HumbugGirl
24th April 2004, 23:19
Title: Shatterproof is not a Challenge
Author: HumbugGirl
Email: humbuggirl@hotmail.com
URL: http://www.geocities.com/oddfiction or http://www.livejournal.com/~humbuggirl
Pairing: Chloe/Lex (friendship)
Rating: PG13
Summary: Post scene filler
Spoilers: S3 ‘Truth’
Disclaimer: Absolutely none of the characters of Smallville or anything to do with the show belongs to me.
Author’s Notes: the title comes from an album by the band Hundred Reasons. This is an odd little fic and it’s mainly been formed the way it has because I couldn’t make a decision of how to write it slowly from one characters point of view.
Feedback: Please.
I. The Power of Truth
Oh she had really gone and done it this time – really, really gone and done it. Of course it hadn’t been intentional but somehow she doubted Lex would believe that considering what she figured he must think of her at that moment and of late overall.
As visions of being hauled off to some torture chamber deep in the bowels of the Luthor mansion filled her mind Chloe couldn’t help but wonder how the hell she had managed to make Lex Luthor cry anyway. He’d always struck her as being made of sterner stuff, she had imagined that even with the ‘truth’ spell that she seemed to be able to cast over people then he would still be able to resist or at least manipulate which truth he told her. In a way it was almost something of a let down, especially after the momentary sensation of glee at success had passed.
Chloe shifted uneasily from one foot to the other, finding she was unable to move further even though there was a very large part of her that wanted to run away. Quickly.
This type of situation simply wasn’t in the Luthor manual. There was not a single entry on how to deal with a man who, although he could make people afraid of their own shadow, was currently right on the verge of crying in front of you.
Chloe bit her lip nervously before moving to take a step towards the man in question. Jerkily Lex turned away from her all over again though not before Chloe had managed to close the distance between them.
“I’m sorry,” she said and found it was all she could say.
II. Clarity is a State of Mind
The image of her is blurred ever so slightly. He knows for a fact that she is wonderfully composed as she always is with her hair styled in a purposefully sexy ruffled way, makeup light and simple because it could be and clothes that followed the slightly casual style that seemed so fashionable of late. At that moment however the only thing he can actually see is a blurry image of a beautiful girl to whom he had just spilled his heart out to.
And she was just stood there, the expression on her face utterly unreadable for him. Inside of Lex there was a vague part of him that knew – as a Luthor first and foremost – that he should have been appalled at the degree of emotion that he’s showing to her while another part feels an equal amount of shame that as a grown man he was exposing himself so much to her, that he was laying onto the girl before him all his troubles. Of course after what had just passed between them, the argument that stepped outside the boundaries of their usual verbal judo and then his abrupt confession, it was suddenly a little difficult to think of Chloe as merely a ‘girl’. And that seemingly minor revelation left Lex stranded unable to lump her in with her contemporaries and thus create a suitable barrier between them.
And then, on top of everything else, there was the reason the threatening tears are overwhelming him. An admission; one that he had not even dared to make to himself and one that is now fluttering around between him and a girl he barely knows but wonders whether he trusts all the same.
III. Spilling Over
And now she really feels like shit. Her hand is on his arm, an uncomfortable presence between them and Lex has apparently been stunned into insensibility by it because he was doing nothing but staring at it.
“Sorry,” she said again because it seemed appropriate. Another part of Chloe wonders whether anything is really appropriate at that moment but she goes ahead anyway. “Really I am. I never know when to shut my mouth and sometimes I just let it run away with me…” Chloe trailed off wondering whether she shouldn’t have kept her mouth closed right at that moment because, she reasoned, he has to be mad with her even without her speaking. Unsurprisingly enough the idea of having Lex mad with her is less than appealing.
Her hand fell from his arm though Chloe could still feel it beneath her fingertips. Gesturing towards the door she said, “I’m just going to…”
Lex looked her full in the eyes and stopped her mid-sentence. He blinked once and one of the tears that had been welling in his eyes spilled over and rolled down his cheek. Chloe watched its path downwards until it slipped into the corner of his mouth and settled there for a second. Abruptly Lex moved a hand up to wipe away the remains, turning away from Chloe as he did and saying, “I’ve never admitted that to anyone.”
“Sorry…”
“No, don’t apologise. I knew full well what I was doing when I asked you here although I suppose I was arrogant enough to assume I would be able to resist.”
Chloe’s head fell to one side as she took in his sincere expression. “Oh,” she said softly.
IV. The Season of Discovery
“In a way it’s a relief,” he said even before Lex realised what he was doing. In truth he had not even meant to tell her that but now he had opened up to her he wasn’t entirely certain that he could stop.
Besides, it was a relief to finally have been forced to explain himself, to not have been able to use the stoic sensibility which had been instilled in him since childhood never mind the get out of jail free card which was his family name. For the first time in a long time Lex realised he was not acting as a Luthor but rather as a man separated from what that name inferred and meant. It seemed to him suddenly that everything he had been feeling since Chloe had forced the confession from him *had* been at least in one fashion or another attached to that sense of relief.
It’s like being able to breathe for the first time in years he thought and with that thought there came an unexpected glee. Oh he wasn’t jumping for joy but he was aware of a fresh level of contentment.
Once again Lex looked towards Chloe. He peered at the way she held herself nervously though with obvious courage and commitment and could not help but smile a little at the sight of her. Before him was a person who had the comparative power to run him and yet she did nothing. She wasn’t badgering him with more questions or pushing him for further explanations. She was just stood there waiting patiently.
Like a friend would do he realised.
V. Everyone Must Learn
She shifted uneasily from one foot to the other, watching as Lex’s face broke out into a wry smile. The sentiment spread, reaching into his eyes and pouring out of them towards her. To Chloe’s infinite surprise a chuckle broke forth from Lex’s lips and rolled over the blonde girl.
Well that was… unexpected.
“I don’t want to argue with you,” he said. “It would do as much good to both as us as arguing with myself would do.” He turned fully towards her, reaching out once again to take hold of her arms and rub them lightly. “I’m the one who should be apologising, I’ve clearly kept things from you and if knowing you has taught me anything it should that *that* is a bad idea.”
“I don’t like secrets,” Chloe said softly. The sensation of his hands on her arms was a heady one for her. It was comforting – almost far too comforting if she was entirely honest with herself and yet of late it was one thing she had sorely missed.
Her features softened as the nervous tension she had been enduring slipping away until it was well out of reach. There settled in her the certainty that Lex had to be telling the truth – he had no choice in the matter - and therefore that meant she could trust him. A smile flickered over her lips and she listened with confidence when he said, “And I have no plans to keep any from you.”
It was, she decided, the oddest discovery she could have made under her present circumstances; she had a friend in Lex Luthor unlike any she had ever made before.
THE END
Author: HumbugGirl
Email: humbuggirl@hotmail.com
URL: http://www.geocities.com/oddfiction or http://www.livejournal.com/~humbuggirl
Pairing: Chloe/Lex (friendship)
Rating: PG13
Summary: Post scene filler
Spoilers: S3 ‘Truth’
Disclaimer: Absolutely none of the characters of Smallville or anything to do with the show belongs to me.
Author’s Notes: the title comes from an album by the band Hundred Reasons. This is an odd little fic and it’s mainly been formed the way it has because I couldn’t make a decision of how to write it slowly from one characters point of view.
Feedback: Please.
I. The Power of Truth
Oh she had really gone and done it this time – really, really gone and done it. Of course it hadn’t been intentional but somehow she doubted Lex would believe that considering what she figured he must think of her at that moment and of late overall.
As visions of being hauled off to some torture chamber deep in the bowels of the Luthor mansion filled her mind Chloe couldn’t help but wonder how the hell she had managed to make Lex Luthor cry anyway. He’d always struck her as being made of sterner stuff, she had imagined that even with the ‘truth’ spell that she seemed to be able to cast over people then he would still be able to resist or at least manipulate which truth he told her. In a way it was almost something of a let down, especially after the momentary sensation of glee at success had passed.
Chloe shifted uneasily from one foot to the other, finding she was unable to move further even though there was a very large part of her that wanted to run away. Quickly.
This type of situation simply wasn’t in the Luthor manual. There was not a single entry on how to deal with a man who, although he could make people afraid of their own shadow, was currently right on the verge of crying in front of you.
Chloe bit her lip nervously before moving to take a step towards the man in question. Jerkily Lex turned away from her all over again though not before Chloe had managed to close the distance between them.
“I’m sorry,” she said and found it was all she could say.
II. Clarity is a State of Mind
The image of her is blurred ever so slightly. He knows for a fact that she is wonderfully composed as she always is with her hair styled in a purposefully sexy ruffled way, makeup light and simple because it could be and clothes that followed the slightly casual style that seemed so fashionable of late. At that moment however the only thing he can actually see is a blurry image of a beautiful girl to whom he had just spilled his heart out to.
And she was just stood there, the expression on her face utterly unreadable for him. Inside of Lex there was a vague part of him that knew – as a Luthor first and foremost – that he should have been appalled at the degree of emotion that he’s showing to her while another part feels an equal amount of shame that as a grown man he was exposing himself so much to her, that he was laying onto the girl before him all his troubles. Of course after what had just passed between them, the argument that stepped outside the boundaries of their usual verbal judo and then his abrupt confession, it was suddenly a little difficult to think of Chloe as merely a ‘girl’. And that seemingly minor revelation left Lex stranded unable to lump her in with her contemporaries and thus create a suitable barrier between them.
And then, on top of everything else, there was the reason the threatening tears are overwhelming him. An admission; one that he had not even dared to make to himself and one that is now fluttering around between him and a girl he barely knows but wonders whether he trusts all the same.
III. Spilling Over
And now she really feels like shit. Her hand is on his arm, an uncomfortable presence between them and Lex has apparently been stunned into insensibility by it because he was doing nothing but staring at it.
“Sorry,” she said again because it seemed appropriate. Another part of Chloe wonders whether anything is really appropriate at that moment but she goes ahead anyway. “Really I am. I never know when to shut my mouth and sometimes I just let it run away with me…” Chloe trailed off wondering whether she shouldn’t have kept her mouth closed right at that moment because, she reasoned, he has to be mad with her even without her speaking. Unsurprisingly enough the idea of having Lex mad with her is less than appealing.
Her hand fell from his arm though Chloe could still feel it beneath her fingertips. Gesturing towards the door she said, “I’m just going to…”
Lex looked her full in the eyes and stopped her mid-sentence. He blinked once and one of the tears that had been welling in his eyes spilled over and rolled down his cheek. Chloe watched its path downwards until it slipped into the corner of his mouth and settled there for a second. Abruptly Lex moved a hand up to wipe away the remains, turning away from Chloe as he did and saying, “I’ve never admitted that to anyone.”
“Sorry…”
“No, don’t apologise. I knew full well what I was doing when I asked you here although I suppose I was arrogant enough to assume I would be able to resist.”
Chloe’s head fell to one side as she took in his sincere expression. “Oh,” she said softly.
IV. The Season of Discovery
“In a way it’s a relief,” he said even before Lex realised what he was doing. In truth he had not even meant to tell her that but now he had opened up to her he wasn’t entirely certain that he could stop.
Besides, it was a relief to finally have been forced to explain himself, to not have been able to use the stoic sensibility which had been instilled in him since childhood never mind the get out of jail free card which was his family name. For the first time in a long time Lex realised he was not acting as a Luthor but rather as a man separated from what that name inferred and meant. It seemed to him suddenly that everything he had been feeling since Chloe had forced the confession from him *had* been at least in one fashion or another attached to that sense of relief.
It’s like being able to breathe for the first time in years he thought and with that thought there came an unexpected glee. Oh he wasn’t jumping for joy but he was aware of a fresh level of contentment.
Once again Lex looked towards Chloe. He peered at the way she held herself nervously though with obvious courage and commitment and could not help but smile a little at the sight of her. Before him was a person who had the comparative power to run him and yet she did nothing. She wasn’t badgering him with more questions or pushing him for further explanations. She was just stood there waiting patiently.
Like a friend would do he realised.
V. Everyone Must Learn
She shifted uneasily from one foot to the other, watching as Lex’s face broke out into a wry smile. The sentiment spread, reaching into his eyes and pouring out of them towards her. To Chloe’s infinite surprise a chuckle broke forth from Lex’s lips and rolled over the blonde girl.
Well that was… unexpected.
“I don’t want to argue with you,” he said. “It would do as much good to both as us as arguing with myself would do.” He turned fully towards her, reaching out once again to take hold of her arms and rub them lightly. “I’m the one who should be apologising, I’ve clearly kept things from you and if knowing you has taught me anything it should that *that* is a bad idea.”
“I don’t like secrets,” Chloe said softly. The sensation of his hands on her arms was a heady one for her. It was comforting – almost far too comforting if she was entirely honest with herself and yet of late it was one thing she had sorely missed.
Her features softened as the nervous tension she had been enduring slipping away until it was well out of reach. There settled in her the certainty that Lex had to be telling the truth – he had no choice in the matter - and therefore that meant she could trust him. A smile flickered over her lips and she listened with confidence when he said, “And I have no plans to keep any from you.”
It was, she decided, the oddest discovery she could have made under her present circumstances; she had a friend in Lex Luthor unlike any she had ever made before.
THE END