Lex took a breath before lifting his hand to knock on the door. It was ridiculous, but he had to admit he was nervous. This wasn't anything like hostile mergers and acquisitions; it was much more terrifying. Mostly because it meant so much more. He'd been dating Clark for a relatively short time, but he was already more invested in this relationship than he'd ever been in anything else in his life.
The door opened almost immediately when he rapped his knuckles against it, and Lex found himself looking down into a tiny Spiderman mask. "Hi," Conner said. "Are you trick-or-treating? We have candy for kids only."
"Well…" Lex lifted his gaze to meet Clark's eyes over Conner's head. He wasn't expecting candy, but he had been invited to come along tonight. He was technically trick-or-treating, wasn't he? Before Clark, Lex had never dated someone with a child, and he never thought he would want to. So when he found out Clark had a son, he'd been hesitant to get involved—but Conner had grabbed his heart in his tiny little fist and held on tight, and Lex didn't want him to let go.
Gently resting his hand on his son's head, Clark smiled at Lex. "Conner, Lex is going to come with us tonight, remember?"
Conner tipped his head back against Clark's legs to look up at him through the mask. "Oh yeah." He turned back to Lex, resting his little fists on his hips. "You need a costume."
"Do I?" Lex raised an eyebrow at Clark, who hadn't said anything at all about costumes when he invited Lex to come along for this apparently normal childhood tradition. Not that Lex didn't know that costumes were a usual part of this—for the children.
"Um…" Clark ducked his head a bit, rubbing at the back of his neck. "I wasn't sure you'd want to, but I do have something for you to wear… if you want."
Oh, why the hell not? As a child, Lex had often dreamed of putting on a mask and being someone else, at least for a little while. He shrugged. "Sure."
This was a bit more than a simple mask. In fact, there was no mask, and yet the reflection in the full length mirror was unrecognizable. The wig was probably a big part of that, hanging dark and shaggy around his face, casting shadows across his features that gave him planes and angles that made him look dangerous. A black leather vest crisscrossed with straps, black cargo pants, and heavy combat boots further disguised his identity, since billionaire CEO Lex Luthor would never wear anything like this.
But it was the arm that really finished the whole look. Overlapping plastic sheets, painted to look like metal plates, encased his entire left arm, vanishing beneath the vest at his shoulder. Clark hadn't told him who the costume was meant to depict, but Lex hadn't stopped reading comic books and watching the movies based on them, despite his busy schedule. This was obviously Bucky Barnes AKA the Winter Soldier, childhood friend of Steve Rogers.
It was an elaborate costume, and probably not cheap. Despite his words earlier, Clark must have been pretty certain that Lex would agree to wear it. And yet, why this costume?
Lex got his answer when he came out into the living room. Clark was bedecked in the garish red, white, and blue of Captain America. Biting the inside of his lip to keep from smiling, Lex glared at Clark until he ducked his head and shuffled his feet.
"It's… um…" Clark waved a hand between himself and Lex. "Sort of a… couple's costume?"
It was all Lex could do not to snort at that. Yeah, it really was. Still, he wasn't about to let Clark off the hook that easily. "Really," he said flatly.
"Well, yeah." Clark wet his lips and swallowed. "Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes, inseparable since birth."
And that was the most perfect opening Lex had ever seen. "Who the hell is Bucky?" he growled.
Clark's gaze snapped to Lex's face and his eyes widened. For a few seconds, he just stared at Lex as if he couldn't believe his ears, then a huge smile spread across his face. "'Til the end of the line, jerk," he retorted, and Lex couldn't help but smile back.
"Punk." Stepping forward and reaching up to slide his hands behind Clark's neck, Lex pulled him down into a kiss. Too bad the characters in the movie probably wouldn't ever do this. It was just about perfect.
Until a pair of tiny hands tugged at their pant legs, and Conner whined, "Enough kissing! Let's go!"
"All right, all right." Clark pulled back, laughing, and caught Conner up into his arms. "Let's go get some candy, Spiderman!"
Smiling, Lex followed them out into the waning light. His first time trick-or-treating was shaping up to be a pretty good night.