#daredevil!reader

"clark."

he cringed, face contorting like it had when he accidentally flew straight into a bird the other day and had to pluck feathers from his mouth. this was almost as unpleasant.

"aw, sorry, sweetheart," he grimaced, face equivalent to a deer caught in headlights. "i didn't mean—"

"i woke up when you decided i needed a personal x-ray," she said bluntly, forever so. her eyes were still closed as if she hadn't stirred from sleep at all. once again, another thing he didn't quite understand, but it was rather unhelpful that she was aware when he decided to be all overprotective boyfriend and use his x-ray eyes for something useful. his train of thought pause — it was only now that clark noticed the large bruise around her eye, so dark and fresh it was almost black. "i'm fine, clark."

"golly!" he exclaimed, practically leaping over the end of the bed until he was beside her, trying his best not to land on top of her to cause any further injury. with gentle hands he cupped her jaw, forcing her head in his direction. her eyes blinked open at the feeling of his hands, locking onto a point on the ceiling so she could focus on his voice entirely. "what on earth . . ."

she grumbled something that ended in more of a whine than anything else. "i'm fine," she repeated, a huff exhaling past her lips. "please, it's nothing."

clark was absolutely not letting that go. now that he knew these injuries were from being who the public had dubbed daredevil and weren't some freak accident where she clumsily fell down the stairs, he was a lot more attentive than before. prior to this, she could brush it off and he would worry from afar while keeping his eye on her to make sure he didn't catch it happening. he liked knowing the truth about her but gosh it made him worry so much more.

"what happened?" it wasn't a stern demand, but a gentle ask that left minimal room for argument. it didn't help her case when she sensed his head tilt like an adorable puppy, the weight of his quiet words engraved into her heart.

"i've been following this lead on a group of missing kids for months," she admitted, reaching out her hand to search for his own. he find hers like a missing piece of a puzzle. "there's this weird underground trade in experiments and the trail goes cold every time i get too close."

"lexcorp?" clark asked. lex luthor had made his hatred for metahumans clear but even he couldn't be ruled out when he was still staging a manhunt on superman. he had already created one metahuman that they knew of to take on the task of eliminating him, it was always possible that he was funding the path for more.

she shrugged. "not sure. i don't think it's properly affiliated but it still could be luthor's money going into it. the trail went from metropolis to gotham and then back here but now it's cold again."

"and . . ." clark raised his thumb to brush her cheek just below the bruise.

she smiled offhandedly. "ran into a few guys that were part of the operation on remington street, just near the metro palace theatre."

"hm," he hummed, eyes flickering up to the ceiling in thought. "mind if i take a look tomorrow?"

"if you want," she shrugged, squeezing his hand. "as long as you keep your distance . . . don't want the trail to go cold again."

"and i don't really want you chasing down these guys but . . . what say do i have?" he shook his head slowly. "you're gonna be the death of me i think."

"aw," she rolled back up into a ball under the blankets, attempting to get comfortable now as tiredness sunk deep into her bones. "i'll proudly wear that title, y'know? imagine if i get to be known as the person who killed superman."

it was a joke, one that had giggles tumbling straight from his lips as he curled back up under the blankets beside her, encompassing her in the warmth of his large frame. "well, i'm not about to let anyone else kill me," he added. she rolled so that she was facing his direction, and all he could do was fixate on the torturous sight of her eye. "just let me properly look at your eye . . ." he turned on the puppy dog eyes that were like second nature, "please?"

in response, she rolled her eyes, ignoring the subtle pulsing pain at the movement. "if you keep x-raying me, i'm gonna end up with more radiation than chernobyl," she then sighed. "if you must."

"i must," clark decided promptly. he thoroughly looked through muscle and tissue to at least make sure that her skull was still intact. "okay . . . no skull fracture."

i know, she thought but didn't say, not wanting to undermine him and his thoughtfulness. "i'll get it looked at in the morning if it'll make you feel better," she said, to which clark hummed in agreement and pulled her closer into him.

"thanks," he mumbled, pressing a kiss to her hairline and letting his eyes fall closed. "how did you know i was x-raying you, by the way?"

he felt her chest bubble with silent laughter. "there's this weird staticky noise," she admitted, and he nodded to himself when he realised it was too quiet for even him to hear. "and my bones feel scratchy, like pins are scraping across them.

"oh . . ." he trailed off, as genuinely surprised as he always was whenever she told him a new little detail about her senses. "good to know."

"goodnight, clark," she huffed lightly, knowing that the longer she entertained this, the longer she would be without sleep. he could keep a conversation going for hours until he realised that he should probably join her in sleeping purely because he knew she needed rest to function like anyone else unlike him.

The last few weeks you had dreaded opening your mailbox and taking calls. You knew the moment would come, as it does every year. One morning you went to get your daily post and found an envelope. You recognised the handwriting immediately and your heart sank. This was it, the invitation. Every year your aunt would invite you to her yearly christmas party. And every year, you hated it. It wasn't your aunt's fault, your cousins however were a different thing. They were like the cruel step sisters in Cinderella. In short, they were bullies. Mean to anyone who they believed to be unworthy. You opened the envelope to find a beautiful white card decorated with glitter. Your aunt had good taste when it came to these things, she had even used a stamp with kittens on it. As you read the card you realised your mistake. She was not just inviting you, but also the boyfriend you had mentioned once on the phone to her. You had broken up with said boyfriend a while ago. "Great" you sighed. Now your cousins would certainly make your evening a nightmare. You used to hang out with them when you were younger, but you realised soon that all they did was bring you down. The last straw was one of them seducing your then boyfriend. It made you feel so bad that you have felt insecure since then. You knew they were pretty, everyone knew and so did they. You didn't stand a chance against them when it came to men. You really didn't want them to know that you were still single. And then you decided to do something risky. You found yourself standing in front of the door of Matt's apartment. You had been friends for 2 years now, and you were about to ask him a big favor. There was the possibility of him refusing or even laughing at your question, but anything was better then facing those evil brats alone. You knew Matt's hightened senses would have alerted him to you being there so you knocked. The door opened almost right away. " (y/n). Hi, I wasn't expecting you. You wanna come in ?" He motioned for you to step inside. You were nervous on how to ask this thing "Hi, Matt. Sorry I didn't call before coming here." He closed the door once you were inside "Don't worry about it. It's good to see you." He smiled at you "Do you want something to drink." "You got any beer ?" You blurted out and he seemed a bit suprised. "Wow. Sure, I didn't take you for an early drinker." He walked to his fridge to grab a bottle. "Yeah, sorry. I'm just a bit stressed today." You walked around the room a bit, hoping to calm your nerves. He opened the bottle of beer and handed it to you "Something I can help with?" He sounded worried. You fumbled with the bottle for a bit before taking a sip "About that...that's actually why i'm here." He walked over to you "I had a feeling there was something." "You mean you heard my heart playing like a drummer?" He let out a chuckle and nodded "Well, yeah. Tell me, (y/n). What's this about?" Your fingers were tapping on the bottle "My aunt...uh.. she holds this big party every christmas eve. And she expects me to be there of course. Only this year she expects me to bring someone along." He had a confused expression " (y/n), I don't really understa-" "I am asking you to accompany me to the party." You blurted it out before you would be too scared to ask. His brows shot up "So, you're asking me out ?" He stammered. You waved your hand "No, not exactly...”

“You want me to be your chaperone then ?” his voice wary.

You bit your lip, this was getting really awkward “I'm asking you to pretend to be my boyfriend for the evening." "Oh." He tilted his head "I feel honored that you are asking me, but why exactly do you need a 'fake' boyfriend ?" He was holding in a laugh. You rubbed you arm "I kind of forgot to tell them I broke up with my last boyfriend and now they want me to bring him to the party." “Auwtch.” he cringed “ Why don't you tell your aunt now?”

You took another sip of the beer “ It's complicated. But please, Matt, please help me out. This is very important to me and I'll owe you one, Please ?” you pleaded.

He let his hands rest on his sides and let out a breath “Alright. I'll do it.”

You nearly jumped from excitement when he agreed to accompany you “Thank you so, so much, Matt.” You took three steps before you hugged him. “You just saved me.”

He put a hand on your back and patted “You're very welcome, (y/n).”

You let go off him and headed to the door “I'll call you soon to give you the details and time. Okay?”

“Sounds good.” he chuckled. “See you soon, (y/n).”

You waved, knowing that he would sense it before you left his apartment.

That went better than expected, at least you wouldn't have to show up at the party alone now.

The day of the party had come and you were putting on the dress you had spent hours looking for in the many stores that you had visited. The dress wasn't cheap, this time you wanted to dress to impress. You wondered how your cousins would react to you arriving with Matt.

Even they would realise Matt was handsome, the thought of him being your company for the evening made you smile.

You brushed your hands over your dress, smoothing it out while looking in the mirror one last time.

You took a cab to your aunt's place, and made the cab stop around the corner where Matt was waiting for you. You tipped the driver and got out.

Matt had dressed up for the occasion, wearing a tuxedo and bow tie.

“Bow tie, huh ?” you said as you walked to him.

He touched the bow tie for a moment “ What ? Don't tell me I don't look good with it. I know you would be lying.”

“Alright, smartass. So, you ready for this?” you clapped your hands together.

He gave a quick nod and turned his cane between his fingers “I am. You ?” he asked you as you took hold of his arm.

“Not really, but duty calls.” you stated.

He laughed at your remark “Come on, how bad can it be ?”

“You have no idea..” you murmured.

“What do we tell them if they ask how we met? I don't think we can tell them that you hit me in the head because you thought I was a burglar.” his sarcasm was evident.

You rolled your eyes “First of all, that's what you get for climbing through people's windows in the middle of the night. Second, we will tell them we met at Josie's bar.”

“Got it. And you and I both know I climbed through your window to safe your life from the real burglar.” he corrected you.

“I know, I know. And once again, thank you for saving my life.” you were almost at your aunt's house.

“I am glad I did. Even if you hit me.”

You groaned “Can we just drop that subject, Matt ?”

He laughed and put his hand on your arm as you guided him.

You were in front of the door of your aunt's residence, feeling yourself panic.

“(y/n).” Matt squeezed your arm a bit “Breath.”

With that you drew a deep breath and exhaled. You couldn't back out now.

You rang the doorbell, you were holding on to Matt tightly.

The door went open and you were met by the wide smile your aunt was displaying on her face.

“(y/n) !!!! I am so glad you are here !!!” she held out her arms for a hug and you hugged her.

“Look at you, you've grown !” she beamed.

You shook your head and let out a chuckle “Auntie, you say that every year. And every year I stay the same height.”

She looked at Matt now “Oh my, who is this ?” she gave you a meaningful look.

“Oh, this is-” you started.

Matt held out his hand to her “Matthew Murdock, but please, call me Matt.” his voice smooth and he gave your aunt a smile that looked like he was posing for a magazine.

She seemed to be startled a bit as she took his hand to shake it.

“Well, I am glad you decided to join us this evening, Matt. (y/n) tends to be very discreet about her relationships so I am glad to see that she has indeed good taste. Like me, for example.” she claps her hands together “Aw just look at you two, so young and so in love. It reminds me of me and your uncle when we were young.”

Tears were welling up in your aunt's eyes as she spoke and reminisced about the past. Part of you felt guilty for lying now. But your aunt seemed to be so happy to see you, to see Matt.

“Oh lord, what am I doing, please come inside!” she held the door open so you and Matt could walk inside. “The party is in the garden, I thought it would be better as there are more people then last year.”

“Good thinking, auntie.” you told her as you and Matt made your way to the garden. Your mouth fell open when you stepped into the garden “Wow.” you breathed.

Your aunt had spared no expense this time, there was a large white tent in the middle of the garden that was covering the tables.

There were fairylights all over the tent and the garden. It was beautiful.

“What does it look like ?” Matt asked you and you realise he couldn't actually see it the way you saw it.

“Like a fairytale. There are small soft lights everywhere, and loads of christmas ornaments placed around the garden.” you told him as you walked to the people in the garden.

“Your aunt has good taste in food.” he stated and you looked at him confused before it dawned on you.

“Already after my aunt's apple pie, huh?” you nudged him.

The smile was wiped off your face quickly as you saw your cousins approach the both of you.

Their eyes fell on Matt for a little too long to not be obvious “Well, look who's here. (y/n), love the dress, the color is a bit last season though.” she said.

“But we know you don't keep up with fashion, bless your heart.” the other chimed in.

You swallowed when you heard their remarks “Good to see you guys too.” you feigned a smile.

“Aren't you going to introduce us to your friend ?” they were both eyeing up Matt at this point.

You shook your head “Of course, this is Matt. My.. boyfriend.” saying it felt... odd.

They stared at you in disbelieve “Your boyfriend ?” one of them asked.

“That's correct.” Matt now held out his hand to them “I'm (y/n)'s boyfriend. Pleased to meet you.” you noticed the tone of Matt's voice had changed.

They both shook his hand a little too long, and you started to feel irritated.

“Attention everyone !!!!” you heard your aunt's voice “Please make your way over to the tables, dinner is being served.”

“I guess we will be getting to know each other better over dinner then.” your cousin said to Matt and both your cousins were giggling as they walked away.

At this point you already wanted to leave this party, but you didn't want to disappoint your aunt, knowing how much work she must have put into all of this.

“I'm starting to understand why you asked me to come with you.” Matt said as you walked with him to the tables.

You didn't answer, you were too upset already. Somehow seeing your cousins flirt with Matt like that made you feel miserable. Old memories of them taking away all the boys you once had a crush on were resurfacing. Why was this bothering you so much ? Matt was your friend, it's not like he was really your boyfriend. This was as close to a relationship you would ever get with Matt, a pathetic lie.

Not like you stood a chance against any of your cousins now that they had aimed their arrows on him.

You leaded Matt to a place at the table that wasn't too close to your cousins, yet still close enough to hear them sadly.

Matt stopped you by holding your arm and pulled the chair from the table for you.

“Thank you.” you sat down. He folded up his cane and took place next to you.

“Is your aunt's apple pie as good as it smells ?” his mood was merry. The opposite of your own.

You shrugged your shoulders “It is.”

You sat in silence, making circles in your soup with the spoon. You had lost your appetite quicker than last year.

Matt tried to make some small talk with your uncle who was sitting next to him, often trying to get you to join the conversation. His attempts were in vain.

The table was filled with people talking about different topics and at one point it got a bit quieter and that's when you heard it.

Your cousins were clearly gossiping about you, at first you tried to ignore it, as you had always done. But then you heard it.

“She can only get a guy if he's blind.” one of them said.

It felt as if the air was punched out of you. You bit the inside of your cheek, and put the spoon you were holding down.

Matt had tilted his head to the side.

You shoved the chair you were sitting on back, you had to get away from everyone as you felt yourself starting to shake.

“(y/n)...” Matt's hand was on yours instantly.

“I'm... I'm just going to the bathroom. I'll be right back.” your voice was wobbly when you spoke.

He let go off your hand, he didn't seem pleased.

You got up from the table and made your way inside the house, you closed the door and were standing in the kitchen now.

The tears you were trying to fight were now falling and you tried to control you sobbing. You walked further in the house, hoping the noise of the party would fade-out the noise of you crying.

You sat down on the steps of the stairs in the house as you tried to control yourself.

The way your cousins had said it hit you hard. The worst part is, they were right. None of the other guys you had once shown interest in had chosen you. None of them. They always choose one of your cousins.

And you hated to think it, but what if Matt had not been blind ?

Would he be like the others and forget about you ?

You let your head fall in your hands and focused on your breathing.

The sound of footsteps almost made you jump, you looked and saw Matt approaching.

Great. Could this evening get any worse ?

“Sometimes I wish you didn't have such a good sense of hearing.” your voice was weak as you spoke.

He walked to you “Sometimes I wish that too. Especially when I hear you cry.”

You wiped your tears away with your hand “I'll be fine, Matt. You should go back to the party, I dragged you here after all.”

He was leaning against the stairs now “You didn't drag me here, (y/n). I wanted to come.”

“You must think I'm pathetic. Making my family believe I actually have a boyfriend.” you scoffed.

“No, (y/n)..” he sighed “I heard what they said back there, about you.” he came to sit next to you on the steps and put a hand on your back.

You burried your head in your hands, you wished he hadn't heard that.

“They are right, Matt.” your voice was wobbly again.

He chuckled lightly “I am pretty sure they are not.”

You groaned “No, Matt. You don't understand.” you shook your head “Every guy I ever dated, every guy I have been remotely interested in, every one of them all chose my cousins over me. And it won't be long before-” you stopped before the words could roll from your mouth.

He noticed your sudden silence “....before what ?”

You breathed in and closed your eyes “Before you choose one of them too and forget all about me.”

Matt fumbled with the cane in his hand before he directed himself to you “You think I will choose someone else over you ?”

His choice of words was odd and it grabbed your attention as you looked at him. You could only nod.

“Permission to speak freely ?” he leaned to you.

You nodded again.

“I'd rather be deaf too than date your cousins, (y/n). Sitting at the table with them was enough.” he smiled at you widely “And... don't take this the wrong way but..”

“Oh god, it never ends well when you start a sentence like that.” you interupted him.

He chuckled and continued “But.. I am glad those other guys choose your cousins.”

You furrowed your brows “Excuse me?”

“No wait..” he held up his hand in defeat, noticing his mistake “I am glad they did. Because if they hadn't, I wouldn't be sitting here with you now. You would be here with some other lucky guy.”

You looked at him as you realised what he was saying.

“What I'm trying to say, in a pretty poor way, is that I wish I was here with you but not as your fake boyfriend.”

“As what then ?” you prayed he was trying to tell you what you thought he was trying to tell you.

“How about next year, we go to your aunt's party, but I'll be your boyfriend for real ?”

“Is this your smooth way of asking me to be your girlfriend, Matt ?” you felt like your heart was going to burst.

“I am doing this poorly, aren't I ?”

You laughed lightly “Why wait 'till next year ?”

A smile spread on both your faces “Good question.” his finger lifted up your chin and his lips brushed yours. “I guess that's a 'yes' then?” he smirked against your lips.

it was the sweetest gift she had ever been given — it was hard to find nicely-bound braille novel readily available, but clark had done his best after finding out that his girlfriend had been itching to read it again. she hadn't put it down ever since.

the apartment they had moved into eight months ago ( they both finally had stable jobs to rely on — clark at the daily planet and her at the well-established metropolis law firm ) was quiet, a few floors from the top to escape as much of the city's sounds as possible.

clark was the ultimate considerate boyfriend. he learnt fairly early on that her blindness heightened every other sense to the point where sometimes just being hearing people talk could be overwhelming. he'd bought new shirts with a nicer material, had hunted down an apartment that was towards the top floor while remaining affordable, and also changed his cologne to one with a scent that wasn't so overpowering. he knew a thing or two about sense-sensitivity, it was definitely a blessing.

he, however, didn't know the full extent of her capabilities. not like she knew his.

she knew that clark didn't need his glasses to be able to see. she heard them clatter on the table when he got home from work when he thought she wouldn't notice. even if he tried to excuse it, she knew for a fact that he read emails and letters perfectly without them.

she knew that he disappeared for strange stretches of time when metropolis was in crisis and that he came home covered in the scent of strange chemical residue like aftershave. how sometimes she could smell the night air clinging to his clothes when he reappeared randomly in their kitchen after supposedly going to the bathroom.

more dangerously, she knew when he lied. she could hear the jump in his heartbeat, the change in his breathing, and the tangy scent of perspiration, all gathered with one simple tilt of the head.

clark kent lied quite a lot for someone so genuine. little did he know, so did she.

SHE heard clark before she saw him. entering the elevator on the ground floor, to be exact. the sound of his shoes against the floor, the ding of the elevator doors opening, the smiley greeting he offered to their neighbour before pressing the button for their floor, the ding of the doors as they opened again, this time closer.

his footsteps stopped in front of the door. his keys jingled as he fidgeted with them, trying to find the correct one before sliding it into the lock. the smell of roses increased tenfold when he got the door open.

"honey, i'm home!" clark sung in a way that had her heart melting, clumsily kicking off his shoes and shutting the door at the same time. it was cheesy, something she was certain was unironic, but it made her smile and close her novel all the same. he claimed it was her way of not panicking when the door started rattling, but she had a feeling he had been watching too many old sitcoms when she wasn't home.

he sent his things down by the door and made his way through to where he knew she was usually situated on her days off. their shared office that they had half turned into a mini library was cosy; an armchair seated by the window to catch the warmth of the sun's rays, a mahogany desk from a second hand-store on the other side of the room, and a bookshelf growing a collection of case files, books clark enjoyed, and an empty space for the collection of braille books he promised to build for her.

she stood up from the chair, stretching out her aching muscles. the bruise blooming across her ribs was not helping in the slightest. the smile across her face widened when she sensed the air shift, clark's large frame crossing the threshold of the office and scooping her up into a warm hug. her arms flung around his neck in an instant, gentle giggles escaping her from being lifted off the ground. "hey, my love," she mumbled quietly, pressing a kiss to his lips. she tasted the bitterness from the remnants of coffee on his tongue. "d'you have a good day?"

"mhm, yeah," he hummed, setting her back down with one final kiss. "gotcha something." he was quiet at home, even more so after a long day around others ( she knew he didn't get tired as much as he pretended to, his whole unathletic schtick was absolute bullshit when she could hear his heart and breathing ), it was a mix of feeling comfortable in the homely quiet and the fact that his smiles said more than his words did. she couldn't see them, but she could feel them, and even better, she could reach out and physically feel the smile lines creasing into his face. that only ever made him smile more.

plastic scrunched as he handed the bouquet to her, not letting go until her fingers finally closed around the flower stems. she raised her other hand to brush her fingertips across the petals, the texture silky and smooth. one inhale told her all she needed to know, "roses," she breathed out, everything about him so intoxicating that she fell under the spell of mirroring his smile. "you only ever get me roses when you have something to tell me, clark."

it wasn't accusatory. the last two times had been when he told her he got a promotion at work and asked her to be his girlfriend. tulips were his apology flower of choice.

his resolve crumbled. her head tilted.

his heartbeat sped up and his breathing stuttered. the air shifted to indicate the tremor running up his hand, startled into taking a step back. "um . . ." he trailed off awkwardly. he hadn't really thought about how exactly he was going to go about this, thinking no further than buying roses from the little shop on the corner.

she moved around her boyfriend and mapped out the layout from memory. she put a little bit of performance into it: blindly reaching out to brush her fingers against walls and cupboards on her way. clark followed closely behind, his eyes never leaving her in the rare instance that she tumbled into the odd chair.

everything was muscle memory and heightened senses. she moved swiftly around the kitchen in a way that made it look like it was more on the muscle memory side — she loved clark dearly but she was almost certain that her even being insanely good at things a regular person with visual impairments wouldn't have rung alarm bells in his brain. either way, it was better to keep up the charade.

clark was silent, a looming presence like a shadow as she felt through the glassware cabinet to find the vase. it sat towards the front from the last time clark had brought flowers on his way home from work . . . which was four days ago. she had only just thrown the wilted ones away this morning.

"i've been hiding something from you," it spilled out of him all at once. she heard his nerves spike, but his words didn't stop her from moving to the sink and filling up the vase with the tap. she didn't falter as she unwrapped the flowers from the plastic and guided the stems into the vase with both hands as a guide.

"okay . . ." she trailed off, leaving the vase beside the sink. clark usually moved it into the dining room anyway. "you sound worried."

he didn't mean for it all to tumble out. one second he was carefully folding his glasses and setting them on the counter and the next the words were flowing before he could even register them. "i don't like hiding things from you but i want to spend the rest of my life with you so— so i really don't wanna keep secrets anymore," he took a breath, deep and somewhat shaky. "i love you, so i need to tell you."

falling in love with her hadn't been an accident, but he hadn't necessarily meant to fall head over heels in the first place. it was all by chance that they hit it off so well, but clark had never been in a relationship long enough to even think about revealing his secret. this current relationship was long-term, he could feel it now, and he could feel it long before they had both made the commitment to get a place together.

she crossed the room, following the tail-end of his sentence until she stood across the counter from him. "i love you, too," she echoed, placing her hands between them. clark's hands reached to intertwine with hers, gently squeezing her skin between his.

"i'm, uh," he squeezed her hands again, this time a little tighter. "i'm kinda . . . superman."

to his surprise, she didn't even blink. he hadn't really prepared for it, but he expected her reaction to be one of shock. he expected confusion and her to need space and for her to do the head tilt thing he loved so much. all she did was stand still, eyes lowered like they always were, as if this revelation hadn't bothered her in the slightest.

"i know," she finally said, and clark looked more shocked than she should be feeling.

"you . . . know?" he said slowly, carefully, his thumbs circling patterns on her hands. ". . . how?"

"'cause you're not the one with a secret," she cracked a smile like it was nothing, leaning down to rest her elbows on the counter. clark was truly stumped, his mouth opening and closing, unable to voice a single thought that rattled above. "y'know that vigilante that's been cleaning up metropolis? usually at night?"

clark nodded.

"that's me," she flashed him a smile.

he paused momentarily. "but . . ." he didn't know how to say it in a way that didn't feel lesser-than, "you're—"

"blind?" she finished for him. he nodded and she shrugged. "technically, yeah, i am . . . but i can see in other ways. i was blinded by these chemicals as a kid," which he knew, "and they enhanced all my other sense," which he did not know. he just figured all her other senses heightened on their own from conditioning. "i can hear things over forty metres away, i can feel shifts in the air . . . all that stuff."

slumping into his chair, he hummed in thought. now that he thought about it, it made plenty of sense. the way he sometimes found bruises littered across her body and how she would say it was because she fell, but he had never witnessed her take a single tumble in all the time they had been together. how sometimes she caught a glass before it smashed to the floor and chalked it up to luck.

"that's crazy . . ." but he sounded impressed, trying to push away his worry now that he knew she put herself in harms way. he could save that discussion for another time. "you amaze me more and more everyday."

it felt natural to stand there now with no more secrets between them. if anything, it brought them closer together with one more thing in common. something only they knew about each other and could keep from the rest of the world.

it was only when they both curled up on the couch with an old album playing faintly from the record player that clark brought it up again. "could you tell because i was a bad liar or was it because of your secret powers?"

it was as blissful as it could get, and some of that bliss came from the fact that this wasn't a typical morning in their apartment. a typical morning consisted of quickly making enough breakfast for the both of them, clark brushing his teeth while she did her hair and then vice versa. sometimes she picked his outfits based on touch and he picked hers based on what he knew would make her the most confident lawyer in a courtroom. they'd been subtly matching recently; the other day he wore a light purple tie and she had light purple cufflinks. today she had her red high heels sat with her briefcase by the door (just in case she was called in to the office) and he was most likely going to find something in his half of the closet to match.

this morning was an anomaly. soft jazz floated through the rooms like a gust of wind, bouncing off every wall and stretching through to their bedroom. it was coming from the record player he had bought her so long ago now, he could hear the faint scratch of the needle — a gentle reminder that he needed to replace it sometime soon.

when the record stopped and he heard the rustle of her flipping it over, clark was up and dressed in no time. he opted for a more creative tie today: a black one with faint red patterning. he paid less mind to it than he usually did, almost tripping over his feet in heading out into the lounge room. his lovely girlfriend was folding the blankets they used last night while watching a movie.

she didn't turn around. "your tie is wrong."

clark paused, his footsteps ceasing. "huh?" he choked out, blinking rapidly as if that would help make sense of how she could tell at all.

"your tie," she repeated, setting the blanket down on the edge of the couch and turning around to face his direction. "it's crooked."

his eyes narrowed at her, "you can't see it," he pointed out the obvious, "and also you weren't even facing me . . . how can you tell?"

she was right, of course. he put on his tie quickly so he could rush out to greet her a proper good morning before he had to leave. it was incredibly askew, something he was going to fix before he walked into the office but the fact that she could tell was still astounding.

"i know you," she chuckled softly, crossing the room and falling into his arms, enveloped into a large hug that had his heartbeat echoing in her ears. "therefore i know it's messed up. i can sense it."

"oh, you can sense it," clark scoffed out a laugh, pressing a kiss to the top of her head before releasing his arms from around her. her hands found his tie instantly, feeling the messed-up fabric under the pads of her fingers.

"yeah," she rolled her eyes, a smile tugging across her lips. "tell me you don't go into work looking like this . . . i have a reputation to uphold; can't have you showing up to work with your tie all fucked up."

"mhm," clark's lips pulled into a thin line like they always did when curses left her red-stained lips. he bent down to kiss them instead, swallowing her words and ridding them of evil. "and i have a reputation to uphold, too," a teasing grin pasted across his face.

"oh, yeah?" she hummed, eyebrows raised. "and what's that?"

"to have a severely messed up tie."

she sighed but her smile said a thousand words. it was of the same warmth of the sun, one so bright and fuzzy that it was hard to believe there was a time she was so cold towards him. she was a thousand yellow suns all wrapped up into one just for him.

"there," she rolled her eyes, stepping back with a gentle shake of her head. "all fixed."

"yeah?" clark's hands moved to sit on her hips. "so if i mess it up again you're legally obligated to fix it for me, right?"

clark's learnt a lot about flowers since he first met the lawyer that now dictates his heart. how else was he to impress her in the beginning? what he wore didn't matter, but his words did. his actions did. and flowers seemed to make her so happy when they ticked every other sensory box for her. he especially learnt that tulips seemed to be very fitting for their relationship; how the petals would open and close depending on the sun and the weather or temperature, it was very similar to what she brought to their relationship.

sometimes she would shut down and keep to herself instead of opening up to him about something that was bothering her. the petals would close in the dark, sitting dormant in wait for her to open that door back up and tell him what the problem was. clark watched those petals reopen, he watched them react to the sudden light and every piece fell back into place again.

clark loves her. he loves her so much so that sometimes he forgets about the little things that make them different. sometimes he'll forget that his strength is a little too much for the average person to handle. sometimes he'll forget that she can hear insanely well, and so when he mutters under his breath there's a moment of forgetfulness where she hears the little comment that realistically shouldn't have been heard. and then there's the times that he forgets that she's blind. it seems like such a big thing but sometimes it's just one of those things that he completely overlooks when he's in a zone. it doesn't matter that they have been together for so long, sometimes he'll still fall victim to forgetting.

it's never harmful. it's never because he wants to overlook that part of her, it's just because he's comfortable.

THE KITCHEN IS LIVELY. it's a nice change of pace; both clark and herself are home early tonight. she controls the hours she works but clark worked back a few too many nights at the start of the week, meaning he got to leave early on the friday, to where his girlfriend was finishing up some notes on their couch at home. from there they had migrated to the kitchen to make dinner together tonight, where soft jazz played from a CD they had found second-hand not too long ago. some of the quality was scratchy from wear but other than that it worked perfectly.

dinner tonight was a simple pasta. they switched roles most nights, with someone chopping the ingredients and making the sauce while the other boils the pasta and sets the table. clark always prefers to make the sauce because that means that he's the one using the knife, even though he knows she could dice as well as a chef without cutting off any of her fingers.

clark had only just gotten out the ingredients he needed to make the sauce when he noticed her with her fingers in boiling water across the kitchen. she's pouring boiling water from the kettle into a saucepan, her fingers on the edge of the pot to ensure that the boiling water doesn't overflow. clark's brain short-circuited when he watched her fingers dip into the boiling water, and with a quiet wince, she set the kettle down and moved the pot of water over the stovetop.

half a second later, an arm was around her stomach, pulling her away from the stove. "hey," she felt for clark's hand, confused. his heart was beating through the roof. "what's wrong?"

"you just burnt your fingers," he had her moved all the way over to the sink in seconds, guiding her hand under the tap as he turned the cold water on with his other hand. "why would you put your hand in the pot? look, your fingers are all red and they're gonna blister and—"

he rambled on, his tone rising the more concerned he became. "clark," her voice was calm, a sharp edge hidden beneath. "honey." she slowly turned to face his direction, her back pressed back against the sink.

clark stopped, took a shallow breath for a second, and then paused. "i'm worried," he tried to justify. "i just watched you burn your fingers. like, really bad."

"it's not that bad," she reasoned, before shaking her head. "you wanna know why i put my fingers in the saucepan?" she asked, a slight smirk twitching her lips.

"obviously," clark huffed, directing her fingers back to sit under the cold water.

"clark, i'm blind." she said it so bluntly that she couldn't help but snort when she felt him falter. "i can't see how much water i'm pouring and the kitchen was too loud for me to focus on how much i poured."

"i—" clark stuttered. "i know you're blind, i just—" his face heated up, almost red, "sometimes i forget— not in a bad way! like i'm not forgetting on purpose i just—"

her snort turned into a full on laugh. "you're adorable, y'know that?"

clark's shoulders slumped slightly, some of the tension leaving his body. "i just see you as you . . . this is embarrassing can we move on?"

"it's kinda sweet," she promised, raising onto her toes to kiss his cheek. "but i promise my fingers are fine. it hardly hurts."

clark's lips pulled into a tight line, a gentle shake of his head. "i worry too much, i know."

"yeah, a little," she agreed softly, "but i love that about you."