At the ice cream parlour Silvia stood with her hands spread over the chilled glass like two starfish. If there had only been three choices she would have picked one long ago, but the array put her mind into a plethora of possibilities.

There wasn't just all the flavours, but all the possible combinations. At least the choice of cone was simple enough, a waffle cone dipped in chocolate with sprinkles. It didn't come cheap of course, but she wasn't the one paying.

At first she felt a little bad about it, insisting that she get the cheapest thing there but Clark had persuaded Silvia to get whatever she wanted... and that just happened to be a sugar rush. Eventually she opted for two scoops of choc mint whilst Clark got three of Neapolitan.

As they took their seats the far end of the parlour, Silvia could still hear the other customers ordering. One little boy in particular hadn't even looked at the glass for longer than two seconds before yelling "I want the Superman one!"

Silvia felt her ears burn at the name and whipped her head around. There was a sign hanging above the counter that she, for some reason, had missed before. It had a cone of ice cream that clashed in three different colours; red, blue and yellow.

It was apparently pretty popular as the boy that ordered it had acquired the very last helping. Silvia huffed. She couldn't believe that they were naming ice cream after him now...There truly was no escaping him if she couldn't even enjoy her favourite treat without hearing about him.

"So... Ice cream, huh?" Clark spoke up and when Silvia turned back he had already eaten half of his treat.

"Got a problem with that, Dorothy?" Silvia smirked, starting on her own cone.

"Not at all. I just never pictured you as the type."

"Well, I've got an incurable sweet tooth." Silvia could feel her ice cream beginning to drip onto her fingers, she licked it instantly without any concern for whether she looked impolite. "Sue me."

"Actually it's probably a good thing. I prefer this to coffee any day." Clark had somehow already gotten down to his cone; any last remaining dairy product stuffed inside and out of view.

Silvia shook her head. "That doesn't exactly surprise me. You put at least six sugars in your coffee that day you invited me to the cafe. I don't know how you're in such good shape with all the horrible food you eat."

There was a pause. One that lasted far too long for Silvia's comfort before Clark glanced back up at her. He smirked and his eyes arched in amusement beneath his glasses. "You think I'm in good shape, Miss Stone?" He said the last part mockingly, using the professional address as if her reactions were more entertaining that way.

Silvia's eyes widened and every muscle in her body tensed then locked. The reality of what she had said begun seeping in and an audible gulp ran down her throat. "I-I... I mean... D-Don't get cocky! It was a completely objective s-statement."

"Was it?" His mouth stretched into a grin at the girl's fumbling. Her whole face was beginning to tinge bright pink and he could hear her heart rate picking up.

Silvia tried to avoid making any form of eye contact. She shifted on the chair awkwardly but it only seemed to make her even more nervous. "D-Do you interrogate absolutely everyone you go out with?" She managed to force out. She tried to sharpen her words with the same edge she always did but it only came out as a shaky mess.

"If this were an interrogation I wouldn't have brought you ice cream."

Despite how embarrassed she felt, Silvia couldn't help but smile. He was the only person that could make her laugh nowadays. She had almost forgotten what it felt like...

It was a little odd actually. For a while now Clark seemed less... Clark-like. He didn't trip over nearly as much as before and when he spoke his stutter was almost gone. He didn't appear half as nervous as he use to. Not that this was a bad thing, she honestly liked that he was more comfortable around her, but she still couldn't help but wonder if some of it was an act. People don't just instantly lose their clumsy nature... unless they were never clumsy to begin with.

Silvia tried not to overthink this too much, and instead decided to ignore it altogether. If he was acting more natural around her that was all that mattered.

It took her twice as long to finish her ice cream (which was weird because she was a pretty fast eater), then they sat there for a few more minutes talking about themselves... or more, talking about Clark. Even now there were questions that would shut Silvia down and render her motionless. She seemed to dodge a lot of his inquiries.

"Did you have any pets as a kid?" Silvia asked him after successfully leaving another of his own questions unanswered.

Clark raised an eyebrow at her. "I grew up on a farm, Sil."

"O-Oh... right." Silvia stuttered, having not completely thought that one through.

"How about you?"

"M-Me? Umm... No... I always wanted one though. It was probably a good thing, I don't even think I'd be able to take care of a fish let alone a dog or something." Silvia gave a faint chuckle but it was as dead as her eyes. "My brother was enough of a handful for me."

Clark leaned closer over the table. Seeming almost relieved to hear about her past. "You have a brother?"

The only response that came was silence. Silvia's stare fell to the table and glazed over. A minute passed and still there was no answer until finally she muttered "I'd... prefer not to talk about it."

Clark's kind smile didn't disappear but it did shrink slightly as he nodded. "That's absolutely fine; I didn't mean to pry." Clark pulled out of his seat and motioned for her to do the same. "Shall we get going?"

"Yeah... It'll be a nightmare around here when school gets out."

This appeared to bring some light back to Clark's eyes. He chuckled as they exited the parlour, holding the door open for Silvia and a few other customers before leaving the building himself. He truly was a model gentleman... Silvia had no idea how to take it. She'd never met anyone like him.

"Not a fan of kids?" He asked when he finally made it back over to her.

They both begun sauntering down the pathway, passing very few people along the way. "Not really. I don't have much patience for them."

"You don't have patience for anyone." Clark joked, despite there being a hint of truth to it.

Silvia felt a giggle bubble passed her lips. The sound itself made her cheeks burn red and she tried to hide it under her long curtain of hair. "Well, apparently I have for you..."

Clark almost stopped in his tracks. He could do nothing but stare down at her and wonder if those words had really come out of her mouth. He decided not to question it, however the grin that soon graced his features made his joy a little too obvious.

Their surroundings shifted from large buildings and strong perfume to burnt down homes and gunpowder. Clark became a little more vigilant at the sudden change. He made sure to walk at least a few steps in front of Silvia, almost protectively. This made her chuckle to herself. She was the one that grew up on those streets, and yet he was the one that looked on edge. It was cute that he thought he'd be able to protect her if something came up... as much as Silvia doubted that such a nerdy reporter could take on trained criminals.

Thankfully, they reached her apartment with no issues. Silvia assumed the thugs were all waiting until nightfall to come out and harass people.

"So..." Silvia said awkwardly, shifting on the spot. "This was a date, right?"

Seeing the blonde so unsure and flushed was something Clark never thought he'd witness... but he was grateful he did. It was like he was finally starting to reach her core. "That depends. If it were, hypothetically, would you go on another one with me?"

"You might be pushing your luck, Dorothy..." Silvia's cheeks hurt at the effort it took not to break into a smile, but the way her lips tightened displayed enough for Clark to notice. "But I suppose I would do this again, hypothetically."

Clark gave her a smile so genuinely sweet that unexpected warmth rushed through her. For a brief second she felt weak, like she would answer any question he asked her or do anything he told her to... but he didn't expect anything of her. Perhaps that's why she allowed herself to feel so strongly towards him.

"Alright then." Clark said in a breathy voice, as if he still couldn't believe she agreed to it. "I'll let you know when I'm free next."

"Okay." She said softly, barely low enough to be a whisper.

To anyone watching the two stepping away from each other it would have been awkward, and maybe it was, but the butterflies in Silvia's stomach weighed that out completely. She waved as he left to descend the stairs, then hurried into her apartment.

Once she had forced the door closed her back pressed against a nearby wall and she tried to steady her breathing. This was ridiculous... She was like a teenager that had just walked by her long time crush down the hallway. Her reaction was embarrassing for a 24 year-old woman. At least, to her it was.

Still, even this couldn't ruin the good mood Clark had left her in... but the sound of gunshots down the street only an hour later could.

Silvia knew that Clark was likely out of harms way by now but that didn't stop the panic from freezing her blood cold. It took very little time for her to get dressed, and she was already half way out the window when she pulled her mask on.

The blonde was already running down through the slums when she realised she'd forgotten to bring a weapon... Apparently she didn't need one because the moment she arrived the culprit had already been caught.

He had a thin, pointed face, almost femininely sensitive, and a small pointed beard. He was bareheaded except for a small sprout of grey that resided in the centre. The gun was nowhere to be seen but a bullet gleamed on the ground, crushed but with no ounce of blood anywhere near it.

The criminal was being held in place, and no matter how much he struggled he couldn't escape the one that had caught him... Superman. The hero smiled at her, brightly but a little different to usual... gentler.

Silvia's nose scrunched up at the sight, almost in disgust. "This isn't your part of town."

"Everywhere is my part of town." Superman retorted with a smirk.

"Think again." Silvia growled. Any lightness in her tone completely disappearing at the sight of the caped man.

"Sorry, should I wait for him to kill someone next time?"

"I was on my way."

"But you were still late."

Silvia grumbled at the man, a hiss snaking through her teeth only to be muffled by the mask."Fuck you..."

Superman only seemed more amused by her annoyance, but decided not to provoke her any further. In the blink of an eye he was gone, and so was the criminal. The only proof that there had been a gunshot at all was that single bullet still squashed against the pavement.

——————————————-