fandomtownies | The Perk || Late Afternoon

After his adventures in the park (http://community.livejournal.com/fandomtownies/889443.html?view=35043171#t35043171), and Empire Records (http://community.livejournal.com/fandomtownies/888844.html?view=35053580#t35053580), Clark went to the Perk to try to caffinate his confusion away. Why was it raining pudding?
He'd taken the duck back to where it was convelescing. He didn't think they'd appreciate it in the stores.

Elle looked up and noticed the man in the suit. "Can I ask you a question?" she asked, jumping out of her chair.

Clark started as the bubbly pretty blonde spoke to him. "Me? Oh, uhm, sure."

"Oh! I'm sorry. I'm Elle." she siad brightly, thrusting her hand forward. "I was wondering what you do and if you like your clothes."

Clark shook her hand and introduced himself. "Clark." he said, then looked slightly confused.

"Well until recently I was a reporter." he said. "As for," he looked down at his usual ensamble. "What, what's wrong with my clothes?"

"A reporter? How cool!" she said as she shook vigorously. "I like reporters. I got to deal with them lots during the trial and even though our client was, like, totally innocent, I completely respected the press's right to interview us and dig deep to help fight for justice. Even though they were so wrong." she chattered and she just kept pumping his hand, then she stopped abruptly. "Do you think I think there's something wrong with your clothes?"

Clark found himself smiling as she spoke and shook his hand. Her good nature seemed infectious. "i'm glad to meet you Elle," he said. "Most, most people aren't fond of reporters in instances like that. So you're a lawyer then?" She really didn't seem like a lawyer.

"I, I don't know." he admitted. "Your question took me by surprise I suppose."

"I'm not a lawyer just quite yet. I'm all graduated and everything and I have an internship waiting for me with one of my professors from Harvard but I haven't passed my bar exam yet and that's a big part of being a lawyer so as soon as I'm done here in town I'll go do that and then I'll be a lawyer and I'll get to talk to reporters lots more."

She smiled brightly and may have taken a breath. One would assume she'd need to.

"I don't think there's anything wrong with your clothes." she added, blinking as she appraised his shirt and pants. "They suit you. They're simple, but you look like you're well built so they are clearly covering something more than what they're letting me see and I'd bet that's a good reflection of Clark the man. Am I right?"

Clark was taken aback. No one had ever noticed that before. That was kind of the point. He wasn't sure what to say at first, but remembered the first conversation he'd had with Lana. A lie wouldn't cut it here.

"Well, well, uhm, yes."

"I thought so. I'm so good at this. It's, like, scary how good I am. So I'd guess you're probably some kind of athelete, or else you just got out of prison because a lot of times all there is to do in prison is lift weights and get tattoos but you don't have that scay look in your eyes so I'm going to stick with athelete of some kind."

She circled him, almost like a predator and cocked her head. "Where do you shop? Sears catalog?" she asked with just a hint of pity.

"Something like that." he said about the athelete thing.

"Uhm, when I was a kid yes. These days I actually go to Sears." This was at once disconerting and fascinating.

Elle huffed out a little sigh and tsked. It was almost an allergic reaction...she couldn't help it.

"You go to Sears?"

To her credit, she was really trying to not look like she was in pain. "This whole town needs help."

"Uhm," Clark stammered. "I'm, uhm, sorry?" he wasn't sure why he was apologizing.

"No...no, don't be. That was really rude of me. It's just that I can't believe the lack of fashion conscious people here. At CULA in Delta Nu everyone was into fashion, and even at Harvard people were hung up on LL Bean and J. Hook and Boss and...not Sears."

She was clearly flustered and moved back to her table and snatched up a magazine. "See? GQ and Maxim and FHM...if you ignore the booby girls, they have some very good fashion tips." she said, flipping quickly through them from half naked women to clothes and then to alcohol ads with well dressed men and barely dressed girls.

"Tell me this, Clark. Are you comfortable in your clothes? Do they represent you honestly?"

"I, I've never been terribly fashion concious." Clark said. Actually that wasn't entirely true. His way of dressing was carefully selected to make him appear ordinary and un-remarkable.

He very carefully ignored the "booby girls" as they made him blush.

They're not supposed to. he thought about his clothes. But now that he thought about it, here, when he wasn't superman, couldn't be superman, did he really need to hide so much?

"Well they're comfortable," he said. "And inexpensive. But I don't know about how they represent me." The represented what he wanted people to see. An awkward, somewhat bumbling boy scout.

"They do look really comfortable." she agreed, reaching out to finger the shirt sleeve. "A little rough...that's the inexpensive part. You know, you can get some real finds at second hand stores if money's an issue. I'm going to have the kids in my workshop do that before the workshop's done. It's good for the environment, too. It's the best kind of recycling ever. Clark? Why don't you sit down with me and tell me about you. I get the feeling you aren't really as comfortable in your clothes as you say and..." she narrowed her eyes, "I'd bet it has something to do with being anxious about your self.Am I right?" she asked as she flounced to the table and sat, finally taking a visible breath.

Clark smiled again. "Okay, but let me get something to drink first. Do you want anything?"

"Mrs. Smith knows what I drink. Just tell her it's for Elle. Here, let me get you some cash." she said, reaching into her bag and disturbing her sleeping dog.

Bruiser poked his head out and stared sleepily at Clark, then curled back into the bag once she was done rummaging.

Clark waved her off. "Oh, no that's not neccesary." he said. He would eventually run out of money, and he was approaching that point, but hadn't reached crisis point yet. He also waved at Bruiser.

He got himself a frappachino (addictive things) and Elle's drink, and returned to the table.

"So," he said, as he sat. "What do you want to know?"

"Thank you, Clark, that's so kind of you. Let's start with where you're from. Where'd you grow up?" she asked sweetly as she took her iced sugar free non fat decaf latte.

"I grew up on a farm in Kansas." Clark said. "A very small town called, remarkably enough, Smallville." he grinned.

"Oooh, a farmboy from Kansas. How wholesome." she said as she leaned forward and rested her chin in her hand. She was the picture of an attentive listener, interested in everything he had to say. "And then you moved to..."

"Well I went away for a few years after my father died." Clark said. "And eventually I wound up in Metropolis, also in Kansas. I got work there as a reporter for the Daily Planet, which I did for a few years."

"Uh huh." she nodded, "I'm so sorry about your dad. That must be hard."

Looking appropriately sad, she reached out and patted him. "So what brings you here? Newspaper? Do we even have one of those?"

"Thank you." Clark said, smiling sadly at her. "It happened a long time ago, but I do still miss him."

"No, no newspaper. Things wound up, not working out in Metropolis. Maybe I wasn't cut out for the big city, so I came here because it seemed a nice middle ground."

"Ok." she said, cheering immediately. "So, see, that tells me lots. You're a farmboy at heart, you liked the city but maybe it wasn't quite what you wanted, and now you're looking for something that's the best of home with a little more action. That tells me you need to wear blue jeans more. Get rid of those Permaprest slacks for starters."

god he hadn't worn bluejeans since he was a kid. "I haven't worn bluejeans since I was a kid." he grinned, pushing his glasses back up his nose. "I'm not sure I'd remember how to walk in those."

"One foot in front of the other, just like anything else." she said simply. "Something natural and real...cotton is good for finding your genuine self."

"I have always liked ~~a cotton titanium blend~~ cotton." he said. His old outfit had actually been partly cotton.

"How'd you wind up going to Law School instead of becoming a fashion consultant?" Clark asked.

and mun must to bed. back tomorrow after work, possibly one post in the morning

"I was dumb and did it for a guy. But he was so a loser and I decided that I'd keep it up after my first year just to prove I could. I got my bachelor's degree in fashion merchandising, but law is a total passion of mine. Really, though, I'm a modern woman and I can do anything I set my mind to just like everyone else." she said with a decisive nod.

[sleep well!]

Clark grinned and nodded as well. "You remind me of my friend Lois. Well, not so much the doing it for a guy part as the, `I can do anything I set my mind to` part."

[ooc: hey, sorry I didn't get to finish the conversation the other night--I had to head out]

[ooc: no worries! it happens. i'll have elle come around again some other day.]

The Perk || Late Afternoon

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