Clark shrugged and smiled, half-heartedly. "If it's okay, I'll just stay here with Lex, catch up on reading some more," he said as he hoisted the last box of produce onto the back of the truck. Lex caught Martha's quick glance at him, and realized they shared the same anxiety. Clark had consistently avoided any kind of activity that might involve leaving the farm, and he had been reluctant even to leave the house. Even under his seemingly casual words of refusal, his tone was firm.
Lex couldn't blame him. Leaving before had led to three years of unimaginable fear and pain. Though usually he used less euphemistic terms, at least in his own mind, to describe Clark's ordeal. Despite Lex's wanting to adopt his usual practice of finding the best experts, no matter what the price, and getting them onto the problem, he could hardly call in leading psychiatrists and counselors for Clark. Which was, he reminded himself, a score to be settled, though not a pressing one, compared to watching over Clark's recovery.
Jonathan nodded slowly, and Clark's more habitual grin returned. "I promise we'll hit the books." Lex had ordered back issues of newspapers and magazines, books on current events, pop culture, technical developments, and anything else that would help Clark catch up on the missing years, and was talking Clark through the events and issues. He'd just gotten going in one explanation when Clark leaned back and booed, then laughed at his astonished face. "You were starting to speechify, so I thought I'd heckle. Get you used to it."
Lex read more into Jonathan's consent. He and Clark hadn't been any more intimate than a few kisses and almost chaste caresses, and since that first night, he had slept in the guest room, by an unspoken but very clear mutual understanding with the older Kents. Jonathan was clearly indicating now that he trusted Lex with Clark. It reminded him of nothing as much as the first time that his mother had put Julian in his arms.
When the truck drove off, Lex turned to Clark and deliberately, his eyes challenging, suggested, "It's gorgeous. Let's bring the books outside, we can go over the Cloning and Genetic Engineering Resolutions." Clark had been able to leave the house to help load the truck, and hadn't rushed back inside the way he had the day before, or looked abjectly miserable, as the day before that.
"Nicer inside." Clark's eyes held a hint of a plea, and Lex immediately yielded. The one time he had tried to push Clark out of his uneasiness, had gone out to the far pasture over his protests and waited for Clark, the look of hurt bewilderment in Clark's huge eyes had brought Lex back with a whisper of apologies, mouth buried in that hollow where Clark's throat met his shoulder. Clearly, Clark couldn't be pushed on this. If he wasn't progressing as quickly as he could have, at least he was progressing.
Lex couldn't blame him. Leaving before had led to three years of unimaginable fear and pain. Though usually he used less euphemistic terms, at least in his own mind, to describe Clark's ordeal. Despite Lex's wanting to adopt his usual practice of finding the best experts, no matter what the price, and getting them onto the problem, he could hardly call in leading psychiatrists and counselors for Clark. Which was, he reminded himself, a score to be settled, though not a pressing one, compared to watching over Clark's recovery.
Jonathan nodded slowly, and Clark's more habitual grin returned. "I promise we'll hit the books." Lex had ordered back issues of newspapers and magazines, books on current events, pop culture, technical developments, and anything else that would help Clark catch up on the missing years, and was talking Clark through the events and issues. He'd just gotten going in one explanation when Clark leaned back and booed, then laughed at his astonished face. "You were starting to speechify, so I thought I'd heckle. Get you used to it."
Lex read more into Jonathan's consent. He and Clark hadn't been any more intimate than a few kisses and almost chaste caresses, and since that first night, he had slept in the guest room, by an unspoken but very clear mutual understanding with the older Kents. Jonathan was clearly indicating now that he trusted Lex with Clark. It reminded him of nothing as much as the first time that his mother had put Julian in his arms.
When the truck drove off, Lex turned to Clark and deliberately, his eyes challenging, suggested, "It's gorgeous. Let's bring the books outside, we can go over the Cloning and Genetic Engineering Resolutions." Clark had been able to leave the house to help load the truck, and hadn't rushed back inside the way he had the day before, or looked abjectly miserable, as the day before that.
"Nicer inside." Clark's eyes held a hint of a plea, and Lex immediately yielded. The one time he had tried to push Clark out of his uneasiness, had gone out to the far pasture over his protests and waited for Clark, the look of hurt bewilderment in Clark's huge eyes had brought Lex back with a whisper of apologies, mouth buried in that hollow where Clark's throat met his shoulder. Clearly, Clark couldn't be pushed on this. If he wasn't progressing as quickly as he could have, at least he was progressing.