scifichick774
19th April 2003, 15:10
Title: ‘Tis The Season
Author: scifichick774
Rating: PG-13
Category: UST/Romance/Humor Chloe/Lex
Spoilers: Anything through ‘Skinwalker’ is fair game, but I don’t think any specific eppies are mentioned.
Summary: Challenge fic. Christmas time at The Talon. Chloe gets roped into doing something for Lana.
Disclaimer: Not mine, no infringement intended, please don’t sue.
Feedback: Yes please.
Archival: Go ahead, just let me know where.
Author’s Note: Response to a challenge issued by my friend Sami. Must include: Lana with red hair, Chloe in an elf outfit, Pete with one of those ridiculous mistletoe hat contraptions, lots of mistletoe in The Talon, and a comment about the Spongebob Christmas Special must be made. I can’t say who’s crazier. Her for making the challenge or me for accepting it when I still have three other fics to work on. Oh well.
~*~*~*~*~*~
“Oh my God!” Chloe screeched. “I can’t believe you did it!” Lana bit her lip and began wrapping a strand of her newly dyed red hair around her finger.
“Does it look bad?” Lana asked. Chloe shook her head and smiled.
“It looks great,” Chloe reassured her. Lana let out a sigh of relief.
“Good,” Lana said. She glanced at the alarm clock on Chloe’s end table. “I should get going, I have to be at The Talon in a half hour.” Chloe nodded.
“Okay. Call and tell me what everybody thinks,” Chloe said. Lana rolled her eyes.
“You could just come with me you know. It’s not like you’ve had your morning coffee yet,” Lana suggested. Chloe grinned.
“No way,” she argued. “I know what you’re doing there today and I’m staying as far away from it as possible.”
“What?” Lana asked innocently, or not so innocently as the case may be.
“The whole Christmas celebration thing,” Chloe replied. “I saw you hang up enough mistletoe to kill off half of Smallville high last night.” Lana placed her hands on her hips.
“A little mistletoe isn’t going to kill anybody,” she said.
“It’s poisonous,” Chloe insisted. Lana giggled.
“People are just going to be kissing under it Chloe,” she said. Chloe grinned again.
“Yet another reason not to go. Currently, I have no love life. And I have no need to subject myself to the pain of watching others indulge themselves,” she said smugly. Lana playfully pursed her lips.
“Grinch,” she said.
“Bah humbug,” Chloe retorted. Lana crossed her arms and looked at her sternly.
“That’s Scrooge,” she said. Chloe shrugged.
“Same premise,” she said. Lana looked appalled.
“It’s not the same thing,” Lana protested.
“How is it not the same thing?” Chloe asked.
“Well first of all,” Lana held out her hand as if she was going to start counting off reasons and Chloe smiled broadly. Lana took in Chloe’s expression. “Oh. You were joking.” Chloe started laughing and Lana narrowed her eyes at her. She was just about to lay into her about the importance of the holidays when her cell phone rang. Lana fumbled for it in her purse, but brought it out and answered it. “Hello?” Chloe watched Lana’s face fall as she spoke to the person on the other end of the line. Bad news apparently. “But, but…” Chloe tried not to be too obvious about paying attention, but it was in her nature to be curious. “No,” Lana finally said in a defeated tone. “I understand. Thank you.” She clicked off the phone and stifled a sniffle. Chloe looked at her with sympathetic eyes and Lana pouted.
“What happened?” Chloe asked. Lana sat down on Chloe’s bed and whimpered. “Come on, it can’t be that bad.” Lana looked at her.
“It is,” Lana said. Chloe tilted her head and went to sit down next to her.
“What could be so bad that it took down the Christmas queen?” Chloe joked lightly in an effort to cheer up her friend. Lana, suddenly stricken with a thought, jumped up from the bed and eyed her friend.
“You could do it!” Lana said excitedly. Chloe didn’t know what Lana was talking about, but she didn’t like the sound of it.
“I could do *what*?” Chloe asked skeptically. Lana smiled.
“You can be the elf who passes out candy canes to the little kids and customers at The Talon today,” Lana said cheerfully. Chloe gave her a blank stare and then started laughing. She stopped when she noticed that Lana wasn’t joining in.
“You’re not serious?” Chloe asked, raising herself from her bed.
“Come on Chloe,” Lana pleaded. “Shannen was going to do it, but she has a really bad cold. They think it might even be bronchitis.” Chloe looked like a deer caught in the headlights.
‘Damn,’ Chloe thought.
“Please, please, pretty please?” Lana begged. Chloe groaned. “You’re her size, so the costume should fit.”
“Costume?” Chloe sputtered. Lana smiled again.
“Ooh, you’ll love it! It’s so cute!”
“Uh huh,” Chloe said, clearly unconvinced. Lana placed her hands on her hips once again.
“If you do this,” she paused and let out a small sigh. “If you do this, I’ll give you a certificate for free coffee for all of January.” Chloe suddenly perked up.
“Hmm,” Chloe thought aloud. “Tempting, very tempting.” Lana smiled again and grabbed her friend’s arm, pulling her out of her room and into the hallway.
“Great!” Lana exclaimed. “If we leave now, we can still be there on time.” Chloe stopped in her tracks and stared at Lana. Lana turned around. “Well? Come on!” Chloe looked at Lana and then glanced down at what she was wearing. Despite the fact that Lana was a morning person, Chloe wasn’t, and she was still dressed in her pajamas. Lana blushed when she realized what Chloe was concerned about. She quickly shrugged it off though. “Doesn’t matter, the costume is at The Talon and you’re going to be changing there anyway.” Chloe’s mouth dropped open and she found herself being drug to her car. Lana was a lot stronger than she looked.
An hour later, Chloe was wearing the rather skimpy elf costume and had a fake smile plastered on her face. Lana apologized for the costume, and said she thought that the skirt went down longer. Chloe grumbled something about being taller than Shannen, especially with the heeled black leather knee high boots she was forced to wear. So far, it hadn’t been that bad. Only a few people had come in, all of whom complimented Lana on her holiday hair color, and one twenty-something guy had even given Chloe a kiss on the cheek because of the mistletoe that was dangling from the ceiling. But, things were about to get substantially worse for Chloe on the teasing front. She eyed Clark and Pete as they were coming in through the front door.
“Hey guys,” Chloe greeted and walked over to them with a basket full of candy canes. She handed them each one and they smiled at her.
“Woo!” Pete said cheerfully. “Nice outfit Chlo! You should wear that more often.” He openly looked up and down her body and she rolled her eyes. Clark blushed at Pete’s behavior.
“Sorry Chlo,” Clark apologized, shoving his hands into his pockets. “You know how he gets.” Chloe nodded and turned to look at Pete when he cleared his throat. While Clark was talking to Chloe, Pete had taken the opportunity to place a sproingy mistletoe hat on his head. Chloe laughed as Pete tapped his cheek with his finger. Clark rolled his eyes and Chloe leaned over and kissed Pete on the cheek. Pete smiled from ear to ear.
“Told you that you should have bought one of these things Clark,” Pete said smugly. Chloe chuckled.
“Like either of you would need it in here,” she said. They looked at her with confused expressions on their faces and she sighed as she pointed upward. Clark and Pete looked at the ceiling and saw mistletoe above every table and at the tops of every doorway. Pete frowned.
“Why didn’t you just kiss me when we came in then?” Pete asked. Chloe glanced to the counter to make sure Lana wasn’t there before responding. She dug into the bottom of the basket and pulled a piece of mistletoe out.
“I took it down,” Chloe said, motioning to the front door. Clark laughed. “I’m not kissing customers as they come in,” she said indignantly. “Like being forced to wear this outfit isn’t bad enough.” Clark blushed again and looked down for a moment.
“It’s not that bad Chloe, it’s actually kind of---” Clark paused and Pete interrupted him.
“Hot!” Pete offered. Chloe chuckled and shook her head. She heard Lana coming back in from the storage room and smiled.
“Wait till you guys see Lana’s holiday surprise,” Chloe said, trying to draw the attention away from her costume. Pete and Clark looked at her questioningly, but Chloe just grinned and walked away from them. Clark quickly glanced over to where Lana was now standing and saw her new auburn red hair. His mouth dropped open and Pete chuckled and slapped him on the back. Lana finally noticed that the two boys were standing there and she smiled and waved at them. Clark and Pete walked over to the counter.
“H-hey,” Clark stuttered. Lana smiled at them.
“Hi Clark. Hi Pete,” she said. Pete chuckled again and shook his head at his friend’s inability to speak. Lana laughed and tossed back her red hair. “So did you get a candy cane?”
“Yeah,” Pete answered, holding his up for her to see. “And my compliments on the elf outfit you picked out for Chloe. Ni-ice.” Lana laughed again and glanced over to where Chloe was standing, passing out candy canes as people came in through the doors. Lana furrowed her brow.
“What happened to the mistletoe?” She asked, just now noticing that it was gone. Pete and Clark exchanged a look, but said nothing about it. Pete grinned mischievously.
“Hey, if you want to kiss me that bad,” he stopped talking and motioned to the mistletoe dangling down from his hat. Lana smiled and leaned over the counter to give him a peck on the cheek. Pete smiled at Clark.
“I told you that you should have bought one of these hats,” Pete repeated. Lana chuckled and then became very nervous when she saw who came in the front door.
~*~*~
Ch. 2
~*~*~
Pete turned around to see who Lana was looking at. Lex Luthor. Pete grumbled and turned back around. Clark looked at Lana with a confused expression.
“What’s going on?” He asked. “I thought you and Lex were friends?” Lana turned her attention back to Clark and barely nodded.
“We are,” Lana said and then paused. “Well, sort of. That’s not the problem.” Clark and Pete exchanged a look and then looked back to Lana expectantly. She nervously fidgeted with her fingers. “Well, he kind of mentioned something, and I don’t know if he was joking or not, and---” she trailed off to watch the interaction between Lex and Chloe as Chloe finished talking to the previous customer. A smirk crossed Lex’s face as he eyed Chloe much in the same way that Pete had earlier. Chloe rolled her eyes and plucked a candy cane out of the basket to hand to him.
“Happy holidays,” she said through a fake smile. As if it were possible, Lex’s smirk grew larger. He looked at the candy cane and put on a mock frown. “What?” Chloe asked in an annoyed tone. Lex reached out and grabbed the basket away from her. “Hey!” He started digging through it.
“I don’t like peppermint,” he explained without looking up at her. “What other flavors do you have?” Chloe crossed her arms in front of her and watched with amusement as he dug through the assorted colors of candy canes. She chuckled when he finally found one that he approved of and held it up like a prize. He handed the basket back to her and Chloe quickly peeked down into it and frowned. She looked back up to see him making his way to the counter.
“That better not be the last cinnamon!” She warned. Lex turned around for a second and smirked at her. Chloe narrowed her eyes at him and then turned her attention back to the door. Lex took a seat next to Clark at the counter and turned around on his stool so he could watch Chloe.
“Interesting outfit you picked out for her Miss Lang,” he said over his shoulder. “I’m surprised you got her to agree to it.” He turned around and flashed a smile at Lana. “It must have been one hell of a bribe.” Lana sighed in defeat.
“Two things. Technically, I didn’t pick out the outfit for her. Shannen picked it out because she was the one who was originally supposed to wear it, but she got sick. And the bribe thing---” She cringed and looked at him with a worried expression. “Free coffee for all of January,” she admitted. Clark almost spit out the coffee he was drinking.
“You’ll go broke,” Clark said. Lex looked at Chloe and then broadly smiled at his friend.
“Well worth it I’d say,” Lex proclaimed. Pete scoffed.
“As if you’d ever have a chance with her Luthor,” Pete said. Lex arched an eyebrow. “Even with all the mistletoe that’s in here you have no chance with her.” Lex finally took notice of the other decorations adorning The Talon’s walls and ceiling. He looked back toward the front door and frowned. He turned to Lana.
“Why didn’t you put any up over the front door? Isn’t that the traditional place for it?” He asked. Lana pursed her lips.
“I did!” She defended herself. Lana shook her head lightly. “I don’t know what happened to it. Maybe it fell down or something.” Pete snorted.
“Yeah,” Pete whispered to Clark. “Into Chloe’s basket.” Clark smiled and Lana glared at them. Pete looked up at her innocently. “What?” Lana placed her hands on her hips.
“You know what Peter Ross!” Lana exclaimed. Pete shrank back a little at the fury in Lana’s eyes. “Chloe took the mistletoe down?” Pete and Clark both gave her compensatory grins.
“Well, if it makes you feel any better, it was probably just so she wouldn’t have to kiss guys like Luthor,” Pete said. Lana rolled her eyes.
“I guess that would explain why she’s been hovering over by the front door,” Lana mused. The expression on her face fell a little bit. “And I thought she was finally just getting into the holiday spirit.” Clark looked bemused.
“Yeah,” he said sarcastically. Lex looked thoughtful as he stared at Chloe. A grin tugged at his lips and he stood up, getting quizzical looks from Clark, Lana, and Pete. Lex promptly swiped Pete’s mistletoe hat off his head and started walking toward Chloe. He placed it on his own head and tapped Chloe on her shoulder. Chloe swung around and her eyebrows rose in surprise at the ridiculous hat that was now gracing Lex’s head. Lex smirked and grabbed the basket away from her, dropping it to the ground. She frowned.
“What’d you do that for?” She asked as she looked down at the basket. Luckily it was lined, so none of the canes broke. Lex tilted her chin up with his fingers and she looked at him, suddenly uneasy with the situation. “Lex?” He smirked again and placed his hands on her hips.
“Seeing as how you took the mistletoe down, I believe you owe me a kiss,” he responded in a completely serious voice. Chloe’s mouth dropped open in shock and he quickly took advantage of the situation, dropping his own mouth down to hers. The kiss was only gentle for a moment before it turned into something substantially more passionate. The couple got a few whistles and hollers from other patrons in the establishment, but their friends just looked on in complete shock over what was happening. Clark opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out. He turned around and looked at Lana suspiciously.
“What was it that Lex said to you the other day?” Clark asked. Lana’s eyes grew wide and she blushed a little. Her expression gave away her guilt at something.
“Well,” she said as she started to busy herself with tasks behind the counter. “He may have sort of mentioned that he liked her a little.” She said the last part so low and fast that Clark and Pete barely caught it. Clark’s eyebrows rose.
“He likes her?” He asked in astonishment. Pete scowled at Lana.
“You set this whole thing up didn’t you?” He accused. Lana gave him a gentle smile.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she replied. The tone of her voice indicated that she clearly did though. Pete shook his head.
“How could you do that Lana?” He asked. “It’s Lex Luthor! And Chloe, she’s your best friend. How could you do that to her?” Lana glanced over at the couple, who was still kissing and she smiled.
“She doesn’t seem to be complaining,” Lana observed. Clark winced.
“It doesn’t look like he’s giving her enough air to complain,” Clark commented. Lana giggled and Pete groaned.
“I can’t take this anymore,” Pete said. He looked at Clark with pleading eyes. “Please make them stop.” Clark gave a snort of laughter.
“I, uh,” he stammered while he tilted his head at them. They finally pulled apart and Clark smiled. “Doesn’t look like I need to.” Pete grinned evilly.
“And here’s the part where Lex gets slapped,” he said to himself. But Chloe didn’t slap Lex. She just stared at him in astonishment.
“What was that?” Chloe asked. Lex smirked again and walked back to the counter without answering her question. He took off the hat and tossed it to Pete. Chloe shook her head in an attempt to clear out the way the kiss had made her feel. She regained her composure, for the most part anyway, and picked the basket up off the floor. She proceeded to pass out candy canes for the next half hour until they ran out. Chloe walked up to the counter, where her friends were still gathered, and handed the basket to Lana. Chloe made sure to avoid looking at Lex, even though she could feel his eyes bearing into her. “Can I get my clothes back?” Chloe asked Lana. Lana smirked and crossed her arms. Chloe gave her a questioning look.
“I think you might want to keep your costume on,” Lana said. Chloe looked down at the outfit and chuckled.
“No chance,” she said. Lana smiled and shook her head.
“You don’t remember what you were wearing this morning do you?” Lana asked. Chloe stared at the other girl for a second before Lana’s words computed in her brain. Chloe’s eyes grew wide and she looked panicked.
“Oh no!” Chloe said. “What am I going to do?” She absently took the seat next to Lex’s and let her head fall to the counter. Lex rubbed her back in a soothing manner.
“It can’t be that bad,” Lex said to Chloe and looked up at Lana for verification. Lana’s grin was mischievous and a little bit evil. Lex arched an eyebrow. “Lana?” Lana shrugged and went to retrieve Chloe’s attire from the storage room. She quickly plopped the small spaghetti-strapped cami and pajama pants onto the counter.
“There you go,” Lana said cheerfully. Chloe glanced at the pajamas and tried to fight down the blush that she felt rising to her cheeks in embarrassment. How had she let Lana drag her out of the house with just her pajamas on? And in the beginning of winter no less. All three boys looked at the clothing and then looked at Chloe, who groaned again. She faked a smile at Lana.
“I don’t suppose you’d at least let me wear your coat?” Chloe asked hopefully. Lana crossed her arms.
“Not a chance,” she replied. “You took down my mistletoe, you pay the consequences.” Chloe narrowed her eyes at her.
“I can’t believe everyone thinks you’re nice,” Chloe said in a teasing fashion. Lana smiled brightly and tossed her red hair back.
“Me either,” Lana joked. Despite her aggravation with the situation, Chloe chuckled and Lana followed suit. Lex fingered the cami and one half of his mouth curled upward into a leering grin. Chloe swiped his hand away from it and bunched the two pieces of clothing up into a large ball.
“Can I at least have my purse?” Chloe asked Lana. Lana nodded and reached down behind the counter to get Chloe’s purse for her. Chloe shoved her pajamas into her oversized bag and plastered a large toothy smile on her face. “Great. I’m leaving.” She hopped off her stool and waved to her friends as she headed toward the front door. Lex grinned at her retreating backside. He turned around to face Lana after Chloe exited The Talon.
“So how much did you pay Shannen to pretend she was sick?” He asked in a knowing voice. Lana gave a sheepish smile.
“You knew?” She asked. Lex stared at her blankly.
“Of course,” he responded. “So what do you have to say for yourself?” Lana smiled again.
“Merry Christmas?” She said, although it came out as a question. Lex chuckled and Clark and Pete shook their heads. “What? I didn’t know what else to get you. You own everything.” Lex nodded.
“It was a nice present,” he said. “Thank you Lana.” Lana beamed with pride that Lex wasn’t angry for trying to set him and Chloe up, even if it was only for the morning. Lex looked at her expectantly and she blushed. He held out his hand and she retrieved something from under the counter. Pete frowned.
“What’s that?” Pete asked as Lana handed what looked like oily machinery parts over to Lex. Lex stood up and grinned at Lana, ignoring Pete’s question.
“I presume she’s sitting in her car that won’t start right now?” He asked. Lana nodded.
“That was my plan,” she said. “But I don’t know that much about cars, so I just grabbed the first thing I could when she was getting dressed in her costume.” Lex smiled.
“Thanks Lana,” Lex said. He tilted his head toward Clark and Pete. “Gentlemen.” With that, Lex turned on his heel to leave, but stopped before he got to the front door. He walked back over to the counter and grabbed Pete’s hat that was just lying in front of him. He smirked at Pete and started to walk away again. Clark and Pete exchanged a look and Clark sighed.
“I know, I know. I really should have bought one of those hats.”
The End
I know it wasn’t long, but hopefully it made you laugh. Feedback is welcome. Merry Christmas everybody!
P.S. I just realized that I left out the Spongebob requirement of the challenge. Oops. Sorry.
Author: scifichick774
Rating: PG-13
Category: UST/Romance/Humor Chloe/Lex
Spoilers: Anything through ‘Skinwalker’ is fair game, but I don’t think any specific eppies are mentioned.
Summary: Challenge fic. Christmas time at The Talon. Chloe gets roped into doing something for Lana.
Disclaimer: Not mine, no infringement intended, please don’t sue.
Feedback: Yes please.
Archival: Go ahead, just let me know where.
Author’s Note: Response to a challenge issued by my friend Sami. Must include: Lana with red hair, Chloe in an elf outfit, Pete with one of those ridiculous mistletoe hat contraptions, lots of mistletoe in The Talon, and a comment about the Spongebob Christmas Special must be made. I can’t say who’s crazier. Her for making the challenge or me for accepting it when I still have three other fics to work on. Oh well.
~*~*~*~*~*~
“Oh my God!” Chloe screeched. “I can’t believe you did it!” Lana bit her lip and began wrapping a strand of her newly dyed red hair around her finger.
“Does it look bad?” Lana asked. Chloe shook her head and smiled.
“It looks great,” Chloe reassured her. Lana let out a sigh of relief.
“Good,” Lana said. She glanced at the alarm clock on Chloe’s end table. “I should get going, I have to be at The Talon in a half hour.” Chloe nodded.
“Okay. Call and tell me what everybody thinks,” Chloe said. Lana rolled her eyes.
“You could just come with me you know. It’s not like you’ve had your morning coffee yet,” Lana suggested. Chloe grinned.
“No way,” she argued. “I know what you’re doing there today and I’m staying as far away from it as possible.”
“What?” Lana asked innocently, or not so innocently as the case may be.
“The whole Christmas celebration thing,” Chloe replied. “I saw you hang up enough mistletoe to kill off half of Smallville high last night.” Lana placed her hands on her hips.
“A little mistletoe isn’t going to kill anybody,” she said.
“It’s poisonous,” Chloe insisted. Lana giggled.
“People are just going to be kissing under it Chloe,” she said. Chloe grinned again.
“Yet another reason not to go. Currently, I have no love life. And I have no need to subject myself to the pain of watching others indulge themselves,” she said smugly. Lana playfully pursed her lips.
“Grinch,” she said.
“Bah humbug,” Chloe retorted. Lana crossed her arms and looked at her sternly.
“That’s Scrooge,” she said. Chloe shrugged.
“Same premise,” she said. Lana looked appalled.
“It’s not the same thing,” Lana protested.
“How is it not the same thing?” Chloe asked.
“Well first of all,” Lana held out her hand as if she was going to start counting off reasons and Chloe smiled broadly. Lana took in Chloe’s expression. “Oh. You were joking.” Chloe started laughing and Lana narrowed her eyes at her. She was just about to lay into her about the importance of the holidays when her cell phone rang. Lana fumbled for it in her purse, but brought it out and answered it. “Hello?” Chloe watched Lana’s face fall as she spoke to the person on the other end of the line. Bad news apparently. “But, but…” Chloe tried not to be too obvious about paying attention, but it was in her nature to be curious. “No,” Lana finally said in a defeated tone. “I understand. Thank you.” She clicked off the phone and stifled a sniffle. Chloe looked at her with sympathetic eyes and Lana pouted.
“What happened?” Chloe asked. Lana sat down on Chloe’s bed and whimpered. “Come on, it can’t be that bad.” Lana looked at her.
“It is,” Lana said. Chloe tilted her head and went to sit down next to her.
“What could be so bad that it took down the Christmas queen?” Chloe joked lightly in an effort to cheer up her friend. Lana, suddenly stricken with a thought, jumped up from the bed and eyed her friend.
“You could do it!” Lana said excitedly. Chloe didn’t know what Lana was talking about, but she didn’t like the sound of it.
“I could do *what*?” Chloe asked skeptically. Lana smiled.
“You can be the elf who passes out candy canes to the little kids and customers at The Talon today,” Lana said cheerfully. Chloe gave her a blank stare and then started laughing. She stopped when she noticed that Lana wasn’t joining in.
“You’re not serious?” Chloe asked, raising herself from her bed.
“Come on Chloe,” Lana pleaded. “Shannen was going to do it, but she has a really bad cold. They think it might even be bronchitis.” Chloe looked like a deer caught in the headlights.
‘Damn,’ Chloe thought.
“Please, please, pretty please?” Lana begged. Chloe groaned. “You’re her size, so the costume should fit.”
“Costume?” Chloe sputtered. Lana smiled again.
“Ooh, you’ll love it! It’s so cute!”
“Uh huh,” Chloe said, clearly unconvinced. Lana placed her hands on her hips once again.
“If you do this,” she paused and let out a small sigh. “If you do this, I’ll give you a certificate for free coffee for all of January.” Chloe suddenly perked up.
“Hmm,” Chloe thought aloud. “Tempting, very tempting.” Lana smiled again and grabbed her friend’s arm, pulling her out of her room and into the hallway.
“Great!” Lana exclaimed. “If we leave now, we can still be there on time.” Chloe stopped in her tracks and stared at Lana. Lana turned around. “Well? Come on!” Chloe looked at Lana and then glanced down at what she was wearing. Despite the fact that Lana was a morning person, Chloe wasn’t, and she was still dressed in her pajamas. Lana blushed when she realized what Chloe was concerned about. She quickly shrugged it off though. “Doesn’t matter, the costume is at The Talon and you’re going to be changing there anyway.” Chloe’s mouth dropped open and she found herself being drug to her car. Lana was a lot stronger than she looked.
An hour later, Chloe was wearing the rather skimpy elf costume and had a fake smile plastered on her face. Lana apologized for the costume, and said she thought that the skirt went down longer. Chloe grumbled something about being taller than Shannen, especially with the heeled black leather knee high boots she was forced to wear. So far, it hadn’t been that bad. Only a few people had come in, all of whom complimented Lana on her holiday hair color, and one twenty-something guy had even given Chloe a kiss on the cheek because of the mistletoe that was dangling from the ceiling. But, things were about to get substantially worse for Chloe on the teasing front. She eyed Clark and Pete as they were coming in through the front door.
“Hey guys,” Chloe greeted and walked over to them with a basket full of candy canes. She handed them each one and they smiled at her.
“Woo!” Pete said cheerfully. “Nice outfit Chlo! You should wear that more often.” He openly looked up and down her body and she rolled her eyes. Clark blushed at Pete’s behavior.
“Sorry Chlo,” Clark apologized, shoving his hands into his pockets. “You know how he gets.” Chloe nodded and turned to look at Pete when he cleared his throat. While Clark was talking to Chloe, Pete had taken the opportunity to place a sproingy mistletoe hat on his head. Chloe laughed as Pete tapped his cheek with his finger. Clark rolled his eyes and Chloe leaned over and kissed Pete on the cheek. Pete smiled from ear to ear.
“Told you that you should have bought one of these things Clark,” Pete said smugly. Chloe chuckled.
“Like either of you would need it in here,” she said. They looked at her with confused expressions on their faces and she sighed as she pointed upward. Clark and Pete looked at the ceiling and saw mistletoe above every table and at the tops of every doorway. Pete frowned.
“Why didn’t you just kiss me when we came in then?” Pete asked. Chloe glanced to the counter to make sure Lana wasn’t there before responding. She dug into the bottom of the basket and pulled a piece of mistletoe out.
“I took it down,” Chloe said, motioning to the front door. Clark laughed. “I’m not kissing customers as they come in,” she said indignantly. “Like being forced to wear this outfit isn’t bad enough.” Clark blushed again and looked down for a moment.
“It’s not that bad Chloe, it’s actually kind of---” Clark paused and Pete interrupted him.
“Hot!” Pete offered. Chloe chuckled and shook her head. She heard Lana coming back in from the storage room and smiled.
“Wait till you guys see Lana’s holiday surprise,” Chloe said, trying to draw the attention away from her costume. Pete and Clark looked at her questioningly, but Chloe just grinned and walked away from them. Clark quickly glanced over to where Lana was now standing and saw her new auburn red hair. His mouth dropped open and Pete chuckled and slapped him on the back. Lana finally noticed that the two boys were standing there and she smiled and waved at them. Clark and Pete walked over to the counter.
“H-hey,” Clark stuttered. Lana smiled at them.
“Hi Clark. Hi Pete,” she said. Pete chuckled again and shook his head at his friend’s inability to speak. Lana laughed and tossed back her red hair. “So did you get a candy cane?”
“Yeah,” Pete answered, holding his up for her to see. “And my compliments on the elf outfit you picked out for Chloe. Ni-ice.” Lana laughed again and glanced over to where Chloe was standing, passing out candy canes as people came in through the doors. Lana furrowed her brow.
“What happened to the mistletoe?” She asked, just now noticing that it was gone. Pete and Clark exchanged a look, but said nothing about it. Pete grinned mischievously.
“Hey, if you want to kiss me that bad,” he stopped talking and motioned to the mistletoe dangling down from his hat. Lana smiled and leaned over the counter to give him a peck on the cheek. Pete smiled at Clark.
“I told you that you should have bought one of these hats,” Pete repeated. Lana chuckled and then became very nervous when she saw who came in the front door.
~*~*~
Ch. 2
~*~*~
Pete turned around to see who Lana was looking at. Lex Luthor. Pete grumbled and turned back around. Clark looked at Lana with a confused expression.
“What’s going on?” He asked. “I thought you and Lex were friends?” Lana turned her attention back to Clark and barely nodded.
“We are,” Lana said and then paused. “Well, sort of. That’s not the problem.” Clark and Pete exchanged a look and then looked back to Lana expectantly. She nervously fidgeted with her fingers. “Well, he kind of mentioned something, and I don’t know if he was joking or not, and---” she trailed off to watch the interaction between Lex and Chloe as Chloe finished talking to the previous customer. A smirk crossed Lex’s face as he eyed Chloe much in the same way that Pete had earlier. Chloe rolled her eyes and plucked a candy cane out of the basket to hand to him.
“Happy holidays,” she said through a fake smile. As if it were possible, Lex’s smirk grew larger. He looked at the candy cane and put on a mock frown. “What?” Chloe asked in an annoyed tone. Lex reached out and grabbed the basket away from her. “Hey!” He started digging through it.
“I don’t like peppermint,” he explained without looking up at her. “What other flavors do you have?” Chloe crossed her arms in front of her and watched with amusement as he dug through the assorted colors of candy canes. She chuckled when he finally found one that he approved of and held it up like a prize. He handed the basket back to her and Chloe quickly peeked down into it and frowned. She looked back up to see him making his way to the counter.
“That better not be the last cinnamon!” She warned. Lex turned around for a second and smirked at her. Chloe narrowed her eyes at him and then turned her attention back to the door. Lex took a seat next to Clark at the counter and turned around on his stool so he could watch Chloe.
“Interesting outfit you picked out for her Miss Lang,” he said over his shoulder. “I’m surprised you got her to agree to it.” He turned around and flashed a smile at Lana. “It must have been one hell of a bribe.” Lana sighed in defeat.
“Two things. Technically, I didn’t pick out the outfit for her. Shannen picked it out because she was the one who was originally supposed to wear it, but she got sick. And the bribe thing---” She cringed and looked at him with a worried expression. “Free coffee for all of January,” she admitted. Clark almost spit out the coffee he was drinking.
“You’ll go broke,” Clark said. Lex looked at Chloe and then broadly smiled at his friend.
“Well worth it I’d say,” Lex proclaimed. Pete scoffed.
“As if you’d ever have a chance with her Luthor,” Pete said. Lex arched an eyebrow. “Even with all the mistletoe that’s in here you have no chance with her.” Lex finally took notice of the other decorations adorning The Talon’s walls and ceiling. He looked back toward the front door and frowned. He turned to Lana.
“Why didn’t you put any up over the front door? Isn’t that the traditional place for it?” He asked. Lana pursed her lips.
“I did!” She defended herself. Lana shook her head lightly. “I don’t know what happened to it. Maybe it fell down or something.” Pete snorted.
“Yeah,” Pete whispered to Clark. “Into Chloe’s basket.” Clark smiled and Lana glared at them. Pete looked up at her innocently. “What?” Lana placed her hands on her hips.
“You know what Peter Ross!” Lana exclaimed. Pete shrank back a little at the fury in Lana’s eyes. “Chloe took the mistletoe down?” Pete and Clark both gave her compensatory grins.
“Well, if it makes you feel any better, it was probably just so she wouldn’t have to kiss guys like Luthor,” Pete said. Lana rolled her eyes.
“I guess that would explain why she’s been hovering over by the front door,” Lana mused. The expression on her face fell a little bit. “And I thought she was finally just getting into the holiday spirit.” Clark looked bemused.
“Yeah,” he said sarcastically. Lex looked thoughtful as he stared at Chloe. A grin tugged at his lips and he stood up, getting quizzical looks from Clark, Lana, and Pete. Lex promptly swiped Pete’s mistletoe hat off his head and started walking toward Chloe. He placed it on his own head and tapped Chloe on her shoulder. Chloe swung around and her eyebrows rose in surprise at the ridiculous hat that was now gracing Lex’s head. Lex smirked and grabbed the basket away from her, dropping it to the ground. She frowned.
“What’d you do that for?” She asked as she looked down at the basket. Luckily it was lined, so none of the canes broke. Lex tilted her chin up with his fingers and she looked at him, suddenly uneasy with the situation. “Lex?” He smirked again and placed his hands on her hips.
“Seeing as how you took the mistletoe down, I believe you owe me a kiss,” he responded in a completely serious voice. Chloe’s mouth dropped open in shock and he quickly took advantage of the situation, dropping his own mouth down to hers. The kiss was only gentle for a moment before it turned into something substantially more passionate. The couple got a few whistles and hollers from other patrons in the establishment, but their friends just looked on in complete shock over what was happening. Clark opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out. He turned around and looked at Lana suspiciously.
“What was it that Lex said to you the other day?” Clark asked. Lana’s eyes grew wide and she blushed a little. Her expression gave away her guilt at something.
“Well,” she said as she started to busy herself with tasks behind the counter. “He may have sort of mentioned that he liked her a little.” She said the last part so low and fast that Clark and Pete barely caught it. Clark’s eyebrows rose.
“He likes her?” He asked in astonishment. Pete scowled at Lana.
“You set this whole thing up didn’t you?” He accused. Lana gave him a gentle smile.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she replied. The tone of her voice indicated that she clearly did though. Pete shook his head.
“How could you do that Lana?” He asked. “It’s Lex Luthor! And Chloe, she’s your best friend. How could you do that to her?” Lana glanced over at the couple, who was still kissing and she smiled.
“She doesn’t seem to be complaining,” Lana observed. Clark winced.
“It doesn’t look like he’s giving her enough air to complain,” Clark commented. Lana giggled and Pete groaned.
“I can’t take this anymore,” Pete said. He looked at Clark with pleading eyes. “Please make them stop.” Clark gave a snort of laughter.
“I, uh,” he stammered while he tilted his head at them. They finally pulled apart and Clark smiled. “Doesn’t look like I need to.” Pete grinned evilly.
“And here’s the part where Lex gets slapped,” he said to himself. But Chloe didn’t slap Lex. She just stared at him in astonishment.
“What was that?” Chloe asked. Lex smirked again and walked back to the counter without answering her question. He took off the hat and tossed it to Pete. Chloe shook her head in an attempt to clear out the way the kiss had made her feel. She regained her composure, for the most part anyway, and picked the basket up off the floor. She proceeded to pass out candy canes for the next half hour until they ran out. Chloe walked up to the counter, where her friends were still gathered, and handed the basket to Lana. Chloe made sure to avoid looking at Lex, even though she could feel his eyes bearing into her. “Can I get my clothes back?” Chloe asked Lana. Lana smirked and crossed her arms. Chloe gave her a questioning look.
“I think you might want to keep your costume on,” Lana said. Chloe looked down at the outfit and chuckled.
“No chance,” she said. Lana smiled and shook her head.
“You don’t remember what you were wearing this morning do you?” Lana asked. Chloe stared at the other girl for a second before Lana’s words computed in her brain. Chloe’s eyes grew wide and she looked panicked.
“Oh no!” Chloe said. “What am I going to do?” She absently took the seat next to Lex’s and let her head fall to the counter. Lex rubbed her back in a soothing manner.
“It can’t be that bad,” Lex said to Chloe and looked up at Lana for verification. Lana’s grin was mischievous and a little bit evil. Lex arched an eyebrow. “Lana?” Lana shrugged and went to retrieve Chloe’s attire from the storage room. She quickly plopped the small spaghetti-strapped cami and pajama pants onto the counter.
“There you go,” Lana said cheerfully. Chloe glanced at the pajamas and tried to fight down the blush that she felt rising to her cheeks in embarrassment. How had she let Lana drag her out of the house with just her pajamas on? And in the beginning of winter no less. All three boys looked at the clothing and then looked at Chloe, who groaned again. She faked a smile at Lana.
“I don’t suppose you’d at least let me wear your coat?” Chloe asked hopefully. Lana crossed her arms.
“Not a chance,” she replied. “You took down my mistletoe, you pay the consequences.” Chloe narrowed her eyes at her.
“I can’t believe everyone thinks you’re nice,” Chloe said in a teasing fashion. Lana smiled brightly and tossed her red hair back.
“Me either,” Lana joked. Despite her aggravation with the situation, Chloe chuckled and Lana followed suit. Lex fingered the cami and one half of his mouth curled upward into a leering grin. Chloe swiped his hand away from it and bunched the two pieces of clothing up into a large ball.
“Can I at least have my purse?” Chloe asked Lana. Lana nodded and reached down behind the counter to get Chloe’s purse for her. Chloe shoved her pajamas into her oversized bag and plastered a large toothy smile on her face. “Great. I’m leaving.” She hopped off her stool and waved to her friends as she headed toward the front door. Lex grinned at her retreating backside. He turned around to face Lana after Chloe exited The Talon.
“So how much did you pay Shannen to pretend she was sick?” He asked in a knowing voice. Lana gave a sheepish smile.
“You knew?” She asked. Lex stared at her blankly.
“Of course,” he responded. “So what do you have to say for yourself?” Lana smiled again.
“Merry Christmas?” She said, although it came out as a question. Lex chuckled and Clark and Pete shook their heads. “What? I didn’t know what else to get you. You own everything.” Lex nodded.
“It was a nice present,” he said. “Thank you Lana.” Lana beamed with pride that Lex wasn’t angry for trying to set him and Chloe up, even if it was only for the morning. Lex looked at her expectantly and she blushed. He held out his hand and she retrieved something from under the counter. Pete frowned.
“What’s that?” Pete asked as Lana handed what looked like oily machinery parts over to Lex. Lex stood up and grinned at Lana, ignoring Pete’s question.
“I presume she’s sitting in her car that won’t start right now?” He asked. Lana nodded.
“That was my plan,” she said. “But I don’t know that much about cars, so I just grabbed the first thing I could when she was getting dressed in her costume.” Lex smiled.
“Thanks Lana,” Lex said. He tilted his head toward Clark and Pete. “Gentlemen.” With that, Lex turned on his heel to leave, but stopped before he got to the front door. He walked back over to the counter and grabbed Pete’s hat that was just lying in front of him. He smirked at Pete and started to walk away again. Clark and Pete exchanged a look and Clark sighed.
“I know, I know. I really should have bought one of those hats.”
The End
I know it wasn’t long, but hopefully it made you laugh. Feedback is welcome. Merry Christmas everybody!
P.S. I just realized that I left out the Spongebob requirement of the challenge. Oops. Sorry.