|
Post by Clark Kent on Dec 31, 2013 19:29:33 GMT -5
He turned to her with a smirk "It isn't, but the what if's are enough to drive me up the wall."
|
|
|
Post by Megan on Dec 31, 2013 19:41:00 GMT -5
Megan averted her eyes and sipped her coffee.
|
|
|
Post by Clark Kent on Dec 31, 2013 20:37:06 GMT -5
He turned his head back to the sun "The universe as well as Earth will always be in danger from somewhere and that's a truth we all have to accept. But we can't give up hope" he shrugged and took a sip of his coffee, pausing to enjoy the flavor "I know what would have been definitely different if I had stayed."
His face was stern "Lex Luthor would not be on the fast track to becoming president of the United States."
|
|
|
Post by Megan on Dec 31, 2013 20:44:34 GMT -5
"He lost some pretty important support when Ashton dropped out," Megan pointed out.
|
|
|
Post by Clark Kent on Dec 31, 2013 21:10:12 GMT -5
Clark's face stayed stern "Support means nothing when you've got no one opposing you" his jaw clenched "I flipped through a couple months of news reports and videos last night and Ashton made me-" he looked for the word "-uneasy."
|
|
|
Post by Megan on Dec 31, 2013 21:14:19 GMT -5
"...well, he's not in the race anymore," Megan said, with a little shrugging gesture. Even knowing what Clark himself was, he'd grown up on Earth, the same as anyone else she knew. Having to explain Asgard- and Norse mythology, for that matter- was a little daunting.
|
|
|
Post by Clark Kent on Dec 31, 2013 21:20:38 GMT -5
"That's a relief but it also poses the question, why? What was it that made him pull out of the most important presidential race since before Nixon took over as chairman president for life?"
Clark never cared for Nixon and he wasn't about to go back on those feelings. "Internal conflict with Luthor usually means death, but from what I understand Ashton is alive, well and free of any backlash."
|
|
|
Post by Megan on Dec 31, 2013 21:30:49 GMT -5
"My guess is Luthor's biding his time," Megan said carefully.
|
|
|
Post by Clark Kent on Dec 31, 2013 21:50:38 GMT -5
"He's a schemer but his temper betrays him more often than not" he sighed "what could he be waiting for with Ashton? What scares him?" He adjusted the glasses he didn't need to wear and looked over at her.
|
|
|
Post by Megan on Dec 31, 2013 21:55:47 GMT -5
"Which one?"
|
|
|
Post by Clark Kent on Dec 31, 2013 22:03:00 GMT -5
"Both" he replied "if Ashton aligned himself with Luthor in the first place, what was it that drove him away? And if he wasn't driven away what was it that made him leave? And with Luthor, I know him, the moment Ashton mentioned dropping out he would have killed him. But he didn't, he let him live. Biding his time is one thing, but it's been long enough to at least have ruined Ashton's reputation and he hasn't. The only thing that makes sense is that he's afraid of Ashton, or something Ashton knows."
He rubbed his chin "The papers say very little other than personal reasons and Perry wont answer any of my questions. He's got me on entertainment column duty."
|
|
|
Post by Megan on Dec 31, 2013 22:08:02 GMT -5
Megan leaned against the terrace and looked down at the fountain below. A young woman perched on the edge had a guitar out and was strumming her way through "Big Yellow Taxi", years too late, while a wedding party was making their way to the arches directly underneath where she and Clark stood for photos.
She glanced back over her shoulder at him. Might as well cut to the chase.
"You know how Luthor is about nonhumans."
|
|
|
Post by Clark Kent on Dec 31, 2013 22:09:39 GMT -5
He raised his eyebrows "Ashton's alien?"
That would answer more than just his previous questions.
|
|
|
Post by Megan on Dec 31, 2013 23:02:01 GMT -5
"Technically speaking. Frankly, I don't even know if his homeworld counts as being part of the same universe, but..."
She looked down at the wedding party again.
"He's... kind of a Norse god. I'm not sure how it works- he's only about a thousand years old, from what I was told, and the stories are probably older than that. And I guess... if I'm gonna try to be fair about it- he's... according to his fiancée, anyway, he's not done pretty much anything that the stories say he's supposed to. He's Loki- you could probably guess from the name. Um. Anyway.
"So in the stories, Loki's like- he's kind of... well, a force for chaos. He eventually kicks off the end of the world- which is, you know, kind of bad timing since we just avoided that, but I don't know what Ashton-Loki's game is at all. The deal with Luthor would have fit with that really well, but then he withdrew for some reason. I don't know exactly what he's up to now, just what he's done in the past, and even that's kind of gone off-book. He doesn't even look like the pictures I've seen of what he's supposed to- he was in some comics I read when I was a teenager, and in those he's all hatchet-faced and gingery."
She stopped just as she was about to blurt that on the other hand, Thor was usually depicted as pretty gingery too, and stupid as a sack of hammers, no pun intended, instead of a golden-haired hunk with pretty quick wits, even if they were rather literal-minded wits at that. It occurred to her rather suddenly that what Thor had told her about Loki's prior doings and the reason for his breakdown in the first place would possibly hit a couple of uncomfortable nerves where Clark was concerned, what with all the adoption and exploding home planets and so on. Not that she expected his reactions to be of Loki caliber themselves, but still. It was a good idea to check first.
"...I could tell you what I know, but some of it might be a little rough. Is that okay?"
|
|
|
Post by Clark Kent on Jan 2, 2014 16:07:21 GMT -5
Clark listened intently.
He'd battled gods before, but never ones of Norse myth. But he figured Ares was as a good starting point as any when it came to power vs power.
He leaned gently against a tree and took another sip of his coffee. "Any more insight would be welcome."
|
|