FIC: No One Noticed the Cat (7/7)
Title: No One Noticed the Cat
Pairing: Clex
Rating: PG13
Warning: Violence
Includes: temporary mpreg, temporary character deaths
Summary: Clark gets Lex a pet cat… that's not quite a cat.
Author’s Notes:
1. Continuity Post S3 finale.
2. This is a
help_haiti fic for
tallihensia, who has been awfully patient to get this.
3. The Bennu bird serves as the Egyptian correlation to the phoenix, and is pictured as a heron. This relates to reinforce the Greek --> Egyptian name shift.
Thanks to
cheerful_earl and
herohunter for the betas. :D
“Until one has loved an animal a part of one’s soul remains unawakened.”
Anatole France
Part Seven
Lex’s eyes open with a start. He blinked rapidly through the blurred vision that comes from waking suddenly from a deep sleep, and his hand flew to his throat, feeling the vulnerable flesh there in disbelief that it was smooth and whole. It moved to his shoulder, again surprised to find no marring of his body, no stitches, no wounds.
Then he sat up straight, noting that he was in his bed. In the penthouse. Alone.
But alive. He threw his feet over the side of the bed and looked around for his cell phone. Staring at the screen for a moment, he shook his head, not sure of whether he should laugh or shoot himself to escape from this unending hell.
Alive was still better, he decided as he set the phone away. Alive gave him another chance to make things right. It was the day that this had all started. Thursday morning. Same month, same year.
***
Clark was flying home with a frightened cat tucked under his arm. She didn’t stop meowing, one pitiful little cry after the other, until he set down on the balcony.
A light was on deep inside, although most of the penthouse was already dark. He assumed that Lex had already gone to bed and locked the doors.
Clark was aware enough that he didn’t belong here. The only times he came to the penthouse in this reality had been, frankly, not under the best of conditions, and he admitted to himself at least that he had not been on his best behavior. It was possible that Lex would not be all that pleased to see Clark invading his private space.
It now felt strange to not belong in the place where Lex belonged. It also felt unfair that in so many worlds, he and Lex had found one another and in this one, they hadn’t. Or rather, they’d found one another, but hadn’t been able to see beyond their own limitations to the remarkable possibilities between them.
“Mrrr.” Mau wound around his leg and looked up at him expectantly. She sniffed his legs, then walked through the glass separating the grand balcony from a breakfast nook, where there was now a sleek black water dish for her, and she bowed over it to lap gracefully.
“God, cat,” Clark muttered.
He stepped forward, forcing himself to open the glass doors, forcing himself to put one foot in front of the other. Then, he stopped abruptly. There Lex was, standing in front of him. Shadows cast over his serious face.
Clark worked his mouth, then blinked and shook his head. “Lex...” he managed.
“They killed me, Clark.” Bitterness mingling with fear in Lex’s voice. He looked tired, and raw. He looked naked despite the silky pajamas covering his body. His hand touched his neck lightly, as though in disbelief.
“Lex,” Clark said again. A name and a prayer at once.
This time, still not finding the words, he took one more step toward Lex, who did the same, and they met one another, pressing their lips together needfully. Clark wrapped his arms securely around Lex’s shivering body. He didn’t think that it was from cold, but he pressed Lex close to him anyway.
Funny, this was the first time, the first time really that they had ever touched each other like this in this world. Never had they touched so honestly, so lovingly. Even when they were young men in Smallville, their touches were veiled, as though somehow they could hide from one another, or from themselves, what the looks between them really meant.
Lex’s taste was both familiar and new, now. Clark moved him over to the table in the breakfast nook and laid him over it. He only paused to cup Lex’s face in his hands and watch the moonlight dance across his pale face.
“You’re alright now?” Clark scanned over Lex, just to be sure.
“One doesn’t mistake a slit throat,” Lex replied glibly. His eyes drifted over to the little ragdoll cat that had flopped over on her side and begun licking herself. “Are you here because of her?”
Clark leaned over and pressed his lips to Lex’s forehead. “Not in the way you’re thinking. She changed everything back to the way things were before she came here.”
Turning his head back to Clark, Lex thinned his lips and watched Clark’s eyes with studious attention. His hand raised up, and his fingers brushed over Clark’s eyebrows gently.
“Making sure I’m real? That I’m me?”
“Clark, I don’t...”
Fingertips brushed over the tender skin of Lex’s neck. The corners of Clark’s mouth turned down. “I’m so sorry.”
He kissed softly along Lex’s neck, and soon he felt Lex’s fingers running through his hair and his hand resting on his neck.
“Well, it wasn’t you who killed me,” Lex murmured.
“If I’d listened to you, it wouldn’t have happened,” Clark replied.
“I think... I think you and I are a bit beyond blame at this point.”
Clark drew back and considered Lex seriously. Together they watched one another for what seemed like a long time.
“Yes,” Clark finally agreed. “I guess the question is... Where are we?”
“On my surprisingly sturdy, custom made walnut breakfast table.”
Clark’s serious expression transformed into a wide grin. “I love that. Your dry sense of humor. I’ve... I’ve always loved it.”
He touched Lex’s cheek. “I’ve... always loved you, too. You know that, right?”
“How am I supposed to know that?” Lex moved to sit up a little, then looked away.
“After begging me in front of the Justice League, you’re going to get defensive when we’re alone?”
“It’s not so easy for me, Clark.” Lex drew in a deep breath. “You learned I still have a sense of humor. I learned... You have Kryptonite. I have you. You make me weak, and that’s frightening to me. I really would do anything for you. Beyond any kind of reason or sense. If pressed, I’d completely lose myself.”
“Hm.” Clark set his hands on said surprisingly sturdy table. “Then maybe I’ll just have to love you enough not to push you around. What a jerk I must be, in some of those worlds, if I’m just walking all over you.”
“You weren’t,” Lex scoffed. He rolled his shoulders. “When I’m with you, I want to do it. I want to make you happy.”
“Well, we have to make you happy, too,” Clark pointed out, frowning slightly. It’ll just take us some time. This time we have to work things out on our own. No shortcuts. Just you and me.”
Lex looked up at the ceiling, then raised a brow. “As long as you really want to be here.”
“I do,” Clark promised. He lifted Lex up into his arms and headed for the hallway. Lex stiffened noticeably, but by the time Clark reached the bedroom, he had relaxed a little bit. “I thought it was funny we were always crammed into my tiny little apartment, even if it sometimes had an extra room for a kid or your office.”
“That’s where you’re comfortable. I wouldn’t want to take you out of your home.”
“And it’s okay for me to take you out of yours?”
“This isn’t a home,” Lex said darkly. His arms circled around Clark’s shoulders. “It’s a space. Where furniture is located. And I sleep here.”
“I love you,” Clark declared, kissing over Lex’s cheeks.
Lex chuckled softly.
“Then let’s make a home. Together, this time.”
“I’m not sure I know how to do that.”
“We’ll figure it out.” Clark set Lex down on the bed and started to unbutton those silky pajamas, with Lex making no move to stop him. “We have before, y’know.”
“That’s true. Somehow we did.”
Lex’s lips twitched, then spread into a soft smile, and he pulled Clark down with him. This bed, this sprawling king bed with obscenely expensive sheets and a rich, unapologetically purple duvet, was being christened this very night. Lex did not bring strangers into his home for things like this. When Clark undressed him there, he was the first to kiss Lex’s skin, and the first to have Lex’s knee moving gently between his legs. The first to see Lex’s secret, naughty smile, and the first to cup Lex’s buttocks in both hands and lift him up, kissing him thoroughly until he was breathless and his lips flushed and pouty.
Each of their touches were slow and deliberate. Lex acquiesced beneath Clark, his slim, graceful hands never still on Clark’s skin, and his mouth never satisfied. Clark indulged both Lex and himself, and for once felt comfortable and unrestricted in gentleness. They could play it rougher if they wanted, but Clark needed to treat Lex with a tender touch right now, and Lex seemed to understand. For several hours, they savored and celebrated one another, grateful for their fresh chances, for the myriad of possibilities in front of them.
When the sun began to rise, Lex left the bed reluctantly, giving Clark a parting kiss, and went to the kitchen to make them breakfast. If nothing else, their adventures had given him free and effortless (almost) lessons in cooking.
He found Clark roughly twenty five minutes later in the entertainment room looking through Lex’s impressive DVD and blu-ray collection.
“What are we going to do with the cat?” Lex set a plate of pancakes on the coffee table next to Clark, who grinned and eagerly picked it up and moved to the sofa to dig in. “Does anyone else remember what happened?”
“I kind of doubt it. You remember everything?” Clark asked through a mouthful of pancake.
Lex sat beside Clark and drew his legs up. “I believe so. And you do, now?”
“Yes. These are good, Lex. Thanks.” He wiped his mouth. “We might have to send her home. What if those monks come after the Key again?”
“Well, they can’t have her,” Lex argued. “Wouldn’t they come after her anyway, if she were alone?”
Clark sucked in his upper lip, then set the plate down on Lex’s cherry coffee table. “You really love that cat.”
“No, it’s just...” Lex huffed softly. He pursed his lips, then shrugged his head to the side. “So what if I do? She’s very affectionate. She’s a good cat. She always makes me feel better, and all she asks for is our love in return. If you were an entity that could live forever and do whatever you liked, but were the only one of your kind, wouldn’t you eventually want some company? I’m only thirty-five, and I get lonely.”
Clark put his arm around Lex’s shoulders. He nuzzled Lex’s neck. “Yeah?”
Lex laughed softly and touched Clark’s chest. “I guess so.”
“No more lonely.”
***
Clark adjusted his glasses and entered The Daily Planet. No one was taking any notice of him this morning, which was a little odd, considering this was not the way he remembered it. He guessed that Mau had made sure that their return from the other dimension had gone unnoticed.
He sat down to his desk and got to work, as much as he could, being so distracted. There were a lot of things up in the air, and he wanted to get back to Lex. Knowing that someone had succeeded in killing him while he'd been off with someone else had shaken him.
“-just not that comfortable with cats having such prominence in your life. If you don’t feel the same way, then we should probably just go back to our original deal: No strings. Remember that? It’s fine. Play with the pussy all you want.”
Clark tilted his head to the side and then turned around and snatched the phone away from Chloe. She made a noise of protest, but he put the phone to his ear. "Don't keep jerking her around for years. Shit or get off the pot. That's what my dad used to say."
"…Clark?"
"Look, Bruce, I don't know if this will help you or what, but you know that you're too screwed up for Selina, otherwise you would have let her into your life by now. If you think that something might work with Chloe, you need to give it a try. If you don’t, let her go. Don’t let half your life slip by when you might have just what you need right in front of you.”
“I didn’t kiss Selina. She staged a heist to get my attention, then tied me up and covered me in her lipstick. How in the world did you know that I was on the phone with Chloe?” Bruce growled.
“Reporter’s intuition,” Clark said, rolling his eyes.
“Can I have my phone back?” Chloe asked. She crossed her arms and looked uncomfortable.
“Just think about it,” Clark advised. “Look, I’m going to come up there sometime soon and have a talk with you about something... not entirely unrelated.”
“You’re dating Chloe?”
“I’d never steal a friend’s girlfriend.” Clark winked at Chloe, and she turned to her desk to begin typing quickly. “But no, seriously. I have found someone, and believe you me, if anyone at the League so much as looks at this person wrong, they are going to wish they’d never put on a pair of our smashing tights.”
“Really?” Bruce was quiet for a moment. “So what’s with the pronoun game?”
“What?”
“Someone? This person?”
Clark looked back and forth. “I’m in the middle of the DP. I’ll tell you about it later.”
“Could you put me back on with Chloe?”
“Love you too, Bats.”
Clark walked back over to Chloe and handed her the phone. She raised her brows at him.
Chloe pinned the phone between her ear and shoulder. “Look, I have a story to write up. You’ve made no promises to me, nor I to you. We have no legal contracts or obligations, other than to not spill one another’s secret identities. I’ll give you a call after I’ve got this one on Perry’s desk. It’s bigger than I thought it would be... I know you’re not an early riser, so I won’t make you wait until tomorrow afternoon for an article in the morning edition. Luthor’s second in command just handed a check to the Bleaker Street Orphanage for an obscene amount. Here I was about to write a sad little story in hopes that some bored billionaire would take notice of them, and apparently one already had.”
Biting his lip, Clark turned away and tried not to laugh. Lex was turning into a softy. When Chloe got off the phone, she turned her head briefly to eye him before continuing to type.
“Sorry. I just couldn’t sit back and watch that same old story playing out again.”
“Bat meets girl. Bat annoys girl. Girl gets blown up by a clown?”
Clark grimaced. “Don’t even joke about that.”
“Being blown up doesn’t phase me much. Although... it would be fun to see the look on his face when I showed up again...”
“Stop it.” He pulled his chair up next to her. “We both have precarious jobs, and neither of us is immortal. Things happen. I don’t want anything to keep us from our happy endings.”
“You’ve always been a romantic,” Chloe accused. She skimmed over what she’d written. “Play spellchecker for me?”
Clark smirked and moved in front of her computer. “Any time. But in return, I want you to come to lunch with me. I have someone I want you to meet.”
Chloe leaned back and then turned her head slightly to the side, keeping an eye on Clark. “Someone I’ve heard of?”
“Someone you’ve met before. But it’s... different now. Flagged a few things for you.” Clark pushed himself away and leaned over his thighs, interlocking his fingers.
“Clark, I can only handle one gigantic, raven-haired man of mystery in my life. Someone needs to be explicit.” Chloe pecked at the keyboard for a few minutes and then printed off the article.
“I was just wondering if you’d like a quote from the man himself for that article of yours,” Clark teased.
Chloe pushed her lower lip out slightly and regarded him dubiously. “This isn’t going to involve you holding him over a balcony, is it?”
“No!” Clark laughed loudly. “God, am I that much of a jerk?”
“Noo...” Chloe blinked a few times. “Are you and Lex...? Did you guys patch things up? How would that even happen after all this time?”
“And again with the third degree. Ever so predictable.”
“Stop teasing me.” Chloe smacked his arm lightly. “You didn’t answer any questions!”
“I know.” Clark laughed again and leaned back in his chair. He was in too good of a mood.
“I just... You know, just last night I had the most horrific dream.” Chloe stopped skimming the print version of her article and looked up at him. “I dreamed I was at the Watchtower, you know, working, and I was walking through the hall down to the cells. Lex was in there, but... he was propped against the wall. Blood was everywhere and he was just staring out the window with dead eyes...”
“Jesus, Chloe!” Clark turned his head and put his hand over his mouth.
“I’m sorry. It was just really, really vivid. I can be a lucid dreamer sometimes, but this was different. It was like... It was real. I woke up in my bed at 3am this morning completely freaked out about it.” Chloe bit her lip. “Sorry, I shouldn’t have told you about that.”
“No, you should have. I don’t want us to become complacent. The idea that one of our own would murder a captive in the Watchtower... that’s just out of bounds.”
“Do you think it meant anything? I’ve never been the type to have premonitions.”
“It meant something. You go ahead and get that article on Perry’s desk, and let him know that you’ll be talking to Lex today... We can give you a debriefing on what happened. You and Bruce... I’m not sure if we’ll tell anyone else about this.” Clark rubbed his hands on his knees. “But we’ll have to be vigilant.”
Chloe nodded seriously.
***
Perched on top of a tall ladder, the luridly bright lighting of the lab glinted off of the back of Lex’s head. He had a screwdriver in his mouth, or some kind of tool, and was bending over one of those suits of his, inspecting it and occasionally tinkering with the internal workings.
It was the first time Clark had ever been in Lex’s lab. That was having been invited. Well, not explicitly invited, but when he’d phoned the LexCorp head office, Mercy had given him the message (tersely) that Lex would be down here and had instructed for Clark to be let in, “if he so desired.”
“What are you working on?” Clark asked. He squinted up at Lex through his glasses, hands in his pockets, and tried not to smile too much at his little scientist up there.
Lex slid his protective glasses back and looked down at Clark. “I didn’t hear you come in. I’m making alterations to MechaSuit Two. There’s a flaw in the design that leaves the wearer vulnerable when the head shield is up... And I have to remodel the ventilation system. In case of dragons.”
“Yeah?” Clark frowned and lifted into the air to hover beside him. “When do you plan on going out in that thing again?”
“Who knows? I may save this particular MechaSuit design for collection of data, perhaps sell it to NASA. I’m probably going to construct a sleeker suit with greater mobility. I was thinking I might put in an application for the Justice League,” Lex said in a flat voice, looking intently at the wiring on his suit. “You guys got an opening?”
Clark knit his brows worriedly and floated closer. “Lex, I don’t want you going in there right now. The last time you were on the Watchtower, they killed you.”
“Not all of them killed me. It was just one, using a voice scrambler.”
“Lex!” Clark protested.
Lex looked up. “I’m kidding. Where did you get the impression that I play well with others?”
Clark’s mouth dropped, then he crossed his arms. “I guess I’ve just seen more of you than anyone else.”
“You think that means you know me?” Lex raised a brow and thinned his lips.
“Hm.” Swiftly, Clark swooped in and scooped Lex from where he was working. He held the man securely aloft and rubbed his nose against Lex’s. “Do you have the night off?”
“Do you?”
“Come home.”
“...okay.”
Before Lex had a chance to overthink it, Clark had zipped them back to the penthouse and settled them onto the couch. Lex looked around in slight startlement, but then shook his head.
“Did you change my clothes?” he demanded.
Clark just grinned and reached for the remote. “What do you want for dinner?”
“I don’t really care. You know what I like.”
“I do, don’t I?”
Clark put his arm around Lex’s shoulders as the older man smoothed his palms over the jeans he was now wearing. Pitiful keening meowing broke the silence, and Clark could see the faint smile on Lex’s face. He was just going to have to protect that cat, as well.
“We’re in here,” Lex called over his shoulder. The meowing stopped for a moment. Soon Mau appeared in the doorway, meowed again, then trotted over to the sofa and waggled her butt before leaping into Lex’s lap.
Her thunderous purring came almost at once, and Clark scratched her nose and forehead gently, and then gave Lex a kiss on the cheek.
“What happens now? Where do we go?” Lex asked quietly. He turned his head to Clark and looked into his eyes.
After all that time, and all those worlds, Clark couldn’t quite answer at first. But then he grinned, nuzzled Lex’s cheek, and curled into him, making himself as comfortable as Mau had made herself with Lex.
“I suppose... We decide that.”
This entry was originally posted at Dreamwidth.
comments posted there. Please comment there using OpenID or your DW account.
Pairing: Clex
Rating: PG13
Warning: Violence
Includes: temporary mpreg, temporary character deaths
Summary: Clark gets Lex a pet cat… that's not quite a cat.
Author’s Notes:
1. Continuity Post S3 finale.
2. This is a
help_haiti fic for
tallihensia, who has been awfully patient to get this.
3. The Bennu bird serves as the Egyptian correlation to the phoenix, and is pictured as a heron. This relates to reinforce the Greek --> Egyptian name shift.
Thanks to
cheerful_earl and
herohunter for the betas. :D
“Until one has loved an animal a part of one’s soul remains unawakened.”
Anatole France
Part Seven
Lex’s eyes open with a start. He blinked rapidly through the blurred vision that comes from waking suddenly from a deep sleep, and his hand flew to his throat, feeling the vulnerable flesh there in disbelief that it was smooth and whole. It moved to his shoulder, again surprised to find no marring of his body, no stitches, no wounds.
Then he sat up straight, noting that he was in his bed. In the penthouse. Alone.
But alive. He threw his feet over the side of the bed and looked around for his cell phone. Staring at the screen for a moment, he shook his head, not sure of whether he should laugh or shoot himself to escape from this unending hell.
Alive was still better, he decided as he set the phone away. Alive gave him another chance to make things right. It was the day that this had all started. Thursday morning. Same month, same year.
***
Clark was flying home with a frightened cat tucked under his arm. She didn’t stop meowing, one pitiful little cry after the other, until he set down on the balcony.
A light was on deep inside, although most of the penthouse was already dark. He assumed that Lex had already gone to bed and locked the doors.
Clark was aware enough that he didn’t belong here. The only times he came to the penthouse in this reality had been, frankly, not under the best of conditions, and he admitted to himself at least that he had not been on his best behavior. It was possible that Lex would not be all that pleased to see Clark invading his private space.
It now felt strange to not belong in the place where Lex belonged. It also felt unfair that in so many worlds, he and Lex had found one another and in this one, they hadn’t. Or rather, they’d found one another, but hadn’t been able to see beyond their own limitations to the remarkable possibilities between them.
“Mrrr.” Mau wound around his leg and looked up at him expectantly. She sniffed his legs, then walked through the glass separating the grand balcony from a breakfast nook, where there was now a sleek black water dish for her, and she bowed over it to lap gracefully.
“God, cat,” Clark muttered.
He stepped forward, forcing himself to open the glass doors, forcing himself to put one foot in front of the other. Then, he stopped abruptly. There Lex was, standing in front of him. Shadows cast over his serious face.
Clark worked his mouth, then blinked and shook his head. “Lex...” he managed.
“They killed me, Clark.” Bitterness mingling with fear in Lex’s voice. He looked tired, and raw. He looked naked despite the silky pajamas covering his body. His hand touched his neck lightly, as though in disbelief.
“Lex,” Clark said again. A name and a prayer at once.
This time, still not finding the words, he took one more step toward Lex, who did the same, and they met one another, pressing their lips together needfully. Clark wrapped his arms securely around Lex’s shivering body. He didn’t think that it was from cold, but he pressed Lex close to him anyway.
Funny, this was the first time, the first time really that they had ever touched each other like this in this world. Never had they touched so honestly, so lovingly. Even when they were young men in Smallville, their touches were veiled, as though somehow they could hide from one another, or from themselves, what the looks between them really meant.
Lex’s taste was both familiar and new, now. Clark moved him over to the table in the breakfast nook and laid him over it. He only paused to cup Lex’s face in his hands and watch the moonlight dance across his pale face.
“You’re alright now?” Clark scanned over Lex, just to be sure.
“One doesn’t mistake a slit throat,” Lex replied glibly. His eyes drifted over to the little ragdoll cat that had flopped over on her side and begun licking herself. “Are you here because of her?”
Clark leaned over and pressed his lips to Lex’s forehead. “Not in the way you’re thinking. She changed everything back to the way things were before she came here.”
Turning his head back to Clark, Lex thinned his lips and watched Clark’s eyes with studious attention. His hand raised up, and his fingers brushed over Clark’s eyebrows gently.
“Making sure I’m real? That I’m me?”
“Clark, I don’t...”
Fingertips brushed over the tender skin of Lex’s neck. The corners of Clark’s mouth turned down. “I’m so sorry.”
He kissed softly along Lex’s neck, and soon he felt Lex’s fingers running through his hair and his hand resting on his neck.
“Well, it wasn’t you who killed me,” Lex murmured.
“If I’d listened to you, it wouldn’t have happened,” Clark replied.
“I think... I think you and I are a bit beyond blame at this point.”
Clark drew back and considered Lex seriously. Together they watched one another for what seemed like a long time.
“Yes,” Clark finally agreed. “I guess the question is... Where are we?”
“On my surprisingly sturdy, custom made walnut breakfast table.”
Clark’s serious expression transformed into a wide grin. “I love that. Your dry sense of humor. I’ve... I’ve always loved it.”
He touched Lex’s cheek. “I’ve... always loved you, too. You know that, right?”
“How am I supposed to know that?” Lex moved to sit up a little, then looked away.
“After begging me in front of the Justice League, you’re going to get defensive when we’re alone?”
“It’s not so easy for me, Clark.” Lex drew in a deep breath. “You learned I still have a sense of humor. I learned... You have Kryptonite. I have you. You make me weak, and that’s frightening to me. I really would do anything for you. Beyond any kind of reason or sense. If pressed, I’d completely lose myself.”
“Hm.” Clark set his hands on said surprisingly sturdy table. “Then maybe I’ll just have to love you enough not to push you around. What a jerk I must be, in some of those worlds, if I’m just walking all over you.”
“You weren’t,” Lex scoffed. He rolled his shoulders. “When I’m with you, I want to do it. I want to make you happy.”
“Well, we have to make you happy, too,” Clark pointed out, frowning slightly. It’ll just take us some time. This time we have to work things out on our own. No shortcuts. Just you and me.”
Lex looked up at the ceiling, then raised a brow. “As long as you really want to be here.”
“I do,” Clark promised. He lifted Lex up into his arms and headed for the hallway. Lex stiffened noticeably, but by the time Clark reached the bedroom, he had relaxed a little bit. “I thought it was funny we were always crammed into my tiny little apartment, even if it sometimes had an extra room for a kid or your office.”
“That’s where you’re comfortable. I wouldn’t want to take you out of your home.”
“And it’s okay for me to take you out of yours?”
“This isn’t a home,” Lex said darkly. His arms circled around Clark’s shoulders. “It’s a space. Where furniture is located. And I sleep here.”
“I love you,” Clark declared, kissing over Lex’s cheeks.
Lex chuckled softly.
“Then let’s make a home. Together, this time.”
“I’m not sure I know how to do that.”
“We’ll figure it out.” Clark set Lex down on the bed and started to unbutton those silky pajamas, with Lex making no move to stop him. “We have before, y’know.”
“That’s true. Somehow we did.”
Lex’s lips twitched, then spread into a soft smile, and he pulled Clark down with him. This bed, this sprawling king bed with obscenely expensive sheets and a rich, unapologetically purple duvet, was being christened this very night. Lex did not bring strangers into his home for things like this. When Clark undressed him there, he was the first to kiss Lex’s skin, and the first to have Lex’s knee moving gently between his legs. The first to see Lex’s secret, naughty smile, and the first to cup Lex’s buttocks in both hands and lift him up, kissing him thoroughly until he was breathless and his lips flushed and pouty.
Each of their touches were slow and deliberate. Lex acquiesced beneath Clark, his slim, graceful hands never still on Clark’s skin, and his mouth never satisfied. Clark indulged both Lex and himself, and for once felt comfortable and unrestricted in gentleness. They could play it rougher if they wanted, but Clark needed to treat Lex with a tender touch right now, and Lex seemed to understand. For several hours, they savored and celebrated one another, grateful for their fresh chances, for the myriad of possibilities in front of them.
When the sun began to rise, Lex left the bed reluctantly, giving Clark a parting kiss, and went to the kitchen to make them breakfast. If nothing else, their adventures had given him free and effortless (almost) lessons in cooking.
He found Clark roughly twenty five minutes later in the entertainment room looking through Lex’s impressive DVD and blu-ray collection.
“What are we going to do with the cat?” Lex set a plate of pancakes on the coffee table next to Clark, who grinned and eagerly picked it up and moved to the sofa to dig in. “Does anyone else remember what happened?”
“I kind of doubt it. You remember everything?” Clark asked through a mouthful of pancake.
Lex sat beside Clark and drew his legs up. “I believe so. And you do, now?”
“Yes. These are good, Lex. Thanks.” He wiped his mouth. “We might have to send her home. What if those monks come after the Key again?”
“Well, they can’t have her,” Lex argued. “Wouldn’t they come after her anyway, if she were alone?”
Clark sucked in his upper lip, then set the plate down on Lex’s cherry coffee table. “You really love that cat.”
“No, it’s just...” Lex huffed softly. He pursed his lips, then shrugged his head to the side. “So what if I do? She’s very affectionate. She’s a good cat. She always makes me feel better, and all she asks for is our love in return. If you were an entity that could live forever and do whatever you liked, but were the only one of your kind, wouldn’t you eventually want some company? I’m only thirty-five, and I get lonely.”
Clark put his arm around Lex’s shoulders. He nuzzled Lex’s neck. “Yeah?”
Lex laughed softly and touched Clark’s chest. “I guess so.”
“No more lonely.”
***
Clark adjusted his glasses and entered The Daily Planet. No one was taking any notice of him this morning, which was a little odd, considering this was not the way he remembered it. He guessed that Mau had made sure that their return from the other dimension had gone unnoticed.
He sat down to his desk and got to work, as much as he could, being so distracted. There were a lot of things up in the air, and he wanted to get back to Lex. Knowing that someone had succeeded in killing him while he'd been off with someone else had shaken him.
“-just not that comfortable with cats having such prominence in your life. If you don’t feel the same way, then we should probably just go back to our original deal: No strings. Remember that? It’s fine. Play with the pussy all you want.”
Clark tilted his head to the side and then turned around and snatched the phone away from Chloe. She made a noise of protest, but he put the phone to his ear. "Don't keep jerking her around for years. Shit or get off the pot. That's what my dad used to say."
"…Clark?"
"Look, Bruce, I don't know if this will help you or what, but you know that you're too screwed up for Selina, otherwise you would have let her into your life by now. If you think that something might work with Chloe, you need to give it a try. If you don’t, let her go. Don’t let half your life slip by when you might have just what you need right in front of you.”
“I didn’t kiss Selina. She staged a heist to get my attention, then tied me up and covered me in her lipstick. How in the world did you know that I was on the phone with Chloe?” Bruce growled.
“Reporter’s intuition,” Clark said, rolling his eyes.
“Can I have my phone back?” Chloe asked. She crossed her arms and looked uncomfortable.
“Just think about it,” Clark advised. “Look, I’m going to come up there sometime soon and have a talk with you about something... not entirely unrelated.”
“You’re dating Chloe?”
“I’d never steal a friend’s girlfriend.” Clark winked at Chloe, and she turned to her desk to begin typing quickly. “But no, seriously. I have found someone, and believe you me, if anyone at the League so much as looks at this person wrong, they are going to wish they’d never put on a pair of our smashing tights.”
“Really?” Bruce was quiet for a moment. “So what’s with the pronoun game?”
“What?”
“Someone? This person?”
Clark looked back and forth. “I’m in the middle of the DP. I’ll tell you about it later.”
“Could you put me back on with Chloe?”
“Love you too, Bats.”
Clark walked back over to Chloe and handed her the phone. She raised her brows at him.
Chloe pinned the phone between her ear and shoulder. “Look, I have a story to write up. You’ve made no promises to me, nor I to you. We have no legal contracts or obligations, other than to not spill one another’s secret identities. I’ll give you a call after I’ve got this one on Perry’s desk. It’s bigger than I thought it would be... I know you’re not an early riser, so I won’t make you wait until tomorrow afternoon for an article in the morning edition. Luthor’s second in command just handed a check to the Bleaker Street Orphanage for an obscene amount. Here I was about to write a sad little story in hopes that some bored billionaire would take notice of them, and apparently one already had.”
Biting his lip, Clark turned away and tried not to laugh. Lex was turning into a softy. When Chloe got off the phone, she turned her head briefly to eye him before continuing to type.
“Sorry. I just couldn’t sit back and watch that same old story playing out again.”
“Bat meets girl. Bat annoys girl. Girl gets blown up by a clown?”
Clark grimaced. “Don’t even joke about that.”
“Being blown up doesn’t phase me much. Although... it would be fun to see the look on his face when I showed up again...”
“Stop it.” He pulled his chair up next to her. “We both have precarious jobs, and neither of us is immortal. Things happen. I don’t want anything to keep us from our happy endings.”
“You’ve always been a romantic,” Chloe accused. She skimmed over what she’d written. “Play spellchecker for me?”
Clark smirked and moved in front of her computer. “Any time. But in return, I want you to come to lunch with me. I have someone I want you to meet.”
Chloe leaned back and then turned her head slightly to the side, keeping an eye on Clark. “Someone I’ve heard of?”
“Someone you’ve met before. But it’s... different now. Flagged a few things for you.” Clark pushed himself away and leaned over his thighs, interlocking his fingers.
“Clark, I can only handle one gigantic, raven-haired man of mystery in my life. Someone needs to be explicit.” Chloe pecked at the keyboard for a few minutes and then printed off the article.
“I was just wondering if you’d like a quote from the man himself for that article of yours,” Clark teased.
Chloe pushed her lower lip out slightly and regarded him dubiously. “This isn’t going to involve you holding him over a balcony, is it?”
“No!” Clark laughed loudly. “God, am I that much of a jerk?”
“Noo...” Chloe blinked a few times. “Are you and Lex...? Did you guys patch things up? How would that even happen after all this time?”
“And again with the third degree. Ever so predictable.”
“Stop teasing me.” Chloe smacked his arm lightly. “You didn’t answer any questions!”
“I know.” Clark laughed again and leaned back in his chair. He was in too good of a mood.
“I just... You know, just last night I had the most horrific dream.” Chloe stopped skimming the print version of her article and looked up at him. “I dreamed I was at the Watchtower, you know, working, and I was walking through the hall down to the cells. Lex was in there, but... he was propped against the wall. Blood was everywhere and he was just staring out the window with dead eyes...”
“Jesus, Chloe!” Clark turned his head and put his hand over his mouth.
“I’m sorry. It was just really, really vivid. I can be a lucid dreamer sometimes, but this was different. It was like... It was real. I woke up in my bed at 3am this morning completely freaked out about it.” Chloe bit her lip. “Sorry, I shouldn’t have told you about that.”
“No, you should have. I don’t want us to become complacent. The idea that one of our own would murder a captive in the Watchtower... that’s just out of bounds.”
“Do you think it meant anything? I’ve never been the type to have premonitions.”
“It meant something. You go ahead and get that article on Perry’s desk, and let him know that you’ll be talking to Lex today... We can give you a debriefing on what happened. You and Bruce... I’m not sure if we’ll tell anyone else about this.” Clark rubbed his hands on his knees. “But we’ll have to be vigilant.”
Chloe nodded seriously.
***
Perched on top of a tall ladder, the luridly bright lighting of the lab glinted off of the back of Lex’s head. He had a screwdriver in his mouth, or some kind of tool, and was bending over one of those suits of his, inspecting it and occasionally tinkering with the internal workings.
It was the first time Clark had ever been in Lex’s lab. That was having been invited. Well, not explicitly invited, but when he’d phoned the LexCorp head office, Mercy had given him the message (tersely) that Lex would be down here and had instructed for Clark to be let in, “if he so desired.”
“What are you working on?” Clark asked. He squinted up at Lex through his glasses, hands in his pockets, and tried not to smile too much at his little scientist up there.
Lex slid his protective glasses back and looked down at Clark. “I didn’t hear you come in. I’m making alterations to MechaSuit Two. There’s a flaw in the design that leaves the wearer vulnerable when the head shield is up... And I have to remodel the ventilation system. In case of dragons.”
“Yeah?” Clark frowned and lifted into the air to hover beside him. “When do you plan on going out in that thing again?”
“Who knows? I may save this particular MechaSuit design for collection of data, perhaps sell it to NASA. I’m probably going to construct a sleeker suit with greater mobility. I was thinking I might put in an application for the Justice League,” Lex said in a flat voice, looking intently at the wiring on his suit. “You guys got an opening?”
Clark knit his brows worriedly and floated closer. “Lex, I don’t want you going in there right now. The last time you were on the Watchtower, they killed you.”
“Not all of them killed me. It was just one, using a voice scrambler.”
“Lex!” Clark protested.
Lex looked up. “I’m kidding. Where did you get the impression that I play well with others?”
Clark’s mouth dropped, then he crossed his arms. “I guess I’ve just seen more of you than anyone else.”
“You think that means you know me?” Lex raised a brow and thinned his lips.
“Hm.” Swiftly, Clark swooped in and scooped Lex from where he was working. He held the man securely aloft and rubbed his nose against Lex’s. “Do you have the night off?”
“Do you?”
“Come home.”
“...okay.”
Before Lex had a chance to overthink it, Clark had zipped them back to the penthouse and settled them onto the couch. Lex looked around in slight startlement, but then shook his head.
“Did you change my clothes?” he demanded.
Clark just grinned and reached for the remote. “What do you want for dinner?”
“I don’t really care. You know what I like.”
“I do, don’t I?”
Clark put his arm around Lex’s shoulders as the older man smoothed his palms over the jeans he was now wearing. Pitiful keening meowing broke the silence, and Clark could see the faint smile on Lex’s face. He was just going to have to protect that cat, as well.
“We’re in here,” Lex called over his shoulder. The meowing stopped for a moment. Soon Mau appeared in the doorway, meowed again, then trotted over to the sofa and waggled her butt before leaping into Lex’s lap.
Her thunderous purring came almost at once, and Clark scratched her nose and forehead gently, and then gave Lex a kiss on the cheek.
“What happens now? Where do we go?” Lex asked quietly. He turned his head to Clark and looked into his eyes.
After all that time, and all those worlds, Clark couldn’t quite answer at first. But then he grinned, nuzzled Lex’s cheek, and curled into him, making himself as comfortable as Mau had made herself with Lex.
“I suppose... We decide that.”
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