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Thread: Camping (R) Posted 31st October 2013

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    Camping (R) Posted 31st October 2013

    Camping









    Rating: R
    Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing to do with Smallville.
    Potential spoilers: Series One – although I will stick in bits from all over the place if it suits me and generally play around with the timeline (because I’m like that ;p!)
    Summary: If you go down to the woods today, you’re sure for a big (Clark, Lex and Chloe shaped) surprise …

    *Chapter One*

    “Clark!” Chloe called out as she entered the Kent’s farm house. She had knocked but upon receiving no reply and noticing that the door stood ajar, she let herself in as she was wont to do.

    “Come out come out wherever you are”, she teased in a sing song voice, “we have to go and find a really good mystery to solve”, she continued to talk to him even before she had located him. She knew that they the elder Kents had gone into town so she was in no danger of disturbing them.

    Her investigative skills led her to the open door to the pantry and in the dark depths she heard someone moving about.

    “Oh good, there you are”, she beamed into the darkness, “come on, you can do whatever it is that you are doing later. We have to go and solve a mystery. Well, actually, first we have to find a mystery but then we have solve it”. She blushed a little at her words, she hadn’t meant to sound so needy. That was probably why Clark hadn’t responded. Oh well, too late to do anything about it now.

    “I know that you probably have other things planned for the holidays but there hasn’t been anything good for me to investigate for weeks. Everything has dried up, even that investigation I was doing for you and your Dad into Lex came up with nothing. I have done all of my homework, finished all of my outstanding projects, cleaned the house, I actually did laundry yesterday”, she shuddered at the memory, “there is not a single item of clothing on my floor and let me tell you that just looks wrong. And my Dad isn’t back for another week so come on Clark, come out and play with me”. She was whining she knew but damn it she was lonely and bored and what was the point of having friends if you couldn’t make them play with you? Even Pete was out of town and she really didn’t want to go to The Talon and seek Lana’s company but she was going to have to soon; she was getting pretty desperate.

    When she still received no reply, she huffed, “Are you seriously still pouting about what I said about Lana? Come on, how many times do I have to apologise for that? I take it back okay, she wasn’t looking at Lex, she doesn’t have any interest in him and now that Whitney is out of the way – or sort of out of the way, at least – and of course she is going to fall for you and …”

    “I sincerely hope not”.

    That wasn’t Clark’s voice.

    “Oh my God”, Chloe gulped, she ran her hand along with wall, searching for the light switch which she knew that Clark never used for some reason. She found it, flicked it and there was a popping sound. Oh damn it, that was right. They never used it because it was continuously popping.

    “No Miss Sullivan, just Lex”. His voice was cool and emotionless as always. Chloe briefly wondered how long it had taken him to perfect such a voice and look. It really was rather impressive. At first it seemed unnerving but then, the more that you looked at it the more you read your own feelings into it. The very same look, given at the very same time, could look loving to one person, amused to another, or fucking scary if you were standing in Chloe Sullivan’s shoes right about then.

    “Mr Luthor”, she gasped and took an involuntary step back as she watched him immerge from the cupboard, shadows clinging to his person, making his handsome features seem somehow more sinister but none the less inviting. “I was looking for Clark”. That was pathetic.

    “So I had gathered”, his voice was rich with amusement and she didn’t think that it was just her imagination this time. He was definitely having fun at her expense. She didn’t take another step back, she held her ground even thought that meant that Lex was getting unsettlingly close to her. She tilted her chin up and looked him straight in the eye. She had every right to be there. She probably had more right than he did – as she had no idea what he was doing skulking in the Kent’s pantry. He evidently hadn’t wanted her to know that he was there.

    “What are you doing skulking around the Kent’s house?” She asked, not bothering to keep the note of accusation out of her voice.

    Lex raised an eyebrow at that, “I don’t see what business that is of yours”.

    “And I don’t see why you would be hiding in a pantry, with the lights turned off and pretending to be Clark”, Chloe countered, knowing that it sounded petty. She didn’t really believe that Lex would betray his friend, but she wanted to focus on the fact that she had just made a fool of herself in front of Lex Luthor even less.

    “I was not hiding, Miss Sullivan”, he spoke in a condescending tone. One which clearly stated that he was doing her a favour by responding to her accusations, but only because it meant that he could put her in her place. “I was helping my friend”, he stressed the last two words, “to unpack. I didn’t turn the light on because as you no doubt noticed, it doesn’t work, and I did not immediately inform you that I was not Clark because by that time you had already revealed far more information about your loneliness and desperation for some sort of human contact than I thought that you would want generally known”, he sneered, “so I decided to keep mum and hope that you would retreat, find Clark and then not realise. I was trying to be considerate. Do not worry; it is not an error that I will make again in my dealings with you”.

    She blushed and she hated herself for it. She knew how stupid he must think her now. It would have been bad enough if Clark had actually heard her. She had been hoping to make a good impression on Lex over time, something that clearly wasn’t going to happen now.

    “Well then Mr Luthor”.

    “How many times do I have to tell you to call me Lex?” He asked tersely, even though he had started it on this occasion.

    “Well then Lex, you won’t mind my going to verify this with Clark?” She turned on her heel and made to leave, anxious just to get out of there as quickly as possible. She wasn’t even sure that she was actually going to look for Clark, she would probably just get into her car and call him later, she certainly had no intention of telling him that she had encountered Lex. She would save herself that humiliation at least, provided that Lex didn’t inform him first.

    “Wait”, his voice was calm and authoritative but it was his warm hand on her arm which halted her steps.

    She turned back around to face him, her face may betray her but keeping her back to him was a clear sign of defeat, if she was going to go down, she would go down fighting - and possibly kicking and screaming to boot. Trying to channel the worldly sophisticated looks she saw on women on the old films she watched with her father, she stared pointedly at the hand encircling her arm.

    Lex was unimpressed, as if he knew that she was just acting. She resisted the urge to stamp her foot and jut out her chin – gestures far more in keeping with her true nature.

    “You aren’t going anywhere until we get a few things straight”, he said in a low voice which almost sounded like a growl. He took another step towards her, making sure that he was well and truly in her personal space, making her uncomfortable and relishing it.

    “You don’t scare me Luthor”.

    “Lex”, he corrected her, “and that is either very brave of you or extremely foolish”.

    “Perhaps it is both”, she suggested.

    “Perhaps”, he ran his hands up and down both of her arms and she really wished that she had worn something with sleeves, anything to stop the tingles he was causing.

    “What is it exactly that you think that we need to get straight?” Chloe asked, doing her best to look unconcerned by Lex’s proximity. She wanted to fight back, she hated when people tried to threaten her – something that seemed to be happening with increasing frequency these last few months.

    “I am Clark’s friend and in his life. For that reason, I will also be in his house if he and his parents wish to allow me entry. I don’t take kindly to people interfering in my relationships however much regard I might have for their reporting skill”.

    Her heart gave a flutter at that, which was ridiculous. This was no time to be getting excited about compliments, however strangely bestowed.

    “Well I am his friend to and I will look out for him whatever …”

    He was impressed by her loyalty but not enough to let her win this battle, even if he didn’t know how they had entered into it. “Does that mean that you have stopped investigating him all of a sudden?”

    “Yes”. She looked as guilty as sin, but Lex couldn’t work out if that meant that she was lying or that she felt for ever having researched her friend (against his expressed wishes) in the first place.

    “And took up investigating me instead?” It didn’t surprise him that she had done some investigation into him, she was a very well informed young lady and her interests in solving mysteries and politics would have led her down such a path regardless of any other considerations.

    Chloe shrugged. She had nothing to reproach herself with on that score.

    “That is not an answer Chloe, have you forgotten who I am?” He demanded, it riled him that he could not dominate this little fourteen your old. By all rights she should have been shaking and yet there she was standing tall, clearly a little nervous but that faded as her indignation grew with every passing second.

    “No, you are Lex Luthor”, she informed him acidly, “Clark’s ‘misunderstood’ friend”. She actually used air quotes.

    Lex grabbed her hands. “I am the head of Lex Corp and run the plant which employs half of Smallville including your father”.

    A flash of panic went through her eyes. Whether from his grasp or his words he knew not. Lex winced.

    He let her go immediately. “Chloe, I didn’t mean that to sound like a threat”, he tried to assure her, taking a large step back. Oddly enough when he had actually tried to threaten her before, it had had no effect whatsoever. He rubbed his hand over his bald head as he always did in moments of extreme stress. He wasn’t usually this weak. He wasn’t usually pulled into fights over very little and he certainly didn’t normally threaten – or give the impression of threating – without intending to. And when he did intend to, while he didn’t enjoy it like his father did, it had never bothered him overmuch either.

    That one second of fear in Chloe’s eyes had affected him more than hysterical tears from many other people he had dealt with.

    “I know”, Chloe straightened her spine and resisted the urge to rub her flesh where he had touched her, it didn’t hurt, it just felt … odd.

    “I would never hurt your father because of something that you had done. I esteem Gabe very highly and I …”

    “I know”, she repeated the words, this time their gazes collided and he saw the completely and utter sincerity therein. She trusted him, not with her life, or to remember an appointment or anything like that. She probably didn’t trust him in general but in this she did. She didn’t believe that he would hurt innocent people because of something she had done.

    Lex swallowed. Trust, in any matter wasn’t something to which he was accustomed especially not in Smallville, not even over small things – people always counted the money he gave them. Even in Clark’s eyes there was always a hint of doubt and yet this remarkable – if annoying – young woman, the one who could find out just about anything she wanted to know had chosen to trust to his better nature.

    He wished to God that he knew how she had come to that conclusion, what in his conduct towards her had ever … She had researched him, the information came crashing back over him. It didn’t surprised him that she would have, but on Clark’s behalf?

    “So, did you have any particular reason for invading my privacy? Or was it just a whim?”

    “It wasn’t really private, most of the information was published and in the public domain”, she shrugged.

    “Only most?” Why did that not surprise him?

    “Only most”, Chloe confirmed, not looking the slightest bit ashamed. In fact, she looked rather proud of herself at that moment as she remembered her accomplishment. She had broken into plenty of places before, but researching Lex Luthor had required a little more tech savvy than most.

    “Find out anything interesting?” He tried to make the question sound casual, more out of habit than anything else. They both knew that he had done bad things, had secrets that could probably harm his friendship with Clark. Deep down he knew that their friendship would not be eternal, he just wanted to know much longer it was going to last.

    “Plenty”, Chloe said with a shrug, “but most of it didn’t make its way to Clark”.

    Lex looked genuinely surprised at that.

    “He is my friend and I want to protect him. Destroying his faith in you wouldn’t make him happy”, she said, never doubting for a second that she could do it if she chose to.

    He didn’t doubt it either. His instinct was to grab her and shake her, to demand exactly what she knew and how she knew it but he didn’t sense anything like a threat in her voice. She didn’t even really seem to judge him for whatever it was that she knew. Like she understood how difficult the decisions he had to make were.

    “I don’t suppose that there is any chance that you would tell me how you got that information? Even if I asked you nicely?” He attempted a melting look.

    “Not the slightest!” Chloe agreed, good-naturedly.

    “How about why you and Clark feel the need to investigate me?” He had not forgotten that nugget of information which the blonde before him had let slip.

    Chloe shot him a slanted look as if to say, ‘You know why, because I am a reporter’, but answered for Clark – figuring that she might as well as she had already let the cat out of the bag about the investigation -, “He is your friend and is constantly defending you, saying that you are not like your father. He wanted to have proof to offer people”.

    “And that was his idea?” As touched as Lex was, he found that hard to believe.

    “Well, no”, Chloe admitted. The look with which Lex fixed her, made her continue. “He was in the office of The Torch one day complaining that everyone was judging you based on your father’s actions and that that wasn’t fair. I asked why he didn’t repudiate these allegations by pointing out all of the ways that you had helped people, the ways in which the people who were criticizing you had fucked up in the past and also general business practices which people support which are worse than the things your father has done”, she didn’t like Lionel but some things really got her goat and hypocrisy was one of them. She remembered what had irked her at the time, even before she had met the infamous Lex Luthor. “There was this one guy who was having a go at Clark for being friends with you because your father brought a local store – even though the owners were going to go bankrupt so would have lost it anyway – and demanding how someone who claimed to be moral – not that that is actually a claim that Clark has actually ever made for himself – could be friends with you”.

    Lex could see how angry Chloe was getting at the memory and even though he knew that it had more to do with defending Clark than him, it still almost made him smile. Almost.

    “And the entire time that he was standing there spouting this garbage he acted like I hadn’t seen him the day before in the grocery store buying Nestle products!” She sounded truly outraged. “Nestle I tell you!”

    He smiled at her, trust Chloe to know about scandals that happened before she was even born and still be indignant about them.

    “So at least he had very noble reasons for having you investigate me”, Lex allowed his lips to curl up.

    Chloe wasn’t going to be undone by that, “Well maybe if you weren’t so secretive then you wouldn’t get investigated so much”.

    “Other people have investigated me?” He found that very hard to believe – if one didn’t include the press and gold diggers.

    “I assume so”, she said as if she couldn’t understand what else anyone would do in their spare time, which, Lex reflected, she probably couldn’t.

    Then he remembered something that she had said before, “What do you mean, secretive?” He knew that he wasn’t always the most forthcoming man about his feelings, he was a little closed off, but he was nowhere near as bad as Clark. He thought that he had been rather straight forward since he had been in Smallville.

    Chloe just rolled her eyes at that.

    “You want Clark and I to have a sleepover where we do each other’s hair”, he looked amused, probably by his lack thereof, “and stay up late talking about what girls we like?”

    Smirking at the image, she replied, “Maybe not. But when was the last time that you just hung out?”

    He looked confused and Chloe actually felt sorry for him.

    “I mean, you guys are supposed to be best friends and yet, I know that you are busy, but have you two ever just got together to have fun? No other purpose required?” The second that she had said that, she felt odd. She rarely hung out with anyone either, sometimes with Lois when she was in Metropolis rather than gallivanting around her world with her Dad, occasionally with Clark and Pete although not so much since they had started High School, and other than that she was mostly at home with her Dad – when she wasn’t investigating which did take up most of her time. Today was the first time that she had admitted to Clark – or actually to Lex – that she was lonely and needed to just hang out … although actually she hadn’t admitted that, she had said that they had to find a story.

    Lex looked at her as if he could read her thoughts and gave her slight, strangely understanding, smile.

    “As you have apparently been investigating me, I am guessing that you know the answer to that”.

    “I said investigating, not stalking”.

    “Shame”.

    She coloured and looked at him in surprise, even though she knew that he was just playing with her, he didn’t want her to follow him. “Yes, you need a witness for when the next woman tries to kill you”. Oops, that came out a little too harshly.

    He shot her an odd look, which she couldn’t read. It might have been anger. But it could just have easily been amusement.

    “Yes, that would be helpful, although …”

    “Sorry about that Lex”, Clark announced, as he strolled through the back door, “I just had some chores to finish. Thanks for helping out stocking up the pantry”. Lex didn’t need to know that he had done all of his chores in ten minutes.

    “No problem”, Lex smiled, “besides it gave me a chance to catch up with Miss Sullivan”.

    “Chloe’s here?” Clark rounded the corner and saw that Chloe was indeed there. “Oh, hey Chloe, what are you doing here?” His question was friendly but in her current clingy state Lex could see that it hurt her. This suspicion was confirmed as he saw her force a smile and say, “Oh I just came by to ask you something about a lead I had on a story but Lex helped with it so don’t worry”.

    Lex felt something inside him clench. He liked Clark, he really did, and didn’t think that he would ever intentionally hurt anyone but couldn’t he see that Chloe was feeling wounded and in need of some extra attention and consideration?

    “Oh okay”, Clark continued to smile. “Sorry I had to run off on you Lex, you were saying something before?”

    Chloe visibly winced now, really hoping that Lex wasn’t going to let anything she had inadvertently divulged to him in the last few minutes slip to Clark. What was she thinking slip? He would never let it slip; he might however use his recently acquired knowledge to humiliate her in front of the man she loved.

    “Oh, I think that we have quite a few things to discuss Clark”, he looked pointedly at Chloe who shifted slightly but tried to put on a brave face.

    He let her sweat for a few seconds before asking, “But as I have a few days mostly off work I was wondering if you would like to do it over a camping trip”.

    Both Chloe and Clark stared at him in shock.

    Lex smirked, “I know that we haven’t really done that before but I thought that it was about time that we just ‘hung out’”.

    Chloe made a sound which she swore wasn’t a laugh trying to escape. Lex turned a quelling gaze on her. It didn’t work. She smiled sweetly back.

    Clark gave him another smile. “Sure Lex, that would be great. We have a holiday and everything is set up on the farm. I was supposed to be going camping with Pete but his family went away at the last minute”.

    “I know, that was what gave me the idea”, Lex said, not mentioning Chloe’s input. He spared her a quick glance and realised that she hadn’t know about the camping trip either and felt left out. He was more than a little put out with Clark and Pete now, although he didn’t know why. Chloe Sullivan was a pain in the butt, not his friend.

    “I know a few different spots. Did you have any particular one in mind?” Clark inquired.

    “Actually, I did. I will make all of the arrangements. Do you want to leave in about an hour? I can pick you up and …”

    “Sure”, Clark grinned. “I have a few things to fix up here and to pack but then I’m ready whenever you are”.

    “That’s great, I have to pick up a few things too. So, in about an hour?”

    “Yeah”.

    “Chloe?” Lex turned to her.

    “Right, I’m off”, she said feeling sad at the idea of going back home to spend yet another day alone with nothing to do. It was getting bad when going to The Talon to watch Lana being fawned over was starting to look like a good option.

    Lex gave her that infuriatingly, kind, sexy, confusing smirk. “I meant, will you be ready to go in an hour or will it take you longer than that to pack?”


    A/N: As always, review if you want it to continue. Or have just read it as the thing at the bottom of the screen is gone now.
    Last edited by HotCrossedBunny; 31st October 2013 at 20:33.

  2. #2

    Re: Camping (R) Posted 3rd August 2013

    Yay new story! Interesting start, can't wait to see how Lex will handle being outdoors for a few days.

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    Re: Camping (R) Posted 3rd August 2013

    interesting!!! ... can't wait for more!

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    Re: Camping (R) Posted 3rd August 2013

    Hmm, Lex and Clark camping. Will Chloe be along for the trip?

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    Re: Camping (R) Posted 3rd August 2013

    can't wait to see what happens/should be interesting

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    Re: Camping (R) Posted 3rd August 2013

    A/N: Hello, sorry that it took so long to update trying to convert The Accident and dealing with a dodgy eye thing. Here's the next bit:

    *Chapter Two*

    Lex felt sick, he could still feel the soft flesh of Chloe’s arms under his palms, and couldn’t believe that he had grabbed her like that. Come so close to actually shaking her. Let her believe – if only for a second – that he was threatening her father. He had tried to get over it, tried to remind himself that she wasn’t some quivering little miss, she was strong and capable and so he had no reason to feel remorse for the way that he had treated her.

    What made it worse was that he had no idea why he had invited her to come along with them. He hadn’t been planning on it. In fact, as he had stood there making his invitation and confirming his friendship with Clark, he had thought of outing Chloe in front of him. He had felt positively warm and tingly as he thought of the power he possessed; it would have been so easy to reveal her insecurities, her needs and loneliness to Clark. That would teach her to investigate him. Then he had turned to look at her and the invitation had flown from his lips before he could stop it.

    Chloe blinked up at him.

    There was no way that he was taking the invitation back, and not just because he never contradicted himself.

    She looked over at Clark to see if he had any objections to this strange change of events.

    Clark looked, like Chloe, a little perplexed, but seemed to think that it was a good idea, “Do you want to come Chloe? I mean, it won’t be too difficult for you?”

    Lex smirked, that settled it. Chloe was coming with them.

    “I am sure that I can manage to walk a little way and manage to sleep outside for a few nights”, she snipped, even if the last part didn’t sound particularly appealing to her, “besides I have no doubt that Lex will need help pitching a tent”.

    He was proud of himself for not opting for the childish quasi-joke offered by that statement, along the lines of never having a problem pitching a tent with women around.

    “Yeah, of course, I just meant that you are a city girl. You have a problem being away from your laptop for extended periods of time. You call it your baby, your life, your …”

    “I get it”, Chloe snapped, her cheeks feeling overly warm. More to the point she knew that Lex got it, knew how pathetic she was. Not that she cared what he thought. Now that she thought of it, a couple of days alone in the woods without the internet and her computer and conveniences did not actually sound like that much fun even if she would get to stare at Clark and pick Luthor’s brain.

    “So it is settled then, Chloe can hack it”, Lex announced for anyone who hadn’t been keeping up. “We are taking my car so I will follow Chloe back to her house, while Clark does the things he needs to do here, you can pack while I call your Dad to explain – I am sure that he will give permission once he knows that I am there to supervise – and then I will take you to the supermarket with me”, Lex said as if he were still at LuthorCorp. He had decided, therefore it was settled.

    “Why would he object? What supervision?” Clark wondered, seeming not to mind (or even notice) the fact that Lex had slipped into business mode and had essentially taken over.

    Lex felt rather than saw Chloe wince. His resisted the urge to clench his fists, he gave Clark a clap on the arm and told him jokingly, “No need for the innocent farm boy act, your parents are out of town for the week”. He gave him a wink. Clark continued to look befuddled.

    “Are you ready to go?” Lex asked Chloe, a second before he turned to her, giving her a second to compose herself.

    “Sure, and I am sure that my Dad will be happy to know that I am going to be their supervise you two”, Chloe said.

    Lex spluttered at that.

    “Hey”, Chloe raised her hands, “my Dad is as broad minded as the next man but he does believe in waiting until marriage to seal the deal”.

    Clark looked aghast as he realised the implications. “Chloe”, he admonished, “there is nothing like that in our relationship”.

    “I didn’t say that there was”, she looked extremely innocent, “I was just telling you about the rumours circling around about the two of you”, she gestured to them before turning around and walking out, calling back over her shoulder, “I will be on my way. Call my Dad Lex, I’m sure that he will allow it”.

    With a chuckle, Lex followed her, trying not to notice the swing of her hips in her tight jeans, if it had been any other teenaged boy other than Clark Kent then she really would have required supervision. “See you later Clark”.

    He got outside just in time to see Chloe getting into her car and driving off, he hastened to follow her even though he could find out where she lived if he did lose her. As he was driving he took out his cell phone and dialled the number of the hotel where he knew that Gabe was staying.

    “Gabe Sullivan here”, he answered almost immediately. He sounded slightly frazzled.

    “Hello Gabe, it’s Lex”.

    “Hello Lex, is everything alright at the plant? We are getting along here, I know that you might have heard some odd rumours but I …”

    “No, no it is nothing like that. Listen, I have the utmost confidence in your ability to pull this off – that is why I entrusted you with this. Bring this home and there is a promotion beyond your wildest dreams waiting for you”, he reiterated the promise he had made to Gabe when he had sent him off. Gabe had not been thrilled at the idea of leaving his fourteen year old daughter – even if she was extremely mature and capable – alone for just over a fortnight but as Lex had pointed out it was only two weeks and when he came back he would be able to buy a house in the expensive part of town outright from the money he had made in those two weeks as well as putting a lot away for Chloe’s college fund and just generally spoiling her rotten … and that was before considering the benefits to be accrued from his new job.

    He could almost hear Gabe relaxing over the phone.

    “It is about Chloe”, he kicked himself, “not that anything is wrong with her, she is fine, great in fact”, he ran over his words in his haste to get them out. He knew how much Gabe adored his daughter and was worried that the momentary belief that she might have been hurt could actually have knocked years off his life.

    “There is nothing wrong with Chloe?” Gabe repeated, wanting to make sure.

    “No, she is great, just a little lonely and as Clark and I were thinking of going up to a cabin in the woods for a few days I invited her to join us. Like I said, she seemed a little lonely and”, he smirked as he came up with the coup de grâce, “I know that you were worried about her being in the house all alone, especially when so many people started to go out of town for the holidays”.

    “Yes”, Gabe agreed. The idea of his teenaged daughter going into the woods with two young men though, that wasn’t something that father’s liked to hear although thinking about it logically they were both good, upstanding men who he was sure wouldn’t try to hurt her and would take good care of her – not that she needed it but still. But there was the touching problem.

    “I’m not sure. It was kind of you to invite her but it is still two men and a young lady”.

    Lex had been wondering when they would get to that. “I had thought that you might say that. Don’t worry, I will have a word with Clark and make sure that he doesn’t get any silly ideas”.

    “Hmm”, Gabe thought, he really didn’t want his daughter to be lonely. He often worried that she might be, and this did sound like fun and he trusted Chloe and she wouldn’t get hurt there … unless she annoyed Lex too much. “She can be a bit of a handful, especially first thing in the morning”.

    Lex smiled, “I am aware of that, don’t worry I promise that I won’t kill her and bury her in the woods”. He was always awestruck by the way that Gabe spoke about his daughter, even when he was saying something that seemed negative it sounded like a compliment.

    “Is it …”, he strove for the right words, ones which Chloe wouldn’t be too angry about if she hear him saying them, “suitable for a young lady? I am sure that you have heard the story of Chloe’s last camping adventure”.

    “Yes, I believe that you have told me about it a couple of dozen times”.

    “Oh really? Only a couple of dozen”, Gabe did not sound offended. “Don’t worry; I will make sure to slip it into my rotation more often when I get back. It is a good story”.

    Lex actually laughed at that. “Yes, it is a very nice log cabin, she will have everything she needs”, he broke off for a second, unsure of how much to tell her father. “Look, she just seems really lonely at the moment and there are no interesting stories for her to write about”.

    The silence on the other end of the phone Lex knew was from commiseration with his daughter, not lack of interest. “I think that this would be good for her”.

    “She missed her pancakes”.

    “Excuse me?”

    “On Saturday morning, I always make her pancakes. This will be the second Saturday in a row that she has missed out of having them”. Gabe sounded really concerned about that.

    “If that is a yes then give me the recipe and I will make the pancakes for her”, Lex said, unable to believe that the words were coming out of his mouth. He didn’t cook. But apparently he was going to learn how.

    “That is a yes. First what you need to do is …”

    ~*~

    “I can’t believe that you actually got my Dad to say yes”, Chloe smiled at Lex as he informed her of Gabe’s agreement, once he had pulled up behind Chloe – who had parked her car in the garage she wasn’t going to need it again for a couple of days.

    She had been trying to talk herself out of being disappointed the whole way back to her house, knowing that her father would almost certainly say no. She was his precious little angel flower pudding – as he so often told her – and saw her through a Daddy’s eyes. And those eyes said that she was the most gorgeous creature on the planet and that every boy must see that and be attracted to her – hopefully also conscious of their own unworthiness and abashed by her beauty, but attracted to her none the less. Hence, thinking that boys and girls in the same space in the woods wouldn’t be a good idea. Also, as much as she hated to admit it, as she didn’t like to think for herself as a girlie girl, she was not a big fan of sleeping outside in a tent. Still, she had one and would do it if it meant not spending the week alone and bored.

    “Why wouldn’t he?” Lex asked, as he took in the Sullivan residence. It was a nice enough house – although much smaller than anything that he was used to, obviously – and looked to be a three bedroomed detached property with a white picket fence and a tidy if slightly sparse front garden, evidently the Sullivan’s weren’t great horticulturalists. It was odd, he had never really considered where they lived before. Chloe opened the door and ushered him inside. He had made his intention of waiting for her while she packed clear.

    Chloe blushed, she didn’t want to say because she was a girl as if she thought that that meant that Clark had to be attracted to her. She certainly didn’t want him to think that she thought that he was attracted to her. She could feel her face turning even redder but she tried to shrug it off, “You know Dads”.

    “Yeah”, he acknowledged, he did know what fathers were like although hardly from personal experience. “I imagine that when I have a teenage daughter I wouldn’t allow her to go off into the woods”.

    “Yeah, I always thought that you would be an overprotective father”.

    He raised an eyebrow at that.

    Chloe’s face reached new heights of redness. “I didn’t mean that I have thought about you and kids. Or thought about you at all. I just meant that sometimes when I am reading the paper they have bets on when you will sire your first child, you know, when the lists of how many women you have slept with come out every couple of months. Which invariably leads to some sort of discussion on how important a son will be to you etcetera etcetera and I just always thought that you would want a girl”.

    “Really? Why is that?” He looked interested, everyone else – included the women he slept with, and needless to add used protection with – always talked about a son and heir.

    “I don’t know exactly”, she shrugged as she led him through into the family living room. “I guess, you don’t get along well with your father and that is because you are the Luthor scion, the heir presumptive, the man who will have to carry his name and run his business. That is a lot to put on anyone’s shoulders but it is different with girls. There aren’t the same expectations … which is ridiculous because a girl can run a company much better than a boy. Besides, my Dad always says that a man needs a little girl. He swears that he was only five foot a week before I was born, the extra one foot one inch is sheer pride”.

    Lex smiled at that. “I would like a little girl, one day”, he admitted, “but a boy would be fine too”. For some reason he imagined a baby Chloe – he knew what she looked like from the pictures on Gabe’s desk – telling an even older Lionel off and that she wouldn’t have his outdated business practices ruining her inheritance … and then saying that he could make it up to her by buying her a chocolate button factory.

    “Yes well, you can sort through possible candidates while you sit here”, she showed him to the couch, and passed him the remote, “or watch TV”.

    “Thanks. Luckily for me you were so bored that you cleaned”, he quipped.

    “And did all of my laundry”, there was no point in denying it as he already knew the worst.

    “That will make things easier to find and pack”, he agreed.

    “That is what my Dad always says but he is completely wrong. Honestly, it is much easier to find things when they are laid out all over your bedroom floor. What do boys even learn in school?”

    “Not much, they are mostly distracted by the girls”.

    “You went to an all boys school”, Chloe reminded him.

    “That is why I am so smart”, he winked at her.

    She just rolled her eyes. “I will be back down once I have packed and got my tent”.

    “Alright, let me know if you have stored anything in any weird places and need a hand”, Lex called after her, then processed something and stopped her, “Wait. You know that you don’t actually need a tent, right?”

    “Aren’t we camping?”

    “Well, yes but in a log cabin. We have beds, blankets, towels etc”.

    “Toilet paper?” People always seemed to forget that.

    “That too … although I will get some extra when we go shopping”, he said, adding that to his mental list.

    “Oh cool”, Chloe tried not to look too relieved at the idea that she wasn’t going to have to sleep on the hard ground, she didn’t want Lex to think that she was high maintenance. She scowled to herself as she walked up the stairs, a) she wasn’t high maintenance … at least not compared to the girls he dated, and b) since when did she care if Luthor thought her high maintenance? Since when did she care about Lex Luthor one way of the other?

    Chloe pulled her mini suitcase out of its position under her bed, where she had kicked it last time she had come back from Metropolis rather than shoving it up into the loft, and filled it with clothes and shoes as quickly as she could. She did pay some attention to what was going in but more than anything else she didn’t want to make Lex wait. She put her darling baby in her Dad’s safe and locked it – checked over her suitcases again, sat on it and made an ooph sound as it refused to close and she slid off it, then off the bed, then onto the floor with a bit of a thud.

    “Chloe?” A voice came from the landing, her door was open and Lex was peering around it. “Are you alright?”

    “Yes, just help me up”, she said holding her hand out to him. She didn’t really need assistance but she wasn’t sure if it would look weird if she said that it was okay for him to come into her bedroom, or whether it would be weird if she didn’t and that he would read something into it like that she thought that he was interested, so she had opted for letting him help her up.

    Obligingly Lex came over and grasped both of her hands firmly and helped her up. He had been looking around her living room and hallway a bit when he had heard her fall. Before he had known what he was doing he was up the stairs and peering into her room. Based on the décor of her boudoir he knew the answer to whether or not the Sullivan’s had decorated the downstairs or whether it had just come like that. Chloe liked bright colours – as he had always suspected, based on his wardrobe – and apparently her artistic flare had continued to the downstairs. He imagined that he would probably end up being that permissive with his own children … when he had some.

    Once she was upright she watched as Lex chuckled at her suitcase, she had chosen a small one. He moved the top slightly so that was in line. “Okay, you sit back on in carefully and I will fasten the tabs … assuming that absolutely nothing can be taken out”.

    “Of course not”, she smiled, knowing that he was teasing, “I’m sure that this is the smallest amount of clothes any other girl you have ever met has taken away on a weekend, let alone four or five days”. Oops, did that make it sound like she was expecting something?

    Apparently it didn’t to Lex as he answered, “Oh, this is just an afternoon’s makeup”, he assured her.

    “I’m not taking make-up into the woods”, honestly just because she was hopelessly in love with her best friend that didn’t mean that she was going to try to apply make up in the forest.

    “Fair enough, what about Lord Teddington?”

    “You know about Lord Teddington?”

    “Yes, and what happens when nasty boys hide him”. Did she really think that there was a single moment of her childhood which had not been recounted to him over the last few months? Chloe scowled at the memory and he actually felt a tremor of fear go through him, “I would just like to say that I fully supported you decision to investigate the boy and write that newspaper article about bed wetters naming and shaming one in particular … and the song you made up, and the other less pleasant methods of revenge chosen”.

    “I thought that they would appeal to a Luthor”, Chloe nodded, “his ear has never been right since”. It didn’t matter, she loved Lord Teddington no matter what.

    “Well, Teddy Bears teach us that when Love is true, it doesn’t matter if the ear is falling off”, Lex quoted a greeting card he had seen once. It seemed rather sappy to him having never had a teddy, he wondered if it would have made his childhood easier, having someone or something there which always had to love him.

    Chloe smiled. “Bet this isn’t a conversation you have too often”.

    “No”, he admitted, “all but two women of my acquaintance got rid of the bears”.

    “Oh”. Did he think her terribly immature?

    “Which I think is terrible. If someone, even a stuffed animal, has been loyal to you for years, then you shouldn’t turn your back on them”. God he really was getting sappy, must be all of the meteor rocks.

    She felt better after hearing that. Bloody hell she was getting pathetic in her old age.

    “Come on”, he said as he moved aside enough for her to sit on the case, aware of how much it gave under her weight and how flattened her thighs were as she sat down. She knew that she needed to do something about that, why oh why was chocolate so tempting?

    She became even more aware of her imperfections as Lex lowered himself to his knees before her, his head in line with her leg s and moved the suitcase enough and fastened it. “There”, he smiled as he got up and held his hand out to help her up. He was just being polite, but Chloe liked it.

    “Oh no Lex, it’s okay I can …” She started as she saw him lean down and grab her case, but he was having none of it, he just made his way to the door with her case and asked “Are you coming?”

    ~*~

    “So, do you think that we have everything?” Lex asked as he pushed their groaning cart around the supermarket.

    “I would say so, the question is: is there anything left for the rest of Smallville?” Chloe quipped as she looked over their purchases.

    “I can’t say that I really care”, Lex replied honestly. “Is there anything that you want?” He had been asking her that every few paces all of the way around the store, anxious that nothing would be forgotten but she had just shook her head each time. It was amazing, it had to be the first time that anyone was unwilling to allow him to buy them something.

    “No thank-you, besides I think that you have brought everything known to mankind. I always took you for a healthy eater”, she had stopped worrying about saying things which he might interpret as him thinking that she thought about him a lot as he didn’t seem to and had after a few minutes of silence on the way to the store informed her straight out that he had no intention of telling Clark what she had inadvertently let slip that morning.

    She had thanked him and they had been getting on rather well ever since.

    “I am”, he confessed, “But I have to feed you and Clark too and he eats like a dustbin – when Mrs Kent isn’t feeding him”.

    “I know, it is completely unfair, if I ate half of the crap he does I would be the size of a house … although I suppose that he does do a lot of chores”, she thought.

    “Yes, I think that he is getting a better work out on the farm than I am with a trainer”, Lex mused.

    “You should offer to help out”, she laughed.

    “You don’t think that I am up to it?”

    She gave him a teasing smile which clearly said no.

    “Hey, I am in better shape than you”.

    Her smile didn’t falter, it was plastered there, but her eyes changed. He was about to apologise but he knew that that would not do any good, he had insulted her without meaning to. All that he had meant was that he followed a healthy eating plan and daily exercise routine whereas her love of coffee and chocolate was legendary. “I am sure that breaking and entering and chasing down leads gives you a good work out but my personal trainer is excellent”.

    “We will have to have a race once we get out into the woods”, she smiled.

    “Yeah”, he still couldn’t work out how to stop her feelings being hurt. He couldn’t understand why she would be so sensitive on such a subject but she clearly was. He looked around and an idea occurred to him. “Excuse me for one moment”, he said as he walked off to talk to a boy Chloe recognised as being a senior and quarterback, not to mention very handsome.

    Naturally Chloe snuck up after him to hear what he was saying. She reached eavesdropping distance just in time to hear Lex hissing, “Keep your eyes off her. She is only fourteen and in my care at the moment so if you want to gawp at someone and nudge your friends go and do it elsewhere”.

    The young man in question was known to Lex; he had come to the plant where his father also worked and asked about the possibility of an internship. In spite of the fact that he was a footballer Lex liked him and had found him to be very quick on the uptake, today was no exception.

    “I’m sorry Lex. I know she’s just a kid but damn, she doesn’t look like it”, he did a very good impression of a lust filled teenager, doing his best to restrain himself.

    Lex smirked, yes, this boy would go far.

    “Yes, well just remember and tell all of your jock friends that Gabe Sullivan intrusted her to me so Chloe Sullivan is off limits”. Well there was yet another thing that he had never thought that he would say.

    Chloe gaped at that, she should feel offended, she should inform him that she wasn’t his too boss around she should … judging by the look of fear on the jock’s face she should turn back and pretend that she hadn’t been eavesdropping. No, she was going to stand her ground and … Lex began to turn back around and her years of spying made her beat a hasty retreat and pretend to be examining something close at hand as she couldn’t get back to her original spot in time to keep from being seen.

    “Sorry about that”, Lex said, apparently unaware of what she had been up to. He grabbed two of what she was holding in her hand and apparently looking so intently at before asking, “Is two enough?”

    “What? Yes?” She came out of her daze and looked down at what she was holding. Once again she coloured. She was holding a box of tampons. “It’s okay Lex, I don’t need …” but he brushed off her complaint and she wasn’t sure what else to do but follow him. She supposed that she should just be grateful that she hadn’t picked up the objects a little further down, she wondered if Lex would have brought her two of those again. It was a good job that she was already blushing, so that her further embarrassment wouldn’t be seen.

    As she trailed after Lex she saw the jocks who once again did not even acknowledge her presence but as she turned to look a collection of mirrors and had her back to them she noticed them, very clearly, checking her out. She should be furious. She should be indignant. She should … buy another pair of these jeans.

    Lex covertly noticed and decided that that boy was definitely getting the internship and quite possibly a scholarship to college. He was doing a very good job now but he could stop now. He had better stop now!

    ~*~

    Two hours later the three musketeers – or milady and the two musketeers as Chloe had insisted on them being called as she had always thought that Milady de Winter had got an unfair wrap and was the most interesting character of the lot – arrived at Lex’s little log cabin in the wood.

    “I think that you could fit my house about five times over in this place”, Chloe said, trying not to be impressed by its size.

    “Possibly, but unfortunately we don’t have your painting skills”, Lex smirked at her, for some reason pleased that she had noticed the size and grandeur of something he owned.

    “With room to spare for my house and the barn”, Clark added, also suitably impressed. “I thought that we were camping. You know, roughing it”.

    “For a Luthor this is roughing it”, Lex said, pretending not to see the humour in this statement. “Besides, I have it on the best authority that we are in the presence of a little princess who must be cossetted in all things”.

    Chloe groaned, “You know the camping story”.

    “What camping story?” Clark wondered.

    “Will you tell him or shall I?” Lex gave Chloe a charming smile as he helped get her suitcase out of the back of the car.

    “You go right ahead”, Chloe took the case from him with a smile of thanks.

    “Well, it seems that Chloe and her cousin Lois, I take it that you know Lois?”

    “I know that Chloe has a cousin called Lois”, Clark said.

    “Ah, well she figures rather prominently in a supporting role in many stories of Chloe Sullivan the early years”.

    Chloe rolled her eyes at the title.

    “What? I could have said the stroppy years”, he teased her.

    “I guarantee that my Dad didn’t say that”, Chloe protested, privately thinking how nice Lex looked when he smiled properly.

    “No, I added that based on my own conclusions”, he admitted, and the continued with his (or rather Chloe’s) story. “Chloe and Lois had seen an episode of Are You Afraid of the Dark where they all went camping and had decided that not only where they not afraid of the dark, they also quite fancied trying out camping”.

    Chloe nodded to indicate that this was true.

    “They found a tent in the Sullivan’s cellar back in Metropolis and decided that they were going to sleep outside in it. All day they planned for this, making every provision until it came time for bed and they actually explained to Gabe that they wanted the tent outside not in the living room. Being a soft father, he agreed and got his own tent out and slept a couple of metres away. He said that he knew that they were alright because of the constantly giggling and sound of chocolate wrappers being opened … he also found out about a crush that Chloe had that way”, he evaded the punch which Chloe aimed at his arm.

    “Anyway, a whole thirty minutes passed someone’s bedtime”, Lex motioned with his head just in case it had not been quite clear that he was talking about Chloe, “she was sound asleep so Gabe carried her back into the living room and wrapped her up in the arm chair for the night while he and Lois played video games and watched a football match Gabe had been dying to see before falling asleep themselves. Thus ended the adventures of Chloe the camper”.

    “He missed out a lot of stuff and it wasn’t only thirty minutes”, Chloe complained.

    “Your father said that it was only thirty minutes”.

    She didn’t argue with that. Gabe didn’t lie. “Well, I had had a very tiring day what with all of the planning and sweetie collecting and making our tent pretty”.

    “I’m sure that you did”, Lex consoled her. “You won’t have to worry about any of that here though”, with that he opened the cabin and let them in.

    Chloe’s jaw actually dropped open. “This place is gorgeous, not that the mansion isn’t but this … it is huge, and decadent but homely”.

    “It should be”, he admitted, “my mother designed it. It was her little project”.

    “She must have been so proud of it, it is gorgeous. I bet that you love to come out here to just sit and think when things get too much in Smallville”, it was only actually about 25 minutes from the mansion, but it felt like a world away.

    “Actually”, Lex confessed, although he didn’t know why, “this is the first time that I have been out here since her death”.







    Tune in next time to see Lex Luthor trying to cook, among other things.

  7. #7
    NS Senior Member Senior Member HotCrossedBunny's Avatar
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    Re: Camping (R) Posted 3rd August 2013

    Chapter Three

    “Ah, and we have another outbreak of foot in mouth disease in the Chloe region of Smallville”, Chloe said, making a point of biting her tongue.

    “Really? No follow up question? I think that I am hurt”.

    “Hey, I am trying to grow here”, she said, almost shaking with her need to pry but she remained herself that she was a guest.

    “How’s that working out for you?” He asked, placing his hand on the top of her head as if he were measuring her, also anxious to leave the awkward topic behind them.

    “Brilliantly”, she shot him a smile, “I am determined not to let Clark out do me”. They both turned to look at Clark but he was staring out of one of the windows, apparently awed by the view … either that or contemplating just how far away from Lana he was.

    “So what is the plan? Just get bigger heels until you are on his eyelevel?” Lex whispered conspiratorially.

    “Yeah, then he will have to notice me”, she joked before realising that that probably revealed too much about her feelings.

    “Have you ever thought of just kicking him in the shin? It would have much the same effect”, he suggested trying to ease the tension as he grabbed her suitcase again and showed her through into her bedroom – what had been his parent’s room.

    “No, but I will keep it in mind … and if I do decide on that course of action then I will be sure to give you full credit”, she tried to joke her way out of another awkward situation as she followed him into the room trying not to gasp as she saw it. It wasn’t so much a cabin as a luxury penthouse in a hotel she could never have afforded to go to.

    “I’m sure that Gabe will appreciate it”, he didn’t add ‘and tell us all about it for weeks to come’.

    She grinned, “Probably”, then changed the subject, “Lex this room is incredible”.

    He smirked, wait until she saw the Jacuzzi in the bathroom, actually no, she would probably be more excited about the internet connection and laptop in the adjoining study when she found it. He shook his head as he imagined her reaction then went back to their original topic of conversation.

    “Speaking of Gabe, I was informed that this is the second weekend in which you have been deprived of pancakes. Something I intend to rectify”, he said.

    “Oh no”, Chloe groaned, “he didn’t tell you about that!”

    “He did”, Lex continued to smile. “Come on”. He placed his hand on her lower back and escorted her back out into the kitchen where they noticed that Clark was gone but had left a note that he was going for a walk.

    “He does that a lot doesn’t he?” Lex commented.

    “Yup, and then you have to remind yourself not to investigate, ask too many questions or not believe the fake ass excuses he comes up with”, Chloe agreed helping with the grocery bags he had brought.

    “And you manage this how?” Lex asked as he started putting things away, other than the items he needed for the pancakes.

    Chloe sighed and thought hard. “Because I trust Clark”, she gave a derisive little laugh, “in spite of the fact that he never tells me the truth, I think that he is honest and I would rather have him in my life than not so … no investigating. It is really hard”.

    “I know”, Lex commiserated.

    She smiled at him; he was probably one of the few people in the world who really did understand what she was going through rather than just thinking that it was the logical and simple conclusion. “We should form a support group”, she teased, “we can meet every week in our basement and make badges and stuff”.

    “My basement has cooler toys”, Lex announced, “and I like the idea of the badges”, the had put everything away so he started to find the frying pan.

    “Lex, you aren’t seriously going to try to make me pancakes”, she couldn’t have that it was just far too personal and he had already invited her into his cabin.

    “Well, I thought that I might have some too”, he teased, “if you don’t mind that is”.

    “I suppose that I could spare a couple”, she said generously getting into the swing of things, seeing that Lex would not be deterred. “But I have never made them myself, I’m not sure about the recipe”.

    “That’s okay, Gabe gave it to me”, Lex said as he selected the ingredients.

    “He did what?!?” She looked truly appalled.

    “What?”

    “He won’t give me the recipe, he says that it is a secret”, she complained.

    “Yeah, well he also isn’t too happy about you being too close to the stove”, Lex reminded her, “doesn’t want you not to depend on him too much”.

    “I suppose”, Chloe muttered, looking a little … in not sulky then sullen.

    “Oh poor widdle Chloekins being adored by everyone must be so hard”, he nudged her.

    “It can be very hard”, she grabbed two aprons from the side and handed Lex one.

    “I’m not wearing that”, he didn’t know who had put them there as his mother had never cooked a meal in her life. He examined the pink frilly apron with disgust; he noticed that Chloe had donned the purple one with a smug smile.

    “Yes you are, we have to keep your clothes clean. I never cook and even I know that”, she informed him primly.

    “It’s only a couple of thousand dollars’ worth of clothing, I’ll risk it”, he shrugged but seeing the look on her face he knew that that was not going to be the end of it.

    “Alexander Joseph Luthor put this on or I’ll do it for you”, she put her hands on her hips, still clutching the apron.

    Lex quirked an eyebrow at her and folded his arms over his chest interested to see if she would really do it. Or try to do it at any rate.

    She sighed in an overly exasperated manner, like someone dealing with a particularly recalcitrant child. “Well, just don’t say that I didn’t warn you”.

    Thanks to Lex’s navy seal training/chauffeur training he was always alert, always ready for an attack but damn it Chloe was fast. In a trice she had unfolded the apron and got most of the top over his head. Lex’s hands went up to grip her wrists but she persisted.

    “Chloe”, he laughed, “give it up. As a man I am much much stronger than you are”.

    “Are not”, she challenged in spite of the fact that he was doing a fairly good job of proving his point.

    “If you are waiting for me to say ‘am too’ you are going to be sorely disappointed”, he said, realising that he could actually lift her up slightly by the wrists.

    “You know you really shouldn’t muck about in the kitchen”, Chloe reminded him.

    “As you wish”, he let her go for one second, then wrapped his arms around her and carried her into the living room determined to finish his experimentation.

    Chloe saw her opportunity and took it, the apron was sat snuggly around his neck and she laughed in triumph. Lex placed her back on her feet to get his hands free and to try to pull the offending garment off his head but he was rendered powerless as she tickled him. By the time that he had managed to wrest control of her once again, grasping her wrists gently, she had managed to tie it behind him in a nice bow. “How on earth did you do that?”

    She smiled smugly up at him, “You are looking at the best baby sitter in all of Kansas. I’ve dealt with far naughtier children than you”, she bragged.

    He gaped at her.

    “So are we going to have pancakes or what?”

    He considered that possibility vs. wrestling her onto the nice soft couch and tickling her into submission but then remembered that that wasn’t really the good way to start a holiday considering that she was in his charge.

    “Fine, we’ll make pancakes although I don’t see why I have to wear the girlie apron”.

    “Because I’m the guest”, she smirked at him, “and because my Dad gave you the recipe, this apron”, she gestured to the purple material, “is my consolation prize”.

    “Right”, they took action stations. “So, not that pancakes are an important food group but are you going to tell me why these particular ones are so important? Have you always had them?”

    “Not always”, Chloe pushed the mixing bowl towards him.

    “Since when?” He began to measure out the considerable list of ingredients and pop them into the ball.

    “Umm”, she pretended to think about it, “since I was five, I think”.

    “What started it?” He asked, sensing that there was more to the story than she was telling him and being genuinely interested. Sometimes his desire to investigate got him into trouble, but at least this time he was being upfront about it.

    She shrugged.

    “You are always asking me for an interview”, he reminded her, although in reality she had only done that once.

    “And you flaked out on me!”

    “You got knocked out of my window”, he expostulated.

    “I would have still finished the interview”, she reminded him.

    “Yes thank-you, I do remember you trying to ask me questions while you were in the ambulance but the paramedic told you to settle down … and then gave you a sedative”. He tried not to remember that day and the sick feeling in the pit of his stomach when he had seen her lying on the ground like that.

    “It is the only clinically proven way to stop me”, she agreed.

    “Come on Chloe”, he nudged her as she grabbed the bowl and began to stir. “You investigated me in secret whereas I’m asking right out”.

    “Fine”, she huffed, her eyes trained on the gloop that she was stirring. “When I was five years old I came down stairs one morning to find my Dad trying to make waffles. He didn’t manage it. In fact, he killed the waffle iron. We had to throw it away but he got out the cook book and found a pancake recipe and added lots of extras to make it super special and wonderful and better than anything we had ever had before”.

    “Where was your mom? Couldn’t she have helped with the waffles?” He wondered, assuming that she was the person who normally did the cooking as Gabe had apparently not known how to do so.

    Chloe shrugged, “That’s kind of the point, we didn’t know”.

    Lex’s face fell, “Chloe, I’m sorry”. He had known that Gabe was divorced. He spoke continuously about his daughter but had never mentioned a wife before, when Lex had asked if his wife would be coming with him to the Christmas party he had smiled tightly and said no. One of the secretaries had informed the Luthor scion that he was divorced but never spoke about it. Lex had always just assumed that it was something that had happened recently – since they had been in Smallville – as the secretary knew about it he had never guessed that she had just left when she was that young. What kind of monster was the woman?

    Chloe shrugged once again and beat the hell out of the batter.

    Finally he knew what it felt like to be Chloe. He knew that he should keep his mouth shut, he knew that it was none of his business, if she wanted to tell him – which clearly she didn’t, and why would she? – then she would. He should just keep his mouth shut. “Have you seen her since then?”

    “Nope, does this look smooth enough to you?” She asked, thrusting the bowl into his hands. He was pleased that he was wearing the apron and took that to be Sullivan code for ‘shut up’.

    “Yeah, I mean I have never had pancakes before but it looks great to me”, he put it on the side and took out the pan.

    “You’ve never had pancakes before?” She gaped at him.

    “No, I had a very deprived childhood”, he joked, shocked to suddenly feel two cuddly arms wrapping themselves around his waist.

    “Um”, he said, lacking some of his usual poise. He had no idea what to do in this situation. In his experience there was only one reason why a woman hugged you, because they wanted something and then the course of action was obvious – push them away. But he couldn’t do that to Chloe. Uncomfortably, he patted her on the back. “So, how about those pancakes?”

    “Yes”, she stood back, blushing furiously, “they will change your life. Hey, Clark’s been gone for ages, do you think that he is saving another millionaire?”

    “Billionaire”, he corrected her automatically.

  8. #8
    NS Senior Member Senior Member Ami Rose's Avatar
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    Re: Camping (R) Posted 3rd August 2013

    great start! hope to read more!
    *Coffee Break 9:00 to 5:00 Daily.
    *Heaven doesn't want me and hell is afraid I'll take over.
    *Are you crazy?
    *From zero to insane in 1.5 seconds!
    *If I agree with you, then we'd both be wrong!

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