Title: Tickle
Genre: Short Story
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: None for the upcoming season; general references made to events in seasons 1-5
Disclaimer: I own neither these characters nor any bit of the franchise. If I did, my plots would be plausible, my characters conscientious and my narrative sensical.
Setting – One Month After Zod arrives to Earth
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Restrained by the chains at her ankles and feet, Chloe Sullivan awoke to find herself still bound in the windowless room somewhere in what she assumed was the Luther manor. Days had lost any significance to her as night melded seamlessly into day and back again. All that she knew was the pain occasioned by the chaffing of her skin and the mystery of the creature that surrounded her.
“I see that you are awake,” she heard him say. Fluttering her eyes open, she looked up and saw Lex’s face. It was odd to hear a familiar voice with such unfamiliarity. He had inhabited the body and form of a man she once knew so well. It was as if the distance to Lex had lessened and increased with the possession.
“If I could sleep, I would,” she retorted, “just to keep from having to see your damn face.’
“Temper, temper,” Zod warned, “This liberality in tone is not something I’ll permit.”
“Or what?” she bit back, “you’ll restrain me.”
Lowering his face to her seated level, with his lips just inches from her own, he snarled, “Be glad that is all I do. I am not lacking in the knowledge that there is much more I could do to you….to your body.”
Her face registered no emotion or reaction to his usual threat. This perturbed him, as Chloe knew well.
“Why are you keeping me here?” she questioned.
“You amuse me,” he answered, “as much as the other irritated me.”
“I still can’t believe you-“
“SHE VIOLATED ME!!” Yelling with disgust, he stood up straight, looking down at her.
Using every ounce of restraint that her exhaustion would permit, Chloe forced herself not to laugh. Sighing gently, she again attempted to describe what he felt had been wrongly imposed on him.
“Zod, it’s called a French kiss,” she said calmly,” and it wasn’t meant as an in-“
“I don’t care what you call it,” he answered, stepping away from her and walking several feet behind her, “it was uncouth.”
“It’s done out of affection.”
Shuddering, he recoiled at the memory. “How can such a thing be? It is undignified….uncultured…”
“Still,” she replied, trying desperately, “it didn’t call for what you did to her.”
“She will learn not to do that again. As a courtesan on Zycron, she will be taught proper behavior.”
How long will it be before I get sent there myself? Chloe rested her head against the back of the chair and looked up towards the ceiling.
“It will not be your fate to go there,” he replied, guessing her thoughts, “so long as you do not displease me.”
“Great,” she said under her breath, “Lucky me.”
Walking towards her and around, Zod glanced down at her with a smile upon his face. She was insolent and despite her submissive state, did not miss an opportunity to berate and mock him. He could not help but be amused by her rebellious taunts. Bending at the knee, he rubbed his finger along the palm of her left hand.
Spasming, she closed her hand immediately and looked away. “I’ve asked you not to do that.”
“Yet you have never said why?”
“Because it bothers me?”
“In what way.”
Looking towards the floor, she cursed profanely under her breath. “Goddammit, because it annoys me! It bothers me as much as tongues in mouth bother you!”
“Perhaps they don’t. Perhaps it was that tongue that bothered me,” he offered.
“You’re sick,” she retorted, refusing to meet his glare.
“No, no,” he replied, “I’m feeling very well.” His eyes looked over her body and he felt that unfamiliar hiccup again. It was a sensation that occurred quite often when he looked at her body. Unknown as the palpitation was, it wasn’t entirely unwelcome.
“Very well indeed,” he continued, “now give me your hand.”
“No!”
“No? This is no request. You are my prisoner and I demand you give me your hand!”
“Give me your lips,” she said defiantly.
“What?”
“If I’m bothered, you’re bothered,” she argued. “Unless the great Zod is chicken.”
“Poultry? You believe me to be a foul bird?”
“Coward,” she said tiredly, “It means coward, you coward!”
Grabbing her by the shoulders, he bent his head towards her. “This will not do. Zod is afraid of no human.”
Chloe moved her head as far back as she could. “On no, big boy. I kiss no one tied up. Let me loose.”
“Clever trick. You will attempt to get away.”
“And you can’t catch me? The great, all powerful Zod can’t catch a weakling? A weakling Earth girl?”
“I do not wish to expend the energy.”
“Chicken.”
“Will you STOP saying that? I am no feathered bird!”
Bending down, he released her ankles with one tug on the chains. His hands drifted up her body, sending a chill up Chloe’s spine as he did the same to her wrists. As the chains from her wrists fell to the ground, he captured her by the shoulders and raised her to standing position.
“Remember,” he warned, “I can overpower you.”
Breathing heavily, she felt him pushing her towards the back wall. “Duly noted, “she answered as her back made contact with brick. His face contorted in anger as he bent his face towards her. Heart pulsing, Chloe came to the realization that she wanted this to happen. She wanted to feel him – to feel Lex – kiss her just once and then she could administer a well-deserved kick in the groin. If she was going to be topped off by an misanthropic alien, why continue to prolong the event?
Inches away from her face, he stopped. Grunting, he said, “I cannot do this.”
“Let me.”
“I do not trust you. You will attempt to do what the other did.”
“You don’t have to trust me, but I won’t.”
“And will you let me touch your hand?”
“Yes,” she sighed.
“And will you tell me why it bothers you?”
“Why are you so interested?”
He was caught. “I do not know,” was his terse reply.
“Let go of my arm,” she said softly. He complied hesitantly and felt her hand upon his face. Guiding him down towards her face, he felt a light flutter upon his lips and the soft warmth of the palm of her hand against his cheek. This was not the rough and open mouthed assault he’d undergone with the brown haired one. Fluttering upon his upper lip, she made no attempt to open his mouth and repulse him. Strangely enough, he almost felt as if he wanted her to do so.
Grazing the front of his ear, Chloe broke their kiss as his brow furrowed in puzzlement. “What was that?”
“A kiss?”
“No, the other. What was that feeling?”
“As I touched your ear?”
“Yes,” he wondered.
“A tickle. It’s what I feel when you touch my hand with your finger.”
“It is similar to what I feel when…..no, never mind.”
“Don’t stop,” she said quickly, “when you what?”
He could not look her in the eyes. This was so undignified. “When I look at you …down there.”
Chloe suppressed the urge to laugh once again as he eyed her breasts. “I guess that’s a different type of tickle.”
“Tickle,” he repeated. “A slip of a word.”
“But with many meanings.”
“There is much to learn on this planet,” he said, his eyes lowering to her breasts yet again.
What the hell? Chloe thought to herself. I’ve hunted aliens, written about them and been obsessed with them. Maybe if I keep him busy in bed, he’ll stop thinking about destroying the world…or at least, it would buy her time to stop him from doing so.
“Well then, I suggest we get started.”
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