tushanshu | video; 001.

[The video flickers on without any trouble. The console's familiar enough that Lex doesn't have to fumble with it to get it working the way he wants. Behind him is the large space of a luxurious room that obviously originates from the Metal Sector. He couldn't see the harm in letting the, uh, 'citizens' of this In-Between see where he stands on trivial matters like his choice of interior decoration and he'd even gone and tidied up some before the broadcast, or at least that's what it looks like with two small cuts above his right eyebrow nothing but thin red lines now as opposed to the angry marks of earlier.]

[And the young man himself is seated comfortably, leaning to one side, legs crossed somewhere off-screen, left arm propped up on the table where the communicating device rests. A finger twitches and, right, he doesn't have anything around to grab a hold of at the moment. And so he begins to speak.] 'Tu Vishan. An In-Between of life, death, and dreaming.'

[And he has a sort of hushed voice despite the obvious intention to project to, well, the audience. And there's some light in his eyes that signals amusement-- or something resembling it. Excitement is either good or bad, never both. There's no upturn of his lips, no creased brow. He shifts, sitting straighter, peering closer into the camera, damn well expecting someone out there to listen.]

I'm supposed to believe this?

[He expects someone to listen, not to answer, because he just goes on.] The Kedan were generous enough to offer the explanation that I might not be dead, and to be frank, I appreciate any attempt of reassurance on the matter. I'd put more faith in it if I hadn't also heard the turtle had been in danger of dying. Spending the rest of my years aboard an ailing reptile wasn't exactly the life I envisioned. [He can believe abduction and drugs, but no deep sleep of his will ever revolve around an animal so stupid and slow. His voice turns wry. He knows he's not dead. He knows he can't be fully alive. The... Kedan were nothing from his waking world. That could only mean one thing left to figure out.]

[He's still seemingly calm. He's still only just sitting, just talking like he can see the company across the screen already. Like it's only a conference call he's taking from his desk. But now he sighs and he wants to smirk, but he doesn't. And now he'll be waiting for an answer.]

So who's the big dreamer?

[Show yourself, mastermind. A clear challenge, but after a second he tacks on a detail with clear concern and some well meaning urgency.] I also heard something about a clinic in trouble. Is there anything I can do to help?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[There's hardly time to take in a breath before he finds himself blurting out,] He's still in high school. [But he'd met the bull of a man Clark was going to become some day-- or. Well. Not met, formally, but through this... network. And he'd been told his friend would marry and. He just hadn't been given a name and she.]

[It's like hours gone to waste when all the Clark he remembers would do is pine and long with Lana.]

[And maybe Lex wishes he could take back what he'd spat out earlier-- and no wonder she laughed at him, and there's this... shadow of meekness come over him, of embarrassed apology, and it's anybody's guess if it's genuine. He'll say it's not to save face, or to be honest. The woman's gorgeous-- who'd have thought. It's really too much for one day.]

[And Lex has to wonder, even now. Why the tension, the circling around? He swallows. Everything about this was uncomfortable, and he'd tried so hard to be happy for his friend.]

Forgive me for speculating, but it may still be a few years before he meets you at all.

[She's from Metropolis. Clark has no business there, and besides. There's Lana and Chloe before her, so far as Lex knows.]

Or. My "world" could blindside us both and spring its own surprises.

[High school? Yeeeeesh Lex is from relatively early in his world's timeline, isn't he? Lois looks surprised for a moment, and then amused once again.]

Probably at least five, depending how old he is. I didn't know him in college.

[Something about her expression makes it clear she's holding back some comment or other--in this case, 'Besides, right now he's busy mooning over red hair all the time, if he's really that young.' But she doesn't want to be unnecessarily catty, and she does appreciate what Lana's done for Kara, at least in their world.

So she'll be quiet--at least, she will be on the subject of Lex's world and Clark's present and future there.

Still, she laughs.]

Experience tells me if there's Lex Luthor and Clark Kent, there will almost hundred-percent guaranteed be a Lois Lane near them. I think it's a law of the multiverse.

[And thank God and Lex doesn't want to look relieved but. But he takes a calm breath anyway. He thinks about apologizing- thinks about how she might have mentioned she was married earlier. So he doesn't. That doesn't mean he feels like a champion after having asked his best friend's wife if she'd be his lover in some alternate universe. It's a young man's regret-- he'll get over it in the next couple of seconds.]

[Because she's laughing again and he's not sure what to do with that. He could relax, and they could be buddies through this all and act as if the tense moments of before hadn't happened. He's trying to be polite now, actively.]

I'll take it you've had multiple experiences with the multiverse.

[That doesn't mean friendly, because a friend would chuckle alongside her. But it's civil, as he tries to wrap his head around it all.]

[Frankly this is a lot more civil than she and the Lex she knows have been in a long, long time--if he'd been overly friendly, she might have suspected some trick up his sleeve. As it is, she will believe he isn't out to try anything this instant. That said, he's still Lex Luthor, and some things he doesn't need to know about, at least not in detail.]

It happens to my life sometimes. Not that I don't mind the occasional stretch of boring, but even so...

[Live without the adventure, the brilliant headlines, the solved mysteries and superheroes and world-changing news?

Without Clark.

Lois' lips curl slightly and her eyes glitter with a grin of secrets and exhilaration she's never lost, not even through the occasional torture and frequent near-death experiences. Not even if it killed me tomorrow.] Wouldn't live without it.