Pandora’s Box
NC-17
One small dark scene for Clark and Lex, so read with caution.
***
Midnight. Clark couldn't sleep. He yawned, stretched and rolled over.
"Ouch!" he rolled back over and pulled the sheets down. Since when does anything hurt him? There was a tent in his pajamas. Nothing new there, he thought. He touched and muffled a curse. "What the...?" Well, he couldn't get rid of it the usual way. He got up and went to the shower, turning the cold on high. The spray even hurt him. Who could he call for something like this? His parents were in the city, not that he'd even consider going to them with something like this.
"Alright, Kent, just calm down. Watch a movie," he told himself.
Four hours later, he was still in pain.
He looked at the phone.
***
There was a knock at the door before it opened. Lex walked over to the couch and stood looking at him. He obviously dressed quickly, wearing the unusual combination of jeans, t-shirt, and sneakers. Unusual for the usually snappy dressed Lex, that is.
"Ok, what's the emergency?" he asked. Admittedly, Clark looked downright miserable curled up with a blanket around him. Was he sick? Since when was Clark Kent sick? About as often as Lex Luthor was sick.
"Promise not to laugh?" Clark asked. Lex shifted, hands on his hips, and nodded.
Clark hesitated before pushing the blanket aside. Lex looked down at the tent.
"Are you saying you don't know what to do about that?" he asked in quiet disbelief. If Kent got him out of bed before the crack of dawn for some teenage hormone issue.... Admittedly a big issue...
"Of course I know what to do about it," Clark snapped, yanking the blanket back up. "I tried. It hurts. I even tried a cold shower; that hurt, too. It's been like this for about four hours. It won't go away."
Lex stopped his inner mirth. "Four hours?" he asked. "Let me see it."
Clark turned his usual bright red. "Can't you just tell me how to fix it?"
"You said you already tried that," Lex said. "Come on, let me see. I have one, too, you know. Not quite that big, but I do have one."
Completely humiliated, Clark lowered his pajamas. He had never seen his balls so big before. And they were completely blue. They were worse. Clark was really worried. Great, something else for the wall of weird.
"Blue balls," Lex said, looking at them.
"Yeah, they're blue," Clark retorted. "They're supposed to be pink. And not the size of a grapefruit." Try to explain to his mother why he needed larger sized pants....
"No, Clark, that's just the term," Lex said, looking around for something. "Blood is building up inside because you haven't been able to relieve the pressure. It usually goes away on its own. Once in a great while it doesn't. It’s a guy thing; it happens." He went into the kitchen. Clark heard the water running, shut off, and the cupboards being opened. Lex was back with a bottle of cooking oil, a plastic bag, and a kitchen towel.
"Lay down," he said. Dubious, Clark lay back on the couch.
"I told you, Lex, it hurts to touch."
"I'm not going to touch it," Lex said calmly. He took hold of the pant legs and pulled. Clark yelped. Lex pushed one leg off the edge of the couch and sat between Clark's legs. "Put your right leg up here," he said, patting the back of the couch.
"Lex!" Clark couldn't figure out how to cover his face and his genitals at the same time. He was completely naked with Lex, of all people, sitting between his open legs. Lex slid the towel and plastic under Clark's butt. Clark jumped at the feel of hands in a place where Lex's hands probably shouldn't be.
"You want this fixed or don't you?" Lex asked. "If it goes on too long, you'll need surgery to clear the blood out."
Clark put his leg on the top of the couch, his foot resting close to Lex's shoulder. He buried his face behind his large hands.
"Good. You need to trust me. And try to relax," he said. He poured some oil on his fingers. "Take a deep breath. Out. Again. Good." His voice was soothing as Clark tried to relax. Clark's eyes popped open. Something slim and wiggly entered his butt. Lex slid his other hand under the rock hard penis that was straining against Clark's groin, his fingers buried in a thick pelt of dark hair. Lex's face was a mask of concentration as he carefully felt around inside Clark.
"What are you....?"
"Shhhh."
Clark didn't know what Lex did, but something akin to lightening shot through him. Clark gave a yell, half in pain, and came all over his stomach. And Lex's hand.
"What the hell was that?!" Clark yelled, looking down at himself. His organs were actually returning to their normal size and color, although his penis looked like it would never forgive him. Lex took his hands away and wiped them on the towel before heading off to the kitchen again. The water ran and he returned with a damp cloth.
"Here," he said, tossing it to Clark and drying his own hands with another towel. "That was your prostate," he said. "It's right behind your balls. Little, about the size of a lima bean, if it's healthy. Felt healthy to me, but I'm not a doctor. Rubbing it will make you come every time. If it didn't, I would have packed you off to the hospital."
He bent and picked up the pajamas, tossed them to Clark, and sat in the chair.
Feeling a little weak, Clark cleaned himself up and put the pajamas back on.
"Thanks, Lex," he said sheepishly.
"It's ok," his friend said. "Not exactly something you can call your Dad for, huh?" Clark shook his head. He carefully picked up the plastic and took it and the towels outside, hiding them in the garbage can. His mother would never understand the stained towels.
"Sex ed class didn't tell us about that," Clark said, having a hard time looking at Lex.
"Not surprised," Lex said. "We aren't supposed to be playing around in butts, according to the puritans running the country. I happen to enjoy it. Your class should have at least covered the blue balls contingency." His expression made his opinion very clear.
Clark stopped fidgeting in the kitchen; he needed to face Lex. He scrubbed the
outside of the oil bottle before putting it away. He looked around, nothing seemed out of place.
"What do you mean, you enjoy it?" he asked, sitting cross-legged on the couch.
Lex smiled enigmatically. "Just that. It's fun. Getting sucked and finger fucked at the same time, reamed with a tongue, or just outright fucked in the ass. I come so freakin' hard when my prostate is played with."
Clark's eyes were wide. He closed his mouth with a snap. Lex laughed and stood.
"It's ok, Clark," he said, giving a pat to humiliated shoulders. "Why don't you try and get some rest? I'll see you later." The familiar purr of the Porsche motor signaled Lex's departure.
Unable to sleep, Clark went out and did the chores; the cows needed to be milked more than he needed sleep. He couldn't help but think about Lex's words, making him self-conscious of what lay beneath his jeans. He certainly had as much fun jerking off as any other teenage boy did, but he had never thought about what lay further beyond. A cow looked at him with reproach for his inattention to her full sack.
"Sorry, girl," he said, giving her a pat and returning to the milking.
After breakfast he sat in his loft, making an attempt to concentrate on a book. He looked down at himself. "Are you alive?" he asked it. It didn't answer. His back end did, though. Clark considered surfing the current subject occupying his mind but was afraid of what his parents would find if they decided to use his computer. There was no parental block, they trusted him, but he couldn't be sure they wouldn't find something by accident.
Lex didn't seem to mind what he did, Clark thought. He wasn't disgusted or anything. Clark could only remember the hands seeming to be sure and knowledgeable. Although initially surprised, Clark had begun to feel comfortable with Lex's hands on him. All day there had been a strange feeling in his stomach, as though he wanted to run naked through the woods and claim his territory. It scared him a little.
"You up there?"
"Come on up," Clark called down. Lex had changed into his usual slacks and shirt.
"I was driving by and thought I'd check in on you," Lex said. He sat in a chair. "No one answered at the house. Did you get any sleep?"
Clark shook his head. "It was dawn," he said. "I can't sleep at that hour; too many things need to be done."
He hung his head for a moment. "Thanks, Lex," he said. "That was such a personal thing. I don't know how I'm going to repay you for something like that."
Lex laughed. "Forget it, Clark," he said. Clark was lying on the hay, sprawled out, absently scratching his stomach. He put his book aside. He chewed his inner cheek for a moment.
"Can I ask you something personal, Lex?"
Lex leaned back and laced his hands over his stomach. "I think we're beyond the personal boundaries stage, Clark. Ask."
"I uh... was starting to enjoy what you were doing," Clark admitted. "I’m not sure how I should be feeling about that.”
Lex looked at him. “That wasn’t a question,” he said. “It is what it is, don’t analyze it. Specify, though: what exactly were you enjoying; having your butt played with, or having your butt played with by a man?”
Clark thought about it. Pete? No. Jason? No. Clark thought about several other boys in town, boys he knew the girls were making cow eyes at. “By you,” he said, looking thoughtfully at his friend. Lex raised an eyebrow.
“That speaks volumes, Clark,” he said. “Is this something you think you’d like to explore?”
Clark was confused for a moment. “You mean try something… with you?” Lex shrugged and gave a nod. Clark looked at him. He could find nothing in him that rejected the thought. He was newly curious. He knew Lex was safe space. Usually……
“Can I kiss you?” he asked. The corner of Lex’s mouth twitched. He slowly got out of the chair, took a blanket off the railing, and spread it on the hay next to Clark before sitting back in the prickly mound. He leaned on an elbow and waited. Clark looked at him, studying the face that he knew so well already. He put his mouth to Lex’s and brushed their lips together. The pit of his stomach felt as though it was bottoming out. Clark cupped the side of Lex’s face, sprayed his fingers across his silky smooth skull, and kissed Lex again. Lex fell back, taking Clark with him as the kiss deepened. Lex hadn’t guessed that his mild-mannered friend had that kind of passion in him.
Lex pulled his mouth away for air.
“Damn, Clark!” he gasped. “How the hell did you learn to kiss like that?!”
Clark looked at him in concern. “Was that bad?”
Lex laughed and shook a handful of dark brown hair. “No!” he assured Clark. “Anything but! I’ve been with few experienced adults that can do that! Who taught you to kiss like that?”
Clark shrugged. “It just seemed the right way to do it,” he said. Neither Chloe or Lana had objected……
“It IS the right way,” Lex said. “Keep doing it like that and you are going to turn into a very considerate lover for someone very lucky.”
Clark wasn’t paying attention; he was unbuttoning Lex’s shirt with all the curiosity of a kitten.
“What are you doing?” Lex asked, amused.
“Seeing if there’s any hair,” Clark said as though it were obvious. He gave a satisfied tug at an auburn tuff under an arm.
Lex knew it; he had opened Pandora’s Box.
“Yes, there’s hair,” he said. “Only my scalp follicles were exposed to the blast. See?” He held out an arm, ruffling the light colored fuzz on his forearm. His shirt was tossed aside as large hands ran over his chest, his nipples hardening as fingers brushed them. “Not all men get chest hair, so no commentary,” he said. Eyes narrowing with sudden suspicion, Lex lifted Clark’s hands, first one and then the other. Nope, no red ring. He placed the hands back on his skin. The questing fingers were stalled by fabric. The belt was made short work of. Lex obligingly lifted his hips as the slacks were pulled off. Shoes, socks, and underwear followed. Clark felt his way up Lex’s admittedly skinny chicken legs, his face close to Lex’s skin, smelling, a tongue tasting him, cheeks rubbed against him. Legs were spread to either side of Clark as he ran his fingers through the auburn hair at Lex’s groin.
Lex wondered if Clark was fully aware of what he was doing.
“Clark, you have too many clothes on,” he said. More clothes quickly followed the others. Something in Clark’s expression gave Lex pause. He seemed…. predatory. It gave Lex a chill and turned him on at the same time. With Clark kneeling over him, naked, perfect, cock straining in all its glory, Lex felt like an offering on the altar of Dionysus. He would swear Clark growled just before he nuzzled Lex’s balls. Teeth grabbed onto the balls and suckled them into a hot, moist mouth. Lex grunted and grabbed a handful of straw.
“Clark, listen to me,” Lex said calmly. “Are you present? I need you to hear me.”
Clark rubbed his cheek against Lex’s cock and nuzzled the hair, breathing deeply of the rich, heady, testosterone filled masculine scent that was pure Lex. “I… I hear you,” he said, his voice husky, deeper than usual. “I… I want you, Lex,” he said. “I’m not sure what’s happening. I can smell you, Lex. I mean to the very core of you. It’s filling my senses.”
“Come up here,” Lex said, patting his chest. Clark reluctantly moved up, laying on top of Lex. Lex took his face between his hands and stared into Clark’s eyes. A streak of pre-cum shone off Clark’s cheek and lips. Lex wiped it off. He didn’t know what was going on, either, and it was scaring Clark just as much as it was concerning Lex. Something about what Clark said was ringing a bell, but Lex wasn’t sure what is was.
“You can have me, Clark,” he said. “But you need to listen for a moment. Can you do that?” Clark nodded. “If you don’t do this properly, you will hurt me. You have a big cock. I have a tiny hole where you want to put that cock. You need a lubricant; food grade or massage oil, butter, or actual lube would be best if you think your parents have any in their room. See if there is something called KY, it’s a common brand. There are condoms in the glove compartment of my car. Brown paper bag; I just bought them the other day. I’ll talk you through it, but you need to be patient and listen to me. Ok?”
There was a rush of air and Clark was suddenly standing over him, holding the box of condoms in one hand and the bottle of oil in the other. Okayyyyy….. Lex breathed to himself. More Clark weirdness; now wasn’t the time to ask.
“Come down here,” he said, patting the blanket. Clark fell to the blanket and kissed Lex. Clark drank deeply from Lex’s mouth, possessing him, owning him. Lex tore his mouth away and took a deep breath.
“Hey,” he said sharply, getting Clark’s attention. “I’m going to turn over. Cover your fingers with the oil. One at a time, slide them into me. Make sure my muscles are completely loose before adding a finger. You can’t use too much oil, it’s important. Are you listening?” Clark nodded. His eyes were glazed with heat. “You can use your mouth if you want to, I’m clean, but again, don’t try and put your cock in me unless you can fit at least four fingers into me and still have my muscles loose. Understand?”
He took Clark’s head between his hands, holding him by the ears. “Hear it, Clark,” he said, staring into the smoldering green eyes. “If you tear me, I will be in serious trouble.”
Clark nodded.
“I don’t know what’s going on, Clark, but I’m here, ok?” Lex pet the dark hair, deeply concerned for his young friend.
“I’m scared, Lex,” Clark whispered. “I don’t think I can stop.”
Lex had a feeling that if he made a run for it, Clark would catch him before he made it down the stairs. He had never felt fear around Clark before, but he felt a shiver go through him now. There was something preternatural about the glow in his eyes, it was almost…..an animal heat.
“It’s going to be ok, buddy,” Lex said, touching Clark’s face. “I’m here. You do what you need to do, and we’ll figure it out later.” Clark managed a nod. Lex grew more concerned. He turned over and waited, taking deep calming breaths and quickly centering himself. He knew this one was going to hurt. This wasn’t Clark, though, he knew that; something was going on and there wasn’t any way around that he could see until Clark got out of his system whatever it was that had taken hold of him. Well, he had played rough before but he had never expected it from Clark’s usually romantic soul…..
Lex winced. Clark grabbed his ass and spread him, diving in with his mouth. Lex had to hand it to him; Clark may be completely new at this, but he seemed to know instinctively how to rim, giving it the full attention that he gave to kissing. Lex was starting not to care about the rough play, not even when Clark nipped at a cheek, sucking, leaving a bruise. He wasn’t sure when anyone had ever given him a work over like this before, but there was something about the low growling, the man-handling that Clark was giving him that was turning Lex on. He’d swear Clark was even muttering in something that wasn’t English. He yelped as something burned his skin, the pain of that giving way as Clark entered him.
He must have passed out; the next thing he heard was a shotgun being drawn. Lex’s eyes snapped open to see a gun barrel pointed between his eyes.
“Give me one good reason,” Jonathan Kent snarled.
Shit.
Clark woke up. He growled and hissed, pushing Lex back. The gun was suddenly in Clark’s hands and thrown to the opposite end of the barn.
“Mine,” he growled. Jonathan took a startled step back.
“Clark, what’s wrong with you?” he asked, staring at the stranger in place of his son.
Lex sat up and touched Clark’s shoulder. “Clark, let me talk with him. Please? Ok?”
Great; he had been hoping that the old Clark would return once they’d finished. He patted Clark’s shoulder and pet his hair, murmuring to Clark. The boy growled again and gave a suspicious nod. He grabbed Lex and kissed him hard. Jonathan closed his eyes and turned, leaning over the railing. Lex pulled his pants on sat on the couch to pull his socks and shoes on. He winced and stood up, lowering his pants and looking as far back as he could. There was a dark mark on the side of his right cheek. Not the usual hicky; this one had a specific design to it. He touched it and winced again.
“Clark, what is this?” he asked, twisting to see better. The design looked as though it had been burned into his skin. Jonathan reluctantly looked. He seemed taken aback by it. Although it was upside down, Lex thought it looked like one of the symbols on the cave wall.
“Clark?” his father called to him. Clark was crouched on the straw, uncaring that he was naked. “Son, what is that?” he pointed to Lex’s butt. “What does it say?” Clark could read it? Lex knew Clark had figured the language out but hadn’t had proof. But writing it, too?
“Kal’el.” Clark traced the design with a finger as he sounded out the word.
It took all of Lex’s persuasion to get Clark dressed and into the house, and from the house into a shower. While Clark was washing, Lex told his parents what had transpired the night before and that morning. Martha Kent’s eyes were red, having seen her son asleep with Lex.
“That’s all?” Jonathan asked in disbelief. “Blue balls? Why would that trigger Clark to do… this? It’s a temporary inconvenience, but it doesn’t cause a psychotic break.”
Lex ignored the jab. “Would you rather he had taken it out on one of the girls?” he asked reasonably. More powerful men than Jonathan Kent had tried to egg him into fights. Martha put a hand to her mouth as Jonathan shook his head.
“No, of course not,” he said.
“Listen, Mr. Kent, I’m not one to wear white to my wedding, if you know what I mean,” Lex said. “Clark’s a big boy. If he needs someone to be with him for whatever this is, I’d rather it were me instead of someone else. Especially Lana or Chloe. I can take it; I’ve played rough before, this wasn’t anything new for me. Clark is the only new element. You didn’t see his eyes; he wasn’t himself. I honestly don’t think he could have stopped even if it were his mother. Or you. He wasn’t Present. Something is going on with him, and I can be of greater help if you told me how he’s able to read the cave symbols, carve one into my butt like a brand, what ‘Kal’el’ means, and how he’s able to get from the loft to the house and my car and back to the loft in under a second.”
“It’s my name.”
They turned. Clark hesitantly entered the kitchen, clothed and freshly scrubbed, his hair still dripping. They were relieved to see the familiar sweet boy they knew and loved, and he was obviously distressed.
“Lex, I’m sorry,” Clark said. “I don’t know what happened. I….”
“It’s ok, Clark,” Lex assured him. “We’re just worried about you. What do you mean, it’s your name?”
“Kal’el. It’s my birth name.”
His parents started to protest but knew it was too late.
“Mom. Dad. I need to do this. I practically raped him; I owe him this at least.”
They nodded. His mother kissed his cheek and went up to her sewing room. Clark ushered Lex out the door and into the truck.
“Listen, Clark, you weren’t yourself,” Lex started as they headed down the road. Clark shook his head.
“No, Lex, that’s just it; I was myself,” he said. “I may not have been in control, but I didn’t express anything that isn’t already inside of me. It becomes magnified, completely out of proportion, but it’s still in me. Part of me wanted you. I didn’t know it until this morning, or at least I didn’t acknowledge it, but it’s there. This certainly wasn’t how I would have preferred to let you know about it, though.”
“What, a candlelight dinner and soft music in front of the fireplace more to your tastes?” Lex teased.
Clark smiled at him. “Yes, actually.” Lex looked at him, seeing him.
“You mean that, don’t you?”
Clark nodded.
“Hmmm. Maybe you’ll get that chance, Kent,” Lex said with a thoughtful look. “If we get you through whatever this is.”
“You going to tell me where we’re going?” he asked.
“The caves.”
He refused to say more as they drove before stopping to walk the rest of the distance. Lex wasn’t sure if Clark was aware of taking his hand as they walked but he didn’t say anything.
Unsure of why they had to be in the caves for whatever it was Clark needed to say, Lex allowed him to take the lead. What he didn’t expect, however, for Clark to pull out the supposedly missing key from his jeans.
“Where did you get that?” Lex asked, stepping forward to take it. Clark held it back.
“It’s mine, Lex.”
Lex stopped. “What do you mean, it’s yours?”
Clark looked at the key and then around at the hieroglyphics on the walls. He pointed to one and started to tell a story about a dying planet and the meteor shower it created.
Lex looked at him. “You’re trying to tell me you’re an alien?” he asked, clearly disbelieving his friend. He saw the same symbol on the wall that was now branded into his backside. He could just imagine his father’s reaction to that one the next time Lionel Luthor happened by when Lex was getting out of the pool or hot-tub.
Clark smiled, a little sadly, and turned to the main keyhole. He did something with the key and suddenly a hole appeared in the wall; a ray of light shot out of it, hitting Clark in the center of his chest. Lex jumped back but Clark didn’t appear to be in pain.
“Why did I attack Lex this morning?” he demanded the hole in the wall. In other circumstances, Lex would have been amused but he had never seen Clark in full mode before; this wasn’t an innocent teenager standing before him, giving Lex pause in considering the Clark he knew. This Clark could have taken on a five-star General and won.
A booming voice came out of nowhere, startling Lex.
“You are of age, Kal’el,” the voice said. “Your race is the dominant one, you’ve been told that. Whomever you take as mate will be yours for life. It is our way.” Lex shivered.
“We don’t do that here, Jor’el,” Clark said. “And we are not going to have that argument about dominance again, so don’t go there. Mates are taken freely, by multiple partners throughout their lifetime. It was not like this when I intended a female for my mate, so why is it different with Lex? How do I fix this?”
“You cannot. You are now completely of age, fully adult; you were not before. You must be judicious in your mating, Kal’el. Take only those you wish to keep. Their pheromones will make the bond with you. They do not consciously smell yours, but their minds will take the bonding. You may part and never mate with Alexander again, but you will always be part of each other’s lives in one way or another. You are bound to each other; you have been since the day you arrived on Earth.” Pheromones –that’s what was bothering Lex…..
An image appeared in mid-air; a dark haired child, maybe three years old, wrapped in a blanket, sitting on Martha Kent’s lap. He reached out and touched the face of another child, a little older, unconscious in Lionel Luthor’s lap. Lex recognized himself at 8. His eyes caught a small patch of remaining red hair which eventually fell out. The small child caressed his face with a loving touch that most self-absorbed three year olds didn’t comprehend, arousing him briefly before he fell back into unconsciousness. He had never seen Lionel so worried before. Was it possible that his father had actually loved him at one point or was it because he was Lionel’s only heir?
“Why Lex and not anyone else who was injured in my landing?” Clark asked, looking at Lex.
“He was closest to you at the time of your landing,” Jor’el said. “His injury during the meteor shower was unintentional, but during it a small part of him was taken to secure your RNA; the part of DNA which acts as a memory bank of what the body’s cells are supposed to do. It reprogrammed your own DNA. It was part of the ship’s programming, to take the RNA from the one nearest to you at the time of landing, so that you could be formed before you left the ship. You needed to resemble the people you were to live among. You actually resemble a far distant relative of his. On his mother’s side, if you must know. The matrilineal genetic code is easier to work with; it is truer to form. Your birth form would not have been able to survive the atmosphere of this planet. Your physical form needed to be theirs. It was a more than fair exchange; Alexander was given a higher functioning brain capacity. Most humans work with about 7 percent of their brain capacity; Alexander will eventually gain 20 percent. At the moment, he’s at about 10 percent, although he doesn’t use it as he should. Wait until his hormones finish settling. He’s young yet. Maybe another 10 years.” Lex bristled, taking insult. “He has taken a jump on the human evolutionary ladder, one that would have taken him another few thousand years under normal circumstances. You will rule them, Kal’el, but Alexander will rule next to you as the greatest mind among the humans. You have the strength, he has the mind. Your mating with him was unexpected, he certainly cannot bare your children, but he will be an excellent mate for you if you choose to keep his counsel.” Jor’el was actually trying to sound helpful but Clark wasn’t buying it. “You will need to find a female, though, to mother…..”
Clark snarled in anger and pounded a fist in the air. “Dammit, Jor’el, you are butting in again….!”
The light turned slightly red. “Deny it all you want, Kal’el,” Jor’el said, his own voice quickening to anger. “But you are wasting your time and theirs!” The light suddenly switched off and the hole closed.
“God dammit!” Clark shouted, throwing the key at the wall. It made a dull clang and dropped to the ground. There was a chip in the wall where the key hit. “Come back here, Jor’el, we’re not finished!”
Clark took a deep breath and held out his hand. The key arose in the air and deposited itself into his palm. Clark returned it to his jeans.
“He hung up,” Clark joked weakly. He motioned and Lex followed him out of the caves.
“Hold it!”
Lex stopped outside the caves, looking up at the trees and the sky. Clark stopped and looked back.
“You want to tell me what that was all about?!” Lex demanded, pointing over his shoulder. “Who the fuck was that and what’s all that bullshit about ruling us?” Suddenly the insane ramblings of Dr. Walden and his quest to kill Clark returned to Lex.
“That was my father, Lex,” Clark said. “His memory, anyway. His physical form is long dead. And you thought Lionel was bastard?” Clark snorted and returned to walking back to the truck. “I’ll take Lionel over Jor’el any day. At least your father will leave you in peace after he’s dead.”
“And ignore the rest of it; Jor’el has delusions of my grandeur.”
“But he said….”
Clark stopped and turned, holding his arms out. “Lex, look at me,” he said. “Do I look like the king of humans to you?” His jeans were a little baggy at the knees and his flannel shirt, torn in a corner, stirred in the small breeze. His shaggy hair needed to be trimmed again. “Please. I can barely pass my geometry tests. I’m lucky if I can get through a day without breaking something.” He kicked a nearby small boulder. It cracked and split in two, the halves falling away from each other. Lex jumped. “I’m a bull in a china shop, Lex.”
He walked back to Lex and put his hands on Lex’s shoulders. “I can’t help who I am,” he said. “But it’s my family and friends, the people that I love, who keep me on the right path, not anything some holograph of a long dead autocrat says. Any more than you are your father.” Lex looked into Clark’s eyes, reading nothing except the young man he had known for years. He nodded.
“Well, we may not be brothers, but we’re genetically related somewhere down the line,” Lex said, trying to find a bright spot. Clark released him and skipped ahead.
“Yeah, isn’t that cool?” he said, giving a leap of youthful enthusiasm over a moss-covered log. Lex laughed. “Dad is going to be pissed, though.”
*****
Jonathan sat down with a resigned thump.
“Look at it this way, Dad,” Clark said. “You won’t have to worry about me bed-hopping once I’m away at college.”
His mother gave a reluctant smile.
“I’m not sure I wouldn’t rather prefer that,” she said. “At least we’d know you were a normal hormonal young man and we could dream of grandchildren.”
Lex had gone home, taking the chicken way out and avoiding Jonathan Kent’s shotgun. Mental images of a shotgun wedding ran through his mind. Besides, he wanted to dig out some old family albums.
“Well, Jor’el didn’t rule that out,” Clark said. “He did suggest I find a female to mother my children if I were going to keep Lex.”
Jonathan barked a laugh and laid his head on the table. “Mr. and Mrs. Next Door Neighbor, I’d like you to meet our son, Clark, and his wife, Lex.” He stood, throwing his hands into the air. “Oh, dear Lord, I need a drink.”
****
Lex looked up, a movement at the door catching his attention. Clark stood there, flower in hand, wearing the unusual Sunday-go-to-meeting suit which Lex had last seen at his and Helen’s wedding rehearsal dinner. Clark leaned against the doorframe, twirling the flower under his nose with a shy smile.
“Why Clark Kent,” Lex teased, sitting back in his chair with a smile. “Are you calling on me?”
“Maybe things are a little calmer the second time around,” Clark said. He walked into the library, around the desk, and sat on the edge. He ran the flower down the side of Lex’s face and across his lips. “Besides, I think I’d like to be on the receiving end this time.”