Fuck he hated them all, they way they laughed, the way their eyes despised him. Angrily he slammed the door, letting himself fall into his chair. His stomach grumbled. Great. Just fucking great.
He was the leader. And he was more than just a natural leader at that: he was the leader they had elected. Therefore it stood to reason that they should do what he said. A woman's place was to cook, and clean, and screw. Always had been. How was he supposed to lead this place if they wouldn't feed him? Bloody women.
As for Ryan – his lip curled into almost a snarl as he remembered. Ryan of all people, cooperating with them, eating with them, giving them his water. Jack and Dal he could understand – no, tolerate. They were young and still easily led. But Ryan, his mate Ryan...
"Argh!" he kicked the desk in frustration, almost missing the timid knock on the door "What?" he snapped, clearly not in the mood. It had better be Ryan or Zandra come to apologise, come to bring him food. He was not prepared for who it actually was, and had to pause for a moment to even just remember the name.
"Patsy?" she nodded at him, regarding him with her wide blue eyes "Well? What is it?" hunger made him more impatient than normal. If this was about Paul again... Patsy closed the door and walked over to the desk, extending her arm
"I brought you something to eat" This definitely surprised him
"Why?" suspicious, logically so. Patsy's blush deepened and couldn't meet his eyes
"Give it here" he snatched it off her, making a pretext of examining the wrapper. From the colour and the logo he guessed it to be a snickers bar. Not his favourite, but never mind. Hastily tearing off the wrapper he took a huge bite, all the while watching Patsy watching him chewing. Something inside him forced him to speak
"Oh, thanks, whatever. You can go now"
Patsy chewed her lip as if she had something to say, but nodded, turning back to the door from which she'd entered.
"Lex"
"Yeah?"
"The others don't know"
And maybe it was because he was hungry, or because he was surprised, but he found himself responding
"Don't worry, I won't tell"
Or maybe it was because he could imagine the look in her eyes as she left, leaving him to eat and contemplate in silence.
AN: Moved from old account. Set in S1, around the time when Lex is leader, and the women are refusing to let him eat as punishment. Only first chapter, have got more (in which the story gets better), but some reviews would be helpful to let me know if I should upload them. Thanks :)