos]

Lana. He has to be talking about Lana. It's all Eirene can do to keep the pain off her face, instinctively trying to put him at ease without the use of power.

"Go on," she glances down at the ground for a moment to steady herself again, before looking back towards him.

[hero_farmboy]

Eirene's not wrong.

"You know-- I've told you about Lana before." And he'll try not to revisit that conversation too much, although that's probably impossible at this point. "Even if she and I aren't together, she's always going to be important to me. I'm always going to care about her."

Pause.

"And there's Chloe, too."

[eirenikos]

Her head bobs in assent, as Eirene doesn't quite trust her voice yet. Lana, the woman he's in love with. After a few slow breathes, and steadier nerves, she meets Clark's gaze again.

"You wouldn't be you if you didn't care about the people you love." There may be a voice cracking on that last word, but she ignores it.

"And Chloe is your best friend. I know."

[hero_farmboy]

"I try to. I try to do right by them as much as I can." Which is the main reason he's here to start with; Eirene is one of those people he cares about.

"But yeah, there's Lana and with Chloe--" he stops again, for yet another frown, "I don't know if you get how close we really are."