The first night away from home was the worst.
That was what Clark's mother had said, anyway. Of course, that had been two months ago. Quite frankly, he'd come to think that the sixty-third night away from home was just about as bad.
First, there had been the issue of leaving Smallville at all. It had reminded him of one wild summer when he'd done some really stupid things that he didn't need to recall. The only good thing about it was that Chloe had gone to NYU, and Lana had been on vacation in France, so neither one of them was around to make faces at him about it.
Second, there was the light. And the noise. And the traffic.
Smallville was exactly that -- small. And after sixty-three nights of trying to sleep in Metropolis, he could honestly say something he had never thought he'd even think about saying.
Clark Kent really REALLY missed crickets. And quiet. And darkness.
It was never quiet -- there was always someone rattling around in one of the many rooms that boxed his in, moving or playing music, or just talking loud enough that paper-thin walls couldn't stop the sounds from hitting his ears. And if it wasn't that, it was cars outside, and the odd wail of a siren cutting the air.
Natural darkness was something he couldn't ever get, either. Even with the best blinds he could find, there was still a streetlight glow that crept in from the edges. There was hardly any chance of seeing the stars at night, not past the city's luminescence.
He didn't get a chance to miss mice and rats, though.
Clark really wished he could be grateful that the mice and rats didn't worry him, only the pitter-patter tat-tat-tat of their little toes and the sounds of shuffling papers inevitably woke him. That meant that he had to get out of bed, super speed around the room to catch the thing and put the papers away before the next mouse got to them, and put it outside.
Which also meant pausing to pull on a housecoat or something, because he was also suffering through the hell of a coed dorm. At least his parents had agreed that a private room was a necessity in his case, and the extra work he'd done over the summer had helped to fund it.
Not that the girls in the dorm would've minded him parading around in his boxers. And sometimes he did, if sleep was clouding his mind enough. Or lack of sleep. His father had always sworn that he didn't need sleep, but by night sixty three, Clark knew his father's assuring laughed words for the lie they were.
The mice that liked to nibble his notes probably got more restful sleep than he did. The only bright side to it all was that he didn't have a roommate snoring all night or stealing his things on him through the day.
Well.
Okay.
Maybe there was one more bright side, and that was really simple to pin down.
Clark wasn't enough of an idiot to go in for frat rushing
There were a lot of reasons for that. He didn't really have the money, for one thing, and he'd never been able to bear watching somebody get bullied. It was okay if somebody did it to him -- God alone knew he had been hazed in high school in a lot of really unpleasant ways -- but seeing it happen to someone else always made his hair stand on end.
Plus, anybody who tried paddling him would just break the board on his ass, and then what would he say? 'Oops, sorry, guys. That Buns of Steel video really delivers!'?
His parents wanted him to be inconspicuous in school, under the radar and safe. And it was frankly easier to do there in Metropolis than it had ever been in Smallville. No one really noticed him, other than as the sort of goofy tall guy at the back.
Better to be lonely than in trouble.
There was enough of that going on next door.
Sometimes Clark felt okay about himself. Felt almost like he was like everybody else, just this human guy who had a few weird differences that couldn't be anything new under the sun. And sometimes... Well, sometimes, he felt like he was going to burst out of his skin shedding gray ichor and hissing through alien teeth or something. That was one of the things that made college so hard, only sixty-three days into his first semester ever.
The classes were simple. Thanks to a nearly photographic memory, he could easily scribble down a handful of notes in class and never have to study or prepare himself much beyond that. The people, though...
People, Clark had found, were never simple. Apparently college freshmen were even more not-simple than anyone else on earth.
Take the girl who lived at the end of the hall. When she had arrived, he had thought that she looked like a nice enough girl, the kind of girl you'd want to take home to your mother. On the twenty-sixth day, a mandatory convocation had been held entitled 'AIDS, HIV, and You'.
Since she stood up in the middle of the thing and burst into tears because she'd slept with forty-three people since coming to college, and only three of those had used condoms, Clark had been a little twitchy about nigh on everybody. After all. He had thought she seemed like such a nice girl, and yet.
He was an alien, sure, but he wanted to be a safe alien. Except for that time he'd stuck his arm in the chipper, he'd never tried to deliberately hurt himself. Or even risk testing things on purpose. And trying that would definitely have to be on purpose.
Except he wanted to try the big city out, especially that guy who lived next door.
There was the guy, and he was just... Well, not that Clark was going to do anything about it. Not really. He just couldn't help looking sometimes in a wholly different way than that one time he'd looked into the girls' locker room. That was a temptation he could resist. Mostly. This...
Maybe really hot bald guys who walked like they had greased hips just made him want to go into Pon Farr or something.
But the guy next door was the one that made him think about how stupid fraternities were. And how messed up people tended to be in college. Maybe it was part of the college experience. A fuck yourself over for at least a few weeks and get it out of your system for good sort of thing.
The guy next door probably wasn't staring at the ceiling, sleepless.
Of course, the guy next door was probably seriously fucked up right about now. Sixty-three days into fall semester was a Friday, the Friday before Halloween, actually. Kind of like Homecoming at Smallville always fell on the Friday before Halloween.
The whole thing made Clark shudder violently in memory.
It made some part of Clark want to... step in, or... something. He wasn't sure. Didn't know enough, other than to know that he probably was seriously fucked up, being that it was a Friday before a holiday. Or a Friday at all. He didn't even know if the guy was in his room.
He did know that Halloween brought out the worst in people. Frankly, it made him a little nervous. Okay. It made him a lot nervous, and there were tons of very good reasons for that.
Most of the stuff he'd seen so far during the last nine weeks really hadn't been what a guy could call comforting. There had been a lot of purely emotional havoc, the kind of stuff that made a guy grimace and wonder how anybody could put up with that.
Being tied to a flagpole in adult diapers, for example. And then there had been that bizarre thing in the cafeteria with all of the condiments. Clark hadn't figured that one out yet.
Worst of all was the stuff that most people didn't see. Things he only heard about in an off the cuff, disbelieving way. People thought it was funny, or stupid, or anything other than harmful. 'Oh, look at the poor rushes' sort of thing.
Even in Smallville, Clark wasn't sure that it would've just been shrugged off like that. Well, except for his crucifixion. Yeah, maybe they would've put up with it in Smallville, thinking about it. 'Tradition' had a lot to do with the things a guy could get away with, and if you weren't lucky enough to have parents like his own, you could be left out in the cold. Like that Jeremy guy, the one who had tried to electrocute the better part of the high school during the Homecoming dance.
Thank God his dad had gotten him down off of that cross. Clark shuddered to think about what might have happened otherwise. A lot of people would've died, because they thought that tradition was okay and didn't know that the geek they'd decided to make a 'scarecrow' was the only person who could save them from a monster of their own creation.
It made Clark wonder about people. About humans, in one of those odd moments where he was okay with not being 'normal' because normal people apparently checked their brains at the doors a lot.
With all of that thought going through his head, Clark knew he was never going to sleep. Not when he was starting to steadily feel more awake, watching the flashes of light crawl over his ceiling as they made it past his blinds.
Maybe he could go on a walk around the campus. Save some stupid person from their own idiocy, or worse, the idiocy of others. He was awake, anyway, and...
A gusty sigh made its way loose from Clark, and he shook his head. Yeah. Might as well get up. Maybe he'd see the guy next door. Maybe he'd get a smile.
Yeah, and maybe Lana would forgive him for not telling her all of his secrets and come hurrying to Metropolis to run after him hot to trot like a girl bent on marriage and having fifteen kids.
Clark had never seen a smile from the guy. Not so much as once. Bared teeth, yeah, something that might have passed for a smirk if Clark hadn't recognized the agony at the back of those confederate-blue eyes, but... no smiles. Not ever. Not even when he was alone in his room, which was a rare enough occurrence that Clark wished it would happen more often.
Except that was Clark peeking through walls again, and his parents had admonished him not to do that 'for fun'. It wasn't fun, so much as curiosity, or just looking. He sat up and looked through the thin wall to see absolutely nothing. Again, but of course... what did he expect on the Friday night before Halloween?
Something told him that if he did find the guy next door while he wandered the lively campus that night, he still wouldn't be smiling.
Well.
It wasn't his job to force the guy into enjoying life, that much was certain. Still. Maybe he could at least save him from some kind of humiliation or something, and Clark was up and dressed before he realized that he was going out.
Obviously the whole thought of saving not-smiley guy from himself was a pretty good catalyst. If he could do it, maybe he'd at least get the guy's name. Or a 'thank you' which had always been a novel reward in Smallville. The hope that maybe there'd be some moment where he could do more than lurk from afar made Clark put his shoes on just a little faster.
It was a Friday night. It was only eleven. What had he been doing in bed anyway?
Oh, yeah.
Moping. Because. Day sixty-three. Well, maybe day sixty-three would get better, and he'd earn a smile. Or a lick. Or something really really good that he just couldn't wait to find out about.
"Kent," he said to himself, "you've gotta get over this whole vivid imagination or yours. You probably won't even see him."
But if it was his imagination that was the only thing that was going to make his night worthwhile, there wasn't any harm in listening to it. Clark Kent opened his door, and stepped into the hall.
Maybe his sixty third night in Metropolis could be a little interesting.
No matter what anybody said, Lex Luthor wasn't a quitter. He wasn't the whiny brat with red hair who'd been picked on in grade school until he'd begged his father to let him change schools, to go anywhere but Excelsior. He wasn't the kid who had asthma attacks in helicopters anymore. He wasn't the boy who thought he could run away from falling meteors. He wasn't the kid who cried because nobody came to his birthday parties.
He couldn't help but wonder if being a quitter hurt quite as much as not being one did.
But there was an upside. A huge upside, in suddenly being accepted. He was one of the popular kids, and with a well placed hundred, he could get in anywhere and do anything. As long as he kept putting up with the rush, as long as he really worked to be part of the group.
There was no way he was going to stop rushing Omega Sigma Phi. His father had done it, and Lionel had made it clear that getting through rush was the very least that Lex could do to prove himself.
Lex Luthor wasn't a man to fail at the bare minimum. He was better than the person he had been.
Even if he was taking off his clothes.
Even if there was a little furry dog weaving around on the carpet from funneling too much beer.
"Damn," one of the seniors sneered. "That's just freaky as hell every time I see it, Luthor. Somebody ought to make you keep that covered up."
"It's not half as much fun if he does," another laughed raucously.
At least he'd been saved the hassle and pain of full body waxing, like some of the other freshmen. The other guys would've been cowed, but Lex just stepped out of his boxers, head held high. "Hey, the ladies like it this way. Not everyone likes to have sex with a human bear like Ricky over there."
That guy had really been in pain with the body waxing.
One of the older guys snorted. Parker, his name was. Kind of cute in a chauvinistic sex fiend sort of way. "Hey. I'm not into the naked guy thing, much. So, whatever torture you've got planned for tonight, me and Hootie are gonna go see what other trouble we can get up to."
Lex wished that he could go out and get into other trouble. He didn't much like the 'naked guys' idea, either. Why was it that a bunch of womanizing guys wanted the freshmen naked? Lex would've looked at Parker, but he would only have been watching the guy leave, and that would've put him that much closer to chickening out.
He'd already gone so far. It was too late to back out when there was only a little left before he'd be fully accepted. Just a little left.
God.
Why did it seem so long?
"Everybody line up!" one guy yelled, a mask over his face making the sound echo faintly. Lex could see gooseflesh dancing over the other pledges, and it made him smirk a little. At least he didn't show his nervousness THAT way.
He kept it all inside. They wouldn't get to revel in his tension, no. He got into the lineup, along with the just seven of them that were left, and waited. There was always waiting, even though he knew that the seniors already had plans for the night. For them.
They were probably pretty unpleasant plans, too, if Parker was abandoning them. It made Lex edgy even as he placed his hands on the cinder block walls.
"Now, then. All of you nancies have held up pretty well so far," the masked guy declared, "compared to the first two thirds. But you know, it's Halloween, and that's a special time for rushing. A special time for showing how much you're gonna love your house." He was moving around behind them, and Lex was pretty sure he heard the youngest remaining pledge squeak in a not-so-good kind of way.
"Man, you already know we love our house," the guy at the other end declared. Lex was glad he wasn't him. What did he think he was doing, talking when the guy in the mask so very clearly had a whole speech prepped to give?
He did shift his fingers on the wall, though, trying to settle himself into something like comfort if they were going to be standing there for a while.
The crack of leather on flesh really wasn't comforting. Not in the least. It didn't bode well for the rest of the night.
"Well aren't we just Little Miss Eager."
"Damn, man -- that hurt!"
He didn't want to have his ass beaten. There had to be better things to do on Friday nights, like make them all drink a hell of a lot more than was sane. Lex held still, hoping that holding still would keep him from drawing attention to himself. Maybe it'd be a couple of cracks each and then on to actual partying. That wouldn't be so bad.
He really should have known better.
"Well, it's gonna hurt more. And if you're a real man, you won't whine about it."
Crack.
Crack.
Crack.
And damn. Lex's turn. The nausea settling in the pit of his belly screamed that belonging to his father's stupid goddamn frat wasn't worth this. It wasn't worth the way that leather snapped hard against his bare ass, making him hiss. He wouldn't whine, he wouldn't, it'd just make things worse. Even if it felt like he'd just been lashed with a piece of fire, he still wouldn't do more than make that strained exhalation.
Oh, God it hurt.
"Oh-ho, we've got a brave guy here."
Not surprised. Not surprised, because really, they liked picking on Lex. They'd been working to make him miserable since the beginning, worse than the others, and when the lash came again, it didn't come just once.
Fucking HELL.
"Nngh." Lex swallowed the noise, head rolling between his outstretched bracing arms. Two in a row, right on top of that first. Whoever it was with the belt had a strong arm. Too strong, because he might as well have been kicking Lex with steel-toed boots.
He wasn't going to say anything. Even if they joked you when you were a wuss, and joked you when you weren't. He wasn't doing it for them.
"Well, don't you just bruise pretty as a girl," somebody behind him laughed, fingers reaching out and pinching the ever-loving fuck out of one of those welts.
"Squeal like a pig, boy," another one snickered.
"Nng." He'd just keep swallowing sounds to keep from crying, from gasping or yelling protest to the pain of having bruised flesh pinched like that. Yeah. Whenever it all ended he was going to make sure those guys got theirs. Somehow, some way. It was the sort of thing his father would approve of, no question about it. Subtle, eventual revenge.
"Why... why should I?"
"Because we want you to, little pledge. Come on, Luthie." Warped, warped girlish nickname, and where the hell were the other pledges going, anyway? "You know you wanna play with us a little heavier. We didn't get all the fun of shaving you off, you freak, so we're gonna have a little different fun with you."
He sucked in a sharp breath, and turned his head to either side to see that they'd been gestured back, away from the wall. Apparently one hit had been good enough for the rest of them, but not for him. Fuck. "Why?"
"Why?"
CRACK
Oh, Jesus. Jesus, GOD, fucking mercy.
"It's not your place to ask WHY, boy. That's not what a girly pledge does." And what had he ever done except put up with all of their shit, and try so fucking hard to take these acts of idiocy in stride because that's what they expected, what his Dad expected, and oh, fucking GOD.
It was okay that just the once, he slumped forwards a little, forehead against the wall. His legs were shaking from the pain that he was trying to not cry out with. "O... okay..."
Okay.
Okay.
He could take this. He could handle it. He wasn't a baby, and... and...
"Um," one of the other pledges mumbled hesitantly, "he's bleeding."
"Scared of a little blood? This isn't worse than any of those shaving nicks you got on your balls."
Lex didn't think shaving could hurt quite that much, burn like that. His leg shook a little before he locked his knees and just stayed still, leaning into the wall. He would take it. He'd be a man about it. He'd
Oh, wow. Stars.
"Shit, he fell down!"
Fell down. Go boom. Lex would have giggled if his throat could have let anything loose aside from a faint strangled gasp for breath the likes of which he hadn't given since he was nine and searching frantically for his nebulizer.
He couldn't breathe. He couldn't breathe, and that hadn't happened to him in forever. It wasn't supposed to happen to him anymore, he'd outgrown it, he... he needed to stay calm. But couldn't, and sucked in another strangled gasp as panic set in.
"Oh, shit." All kinds of chaos around him, and were they just leaving him there? No. No, there was still somebody there, but everything was graying out and he couldn't suck in a breath and... "We gotta get him outta here. We can't let nobody see this!"
"Shouldn't we call 911? Or something?"
"Jesus, what's going on? I didn't think he was that chickenshit. Someone get him upright or something."
Fuzzing haze, and even the words sounded faint.
Or maybe he was faint.
Or maybe...
Even the darkest nights in Metropolis were brighter than full moon wanderings at home, and Clark hated them. He heaved a sigh that was as weighty as the car he'd pulled out of the ditch half a mile back (drunk student still breathing, thank God, and it hadn't been any trouble to dial 911). No sign of that guy at all.
Maybe he was staying out of trouble. Trouble being a relative term. Metropolis had already taught Clark how to differentiate between trouble and 'trouble'. That guy was probably getting into what Clark's parents would've called trouble, partying too hard and having too much fun, which Clark sort of envied.
He wished he could do that kind of thing instead of wandering around pulling idiots out of ditches or walking the quad on a Friday night to be sure all the folks who braved it got home safe. He felt too responsible, maybe, but that was just Clark being, well, Clark, and these things didn't change much.
At least he knew his dad would be proud of him, even if his mom had teased Jonathan to no end about telling Clark all about his 'wild' college days. His dad had been on the football team, too, and had strung people up once upon a time -- and wow, had he ever grown up to be a responsible caring adult. People changed, Clark reminded himself. That drunk kid he'd pulled out of the ditch could be the next president. Or just someone whose parents would've missed a hell of a lot if he'd died of exposure or something.
Like the guy about a hundred feet ahead of him would, sleeping on a bench like that at midnight, in jeans and shirtsleeves.
"Hey," Clark said, jogging forward. "Hey. You don't need to sleep there. It's gonna get..."
Cold, he didn't say, his breath strangling in his throat.
It was him. It was the guy, the one who lived next door, and wow, he didn't look so good. "Hey..." Clark reached out and gently shook him.
There was a scrape on his bald head, and he was laying there loosely, sort of awkwardly. Like he'd been put there instead of having laid down himself. The first shake didn't get Clark even a little response, but the second shake did.
He groaned.
Maybe it was okay to use x-ray vision, just to see if he'd broken anything, or if...
Oh.
SHIT.
Wow, the last time Clark remembered seeing soft tissue damage like that, Jodi had been having guy-fat for lunch. Ouch.
"Hey. I'm going to help you up, okay? Maybe take you to the infirmary..."
"Huhn?" He lolled a little, but finally opened his eyes. His eyes looked bleary, unfocused with a confused expression in them. "Hey..."
"Hi," Clark answered gently. "You're looking a little rough there. Why don't you let me take you to get some medical attention? I really think you could use it. It looks like you've been, uh, hit on the head." Which was true. Just like the fact that he'd been hit in lots of other places, too, even if Clark couldn't say that he knew.
Whatever had happened to the guy, he looked like hell -- no, looked like he'd been through hell. It just didn't seem right to Clark, but there were a lot of things that didn't seem right.
"Nuh, I'm..." He sat up slowly, and gave a muffled sound. "Fuck. 'm okay."
"I really don't think you are," Clark argued, but he could see it wasn't going to do any good. "Look. Tell you what. Let me at least take you back to my dorm room and take care of what's wrong with you...?"
"Sure." The guy's eyes focused a little better even as he pulled himself up sitting, face twisted with agony again. "Hey, you're... next door?"
Wow. The guy had noticed him. "Yeah," Clark replied. "Clark Kent. That's me. Guy next door. I've got the beds in my room pushed together for better space, so I'll take you there, okay? I don't think you ought to be alone, especially not if you've hit your head..."
"I sort of fell..." He looked around, like he was seeing where he was for the first time, and went quiet for a moment. "While laying down."
Clark knew when people were lying. The guy had a look in his eyes like he had no idea how he'd been there, or that he'd even been outside. He'd bet his last five dollars in pizza money that this was another one of those stupid frat things.
Rumors of beatings had always persisted when it came to frats. Frat paddles, whatever. Just the thought of it made Clark shiver a little, to tell the truth. He'd never really thought any group would carry it so far as to actually hurt somebody, or that the injured party would then totally deny everything about it, which was what the guy seemed like he was going to do.
"So. Clark. I'm Lex. Could you give me a hand up?"
"Sure," Clark agreed with a shy smile. "And a shoulder to lean on, too. You don't look so steady. Too much drinking?" he teased a little, knowing that it wasn't true. "Rush must really be something."
"Yeah, it's something all right." Lex sighed as he reached a hand to grab Clark's, ready to half-haul himself up. He was moving stiffly, like all the muscles in his back were fighting him from moving. "A little too much drinking and staying up all night yesterday to study for a test today."
"I'm sure you did okay." Clark could do upbeat and cheerful. Yeah. Never mind the fact that he had watched Lex sleep last night and seen him on the quad that morning and he hadn't been anything like this. Definitely never mind the damage he had eyeballed earlier.
Confronting Lex about it wouldn't get Clark far with him, Clark already knew that. People in Smallville hadn't ever liked to look like they needed help, and the people who all but leapt at the opportunity to look weak and helpless probably had a gun in their purse.
"Yeah." Once he got Lex upright, it was pretty clear that he'd need that shoulder to lean on, too. "What's your major?"
"Um. I haven't decided yet." Whoa. Lex's knees were wobbly. "I mean, right now, I'm sort of curious about psychology, and journalism, and biochemistry." Maybe if he tried hard enough in the science field he'd be able to explain... well, HIMSELF.
"I'm in biochem," Lex grinned a little, before a slight misstep, moving painful muscles, wiped it off his face. "And bio engineering. Double major, just like my dad did. Have you taken any classes in it yet?"
"Nothing past organic," Clark admitted, exerting gentle pressure to keep Lex standing, "but the whole thing's just so neat. Are you sure that you won't let me take you to the infirmary...?"
"No, I'm... all right. Think I just probably need to crash for the night. I guess I'm lucky you came by, or I'd have been out there all night." And not by his own choice, from the way he'd looked so confused when Clark had shaken him awake.
"You might have frozen," Clark agreed. "I mean, it's October. The weather's cooled off a lot, especially this weekend. At least stay in my room so that I can watch and be sure you're okay? That's a pretty serious bruise on your head..."
"Walls aren't kind," Lex murmured as they walked. "I appreciate it. I have this weird fear of closing my eyes and never waking up, and... it's been a long day. You don't even know me and I'm going on like this. Thanks."
"It's okay." It was easy to promise that, and easier to accompany it with the sweetest smile. "I mean, I sort of know you. You're the guy next door," Clark teased. "It's nice not to be the only one. I mean, the only guy next door. I mean... You know what I mean," he finished, cheeks flushing helplessly.
Darn it.
The answering smile, slight and so much more sophisticated than anything Clark could dredge up, said that he knew what Clark meant. "Yeah. I'm really surprised that you don't know who I am. Most people on campus do. Most people in this city do. It's refreshing."
"Uh..." The whole city? Well, the guy looked kind of familiar, but he was the guy next door, so Clark had always kind of figured that accounted for things. "You'd tell me if I was doing something wrong, right? I mean, like manhandling somebody famous or something? That is, you? I pay attention to the papers, but... Sometimes I miss stuff."
"It's okay. Forget I said anything." He glanced at Clark again, hobbling along beside him. Even if he wasn't in any state of physical comfort, he seemed to be managing person-to-person type comfort pretty well.
That was something Clark could definitely do. "No problem. Forgetting stuff you don't want anybody to know is the name of the game, then. Think you can forget what a wreck my room is later? My mom would have a stroke if she saw it," he confessed, "but it always seems like there's something better to do. Bet you're neat."
They were almost out of the quad, heading for the loggia and the connection to the freshman dorms.
"I can forget a wrecked room," he obliged slyly. "But what makes you say mine must be neat?"
He'd done enough person rescuing for one Friday night, and the quad was clearing out as people settled into parties or went to dorms. A last backward glance proved that there were a couple of guys hanging out on the edge. Sort of creepily watching them. It made Clark scowl, a dark look that would have made a lot of folks at home jump because they were familiar with Kent temper, even if they hadn't gotten a lot of demonstration of it from Clark. Those guys, though... They just kept watching.
Weirdoes.
"You just look like the kind of guy who'd be neat. Your shirt's always tucked in when I see you. You could pass for one of those magazine guys, always dressed just right for every occasion." The last part sounded a little like a bad James Earl Jones imitation.
The arm that Lex had over Clark's shoulder squeezed a little. "Thanks. I usually... try to look better than I probably do now."
"Yeah, well, right now you look like shit." The fact that those words drew a little laugh out of the guy (Lex, Clark reminded himself. LEX.) was really good.
"Feel like it, too," he grinned a little as they neared the dorm's doors. Even with the stream of people going in and out, one of them needed to dig up an id to swipe.
"Ah... heck. Hang on a second," Clark muttered, patting vaguely at his pockets for a minute. "I know I've got it here someplace..." Unless he left it in his room, which was always a possibility with Clark. Half the time, he forgot his room key, too, and had to crawl in a window.
"Hold on. I've got my wallet..." If he had his wallet in his pocket. He moved his free arms to dig through his pockets, and actually came back with it. "It's in here."
Whew. What a relief. Clark wasn't sure that the other guy would be so steady if, you know, he had to run up a wall and slide in the window at warp speed. No. Definitely not so steady. "Cool."
"Yeah. Just let me..." Lex worked the card free one-handed, and glanced into the money part with a sigh. "Here. You can swipe."
That sounded a little dirty somehow, but Clark took it all the same. He gave it a quick slide through the reader and heard the door latch disengage. "Here we go. I'll give it back to you inside," he promised, tugging the door open with the hand holding the card.
"Thanks. You know, I had a twenty in here when I left tonight. Now it's gone. But at least I think all my cards are here..." He haphazardly pocketed it, still relying on Clark to keep going. Maybe they could snag the elevator up.
"You know..." Clark cleared his throat as they began to move forward, climbing up one half-set of stairs and heading for the elevators. "Uh, not that it's any of my business or anything? But... this rush thing? It doesn't look like it's been what I'd call good for you. You know what I mean?"
Just getting up the stairs had turned Lex's face a light shade of red, his expression looking less happy. "Don't know what you're talking about."
"Tell you what, let's ah... not talk about it in the hall," Clark mumbled, careful to peek around and be sure that nobody was listening to them. He got the feeling that it was probably a good idea.
After all,people had been staring at them when they'd left the quad. And they were already liable to draw attention, the way that Lex had an arm over his shoulders. "Sure." It was making Lex close off to even mention it.
They moved down the hall in silence, Clark's arm delicately assisting Lex in his efforts to remain standing. He was pretty sure that he wasn't pressing any bruises or contusions, but... Well, it made him nervous, anyway. He hadn't studied his injuries for long, except that what there was had looked really... bad. Damage right over his ass, the back of his thighs. He wasn't even sure what could've caused it, except maybe a paddling or something.
"Thanks, again," Lex murmured as they reached almost the end of the hall, and stopped outside of the elevator doors.
"It's okay," Clark demurred, pressing the call button. "I mean, maybe one day something will happen to me and then it can be your turn. Right?"
He almost smiled again as he stood there, hanging off of Clark's shoulders. It justified everything a little, which was maybe what would get Lex to stop thanking Clark. He'd already stopped faking drunkenness. "Yeah. I'll keep an eye out for you."
"Cool." Clark grinned as the bay door dinged open, a flood of girls nearly knocking them over on their way out. "Um. Sorry. Sorry," he apologized sheepishly, getting out of their way, carefully protecting Lex from them.
Whispers caught his ears, making him flush, and one of the girls reached out and placed a hand on the door to keep it from closing on them. "It's okay. Go on in."
Lex flashed one a smile, trying for dazzling and failing. "Thanks." He tried to dazzle a lot of people, usually without effort, but that time it came off as sort of sad and pathetic. Definitely not up to his usual standards, Clark could tell. After all, Clark had been completely overcome at first sight, which made him blush again even as he hit the button for the sixth floor.
At least the girls stopped looking over their shoulders at them when the doors closed. "So, what do you usually do on a Friday night?"
"Order a pizza. Wander around making sure guys like you don't freeze on the quad," Clark teased, gently nudging him. It was a whole lot of truth packed into a little bit of ribbing, so maybe Lex wouldn't question it too closely.
He grinned, and kept leaning into Clark even though they were in an elevator that was full of handrails and places to lean against. It probably wasn't a good idea for Clark to get so happy about that thought, but he still did. Just maybe... "Sounds better than my Friday nights."
"A lot of the time, yeah, maybe," Clark laughed. "But, um, usually my Fridays don't involve head injuries. So. Um. I can see where it would be different."
"I guess there's something about a bald head and... injuring it." He hesitated in there, like he'd wanted to say something else while the floor numbers ticked by.
Clark wasn't going to lean over and kiss it better. He wasn't. No, no, he
Aw, SHIT.
"Sorry," he apologized frantically. "Um. It's just something my mom always does, so it's, I mean, that is... Oh, SHIT."
Lex went a little tense against him. The top of his head tasted like sweat, and maybe a little like beer, which was pretty strange. "Hey, it's okay," he finally said, as if he'd been deciding for himself whether it was or not.
"I'm such a complete dork," Clark groaned. It had been an irresistible impulse, like something driven by red k...
Surreptitiously, he peeked around the elevator. Damn. Not even that for an excuse.
Guys just didn't kiss each other on the top of the head. Not even gay guys did that much. It was just... something his mom would do, like he said. Or something stupid that was entirely Clark. "Cool people bore me."
"Oh, well. You're not going to have that problem with me," Clark sighed, shaking his head. "Sorry, man. Just. It was there. It's like 'shave and a haircut'..."
Totally irresistible to kiss booboos.
Well. Okay. Clark had never felt like it was irresistible before, so maybe it was just Lex-related, but still.
When the elevator came to a stop, Lex was still smiling a little. A little uncertainly, too, but he had to have generally decided that Clark was an okay guy. He hadn't told Clark to just drop him off in his own room, yet. That had to count for something, right?
"I'd be in real trouble if I ever polished it."
The image drew half-aborted laughter, a snort that Clark couldn't stop coming out of his nose. "Oh, gosh." Gosh. Polishing it like a bowling ball would be... interesting. Polishing it like...
Wow. Mega-blush. Clark was feeling really perverted tonight, obviously.
"I could use one of those shoeshine rags to buff it," Lex went on as they started down the hall, oblivious that he was making Clark think of things like polishing dicks.
Clark had spent way too much time lately looking through that wall.
"Yeah, well. It sounds like something an old lady would do in her spare time, Lex," he managed to tease, digging in one pocket and hoping to find his key.
"I don't want any old ladies buffing my head." Lex leaned away a little, craning his head to look at Clark. "You know. Either that light fixture is spinning, or I hit my head really hard."
"Yeah, you..."
Thank God for super speed. Clark had never seen anybody wilt that fast, Lex crumbling against Clark's side despite his support. Well. That made things a little easier, because Clark could gently shift him up into his arms and he could just break the lock on his door if he had to.
Which since he didn't have his key on him, he had to. What kind of idiot went out without his ID card or his room key? But it was break the lock, or get the RA to open the door for him, which wouldn't have been easy to do on a Friday night -- particularly with Lex needing to be held up.
Okay. He was going to have to just break it and fix it later.
With care, he lifted Lex, gently attempting to miss the bruises and cuts on the back of him. It was easy enough. The hard part was making it look difficult, and trying to avoid anybody seeing them. Clark wasn't sure why he needed to keep anybody from seeing; he just knew that he did need to, so he hurried a little down the hall, and poked the lock out of his door easily, sliding into the room before anyone could see him.
He'd daydreamed a lot about that sort of moment. His dark bedroom, a Friday night, a lot of free time, the Guy Next Door, and his two twin beds. Maybe a condom, and some hand lotion in there. Things never worked out for Clark the way that they should've. He'd wanted the guy to be hip-swiveling, not hanging like a puppet in his arms.
Well.
Now wasn't the time to think about that, he decided, nudging the door shut with his heel. He moved forward and tenderly settled Lex on the bed, rolling him onto his side so that he wouldn't be uncomfortable. Maybe the best thing to do right now was to get some warm water and some antibiotic ointment. Maybe some bandages, not like Clark had any of those things.
He frowned. How long would it take if he super speeded out, got the stuff, and left his five dollars in pizza money on the counter? He could probably afford at least the ointment, and then he could rip up a couple of old t-shirts for bandaging...
It would work pretty good. It wasn't like he couldn't last a couple of weeks without a pizza. They sometimes had it for free in the student center, after all. Yeah, Pizza and sodas on Wednesday nights.
Lex wasn't going anywhere, because he didn't even move when Clark laid him on his side. He almost puddled there, just as still as he'd been when he'd been on the bench. But at least now he wasn't outside in the cold, alone.
That, Clark thought as he gathered his meager change, was a whole lot better than nothing.
And then there was nothing but wind, and wet, and cold, and Lex alone. But he'd be back.
Everything hurt a lot more than it had the last time he'd surfaced to consciousness. It was a dull ache that seemed to have spread through all of his backside, and crept down his neck from the knot on his skull. The last time he'd woken up, the pain had felt pretty fresh and sharp, and pinpointed.
At least it seemed that he was laying on a decently comfortable mattress. The guy next door apparently was as decent as he seemed to be. Lex just wasn't sure if he wanted to open his eyes yet.
He could hear rustling, the faint sounds of pages flipping over, maybe, and there was some slight pressure on the bed. Maybe he had a companion. Who could say for sure? Still. His skin felt tight, and he ached, and maybe it was a bad idea to even try to wake up...
"Hey." It was a whisper. "Are you awake? I've got some Tylenol for you..."
It was, he assured himself hazily, still the guy from next door. Clark. For a second there, he'd been wondering if Clark had gone off to find more people, except no one else in the house had been beaten up as badly as he'd been. Just a few smacks for them, and for him... Even slitting his eyes open hurt, more than it had before the throb in his skull had finished descending.
"'m... awake."
"Oh. Good." Still a whisper, and the faint shivering of the bed that came made Lex grunt. "Sorry. Just, there's not a lot of room in here. Hang on, and I'll get you some water and some Tylenol. I'm sorry I don't have anything stronger. I, uh, undressed you. And, um. Fixed you up. I hope you aren't mad."
"I'm naked?" It was probably a stupid question, but he shifted one leg a little to check. No underwear shift, though there was something. It probably explained why he felt the material of the bed sheets as well as he did.
Hopefully that hit he'd taken to the head hadn't lowered his IQ any, if he had to concentrate to notice things like nakedness. It would really give Lionel something to be disappointed about.
"Um, yeah. Sorry?" Clark asked it more than said it, and the way he seemed so sweetly sheepish made Lex want to smile, a little. "I was worried about you. I mean, you passed out, and it seemed like a concussion, but..."
"How did concussion..." Lex lifted his head slowly, still looking at Clark and his sweet sheepish smile as he moved a hand so he could groggily push himself upright. Even if it wasn't upright and onto his apparently bandaged ass. "How did..."
"The hit. On your head?" Green eyes, and how had Lex not noticed him before? He was model gorgeous. Girls probably drooled all over themselves at the first opportunity to sit by him. "I thought I'd make you comfortable, but there was dried blood on your shirt, so I thought... I'd better check. You know. Lex..." Very serious expression, that was. "This rush thing, if that's what it is..? It's not worth getting hurt like that."
"You don't understand," Lex murmured. He couldn't take his eyes off of Clark, which was good because to look elsewhere he would've had to move more. Green eyes, and ruffled black hair that looked a little wild and wavy. Maybe it was the fluorescent light that Clark had on in the corner, but then again... no one ever looked that good under fluorescent lighting.
Except this guy. Obviously.
"Yeah," Clark agreed slowly, turning the tap of the small sink in the corner and filling a glass with water. "I don't. I mean, back home... there was some stuff like that. I mean, hazing, you know? And mostly, I put up with it. But I never volunteered, Lex," he announced gently, moving back to the side of the bed, glass in hand. He reached out to a small night stand and lifted a bottle. "For you."
"Thanks." Lex reached to take the bottle, knowing he could trust his hands to at least work with him on defeating the childproof cap. "I have to get into the frat, Clark. It... means a lot to my dad."
The boy heaved a weighty sigh. "Okay. Yeah, I can get that. I'd do a lot to make my dad happy." He gave Lex a tiny smile. "Including putting up with the stuff I got off of the football team. Dad's always been more inclined to make sure I don't do things that draw a lot of attention to me. I'm adopted, and they like keeping me 'safe'."
After two tries, the foul-child-proofed cap came open for Lex, and he shook out four extra strength Tylenol. The throbbing in his head receded a little as long as he didn't turn much, so he could hold a somewhat coherent conversation while he shook off sleepiness. "There isn't anything wrong with that. I wish sometimes that I could just lay low like that."
"You know, if your dad knew you were getting hurt, he probably wouldn't want you to keep on doing this," Clark told him. "My dad wouldn't." He wasn't watching Lex anymore. Instead, he was working on some cotton rags, tying them together or something so that they looked more like bandages. For Lex?
It was nice. It was... thoughtful. Like Clark's dad, adopted or not, had to have been. "Yeah, well... my dad isn't most people." He couldn't explain it without telling Clark who he was, and if the novelty of not being known was only going to last a couple of days anyway, then he didn't want to destroy it himself.
"Yeah, well," Clark tossed the phrase back at him, "I think if he saw you like this, he'd change his mind, Lex. Letting somebody wallop on you to prove you're good enough for them just means they're not good enough for you."
A quiet grunt, and Lex threw the Tylenol into his mouth and then reached for that glass of water. Lex could've swallowed them dry, but it didn't appeal to him just then. He needed the water anyway. "Everyone... everyone else was just fine with it. I... couldn't breathe. I freaked, gave myself an asthma attack. Guess I hit my head then, too." He didn't need to add that everyone else had gotten their couple of hits and been done. No. Because he didn't want to think about that.
Or the twenty they'd taken. Well, someone had taken.
A low sigh sounded. "Okay. Well, it's your business, I just... you know, just figured I'd offer some advice." He could see a tiny smile on that serious face. "I think you should stay here for the rest of the weekend and rest, though. If you've got something you need, I'll go get it. Like a nebulizer or something."
The edge of Lex's mouth twitched a little before he finished off the glass. "If you're going to hold me hostage, in your bed, will you at least let me help you study whatever you're flipping through?" He needed... Toby. There was no telling what Clark would think of him, but the guy was the best doctor Lex had ever had.
"Sure. If you'll tell me what I can get you," Clark agreed with a secretive little smile. It made Lex wonder what he'd been studying, made his eyes seek out the book....
"There's a guy. A doctor I know. Can I use your phone to call him?" Lex asked as he craned his head a little to peer at the cover. There was a guy in a shiny silver space-suit with his hand on his crotch.
Good God.
Spaceman porn.
"Sure," Clark chirped. "He makes house calls and everything? Wow. Dad said nobody outside of Smallville did that anymore, and old Doc Gay is the only one who still does, even at home."
Smallville.
Brr.
That was almost enough to distract him from the spaceman porn.
"He makes house-calls at three a.m." In fact, that was when Toby got most of his work done. The wee hours for things that no one wanted treated in a real hospital where they demanded answers to their questions. Stabbings and shootings and drugs, and... belt whippings. "So... you're from Smallville?" he asked, setting the glass of water down even as he reached a hand out so Clark could pass him a phone.
"All my life," Clark said, handing the phone to him. "Well, since I was five or six or so, anyway. That was when my parents adopted me, after this huge meteor shower that came down right around then."
Lex went a little still, even as he took the phone from Clark's hand. What a coincidence. What a small, fucked up world it was. "Yeah. I remember the meteor shower."
"Huh. Most folks haven't even heard of it. I don't remember a lot about it. I mean, I don't remember anything from before, anyway. Just my parents, afterwards." Clark went quiet while Lex dialed.
He fist tried Toby's house number, and then his cellular number. The cell phone was picked up on the second ring, and Lex felt relieved. At least he wouldn't have to talk about Smallville anymore. For the moment. "Toby?"
~"Dude. Lex. Haven't heard from you in a while."~
Damn. Toby wasn't high, was he? It was a very good possibility.
"Yeah. I had a rough night. I need some bandages... some really good painkillers. And I guess a new inhaler." Just. In. Case. He glanced at Clark while he talked.
~"Cool, man. You at MSU, yeah? Yeah. I read you started there. You're gonna hafta let me in. Which floor, man?"~
"Sixth. I'm with a friend who can let you in." Lex was still looking at Clark, and trying to not look at the crotch-groping spaceman on the cover.
Clark gave a quick nod, serious demeanor announcing that he definitely would. Anything Lex asked. "No problem," he whispered.
~"Yeah, well, tell 'im to meet me down there in half an hour. What's the room number, in case I need to ring up?"~
"Six fifteen," Lex guessed, since he was six thirteen and that was how the room numbers went. "Thanks Toby. I'll let you get over here." He shifted the phone away from his ear, ready to hang up. The faint dial tone buzzing said that Toby had beat him to it.
"So, he's coming? I mean, those look pretty bad, Lex," Clark said earnestly, "and I really think Tylenol and Neosporin's not good enough to help you much."
"He's on his way," Lex tried to smile a little as he turned the phone off, and leaned forwards to hand it to Clark. Then he slumped down onto his elbow, content to just be very very still. "Half an hour. He might not seem professional, but... Toby's one of the best."
"In other words, I should be prepared for somebody unconventional," Clark decided, laying the phone in its cradle. "That's what my mom said about half of Metropolis when I came to school 'Now, Clark, don't worry. People here are just a little unconventional sometimes'," he quoted.
It sounded like something that came from the depths of Smallville. "So how many unconventional people have you met?" He probably counted among them, and Lex wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not. Then again, spaceman porn couldn't have been too conventional.
"Um... let me think... Oh, I thought I SAW one conventional girl. But it was just one. And then she turned around and she had 'hell froze' shaved in the back of her head, so I'm pretty sure it was just a bad first impression," Clark teased. "Hey, you should lay down a little more. Get comfortable. You're in pretty rough shape."
"I'm in rough shape, but I'm also trying to figure out what I offered to help you study." Lex gestured a little vaguely, even as he did lay down. He halfway wanted to shift to lay on his stomach, but he was naked. And he wasn't sure how Clark felt about another guy's dick rubbing into his bedding.
Then again, if the spaceman was any guess, it might be okay.
Wow.
Lex didn't know anybody could blush like that.
"Oh, um, it's uh... It's... I'm not STUDYING it, exactly, except I sort of.. uh. Am." It was a silly explanation, and Clark obviously realized it. "It's a class on pornography. Sort of. And how it's changed through the years. Um. Yeah."
"Why did no one tell me that this class existed?" Lex mused as he shifted onto his stomach. It hurt to move, but it felt so much better when he wasn't laying on anything that had been beaten. "So what else have you read for it?"
"Lots of stuff! Um, let's see... we started with Victorians, you know, _The Yellow Room_, _The Lustful Turk_, that kind of thing. Did you know that they used to make boys wear girdles at night? To keep them from... you know?" Clark's eyes were huge. It almost made Lex giggle.
"How would a girdle keep you from masturbating?" Lex lazily propped himself up on his elbows, grinning at the huge eyes and the sort of attractive blush. It was nice to know that someone somewhere in the world had modesty.
"Apparently, it was pretty hard to get their hands in there. There were iron bands. You know. So that they couldn't. And sometimes? Handcuffs attached to the waist." A little shudder ran down Clark's spine. "Just creepy."
"Huh." It sounded like it could've been damn erotic, except that Lex was sure that wasn't the purpose. "I should pick that class up. Just for the opportunity to take a test on porn."
"And that's just the start. The professor's let us skip forward to the spaceman porn." Clark waved his book at Lex and shifted uncomfortably. "Um. Well, anyway. It's fun. It's not even like real work, so..."
So why not? If he didn't know better, Clark was really flirting with him, in a nice way. "Are you sure that's not extracurricular reading? You're not reading ahead, are you? You're not one of those people who get all their work done right away, are you?"
Ohhh. Another one of those blushes. "Well, she SAID we could read forward if we, um, wanted to be prepared. And I've always sort of enjoyed science fiction, so I thought... but you know, I just... I'm having trouble holding with the whole mystical third testicle part. I mean, there's sci-fi and then there are mystical third testicles."
"Gives the 'third eye' a whole new meaning," Lex mumbled into his arms as he lowered his head down. "So it's religious gay spaceman porn?"
"Well...." Clark seemed to think about it seriously. "More or less, yeah. I think that sums it up pretty well." The shy smile was back again, Lex could see it over the crease of his elbow when he peeked Clark's way. "You could borrow it. If you wanted. I mean..." He paused. "Uh. How did you know it was gay?"
"Uh." Lex pressed his mouth against his arm for a moment to keep himself from making any other useless noises. "A wild guess? Just..." If he said 'you seem the type to go for that', he knew he'd deserve a glare or worse. "The cover art. He's holding his crotch."
"Oh." Clark laughed a little, shaking his head. "Um. Well, yeah. A lot of the newer stuff seems to have a homosexual theme. It's a cycle. The Victorians wrote a lot of BDSM stuff, the stuff from around the world wars tend to have women dressed as men going to fight and ending up doing... other stuff, and the current porn industry has a lot of gay stuff."
"Third testicles instead of spurting boobs?" Lex laid his head back down, grinning. Smooth aversion of a complete disaster. "I'm glad there's more variety now."
"The Victorians had a lot of female, um. Ah, ejaculation." Blush firmly back in place. Damn, for feeling so bad, Lex was having a hell of a good time. "Disgusting to read about. Um. Hey, should I go down and get that doctor...?"
Too bad that Clark was looking for an escape, and that it was a legitimate one Lex couldn't call him on. "Probably. He'll look very unconventional," Lex reminded. "Sort of like that guy from the Grateful Dead."
"If I didn't think you'd give me the dirty eyeball, I'd say 'who's that?'." Clark grinned. "As it is, I'll be expecting Jerry Garcia. Um. Can I get you anything while I'm out? A coke or... I think I've got a couple of quarters around here someplace..."
"Nah, I'm good. It's kinda late for a coke." It was kind of late to be laying naked in another man's bed, having a platonic sort of conversation, too. "I'm going to treat you to dinner when I'm no longer behind forced to rest."
Clark laughed at that. "I'll settle for coffee and help with biochemistry so long as you promise to get better." Too sweet. God. Smallville. "I'll be back as soon as I can, okay? Close your eyes and rest a little."
"Thanks." It was easy to do, too. Little bursts of the need to laugh and energy apparently gave way to exhaustion pretty easily when he was hurt or sick. It wasn't something Lex had been either of for a long time. Maybe his body was mustering up spurts of denial over his being hurt at all.
Maybe it was really all the kind of bad idea Clark was trying to convince him it was.
Or maybe...
Maybe he had drifted off, because the next thing he remembered was Clark with him again and Toby saying something behind him.
"Lex?"
"...don't gotta wake him up, man. He's tough. I sewed him up in the back of a Porsche one night. Blood's hell on leather seats, dude."
"Don't tell him that." It ended up a muzzy mumble, as Lex jerked his head a little. "'ll scare him off."
"Hey, it's okay." Clark was being gentle, gentle. Lex could tell it was him. Toby was never so easy or tender with anything. "I'm from Smallville. That makes me pretty hard to scare."
"Yeah. Know." Lex laid his head back down, letting consciousness come back to him slowly. Or maybe slip off sideways, depending on how fickle it was being. His ass was colder, which mean that he was blanketless and Toby was probably ready to start work. That was fine as long as Toby didn't decide to toss in any more 'war stories'.
"I'll hold your hand," Clark promised.
Sweet. God. So sweet.
"Damn, Lex. Were you on crack when this happened? I'm assuming that it's not this guy's responsibility..."
Trust Toby to lighten any situation. Lex shook his head into his arms, and mumbled, "Frat. Clark found me..." The guy next door, who Lex had only known as the guy next door so far and now suddenly knew a lot. First name, where he was from, what he was studying. And that he blushed like hell over cute things.
At least it gave Lex something to smile about.
"I told you the last time you called me that this shit with frats is seriously fucked up, right?" Conversational, and SHIT, what was Toby doing, swabbing him down with liquid fire? "I mean, not like you've gotta take my warnings or anything, but I would have figured getting your ass stabbed by an idiot who was doing what you're doing right now would have pretty much put the kibosh on the whole thing. Hold still. You're wriggling like a baby."
"It's hurting him." Clark sounded... different. Squeamish? No. No. Deeper, darker... protective? Lex had to be dreaming that one.
He tried to not horse kick Toby, curling his toes up to keep from jerking. "Jesus... fucking... Christ. Is that acid? If you think it's so stupid, why don't you tell my father about it when you go to get paid... Nnngh, fuck."
"Duh. Because your dad likes to see you suffer." That patient explanation from the older man made Lex even more inclined to kick him. "You're just too stupid to kick over the traces."
"My father... does not like to see me suffer," Lex bit out, albeit a little slowly, as he did kick back his leg a little. Completely by accident, because it just hurt so much.
"Hey, whoa! You're not a mule, even if you've got a temper like one!"
Lex could see Clark giving Toby a look, sort of squinty-eyed. "Um. Is your bedside manner usually this bad?"
"Yes," Lex groaned, curling his feet up again. "Fuck. Are you done pouring acid on me?"
"Disinfectant," Toby corrected. "Somebody's been walloping the hell out of you and I'd bet money that they didn't disinfect that leather strap they had to be using first."
Lex groaned into his arms again. Clark was... somewhere. Off to the side maybe, or glaring at Toby. Lex didn't want to watch, not when he was gritting his teeth like that. "No. He just took his belt off..."
"Yeah. That's what I figured. So, kid. I'm guessing you've got better sense than Lex here does, huh? Or were you there getting an eyeful..?" Toby didn't bat an eyelash, didn't even LOOK at Clark, just started smearing something that looked white and gooey over the cleaned wounds.
"Um. No, sir. I mean, that is, I found him. On the quad."
"I was on a bench." It just kept sounding worse the more he told Toby, which resolved Lex in thinking that it was just time to stop talking about it. The gooey stuff actually felt pretty good.
"Riiight. Dropped you off there when you passed out, huh?" Damn Toby for being way too right about this stuff. And for being way too good with his fingers when he hurt like that.
"Guess so." He grunted that, tucking his head down for a minute to suck in a hard breath. It still hurt, worse than before. "What're you doing back there?"
"Applying anesthetizing antiseptic salve. It ought to take effect in a couple of minutes, once the sting from the first antiseptic settles down. They did a hell of a job on you. I've got some meds for you. You're under orders not to get your sorry butt out of this bed until Monday at the earliest."
"I'll keep him there." Such a solemn good boy.
"You know that this isn't my bed," Lex reminded. "And that at some point I should try to make it to a shower..." Or take a piss. Or both, except anything that anesthetized his backside was something he didn't want to have come off.
He could hear the drugged out man snort. "Not without help, you're not. Seems like you've got an okay friend here. Maybe I'll go as far as saying he can help you get a shower and go pee on occasion."
It wasn't as if the O.S.P guys would even pretend to miss him. If he laid low, maybe they'd think he'd crawled into a ditch and died or something. Maybe he could scare them just by relaxing with Clark. "Sounds like a better weekend than I had planned."
"Good. Now, get your ass comfortable and I'll get a few pills down you. He'll be out until morning," Toby told Clark, "but don't worry about it. Just get some rest. He's a real pisser when he's sick."
Lex could see the boy drawing back slightly. "Um. Okay?"
"He's only joking," Lex grumbled as he lifted his head, getting up onto his elbows again as he looked for Clark in the room. "Thanks. Just... thanks for all of this." It wasn't as if his frat brothers had been so thoughtful. They'd ditched him on a bench.
Obviously he was doing even worse than he had thought, because his brain just kept coming back to that. Like it was something serious, and it just... it wasn't. Not really. Lex couldn't let it be.
"Yeah, well, so long as you don't demand anything totally extravagant..." Clark teased a little, giving the tiniest smile.
"Cute," Toby muttered. "Here. Take two of these. You can take two more every six hours. If you take more than four, it'll fuck you up. Don't. Unless you feel like it, of course..." Only Toby. "But more than six is bad. So."
"I won't OD on it," Lex promised him a little lazily as he reached to take the bottle from Toby. "Scout's honor."
"Yeah, right. Like you were ever a scout. Kid, keep an eye on him."
Clark was so quick to respond it was almost laughable, especially when he reached out and carefully took the bottle from Lex's fingers, shaking out the required dosage and handing it to Lex responsibly. "Yes, sir."
"Dad would've enrolled me in the junior IRA if it existed, but not scouts," Lex joked tiredly before he threw them into his mouth and swallowed dry.
"You're Irish?" Clark asked, wide-eyed.
"Tell him another one, Lex. The usual payment?"
"Yeah. Just get it from Dad." He laid his head back down, but stopped short of getting too comfortable. "Can I cover myself with something?" It was sort of cold, dorm room or not, laying bare ass naked.
"Unless your friend here just really likes the look of your ass. It's better to let it breathe, though. Cover your legs and your shoulders, but leave your butt out to the air, and don't get it kicked like that again."
"Air." Lex snorted that, and shifted a sheet to at least drag it over his back. "I'll try to not get my butt kicked again. Thanks, Toby."
"Hey, man. It's what you pay me for. You gonna show me out, kid?"
"The door's at the end of the hall. Straight down the stairs," Clark told him, obviously distracted. "Let me get a blanket for your legs, or maybe there's something you want from next door?"
"No. I don't really need anything from there." He swallowed again, just to make sure that the pills were down. He wasn't lying to Clark. If he was going to be there all weekend, in bed, he didn't really need to get anything from his room just yet.
"Not even a pillow?" The door latched behind Toby, and that was... really a relief. Weird relief, but still. "I mean, uh. Look, I know it's kind of babyish, but if I didn't have my favorite pillow and my um... You won't laugh, right?"
"My butt is covered in white goo, and you saved me from a case of hypothermia, Clark. If you sleep with baby dolls, I won't laugh," Lex promised a bit muzzily, turning his head to lay his cheek on his arm.
A moment's digging beneath the bed and Lex felt fur against his face. "Um. Well, okay, not quite baby dolls, but... My mom bought it for me when I was just adopted, and she cried when I left home, and it had been in the attic for a while, but..."
"But you wanted to take a little piece of home with you to Metropolis," Lex guessed. He cracked an eye open, and didn't mind that all he could see was fur. At least the stuffed animal smelled nice and clean. Like it'd gotten thrown into the wash recently.
He.
Smallville probably washed his clothes every weekend. Probably used Ivory soap. Prob... probly... Probly didn't know how to work the... condom machines in the laun....
Lex had dreamed he was swimming. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that he was stuck laying on his stomach, and something to do with the fact that the painkiller had made his head all swimmy. Or the fact that he really had to pee.
It was one of those times where a person jerked awake more than a gentle, easy surfacing. The mortified realization that he was probably this close to wetting the bed always did that to a person, especially once the water dreams kicked in.
"Hey," Clark greeted gently, laying down the space-erotica. "You've been out like a light for nearly fourteen hours."
"Bathroom," Lex muttered as he pushed himself up onto his hands and shifted to maybe get up onto his knees and crawl from bed if he had to. 'Bathroom' didn't sound much like 'good morning' or 'wow, really? I slept THAT long?' or even 'You're not done with that book yet?'.
The guy had obviously dealt with grumpy sick people before because he didn't flinch. Instead, he shifted out of his chair and laid down his book, coming forward to offer his hand. "Here. Let me help you up. I've got a robe in the closet, you can slide that on to go to the bathroom. Do you want a bath, or just to... you know, go?"
Everything hurt. His shoulders hurt, the muscles from his back all the way up to his neck just an insensible knot. He hadn't even been hit there, but they had to express painful sympathy for his ass by trying to match pain for pain. "Don't know."
"He left medicine, and I think some of that salve is in there," Clark offered. "It might sting, but a bath might release some of the knots. Um. Let's start with going to pee, though. I could do warm compresses or something. I know you've gotta be tight..."
"Unbelievably tight," he groaned as he got onto his knees at last. It was a start, but Jesus it hurt to bend like that. Worse, it took Lex a moment to realize the double entendre, and how he had to have looked in that moment.
Smallville guy (Clark, he reminded himself. CLARK.) didn't seem to get it; or if he did, then he didn't say anything. "Yeah. Look, we'll get you a bath and you'll feel better. Maybe I can rub the non-injured areas with something to loosen you up some..."
Lex shifted to slide a leg off the edge of the bed, hoping to get to his feet before he agreed too eagerly. Or tossed out a gem about 'deep rubbing', or how to really loosen him up. "Thanks. I think there's... some mineral stuff in my room."
"I'll get it while you're... well, you know." Going to pee, which would be pretty good. Or something. Obviously Toby had given him stuff with side effects. There was no way he was taking this stuff Sunday night. "Here. Let me help you, Lex."
Strong hands reached out, touched him, guided him to standing. It made him feel tiny, and a little stupid, but it certainly sped up the process of Lex Luthor trying to get to his feet. Instinctively, Lex touched back. Just to grab Clark's forearms to steady himself. "Thanks." Thanks. He'd probably said it more times in less than a day than he usually said it all damn year. "You sleep well last night?"
That grin was really just overwhelming. "Not as good as you did, but yeah. Sure. I always sleep like the dead. My mom used to swear that they thought I was dead a couple of times when I was a kid."
"Parents just say things like that to tease you," Lex grinned back, a small thing compared to the wide bright show of teeth from Clark. It was like looking at a Lion's maw, without the feeling of being threatened.
Laughter, sweet, stuff that made him feel... something. He couldn't say just what. "Yeah, well, I was a vicious kid. Well, a rough sleeper, anyway. Broke about six beds before Dad just broke down and built me one himself. That solved the problem, and I settled down a lot later."
Lex managed to keep standing as Clark pulled back a little to slide a robe on over him. "So I take it the sleeping like the dead part came after you were done with the furniture breaking?"
Hm. That sly smile was nice. "Yeah. Mom was always scared I'd suffocate because I'd pile the pillows over my head."
"Maybe," Lex suggested while he tied a loose knot at the belt, "that's why you flailed so much. You almost suffocated yourself with pillows, then got yourself free."
He was enjoying himself. It was warped, bizarre, completely wrong, but... Yeah. Lex was having a good time.
Whatever Toby gave him MUST have been good.
"Possibly," Clark agreed. "You know, I have to go, too. I'll walk down with you."
The edges of Lex's mouth twitched again. It was almost, no, it was a little lame. Except it was a cute lame, not the bad pickup line type of lame. "Thanks. I'm not sure how far I can get without hugging the wall."
"That's okay," Clark chuckled. "You can lean on me. I promise, I won't let you fall."
What a smile. Lex shifted, and slid an arm to grasp onto Clark. "I wish we had started talking before the semester got this far. You're a really great guy, Clark."
That got him a blush. Sweet. "Not so much. I mean, I usually just keep to myself, do the occasional good deed. You know. Like a guy ought to do. Well, a guy like me, anyway." Being led to the door like a former virgin after prom night was really vastly amusing for Lex.
If only he'd been so lucky as that. It would've been great, he just wanted to guess, to be under Clark like that. To be in Clark's bed for sexual purposes, rather than drugged out and passed out purposes. So he let himself be led, mouth quirking. He'd probably done more honest smiling in the past twenty four hours than in weeks, too. "Small town boy. Apparently Smallville can produce natural disasters and good people?"
Clark smiled at him, charming as always. "Sometimes, yeah. We mostly try not to think about the natural disaster part, except for Chloe. Chloe tends to concentrate on the things nobody else wants to think about, though. 's why she went to NYU instead of Metropolis. Closer to the 'action'," he explained. "Um. My editor. High school newspaper. Friend. Person. Uh."
Too many words for one person, which meant that Clark was confused as to what she was to him. Lex filed that away as they moved out into the hallway. "You did journalism then, too?"
"Huh? Oh, yeah." Clark smiled a little self-consciously. "You know. Not much of an athlete type. Got a lot of guff about it, because I'm big, but just... not so coordinated sometimes. It took a long time to grow into."
"You did," Lex assumed him as they headed down the hall towards the bathroom. "Really. You feel pretty damn strong. Don't feel bad about... not being athletic. I fence, and you wouldn't know it."
"But I'd suspect it," Clark disagreed, pausing to push open the bathroom door for Lex. "I mean, you've got that kind of grace. Like I'd expect someone to have if they fenced or did gymnastics or maybe did diving. That kind of thing."
There were people already in the bathroom, and that made Lex fall quiet for just a moment, straining to look... dignified. Put together. And particularly, not in any type of pain. "Grace, huh? No one's said that before." Well. They'd said it, but there was saying it to get a favor and saying it just as part of discussion.
Sincerity mattered.
Clark laughed a little, let Lex pull away from him. "Yeah, well. Truth's hard to get around for me. Maybe everybody else just didn't say it, even though it's obvious? Can't imagine why. Um. So. See you in a minute...?"
"Yeah." Lex glanced back towards the showers before he moved unsteadily towards a stall. A little privacy was something he needed after the past, fuck, day.
He could hear Clark moving into the nearest stall, the one just beside him. God. He was a Metropolis kid, he'd been getting into clubs since he was fifteen, but... There was no way he could pee with Clark in the next stall. Never mind any other necessities.
Not that he wanted to sit down, anyway.
He shrugged open the borrowed robe, and rocked back on his feet a little. Piss hardon too, god, that didn't help. When did he develop a shy bladder? He'd been standing naked in front of his frat brothers and had his ass whipped the night before.
Apparently his bladder was timid around Clark, which was really just on the wrong edge of bizarre.
Clark didn't have that problem. Lex could hear him whizzing away in the next stall, psssssss, a high, steady sound against porcelain. Kind of soothing, really, and all of a sudden it was okay for him to go, too.
As long as there was some sort of background noise. Why did Clark have to pick the stall right beside his, anyway? He was glad when he finally could go, almost sighing with relief because his bladder didn't hurt anymore.
Now if only his ass would join the club. Especially since he was eventually going to have to sit down, at least in here, if not yet in class. Thank God it was Saturday.
"Hey," Clark said quietly from the other side, "is there anything you want from next door while we study?" Smart kid.
"A couple things," Lex told him back, thoughtfully. "You can dig around and tell me if you see something."
"Sure. I'll be right back." That would give Lex time to TRY sitting, anyway, and give him help getting back to the room. They raised 'em damn considerate in Smallville.
Even if he wanted a shower, there was no way he was going to do it, not with his ass a mess. He'd probably just open something and bleed all over Clark's robe. It was good to get a moment of relative privacy, even if there were other people in the bathroom. They were other people that he didn't really know, and that was perfectly okay.
At least that way he wouldn't feel bad when he couldn't keep himself from hissing as he tried to shift himself down onto the toilet. The motion itself made his knees weak, made his eyes want to roll back in his head, and if it hurt that bad just to shift his body, he could imagine the hell that would be his rear end.
It'd probably feel like sitting on a heated horseshoe. A huge heated horseshoe, but he had to do it eventually. Just grit his teeth and be a man about it. It was just a toilet seat!
Lex was pretty sure he was going to pass out when he actually did manage to sit down. Jesus. What had they done to him last night after that asthma attack? After he'd passed out? Beat him a little more for the fun of it? Fuck!
He tried to not scrabble or clutch too much to the walls when he finally lowered his ass against the cold plastic seat. Lex Luthor wasn't going to pass out, but he was going to lean against the wall and pant like he was dying.
"Damn, somebody had a little too much last night," one of the mysterious guys at the urinals laughed.
"A little too much what? Fresh country boi?" Lex could almost hear the i. Those bastards.
If he knew them, he would've killed them. But of course, he and Clark had to have looked a state, like Clark had worked him over when it couldn't have been further from the truth.
God.
He was going to screw over Clark's reputation in a huge way, and neither one of them had actually gotten anything out of it but a literal pain in the ass.
"Don't you guys have something better to do than gossip while you piss?"
"Uhhhh..."
He'd have to explain to Clark, or... something. Maybe tell him who he was, except he didn't want to lose the possibility of one really great, relaxing weekend. Or at least one that could distract from his aching ass.
"That's what I thought. Why don't you just stop jumping to conclusions and go find something else to do?" Clark was kind of scary when he went all deep and rumbly like that. Wow. Interesting guy.
Maybe he wasn't all gentle giant, soft and cute pussy cat as he pretended to be. But in a good way, because he'd had plenty of opportunity to be less than nice and hadn't done a thing to Lex. Usually if people were going to fuck with him, it was immediate. A mere matter of seconds between the formal introduction and the fist to his face, so to speak.
He was never getting up off the toilet. Didn't matter that he could hear the guys who'd been talking scurrying out of the bathroom.
"Hey, Lex?" Back to that gentle Clark, and wow. That was... really kind of scary, too. Nice. But scary. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah." Not smooth. He could've been more convincing if he'd talked through a mouth full of cotton balls. "Just kinda in pain. I'll be all right."
"Okay, well... there's a tub, you know. Want me to fill it up for you?"
"I think the tub involves sitting, Clark?" Lex reminded, still temple against the wall.
"Yeah, but it'll also loosen up all of the tension, and if you're careful, you could probably, um. Rest forward. You know. The other way. A little weird, but the point's the heat, not the bath."
Oh. It sounded logical, in a way. Lex stayed where he was, though, and finally sighed. "Yeah. Okay. Give me a minute." A man needed a minute to do his business, after all, and it was easier to do if Clark wasn't talking.
"Right. I'll, ah, run the bath." And then Clark was gone. Thank God, because apparently there were parts of his body even MORE shy than his bladder when it came to taking care of business in front of Clark.
What had they done to him? Lex clutched onto the handfuls of Clark's robe, and just sat there, trying to see if there were any flashes of memory between being whipped and Clark getting him off of the bench.
Nothing.
Just... Nothing. So maybe nothing had happened. After all, who wanted to fuck around with an unconscious guy? It was a frat house. That signified the presence of a lot of assholes deathly terrified of homosexuals. Or at least severely homophobic.
Maybe that was why they spent so much time messing with him in particular. Because they knew he liked whatever came his way. He was an opportunist, open to a lot of things. Like... sexy guys with muscled arms that acted like veritable boy scouts. And crystal green eyes.
Who was going to help him bathe. That alone was motivation to get his ass up off the toilet.
Never mind the fact that his knees went weak on him again, and he couldn't breathe. That part wasn't so important, at least not right at the moment. Maybe. More important was getting himself straightened up, and not looking at himself in the mirror when he left the stall.
He flushed the toilet and shuffled forward, pushing the door outwards as he went.
He tied off the belt, and kept taking steps forwards, trying to hide the agony. As long as he walked right towards the bath, he'd be fine. Wouldn't see a mirror or hopefully anyone else on the way.
Oh, fuck, he had really bad luck.
"Yo, Luthor." Parker. Why did it have to be Parker? He was such an annoying bastard, especially with that shaggy little dog. "Just checking in on you."
He leaned a hand on the wall beside him, and lifted his chin. "Yeah? Why? Just to make sure you guys didn't fucking kill me? Maybe you should've checked the morgues first."
"Hey, don't look at me. You know I left the room before any of that shit started," the other young man denied, mouth settling into a definite pout. "I mean, none of you are chicks. And I prefer my kink that way. Look, I didn't even hear about any of it until nearly midnight, and when I got to the quad, you weren't there. Simple as that. So, since you're still a pissy bitch, I'm guessing you're all right."
Lex clenched his teeth as he stood there, holding himself upright mostly by sheer force of will. "Yeah. I'm fine." Why not say that? If he actually said how he was, well. He was a pissy 'bitch', and wouldn't it just be put down to whining? "Did they do that to you, Parker? Huh? Did they whip the shit out of you and then leave you in the cold? How many points does that get you?"
"They did different shit to me." And obviously, that was all the explanation he was going to get aside from one seriously prissy wave of a hand. "Anyway. You're alive, so that's something. See you around, Luthor."
"Yeah." Lex shifted, trying to keep his knees steady. "Whatever."
"Hey, Lex, I... uh. Hi." Clark seemed awkward, as if he was drawing into himself, shy in front of Parker. The frat guy's raised brows probably didn't help.
"Uh-huh. Yeah, well. See you around," he said again, and really did leave that time, closing the door quietly behind him.
Shit.
It wasn't Clark's fault. Clark... yeah, Clark was a help, and there was no reason for him to feel bad about him. About knowing him, about being helped by him. Parker was a sometimes okay, but generally annoying shit. "Hey, Clark."
"Um." It was remarkable, seeing Clark shrink in like that. He couldn't be the same person, could he? "The bath. I mean, everything's ready, so..."
"Thanks." Lex found the smile easy to give, but had to wonder what Clark was thinking just then. "Is... you know, something wrong?"
The emphatic shake of Clark's head was nifty. Curls went swinging here and there, and yeah. Even if he hurt, he was definitely still floating in a drug haze. Wow. "No! Just, I mean, he's one of those guys, right? And I thought... you know, maybe you wouldn't want them knowing somebody was helping you... because of what they did, and you must want in really bad, so..."
"Too late. And it's okay. I... I'm having trouble giving a fuck right now, Clark," Lex admitted. Even if it was being admitted under the influence of the last of the painkillers, it was pretty honest.
"Probably because you feel so bad," Clark decided. He offered his arm. "Come on. I cleaned the tub and ran hot water. I'll help you get in and everything, and go get you some towels. I mean, if you want. That is."
"That's be great. You're..." It was hard to not be full of small smiles and smirks around Clark. "You know, I hardly know you. And you're just being great. And those guys I've known for a couple of months... just check to see if I'm alive, call me a prissy bitch, and leave. What a fucked up world."
"Yeah, well. Like I said. If it was me..." Clark shrugged, leading the way. "I'd call it quits and get back to business. Any kind of business, so long as it wasn't theirs. I mean. But you've got your own reasons. I can understand that."
"Yeah." He laughed, just a little. "Are you trying to talk me to go back in, or out?"
"Well, if I thought I could talk you out of it, I would. I just... I mean. We just met last night, so I figured I probably couldn't. Can I?" Big, green eyes, sweet, pleading. Wow.
Lex's mouth twitched as he let Clark guide him on. "Maybe, you know, I'll try a week without frat life. And maybe I'll go back there on Friday to tell them where to stick it." And maybe he wouldn't tell his father or tell Clark who he was.
And maybe nobody would tell Clark, either. And maybe there really was a happy life somewhere over the rainbow.
Fuuuck.
It was totally worth a day's dreaming and humiliation to get a smile like that. When was the last time a smile had been enough for Lex Luthor? "I'm so proud of you."
Usually it took really good sex. Or at least a blow job. "Thanks. If... someone's pulling for me, somewhere, I guess I can't just act stupid and go back, right?"
Clark grinned. "Right. And, you know, maybe it'll be a lot more worth it not to go back. You know?" He pushed open the small swinging door to the bathtub and let Lex go in first.
Lex could feel the heat hit him the moment he walked in. That place never felt like a sauna, but it did. Just then, usually chill, bone-icing tiles felt warm beneath his bare feet. "Wow, it could be worth it just for a nice hot bath."
Clark chuckled. "Here. Um, let me help you step in, okay? And then I'll take the robe. I won't look. Promise."
"Clark... At this point, you've seen everything. You saw my bare ass all night, and my dick on and off. It doesn't bother me." And maybe his body might appeal to Clark where he was pretty sure his face wouldn't. You worked the things you knew would actually get a guy going.
Still. There was that charming blush again, and the sweetest little curve of mouth. "Yeah, but you were hurt then, and not awake. It was easier, you know. Not to. Think about it. And now, your eyes are open, and that's different."
Lex started to untie the robe, mouth twitching. "Why?"
Clark glanced down at the floor, lashes brushing his cheeks. "Because you're, um... you're much more... You're very... When you're awake, you're incredible, Lex. When you're sleeping, that's different. You're sleeping. And hurt. And now you're awake and hurt, but... It's different."
"If it helps? I'm still seeing blurs because that shit Toby gave me really lasts," Lex grinned. And then he made a point to drop the robe off of his shoulders and onto the floor. It didn't even matter if he wasn't sure he could left his leg high enough to get into the tub.
It didn't matter at all.
"Let me help," Clark offered, shutting the door behind them so that they'd have some privacy. Lex couldn't lift his legs, and Clark was good at helping him. A hand on his thigh, one behind his back, and damn. That wasn't the right reaction to have just now. Well, it was, but it wasn't.
"Sorry." Lex almost had the humility to grimace, and maybe he blushed. He wasn't keeping track of it, since his body just seemed to be a mess of reactions he wasn't in any control of just then.
Clark didn't seem to mind, though. Thank God. He just grinned and helped to shift Lex into the tub. "Um. I'm flattered?"
Now he felt stupid, but just smiled more. Then the smile faded into something so much more appreciative as his skin hit hot water at last. "Oh, shit... that's good but bad. Wow."
"It doesn't hurt too much, does it?" So solicitous, the way that Clark asked after him, hands gentle on him as he was at last settled into the tub carefully. "I'll help you turn over, so that you're not resting too hard on it..."
It being his busted up ass and not his dick, Lex guessed. That part of him shouldn't have even been able to get up, but there it was as Clark settled him into his hip. "That's enough. I think I'll feel like I'm drowning if I turn over much more."
Clark nodded and pulled back, hanging the robe on the hook at the back of the door. "I'll go get towels," he reminded Lex. "There's some gel soap there that I went ahead and got in your room, 'cause I thought, you know. That might be good. And some other stuff that I put in my room..."
Who knew what Clark had seen in Lex's room that he though -- Oh. Shit. Half of Lex's stuff was monogrammed.
He had to know. Unless he didn't pay attention. Fuck. It was enough to make him almost go tense again. Lex would have, too, if he hadn't been in nice steamy hot water up to the side of his face, an elbow propping him up.
The hot water was enough to turn him into mush even without the drugs, but... Clark hadn't acted that differently. Not really. Had he? He'd been protective when he got back, even if he had kind of backed down from Parker. But then, Parker was obviously with the frat and had obviously seriously injured Lex and was therefore probably scarier than sarcastic guys peeing on their shoes.
Parker hadn't been in on it, but Clark didn't know that. Clark just guessed that if Lex knew him, he was bad news. Which was sort of sad, since Parker was the least 'bad-newsy' of them all. Of all people who'd probably ever been in that shithole frat.
His father included.
God. His dad. He could just hear it now, the whole spiel about not being good enough, not smart enough, weak, blah. Lex wasn't ready to move on to purely pissing off his father yet, though he'd definitely given it a lot of thought lately. He still wanted for his dad to love him. Just... it didn't seem likely. Ever.
And the more that he thought about it, the less it seemed that love was worth getting his ass beaten for. Fuck the frat. He could be better than that. Hell, he could get that branch shut down and kicked out of Metropolis.
Yeah, that was a great thought. He shifted a little onto his stomach, propped himself up on both elbows, and smiled to himself, chin deep in water. He'd get them all completely screwed, their charter dropped, and the frat banned. And all it would take would be a few pictures and a little humiliation on his part. Not too bad, since they'd already dealt out plenty of that, anyway.
He'd just need to plan ahead and... think like a Luthor a little.
Lex was still smiling to himself when Clark came back in with towels. The only difference was that he was halfheartedly scrubbing himself with soap that smelled like jasmine and mint.
"Wow," Clark said, sniffing. "That smells really good. What is that, anyway?" He set the towels down carefully in the small chair in the corner farthest from the tub.
Lex was halfway through leaning on one elbow so he could slosh water over his scalp when Clark asked that, so it took him a minute to answer. "Just some stuff I bought. It's a good wake-up smell, you know?"
The way that Clark breathed in deeply said that he agreed. "Mmmm. Yeah. It's nice. Better than Zest, even. Are you feeling better?"
"Yeah. The hot water really does feel good. And my ass isn't greasy anymore. Or at least. It's not covered in dried gel." Which was at least as discomfiting as being covered by a more natural dried gel than what Toby had slathered him with.
Lex decided not to say anything about that to Clark.
"I can just imagine. He left some of that stuff in the room, but I promise not to slather on as much. I think maybe you should take some more of that medicine, too, whenever you're ready to get out."
"What did he leave? I... can't really remember," Lex admitted as he sloshed more water over his shoulders before sinking into the water again. It really did feel good, even if it was starting to go cold.
"Something called soma, and some antibiotic numbing gel of some sort. I think he left some gauze and stuff, too, just in case you wanted to cover up during the day, but that whole letting the skin breathe sounds like a good idea to me," Clark answered.
"Is that some farming medical knowledge, or...?" Or did he just like looking at Lex's ass.
"Not really?" Clark answered shyly, smiling at him in that sweet way he had. "I mean, Mom always told Dad it was good to wash dishes if he had a cut on his hand, and that kind of thing, but I think she was just teasing."
"Maybe she was just trying to get him to wash dishes," Lex mused. He felt warm and sleepy, but not in a hazed out way for the moment, which was a relief. "Maybe it's the same for my backside."
"That, too," Clark laughed a little. "Come on. Want some help getting out of there? And probably drying off, too."
He didn't want to leave the water, even if it was starting to go cold. Except that maybe he'd be trading warm water for Clark's warm bed... which was a definite plus. "That sounds great."
"Here." Clark was by the tub, offering his hand, and he'd probably get wet, but that didn't seem to bother him. "Come on. Pull on me, so that you won't slip, okay?"
"Thanks." It was hard enough to get up from his stomach when he'd been laying in water, while trying to avoid the pain at the same time. It was easy to grab onto Clark's hand, and give a counterpoint to his weight while pushing himself up with his other hand.
No mere sissy bitch could do a one-handed pushup in water with a whipped ass.
"There we go." Clark didn't seem impressed, but... Well, Lex could see that Clark had muscles all over the place. He probably didn't even realize that most people couldn't do that kind of thing. "So, I'm betting that you probably feel a whole lot better, all things considered, huh?"
It was going to take an act of god to properly impress Clark, Lex decided as he clutched at Clark's hand a little for steadiness. "Yeah. And I'm clean, too."
"Well, there is that." Clark was grinning, helping him out of the tub. The hand on his hip helped to steady him, true, but it felt... well. It felt nice. Very nice. And the towel being wrapped around him felt even nicer. It smelled like some kind of cheap detergent like Lex had seen commercials for. His own was something special made because of the sensitivity of his skin since the accident, the lack of hair making him more susceptible to allergic reaction with the wrong chemicals, but once wouldn't hurt. Not when it felt so nice.
Maybe Clark was going out of his way to make things... different from what Lex was used to -- if he could even guess at what Lex was used to -- as a way of getting him to turn back from the frat. It was working. Damn, it was working good, because he felt like if he could get his knees to stop quivering every so often, he would've marched to the LuthorCorp building and talked to his father.
"I've been accused of having neurotic issues about cleanliness."
"I'm a farm kid. Believe me, I understand. You get teased enough about shoveling out the barn, and you get to be pretty neurotic about bathing, too." Clark was... drying him, and it was making him hard again, but Clark wasn't saying anything about it. Was he uninterested, or was it just because he was injured and Clark didn't want to press him?
And how the hell had he gone so ditzy over somebody in less than a twenty-four hour period? When he'd spent most of the last twelve or fifteen hours drugged unconscious?
It didn't hurt that he'd been eyeing him occasionally in the hallway. But even that didn't explain it. Or why Clark seemed to be so damned helpful to him. He'd never gone ditzy over a guy before. "I bet you did," Lex murmured, and he couldn't help but shift so that Clark could dry him with more ease.
"There. Here, turn around a little, and I'll... I promise I won't hurt," Clark swore, eyeing Lex's backside. "Everything looks a lot better. Purple. But better."
"I heal up pretty well," Lex grinned to himself as he reached a hand out to steady himself on the wall. "And between you and Toby, I had a couple of Miracles helping me along."
"Yeah, well. That makes a great advantage, then, doesn't it?" Clark snickered a little. "Toby, though. He's, ah. Different. Is he a real doctor, or what?"
"He's a real doctor. Barely. Not because he's not good, but, you know." Lex made the universal sign for joint-smoking. "Dad found him for me."
"Your dad? Clark shook his head and wrapped the towel gently around Lex's waist before lifting the robe and draping it over his shoulders. "Mine would be a whole lot more likely to call the sheriff."
"What, if he met Toby?" Lex grinned. "I bet your sheriff wouldn't have cool stories about touring with the Rolling Stones."
"If Sheriff Ethan had cool stories about touring with the Rolling Stones, half the county would roll over in their graves and the other half would topple into them. Now, come on. We'll get you settled back in with meds and stuff."
Lex moved his hands finally to tug the robe closer around him. "I meant it when I said I'd help you study whatever, Clark."
"It's okay, Lex." Clark smiled at him, and it sent a shiver down into his crotch. "I'm pretty much caught up on my homework." That smile turned devilish. "Unless you want me to read to you, of course."
It was impossible to not return that smile with his own wicked smirk. "If we reach the end of your spaceman book, I've got a couple that might interest you..."
"Oh, really, now...?" Clark asked as they headed out through the swinging door and back towards the hall. "Why don't you tell me all about it, Lex..."
It didn't matter that Parker had seen him, and it didn't matter that he was still sore and shaky. Lex Luthor was going to have a great rest of his weekend.
So far, this week-sans-frat thing was really enjoyable. Lex hadn't felt so stress and tension free in months, maybe ever, and the fact that Clark was a huge part of the week thus far was certainly an added endorsement for going frat-free forever.
It seemed pretty obvious to Lex that Clark would be more than a little disappointed if he stuck with the frat thing. It didn't matter that he'd already devoted two months and more to trying, because his new friend -- who actually acted like a friend -- was helping him to see that he didn't have to be treated like shit to be accepted.
He'd still felt like he owed Clark dinner.
So, that was a good thing to do for a Thursday night, he decided. Maybe go and pick up some Chinese and run it back to Clark's dorm, they could sit and he could watch Clark try and work with chopsticks. It would be cute. And if he was lucky, they could exchange smelly kisses sometime before he went back to his own room.
A guy could dream, anyway.
It would've been really polite of him to call and ask Clark first, but that also would've been just a little too formal to Lex's tastes. Best to keep things off the cuff and fun for as long as possible.
Hopefully, that would be a really long time. Maybe nobody would explain to Clark exactly who he was. It wasn't like Clark had asked, after all, or like he treated Lex any differently than he did anybody else.
That shouldn't have bothered Lex the way that it did. Except that he was bothered by it, by the fact the knowledge that yeah, everything could come crumbling down on him like that proverbial house of cards.
Lex knew what crumbling felt like when he walked past the dorm, intent on heading down the street to the Chinese place, and saw his dad's limo in the parking lot.
Shit.
Shit.
He wasn't ready to face his dad yet. He hadn't come up with a cogent argument against keeping up the rush, and his dad would want something more than simply convincing. Lionel would want...
Lionel wanted everything. There was no other way to put it.
He couldn't exactly walk past the dorm and go get Chinese when he knew that his father was waiting for him. Fetching dinner would have to wait, because Lex was veering towards the limo, trying to ignore the black-tinted windows. His father was either inside, or he was watching him from within the limo.
Either way, it made him feel damn grim.
The window rolled down, answering that question. "Son."
Lex paused, lingering back from the window a step. "Hi, Dad. What's brought you here?" He hadn't dome anything wrong. There wouldn't be any disturbing reports from professors about his behavior.
"Isn't it a father's duty to worry about his son?" That was Lionel, all right. Never his duty as a father, but the duty of a father. They were very different things. "I was checking in with you. Apparently, the president of the fraternity is quite worried that you've stopped rushing, Lex."
Time to bite the bullet. "That's because I have," Lex said casually. Like it was nothing. "I'd rather concentrate on my studies."
"Lex, Lex, Lex." Shit. Shit. Here it came. "Son. I've gone to a great deal of trouble to be sure that you would be offered a spot in the fraternity. You simply have to be man enough to stick these things out, and then you'll have all the time you like to concentrate on your studies." He sighed. "This will be important to you, Lex. It will provide you a great many networking opportunities..."
"None of them like me." He offered that quickly, then went on, "And I've stuck it out, Dad. I have. Friday crossed the line. If I stuck it out any more, I'd be a moron. Didn't Toby talk to you?"
"Yes, yes. But he said you were fine, and you obviously are, Lex. It's nothing but a little hazing. You're man enough to take it, surely."
He leaned into the window, palm settling over the lowered glass. "It was just me. All the other guys got one hit. They beat me bloody, until I passed out, and abandoned me in the quad. I'm not going back there."
"You are, Lex. I've spent too much time and money on this matter, and it's too important for you to remove yourself now."
His fingers clenched into the leather interior. "No. I don't want a damn thing to do with those guys."
"You'll do it, Lex, or I'll cut off any and all funding you might ever hope to receive. Don't embarrass me, son. I won't have it."
Lex drew back, staring into the depths of the limo that his father was fucking hiding in. "Even if I go back to rushing, they're not going to have anything to do with me. I'll be a member in name only..."
"Do whatever you have to do, Lex. You do whatever you have to do." And now that his hands were gone, now that he'd pulled back, the window was going up. Dammit!
"You can't make me join those idiots if they don't exist any more!" Lex snarled as he took another step backwards.
The window just kept rolling up, though, and the limo was pulling away.
Damn his father! Damn Lionel, damn him. Everything had to be about him, and about doing things HIS way.
And fuck if Lex existed as anything but a third arm for him. God-Dammit. Lionel meant the threat of cutting him off, too. Lionel would, could do it. He had it in his heart. Or more exactly, he lacked the heart to probably care if he did it.
Lex clenched his fists as he walked backwards from the retreating limo, supper nearly forgotten. He was going to have to go back. He didn't have any choice but to go back, and he didn't want to. They weren't worth his time or his trouble or...
God.
He needed money. He needed to be secure, couldn't... couldn't imagine being anything but. What would he do if he couldn't pay tuition? He had to pay tuition. And have a place to stay.
Lex didn't want to, but he was going to have to go back. And disappoint Clark.
There weren't enough words to encompass the wild, swelling emptiness and nausea combining in the pit of his belly. Disappointing Clark. When had it become so important not to do that? Clark was just... he was just so honest, and so sweet, and... And, oh, God.
God. He was just a mess when it came to Clark, like no one else. And Lex could just feel that his father had managed to sink his happy ship. He didn't want to run upstairs to get Clark for dinner anymore. He wanted to... fuck. Anything but go back there.
Anything but screw all of this up, when he was just starting to feel like maybe there was somebody who liked him for him, and not for the strings he could pull or the names that he knew.
All Clark had seemed to want from him was a promise to not go back there. To just fuck the idea of rushing. There was no way he could go back to his dorm, see Clark, and not tell him what he had to do. Tell him who he was and why it was just hopeless for him to rebel.
At least, in that one thing.
He waited until the limo had pulled out into the road again, then looked up towards the window before he started back towards campus. No, he just couldn't face Clark like that.
He just couldn't.
Parker's damn dog was lifting its leg on the front steps of the frat house. Couldn't he walk the thing a little further out, at least? Maybe in the yard, where they made the rushes sleep now and again...
"Yo. Luthor. You're back," he greeted, one hand reaching up to run through hair that was already waving around a little more wildly than usual. "I wasn't expecting to see you, what with your little boyfriend and all."
"Yeah, well." The 'fuck you' that wanted to come to his lips didn't happen, because it was too much expression. He wanted to be blank, be cold. like his father. It made it easier. "I figured that maybe I should finish rushing after all."
Parker grunted. "Your old man came by, huh?"
Damn. What was WITH this guy? Did he just know everything, or did he fake knowing everything, or what?
Before Lex could say anything else, the other guy rolled his eyes. "Mine did the same thing, at the time. Stick to it. It'll be all right."
Lex shrugged with his hands fisted into his pockets. It wasn't how he wanted to spend his evening. He could've... just risked it, and been sitting eating dinner with Clark. Laughing about chopsticks and homework. "You think it will be? I was thinking that it's either finish, or get the charter revoked. Hazing is against university law, after all..."
Both of Parker's brows rose. "I wouldn't suggest trying it, myself. The president used to be a member, way back. Different college, but still." The guy shrugged. "You're behind in the points. Better get your ass inside if you want to try and make them up."
"I'd think that I'd have made them up for what I went through on Friday," Lex said tightly, pulling his hands out of his pockets and shoving them into his jacket as he started up the stairs. "See you guys."
He could hear Hootie growl behind him, and Parker murmuring to him that he could bite Lex later. If that little bag of bones bit him, Lex was going to kick it clear across the room. See how he liked that.
His father was mad if he thought the damned frat was worth his time. Lex shook a hand free of warm cloth long enough to push the door open, and then he stepped into the disorganized, messy abyss that was beyond.
"Whoa! It's pussy Luthie!" somebody yelled, and a drenching stream of what had to be mayonnaise slathered itself upside his head.
They were all going to be very lucky if he didn't have hits taken out on them.
"Jesus fucking -- what the hell kind of welcome back is this, huh?!" he snarled, lifting a hand to wipe it from his bare scalp. That was what he got for not wearing a hat.
"Hey, don't be such a pussy." The president himself was coming forward, smirking more than a little. "I mean, you've been laying on your ass for days, Luthor."
That comment got way more laughs than it deserved.
Parker had to have told them about Clark. Except that it didn't make any sense for them to even bother about that. He flung the goo onto the floor, and tried to not glare at the president. "Har har. I can see that you've been brushing up on the finer points of comedy while I was gone."
"Oh, come on. Get your head out of your ass, Luthor. We're getting close to the end, boyo! The other night, well, it got a little out of hand, maybe, but you're doing great! Now, come on in. Tonight's funneling!"
He scraped his fingers palm over his head one more time, scraping what he hoped was the last of it off of his scalp. "Yeah, cause I just really want to get drunk with you guys."
"Yeah?" Damn. The guy's eyes were narrowing. "So, what? You've decided to stop pledging? Because that's totally okay with us, man. I mean..." His eyes snaked down Lex and then back up again, insulting sort of rake. "All things considered."
He snorted, looking back with narrowed eyes. "I just want to finish pledging. All things considered, Friday should've gotten me enough points. Unless you beat everyone unconscious after I left, and I just happened to miss the fun."
"Not exactly. But I'm gonna tell you, you've really gotta get your head out of your ass or just go home, dude."
Head out of ass, or go home. Head out of ass, or go home. Get drunk off his ass with people he'd rather kill than trust, or go eat dinner with Clark and wonder what model of refrigerator box he should start picking out for his next place of residence.
Lex forced a grin onto his mouth. "It's cool. We might as well get toasted tonight."
"BOO, YAH!" came the cry from various parts of the room. It made Lex just a little nervous when one of the older frat members came forward with a funnel.
"Just to get you started, dude..."
Boo.
Lex reached for the funnel, though, grinning a little as he wiped mayo on the guy's hand. "Just to get me started, huh?"
"Yeah. Just to get you started..."
Fuuuck.
This wasn't going to be any fun at all.
It was midnight.
X-ray vision really sucked when all it got you was an empty room with an empty bed.
The last time he'd done that had been last Friday. And then he'd found Lex down in the quad, hurt and desperately in need of someone to talk to. It was kind of sad, but sweet, and Lex was really a great guy.
A great guy who'd skipped out on having dinner with him.
It could be that something had happened. Clark was more than willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. Or it could be that Lex wasn't interested in him, and he was tired of hanging out.
That would suck even more.
He was still more willing to bet on 'something happened' over 'bored of Clark'. Particularly since when they'd run into each other on the way to class -- in that very planned 'running into each other' way -- Lex had been trying to wheedle out of Clark what kind of food he liked best while simultaneously trying to get him to taste some triple-shot crème-menthe mocha latte chino.
Or whatever.
In any case, Clark had really been expecting him. He'd known that Lex was coming, would have sworn it on a stack of bibles. He had all of the books for his porn-lit class ready, and all of his other homework done, and....
Clark heaved a sigh. There was no Lex, and he really should've been thinking about getting to sleep or doing something instead of getting alternatively pitiful and pissed off. He'd stood enough people up during high school, but he'd forgotten how much it stung when the shoe was on the other foot.
It was time to go looking for Lex. Just in case something had happened. Or maybe he'd gotten into a really cool experiment in the lab.
That could have happened. And Clark might learn something neat and new, because Lex always knew the great science stuff.
The thought alone was enough to make him feel better. That gave him something to do and got him out looking for Lex, just to be sure he was all right. Just to be sure that... well...
That Lex hadn't gotten hurt. That Lex hadn't had a run-in with his frat buddies, particularly since Lex had outright ignored a couple of the guys earlier in the week. Happily ignored them, because he said he preferred Clark's company to those guys.
Thinking that was enough to make Clark speed up in getting dressed again.
His mom had always said it was kind of like watching a fully contained tornado, tiny and spinning in one place. It made her laugh, and that, in turn, made Clark smile more than a little.
Maybe one day, he'd get to show Lex.
It startled him a little that he was thinking of showing Lex something like that. He'd hidden it from so many people, from all the friends he'd had when he was young, from... well, everybody but his parents.
And Lex wasn't exactly honest with him. Well. Forthright was probably the better word. He technically didn't even know Lex's last name, because Lex had cut off anyone who'd started to say it, and avoided really random parts of the city.
Clark had to guess, while he tugged on his boots, that it was well meant. Lex was used to being judged. He could understand that. It didn't bother him that Lex didn't want him to know who he was, exactly. Maybe it bothered him a little more that Lex thought he hadn't caught on, but... that was all right, too.
With a final twist of fingers, he tied his boots and then stood. He was going to find Lex, he decided.
And one way or the other, he'd better be okay.
Everything was fucking spinning.
Everything was fucking spinning, and he didn't want to make his legs move, but they were. Everything was moving, whether he wanted it to or not. And everything that came out of his mouth was garbled as hell.
"Damn 's cold out 're..."
Snickering.
Snickering... EVERYWHERE.
"Yeah, well, man. You're right about that. And you ain't even got any hair on your balls to keep them warm, dude!"
He wasn't quite sure when they'd decided to get him naked and outside by the fountain, but when you were drunk enough, it got hard to process things that Lex knew, knew, that he should've been processing.
"Hey, 'll have you know lots of people find 't sexy. Lots."
Hoots of laughter. "Duuuude." Was that the only word these people knew? Maybe. Maybe. The whole campus was spinning around inside of Lex's head. Whoa. "Especially that hick you've been hanging with?"
"Huh?" It took Lex a minute to figure out what they were talking about, as he took a back step away from their group. "Nah -- I mean, it's not like that. He's a friend. You know." Of course, their idea of 'friend' and most of the world's was pretty different.
"Yeah," somebody leered. Or maybe three of them. Or was it four? "Friend. Dude. You gotta learn to LIE better than that.
How many of these guys were there, anyway?
"I'm not lyin'," Lex protested. There was the scrape of cement against the back of his legs suddenly, and it was enough to make him sit back onto the edge of the fountain. "'m not! He's a friend."
"Pretty good friend, huh?" Wow. Another two of 'em. Oh, boy. Twins. "The kind that might convince you to, say, rat out your frat brothers before you're even accepted? Knowing your daddy's gonna pay your way in, anyway, you freak."
"Like your dads did 'nything different," Lex muttered, leaning back on his hands. Maybe if he concentrated, everything would stop spinning wildly. It wasn't right for them to talk about Clark that way. Clark was good and and pure, and sweet. He was the absolute best guy EVER, not like these jerks. Jerks.
"Pure? Jesus, Luthor, were you taking coke before you came to the house?" one of them spluttered.
"Huh?" Oh, wow. Shit. Did he say that out loud? "What, man? Are you hearing things?" Man was probably the wrong thing to say, since there were a lot of them coming for him then. And they were all fucking swaying in the breeze like... like stalks of corn. Yeah. Clark would appreciate that, if he ever talked to Lex again.
Fucking Lionel. Fucking Chinese food. Fucking...
Fucking WATER, closing over his head, and whoa. That was strangely sobering in a weird fucked up kind of way.
"Just hold him under!" he heard when he managed to force his head up from beneath the surface. "Get it over with! He's drunk enough, they'll think he wondered out and fell in!"
"Jesus fucking Christ, what're you!" And then he was under again, arms flailing wildly for a moment before the sense, maybe the instinct kicked in to claw at their fingers and arms.
People weren't meant to breathe water, and drunk or not, Lex didn't want to die. Just because they thought he was a bastard, he didn't deserve to die. He wasn't a bastard, not the same way that they were, not the same way at all. He'd never killed anybody. He'd never. Never.
Hands everywhere, and fucking God. Fucking God. Fu...
And nothing.
Nothing forever and ever, and he was flying, wild, enjoyable flight. Soaring.
None of that 'life flashing before him' shit. Lex wouldn't have appreciated it anyway. It wouldn't have been very rewarding to see a replay of his life -- that was probably going to be saved for the punishment phase. For the moment there was just Lex, air, and the street lights fading out beneath him in the beautiful Technicolor of a living city.
And in the next moment, there was spluttering, and wet, and green eyes staring down at him. "Lex! Lex!"
He should have known. Maybe he had known, deep down.
Clark was always going to come for him.
He wanted to shout back at Clark or make some grateful exclamation. Instead, Lex vomited booze and water because his whole body had decided that enough was enough.
"Get it out," Clark soothed. "Come on, get it out of your lungs."
Vague, half-heard words, more innately understood than clearly heeded. Still, Lex choked again, trying to drag the last of the ice cold fountain water out through his nose. God. His brain was on fire, and everything burned. He coughed, shuddering and spasming up everything that shouldn't have been there in the first place. It was sweet, desperate relief to suck in air, and it left him dazed.
"C... chh." Cold, Clark, cough, something.
"It's all right," Clark soothed him. "It's all right. They're gone. They can't hurt you anymore." God, and then Clark was gone, and Lex thought he was going to fall, only he wasn't because Clark was right there and he was wrapping a blanket tightly around Lex's shivering shoulders. "It's all right, Lex. Shhh."
He halfway shivered out a word, but sucked in another breath of cold air. "Can't.... feel..." God, it was like he'd run outside in his pajamas into the snow. Worse. Bone deep cold that seemed to stop before his hands, because they were just burning.
God, what the hell had possessed him to go outside naked with frat idiots during the first week of November? Was he completely fucking insane?
Even that thought didn't trickle through all that well, the desperate shivering only increasing.
"I've got you," Clark promised, and then he was lifted, honest to God lifted, and Clark was so strong. So strong. "I'll take you up. I won't let anybody see, Lex, I swear."
"'d they... they go?" He started to cough again, and his shivers had to be having fun with the coughing because they swelled when he did it. It made him want to melt into Clark, desperate to be warm.
"They're gone." It was all Clark would tell him, and shit, maybe they WERE flying, because it felt like it. It did, and Clark's hands were shifting so that the blanket hid Lex's vision... what there was of it, considering he was trying to hack up a lung.
Lex hoped those guys slept like shit for what they'd done.
They were either flying, or Clark was jogging faster than any Olympian ever had. Or Lex was just all fucked up in the head, which seemed fine to Lex just then. There wasn't a thought in his head that was worth thinking about, other than that he was grateful to Clark.
And still drunk off his ass, vomited up booze or not.
"It's okay, baby." Mm. Baby. That was kind of nice, wasn't it? Yeah. Very nice. "I'm going to run you a bath. Can you sit up for me, while I run some water? I won't get it much more than lukewarm. God, how long did they have you out in that weather!?"
They were inside suddenly? He wasn't sure how to answer Clark's question. One minute they'd been stripping him off in the entryway, the next, there was the fountain and a lot of insinuation, and... Lex started to sit up, looking at one hand, the smears of blood on his fingers.
Yeah, he'd gotten one of them good.
"Dunno?"
"Can you tell me what you remember?" So gentle. He had known Clark would be, all long fingers and beautiful hands. Gentle excited Lex so much more than rough ever could.
Everyone wanted rough. Everyone liked rough, but he was sick of it. It didn't have any sheen, and he hated being bruised. His face was probably a fucking mess. But what beautiful hands. Maybe he could get Clark to touch him with those hands sometime when he wasn't hurting? "Remember arguing with 'm in front of the fountain. Then they..."
What had they said, again? "Held me under."
"Shhh." Oh. Oh. Lips were... _infinitely_ better than hands. On his nose, on his forehead, at the crown of his head. "They won't hurt you again, Lex. I don't know why you went back, but I promise. I promise."
He was in the air, then, and in a bath, and where it had all come from, Lex was never going to be quite clear. He wasn't even sure where he was, but maybe that was because bathroom lights all seemed the same and his head was still spinning. "My father... was goin' t' cut me off. It..." It sounded bad when he tried to explain it. It sounded stupid even to him.
"Your dad's a total dickhead, Lex. I mean, sorry, but he is."
Wait.
Clark knew his DAD?
That wasn't right. Something was weird there. Way weird there. And
"Stop it. I'm not plotting against you, Lex. I'm from Smallville. You know. LuthorCorp Plant #3? He closed it two years ago? I know you're not him, but that doesn't make him a good person. Not like you."
Lex probably shouldn't have laughed just then. He wasn't laughing at Clark, but at the whole damned thing. Everything. "Yeah, he's... 's a jerk, yeah. Like you said. Like Toby said, but..."
"But he's your dad." And the water was only warm, Lex knew Clark wouldn't have made it hot, but it felt like his skin was on fire. He just couldn't think to complain. Or maybe... He didn't know.
Just shifted in the water and went as boneless as he could, because maybe the burning feeling would stop soon. "Yeah. 'm sorry. I... was gunna get Chinese food, 'ntil he found me. My head feels so bad, Clark..."
"Your head?" Mmm. Fingers again. Nice. So nice. He was... yeah. "You've got a big lump back here, Lex."
"No hair to cover 't." He closed his eyes, half leaning back against Clark's fingers. "'s that bother you? Half the shit... 's I get from them is 'cause my nuts are bald, too."
"I noticed." Ohhh. Amusement, but... not like theirs. Not like theirs. "Um. Well. It was kind of hard to miss."
"I know." And wow, didn't that sound pathetically mournful of him?
"It's really kind of sexy, though," Clark told him, cupping water up over Lex's head. "I mean. What with everything. Um. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that, huh?"
Shouldn't have said that? Lex wasn't sure whether he was supposed to nod or shake his head to express the answer he wanted. "'s nothing wrong with it," he finally settled on saying. "I think that you're... pretty sexy, too."
That was on thing for him to be grateful about being drunk. He probably wouldn't have said it sober.
"Oh." Wow. That blush. Hm. It was even nice when he was really really drunk. "I'm glad you think so, Lex. I've thought so about you for a really long time," Clark confessed, tenderly washing him. It was helping him to warm up, and it felt too good to be believed.
"Yeah?" Idiot. He sounded like an idiot, and his fingertips were blue turning to a burning shade of purply red. That was the downside of being drunk, and apparently having been drowned. "Wow. So. How'd you find out who I am? Jus'... curious."
"Oh. That." Oh was Clark's favorite word tonight. That was okay, because he was there, and close, warm, and Lex could almost imagine the feel of those curls against his face. He could. "I've always known that. Well, not always-always. But for a long time. Dad thought he recognized you when we were moving in."
"But you..." Lex looked blearily at Clark for a second, trying to not seem as surprised as he was. Clark was from Smallville. People from there hated his family, and he... didn't like it much either. "You're so nice to me."
Broad shoulders shrugged, Clark reaching for something. Lex tensed, but it was just a washcloth. Okay. That was okay. "Yeah, well. My parents always told me not to judge people by anything external. Always go for the important stuff. The stuff on the inside. I think your inside is totally worth ignoring all the things people might say about you, Lex."
"Yeah, but..." Lex felt guilty for standing Clark up, and stupid for having gone back to the frat, and... nine billion other conflicting things. "I'm 'n ass."
Clark obviously disagreed. "No you're not." He paused. "Well, maybe sometimes, but mostly that's just being misguided. I don't think it's actually. You know. Something you mean, Lex. Hey, are you warm enough, do you think?"
He leaned a little against the side of the tub. At least Clark hadn't wholeheartedly ignored the obvious fact that Lex was at least a little bit of an ass. That was strangely assuring to Lex about Clark's intentions. "I guess? Warm 'nough to... not want to be in anymore water tonight."
"Okay." Okay, yeah, and Clark was helping him up, there was a towel and that robe. How had Clark managed to do all of that in no time at all? Lex couldn't even begin to guess, and he was too drunk to think rationally. "I'll take you to my room. You don't have any early classes, do you?"
"Friday. I cheated with my schedule and don't have any on Friday," Lex grinned a little as he clung onto both the robe and Clark. He still felt like there wasn't any energy left in him, or any strength. And his knees were worse than when they'd beaten his ass,
"Good," Clark said, and lifted him again, just like it was nothing else at all. "I've got an early morning class, but after that, I think you should come home with me. At least for the weekend, Lex."
"Go home with you? ... 's that your dorm?" Or did Clark actually go home? It sort of stretched Lex's imagination. After all, his home was just four blocks away, but he didn't go there on weekends.
"Smallville," Clark clarified. "Because I don't think I can count on you to stay out of trouble just because I need to go home and help fix the tractor."
"Oh." That was sort of insulting, but. A weekend in Metropolis, without Clark, after his frat 'brothers' had just tried to kill him wasn't appealing to Lex. No. He'd come close enough to dying young in the last week that he wasn't going to put up with it anymore. "So when Dad disowns me, you won' laugh at my coffee shop job, Clark?"
"I'll come every night to walk you home," Clark promised him, turning sideways to slip through the shower room door and out into the hallway. "I'll help support your coffee habit. I'll help fill out scholarship forms, Lex."
Wow.
"Just stop me from drinking my paychecks," Lex murmured. So warm, and it didn't really matter that they were walking... well, Clark was walking down the still somewhat lively hallway carrying him. He closed his eyes, wanting to give into a sleep that hopefully wouldn't involve flying and death metaphors.
Wouldn't be all tangled up in the whispers Lex could hear, murmurs, derogatory remarks.
"I promise you," Clark said gently, turning around the wide corner. "Close your eyes, Lex. Go to sleep. We're almost there, anyway."
"Thanks." It was mumbled, and Lex only thought he said it. Or maybe he thought it loudly, because he did drift off just like that, in Clark's arms before Clark could even get to his room.
