Cold Comfort

[thisislexluthor]

Who: Bruce Wayne, Lex Luthor
Where: Wayne Manor
What: "Maybe there's a God above, and all I ever learned from love was how to shoot at someone who outdrew you. And it's not a cry you can hear at night, it's not somebody who's seen the light, it's a cold and its a broken Hallelujah." --Rufus Wainwright, Hallelujah

He shouldn't be here.

It was five in

Comments

[mastahwayne]

Bruce was slumping over a whirring computer, drooling unattractively on the keyboard until the keys threatened to stick down. He had arrived at precisely four fifteen in the morning after a long night, and an impressive new bruise was developing on his forehead. A long, shrill sound went off in his ear and he sat straight up, staring at the computer, quickly pressing the key combination to shut off the alarm.

What he saw on the screen didn't exactly shock him. He pursed his lips until they formed a thin line on his face, and he stood up abruptly, sifting around on his desk until he found a jacket.

The trip downstairs took Bruce only a few minutes, and he stepped out into the gray early morning with a yawn and a slight, tired stumble. He rubbed his newly twisted wrist absentmindedly and waited for Lex to round the short side of the manor and find him there.

[thisislexluthor]

It didn't surprise Lex to find Bruce waiting for him on one of the sprawling paths that made up the back half of Wayne Manor, scowling at him in the dim morning light.

"That is a fantastic bruise you have," Lex commented, gesturing to Bruce's forehead. "I can't even imagine what you'll come up with to explain it away."

He walked up the steps calmly and smiled at Bruce amicably enough.

"So, are you going to invite me in?"

[mastahwayne]

Self-consciously flattening his bangs over his forehead, of which the bruise took up nearly a half, Bruce deepened his scowl almost imperceptibly. He wasn't sure what to make of Lex being here this early in the morning, looking perfectly sane and rational (or as sane and rational as Lex managed to get). It was, of course, sorely tempting to let Lex in and try to be some kind of comfort to him.

But the rational side of his brain was slowly beating some sense into the emotional side until the urge to soften his expression dissipated.

"What do you want, Lex?"

[thisislexluthor]

Lex stared at Bruce for a long time, not responding. He and Clark really did look similar, and Lex wondered why he'd never noticed it before it was pointed out to him. Maybe because Bruce as a teenager had been nothing but long limbs and awkwardness, with no hint of the muscles and power he'd eventually grow into. Some part of Lex wanted desperately to go back to that time, before he'd ever met Clark Kent, when life was as simple as keeping his father pacified and Bruce still thought he was the center of the world.

"Clark is gone," Lex said, and he was proud that his voice was steady. "He's in the Phantom Zone."