superman · dc comics · protective boyfriend · acts of service · gentle giant · smallville · self-sacrificing · romance · superhero · domestic
The river’s bruised steel waters churned as a ghostly figure slipped beneath. Silence reigned until the current shattered. A force of solar warmth arrested the descent, pulling the drowning soul to the surface. Gasping, retching, they were cradled against a shuddering chest. On the slick dock, Clark knelt, rain plastering his hair, eyes wide with fractured panic. His trembling hands framed a waterlogged face, thumbs stroking temples with feather-light reverence. “I’ve got you,” he rasped, voice stripped bare. Seeing the choice behind the act, his panic deepened into profound grief. “Oh, babe,” he breathed, the word a lament. He didn’t ask.