Raina Kent urged her car not to give up. She was on the last leg of her journey – in a little less than half an hour she'd reach the Kent farm. She was excited; she hadn't seen this part of the family in several years and it was good to be back in the clear Kansas air.
She finally found a radio station and spent the last few minutes of the trip singing along to Buffalo Springfield and the Beatles.
Martha was waiting for her on the porch. Raina jumped out of the car and paused a moment to stretch.
"It's so good to see you," she said as Martha came down the steps.
"I'm so glad you found a chance to visit." Martha pulled her into a hug and gave her a good squeeze. "Come on inside and get out of this heat!"
"Glad to. My car refused to cooperate on the matter of the air conditioner."
Martha laughed and offered iced tea, which Raina accepted gratefully. "Clark and Jonathan should be back soon. They ran into town to pick up a few things."
Raina glanced over the pictures decorating the walls. I can't wait to see Clark. Last time I saw him, he was this tall." She held a hand slightly above waist level.
Martha smiled as she handed Raina her drink. "I think you'll find that he's considerably taller now."
"I should hope so!"
"Come on, have a seat," Martha invited. "How long are you staying in town?"
Raina laughed. "Wow, we got to that topic sooner than I'd anticipated. I actually wanted to talk to you about – well, Dad would really like me to get out of the city, because of...."
They were interrupted by a knock on the door. Martha excused herself and went to answer it.
A tall man stood at the door. Raina would have been hard pressed to say which she noticed first: his absolutely classy mode of dress, or the fact that he was completely bald.
"Lex." Martha seemed surprised. "Can I help you?"
"He nodded to Raina before answering. "I'm sorry to just drop in. Is Clark here?"
Raina nearly shivered as his gaze swept across her. He's probably gay, she though with great vexation, noting once more his clothing.
"He and Jonathan should be back any time. You..." Martha hesitated. "You can wait, if you'd like."
"Thanks." He stepped inside, and immediately owned the room. He held out a hand to Raina. "I'm Lex."
"Raina Kent." She gave him her hand and he surprised her by kissing the back of it instead of shaking it.
"Another Kent?"
Raina found his eyes perfectly delightful. There's no way a straight man wears that much designer clothing, she thought, and, determined not to sink into despair, said, "Yes, Jonathan is my second cousin. Or first cousin once removed, I've never been sure which."
Martha coughed. "Can I get you something to drink, Lex?"
He hadn't released Raina's hand, and he didn't look away from her as he said, "No, but thank you."
He's way too polite to be straight, Raina thought but was unable to quell the hope his attention stirred.
A car door slammed outside, and Jonathan Kent's distinctive voice finally jogged Raina enough that she reclaimed her hand.
"We're home!" Clark was first in the door, and indeed very much taller than Raina remembered him.
"Raina, you made it." Jonathan's eyes skimmed over Lex, then he grinned and gave her a hug. "What's it been, five, six years?"
"Something like that." She stepped back, unsure if Clark would appreciate a bit of cousinly affection.
"Don't tell me you're shy now," Clark teased, giving her arm a tug. "I remember how much you used to tease me about that."
She laughed. "It's so good to see you again."
"You've met Lex?" Jonathan asked. Raina wondered if she imagined the less than enthusiastic note in his voice. Maybe Lex hit on Clark, her wild imagination supplied.
She nodded. "We managed an introduction just a moment ago."
Jonathan put an arm around Martha. Raina tried to steal a furtive glance at Lex, but it backfired when she found him looking at her. She covered by asking, "How do you know Clark, Lex? You look a little old to be in high school."
"Clark saved my life. After that I consider him a pretty good friend."
Raina's eyebrows shot up in surprised. "Mister hero, here." She shook her head and gave Lex a pained look. "No one ever tells me anything."
Jonathan cleared his throat and said, "Well, surely you've heard about Lex before now?"
She was almost sure she wasn't dreaming up the underlying current of... something in Jonathan's voice. "Heard of Lex where? You haven't mentioned him before."
"You've heard of LuthorCorp, though?" Jonathan pressed.
She frowned. "A little." She looked at Lex doubtfully.
"Lionel Luthor is my father," he clarified.
Raina could feel the mounting tension in the room, and didn't like it because she didn't understand it. She smiled at Lex. "I'm afraid I always skip over the business section of the paper. I know I've heard of LuthorCorp, but that's about the extent of my knowledge."
There was a soft 'ding' from the oven, and Martha jumped. "That's dinner." She moved to maneuver it out of the oven.
"I'll get out of your way, then," Lex said. "Will you be at the Talon tonight, Clark?"
"Yeah, we've got a study session."
Raina wished she'd been around long enough to invite Lex to stay for dinner.
"I'll see you then."
"I'll walk you out," Clark offered.
"Don't worry about it," Lex said quickly. "You've got company. I'll see you later." He gave Raina another nod and departed too quickly for her to appreciate his backside as much as she believed it deserved.
There was an awkward silence.
Finally Raina said, "Okay, what's the deal?"
"It's a long story," Jonathan said. "Nothing we want to discuss over good food."
Martha had, by this time, set the food out, and the rest of the Kents sat down.
"What's the Talon?" asked Raina, venturing into what she hoped was safer territory.
"It's a coffee shop that my friend Lana runs. It used to be a movie theater, but she only runs a few shows now." He smiled, not seeming to realize it. "She and a couple other friends are who I'm studying with tonight."
"Lana, huh?" Raina traded a look with Martha.
"What?" Clark asked.
Raina couldn't stop a chuckle from escaping her lips. "Nothing."
"What?"
"Nothing."
Jonathan said to Martha, "Can you imagine if she'd been around all the time? It's practically sibling rivalry."
The food was delicious, and Raina forestalled any further teasing by saying, "This is fantastic. I'm a wretched cook."
"That reminds me," Martha said. "What were you saying about getting out of the city? Right before Lex got here?"
"Oh!" Raina grinned. "I'm thinking of moving here, actually. Or somewhere around here, depending on what kind of apartment I can find. My Dad wants me away from the city, so this visit is actually partly in the hope that I can find someplace nice to stay."
"Why, that would be wonderful!" Martha said in delight.
Clark laughed. "Guess you have to put up with that sibling rivalry after all, Dad."
Jonathan shook his head, eyes to heaven. "I spoke too soon."
"I'm gonna try to find some place within the next week or so. Hopefully before I become as stinky as fish after three days. Dad will ship the rest of my stuff down once I give him an address."
"Well, you can come down to the Talon with me tonight," Clark offered. "See Smallville in all its glory before you decide to condemn yourself to a life of boredom."
"I only get bored on car trips," Raina assured him. "Which is why, having made the trip, I'm settling down instead of driving back."
Dinner was concluded with more happy chatter. Raina took a few minutes to freshen up and change. She picked out dark jeans which she always thought made her posterior very attractive, and a black peasant blouse with a low neckline. Dampening her hair brought out the waves in it, and she surveyed herself with satisfaction.
She slipped on some strappy black sandals, grabbed her notebook, and hurried downstairs, hoping Clark hadn't been waiting for too long.
He was just stuffing some books into his bag. "Ready?" he asked.
"Indeed."
It was a short driving, during which Raina interrogated Clark mercilessly on Lana's appearance and anything else about her that could be ferreted out.
"You seem relieved," she teased when they got there.
"Just come inside and see her for yourself," he said, exasperated.
Clark led her inside and straight to a table where three kids already had notes and books spread out.
"You're late, Kent," said a handsome, black boy.
"I blame Raina."
"Hey!" she protested. "I was ready before you."
"Then you'll just have to take the blame as payback for the car trip."
Raina stuck her tongue out at Clark. Then she noticed that both of the two girls were eying her suspiciously.
"Everyone, this is my coastal cousin Raina."
The girls eased off the suspicion immediately and smiled at Raina. One she recognized as the highly esteemed Lana.
"I love how you make me sound insane just by saying where I'm from," Raina laughed.
"This is my friend Pete, and this is Lana. She runs this place." Lana nodded in acknowledgement. "This is Chloe, my journalist friend. Raina writes, too, Chloe."
The blonde girl grinned. "Are you into journalism?"
"Not me," Raina said. "I'm strictly into fiction."
"Any publications?" Chloe seemed like the kind of person who would never run out of questions.
"A few, but I write under a pen name."
Lana coughed. "Before you go into interview mode, Chloe, remember the history test we all have to take tomorrow."
Raina chuckled. "I'm going to see if the drinks are as good as they're reported to be, then go occupy myself until Clark is ready to go. It's nice to meet you guys."
Pete was muttering dates by the time she'd turned away.
She managed to get a drink that was mostly chocolate and found a corner. She doodled in her notebook, wrote some sentences and scribbled them out, then gave up and began writing a letter to her sister.
"You seem to be working very hard."
Raina looked up to find Lex standing before her. She grinned and decided that even his voice was perfect.
"No, I'm just pretending," she said in answer to his comment. "Please, sit down." Please, please, please.
He sat in the chair opposite her and she set her notebook aside.
"I didn't mean to interrupt."
"It's fine – my pretend work isn't actually as appealing as you." She shut her eyes. "The things I say when I don't have a chance to edit on paper."
"'Sometimes knowing when to talk is more important than knowing what to say,'" he quoted.
"That's from Whistling in the Dark!" she said in delight.
"You've read it."
It wasn't a question but she said, "Oh, certainly."
"It's one of my favorite books. I've read it three times and I want to read it again."
"Wow." Raina couldn't think of anything else to say.
"I like everything by Michelle Rigby, but that's my favorite. It surprises me every time I read it."
"You know," Raina said, completely flabbergasted, "the idea came from a song by They Might Be Giants."
"Really." Lex seemed impressed. "Where'd you hear that? It's impossible to find anything about Rigby."
"I must have read it somewhere."
"You know they're making a movie from it."
"I did know that."
Lex shook his head. "Rigby's not involved, so of course they're going to butcher it."
"I'm glad you feel that way!" Raina said more loudly than she'd meant to. She laughed, and when he laughed with her, she felt something in her ease.
After that she found him remarkable to talk to, about anything from books to philosophy to food. When Clark was ready to leave, Raina had to hold herself back from warning him on the dangers of not studying enough.
"I could give you a ride out to the farm later," Lex offered quietly, and she was so pleased that he wanted to keep talking to her that she almost took him up on it.
With infinite regret, she said, "I'd better not. First night as a guest."
He nodded in understanding and walked her out with Clark. "Good luck on your test," he said to his friend. He caught Raina's hand and she reveled. "I'll see you again soon, I hope."
"I'll be around." She wanted to jump into his arms and kiss him but she restrained herself successfully and got into the truck, then watched him in the side mirror, standing in the light of the Talon, until she couldn't see him anymore.
Clark was muttering something about forefathers.
"He's not gay, is he?"
"George Washington?" he asked incredulously.
She laughed. "No, Lex."
Now Clark laughed. "No. No, no, no, no."
She smirked. "Good."
"Good, huh?"
She didn't answer, just sniffed.
"You like him."
"Do not."
He waited a beat and then repeated, "You like him."
"Maybe," she amended.
"You like him."
She stuck with, "Maybe."