2012-07-10 Atop the Planet

Late at night, one of Supergirl's favortie times to be out on patrol. Not because it's so quiet, but becasue of how beautiful the city looks at night. And one of Metropolis' landmarks, the Daily Planet building, is one of her flight points on patrol. Not only does the Planet's famous globe look fantastic lit up at night, but it's also where her cousin works in his secret identity. Kara never knows when she might catch Kal working on an article, and who knows if he might need to call on her to handle a situation.

Late at night, one of Lois' favortie times to be up on the Planet's roof. Not only because the buidling's quiet and still, but because of how beautiful the Metropolis skyline looks, glittering, at night. The landmark golden globe always makes her heart stop in wonder.

She's up late, working well past normal business hours. She has been for a few days. The quiet and calm of the newsroom at night helps her focus on the current article she's writing.

Cup of coffee in hand, Lois has an arm wrapped around herself to ward off the chill of the Metropolis night as she steps out onto the roof for some fresh air in the middle of her drafting. Her eyes drift starward as her coffee comes to her lips, only to stop as she spots the caped flying silhouette on the globe.

"Superman," asks the reporter in a soft voice, not able to see clearly in the dark with the bright lights under the globe making the area above the landmark shadowy and dim.

A shadowy figure has been sitting atop the globe, and now he drops down to float near-silently down to hover near Lois, suspended above the open air over the side of the building. His costume is probably quite familiar: the red, white, and black with the bold "Z" across the front is the same, though now he's added a black domino mask over the open-faced white cowl. "Um," he begins not-so-dramatically, "excuse me, but I think I remember you. Aren't you Lois Lane? You're friends with Superman, right?"

The call out to SUperman from Lois catches Kara's attention. She flies over to the roof, smiling. Then the stranger in the white costume shows up and drops down to speak to Lois. A quick scan with X-Ray vision lets herknow that it's Lor-Zod.Oh, this might not be good...Kara continues her flight over, still smiling, Landing next to Lor, Supergirl waves to Lois. "Indeed she is," she says to Lor."She's one of the best reports at the Daily Planet. And she's the one that broke the story of my arrival." Supergirl smiles at Lois. "Good evenign, Ms. Lane. A pleasure to see you again."

Lois had not expected TWO super-powered people to show up at her soft call for the Boy in Blue. Lor's arrival gives her a faint start, but when he speaks so unsuredly, Lois sighs and smiles at the young man. Supergirl's arrival earns a nod.

Violet eyes flick between the two briefly, but the reporter seems duped by the small mask covering Lor's face, a mask that wasn't there when she first met him. The Z seems not to be recognized.

"Good evening Supergirl. And good evening..um... I'm sorry, I'm not sure I caught your name," Lois says, eyes focused on Lor. Shiftting her coffee to her other hand, Lois steps toward the rooftop edge, hand extended to Lor.

"But yes, I'm Lois Lane. A reporter for the Daily Planet. It's a pleasure to meet you." Because Lois has NEVER seen him before. Honest! The mask does a good job!

The costumed youth smiles at the other two, giving a sort of bow-ish movement from the shoulders at their greetings. "Well, I'm... kind of a friend of Superman's, too. At least, I met him and he's been very nice to me. So, I thought I'd say 'hi.'" He gestures to the "Z" on his chest and says, "He even inspired my name! I'm 'Zenith.'" He glances to Supergirl then back to Lois, trying to measure their reactions to the name.

Nope. Kara's never met this person before in her life. "WEll, if you're a freind of Superman, then you're a freind of mine. Pleased to meet you, Zenith." Supergirl smiles pleasantly to Lor, then turns back to Lois. "So, was there something you needed from my cousin, Ms. Lane? Or were you just calling out to say helo to him?"

Lois's eyes drop to the Z when it's pointed out, her smile growing a bit when the youth says the Boy Scout inspired the name. She pulls her hand back when it's clear Zentih's not going to shake it, and doesn't seem upset by it. In fact, Lois is nodding at the name.

"Zenith. Like the highest point the sun takes in the sky? I like it," Lois is saying to Zenith before Supergirl speaks to her. The question makes Lois bite the very inside of her lower lip, the motion visible only as a tension in her smile (unless cheating eyes are used).

"Oh, I just... saw the silhouette and... saying hi, I guess. I don't -need- anything, persay... really, i mean.." Realizing she's starting to stammer, Lois sips at her coffee, before speaking again.

"How is he, by the way? I heard he wasn't... a hundred percent."

Zenith looks abashed as he realizes Lois meant to shake hands. "Er, sorry! I wasn't -- I mean, I'm not used to shaking hands. I guess that means I was born in a barn or whatever." He holds out a fist toward Lois. "Usually, people I know just do THIS," he explains, apparently intending to imply a fist-bump. "And, it's nice to meet you, too, Supergirl," he adds to Kara.

Supergirl looks a bit sad at Lois' question. "Don't spread it around, but yes. Superman was severely hurt in his fight with the Hulk. But, he's doing fine, recovering quickly from his injuries. You should be seein him flying around at anytime." She gives Lois a confident smile. "But no matter what, I'll make sure there's always a Super protecting Metropolis and the world." Kara is about to turn to Lor, but then asks Lois, "Is there any message that you'd like me to pass on to him?" She watchs Lois, waiting for the answer.

Lois chuckles faintly at Zenith's fist-bump offer while she steps forward to give the boy the requested -dap-. "It's alright, Zenith. YOu're excused from closing the door for now," she quips with a wink before Supergirl's sad-faced answer comes. The words severely and hurt being used together in the same sentance has Lois' heart speeding up in concern. Not that she could do anything, but.... well....

"Umm.. yeah. Just... to get well soon... I guess. And that... I'm glad you're here to help out while he recovers, Supergirl," Lois replies, unable to fully mask that worry from her voice. She tries though, by biting the inside of her lower lip, and biting it hard.

The dap completed, Zenith gives a little smile. He doesn't seem too worried about Superman, apparently, explaining, "Superman will be all right. He's strong, and he won't give up." He rises a bit to sit on the rooftop's railing, turning to look at Supergirl with curiosity, or perhaps it's meant as a look of appeal. "And I'll help out," he adds to Kara's assurance, "as much as I can."

Supergirl smiles and nods to Zenith, conveying her approval. "That's right. One of the greatests gifts Superman possesses is his ability to inspire others to serve their community as best they can." She walks over and places her hand on Lois' shoulder, smiling to try and reassure her. "Superman will be fine. And I'll be sure to have him contact you as soon as possible. And I'm sure he greatly appreciates your concern."

Lois is nodding, biting the the inside of her lip to near bleeding to keep from cracking as yet another person tells her something she'd love to hear, just once, come from Superman himself. Her sigh, small and subtle, is clearly audiable to the two supers on the roof top.

"Sure, of course," Lois says to Supergirl and giving her that professional reporter's smile. Her violet eyes turn to Zenith as he offers his help and Supergirl accepts it. Her smile grows warmer. Her gaze settling on the young man, the reporter beams somewhat, the expression a little reserved in its overall brightness.

"If you're a friend of his, and working with him or Supergirl at all, I'm sure you're going to be amazing before you know it. I look forward to watching your heroics, and if you need anything, you're welcome to stop by and ask."

A grin spreads across Zenith's face, and he gives another odd little bow. "You're really nice, Ms. Lane. Thanks for the compliments, and I promise to do my best. And when I see Superman, I'll let him know what a good friend you're being." He looks over to Supergirl then, almost as if seeking to take his next cue.

Supergirl smiles back at Lor. Kal was here for her first interview, so maybe it'sonly fair she should help Lor with this. Turning back to Lois, she smiles as if an idea has occured to her. "Since you have us here, Ms. Lane. are there any questions you'd like to ask? Any clarifications I might be able to help with? Or you could always scoop your competition by interviewing Zenith here."

Another scoop was, honestly, the furtherest thing from her mind. After all, the story she's currently working on is going to be amazing! So when Supergirl suggests it, Lois blinks, then smiles brightly, nodding. "Sure. I don't have a pen though. Did you... are you able to, if it won't disrupt your work tonight, want to come inside? I can get my recorder then and do this properly..."

Zenith frowns a little, glancing between the two others, and then says awkwardly, "Um. I don't know if I should really give an interview. I mean, I'm just starting out, and nobody's even heard of me, and I'm -- well, I'm pretty much still in training! I don't think I'm ready for that kind of, y'know, exposure."

Supergirl mods, smiles, and pats Zenith on the shoulder. "It's better that you feel ready to give an interview, you can also think about what to say beforehand." Something that she and Kal will have to talk about with Lor. She looks back to Lois. "I'll be sure to encourage him to seek you out when he is ready, Ms. Lane. I'm very pleased with how you handled my first interview."

Seeing Zenith frown awkwardly, Lois too steps forward and reached to put her hand on his non-Supergirl'ed shoulder.

"It's alright. There's no pressure. When you're ready, you're ready," she comforts, before giving Supergirl a soft chuckle. "Yeah, sure. I'm the resident super-PR-gal," she quips, half rolling her eyes beofre her attention returns to Zenith.

"You looking to follow in any footsteps at first, or just out to makeyour own way?"

Zenith gives Supergirl, then Lois, a grateful look. Then, at Lois's question, he answers carefully, "I am... learning. Right now, I'm just still learning. This is the first time I've actually tried out the uniform and stuff. So, I'm just kind of trying to learn the routine."

"And I'm sure that Superman and I will be happy to help you learn, Zenith." Supergirl smiles at him. She looks between the two, feeling that the situation is under control. "Well, if there;s nothing else, I'd better get back to my patrol. It was good meeting you, Zenith. And it's always a pleasure speaking with you, Ms. Lane."

Lois gives Zenith a nods to his answer, very kindly showing him answering questions really isn't difficult. When Supergirl makes to leave, however, the reporter looks over and waves. "Likewise, Supergirl. Be safe out there," offers the reporter before looking back to Zenith. "It looks nice. Are you on patrol with Supergirl tonight?"

"Thanks," Zenith says with relieved sincerity, flashing a rather open, even somewhat goofy grin that looks out of place for him -- even if one happened to know him out of costume. Then, shaking his head a bit, he says, "I'm not really on patrol. Just getting used to the city and stuff. I liked this rooftop 'cause of the globe."

Supergirl nods and steps towards the edge. "This is a great landmark, Zenith. No matter where you ar in the city, look for the Planet's globe; it'll show you the way." She waves and lifts off, heading out towards New Troy.

Lois looks to the globe, smiling warmly and waving to Supergirl, before looking back to Zenith. "Yeah. Me too. Fell in love with it the first time I saw it.... Did you need a tour of the city? Not that I could give you the bird's eye or anything, but... I can point things out from here.." Lois glances about the darkened skyline. "Well... could during hte day, anyway."

Still smiling some, Zenith says, "Maybe sometime. For now, I should probably get moving again so I don't draw too much attention. Thanks for the talk, Lois. I can see why Superman thinks you're a nice person." He gives a little wave, and then he shoots up into the sky, smooth and quiet, vanishing into the night.

Lois watches the boy zoom up to the sky, then sips her coffee thoughtfully. Her eyes return to her beloved skyline as she leans against the edge and contentedly.