| TITLE: | Shiny |
| FANDOM: | Smallville |
| PAIRING: | Clark/Lex |
| SERIES/SEQUEL: | Shiny (6 part-series) |
| SUMMARY: | Temptations are the Devil's work. |
| FEEDBACK: | Equals a good cup of coffee. ximeria@yahoo.com |
| RATING: | R/PG-13 |
| RANTINGS: | Thanks to Nora Charles, Amy and Jeff. Nora Charles for providing the bunny, the mood and a lot of good laughs. Amy for encouraging this. And Jeff for cheering and suggesting |
"So, anything interesting happening today?" Chloe shoved her bag under the chair and sat down. She slid over to the next seat, as Pete followed her with their order. Both of them smiled broadly at him. "Well, Clark?" Chloe continued.
"Slow week for the wall of weird?" Clark asked, directing his question at Pete, since their friend was busy slurping the foam of her cappuccino.
"Yeah, thank God!" Pete sniffed at his coffee with a contented sigh. "It's nice every once in a while to have no mutants to worry about - and no mysteries to solve."
"Aw, come on , Pete." Chloe looked up. "Where's your sense of adventure?"
Clark shared a knowing glance with Pete. "You have more than enough for all three of us, Chloe." Clark had to side with Pete on this one. Everything was so… nice and normal. Clark sighed when he looked up and saw that, apparently, things *were* back to normal - between Lana and Whitney too.
Chloe twisted around to look in the same direction. Then tilted her head slightly, a little smile on her lips. "Don't you ever get tired of this?"
"Of what?" Clark forced his eyes away from Lana, back to Chloe. "Don't I ever get tired of what?"
Chloe rolled her eyes, shaking her head. Her blonde bangs bouncing happily around her head. "Pining after Lana, Clark."
Clark blinked, then frowned. Perhaps Chloe was… right? Both she and Lex had told him time and time again that there were other girls than Lana around. "I can't just stop my feelings for her, can I?" Though there were times where he wished he could.
Chloe shrugged, giving up on him, and she and Pete settled for teasing him with it.
Clark couldn't help smiling at it. He didn't feel hurt from their words, he never did. They were right of course, but he still couldn't bring himself to care about their teasing. He knew they meant him no harm with it - if anything they might worry a little about his obsession with Lana. He'd tried to see the same in other girls - whatever it was he saw in Lana, but no such luck.
Then again, the feeling he had around Lana, was more often that not the necklace she wore. There were times when he wondered if that was all it was. If he mistook the queasy feeling in his stomach for love, instead of what if really was - the green, glowing rock making him nauseous.
"So, anyway," Chloe's voice brought him back to present. "We have a few things to go over before tomorrow's issue of the Torch. One more interview"
"Hey, Clark, wanna help?" Pete shot in.
The pleading tone wasn't lost on Clark. He laughed as Chloe mock punched Pete. "Really Pete," Chloe glared at him. "It isn't *that* bad an assignment to interview the Garden Club Society."
"No?" Pete frowned. "Then I must've missed something." He ducked as Chloe slapped the back of his head.
"Easy, Chloe." Clark laughed at his friends' gentle banter. They were a part of his weird life that helped him keep his sanity in one piece. "You wouldn't want to damage anything in there."
"Damage?" Chloe looked innocent. "There's something in there to damage?"
Clark let his mind wander, Pete and Chloe's argument a pleasant background noise. He watched Lana and Whitney, sitting close to each other, laughing, touching. Clark sighed inwardly, his smile faltering. If that had only been him…
"Hey! Earth calling Clark!" Chloe waved a hand in front of his face.
Huh? Oh. Clark could feel a tell-tale blush rising. Chloe's smirk and Pete's chuckle told him that he'd drifted off again.
"As much as we *love* watching you drool over Lana, we've really gotta be going." She stood motioning for Pete to do the same. "The paper doesn't write itself."
"Oh, ok." Clark looked up, trying to concentrate on the situation at hand. "See you guys later."
Chloe looked at Pete, then back to Clark. Then over at Lana. "You know, Clark," she smiled sweetly at him. "You're getting obsessed."
"Getting?" Pete raised an eyebrow as he pushed back the chair.
"Awfully funny." Clark tried to suppress a broad grin.
"See ya, Clark." Pete shot him one last smile, as he and Chloe made their way back out into the street.
Clark's smile faded. Yes, they *were* right. It was… obsessive, his behaviour. He sighed deeply - why did love have to be so complicated?
Clark suddenly realized the stupid grin forming, as he in the distance picked up the soft hum of a powerful engine. Clark turned to look out the window, breath catching in his throat as a sleek, black sports car pulled into a miraculously empty parking spot right in front of the Beanery. Um, new car? Definitely new car.
He watched intently as the door opened and a lean figure stepped out. Clark hissed out the breath he'd been holding. Wow. He couldn't recall ever having seen Lex wear anything but dark colours. This time, however. Wow. White suit, very white - almost shiny. Clark watched as Lex pushed the car door shut, putting on a pair of shades, turning and walking with an almost feline kind of grace toward the entrance of the Beanery. Clark caught himself thinking that, if Lex had had a tail, it would have been swishing from side to side. And why did this make him feel so… odd?
TBC in part 2