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View Full Version : Shades In Between - Sequel to 'Reign of Darkness' (G)



Blackberry
25th June 2004, 10:26
Short sequel to Reign of Darkness (http://forums.naughty-seduction.net/index.php?showtopic=1526)... It was sitting in my mind for a while and I just needed to get it out. So here it is... un-betaed so please excuse any typos if you see them.... To fully understand what's happening here, you'll have to read the story mentioned above (also a short story). I hope this is alright.

BB

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Shades in Between

Lex steered his car through the unpaved road towards the lake with great care. As he did, he thought of the last time he had come to this place. The setting sun and staying until darkness consumed most of them. Them… Chloe and him; it was a funny thought, to think of them as one unit; yet in many ways he could say they were. According to his philosophy of the world, everyone was connected – therefore that made the two – billionaire and reporter – connected by one, main single thread that, if people actually cared to notice, made all that was around them just that much closer to one another. Ah, if only they knew that darkness wasn’t so bad… that light wasn’t so good…

His eyes spotted a familiar-looking car and came to a halt right behind it. She was already there. He had received a small message on his phone telling him to meet her there. She hadn’t told him why and he didn’t bother to ask. She would tell him in time.

Turning the engine off, he got out of his car and made his way to the lakeside to find her in the same spot she had been sitting in the last time he ran into her there. It had been a few months since the tornado incident and despite the relatively short amount of time since then she looked very different. Her demeanour; her aura had changed from the last time he had met her. She hadn’t turned around to see him there so he thought he would get just a bit closer before he made his presence known.

“For some strange reason, I knew you would come,” she said before he had a chance to speak.

Her head hadn’t turned, yet she sensed him; did he have a particular scent? It couldn’t have been that strong. No, she seemed more in tune with everything around her; he noted as he settled himself down beside her and looked out towards the late afternoon sky.

“You know me well enough to know I would never stop until my curiosity is indulged.”

He watched from the corner of his eye as she smiled a little at that, but kept her emerald-coloured eyes carefully blank. “Another thing we have in common,” she pointed out in a murmuring voice.

Lex just hummed and brought his gaze back to the scene in front of him. It was calming; the trees the water lapping against the lakeside. He waited patiently for Chloe to tell him the reason why they were here. It wasn’t an awkward waiting; it was far from it. There was a strange comfortable nature to their meeting; he couldn’t help but enjoy every aspect of it – the environment, the silence, the small interlude before the actual conversation.

Chloe searched the sky; the blues that were slowly settling into the oranges and reds of sunset. The clouds captured the mellow purples and she smiled a bit, enjoying the play of colours. It was a while before she began to speak in earnest. “You told me that the whole universe would – at one point – be consumed by total darkness or absolute light.”

“Well, in the end, there can only be one winner.” He wasn’t sure where this conversation was leading, but he wasn’t deterred to avoid it. Like he had said, he was curious.

“So you’re saying that we should choose which side to be on. There is no real abstaining in this case.”

“If you want concrete answers, yes, you’ll have to choose a side. Either black or white, so to speak.”

“What about the shades in between?” she asked finally turning her head to him with a searching look. “Do those count at all?”

He gazed back at her with a small frown marring his features. “Well, personally, I would think it wouldn’t matter. I find that the absolutes are the things that have the most substance; there is no more doubt at such a radical point.”

Chloe turned her head back to the landscape with a pensive look and a slight hum. Lex, in turn, cocked his head to the side. “You’re holding back.”

She looked down and fiddled with her hands. “I’m not sure how to lead up to what I want to really say.”

He shrugged. “Just say it then. You’ve piqued my inquisitive side so you might as well just jump to the subject.”

“But I’ve already gotten to the subject… it’s just – leading to the actual story… you,” she give him a sidelong glance, “began with the sky… I was going to use that but – it seemed to unoriginal.”

His chuckle brought her eyes back to him. “You’re certainly a character, Chloe. Please, just go ahead.”

Sighing, she smiled a bit. “Very well…”

~~ o0o ~~

It was unnerving to have him so close again. Her visit to Metropolis was supposed to clear her head of the confusion with Clark and the introduction of Lex as a friend instead of another subject for her articles. This time off had worked well, giving her time to review her opinions, her feelings and her thoughts. When she did, she came back messaged Lex and went by the lake to wait slightly nervously for him.

She knew he would come. Something in her told her he would – an innate sense that told her he would act in such a way. And there they were, seated by the lake. She needed to begin. But she wasn’t sure where. It was such a large subject and at that moment, with him so close, her thoughts were a jumble. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, feeling the frayed nerves settle back again. When she opened them again, her eyes wandered lazily across the horizon, broken by the tall trees.

“Your story is about the big issues – such extreme ideas and ideals,” she noted. “You talk of the absolutes like they are the only answers… you talk of the ‘blacks and the whites’ as you put it. But… it isn’t always about the Big Things. As prominent as they are, sometimes we have to look at the Small Things in our lives – the way we wake up every morning, the breakfast we have with our family… or even the smiles. We have to look at the shades in between. Sometimes, they are the answers.”

“Of course, but in the long run…” he trailed off at her exasperated look. “Sorry…”

She smiled but it faded a bit. “You’re so focused on the larger issues at hand – the larger picture… you forget to appreciate the smaller, finer details that lead to it. When you notice them – well… the bigger thing loses meaning. You’re so bent on trying to make the big picture work you forget about the little things you leave behind… but they aren’t as important as you make them out to be… relative to the span of time in our universe, we are the little things… therefore, we should put just as much focus on these small details as the larger ones… they are, after all, what lead to the big thing.”

“Ah, but the larger things are what people remember… and to be remembered is a way of gaining immortality.”

“Is that all you think about?” she asked suddenly sharply. “Is that the only thing that matters? The harsh blacks and whites? Do they really matter that much?”

“Yes,” he answered simply.

She blinked at him and stayed silent for a moment. Then, with an abruptness that startled him, she leaned forward and captured his lips in a chaste kiss. When she pulled back she gazed levelly at him. “Okay, now tell me that what I just did doesn’t change the view you have of me,” she said plainly.

He searched her face for a moment, his expression unreadable. Chloe waited tensely for his answer. She wasn’t sure how he would react. She knew that he would be against her view at first, so she devised a plan to bring her point home. What she hadn’t counted on was her sudden giddiness at the idea of kissing him and she had hesitated before she had actually gone through with it.

“Point taken,” he murmured finally.

She would have smiled. She probably should have to break the strange moment. But she couldn’t make her body function… not when he looked at her with such intense deep orbs that made her want to sink into him.

“So…” he began in a mere whisper. “Where does that leave us; certainly not ‘black or white…’”

“Somewhere in between,” she answered and they shared a smile, a fleeting moment coloured in a unique shade that was closer to darkness than light…

defined by the colours of dusk.

~~ o0o ~~

‘That Big God howled like a hot wind, and demanded obeisance. Then Small God (cosy and contained, private and limited) came away cauterized, laughing numbly at his own temerity. Inured by the confirmation of his own inconsequence, he became resilient and truly indifferent. Nothing mattered much. Nothing much mattered. And the less it mattered, the less it mattered. It was never important enough.’

‘The God of Small Things’ by: Arundhati Roy

[The End]

hfce
25th June 2004, 15:16
Wow that was deep. Good job in Chloe showing Lex that life is not all black and white but a shade of gray.


Hope :chlexsign2:

asharnanae
25th June 2004, 21:03
:biggrin: damn, not that was a really great story!! well done, very deap, it make syou look at youy own life. :blinkkiss:

autumngold
26th June 2004, 18:11
Excellent update!! Only Chloe could show Lex how important the shades of gray are!! :clap: :chlexsign4:

eurydices falling
28th June 2004, 20:11
I'm actually reading that book now. It's beautiful and so is your story. I can't believe I missed the precursor to this as well. BB, your writing is too good for words. :worship2:

sylvia
12th September 2004, 09:44
Wow. I'm in awe. I love the connection you've written between them. It's a very different kind of verbal judo and I like it very much =)

hateSmallvilleLoveChlex
4th October 2004, 11:40
This was so amazing. You have a great way with words! I wish I had more of your writing to read.

Béatrice
4th October 2004, 18:11
WON-DER-FUL :clap: You made a very good job!!!

starmoon
29th April 2005, 06:02
loved it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

~*~Tasha~*~
24th June 2006, 00:11
This one and Reign of Darkness were good. Interesting philosophies and good follow up with this story.

Alizaleven
26th July 2006, 05:49
That was a great sequel ! Thanks :) I liked the kiss part.. and how Chloe used it to illustrate the shades of gray