the most important attribute is...
Pairing: Clark Kent x f!reader
Prompt: Clark Kent thinks it's the height that attracts you in men. You don't know where he got that idea from, but it somehow gets you both what you want.
a/n: a silly little blurb, no real plot
Clark Kent was a big man. Everyone in the Daily Planet office knew it as a fact, like Lois's immaculate glossy hair or Perry's scowl lines. You, however, felt the size of him in an acute, physical way every time he came over to your desk, which was close to his, often bringing coffee or advice or a kind word with him as well. You were average - but average seemed to be short in this office, and everyone could boast at least a few inches over you. Clark just felt like a mountain compared to others. Your breath would stutter when his broad frame swallowed yours in its shadow. You often wondered if Clark knew he could break you with a slight effort.
"Your last article was really good," he said, passing you the cup of fresh coffee. His ears turned red. "It was, uh, it was great... Not that your other articles were less... Of course I think they all are...." You watches as his mouth ran off into a mumbling disaster. Lois and Jimmy shared amused looks behind you.
Another instance was at that time between summer-fall and winter-fall when the air outside lost its warmth but city apartments and offices haven't started heating yet. The cold made you sluggish and sleepy, and it was all the worse because you were more susceptible to it. You were shivering in your cubicle when something warm and large descended onto you. Something that enveloped you in Clark's scent and residual body heat. His suit jacket.
"Clark! It's too cold, you'll freeze," you said, blushed from the gratitude. Your worried tone made his heart melt. You looked at him with big wet eyes, which always made Clark weak.
"I run hot," he said easily, with a reassuring smile, "And I'm wearing layers. You, however, should dress warmer," his brow furrowed when he surveyed your clothes again.
"I didn't think it would be that cold, " you whined a little, embarrassed, and burrowed into the gorgeously warm gift of the universe that was Clark's huge jacket. Your whole frame got swallowed by the dark fabric.
Clark swallowed. "I'll go then, yeah, I'll be right there if you need anything else." He fled to his cubicle with a bright blush blooming on his face. You could have asked him for anything and he swore he would consider it his lucky day if you did. You looked so cute, so darling all snuggled up in his jacket. He wished he could just scoop you up into his lap and gentle you into sleep. You'd fit so well--
"Earth to Clark," sang Jimmy to his left, grinning. Clark flinched. "You should ask her out if this is all if takes to send you to the stratosphere, my guy, " he laughed.
" It's not, " Clark said quickly, adjusting his glasses. "It's not like anything."
"Right, " said Jimmy, raising his eyebrows. "Well, if that's the case. I'll tell Ben from IT she's single, he's been itching to ask her out for months."
"She wouldn't be interested," Clark said, his mouth tightening, though Jimmy saw a hint of worry. It was really like baiting children with candy, he mused. And with Clark it was a hundred times more amusing.
"Why not? He's a decently tall guy..."
Clark frowned. "He's not."
Jimmy hummed, sensing the blood in the water. "Maybe not to you, but compared to the little sweetness over there? More than a head taller. Bet it would feel the same at that point, whatever the actual height."
"It would be different," Clark muttered, his eyes shifting to you, still wrapped up to your ears at your desk, fingers sticking out just barely to type on your keyboard. Jimmy followed his eyes and huffed.
"Suit yourself," he said and waved Clark off. But his words stuck. The pleasant buzz from giving you his jacket quietened. He needed to get you to see that his height was definitely the best for you. An advantage.
-
It has been a few days, and Clark has been acting strange. You thought you had imagined things at first, but when Lois raised her eyebrows at him, you saw that it wasn't only you who noticed something was off.
The mug, which was unofficially yours at the office, with a little lamb picture on it, was now always at the top shelf even when you remembered putting it on the bottom the day before. You only needed to glance at it, and there was Clark, behind you, reaching out to hand it to you.
If you went to interview a person, Clark's figure parted the crowds like they were the Red Sea before him. You only needed to follow.
At some point, when you were chatting in a circle of coworkers near the electric kettle, Clark was suspiciously straightening his spine every couple of minutes. You hadn't noticed it the first time, but the small motions finally caught your eye.
"Shoulder pain?" You asked when everyone dispersed and you were pouring the last of the water into your mug.
Clark blushed. "Oh, yeah, you know, with the job and all. Nothing serious."
You eyes him suspiciously. "No? I suppose it must hurt even more with your height. Bending down more." You held your mug by the handle, careful with the liquid inside, and walked slowly back to your desk. Clark followed you.
"It does, actually," he said hurriedly, "You're right. Maybe it's the desks. I never could pin point what it was."
You hummed. "You need a massage."
"Ah-h, well, if it is..."
You sat down in your chair, Clark's shadow covering the whole cubicle. You smiled into your mug.
It was fun to tease him, the pure Kansas soul he was. You didn't know anyone in the city as innocent as he was sometimes. They brought them up different in the country.
You set down your mug and raised your eyebrows a little at him.
"What's been going on, Mr.Kent?" You called him that sometimes just to see him scrunch his nose. It was quite cute.
"Nothing," said Clark, averting his eyes, with a small sigh. "I, uh, better go, I guess." He turned around, already turning his slumped shoulders towards the desk awaiting him, when you caught his hand and stopped him.
"I wish you would tell me if I did something," you said in a low voice. Clark's eyes melted.
"Of course not, you could never..."
"Then what is it?" You stood up, still holding onto him, and tilting your head up to look at him. His lip wobbled and you were sure he was going to crack and tell you.
He shook his head. "Nothing, nothing, it was nothing," he blabbered until you took his second hand in yours too. You stood there holding hands like kids in primary school.
Clark's face got more red the more people walked past and gave you two looks, but didn't take his hands away. If anything, he moved even closer, shielding you from the sight with his large frame.
"Tell me," you coaxed in a soft voice.
"Jimmy said Ben from IT is tall enough for you," Clark said. He looked down at your hands, not daring to look up and see your expression.
You frowned. "What do you mean, 'tall enough'?"
"Tall enough for you to find attractive." Clark wanted the earth to swallow him. It seemed worse when he said it out loud.
You hummed, swinging your linked hands a little.
"I finds lots of things attractive."
Clark blushed at the insinuation. "You do?"
"Mhm," you said, "The height is a bonus." You shuffled closer to him to carry your point across.
"Golly," he said. Clark's brain had melted at your proximity. He could smell the faint soft smell of your shampoo - or was it perfume? - and it made his mouth water. He could see himself burying his nose in your hair every morning to remind himself you are there, could see himself becoming so attuned to your that he could pick out that smell a city away...
"Clark," you said, amused. He was just standing there, eyes glazed over. You stood on your toe-tips, reaching as far as you could, and pecked his cheek with a little kiss. Somewhere in the distance Jimmy choked on a donut.
"Again." His voice got lower, and a delicious shiver ran down your back at the sound. Despite it, you forced yourself to put up an unconcerned face and smiled.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
You saw a wrinkle on Clark's forehead, but it smoothed over quickly. He pulled you away from the office, towards an empty corridor of the Daily Planet. Once he was sure there was nobody around, and you were standing in the quiet, dusty nook of the building, Clark set his hands on your waist and raised you up in the air. You squeaked, arms and legs wrapping around him for purchase, while he crowded you towards the wall until your back felt the smooth cold surface of it.
Your head whirled at the difference with your usual scope of view.
"Can Ben do this for you?" said Clark, and you could almost feel the petulant note in his voice still. It made you giggle.
"You are obsessed," you said, looking into his eyes, blue, brilliant. He smelled like sandalwood. "I never said a certain height was a dealbreaker for me."
"Jimmy wanted to tease you," you said, and pecked Clark's pouting lips.
"But my height is still better."
You laughed. Sometimes Clark Kent could be like a dog with a bone if something stuck in his mind.
"Yes, darling, your height is better." You closed the distance between your faces until your breaths mingled but no further. "Are you satisfied?"
A grin cleared his face like a sun on a cloudy day. "Not yet," he said, and breached the last few inches between you, kissing you fervently, impatiently now after your teasing.
He let you breathe after a moment. "Now, what was it you said? You find lots of things attractive?" Clark smiled with a mischievous look on his face, holding you captive in his arms.
"You will tell me, one by one." He pressed a quick kiss on your neck, seemingly unable to stay away for a full minute.
"We can expand that list even more. Exclude all other possibilities."
You smiled. "What other possibilities?"
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