Fic: Aliens 601, For Humans (teaser for Part 3.2!)
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After finishing his shower and having dressed for the day, Lex marched into the kitchen and announced, "I am still under the nebulous and possibly random influence of sedatives, and nobody is allowed to take advantage of my inebriated state." He looked around the table at everyone, clockwise, to judge their reactions to this pronouncement. Lois at his left, Chloe to her left, Martha at the head of the table across from him, Clark at his right. Right. That should do it.
He made to sit down, then his brain went, wait....
He stopped, then turned his head to his left and stared.
"Clark," said Lex to Clark, not taking his eyes away from who he was staring at, "is there a muffin-peddler sitting at my kitchen table?" And eating oatmeal with raisins, which -- like cold cereal -- he also never got to eat?
Lex spared Clark a brief glance -- but only a brief glance -- away from his staring.
Said ailen farmboy looked up from his cereal, stopped mid-chew, and said, "Yes."
Oh. ...Well, all right then. And here he'd been worried that he'd accidentally caught Chloe's hallucinating, or somethi-- WAIT.
"Clark," said Lex, eyes narrowing, "why is there a muffin-peddler sitting at my kitchen table?" he asked as he now glared at said muffin-peddler, who most definitely did not belong at his kitchen table, thank-you-very-much.
"Because I'm hungry," said the muffin-peddler.
Lex glared harder, in the hopes that this would make her go away.
"Because she's been here since last night, helping watch Chloe?" Clark said.
Lex turned his head to look at Clark, frowning.
"She was here last night?" said Lex.
"What, you didn't notice I was in the room with Chloe?" said the muffin-peddler.
Lex glared at her. "I was tired!" he snapped. And since when did the muffin-peddler ever keep her mouth shut for more than a few seconds at a time? Was she actually capable of breathing without blurting out annoying, useless commentary on the exhale? Was that even possible?
He turned to Clark for confirmation. "She was in the--?"
"She was kind of over by the opposite wall from me. It would've been hard for you to see her around the half-open door where you were standing," Clark told him.
Lex frowned at him.
"It probably would've been a bad idea for her to stay the night in the Talon apartment, when we don't know what happened to Chloe, yet," Clark put out there.
Lex frowned at him.
Clark sighed. "...And I invited her?" he explained.
Lex blinked.
He thought about this.
"I find your explanation acceptable," Lex informed Clark, then sat down.
Then something else occurred to him and he turned to the muffin-peddler.
"No having sex with anyone or anything in my mansion, on anyone or anything in my mansion, and don't steal my stuff," he informed her, leveling an index finger at her. There. That should about cover it.
"...Okay," said Lois, looking slightly weirded out and leaning away from him.
Lex nodded once, decisively, then turned away from her and reached for his coffee.
Then he blinked down at his place setting.
When did all that food get here?
He inclined his head towards at his matronly cook, and eyed her, sizing her up.
"You're taking advantage of my inebriated state," he complained, pointing down at the heaps of food across multiple plates.
"You're in my kitchen, Mr. Luthor sir," Cook told him unsympathetically, crossing her arms with a smile and a gleam in her eye.
Dammit.
"She did it yesterday, too," Clark reminded him, double-damnit, and whose side was he on, anyway?
"You're not helping," he complained to Clark, who just sighed and rolled his eyes and also looked unsympathetic.
Lex shot Martha a glance, because he totally would not have come into the kitchen again today if she hadn't tricked him into it, asking all politely and everything to meet her here, instead of heading to the dining room where it was safe. Cook never ambushed him with too much to eat in there.
But Martha simply smiled at him, completely unperturbed at these developments. Drat. Lex could take a hint. No help would be forthcoming from those quarters.
Lex grumbled and viciously bit into a piece of toast, then chewed.
"Why do you get eggs?" Lane said over her bowl of cereal.
Lex picked up and handed her a plate of eggs -- sunny-side up -- one-handed, without even bothering to look over at her, and took another bite of toast.
Clark took an omelette.
Clark, and the muffin-peddler -- she was actually good for something! -- helped Lex finish the too-large breakfast. Lex was feeling a little less drowsy after he'd finished what they didn't take, and he leaned back in his chair, amazingly not feeling overstuffed this time. He relaxed at the quiet chatter that drifted around him, making slow work of the mug of coffee he was imbibing. He was enjoying the warmth and the smell of the warm beverage thoroughly as he held it carefully cupped in his hands, when he glanced over at Chloe and noticed that she wasn't talking, or eating anything. On reflection, he further realized that she hadn't touched anything in front of her from at least the time when he'd entered the room.
"Is there something wrong with the food, Miss Sullivan?" Lex asked her, glancing at the oatmeal, half-a-grapefruit, and milk sitting in front of her. It looked to be the same meal that Lane had started with, only poked at a little, and otherwise untouched.
Chloe lifted her eyes up to him in delayed reaction.
"I'm not hungry," Chloe said quietly. Her voice sounded a little... strained.
He frowned at her, watching her over the rim of his mug as he took another sip, and noted her pale appearance.
"It is the smells?" he asked. Chloe blinked at him. "The smells of all the different food?" She not-quite-twitched, and at the look on her face, he sighed and set his mug down. "You should have said something." He stood up and walked around the side of the table to her.
"What are you doing?" Lane asked.
"Taking her to the solarium," Lex told Lois. "Come on," he cajoled Chloe, tugging at her arm to get her upright. "--Sick foods, please," he told his Cook, and she gasped out a concerned and repentant apology to both him and Sullivan for not having realized sooner.
"What?" Chloe said, looking up at him with dull eyes. Small wonder she hadn't joined in -- she'd likely had difficulty following the conversation.
"I'm taking you to a different room, where there aren't so many competing odors," he told her. "We'll see if you can keep down some lukewarm breakfast tea and plain unbuttered toast," he said as a prompt to Cook -- they could try a more aromatic chicken broth later assuming she could keep the former down. "Clark will join us shortly," he said, with a glance over his shoulder and a nod in return from Clark.
He led Chloe out of the kitchen, the door swinging shut on Lane's cut-off protests, and down the hallway with one hand at her back, and another holding her arm.
~*~*~*~*~*~
After finishing his shower and having dressed for the day, Lex marched into the kitchen and announced, "I am still under the nebulous and possibly random influence of sedatives, and nobody is allowed to take advantage of my inebriated state." He looked around the table at everyone, clockwise, to judge their reactions to this pronouncement. Lois at his left, Chloe to her left, Martha at the head of the table across from him, Clark at his right. Right. That should do it.
He made to sit down, then his brain went, wait....
He stopped, then turned his head to his left and stared.
"Clark," said Lex to Clark, not taking his eyes away from who he was staring at, "is there a muffin-peddler sitting at my kitchen table?" And eating oatmeal with raisins, which -- like cold cereal -- he also never got to eat?
Lex spared Clark a brief glance -- but only a brief glance -- away from his staring.
Said ailen farmboy looked up from his cereal, stopped mid-chew, and said, "Yes."
Oh. ...Well, all right then. And here he'd been worried that he'd accidentally caught Chloe's hallucinating, or somethi-- WAIT.
"Clark," said Lex, eyes narrowing, "why is there a muffin-peddler sitting at my kitchen table?" he asked as he now glared at said muffin-peddler, who most definitely did not belong at his kitchen table, thank-you-very-much.
"Because I'm hungry," said the muffin-peddler.
Lex glared harder, in the hopes that this would make her go away.
"Because she's been here since last night, helping watch Chloe?" Clark said.
Lex turned his head to look at Clark, frowning.
"She was here last night?" said Lex.
"What, you didn't notice I was in the room with Chloe?" said the muffin-peddler.
Lex glared at her. "I was tired!" he snapped. And since when did the muffin-peddler ever keep her mouth shut for more than a few seconds at a time? Was she actually capable of breathing without blurting out annoying, useless commentary on the exhale? Was that even possible?
He turned to Clark for confirmation. "She was in the--?"
"She was kind of over by the opposite wall from me. It would've been hard for you to see her around the half-open door where you were standing," Clark told him.
Lex frowned at him.
"It probably would've been a bad idea for her to stay the night in the Talon apartment, when we don't know what happened to Chloe, yet," Clark put out there.
Lex frowned at him.
Clark sighed. "...And I invited her?" he explained.
Lex blinked.
He thought about this.
"I find your explanation acceptable," Lex informed Clark, then sat down.
Then something else occurred to him and he turned to the muffin-peddler.
"No having sex with anyone or anything in my mansion, on anyone or anything in my mansion, and don't steal my stuff," he informed her, leveling an index finger at her. There. That should about cover it.
"...Okay," said Lois, looking slightly weirded out and leaning away from him.
Lex nodded once, decisively, then turned away from her and reached for his coffee.
Then he blinked down at his place setting.
When did all that food get here?
He inclined his head towards at his matronly cook, and eyed her, sizing her up.
"You're taking advantage of my inebriated state," he complained, pointing down at the heaps of food across multiple plates.
"You're in my kitchen, Mr. Luthor sir," Cook told him unsympathetically, crossing her arms with a smile and a gleam in her eye.
Dammit.
"She did it yesterday, too," Clark reminded him, double-damnit, and whose side was he on, anyway?
"You're not helping," he complained to Clark, who just sighed and rolled his eyes and also looked unsympathetic.
Lex shot Martha a glance, because he totally would not have come into the kitchen again today if she hadn't tricked him into it, asking all politely and everything to meet her here, instead of heading to the dining room where it was safe. Cook never ambushed him with too much to eat in there.
But Martha simply smiled at him, completely unperturbed at these developments. Drat. Lex could take a hint. No help would be forthcoming from those quarters.
Lex grumbled and viciously bit into a piece of toast, then chewed.
"Why do you get eggs?" Lane said over her bowl of cereal.
Lex picked up and handed her a plate of eggs -- sunny-side up -- one-handed, without even bothering to look over at her, and took another bite of toast.
Clark took an omelette.
Clark, and the muffin-peddler -- she was actually good for something! -- helped Lex finish the too-large breakfast. Lex was feeling a little less drowsy after he'd finished what they didn't take, and he leaned back in his chair, amazingly not feeling overstuffed this time. He relaxed at the quiet chatter that drifted around him, making slow work of the mug of coffee he was imbibing. He was enjoying the warmth and the smell of the warm beverage thoroughly as he held it carefully cupped in his hands, when he glanced over at Chloe and noticed that she wasn't talking, or eating anything. On reflection, he further realized that she hadn't touched anything in front of her from at least the time when he'd entered the room.
"Is there something wrong with the food, Miss Sullivan?" Lex asked her, glancing at the oatmeal, half-a-grapefruit, and milk sitting in front of her. It looked to be the same meal that Lane had started with, only poked at a little, and otherwise untouched.
Chloe lifted her eyes up to him in delayed reaction.
"I'm not hungry," Chloe said quietly. Her voice sounded a little... strained.
He frowned at her, watching her over the rim of his mug as he took another sip, and noted her pale appearance.
"It is the smells?" he asked. Chloe blinked at him. "The smells of all the different food?" She not-quite-twitched, and at the look on her face, he sighed and set his mug down. "You should have said something." He stood up and walked around the side of the table to her.
"What are you doing?" Lane asked.
"Taking her to the solarium," Lex told Lois. "Come on," he cajoled Chloe, tugging at her arm to get her upright. "--Sick foods, please," he told his Cook, and she gasped out a concerned and repentant apology to both him and Sullivan for not having realized sooner.
"What?" Chloe said, looking up at him with dull eyes. Small wonder she hadn't joined in -- she'd likely had difficulty following the conversation.
"I'm taking you to a different room, where there aren't so many competing odors," he told her. "We'll see if you can keep down some lukewarm breakfast tea and plain unbuttered toast," he said as a prompt to Cook -- they could try a more aromatic chicken broth later assuming she could keep the former down. "Clark will join us shortly," he said, with a glance over his shoulder and a nod in return from Clark.
He led Chloe out of the kitchen, the door swinging shut on Lane's cut-off protests, and down the hallway with one hand at her back, and another holding her arm.
~*~*~*~*~*~