Fic: Solve This Equation: Movie Night + Popcorn + Clark = ? (complete) (for twins and bradygirl)
Title: Solve This Equation: Movie Night + Popcorn + Clark = ?
Author: josephina_x
Fandom: Smallville
Pairing: pre-Clex, inching towards Clex...
Rating: R (to be safe)
Spoilers: general for up through season 2 (post-2x09, pre-2x10) -- and slight spoilers for the movie they're viewing
Word count: 4200+
Summary: Movie Night + Popcorn + Clark = One Happy Lex? Lex would like to prove this, but Lionel has scribbled all over his social algebra text. Lex may need an alternative reference source. --Uh, there wouldn't happen to be one around that isn't biased, would there? ...Well, shit.
Warnings: Un-beta'd. Lionel (being mildly evil). Underage relations-ish.
Disclaimer: Not mine, not-for-profit.
Comments: Yes, please! :)
Author's Note: Another fic in the Easter!Clark 'verse, for your viewing pleasure. twinsarein and bradygirl_12 wanted, so twinsarein and bradygirl_12 got. (Man, I hope it doesn't disappoint too badly! ^_^;; )
Takes place after And Lo, The Stubborn Shall Inherit The Clark. Spans the events of Don't Quote Me On This
~*~*~*~*~*~
It was the appointed day -- Saturday -- at the appointed hour -- 6pm -- and Lex was answering a knock at his door.
"Uh, hey, Lex!" Clark said brightly, standing outside at the front entrance of Lex's mansion, looking a little nervous as he shifted from foot to foot.
"What are you doing here?" Lex asked, eyes narrowing. He was going to kill someone.
Clark winced and rubbed a hand on the back of his neck, resituating his backpack over his shoulder and looking away. "Um..." he said, softly.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Then:
~*~*~*~*~*~
Monday afternoon Lex managed to catch Clark at the Talon.
They had just started really getting into a interesting discussion on how the regional weather patterns as of late seemed to be affecting the growing season and crop output -- and the best methods for fertilizer distribution under various criteria, such as the types of crops and the current nutrients in the soil, while also taking into account the inherent problems associated with groundwater runoff -- when they were abruptly and quite rudely interrupted.
"Ok, Clark, spill -- I know it was you," Chloe accused, tossing her bookbag onto the floor and dropping down into the cushoned chair. She glared across the small table at Clark. "I know it wasn't me, and Pete said it wasn't him, and nobody else knew about that picture."
Lex paused in his sip of coffee and glanced up.
Pete, in his football jacket, sprawled out in the chair next to Chloe, across from Lex, sitting down no less heavily than Chloe had. "Yeah, man, what the hell?"
"Uh..." Clark said intelligently, glancing over at Lex. "Oops? You mean those weren't backed up?" he said, cringing guiltily.
"Nuh-uh, Clark. You aren't pulling a fast one on me. That was the only picture missing from the bunch, and it got wiped from my camera, too," Chloe wagged a finger at him. "Now fess up -- why'd that one picture disappear? It's not like it's the only one of you as a bunny, or of you and him."
"I had the head off," Clark said. "I was trying to be an anonymous hare, you know."
"And there are other photos I got from people that had you without the head on, too. They didn't get mysteriously deleted." Chloe leaned forward with a sudden intensity, and Lex watched Clark lean back a little in reflex. "C'mon Clark, spill. Who was really in that Mad Hatter getup? It wasn't Depp at all, was it?"
Lex nearly choked.
"Wh-what?! ...Uh, what makes you say that, Chloe?"
Oh god, Clark. I know you lie horribly, but do you really have to be that bad at it all the time?!?
And then Lex looked up and realized Pete was staring at him.
"Clark, you know I'm gonna find out sooner or later through process of elimination. You might as well just tell me, now," Chloe warned.
Oh, hell. Lex certainly hoped not.
"I really don't know what you're talking about, Chloe," Clark said.
"Uh huh." Chloe gave him the Reporting Eye.
Clark just sat there looking as innocent as, well, something innocent, and drank his coffee.
So did Lex.
~*~*~*~*~*~
"Hey, Lex, I almost forgot to ask," Clark said, touching Lex's sleeve gently as he shouldered his bookbag, hanging back as his other young high school friends also made ready to leave for their respective homes and headed towards the exit. "Are you free Wednesday afternoon?"
"Sure, Clark," said Lex.
"Oh, good," Clark said with a deep relieved breath out and a grin. "I want to do the, y'know," Clark glanced down and turned a little red. "The egg thing?"
Lex blinked at him.
"All right, Clark. I look forward to learning more about the usual traditions you're familiar with," he said, and oddly enough he felt he might've meant it.
"Me, too!" Clark enthused, glancing back up and nodding, looking excited.
Then Clark paused and glanced surreptitiously back at his friends. Seeing them otherwise occuppied, Clark stuffed a hand in his jacket pocket, and quickly grabbed and then passed what he was holding to Lex.
Lex tried to keep his expression impassive as he palmed the photo.
Clark moved away, then turned and grinned back at him.
Lex smiled a little in return and casually slid into his pocket what he knew must be the missing photo of the two of them in their odd costumes from the previous afternoon. He felt a little silly as he gave a small wave back, when Clark waved goodbye to him first as his young boyfriend-to-be walked away.
Sighing quietly to himself, Lex bent over the low table and cleaned up his own small mess before he stood to go, then felt slightly startled as he realized Pete was staring at him by the door, narrow-eyed, for some reason. Then he watched as Pete went from a stare to an outright glare after Clark left before him. Pete then pointed two fingers at his eyes, and then back at Lex, before spinning on a heel and marching out the door himself.
Lex tilted his head at the odd sight, confused, and wondered what nefarious thing the Ross boy thought he'd done this time.
He glanced down at the table again. Had he not tipped the waitress enough?
~*~*~*~*~*~
Wednesday came and went, and Lex wondered that night as he went through his normal hygenic ritual whether Clark had just done what he'd done to be nice, or whether there had been something more to it that he'd missed somehow.
Try as he might, though, Lex couldn't think of anything sexual about boiling eggs or doing disgustingly well at an object-oriented game of hide-and-seek.
Lex didn't run into Clark for the rest of the week. He only had a quick phone conversation with him Friday morning as he was shuffling through papers in the mansion's library, hashing out what movie they would watch, and that was it.
Lionel walked in on the conversation, and raised an eyebrow at the subject matter.
Lex gave him a mental eye-roll. It wasn't as though he was running late for work. Christ, dad -- I can talk about whatever I want with whomever I want on my own time, damnit, he thought as he dropped the last file in his briefcase and clicked it shut.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Now:
~*~*~*~*~*~
It was the appointed day -- Saturday -- at the appointed hour -- 6pm -- and Lex was answering a knock at his door.
"Uh, hey, Lex!" Clark said brightly, standing outside at the front entrance of Lex's mansion, looking a little nervous as he shifted from foot to foot.
"What are you doing here?" Lex asked, eyes narrowing. He was going to kill someone.
Clark winced and rubbed a hand on the back of his neck, resituating his backpack over his shoulder and looking away. "Um..." he said, softly.
"Hey, nice to see you, too," said Pete, with a snort. "Here. Got popcorn? Clark didn't have any at home." he said, slapping a DVD case into Lex's chest, then walking in past him while Lex stared at him.
Lex looked back at Clark, wanting to know what the hell was going on.
"Uh, I couldn't get the movie, so, uh..."
Lex frowned. This wasn't part of the plan. Disruptive elements in his equation could lead to an explosive result!
And not the good kind of explosion, either!
"Which way to the TV?" Pete asked. Clark pointed as he stepped through the doorway into the mansion, and Pete went around the corner.
...And now Lex couldn't throw Pete out without looking really, really bad in front of Clark.
Damnit!
~*~*~*~*~*~
"Sorry, Lex," Clark said. "I mean, I didn't mean to invite him over to your place, he just..." Clark sighed. "It was kind of an accident. I'm not sure what happened. I was at the Torch asking Chloe if she had a copy I could borrow, but she didn't, and then Pete sort of butted in and said he had one, but he wanted to know what it was for. Then he said that he hadn't seen it before and wanted to watch it with us, and said that it was more fun watching movies in a large group rather than a smaller one, and, well..." Clark grimaced a little. "It got a little confusing from there."
I'll bet it did. "It's all right, Clark," Lex said, even though it wasn't ok. Pete should not have so rudely invited himself over; the Ross boy must have it out for him somehow, though how that equated to spending more time around Lex was mind-boggling... unless...
Well, hell.
"How did he even have a copy of the movie?" Lex asked. Pete wasn't gay, was he? And it didn't seem like the sort of thing Pete would be into. The fact that he hadn't watched it yet was a clue.
"It's technically his little sister's video," Clark explained.
Lex almost demanded to know why Clark hadn't just borrowed it from her.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Lex and Clark followed Pete into the entertainment room and found Pete staring.
"Sweet setup," Pete said grudgingly, recovering quickly. "Hey, Clark, hand me the stuff, all right?" he said, making hand grabbing motions at the bag.
Clark tossed it to him, and winced as he watched Pete unzip and upend contents of the bag onto the coffee table. So did Lex.
"Clark, you know I have snacks in the house..." Lex started, wondering what was going on and glancing between the two of them.
"Pssh, yeah, but this is the good stuff," Pete said, giving Lex a look like a preppy rich boy like him wouldn't know what snack food was if it bit him in the ass.
There was just one small problem with that theory. Lex had gone to college. He damn well knew pretty much every kind of snack food out there imaginable, and was on comfortable speaking terms with them all. Hell, he was probably better acquainted with them than the Ross boy was. There were a good few brands he knew that weren't sold in the local Kansas stores. And that was just the American foodstuffs...
Clark patted him on the shoulder consolingly and Lex realized he was frowning, so he took a deep breath and smoothed it away. Instead, he tilted his head, wordlessly asking Clark to watch Pete for a bit, and after receiving a nod of affirmtion, Lex turned and left for the kitchen, revising the provisions on his snack food list to merely soda and the aforementioned missing popcorn.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Pete was managing to mostly behave, not accusing him of any horrible Luthorness of one kind or another, but he was watching Lex like a hawk.
So much so that when Lex set the tray with the rest of the food and beverages on the table and sat down on the couch, he didn't sit right next to Clark like he usually did; he gave Clark some space.
Clark must have been feeling it, too, because instead of the couch being only a temporary roost for him like it usually was, Clark stayed seated on the cushions instead of shifting the coffee table out of the way and opting to move to the floor.
Lex didn't like this one bit. How was he supposed to act around Clark when he was basically going to be subject to another teenager's biased and judgmental eye for the entirety of the visit? How were they supposed to relax and be themselves and just talk and hang out during the film like they always did?
~*~*~*~*~*~
"Hello, son!"
GAH! thought Lex, nearly jumping out of his skin, as he twisted around to stare in horrified disbelief at the man in the doorway.
Lionel just breezed in like he owned the place (technically he did, but Lionel had the Penthouse, so the mansion belonged to Lex damnit, and it burned). He strolled up to the large screen TV and gave it a cursory glance, then perused the entertainment center for a bit. "Hm. A bit small," he muttered absently, as though Lex had let the technology fall out of date and it needed replacing. Lex gritted his teeth. "So, I hear that the movie for the night is based on a Lewis Carroll book, is that right?" Lionel asked lightly, as though he cared.
And then Lionel settled in at the end of the couch on Lex's right, only about a foot away from him -- practically right next to him, in fact -- and lounged back as if this was perfectly normal behavior he was affecting.
What. The. Fuck.
Lex glanced over at Pete to see if he was in on this somehow. One party-crasher was... not really a coincidence, more of a calculated cock-block, really. But two of them? That smacked of conspiracy.
...But with the way Pete was glaring at Lionel (and him), perhaps not. That, or the kid deserved an Oscar for an award-winning performance.
Pete took possession of the remote control and put the DVD in.
Clark glanced nervously between Pete at one end of the couch, Lionel at the other. He barely flicked a quick glance to Lex at his right, then stared straight forward and bit his lip.
Lex sat back, crossed his arms, and tried not to glower at the TV screen too badly, because Luthors didn't pout.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Ok, that really was not an enjoyable experience. At all.
For starters, his dad hogged all the popcorn. Pete gave a running MST3K-type commentary throughout the entire thing, except that it hadn't actually been funny, comments which Clark had just cringed at and proceeded to sink lower and lower in his seat over the course of the movie. Lionel didn't say a damn thing throughout the entire film, just made little Luthorian shifts in body language now and then.
Lex had spent the entire time twitching in a perpetual state of hyper-awareness, waiting to give some snappy smart-ass remark in reply to god-knew-what horrible thing Lionel was going to say to shut him up ...except the armored boot never stomped down.
Lex had also spent the entire time sitting twenty-one damn inches away from Clark, and he hadn't gotten to touch him once. Not even accidentally. Because his dad had kept hold of the popcorn bowl as though it were the goddamn Holy Grail, the bastard, and Clark had barely touched anything else, other than nursing his soda.
He must have a spy on his staff. It was really the only explanation for this sudden (and highly unwelcome!) plethora of chaperones. And whoever it was, Lex was going to find them, and then he was going to shoot them. Clark would understand, surely.
~*~*~*~*~*~
"Do you have to go?" Lex asked Clark quietly.
"Pete drove me over and he's my ride, so, yeah, I kind of have to," Clark said, sounding really very sorry about it.
"Why exactly did he come anyway?" Lex asked. "Three people isn't exactly 'a large group'." Lex was fairly sure that Pete hadn't invited Lionel along, after all.
"Because he could?" Clark shrugged. "I really do think he wanted to see what was up, though, after he found out about our movie nights. He tried to get Chloe in on it, too. And Chloe almost came."
Lex's eyebrows raised.
"Yeah. I know. I barely managed to talk her out of it by telling her it was full of gratuitous violence and how it wasn't really true to the source material, which, uh... isn't actually wrong, I guess," Clark said, shrugging one shoulder as he grabbed his now-empty bookbag.
Lex paused as that little tidbit of newfound knowledge sunk in. He hadn't thought tonight could have been any worse, but when he pictured Chloe sitting between him and Clark, and shooting interview questions across Lex at Lionel all throughout the movie...
Lex suppressed a shudder.
Clark gave him a quirky half-smile, glanced back at Lionel and nodded, obviously clued in to what Lex had been thinking.
"Hey Clark, come on!" Pete called, already out in the hallway and raring to go.
Lex stifled a sigh and walked Clark out. He would have done more, like wave, or at least watch them go, but his father was hovering behind him.
So instead, he closed the door, and turned to face Lionel.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Lex found himself the recipient of a thirty-some-odd-minute, largely one-sided discourse on the film, 'if it could be called that,' breaking down all the inconsistencies, plotholes, divergences from 'book canon,' and comparisons to previous-filmed versions in a way that would either make a critic very very proud or cry into their largely-overpriced snacks. Then he silently suffered through more than a few vague comments about having underage boys over to 'play' that weren't nearly as direct or pointed as he would have liked, as they did not allow him a chance to jab back without making things worse -- because that sort of reaction would have brought the whole matter to Lionel's attention, if not otherwise outright confirmed his father's pre-existing suspicions... if he did have any to begin with. After what felt like an age, Lex was again left to his own devices as Lionel finally left the mansion.
Lex sighed as he trudged back to the entertainment room and puttered about, cleaning up the small mess left behind. He gathered up the glasses for the soda and scotch and then trudged back to the kitchen.
The cook looked a little less-than-pleased with him.
"Sir, what should I do with all this?" she asked, looking around at the snacks she'd made for the evening, which had been superceded by the sugary and salty consumables that Clark had brought at Pete's insistence.
Lex looked around and sighed sadly at what could have been, but apparently was not meant to be.
"Begging your pardon, sir, but you're never going to be able to finish this all by yourself before it goes to waste," his cook added. "The very least the young Mr. Kent could have done was take some of it home with him," she huffed with a bit of exasperation.
Lex blinked up at her, because, why, what a brilliant idea!
"...You know, Mrs. Bentley, you're right. You are absolutely right," Lex said, with a slowly growing smile.
Because Lex suddenly realized that he had absolutely no reason to feel so depressed about the night's events at all.
Another twenty minutes passed, this time in a bit of a rush of frenetic preparatory activity, and then Lex left the mansion on a mission.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Lex turned in at the entrance of the Kent farm, drove up to the barn, and parked on the cleared packed-dirt 'driveway' beside it.
He looked up at the barn. The lights were on. Good.
He grabbed his things, slid open the door and strode in, then pulled the barn door closed behind him.
"Lex?" The tentative question floated out from the loft.
Lex smiled as he made his way up the staircase, noting with pleasure that his car engine had been recognized just as easily as always.
Clark met him at the top, with a puzzled frown on his face. He tilted his head as he saw what Lex had brought.
Lex stopped a step from the top and said, "Is it after 6pm?"
The furrowed brow smoothed, and Clark went from looking worried to more curiously inquisitive. "Yes...?" he said.
"Oh, good. Sorry for the delay, I hope I'm not too late," Lex said, moving up a step.
"Too... late?" Clark said slowly. Then the light went on and he got a slow smile.
"Nope," he said, waving a hand at the couch. "You're just in time."
Lex smiled back, as he set his laptop and the picnic basket on the low coffee table in from of Clark's ratty old couch.
Lex sat down slightly to the right of the middle of the couch, then leaned forward and opened up his laptop, waking it from its 'sleep' mode.
"What are we watching?" Clark asked him, plopping down on the couch next to him, peering interestedly at the small laptop screen.
"Alice in Wonderland. I heard from a friend that it's pretty good. Riveting, in fact."
Clark bit his lip absently. "Yeah?"
Lex nodded.
"I thought you didn't have a copy?" Clark asked, leaning back into the couch.
"I don't. I downloaded it."
"Wh-- illegally?"
"I hear it's more of a grey area, given that the companies owning the film property currently don't offer or support a convenient legal method for payment and immediate distribution over the internet at this point in time. Seems a bit silly, considering that it's being made available on digital media," Lex muttered.
Clark looked a little fretful, but also amused.
"Don't worry, Clark. I think I can afford the lawyers and the fines if the movie studio comes after me for it," Lex smirked, glancing back at his friend.
Clark looked like he didn't know whether to scold Lex or laugh.
Then Lex started doling out the snacks from the picnic basket and Clark looked at him in awe.
"Tea?" Lex offered from a thermos, holding out a cup and saucer.
Clark stared at him for a moment, then grinned and took the cup.
Once they both had their tea at the ready, and the various cakes and pastries and finger sandwiches were out in the open in their various tupperware containers, and the small containers of clotted cream and the like to go with the scones were ready to be bandied about with the proper spreading utensils close at hand, Lex reached over and double-clicked the video file to start the movie.
And when Clark scooted over on the couch, right up against his side, and leaned in to him, relaxing, Lex did the same, meeting him in the middle.
And the computer screen might have been small, and the sound coming out of the speakers tinny, but the company was warm, and the movie turned out to be quite good after all, and the look on Clark's face when Lex pulled out an insulated bowl of still-warm popcorn from the basket was absolutely priceless.
~*~*~*~*~*~
They really didn't talk much through the movie at all -- it not being a historical film, nor requiring much exposition on Lewis Carroll or extensive background on his life and times or the novel, having been silently and unanimously voted as belonging to the 'just for fun' genre of movie night films -- instead, they just quietly took comfort in each other's presence, and tossed quick grins back and forth as they took turns reaching forward to swipe and share a few good snacks from the table, from time to time. It was soothing, and kind of nice. Very relaxing. After the majority of the snacks were gone and they'd really settled in for the duration, Lex was so comfortable, he almost dozed off twice.
Lex jumped and his eyes flew wide at the point when Alice cut off the Jabberwocky's head.
"Was that in the movie before?" Lex asked, pushing himself upright and turning to stare up at Clark.
They looked at each other and only then realized exactly how little they'd actually been paying attention to the film at the mansion.
Lex tilted his head back and started laughing hysterically, while Clark shook his head like Lex had done something scandalous but grinned up a storm.
They had to skip the movie player back a few minutes, when all was said and done.
~*~*~*~*~*~
As the credits rolled, Lex sighed softly and stretched a little in place, leisurely, humming in contentment. He'd rested his head on Clark's shoulder, and slid down a bit as the movie had played on and they'd relaxed into each other. He only needed to tilt his head back a bit to glance up at Clark.
"You like it?" Clark asked softly, looking down at him.
"Yes." Lex admitted.
"Good," Clark said, sounding pleased.
"I had fun," Lex said simply.
"Me, too," Clark agreed.
"We should do this again sometime," Lex added.
"It's a date," Clark replied softly, and he craned his neck down and gently kissed Lex on the forehead.
Lex's eyes fluttered shut and a warm feeling filled him.
When he felt Clark slowly move away, Lex opened his eyes again. He could hardly believe... but his young love really was looking at him like...
"Clark..." Lex said softly, in wonder, turning and sitting up a little straighter. He watched Clark blush and start to pull away, embarrassed, so Lex raised his hand quickly and cupped Clark's cheek, turning Clark's head back towards him.
Clark glanced down at him from under lowered eyelashes, and the shock went straight to Lex's gut -- and lower. Oh god, Clark, what you do to me, all unknowing, Lex moaned to himself because, god, Clark wasn't even trying to seduce him, he was just being shy and--
Lex leaned forward slowly and rose to meet him.
He felt Clark's breath hitch as their lips met in a chaste, closed-mouth kiss, and then felt Clark relax before Clark deepened it, a large hand sliding around to the small of Lex's back.
Lex felt that odd warmth in his belly flow outwards to make his limbs feel a little heavy and slow. Tension he hadn't realized he felt just drained out of him. He slid his other hand up to cradle Clark's head and god, this felt so good. It wasn't burning passion, or anything else he was used to, but Lex was finding it absolutely addictive and he never wanted to st--
"Clark?"
Lex froze in panic, his eyes snapping open, and Clark stilled under his touch. Lex hadn't even heard Jonathan come in.
Then Clark relaxed again and broke the kiss with a small sigh. He licked his lips and captured Lex's hands before Lex could pull away, retreat lighting-fast, and said quietly, "Don't worry, he can't see anything up here from down there."
Lex let his head fall forward and he collapsed a little against Clark's chest in relief. Clark actually chuckled slightly and gave him a final quick kiss at his temple, before Clark let go and they both straightened and turned away from each other.
"Hey, dad," Clark said as Jonathan reached the top of the landing.
"Son? It's time for bed. What are you doing up--" Jonathan frowned and came to a stop as he took in the scene.
"Movie night tonight with Lex, remember dad?" Clark said.
Jonathan frowned a little. "Thought you and Pete went over--"
"Yeah, but Lionel showed up at the mansion and, well," Clark shrugged.
Lex turned a quick harsh intake of breath into a long full drag and remained silent, no fool he.
"...All right," Jonathan said slowly, watching the two of them and looking like he was not all that sure what, if anything, he ought to be suspicious about. "You were out a bit late with Pete, though, weren't you?"
"I was," Clark nodded. "I got back before curfew, though," Clark reminded him.
"True," said Jonathan, glancing down at the remnants of the tea party.
"Well," Clark's father said, frowning slightly and scratching his head, "Come on inside and get to bed, son."
"Ok, but can I help Lex clean up first?"
Jonathan sighed and gave him a waving gesture to 'go ahead.' After shooting Lex a final frowning glance, the elder Kent turned and left the way he came.
Clark bent over the table and made himself busy picking up dishes, glancing at his dad's retreating back, then he looked up at Lex with sparkling eyes and shot Lex a small smile. He put a finger to his lips.
Lex couldn't help but smile back.
~*~*~*~*~*~
END
Author: josephina_x
Fandom: Smallville
Pairing: pre-Clex, inching towards Clex...
Rating: R (to be safe)
Spoilers: general for up through season 2 (post-2x09, pre-2x10) -- and slight spoilers for the movie they're viewing
Word count: 4200+
Summary: Movie Night + Popcorn + Clark = One Happy Lex? Lex would like to prove this, but Lionel has scribbled all over his social algebra text. Lex may need an alternative reference source. --Uh, there wouldn't happen to be one around that isn't biased, would there? ...Well, shit.
Warnings: Un-beta'd. Lionel (being mildly evil). Underage relations-ish.
Disclaimer: Not mine, not-for-profit.
Comments: Yes, please! :)
Author's Note: Another fic in the Easter!Clark 'verse, for your viewing pleasure. twinsarein and bradygirl_12 wanted, so twinsarein and bradygirl_12 got. (Man, I hope it doesn't disappoint too badly! ^_^;; )
Takes place after And Lo, The Stubborn Shall Inherit The Clark. Spans the events of Don't Quote Me On This
~*~*~*~*~*~
It was the appointed day -- Saturday -- at the appointed hour -- 6pm -- and Lex was answering a knock at his door.
"Uh, hey, Lex!" Clark said brightly, standing outside at the front entrance of Lex's mansion, looking a little nervous as he shifted from foot to foot.
"What are you doing here?" Lex asked, eyes narrowing. He was going to kill someone.
Clark winced and rubbed a hand on the back of his neck, resituating his backpack over his shoulder and looking away. "Um..." he said, softly.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Then:
~*~*~*~*~*~
Monday afternoon Lex managed to catch Clark at the Talon.
They had just started really getting into a interesting discussion on how the regional weather patterns as of late seemed to be affecting the growing season and crop output -- and the best methods for fertilizer distribution under various criteria, such as the types of crops and the current nutrients in the soil, while also taking into account the inherent problems associated with groundwater runoff -- when they were abruptly and quite rudely interrupted.
"Ok, Clark, spill -- I know it was you," Chloe accused, tossing her bookbag onto the floor and dropping down into the cushoned chair. She glared across the small table at Clark. "I know it wasn't me, and Pete said it wasn't him, and nobody else knew about that picture."
Lex paused in his sip of coffee and glanced up.
Pete, in his football jacket, sprawled out in the chair next to Chloe, across from Lex, sitting down no less heavily than Chloe had. "Yeah, man, what the hell?"
"Uh..." Clark said intelligently, glancing over at Lex. "Oops? You mean those weren't backed up?" he said, cringing guiltily.
"Nuh-uh, Clark. You aren't pulling a fast one on me. That was the only picture missing from the bunch, and it got wiped from my camera, too," Chloe wagged a finger at him. "Now fess up -- why'd that one picture disappear? It's not like it's the only one of you as a bunny, or of you and him."
"I had the head off," Clark said. "I was trying to be an anonymous hare, you know."
"And there are other photos I got from people that had you without the head on, too. They didn't get mysteriously deleted." Chloe leaned forward with a sudden intensity, and Lex watched Clark lean back a little in reflex. "C'mon Clark, spill. Who was really in that Mad Hatter getup? It wasn't Depp at all, was it?"
Lex nearly choked.
"Wh-what?! ...Uh, what makes you say that, Chloe?"
Oh god, Clark. I know you lie horribly, but do you really have to be that bad at it all the time?!?
And then Lex looked up and realized Pete was staring at him.
"Clark, you know I'm gonna find out sooner or later through process of elimination. You might as well just tell me, now," Chloe warned.
Oh, hell. Lex certainly hoped not.
"I really don't know what you're talking about, Chloe," Clark said.
"Uh huh." Chloe gave him the Reporting Eye.
Clark just sat there looking as innocent as, well, something innocent, and drank his coffee.
So did Lex.
~*~*~*~*~*~
"Hey, Lex, I almost forgot to ask," Clark said, touching Lex's sleeve gently as he shouldered his bookbag, hanging back as his other young high school friends also made ready to leave for their respective homes and headed towards the exit. "Are you free Wednesday afternoon?"
"Sure, Clark," said Lex.
"Oh, good," Clark said with a deep relieved breath out and a grin. "I want to do the, y'know," Clark glanced down and turned a little red. "The egg thing?"
Lex blinked at him.
"All right, Clark. I look forward to learning more about the usual traditions you're familiar with," he said, and oddly enough he felt he might've meant it.
"Me, too!" Clark enthused, glancing back up and nodding, looking excited.
Then Clark paused and glanced surreptitiously back at his friends. Seeing them otherwise occuppied, Clark stuffed a hand in his jacket pocket, and quickly grabbed and then passed what he was holding to Lex.
Lex tried to keep his expression impassive as he palmed the photo.
Clark moved away, then turned and grinned back at him.
Lex smiled a little in return and casually slid into his pocket what he knew must be the missing photo of the two of them in their odd costumes from the previous afternoon. He felt a little silly as he gave a small wave back, when Clark waved goodbye to him first as his young boyfriend-to-be walked away.
Sighing quietly to himself, Lex bent over the low table and cleaned up his own small mess before he stood to go, then felt slightly startled as he realized Pete was staring at him by the door, narrow-eyed, for some reason. Then he watched as Pete went from a stare to an outright glare after Clark left before him. Pete then pointed two fingers at his eyes, and then back at Lex, before spinning on a heel and marching out the door himself.
Lex tilted his head at the odd sight, confused, and wondered what nefarious thing the Ross boy thought he'd done this time.
He glanced down at the table again. Had he not tipped the waitress enough?
~*~*~*~*~*~
Wednesday came and went, and Lex wondered that night as he went through his normal hygenic ritual whether Clark had just done what he'd done to be nice, or whether there had been something more to it that he'd missed somehow.
Try as he might, though, Lex couldn't think of anything sexual about boiling eggs or doing disgustingly well at an object-oriented game of hide-and-seek.
Lex didn't run into Clark for the rest of the week. He only had a quick phone conversation with him Friday morning as he was shuffling through papers in the mansion's library, hashing out what movie they would watch, and that was it.
Lionel walked in on the conversation, and raised an eyebrow at the subject matter.
Lex gave him a mental eye-roll. It wasn't as though he was running late for work. Christ, dad -- I can talk about whatever I want with whomever I want on my own time, damnit, he thought as he dropped the last file in his briefcase and clicked it shut.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Now:
~*~*~*~*~*~
It was the appointed day -- Saturday -- at the appointed hour -- 6pm -- and Lex was answering a knock at his door.
"Uh, hey, Lex!" Clark said brightly, standing outside at the front entrance of Lex's mansion, looking a little nervous as he shifted from foot to foot.
"What are you doing here?" Lex asked, eyes narrowing. He was going to kill someone.
Clark winced and rubbed a hand on the back of his neck, resituating his backpack over his shoulder and looking away. "Um..." he said, softly.
"Hey, nice to see you, too," said Pete, with a snort. "Here. Got popcorn? Clark didn't have any at home." he said, slapping a DVD case into Lex's chest, then walking in past him while Lex stared at him.
Lex looked back at Clark, wanting to know what the hell was going on.
"Uh, I couldn't get the movie, so, uh..."
Lex frowned. This wasn't part of the plan. Disruptive elements in his equation could lead to an explosive result!
And not the good kind of explosion, either!
"Which way to the TV?" Pete asked. Clark pointed as he stepped through the doorway into the mansion, and Pete went around the corner.
...And now Lex couldn't throw Pete out without looking really, really bad in front of Clark.
Damnit!
~*~*~*~*~*~
"Sorry, Lex," Clark said. "I mean, I didn't mean to invite him over to your place, he just..." Clark sighed. "It was kind of an accident. I'm not sure what happened. I was at the Torch asking Chloe if she had a copy I could borrow, but she didn't, and then Pete sort of butted in and said he had one, but he wanted to know what it was for. Then he said that he hadn't seen it before and wanted to watch it with us, and said that it was more fun watching movies in a large group rather than a smaller one, and, well..." Clark grimaced a little. "It got a little confusing from there."
I'll bet it did. "It's all right, Clark," Lex said, even though it wasn't ok. Pete should not have so rudely invited himself over; the Ross boy must have it out for him somehow, though how that equated to spending more time around Lex was mind-boggling... unless...
Well, hell.
"How did he even have a copy of the movie?" Lex asked. Pete wasn't gay, was he? And it didn't seem like the sort of thing Pete would be into. The fact that he hadn't watched it yet was a clue.
"It's technically his little sister's video," Clark explained.
Lex almost demanded to know why Clark hadn't just borrowed it from her.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Lex and Clark followed Pete into the entertainment room and found Pete staring.
"Sweet setup," Pete said grudgingly, recovering quickly. "Hey, Clark, hand me the stuff, all right?" he said, making hand grabbing motions at the bag.
Clark tossed it to him, and winced as he watched Pete unzip and upend contents of the bag onto the coffee table. So did Lex.
"Clark, you know I have snacks in the house..." Lex started, wondering what was going on and glancing between the two of them.
"Pssh, yeah, but this is the good stuff," Pete said, giving Lex a look like a preppy rich boy like him wouldn't know what snack food was if it bit him in the ass.
There was just one small problem with that theory. Lex had gone to college. He damn well knew pretty much every kind of snack food out there imaginable, and was on comfortable speaking terms with them all. Hell, he was probably better acquainted with them than the Ross boy was. There were a good few brands he knew that weren't sold in the local Kansas stores. And that was just the American foodstuffs...
Clark patted him on the shoulder consolingly and Lex realized he was frowning, so he took a deep breath and smoothed it away. Instead, he tilted his head, wordlessly asking Clark to watch Pete for a bit, and after receiving a nod of affirmtion, Lex turned and left for the kitchen, revising the provisions on his snack food list to merely soda and the aforementioned missing popcorn.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Pete was managing to mostly behave, not accusing him of any horrible Luthorness of one kind or another, but he was watching Lex like a hawk.
So much so that when Lex set the tray with the rest of the food and beverages on the table and sat down on the couch, he didn't sit right next to Clark like he usually did; he gave Clark some space.
Clark must have been feeling it, too, because instead of the couch being only a temporary roost for him like it usually was, Clark stayed seated on the cushions instead of shifting the coffee table out of the way and opting to move to the floor.
Lex didn't like this one bit. How was he supposed to act around Clark when he was basically going to be subject to another teenager's biased and judgmental eye for the entirety of the visit? How were they supposed to relax and be themselves and just talk and hang out during the film like they always did?
~*~*~*~*~*~
"Hello, son!"
GAH! thought Lex, nearly jumping out of his skin, as he twisted around to stare in horrified disbelief at the man in the doorway.
Lionel just breezed in like he owned the place (technically he did, but Lionel had the Penthouse, so the mansion belonged to Lex damnit, and it burned). He strolled up to the large screen TV and gave it a cursory glance, then perused the entertainment center for a bit. "Hm. A bit small," he muttered absently, as though Lex had let the technology fall out of date and it needed replacing. Lex gritted his teeth. "So, I hear that the movie for the night is based on a Lewis Carroll book, is that right?" Lionel asked lightly, as though he cared.
And then Lionel settled in at the end of the couch on Lex's right, only about a foot away from him -- practically right next to him, in fact -- and lounged back as if this was perfectly normal behavior he was affecting.
What. The. Fuck.
Lex glanced over at Pete to see if he was in on this somehow. One party-crasher was... not really a coincidence, more of a calculated cock-block, really. But two of them? That smacked of conspiracy.
...But with the way Pete was glaring at Lionel (and him), perhaps not. That, or the kid deserved an Oscar for an award-winning performance.
Pete took possession of the remote control and put the DVD in.
Clark glanced nervously between Pete at one end of the couch, Lionel at the other. He barely flicked a quick glance to Lex at his right, then stared straight forward and bit his lip.
Lex sat back, crossed his arms, and tried not to glower at the TV screen too badly, because Luthors didn't pout.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Ok, that really was not an enjoyable experience. At all.
For starters, his dad hogged all the popcorn. Pete gave a running MST3K-type commentary throughout the entire thing, except that it hadn't actually been funny, comments which Clark had just cringed at and proceeded to sink lower and lower in his seat over the course of the movie. Lionel didn't say a damn thing throughout the entire film, just made little Luthorian shifts in body language now and then.
Lex had spent the entire time twitching in a perpetual state of hyper-awareness, waiting to give some snappy smart-ass remark in reply to god-knew-what horrible thing Lionel was going to say to shut him up ...except the armored boot never stomped down.
Lex had also spent the entire time sitting twenty-one damn inches away from Clark, and he hadn't gotten to touch him once. Not even accidentally. Because his dad had kept hold of the popcorn bowl as though it were the goddamn Holy Grail, the bastard, and Clark had barely touched anything else, other than nursing his soda.
He must have a spy on his staff. It was really the only explanation for this sudden (and highly unwelcome!) plethora of chaperones. And whoever it was, Lex was going to find them, and then he was going to shoot them. Clark would understand, surely.
~*~*~*~*~*~
"Do you have to go?" Lex asked Clark quietly.
"Pete drove me over and he's my ride, so, yeah, I kind of have to," Clark said, sounding really very sorry about it.
"Why exactly did he come anyway?" Lex asked. "Three people isn't exactly 'a large group'." Lex was fairly sure that Pete hadn't invited Lionel along, after all.
"Because he could?" Clark shrugged. "I really do think he wanted to see what was up, though, after he found out about our movie nights. He tried to get Chloe in on it, too. And Chloe almost came."
Lex's eyebrows raised.
"Yeah. I know. I barely managed to talk her out of it by telling her it was full of gratuitous violence and how it wasn't really true to the source material, which, uh... isn't actually wrong, I guess," Clark said, shrugging one shoulder as he grabbed his now-empty bookbag.
Lex paused as that little tidbit of newfound knowledge sunk in. He hadn't thought tonight could have been any worse, but when he pictured Chloe sitting between him and Clark, and shooting interview questions across Lex at Lionel all throughout the movie...
Lex suppressed a shudder.
Clark gave him a quirky half-smile, glanced back at Lionel and nodded, obviously clued in to what Lex had been thinking.
"Hey Clark, come on!" Pete called, already out in the hallway and raring to go.
Lex stifled a sigh and walked Clark out. He would have done more, like wave, or at least watch them go, but his father was hovering behind him.
So instead, he closed the door, and turned to face Lionel.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Lex found himself the recipient of a thirty-some-odd-minute, largely one-sided discourse on the film, 'if it could be called that,' breaking down all the inconsistencies, plotholes, divergences from 'book canon,' and comparisons to previous-filmed versions in a way that would either make a critic very very proud or cry into their largely-overpriced snacks. Then he silently suffered through more than a few vague comments about having underage boys over to 'play' that weren't nearly as direct or pointed as he would have liked, as they did not allow him a chance to jab back without making things worse -- because that sort of reaction would have brought the whole matter to Lionel's attention, if not otherwise outright confirmed his father's pre-existing suspicions... if he did have any to begin with. After what felt like an age, Lex was again left to his own devices as Lionel finally left the mansion.
Lex sighed as he trudged back to the entertainment room and puttered about, cleaning up the small mess left behind. He gathered up the glasses for the soda and scotch and then trudged back to the kitchen.
The cook looked a little less-than-pleased with him.
"Sir, what should I do with all this?" she asked, looking around at the snacks she'd made for the evening, which had been superceded by the sugary and salty consumables that Clark had brought at Pete's insistence.
Lex looked around and sighed sadly at what could have been, but apparently was not meant to be.
"Begging your pardon, sir, but you're never going to be able to finish this all by yourself before it goes to waste," his cook added. "The very least the young Mr. Kent could have done was take some of it home with him," she huffed with a bit of exasperation.
Lex blinked up at her, because, why, what a brilliant idea!
"...You know, Mrs. Bentley, you're right. You are absolutely right," Lex said, with a slowly growing smile.
Because Lex suddenly realized that he had absolutely no reason to feel so depressed about the night's events at all.
Another twenty minutes passed, this time in a bit of a rush of frenetic preparatory activity, and then Lex left the mansion on a mission.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Lex turned in at the entrance of the Kent farm, drove up to the barn, and parked on the cleared packed-dirt 'driveway' beside it.
He looked up at the barn. The lights were on. Good.
He grabbed his things, slid open the door and strode in, then pulled the barn door closed behind him.
"Lex?" The tentative question floated out from the loft.
Lex smiled as he made his way up the staircase, noting with pleasure that his car engine had been recognized just as easily as always.
Clark met him at the top, with a puzzled frown on his face. He tilted his head as he saw what Lex had brought.
Lex stopped a step from the top and said, "Is it after 6pm?"
The furrowed brow smoothed, and Clark went from looking worried to more curiously inquisitive. "Yes...?" he said.
"Oh, good. Sorry for the delay, I hope I'm not too late," Lex said, moving up a step.
"Too... late?" Clark said slowly. Then the light went on and he got a slow smile.
"Nope," he said, waving a hand at the couch. "You're just in time."
Lex smiled back, as he set his laptop and the picnic basket on the low coffee table in from of Clark's ratty old couch.
Lex sat down slightly to the right of the middle of the couch, then leaned forward and opened up his laptop, waking it from its 'sleep' mode.
"What are we watching?" Clark asked him, plopping down on the couch next to him, peering interestedly at the small laptop screen.
"Alice in Wonderland. I heard from a friend that it's pretty good. Riveting, in fact."
Clark bit his lip absently. "Yeah?"
Lex nodded.
"I thought you didn't have a copy?" Clark asked, leaning back into the couch.
"I don't. I downloaded it."
"Wh-- illegally?"
"I hear it's more of a grey area, given that the companies owning the film property currently don't offer or support a convenient legal method for payment and immediate distribution over the internet at this point in time. Seems a bit silly, considering that it's being made available on digital media," Lex muttered.
Clark looked a little fretful, but also amused.
"Don't worry, Clark. I think I can afford the lawyers and the fines if the movie studio comes after me for it," Lex smirked, glancing back at his friend.
Clark looked like he didn't know whether to scold Lex or laugh.
Then Lex started doling out the snacks from the picnic basket and Clark looked at him in awe.
"Tea?" Lex offered from a thermos, holding out a cup and saucer.
Clark stared at him for a moment, then grinned and took the cup.
Once they both had their tea at the ready, and the various cakes and pastries and finger sandwiches were out in the open in their various tupperware containers, and the small containers of clotted cream and the like to go with the scones were ready to be bandied about with the proper spreading utensils close at hand, Lex reached over and double-clicked the video file to start the movie.
And when Clark scooted over on the couch, right up against his side, and leaned in to him, relaxing, Lex did the same, meeting him in the middle.
And the computer screen might have been small, and the sound coming out of the speakers tinny, but the company was warm, and the movie turned out to be quite good after all, and the look on Clark's face when Lex pulled out an insulated bowl of still-warm popcorn from the basket was absolutely priceless.
~*~*~*~*~*~
They really didn't talk much through the movie at all -- it not being a historical film, nor requiring much exposition on Lewis Carroll or extensive background on his life and times or the novel, having been silently and unanimously voted as belonging to the 'just for fun' genre of movie night films -- instead, they just quietly took comfort in each other's presence, and tossed quick grins back and forth as they took turns reaching forward to swipe and share a few good snacks from the table, from time to time. It was soothing, and kind of nice. Very relaxing. After the majority of the snacks were gone and they'd really settled in for the duration, Lex was so comfortable, he almost dozed off twice.
Lex jumped and his eyes flew wide at the point when Alice cut off the Jabberwocky's head.
"Was that in the movie before?" Lex asked, pushing himself upright and turning to stare up at Clark.
They looked at each other and only then realized exactly how little they'd actually been paying attention to the film at the mansion.
Lex tilted his head back and started laughing hysterically, while Clark shook his head like Lex had done something scandalous but grinned up a storm.
They had to skip the movie player back a few minutes, when all was said and done.
~*~*~*~*~*~
As the credits rolled, Lex sighed softly and stretched a little in place, leisurely, humming in contentment. He'd rested his head on Clark's shoulder, and slid down a bit as the movie had played on and they'd relaxed into each other. He only needed to tilt his head back a bit to glance up at Clark.
"You like it?" Clark asked softly, looking down at him.
"Yes." Lex admitted.
"Good," Clark said, sounding pleased.
"I had fun," Lex said simply.
"Me, too," Clark agreed.
"We should do this again sometime," Lex added.
"It's a date," Clark replied softly, and he craned his neck down and gently kissed Lex on the forehead.
Lex's eyes fluttered shut and a warm feeling filled him.
When he felt Clark slowly move away, Lex opened his eyes again. He could hardly believe... but his young love really was looking at him like...
"Clark..." Lex said softly, in wonder, turning and sitting up a little straighter. He watched Clark blush and start to pull away, embarrassed, so Lex raised his hand quickly and cupped Clark's cheek, turning Clark's head back towards him.
Clark glanced down at him from under lowered eyelashes, and the shock went straight to Lex's gut -- and lower. Oh god, Clark, what you do to me, all unknowing, Lex moaned to himself because, god, Clark wasn't even trying to seduce him, he was just being shy and--
Lex leaned forward slowly and rose to meet him.
He felt Clark's breath hitch as their lips met in a chaste, closed-mouth kiss, and then felt Clark relax before Clark deepened it, a large hand sliding around to the small of Lex's back.
Lex felt that odd warmth in his belly flow outwards to make his limbs feel a little heavy and slow. Tension he hadn't realized he felt just drained out of him. He slid his other hand up to cradle Clark's head and god, this felt so good. It wasn't burning passion, or anything else he was used to, but Lex was finding it absolutely addictive and he never wanted to st--
"Clark?"
Lex froze in panic, his eyes snapping open, and Clark stilled under his touch. Lex hadn't even heard Jonathan come in.
Then Clark relaxed again and broke the kiss with a small sigh. He licked his lips and captured Lex's hands before Lex could pull away, retreat lighting-fast, and said quietly, "Don't worry, he can't see anything up here from down there."
Lex let his head fall forward and he collapsed a little against Clark's chest in relief. Clark actually chuckled slightly and gave him a final quick kiss at his temple, before Clark let go and they both straightened and turned away from each other.
"Hey, dad," Clark said as Jonathan reached the top of the landing.
"Son? It's time for bed. What are you doing up--" Jonathan frowned and came to a stop as he took in the scene.
"Movie night tonight with Lex, remember dad?" Clark said.
Jonathan frowned a little. "Thought you and Pete went over--"
"Yeah, but Lionel showed up at the mansion and, well," Clark shrugged.
Lex turned a quick harsh intake of breath into a long full drag and remained silent, no fool he.
"...All right," Jonathan said slowly, watching the two of them and looking like he was not all that sure what, if anything, he ought to be suspicious about. "You were out a bit late with Pete, though, weren't you?"
"I was," Clark nodded. "I got back before curfew, though," Clark reminded him.
"True," said Jonathan, glancing down at the remnants of the tea party.
"Well," Clark's father said, frowning slightly and scratching his head, "Come on inside and get to bed, son."
"Ok, but can I help Lex clean up first?"
Jonathan sighed and gave him a waving gesture to 'go ahead.' After shooting Lex a final frowning glance, the elder Kent turned and left the way he came.
Clark bent over the table and made himself busy picking up dishes, glancing at his dad's retreating back, then he looked up at Lex with sparkling eyes and shot Lex a small smile. He put a finger to his lips.
Lex couldn't help but smile back.
~*~*~*~*~*~
END