THE NEARNESS OF YOU

Chapter Two: Answer the Phone

Clark’s poor parents.  Their son the ever-constant mood swing.  One minute elated, the next practically despondent, and they’d no clue what it was in regards to.

Lex hadn’t called that night.

Clark figured that once the passion and the hard-on had worn off, Lex had gotten a little angry at him for the way he had reacted to the boy’s need to leave, and Clark couldn't blame him.  Lex had completely understood Clark's obligation on Tuesday and, though it wasn't the exact the same set of circumstances, it was pretty close.  If anything Lex had more crucial incentives for departing.  Though it was hard for Clark to think of Lex as anything but, well, Lex, he was a business man with a considerable weight on his back and a schedule that demanded well-set priorities.  That he had even taken the five minutes he did to be with Clark...

It said enough about his significance in Lex's world.

“So selfish,” he said aloud.  "And so stupid."

Laying on his bed that night, he’d been replaying the scene in his mind over and over again for hours now.  Lex's hands on his stomach and chest.  Teasing his nipples and chewing on his lower lip.  Clark's own hand on Lex's hard cock and Lex's headlong thrusts.  The memory of the sounds Lex had made, the moans, the pants and, oh God, the 'please'...  It was all bringing his dick to a throbbing salute, but he tortured himself with both the lack of relieving this pressing urgency, and by instilling the memory of his own miserly and skeptical thoughts.

It had been absurd to think that this- this thing was only about sexual pleasure for Lex.  By allowing that to even cross his mind, Clark had been reverting Lex back into the Luthor image that most in town still carried, including Clark's own father.  And he hated himself for that.

Lex cared.  Deeply.  It was in those anguished eyes.  They seemed to light up when he was around.  Clark just had to take note and memorize the look next time.  That way he could always carry it with him.

In the same breath that he understood Lex felt for him, he was also in a new and confusingly unorthodox situation, and he just wasn’t sure what to expect with.  A relationship with someone as unique- and busy- as Lex was going to be difficult.

“Relationship.”  He smiled at that and started to drift off.

+_+_+_+_+

He had gone to school Friday, catching several looks from Lana.  They'd missed each other on the half-day, and no school on Thursday meant a definite lack of possible encounters.

He had echoed the looks from Lana, and in return they both received several worried glances from Whitney.  Clark smiled at this, suddenly seeing Fordman in a completely different light.  A comprehending one.

Lana and he eventually found time during lunch to talk, if anyone could call it that.  It had been a very brief chat as Chloe and Pete had stared on, gaping at a nonchalant Clark talking to his crush of so many years.

He'd gotten the gist of their disjointed conversation.  Lana- who practically had to speak in code thanks to the gawking, eavesdropping leeches he often called best friends- had guessed her advice went over well when Nell had to call Lex.  She told Clark that she had to keep from laughing as Nell complained about how much Lex worked and how busy and tired he seemed.  Of course Clark could not have disclosed just what Lex had hung up on Nell for, but Lana told him that she knew something good had happened because Lex had never not called precisely when he said he would.

Clark’s smile had faltered at her words and his heart caved in a little as she walked away.  Though Lex had never given an exact time for Clark to expect his call, Clark had gotten the impression that Lex had intended to do it later that night.

Once school had ended and he was back home, he had to keep himself from running in from his chores every ten minutes to ask his mother if anyone had called.  He knew that with his recent mood swings and trips to Lex’s, if he was checking with her like she was 'Lost and Found' and he was the little boy who’d just lost his puppy…  He was sure Martha would be able to put two and two together once Lex called.

If he did.

+_+_+_+_+

Clark didn’t have to check every ten minutes.  Or every hour.  Or every other hour.  He didn’t even have to check once.  Lex never called.  So he was kept up yet another night, tossing and turning, aroused and worried about what he had done wrong, or what he hadn’t done right.

“Shit!”

He was out the window and halfway to Luthor manor, before he even realized just what he was doing.  And he didn’t care.  He didn't care if anyone saw him, least of all Lex, didn't care if he had to tear down a brick wall to get to his lover.  He just wanted to feel the warm weight in his arms, the breath.

Then he reached the gates of the imposing castle.  Nothing about the place had ever really intimidated him before, but now…  He could only think of Lex behind the gate, the walls and him in front of it all.  The barriers between them.

Until Lex called him back, that was the way he apparently wanted it.

Superpowers, he thought, worrying his lower lip, can be dangerous sometimes.

He was determined to make sure that this was NOT one of them.

Control.  Lex had a lot of it over him, unwitting as it was, but not so much that Clark was going to let the older boy inadvertently make him careless, thoughtless as to how he was acting and insouciant to the resulting consequences.

He was determined to stay strong if anything.

So he was back in his bed in no time, wishing he had the guts to speed up and into Lex’s room, ravishing the boy and his body, listening to the sweet sounds of sexual bliss coming from his lover and all the while apologizing for anything he might have done wrong, just begging Lex to please forgive him for whatever it was.

+_+_+_+_+

Lex called Saturday at seven in the morning.

"Clark."  Lex sighed, sounding as relieved as Clark had felt when his mother had handed him the phone.

"Lex... hi."

Too breathy.  Martha would notice.

"God, I miss you."

Clark closed his eyes, all of the worries of why Lex hadn't called, the acid in his stomach, the pounding in his head, the tightness in his throat, the constant symptoms of stress caused by his previous actions...  It all vanished, along with the sight of the world around him, at the tone in the young Luthor's voice.

Lex would explain.  It was not Clark's fault.  It would be okay.

Clark was warm all over.

He opened his eyes again and cleared his throat, a little preoccupied, but not at all overlooking what Lex's voice was doing to him physically.  Lex's phone call would better be received in private.  "Hold that thought,"  he said.  "I have to change phones."  He handed it back to his mother and told her he was going to take the cordless from the den into his room.

Hoping she didn't notice the strange tightness in his voice, he gritted his teeth and left the kitchen.  He grabbed the phone from the living room and, fighting hard not to use his fastest speeds, walked quickly up the stairs.  He was lucky his mother had been washing the breakfast dishes, otherwise it would have been conspicuous as to why he needed to head for a more private locale.

This could get somewhat complicated, he thought.  At least depending on how often Lex calls.

In his room, he closed the door behind him and turned on the phone in time to hear his mother laugh.  A genuine, honest laugh.  Clark was once again grateful that Martha was that much more open-minded about Lex than Jonathon, and so much more hospitable.

He cleared his throat.

"Oh, sorry, honey," she said.  "It was nice talking to you, Lex."

Genuine.  Clark smiled.

"You too, Mrs. Kent."

There was a click as his mother hung up and Clark plopped down on his bed.

"I'm sorry I'm calling so early, I just haven't been able to get away."

"Get away?"

He heard a sigh.  "Yeah.  You remember that little meeting that I had to attend?"

Clark picked at a fraying strand of material on his bedspread. Gee, Lex, he thought.  You mean the one where I acted like a complete ass? How could I forget?

He felt an uncomfortable need to lighten the mood.  "Don’t tell me it just ended."

Lex snickered.  "No, no.  Just in the middle of it my father got a call that one of our chairholders was dying."

"What?" Clark ask, alarmed.

"Oh, don't worry.  Old age.  Very old age.  Just his time to cash out...  Lucky bastard went peacefully in his sleep not long after I arrived.”

Clark didn’t like the tone in Lex’s voice.  Tight and bitter, hinting that the older boy doubted that his own end would be so serene and fulfilling.  So merciful.  Clark wondered what could make Lex sound so desolate.

“Lucky.”

“Yeah.”  There was a brief pause in which Lex was no doubt contemplating death and it made Clark a little nervous.

“Anyway,” he said, hoping to urge Lex forward.

“Right, right.  Anyway, my father sent me to work out the different estate changes and whatnot.  Hold on a sec."

"'Kay."  There was a brief click and then a too long silence.  Just as Clark started to fear they'd been disconnected, he heard the click again and Lex's voice came back to him, even clearer than before.  "Still there?"

He shivered and closed his eyes.  It was like Lex was right beside him talking in his ear.  If he concentrated, he could probably feel those teasingly soft lips brush against his skin.

"Hello?"

"Still here."

"Like I was saying, I had to fly to Gotham City-"

"Gotham?"

"Yes.  Why?"

"Nothing, it’s just- far away."

"Tell me about it.  I didn't call you earlier because I had no time to."  There was a yawn.  "Well, that's not entirely true.  I had two fairly lengthy helicopter rides once I got into the city, but I figured it wouldn't be conducive to conversation if I phoned you from there.  Me yelling over the rotors, not able to hear a word you say, but the pilot hearing everything I'm saying-"

"Right."

There was another yawn and Clark could actually hear Lex moving around.  With his eyes closed it was if Lex were...  "What are you doing?"

"I'm in bed."

Clark's heart started to pound in overdrive, draining the battery his mind and mouth normally ran on.

"Clark?"

Lex.  In bed.  It just seemed incredibly intimate.  And despite what they'd done to each other, they had yet to do anything there, and just to think of Lex in bed…

Images filled his mind.  Soft sheets, fluffy pillows, lazy warmth...

Or hot, wet mouths and even hotter, naked bodies-

"Clark?"

"Sorry."  He chuckled.  "Little bit of daydreaming."

It was Lex's turn to be quiet.

"It's almost eight in the morning yet, Lex.  What are you still doing in bed?"

Hmmm…  In bed.

"Actually, it's nine here, but I haven't had the pleasure of a horizontal posture in a little while."

Clark tried to ignore the obvious sexual associations the sentence had and the picture it could easily bring to mind.  "Little while?  Just how little is little to a Luthor, Lex?"

"Whoa.”  Another yawn.  “Sorry, but I didn't quite catch that.  Talk slower."

"How much sleep did you get?"

"I slept a bit on the jet the way over, got a couple of naps in between the meetings here and-"  He paused.  "In the limo to Earl Grenfield's house yesterday.  That was about two hours and a half, so maybe… five hours total."

"That was it?  The past few days and that's all?"

"Yup."

Clark lied down.  "You know, I'm in bed, too."

"Are you?"  He could hear the change in the tone, dark and suggestive.  He could practically see Lex's steel blue eyes narrow and almost shivered in response.

"Well, on bed," he explained.  "And fully dressed.  But it's the same difference."

"What are you wearing?"

Clark blushed.  "Uh-"

"Whatever it is, I'm sure it complements the blush, Clark."

He smiled.  "You could hear that, huh?"

"Hear it? I could feel it."

Clark wondered if Lex could feel his heart.  "What are you wearing?"

"Satin pajamas."  A cool and immediate reply.  Ready to play.

"Black?"

"How'd you guess?"  Rhetorical and a bit self mocking.

Clark lifted his legs onto the bed and pushed himself into the middle.  He brought his pillow to him and snuggled into it, bringing it length-wise against his body, wishing it was Lex, wanting to see how the no doubt jet black of the boy's pajamas set off the pure white of his skin.

"No underwear though."

And how fast he could strip them off, leaving nothing but skin, smooth, smooth skin, to touch.  To lick.  "About the pajamas-"

"Want me to take them off?"

He took a deep breath.  "Actually, I was only going to ask if the top had buttons or if it was the slip-on kind."

"Button.  But you could get it off me pretty fast.  That is, if you were wondering."

How did he know?

"Of course, I'd prefer you just rip them off me."

Now he really wished the damned pillow was Lex.  "Would you take them off?" he asked quietly, suddenly shy.

This time it was Clark that was rewarded with a moment of silence.  "Lex?"

The boy cleared his throat lightly.  "If you asked.  Really nicely."

He almost laughed.  Lex was trying to maintain the upper hand.  "You'd want me to rip them off you, but I have to ask nicely to get you to take them off?"

"Yes."

“To take them off for me?”

“Yes.”

"Well..." He blushed a deeper shade than usual, tightened his hold on the pillow, and continued quietly, but firmly.  "What if I ordered you to take them off?"

A moment.  "God, Clark."  There was a slight groan and Clark smiled as he felt himself harden in response.  “You have no idea what that thought is doing to me.”

The fact that Lex was almost seven hundred miles away and hard made him feel elated and lonely at the same time.  "I can guess," he said.  "You called me from bed.  I don’t have to wonder what you’re up to."  He laughed at his own accidental play on words.

Lex didn't.  "'Up to'.  Oh, you're a funny guy, Clark."

“Mr. Grumpy.  Did you just now wake up or something?  I mean I know you're still in-”

A brief sigh filled the air, cutting him off. "Actually, I got here, uh- the pent house 'here', at about four."

He let go of the pillow.  "AM?"

"Yeah. I didn't know what time you and yours got up-"

"Dad gets up at five thirty, I get up at six, and my mom at six thirty."

"Thanks for the run-down," Lex mumbled humorously.

"You were saying."

"Right.  Didn't know what time, so I just worked on the numbers and the Grenfield account remise until six thirty.  I took a really long shower, then called you, figuring you have to be up at least by seven."

Clark sat up slowly.  He was astounded.  "I thought you'd already been to sleep."

"Well, I-"

"You've had five hours of sleep maybe total, and you wasted three perfectly good hours waiting up?!  Just to talk on the phone?  With me?"

"I told you, Kent," Lex grumbled.  "I missed you."  His voice got softer.  "And I meant it.  Besides, waiting up was worth it.  I knew it would be."

"Lex-"

"I've done worse, Clark."  He sounded defensive.  "I just..."  He trailed off and Clark waited patiently.  "I just wanted you to tuck me in."

Clark closed his eyes, plopped back down and rubbed his stiff groin.  "Oh, man.  I wish I could."

There was a slight hesitation then Clark heard another shifting.  "I was naked when I first called."

Clark groaned.

"Naked and wet."

Clark laughed.  "I bet my mother would appreciate knowing she was on the phone with a 'naked and wet' Luthor."

"What do you think she found so amusing?"

There was a stunned silence while Clark took in Lex's words.

"Clark?  I was joking.  You think I'd say anything even remotely suggestive to your mother with the way your father feels about me?  My head would be on a flag-pole at your house faster than you could say 'Dead Luthor'."

"I don’t care how I feel about you.  Your head would still be on a flag-pole if you ever said anything suggestive to her."

Lex laughed.  "Actually, I was changing into my pajamas while talking to her. Pants first,” he added quickly.

"Ah.  So my mother's honor remains intact."

Lex laughed again and Clark's chest swelled with delight that he could make this specific person- usually so dismal and intense- jovial.

"CLARK!  Do you expect me to do the farmwork ALONE this morning?!"

He winced.  "No, Dad!  I'll be down in a minute!"

"Christ, Kent!" came a pained voice.

He winced again.  "Sorry, Lex.  I didn't mean to yell like that."

"That's alright."  He sighed.  "Little Lex shriveled up like a turtle at the sound of your father's voice, so I think that takes care of at least one of my problems."

Clark laughed hard.  "It shriveled?"

"Is that what you were laughing at?  I thought you found my name for it amusing."

"Thought it best not to mention, actually."

"Inappropriate adjective, perhaps?"

"I wouldn't say 'inappropriate'."  Clark tried to keep the wicked grin from tainting his voice with mirth.  "Or entirely inaccurate."

"Gee, thanks."

Clark laughed again, unable to believe he was discussing Lex's proportions over the phone.  "Besides, size really do-"

"Doesn’t matter."  Lex finished for him and Clark laughed harder.  "Thanks, so much, Kent."

"Aw, come on.  I'm just kidding."

"I know."  Clark could hear his smile.

"Good."

"Listen, before you go," Lex's tone was suddenly serious and Clark tensed a little.  "I'll be back in Smallville on Wednesday, but then I have to head to Metropolis on Saturday-"

"Jesus, Lex, you're not a robot."

Another sigh.  "Tell that to my father.  It wouldn't normally even matter to me, except…  Except I wanted to spend some more time with you.  And not just hav-"

"CLARK KENT!  Your father needs your help!  RIGHT NOW, YOUNG MAN!!"

He covered the mouthpiece.  "Alright, alright!  Just a second, I promise!!"  He removed his hand.  "Lex, I-"

"I know, I know.  Slave-drivers.  Uh, I probably won't be able to call you again, especially since they know that I’m the one keeping you so…  Will I see you Thursday?"

Clark grinned.  "Absolutely."

"And no meetings this time, I swear."

Clark's grin crumbled and he shut his eyes.  Lex's guilty feelings about that day's bad timing was an odd twist he hadn't been expecting.  "Lex, about that-"

"You haven't got the time right now."

The next sigh was his own.  "I know."

Silence.

"I'll let you go, then, Clark."  Lex wasn't going to hang up first.

"Okay."

Silence.

"Lex?"

"Yes?"

"I love you."

He turned the phone off, instinctively knowing that this was not the right time for Lex to return the words and wanting to leave the conversation with no awkwardness at all.

He headed out of his room, the image of a glistening, snow-white naked body in his mind.  He knew it would be there all day long.

Well, either it would or the tantalizing fantasy of wrenching dark satin pajamas off the same body would take over.
 

To be continued...