Archive of Our Own

Lois is familiar with disguises; as a journalist she's donned many to get where she needs to be, and seen through others to get to the bottom of a story. They're a normal and mundane part of her life. It shouldn't intrigue her so much to watch Clark slip into his various guises. Perhaps it's the lack of true deception, as odd as it sounds, that draws her in.

Superman and Clark Kent are both real, both Clark. He's not pretending in any way to be someone he's not. (Well, he is pretending to be a human and not a Kryptonian as Clark Kent, but that's not what she means). They're merely different facets of who he is as a person, carefully chosen and framed in a way to mislead anyone from seeing that they are one and the same. Superman is confident and kind and passionate and personable. Clark Kent is clumsy and dorky and kind and friendly. Superman is powerful and alien and otherworldly - literally. Clark Kent is awkward and down to earth and so clearly a Kansas farmboy at heart. On the surface, it sounds contradictory. They're both good men, but too different to be the same one, clearly.

But then she looked deeper and the pieces fell together.

Superman is all those things, yes, but he's also unsure and awkward and still finding his footing at times. He's gentle and determined to save everyone no matter the cost to himself. Clark Kent comes across as forgettable and nonthreatening, but he has a hidden steel he wields to great affect when he's underestimated. His clumsiness is not faked; it's merely how his strength manifests when he's thinking too hard about using it sparingly. Two facets of the same person. And altogether, what truly ties these personas to each other, what makes Clark who he is, is his incredible kindness. That is something he could never hope to hide and would never even try to. It's inherent to who Clark is, in whatever in between state of the two that is his true self, if anything can be called that. He's the best and worst of all parts of himself. She alternates between thinking of him as Clark and Kal-El when he's like that; they are both equally his name, especially when he is just himself. And she loves that in-between state so much, and is aware of what a rare privilege it is to see - honestly, his parents and cousin are really the only other people to see him like that; the Justice Gang are friends, yes, but he really only ever shows them Superman. It's a gift for them alone, to see him like this, his most vulnerable and true self. It's that lovely in between self who she sees in the precious privacy of their apartments, who wakes up with her in the morning with wild bedhead and a good morning kiss. And she loves him fiercely in those moments, the depths of which still scare her, though saying it out loud doesn't terrify her like it used to.

Superman and Clark Kent and Kal-El and Clark, they're all the man that she loves.

But Clark Kent, Daily Planet journalist has a special place in her heart. That's what she first knew him as, after all. Her dorky and lovable coworker, who sees the best in everyone and has a retort for anything she throws at him. Who is so good at capturing the way a story affects people and challenges her every day to be a better journalist. Who's been by her side through so many late nights and mad pursuits of the truth.

So it's particularly special to watch him transform into Clark Kent in her apartment as they get ready for work. She enjoys it every time like it's the first.

First comes the drab slacks and slightly crumpled dress shirt. He toes on a set of scuffed up dress shoes. Then the somehow too big suit jacket follows. The instant it settles on his shoulders, Clark instinctively drops into the hunched up slouch that defines Clark Kent. It makes him look much smaller than he truly is, especially compared to how Superman squares his shoulders and stands far taller than Clark or Clark Kent ever does.

Clark runs his fingers through his hair a couple times to smooth it out of its morning wildness of sticking up in every direction, but otherwise gives up and lets it be. It's a part of Clark peeking through in Clark Kent that she really loves to see. It'll all get swept up when he becomes Superman at some point during the day, and become even more messy when he changes back.

The most important piece to add to create Clark Kent is the glasses. There's nothing special about them - they're simple clunky black frames, something that could be found anywhere. The lenses are well within a normal range of a prescription- enough to distort how Clark's eyes look without causing him undue difficulty to see. The way the frames themselves sit on his face changed your perception of the shape of it - just like glasses did with everyone. The lenses themselves dimmed the uncanny otherworldly blue of Clark's eyes, making it seem more normal. The overall effect, combined with body language, makes Clark look different enough from Superman that no one's first thought upon seeing him was that this was clearly Superman. Added with the fact that Superman was incredibly public and open about being an alien, it never occurred to anyone that there was even a secret identity to look for. It is, honestly, a brilliant way for Clark to be able to be Superman and have a normal life - well, as normal as anyone living in Metropolis.

For all their importance, it's anticlimactic in a rather lovely way to watch Clark slide them on. He has to push them up when they try to slide down his nose, but pays them no mind other than a slight shift in his body language.

With the glasses settled on, Clark adds a tie to the ensemble - this one brilliant purple. She valiantly tries to ignore the fact that it matches her shirt today.

In the process of wrangling his tie, Clark knocks his glasses askew. He emerges, triumphant, with a decently tied tie and squints at Lois.

"What?" Clark says, bewildered by her intent gaze on him. Lois belatedly realizes that she's just been watching him get dressed this entire time.

"Oh, it's nothing." Lois says. "Just admiring the view."

"If you say so," he says with a bemused tilt of the head. That's another thing that draws her to Clark Kent. He's so used to being overlooked as this version of himself that he's so uncertain about what to do with attention. It's incredibly endearing.

"There's just one last thing," she says. She steps forward and up onto her tiptoes. Gently, she straightens his glasses from their lopsided perch on his nose.

"Am I put together enough for your satisfaction now, Miss Lane?" He asks, cheeks dimpling as he smiled down at her.

"You'll do," she teases.

"High praise." He says wryly.

"Ready?"

"As I'll ever be." He says with a lopsided grin. "We better get going before Perry bites our heads off about being late."

They head off to work side by side, arms brushing and conversation flowing between them all the way to the Planet.