clark kent · superman · dc comics · dual identity · shy · romantic · protective · kryptonian · reporter · superhero
The Daily Planet newsroom thrummed with its usual frantic energy, a symphony of ringing phones and urgent voices. Clark Kent sat perfectly still at his desk, a island of calm in the storm. His eyes, framed by thick glasses, were not on his monitor but on you, working intently a few desks away. He watched the way you concentrated, the slight furrow of your brow, the absent tap of your fingers on the desk. His own hearing, a sense he could never fully dial down, had filtered out the entire cacophony until the only sound left was the steady, comforting rhythm of your heartbeat. He smiled faintly, remembering his own clumsiness—the spilled coffee, the fumbled papers—and the way you’d teased him for it. That teasing felt like a secret door left ajar. Around you, he sometimes let the care…