tthjinni
17th June 2004, 04:55
A/N: Couldn't resist the challenge...and with HumbugGirl's b-day right there, just screaming 'fic her!'...I had to do it despite having other fics to update before my hiatus. Hope you enjoy.
Title: What She Likes
Author: Jinni (druscilla@cox.net)
Rated: Pg13
Pairing: Chlex
Disclaimer: All things Smallville belong to the WB, DC Comics, et al.
Distribution: The normal places, include N-S.net
Author’s Notes: A two fold thing, this is. For one – happy birthday HumbugGirl. For another – my spin on the engagement ring official challenge at N-S.net.
Summary: He likes to see her get riled up…but he also knows what –she- likes. And what Chloe likes, Chloe gets.
~*~*~
“Too big.”
“Too gaudy.”
“Not flashy enough?” Chloe’s eyebrows shot up and Lex could tell she was having a difficult time believing that those words had just left her mouth. He chuckled under his breath, earning himself a glare from the blonde.
“You realize, of course,” he drawled as he leaned against one of the many glass display cases in the overly large Metropolis jewelry store. “That everyone expects you to be seen wearing something large, flashy, dare I say – gaudy.”
“Blah, blah…. ‘only befitting a Luthor bride’…blah, blah, blah,” Chloe mimicked with a quirk of her lips that he thought was endearing in its sarcasm, among other things. “Please, your father gave me the same spiel. But he’s not the one that’s going to be wearing any of these eyesores, now is he?”
“I should hope not,” Lex responded back easily enough, his tone dry as the jeweler’s salespeople hovered eagerly nearby. Their mouths were salivating at the thought of this one, single purchase – he could see it in their eyes and the way they stood so close, as if they were afraid that he would run away without buying something, he sneered silently as he reminded himself that their opinions meant nothing. They worked on commission, after all. One could hardly begrudge them their menial living. “If anyone should wear one of those monstrosities…other than yourself, of course…its me. You’re –my- fiancé, after all.”
“As if I could forget with it plastered all over every newspaper and magazine I see,” she rolled her eyes, portraying annoyance even though he knew that on some level she enjoyed the attention their decision to finally wed had garnered. She was amused by the paparazzi trying to snap her picture. Tickled by reporters asking –her- questions. Even more so entertained when she took a hand at turning their interviews back around on them. “Although, they’re bound to lose interest if you never get to give me a ring to ‘seal the deal’, as that one paper put it. Hey…there’s an idea. Let’s skip the engagement ring and go straight to wedding rings. Or do you think that would addle their poor little brains?”
Now it was Lex’s turn to roll his eyes. He settled his gaze on the nearest salesperson. “Another tray, please. The lady hasn’t found anything to her liking just yet.”
“The –lady- is getting bored,” Chloe yawned, leaning against the same counter he was. She crossed her arms over her chest and fixed the remaining salespeople with a stony glare of irritation. “Besides, I already found –one- thing I like.”
Lex could feel her gaze heat up as it moved from the salespeople to rove over his body, sliding with practiced movements up and down portions of his anatomy that she knew so well. He met her eyes as she returned her attention to his face, a smirk touching the corner of his lips. “You realize that I could just purchase the entire store and then make love to you in the middle of this sparkling paradise?”
She laughed softly, the breathy chuckle husky in the otherwise quiet store. “Or we could just go back to the penthouse and skip the diamonds…”
“Now where’s the fantasy appeal in that?”
“You…me…a bed…sounds like a fantasy come to life to me,” she purred. Her soft lips grazed the side of his neck as she leaned in closer and a shiver danced over his skin. She sighed, the breath tickling his earlobe. “Besides, you know I’m not into this fancy stuff. Too big…too flashy….not me. I don’t need a ring if I have you.”
Lex held back a snort. She most certainly did need a ring, if only to keep his father from devising some devious way to punish him for not giving her one. The fact that she was willing to forgo the entire thing was one of the reasons he loved her, though.
And, as luck had it, he knew of just the ring for her. One that had caught her eye a year ago, only a couple months after they started dating, one day while they were shopping downtown. She’d stopped and stared at it for just the briefest of moments, admitting as he led her away that she thought it was ‘pretty’.
So he’d had their driver go back and purchase it at the first opportunity.
It had sat in his safe since that day, waiting for the right moment to present it to her. The other night, when they so casually decided to ‘just do the whole marriage thing’ – Chloe’s words, not his – hadn’t seemed right.
However, now did.
He slid his hand into his pocket, feeling the smooth felt box with the tips of his fingers. Any second now the barely twenty-something salesperson would be back with yet another tray of unsuitable rings and Chloe would get that much more irritated. He liked her all riled up – but irritated was something else entirely. Irritated meant that he may or may not get a chance to both please her and be pleased by her later that evening.
He pulled it out, flipping the lid open discreetly as she turned her frowning gaze around the store one more time. “How about this one?”
Lex knew he’d done the right thing when her eyes widened perceptibly until they were as round as those proverbial saucers, her lips spreading wide in a smile.
“I remember this one!” she gasped, reaching for the box. He let her take it from his fingers, but plucked the ring out of the silken confines before she could do it herself. If he’d had any doubts that she wouldn’t remember the ring they were all erased at that very moment. “How…when…”
“Does it matter?” he shrugged. “Will you accept this ring as a token of my intent to make you the happiest woman on the face of the earth?”
That phrase about someone ‘glowing’ when they’re happy? He knew now where it came from, because Chloe was definitely glowing as he slipped the ring onto her finger. Her green eyes were alight from within, giving all the impression in the world that she might spontaneously combust from pure joy alone at any second.
Seconds later she was in his arms and they were kissing with a passion that he knew could very soon lead to indecent exposure charges if he didn’t get her home quickly enough. The task was accomplished. He’d had his fun and she had her ring -
Much to the disgruntlement of the newly crestfallen salespeople.
~*~The End~*~
Title: What She Likes
Author: Jinni (druscilla@cox.net)
Rated: Pg13
Pairing: Chlex
Disclaimer: All things Smallville belong to the WB, DC Comics, et al.
Distribution: The normal places, include N-S.net
Author’s Notes: A two fold thing, this is. For one – happy birthday HumbugGirl. For another – my spin on the engagement ring official challenge at N-S.net.
Summary: He likes to see her get riled up…but he also knows what –she- likes. And what Chloe likes, Chloe gets.
~*~*~
“Too big.”
“Too gaudy.”
“Not flashy enough?” Chloe’s eyebrows shot up and Lex could tell she was having a difficult time believing that those words had just left her mouth. He chuckled under his breath, earning himself a glare from the blonde.
“You realize, of course,” he drawled as he leaned against one of the many glass display cases in the overly large Metropolis jewelry store. “That everyone expects you to be seen wearing something large, flashy, dare I say – gaudy.”
“Blah, blah…. ‘only befitting a Luthor bride’…blah, blah, blah,” Chloe mimicked with a quirk of her lips that he thought was endearing in its sarcasm, among other things. “Please, your father gave me the same spiel. But he’s not the one that’s going to be wearing any of these eyesores, now is he?”
“I should hope not,” Lex responded back easily enough, his tone dry as the jeweler’s salespeople hovered eagerly nearby. Their mouths were salivating at the thought of this one, single purchase – he could see it in their eyes and the way they stood so close, as if they were afraid that he would run away without buying something, he sneered silently as he reminded himself that their opinions meant nothing. They worked on commission, after all. One could hardly begrudge them their menial living. “If anyone should wear one of those monstrosities…other than yourself, of course…its me. You’re –my- fiancé, after all.”
“As if I could forget with it plastered all over every newspaper and magazine I see,” she rolled her eyes, portraying annoyance even though he knew that on some level she enjoyed the attention their decision to finally wed had garnered. She was amused by the paparazzi trying to snap her picture. Tickled by reporters asking –her- questions. Even more so entertained when she took a hand at turning their interviews back around on them. “Although, they’re bound to lose interest if you never get to give me a ring to ‘seal the deal’, as that one paper put it. Hey…there’s an idea. Let’s skip the engagement ring and go straight to wedding rings. Or do you think that would addle their poor little brains?”
Now it was Lex’s turn to roll his eyes. He settled his gaze on the nearest salesperson. “Another tray, please. The lady hasn’t found anything to her liking just yet.”
“The –lady- is getting bored,” Chloe yawned, leaning against the same counter he was. She crossed her arms over her chest and fixed the remaining salespeople with a stony glare of irritation. “Besides, I already found –one- thing I like.”
Lex could feel her gaze heat up as it moved from the salespeople to rove over his body, sliding with practiced movements up and down portions of his anatomy that she knew so well. He met her eyes as she returned her attention to his face, a smirk touching the corner of his lips. “You realize that I could just purchase the entire store and then make love to you in the middle of this sparkling paradise?”
She laughed softly, the breathy chuckle husky in the otherwise quiet store. “Or we could just go back to the penthouse and skip the diamonds…”
“Now where’s the fantasy appeal in that?”
“You…me…a bed…sounds like a fantasy come to life to me,” she purred. Her soft lips grazed the side of his neck as she leaned in closer and a shiver danced over his skin. She sighed, the breath tickling his earlobe. “Besides, you know I’m not into this fancy stuff. Too big…too flashy….not me. I don’t need a ring if I have you.”
Lex held back a snort. She most certainly did need a ring, if only to keep his father from devising some devious way to punish him for not giving her one. The fact that she was willing to forgo the entire thing was one of the reasons he loved her, though.
And, as luck had it, he knew of just the ring for her. One that had caught her eye a year ago, only a couple months after they started dating, one day while they were shopping downtown. She’d stopped and stared at it for just the briefest of moments, admitting as he led her away that she thought it was ‘pretty’.
So he’d had their driver go back and purchase it at the first opportunity.
It had sat in his safe since that day, waiting for the right moment to present it to her. The other night, when they so casually decided to ‘just do the whole marriage thing’ – Chloe’s words, not his – hadn’t seemed right.
However, now did.
He slid his hand into his pocket, feeling the smooth felt box with the tips of his fingers. Any second now the barely twenty-something salesperson would be back with yet another tray of unsuitable rings and Chloe would get that much more irritated. He liked her all riled up – but irritated was something else entirely. Irritated meant that he may or may not get a chance to both please her and be pleased by her later that evening.
He pulled it out, flipping the lid open discreetly as she turned her frowning gaze around the store one more time. “How about this one?”
Lex knew he’d done the right thing when her eyes widened perceptibly until they were as round as those proverbial saucers, her lips spreading wide in a smile.
“I remember this one!” she gasped, reaching for the box. He let her take it from his fingers, but plucked the ring out of the silken confines before she could do it herself. If he’d had any doubts that she wouldn’t remember the ring they were all erased at that very moment. “How…when…”
“Does it matter?” he shrugged. “Will you accept this ring as a token of my intent to make you the happiest woman on the face of the earth?”
That phrase about someone ‘glowing’ when they’re happy? He knew now where it came from, because Chloe was definitely glowing as he slipped the ring onto her finger. Her green eyes were alight from within, giving all the impression in the world that she might spontaneously combust from pure joy alone at any second.
Seconds later she was in his arms and they were kissing with a passion that he knew could very soon lead to indecent exposure charges if he didn’t get her home quickly enough. The task was accomplished. He’d had his fun and she had her ring -
Much to the disgruntlement of the newly crestfallen salespeople.
~*~The End~*~