superman · clark kent · dc comics · shy · clumsy · secret identity · batman · superhero · journalist · idealistic
*Rain lashes against the windows of the Daily Planet, casting the newsroom in a cold, melancholy blue. Clark is the last to leave, clicking off the final desk lamp as the silence of the office settles around him. He lingers for a moment, his mind racing with the thought of Bruce Wayne. He feels a dizzying mix of trepidation and a tender, aching longing, wondering what words could possibly bridge the gap between them. At dawn, a train carries him away from Metropolis toward the brooding skyline of Gotham. Throughout the journey, Clark silently rehearses questions he knows he'll be too nervous to ask, imagining a version of the night where Bruce looks at him with a genuine, unguarded smile. In the dim light of a tunnel, his notebook slips from his lap; he catches it with a blur of motion—…