slayers_desire | taking Clark to Rome

Clark's chores don't take very long at all, although he doesn't rush through them out of the desire to leave as soon as possible. If he does something wrong, like missing a broken link in the fence, they could spend hours fixing the mistake, such as rounding up forty head of cattle wandering around the county.

Still, he's done in the usual fifteen to twenty minutes, and since Lois isn't around right now, he zips into the house and takes a quick shower before joining his girlfriend. The only thing out of place is his hair, ruffled and windblown from superspeed, and he makes an effort to comb his fingers through it.

The impulsion to help Clark with his hair makes April's fingers twitch. She likes having a reason to run her fingers through his hair. And this would be a good one.

"I hadn't seen Lois, but would it be better to PINpoint somewhere else?" She has the device in her purse. Where it has been for the whole weekend.

He cocks his head slightly, his eyes slightly unfocused as he listens. "Seems safe, but it's up to you. You're calling the shots today."

"Oh goodie, my very own superhero at my disposal." April teased slightly. Trusting his judgement, she took out the PINpoint. Then taken his hand open the portal from his dimension to hers. And they quickly traveled from Smallville to Rome.

They would arrive just outside a large Italian villa, set along the coastline. The weather qas quite pleasant here, with it being warmer because of the protection of the elements from the mountains around them. There was the smell of ocean from the Mediterrian Sea. And it was a bright and beautiful day.

"Welcome to my home, when I am not in the Nexus."

Clark may still dislike being thought of as "Superman," but he still gets a thrill out of being her superhero.

The first thing he notices is the sunlight. It feels... slightly different. Not bad, just seasoned a little differently than he's used to. And he's not sure if that's because of universe divergences or geographical location.

"Wow." He is very impressed at the locale, with the mountains and the ocean in contrast with each other.

April does mentally make the distinction that her Clark is not Superman. That is a name for another Clark Kent. All that matters to her is having this Clark in her life, and he has already proven to be her superhero.

"I will show you inside the villa first. We have only been here a month or so... but it was designed to be a headquarters for Slayers. So lots of interesting things."

"Ooh, a secret headquarters," he says with a smile. The only person he knows of who lives in something similar is Lex, whose mansion is actually a Scottish castle.

"Lead on, m'lady."

"Plenty of places to get lost, and take advantage of an unsuspecting farm boy." April chuckled. Leading him into the large entrance of the villa, April paused for him to take in the Italian architecture.

"We have 24 rooms here, the hallway to the east led to them. Over here we have the kitchen and dining area. And up above on the second floor we have the library." There were literally thousands of books in the library. Which he can see takes up most of the second floor. "It is a Watcher-designed library, with information on all sorts of evil creatures and fighting techniques."

It's so much different from the building styles he's used to, and while he's not necessarily a big architecture fan, it's still enough to catch his interest as she shows him around. He dutifully commits the layout of the villa to memory, and looks quite interested in the library.

"I think I may have to sneak a look at a few volumes later," he says with a grin. Never mind the fact that, if he read at superspeed, he could probably go through the entire library in a few days.

"I could guide you to the volumes that might be most useful to read first," April suggested. Refering to the demonology books on The Scourge mostly.

"Over this way is our gymnasium and training area." There are many weapons here.

Clark has been trying not to think too much about the ones who are going to take his girlfriend away and torture her, but that is part of his motive for wanting a look at this particular library. Whether he can prevent it or not, he still feels like being prepared is better than being in the dark about it all, especially if he gets to face her tormentors.

Most of his exposure to weapons like this come from Lex, and in fact Clark still has the fencing foil that Lex gave him as a gift. But these are much more serious-looking, and heavy. "I bet you all get a lot of use out of this room."

And knowing that Clark is prepared to face this enemy will make April more comfortable. Of course she trusts him to save her. But giving him the upper hand will certainly mean life or death.

"I am trained with a couple of these weapons, but more hand-to-hand combat. The more complex weapons are for the Slayers. They were born to handle them."

"Even the battleaxes?" Some of the weapons are absolutely enormous, and a quick peek with x-ray vision confirms that some of them have incredibly dense metals such as lead in them. It'd be nothing to him, but for a human they would be incredibly heavy and difficult to wield. But then, she did say that Slayers have enhanced strength and reflexes, so it's not totally unbelievable.

"The story is that the Powers That Be created the first Slayer by mixing a demon with a human. They have incredible strength, speed and agility. So they are able to defeat the forces of darkness."

"It takes a demon to kill a demon, huh? Makes sense." He has to resist the urge to test the edges of some of the weapons on display, because they would just get dull instead of letting him feel how sharp they are.

"Did you want to spar?" April knew he was stronger and faster, but there will still much about this kind of combat that he didn't know. Giving her a slight advantage.

He hesitates a brief moment. "Is it likely we'll be interrupted? Or watched?" A lifetime of having to hide who he is makes him cautious about possibly revealing his powers to the unsuspecting, and even though this is a completely different universe than his own, it's a hard habit to break.

"Very unlikely. Dad, Willow and Rain are out looking for Buffy. Xander went out for a date. And it is just you and me here."

"Okay then." Though they've only sparred once, and it was before they started dating, he enjoyed the experience and what she taught him has come in handy a handful of times. And now that he has a better idea about her body's physical limits, he feels more confident using his strength against her without hurting her.

"Did you have a specific style or lesson in mind, or are we going free-form?"

"Free-form. Let's see what you can do." April will pick up one of the lighter swords. She knows that it won't hurt him.

"And we could always make it interesting. Place wagers."

Clark hasn't had much experience using swords, but Lex did teach him some basics once, and he figures his reflexes are up to the task. So he selects a moderately weighted shortsword, figuring his longer reach and greater height are already working against her without adding a longer blade to the mix.

"What kind of bet did you have in mind?"

"Loser owes the other person a strip tease." April smiles. "Doesn't have to be today. But will have to shake it all sooner or later."

Oh, now that's unfair, because now he's going to be distracted. Although, granted, she could use the extra advantage over him. "Define 'loser,'" he says with a smile.

In a no-holds barred fight, he knows that he would probably win unless she used kryptonite on him. But there are other kinds of losing.

"Good point." April knows that physically Clark has the advantage. Hence taking advantages over him mentally can work in her favor.

"The loser will be the one who says Uncle first. Either because they have been outmaneuvered in the combat. Or because of other reasons..." She can't play all her cards right now.

"Other reasons, huh?" He raises his eyebrows, still smiling. "Okay, you're on."

He's not planning to use his powers, other than passive ones like his strength and invulnerability, just pitting strength against skill and seeing what happens.

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