Fic: Of Hallowed Halls and Vine Draped Walls (SV, Lex Centric)
Of Hallowed Halls and Vine Draped Walls
by Tracy (lunarknightz)
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: If I owned Smallville, don't you think I'd have reigned in AlMiles by now?
Spoilers: Set Pre-Series, Slight spoilers for "Reunion" (Ep 6.5, I think), with a concentration around "Wither".
Summary: By the time he was twelve years old, Lex Luthor had decided that Excelsior Prep was the Eighth Circle of hell.
By the time he was twelve years old, Lex Luthor had decided that Excelsior Prep was the Eighth Circle of hell.
The things that have been causing teenagers to rue the existence of school for centuries- homework, tests, an ungodly amount of facts, equations and dates to be memorized, and term papers- did not faze Lex. Lex loved knowledge, and enjoyed a challenge. His happiest times at the boarding school were spent in the library, spending hours reading or studying.
Unfortunately, Lex couldn’t spend all of his supposed halcyon school days holed up in the library. He was forced to attend classes with and interact with the other students at Excelsior Prep.
The student body at Excelsior Prep consisted of the sons of the most affluent and wealthy families in America and a part of Europe (with a few charity cases granted scholarships by the equally affluent and wealthy alumni). As far as Lex was concerned, his fellow students were rude, idiotic assholes.
The only exception to the rule was his friend Duncan, who was probably the only soul at Excelsior Prep as miserable as Lex. Duncan was a little bit of a geek, who played Dungeons and Dragons and read Wizard magazine, instead of participating in Intramurals and subscribing to Sports Illustrated. With Duncan, what you saw was what you got; a far cry from the rest of two faced sycophants at Excelsior.
On this particular morning, Lex sat, as bored and as frustrated as ever, in his Liberal Arts Symposium- a course that all students were required to take each year. The course was divided into different sections, each section comprised of students from different grades.
“THIS SUCKS” Lex wrote in large, slanted letters at the top of his notes for the day, and continued doodling abstract figures in the margins throughout the class. It wasn’t like this class was going to teach him anything he didn’t already know-even though he’d skipped grades in the past, this work was completely juvenile.
“Yo, Baldy.” Oliver Queen whispered from behind him. “I can’t see the board over your great big chrome dome.”
Lex didn’t dignify him with a response.
There was no one that Lex hated more at Excelsior than Oliver Queen. The feeling was mutual, for sure; their disagreements dating back to the day that Oliver’s dad had brought Oliver to Metropolis eight years ago for a play date. The day ended with both boys being rushed to the ER- Lex received stitches, and Oliver a broken arm, wrapped in a green cast. The old rivalry had ignited anew when Lex arrived at school. As Oliver was one of the most popular boys in school, he made Lex’s life a living hell without much effort at all.
Thankfully, the bell rung again before Ollie could come up with a more stringent line of insults. Lex gathered his books with an uncanny amount of speed, and hustled past his fellow classmates to the door.
Almost immediately, a microphone was shoved in his face.
”Lex Luthor!” A woman with make-up worthy of a drag queen drawled. “Access Entertainment Tonight. How do you feel about your mother’s death?”
It was as if someone had punched him in the gut. “My Mom…” Lex felt his throat swell up, and the world grow dizzy. He began to cry, incapable of knowing what to say or what to do. Grief swirled around him, leaving Lex unable to do anything but look at the reporter and cry.
“Go with it honey.” She drawled in a thick southern accent. “The viewing public will love it!”
“Get out of here.” Someone stepped in between Lex and the reporter, and grabbed the microphone right out of her hand, throwing it to the ground. “This isn’t national news.”
“But I…”
“You don’t belong here.” Bruce Wayne growled, suddenly seeming much older than he actually was. “And every damn person in this school has a good enough lawyer to ensure that you won’t ever work in television again.”
“Fine.” The reporter sighed, glaring at Bruce. “Haven’t you ever heard of the Fifth Amendment, you punk?” She muttered before slinking away.
Lex and Bruce stared at each other silently for a moment.
“Thanks.” Lex croaked.
“Losing your parents sucks ass without having to do it on National TV.” Bruce shrugged, before stalking away.
Bruce Wayne was a loner. He didn’t have any friends at Excelsior, nor particularly seem to want many. Bruce didn’t stay at Excelsior for long, leaving about a month after serving as Lex’s unlikely hero. Rumors flew that Bruce went through more than three more schools that year, and as many each year of his high school career. And then, as Lex was shipped off to Smallville to run his father’s fertilizer plant, Bruce Wayne mysteriously disappeared.
The Luthor Family lawyers assured that what had been taped didn’t make it onto national television.
Lex would always look back at his thirteenth birthday as one of the most miserable days of his entire life. He’d known his mother hadn’t been well; but he’d never even considered that she’d die, on his birthday.
By the time he was twelve years old, Lex Luthor had decided that Excelsior Prep was the Eighth Circle of Hell. When Lex was thirteen years old, a tabloid news reporter who smelled an exclusive, proved that the entire world was the Eight Circle of Hell, not just the hallowed halls of Excelsior.
by Tracy (lunarknightz)
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: If I owned Smallville, don't you think I'd have reigned in AlMiles by now?
Spoilers: Set Pre-Series, Slight spoilers for "Reunion" (Ep 6.5, I think), with a concentration around "Wither".
Summary: By the time he was twelve years old, Lex Luthor had decided that Excelsior Prep was the Eighth Circle of hell.
By the time he was twelve years old, Lex Luthor had decided that Excelsior Prep was the Eighth Circle of hell.
The things that have been causing teenagers to rue the existence of school for centuries- homework, tests, an ungodly amount of facts, equations and dates to be memorized, and term papers- did not faze Lex. Lex loved knowledge, and enjoyed a challenge. His happiest times at the boarding school were spent in the library, spending hours reading or studying.
Unfortunately, Lex couldn’t spend all of his supposed halcyon school days holed up in the library. He was forced to attend classes with and interact with the other students at Excelsior Prep.
The student body at Excelsior Prep consisted of the sons of the most affluent and wealthy families in America and a part of Europe (with a few charity cases granted scholarships by the equally affluent and wealthy alumni). As far as Lex was concerned, his fellow students were rude, idiotic assholes.
The only exception to the rule was his friend Duncan, who was probably the only soul at Excelsior Prep as miserable as Lex. Duncan was a little bit of a geek, who played Dungeons and Dragons and read Wizard magazine, instead of participating in Intramurals and subscribing to Sports Illustrated. With Duncan, what you saw was what you got; a far cry from the rest of two faced sycophants at Excelsior.
On this particular morning, Lex sat, as bored and as frustrated as ever, in his Liberal Arts Symposium- a course that all students were required to take each year. The course was divided into different sections, each section comprised of students from different grades.
“THIS SUCKS” Lex wrote in large, slanted letters at the top of his notes for the day, and continued doodling abstract figures in the margins throughout the class. It wasn’t like this class was going to teach him anything he didn’t already know-even though he’d skipped grades in the past, this work was completely juvenile.
“Yo, Baldy.” Oliver Queen whispered from behind him. “I can’t see the board over your great big chrome dome.”
Lex didn’t dignify him with a response.
There was no one that Lex hated more at Excelsior than Oliver Queen. The feeling was mutual, for sure; their disagreements dating back to the day that Oliver’s dad had brought Oliver to Metropolis eight years ago for a play date. The day ended with both boys being rushed to the ER- Lex received stitches, and Oliver a broken arm, wrapped in a green cast. The old rivalry had ignited anew when Lex arrived at school. As Oliver was one of the most popular boys in school, he made Lex’s life a living hell without much effort at all.
Thankfully, the bell rung again before Ollie could come up with a more stringent line of insults. Lex gathered his books with an uncanny amount of speed, and hustled past his fellow classmates to the door.
Almost immediately, a microphone was shoved in his face.
”Lex Luthor!” A woman with make-up worthy of a drag queen drawled. “Access Entertainment Tonight. How do you feel about your mother’s death?”
It was as if someone had punched him in the gut. “My Mom…” Lex felt his throat swell up, and the world grow dizzy. He began to cry, incapable of knowing what to say or what to do. Grief swirled around him, leaving Lex unable to do anything but look at the reporter and cry.
“Go with it honey.” She drawled in a thick southern accent. “The viewing public will love it!”
“Get out of here.” Someone stepped in between Lex and the reporter, and grabbed the microphone right out of her hand, throwing it to the ground. “This isn’t national news.”
“But I…”
“You don’t belong here.” Bruce Wayne growled, suddenly seeming much older than he actually was. “And every damn person in this school has a good enough lawyer to ensure that you won’t ever work in television again.”
“Fine.” The reporter sighed, glaring at Bruce. “Haven’t you ever heard of the Fifth Amendment, you punk?” She muttered before slinking away.
Lex and Bruce stared at each other silently for a moment.
“Thanks.” Lex croaked.
“Losing your parents sucks ass without having to do it on National TV.” Bruce shrugged, before stalking away.
Bruce Wayne was a loner. He didn’t have any friends at Excelsior, nor particularly seem to want many. Bruce didn’t stay at Excelsior for long, leaving about a month after serving as Lex’s unlikely hero. Rumors flew that Bruce went through more than three more schools that year, and as many each year of his high school career. And then, as Lex was shipped off to Smallville to run his father’s fertilizer plant, Bruce Wayne mysteriously disappeared.
The Luthor Family lawyers assured that what had been taped didn’t make it onto national television.
Lex would always look back at his thirteenth birthday as one of the most miserable days of his entire life. He’d known his mother hadn’t been well; but he’d never even considered that she’d die, on his birthday.
By the time he was twelve years old, Lex Luthor had decided that Excelsior Prep was the Eighth Circle of Hell. When Lex was thirteen years old, a tabloid news reporter who smelled an exclusive, proved that the entire world was the Eight Circle of Hell, not just the hallowed halls of Excelsior.