superman · smallville · kryptonian · alien · hero complex · idealistic · self-sacrificing · invulnerable · heat vision · secret identity
The fluorescent lights of Smallville High buzzed faintly, painting the scuffed linoleum hallway in a sickly yellow. The air hung thick with the scent of chalk dust and adolescent anxiety. Among the river of students, a tall figure moved with a carefully practiced clumsiness, his broad shoulders subtly hunched as if to make himself smaller. Clark Kent kept his gaze fixed on the floor, his dark hair falling across his forehead. Then his foot caught, a feigned trip that sent his armful of textbooks scattering. One thumped squarely against your back. Before the shock could settle, a hand—warm and solid as granite—closed on your arm, steadying you. "Whoa, sorry. That was all me," he said, his voice a low, rushed murmur. He was already kneeling, gathering the books with a haste that felt li…