WARNING THE FOLLOWING HAS GRAPHIC SLASH MALE AND MALE SEXUAL SITUATIONS AND DIALGUE, IF THIS OFFENDS YOU PLEASE DO NOT READ. THANX
The Charity Gala Benefit Dinner was held on the top floor of the building. Clark marveled at the glass ceiling that enveloped the large T shaped room. It was over forty feet high and unusual abstract shapes could be seen in the fading sunlight. Very artsy. Not wearing a suit like everyone else, made him feel a tad underdressed. But, he didn't let that bother him. Lex had told him that he looked great, and that he was a better person than anyone else in the room who dared to look at him in an offending manner. The feeling of jubilance that swept over him had made Clark want to shout to the crowd on how much better Lex was than what they all thought. He knew that the populace in general didn't have a very high opinion of his best friend.
They were almost finished eating when Lex's cell phone rang. "Hello. Really? At the 'Bolo,' yes, I know where that is. Thank you." Lex put the phone back into his jacket pocket and sat back in his seat, "Well, it seems that your lady friend decided to have an expensive dinner tonight as well."
Clark's eyes lit up with anticipation, "Elizabeth?"
"Yes. My assistant was just notified of her most recent credit card transaction, which occurred less than ten minutes ago. It was at a Mediterranean restaurant about six blocks from here. I know the place well. It wouldn't take long to get there."
"Oh." He was more or less full, so leaving supper early wouldn't suck too badly.
"We can leave now if you'd like. There's no guarantee that she's going to still be there. At the very least, she will be in the general area." Apparently knowing Clark's upcoming response, Lex stood up and politely pushed his chair in under the table.
"Thanks. How fast can you run?" Clark grinned evilly.
"You really are insane if you think I'm going to run to the elevator."
"Last one there's a rotten egg." With a whoosh of air, Clark was gone. He stood standing by the elevator a second later to wait leisurely for Lex to arrive. When he did, it was apparent that Lex had indeed run most of the way there.
Lex panted with a look of sheer annoyance, "Don't ever do that, again."
"I'm not bothering you, am I?"
Sarcastically, Lex replied, "Not in the slightest. But, isn't it a bit inappropriate showing off in such a high profile public place?"
"No one saw me doing anything out of the ordinary, why did you?" Clark pouted.
"No, I didn't see anything at all." Lex looked disappointed at him before going into the elevator. Feeling bad, Clark wanted to make it up to his friend, as soon as they finished dealing with Elizabeth, he'd tell Lex everything, and maybe learn a few physical skills from him at the same time.
On the way there, Clark nervously rubbed his palms together and generally acted twitchy. Lex kept staring at him in a way that openly showed his concern for Clark, which helped him calm down a bit. Up until now, the day had been almost perfect and he had never wanted tomorrow to come this badly before. At the moment, the thought of having to re-live Friday over again, starting everything at the beginning, made him sick to death. His parents would say and do the same things, Chloe and Pete would act like broken records, and Lex would be aloof and guarded. That last detail was the worst part.
On the bright side, today had been rather festive. Lex was a joy to be around. Heck, he could easily handle a few more days of fun and carefree relaxation without worrying about having to make it all better right away as well.
When he saw the flashy metallic sign 'Bolo' up ahead Clark began to think about what he should say to Elizabeth once he was finally able to have a descent conversation with her. 'Hi, do you know why today keeps on repeating? Because, it would be so great to stop that.' She would probably think that he was totally lame, or an escaped mental patient.
Walking into the establishment, Lex, full of authority and conviction, politely asked to see the manager. The man promptly showed up less than a minute later, almost looking fearful as to what Lex Luthor was going to say to him. Clark glanced around the fancy ocean themed reservation only restaurant as Lex seriously began to explain his sudden appearance.
"It is essential for me to find out where your recent customer, Mrs. Elizabeth Hoffman, may have gone after leaving your premises about twenty minutes ago."
The man quickly nodded, "But of course. I'll go find out who served her."
Soon a petite young woman appeared, looking way too adoringly at Lex. Clark scowled as she completely ignored him and talked to his friend as if he was her own personal savior, while Lex charmingly smiled at her and seemed generally pleased by her flirtations. His friend asked how she was doing, how long she had worked there, and Lex even stated how fine the weather was outside… Clark was going to scream.
"Are you going to get to the point before I shrivel up and die, already?"
After hearing Clark's nasty outburst, Lex stared at him in astonishment before he smirked, "Sorry about my friend, I think his supper may have been too spicy for him." Lex then moved closer to her and continued to go on with their conversation, seeming to dismiss Clark's snort of disapproval, "I hope he didn't bother you."
"Oh no, Mr. Luthor-"
"Call me, Lex."
"Lex." She had the gall to giggle before continuing on, "I do recall the lady you want to know about. She and her husband were such a fun-loving and polite couple. It's not often I see people that openly in love with each other, plus they did leave a very generous tip." She blushed at her reference of money. Clark felt like vomiting. 'Pass me a barf bag.' An actual wave of irritating dizziness just pissed him off even more.
"Please, go on."
"I'm sure I heard him mention that he wanted to take her to a cabaret later tonight. I know there's one located not far from here that's quite popular. Brandy's. But I don't know if that's where they were planning on going."
"Thank you for your cooperation." Lex bowed his head slightly as if he were tipping an imaginary hat. "That will be all for tonight. I do hope that you have a very pleasant evening."
She smiled sweetly, but didn't turn to leave. God, if Lex touched her he'd… he'd do something rash.
Lex offered her his hand. No. Before either Lex or the waitress could say anything more he grabbed his friend none too gently by the arm and pulled him out of the restaurant. 'How dare Lex act like that with some stranger, and right in front of me?' Did his friend want to have sex with her that bad?
Grimacing at Clark's hand super-glued to his arm Lex asked, "Is there something wrong, Clark?"
"We're wasting time." He grated out between clenched teeth, "You didn't have to get so chummy with her. She was only a sad blue-collar worker away. I don't see what you could possibly have seen interesting about her. She wasn't even that pretty." 'Methinks I doth protest too much'.
"To speak in words you'll understand, 'you can catch more flies with honey than you can with vinegar.'" Damn it, Lex was almost grinning at him. 'Had this been a set-up?'
"Whatever." God, he was sulking now. Regressing several years really wouldn't be very attractive to Lex, but shit he was annoyed. Okay, fine he was jealous. Clark continued to brood as they walking back to the car.
Stopping in front of the Ferrari Lex mused, "If I didn't know any better I'd say you were jealous?"
"Vain much?" Clark snorted.
"Why I happen to think that I'm a very attractive man." Appearing to slightly flaunt his most striking features, Clark wasn't impressed. It had been a set-up.
"Yeah, you attract psycho bitches who keep trying to kill you, mighty fine. I'll give you extra credit for that." Sarcasm can be very fun, and he was still quite angry with Lex's little personal test. "Let's just go. I'm not in the mood for any more of your games right now."
Plopping down into the passenger's seat Clark tried to ignore his friend's somewhat wounded expression. He felt totally justified acting this way, however irrational it might seem.
The car sped off without any further conversation.
'Brandy's' was a sleepy little piano bar on Metropolis' Upper Fast Side. Strangely, the fact that it was a bar and he was underage still hadn't been brought up. Good. Glancing up at the pink glowing neon sign, he started to wonder what the heck a cabaret was. Having had a few minutes to calm down, Clark decided that he would be willing to talk with his friend again.
"Lex, what's a cabaret?"
"It's a place where the waiters and waitresses bare their souls to their customers, hoping to reach their big break. Show biz can be grand that way." Seeming to think for a moment, Lex continued, "I believe it first originated in the early 1880's in Paris. It was initially intended to be a private club for outspoken artists, poets and composers, and then one night the owner decided to serve drinks—and voila! Cabaret."
That of course made him give Lex a very blank look of, huh?
After Lex drolly elaborated, Clark found out that they're often professional performers who sang anything from popular Broadway show hits to old TV theme tunes plus some original songs.
That hadn't sounded that exciting until Lex mentioned, "What makes a cabaret interesting is that the audience is part of the show." Clark wasn't in the mood to be part of any kind of show.
"Don't worry. We can sit in the back where we won't be too noticeable." Lex did a quick survey of the area before parking his car next to the side of the building between two inferior vehicles.
After pulling the keys out of the ignition, Lex called his assistant and instructed him to locate all of the cabaret bars in Metropolis and to request for them to keep a look out for an Elizabeth Hoffman. The man on the other end of the phone was so polite and prompt at his responses that it made Clark wonder how much different Lex acted towards other people, than with him, on a daily basis. His friend seemed to some how make others only see a distorted view of himself on purpose. Lex Luthor had to appear to be invulnerable, shrewd and cunning to the rest of the outside world. But Clark knew how intensely devoted Lex was to those he loved. He would do anything. Sadly, he considered the fact that Lex could even deem cold blooded murder to be justifiable, under only extreme circumstances he hoped. What else could his friend do?
Could he, Clark Kent, ever kill someone who threatened a person he loved? He had come so close to purposely killing a few people in the past the most notable being Sam Phelan and Lionel Luthor, but so far he had never stepped over that line.
"Clark, you look like your dog just died and you're contemplating on whether I did it."
Having been broken out of his inner reflections, Clark turned and looked at Lex with confidence. Shaking his head in the negative he replied, "I don't even own a dog."
Lex's rigid posture and the questioning look in his eyes made Clark want to tell him more.
Smiling, he patted Lex on the back as they started to stroll towards the entrance, "And if I did there's no way I'd ever believe you'd kill my dog. Well, unless it had rabies and was running after you with a foaming mouth and you happened to have a gun. Then you'd have my full approval to put the poor thing out of its misery."
"How very kind of you. Would his name be Old Yeller or Cujo?" Lex grinned relaxing a bit.
"Definitely, Old Yeller. I loved that movie." Looking more serious, he licked his lips, "But that would never happen, because I'd save you before it ever got close enough to harming you." Smiling he thumped his chest, "I've decided to elect myself to be your own personal guardian angel."
Lex stopped walking, now standing less than a half a foot away from him, "You already are." Glancing upwards, his friend looked in awe at him.
Staring longingly into his friend's beautiful blue eye's he swore that he was seeing directly into Lex's troubled soul, "I've failed you more times than you know." The feeling of guilt made him quickly look away.
Leaning in towards Clark so that his breath was warm against his jaw, Lex whispered, "No matter how much I want you to be… You're not perfect. I like you just the way you are."
Feeling another sensual hot flush start at the tips of his ears and run down the length of his entire body, Clark responded with, "I think we'd better go inside, or I might make a scene."
"That's never bothered you before." Lex smirked then moved back and gestured towards the door, "You first."
'Huh?' He didn't make scenes unless he was angry, then he tended to yell and stuff… God, how often had he acted like an immature brat in front of Lex? Gee, most recently at the 'Bolo' restaurant, not that Lex hadn't partially initiated it. Good, he didn't feel like kissing Lex anymore.
"Too bad for you. I'm sure you would have greatly enjoyed it this time." He chuckled at Lex's surprised expression before moving past him and opening the door.
After entering the dimly lit room, he noticed a large type printed sign by the front desk that had the pictures and names of the performers for that evening. They were all dressed in semi-casual trendy clothes and they were either smiling sweetly for the camera or trying to appear thoughtful or something cool like that. A lady by the name of Natalie Donald would be their first entertainer at around nine o'clock, which was in about an hour. He'd have to find a fun way to waste some time until then. More games perhaps? Like another symbolic chess match without the board, little men and horses? While he would have to, at the same time, keep a look out for Elizabeth and her husband. This could turn out to be a rather exhilarating night.
To Clark, as they walked further into the semi-crowded dark room, the most prominent feature was an antique piano sitting in the middle of the unusual area around him. Slouched in front of it was a middle aged man playing out a smooth rhythmic unfamiliar melody.
The place in general was quite unique. There were thick emerald curtains covering the windows that were held back with bulky copper twisted ropes. The floor was plain cement which had flecks of mostly worn off yellowish paint, while the walls were half mahogany wood and half deep purple. Most of the light in the room came from two semi-clean gaudy chandeliers that were slightly swinging above them. Clark nodded to himself, pleased by the over-all cozy atmosphere.
Smiling, he let Lex choose were he wanted them to sit. Following him to a table in the far left hand corner of the generally comfy space they sat together in a smallish booth with their backs facing the wall, which would give them a decent view of the up coming entertainment, as well as a minute notion of privacy. Glancing down he saw an ornate silver and gold candle sitting unlit on the top of their glass table.
After a few minutes of idle yet intriguing chit-chat, Clark grinned at the opportunity for some more mischief. Squinting his eyes and concentrating hard on the black wick, he only had to stare at it for a second before he got his desired result. He was pleased to hear Lex's hiss of shock when the candle suddenly burst into flame in front of his face.
"Is it getting hot in here or is it just me?" Clark laughed at his mesmerized audience of one.
"That was you?"
"Yes."
"I need a drink." Lex waved his hand grabbing the attention of the nearest waitress and ordering a double shot of scotch for himself and a coke for Clark. Sitting in awkward silence until after they received their drinks, Lex nervously swirled the ice in his glass before turning to look intently at him.
"So, how many special talents do you have, Clark?"
"At the moment six." He leisurely grabbed a fork and started twisting it into extremely exquisite shapes before it finally snapped from the friction. Knowing that he'd proven that particular point he then glanced towards a lady on the far side of the room and motioned Lex to look at her, "She just told her friend that you'd be a 'great fuck.'"
Clark then began to poke his index finger into the candle flame, wiggling it in a teasing manner.
Lex glanced at the women mischievously, seeming to ignore the fact that Clark was not getting burnt, "I get that a lot."
"I don't doubt that. Like you said, you're a very attractive man."
Clark listened closely as Lex's breathing and heart rate doubled, and it thrilled him to watch as his friend began to sweat and fidget in his seat. The slight vibration in the padding under him encouraged Clark to continue with his teasing. Lex definitely seemed to find his powers to be highly stimulating. Oh, how he loved to view one vulnerable sexy Lex. Gazing at Clark with slightly closed eye-lids, Lex sucked back his drink and ordered another two.
Sure Clark was playing with fire in more ways than one, but this was beyond fun. It was electrifying and addictive to watch Lex. Every tiny move or sound that he made delighted Clark and encouraged him to up the ante.
At one point, Clark noticed two guys sit near them, mostly due to the fact that they had been holding hands before getting to their table. Lex stared at him even more intensely as the men practically cuddled with each other in the booth.
"Do you like the view?"
Clark had gone quiet while watching the couple, "I… find it very interesting."
"I bet you haven't seen much homoerotic action in your life, being in such a small town all the time where even mentioning the word 'gay' is a faux pas, have you?" Lex actually bit his bottom lip then licked it.
"No." 'Fuck, this was hot.' Unfortunately, the guys didn't seem intent on doing much else at the moment.
"Your loss. I, on the other hand, am quite well versed in pretty much everything."
"Many kudos to you." Clark grinned, "Do you have any particular stories that you want to share?"
Clark heard a couple of strange sounds from underneath the table and was highly amused when he saw that Lex had taken his shoes off. Even in x-ray vision, Lex's feet were sexy.
"Maybe later."
"Goody." Deciding to join in on Lex's new little game, Clark also took off his shoes.
Within a few minutes, they had a fun competition of first toe tagging then on to full on footise's. Now Clark honestly had to admit that footise's with a guy was a slightly funky homo-thing, but the experience was a highly pleasurable one, plus he got to find out that Lex sure was ticklish on the pad of his left foot. 'Neat.'
It was a weird kind of flirtation. Neither of them seemed to be prepared to come right out and say exactly what was going on out loud. Like a volcano bubbling on the verge of a violent eruption, Clark wasn't sure who would crack first, Lex or himself. A risky word here and an un-manly touch there, oh what a way to pass the time.
And, damn, did the time race by at a faster pace than usual. Casually looking in the direction of the piano Clark observed that the waitress Natalie Donald, a droll, brunette, amply proportioned diva, was getting ready to begin her montage, as she was clearly sitting down her bar tray and saddling up to the piano next to the man. Another hour passed by that he wouldn't be forgetting anytime soon.
Clark shifted back indulgently in his seat to watch the upcoming performance as the microphone was picked up by Natalie.
Surveying the room she bluntly stated, "I'm talking. Now sshhhh."
The barroom chatter barely faded as the lights dimmed slightly. Eagerly, Lex also sat back and turned to watch the woman like this was going to be something more exceptional than him. Clark crossed his arms and frowned. This had better be worth it. He had just been on the verge of something… naughty.
"This song is for my friend Ron, and I mean that loosely."
"You mean you're loose?" A heckler called out from the bar. Clark couldn't believe how rude that man was. He stared at Lex who just shrugged, so Clark smiled and tried to look more supporting towards the waitress. This was her job but no one deserved to be talked to like that without merit, and she didn't look too threatening being way over there.
"No, I'm tight, but this is for Ron," she had a glint of evil in her eye. He had to admit, she had some moxy.
Then Natalie nodded to the pianist, lifted the mike to her lips and began to sing:
"I got a feeling that beneath the little halo on your noble head / there lies a thought or two the devil might be interested to know."
All conversation in the room stopped. Clark listened to the words, unconsciously leaning into Lex. When their bodies touched lightly, he sighed and let himself lean further. He soaked up the heat that was radiating from his friend's right arm and shoulder like a sponge. Wanting to hug his friend close in a un-friend-like manner, Clark clenched his hands together in prayer by his knees. He glanced over towards the gay couple and saw the one guy purposely rub his hand down into his partner's lap.
"You're like the finish of a novel that I'll finally have to take to bed. / You fascinate me so."
Natalie's voice was warm and rich like chocolate dripping on a clarinet. Her lyrical delivery took his breath away, and it drew him into her world. Because her style was so touching and confidential, he felt like she was his best friend and she was telling him all her dirty little secrets. This was so weird. Especially with Lex right there next to him. Did Lex feel like this as well? Is this what his friend had meant by audience participation? 'Weird.'
"I feel I'm dealin' with a powder keg that's just about to...blow."
"Hey Miss. Hey...you!" A pearl-draped woman waved her bar tab and a Visa card at Natalie at a nearby table. "Can you take this?" Clark absently gulped down what was left of his drink. Would alcohol calm him down or speed him up? Lex seemed calm, and he'd had lots of liquor so far. Then again, Lex drank too much period.
With perfect equanimity Natalie replied into the microphone, "We don't take plastic, honey. Get up and pay it at the bar." Then she smoothly continued on,
"You fascinate me so..."
Feeling the air around him, as well as his seat practically vibrating with sexual tension, all Clark could do was to hang on to his knees and inhale the musky smell of sweat, booze and cologne. All of his higher thinking skills had zoned out, leaving him with only his basic primal instincts. Out of the corner of his eye, Clark saw the men sitting near them begin to openly French kiss each other. 'Oh my, God.'
Looking towards his friend with hunger, Clark suddenly wanted to pounce on Lex like a tiger, mauling him into submission, licking and biting him all over, and making Lex scream in passion for him to never stop touching him. 'Fuck.' Moaning and groaning louder than the background singing was a very bad idea.
"I have to go to the bathroom."
In an exact repetition from lunch, Clark practically flew into the slightly foul smelling place. The doorway was located in the far back area and barely hidden from the main stage's view. A quick piss and pep talk to himself and he was out ready to go, but what he wasn't expecting was for Lex to be standing right outside of the men's room with an uncommon restless flushed appearance about him.
"What do you really want from me, Clark?" Lex sauntered up to him with a look of unadulterated lust.
Clark backpedaled until he was pressed up against the uneven wooden wall behind him, "I… we… ahhh." 'Oh yes that was a great response.'
Placing his hands on either side of Clark's head, Lex leered, "You're right, no more games."
He slowly traced a finger along the side of Clark's neck sensually sliding it down to his muscular chest and spread his hand to feel the contours of Clark's shapely abs before pulling at his belt loops, "What do we have here?"
The sensation of Lex massaging through his boxers to his fully erect cock made him throw back his head and murmur, "Lexssss."
Then, Clark was savagely being kissed.
His head slammed into the wall with a significant thump causing a small wooden chunk to fall off as Lex continued to aggressively assault him everywhere. Nails raked along his back and ass as Lex had somehow un-tucked his shirt and unbuckled his belt without him noticing. At the same time, Clark could taste expensive alcohol as Lex thrust his tongue into his mouth. Then his legs were pushed apart, as Lex shoved his hard groin against Clark's equally solid one and started to create an electric-like friction as he rapidly rubbed up against Clark. Now this was a bit of a rude awakening.
Breaking the kiss, Clark grabbed onto Lex's wrists and gently pushed them away from himself making Lex stop his advancement. This was a bit too much too fast. How to slow Lex down? And maybe get them out of here and to somewhere else?
His friend glared at him clenching his teeth in anger. When Clark let go, Lex let his hands fall down beside himself, balling them into tight fists he appeared to will himself not to yell, "You've been fucking driving me insane all night. Stop teasing me. If you want me, tell me right now."
A bit spooked Clark pulled away more. 'This is all my fault, how can I possibly get out of this situation without Lex hating me for the rest of the night?' Lex had cracked and he must have been on crack to have acted so moronic. He'd hurt his friends feelings, maybe Lex thought that he was just toying with him for the fun of it and for no other reason than that? What to do, what to do? Lots of begging perhaps? But he was still so annoyingly hard. Why was an angry Lex even more of a turn on than a sultry one?
As a peace offering, Clark softly touched Lex's face, ignoring as his friend flinched away from him, and drew himself down to lightly kiss the tip of Lex's nose. Feeling full of remorse, Clark bent his head down a bit more as he lightly kissed him full on the lips.
With their foreheads pressed against each other, Clark said, "I want you, and I'm sorry."
"For what? Continually lying to me? Or screwing around with my head?" Lex's body was totally unresponsive. Crap. The fury that was radiating off of his friend in waves, made Clark afraid that he'd soon try to bolt. Maybe Lex was afraid too? Afraid of him and what was happening between them. Damn, he still hadn't told Lex about the repeating day thing. Lex still thought that tomorrow would be, well tomorrow.
"For everything." Clark pleaded.
He hugged Lex tightly not giving his friend any opportunity for escape. Hell, he could hold Lex like this forever if he had to. Closing his eyes, Clark tried to ignore the stares of the few people who walked past them. This was something much too intimate for such a public display and Clark hated how many strangers had already seen their emotional roller-coaster ride. Clark wanted Lex to be vulnerable in front of him alone, no one else had the permission to see his friend so upset. They should leave.
He smiled as Lex's muscles began to relax gradually under his comfort onslaught. Lex always forgave him. What would he do if a time ever came when he didn't?
Directly into his friend's ear he uttered, "I need you to know how much I want and care about you. But not here. I don't like people watching us." Clark licked at Lex's earlobe and began to delicately nip and suck on it.
"This day has been too surreal." Lex sighed. Moving his hands up Clark's sides, which somewhat tickled, Lex firmly hugged him back.
Clark grinned and gently bit down where Lex's neck and shoulders met. Licking the spot where his teeth had just been, Clark grinned further when he heard Lex moan at the contact. "Do you want to go somewhere more private?"
"No, I want you to blow me off in the bathroom. But since that's not going to happen, we could make a detour to my penthouse?" Lex's joking tone and the glint of mischief in his friend's blue eyes made Clark's hard on return with a vengeance.
'Ooooh, what fun things we could do there.' Before Clark could reply, Lex was hungrily kissing him again. This time he was less aggressive, the desperate feelings from before had been replaced by an adoring worship. By solely using touch alone, it was like Lex was trying to devote his whole being into making Clark feel how much he needed him. Lex's hands explored and massaged him everywhere, and his friend didn't stop until Clark heard a disgusted noise come too closely from his left which made him open his eyes to see an older man pointing at them like they were side show freaks. Bigotry was everywhere. They begrudgingly let go of their heated embrace and proceeded to straighten their messed clothes.
Taking Lex's right hand, Clark led them towards the nearest exit. It would be over another two hours before the day would repeat again, plenty of time too... "That sounds like a brilliant idea."
Before they got to the door a faint voice made Clark stop dead, and using his super-hearing he zoned in to listen to more of the conversation, "That woman's voice was beautiful, she deserves to be in Hollywood. This place is so cool. Michel, I love it here."
Holy shit, it was, "Elizabeth."
Lex frowned and turned to look towards the direction that he was staring at. Sitting in front of the main bar was a happy young blonde couple, whose profiles where partially hidden, but to Clark she was unmistakable as the woman who had to be the key to all this madness. Today the man, Michel, was dressed in jeans and a casual green shirt, while she was wearing a very revealing red top and black skirt. Clark's stomach did a summersault at the realization of what he was going to have to do next.
Disappointed, Lex let go of his hand and drolly stated, "So, your lady friend finally decided to show up. I hope she's able to give you what you need."
"I promise I won't be to long. Wait for me?"
Lex mutely nodded without any visual expression, which meant that his friend was either severely pissed or very miserable. He'd bet a small fortune that it was both.
Clark gave Lex one more lingering kiss, savoring the feeling of the moment, before walking off towards the unknown. Behind him, he could imagine Lex's eyes trying to bore a hole into his back. His friend was definitely not a happy camper, not that he blamed him. Lex would probably go and intently survey them from a far somewhere. 'Please, let this be a quick and informative exchange.'
Clark put on a false grin and made his way towards Elizabeth. Now standing behind her, and after making a few throat clearing noises, he reached out and tapped her lightly on the shoulder and said, "Hi."
Her husband turned to stare at him first while she slowly turned her head so that it looked like she could only see him out of the corner of her left eye. Her wide smile instantly turned into a frown, "Do I know you?"
"Yeah, we met at 'Altizio's' a few days ago at lunch. Me and a friend of mine were sitting at your table." Clark smiled overly friendly at her and her husband trying not to look too nervous in front of them. 'God, this felt so wrong.' The sensation that he was intruding on something deeply personal almost made him back out.
Her husband looked at her questioningly. "Do you know what he's talking about?"
Elizabeth finally twisted around on the stool, glaring up at him she sighed, "I believe so. I'd like to talk with him alone."
Michel appearing frustrated began to object, "I don't know this guy? What could he possibly what from you?"
"Don't worry, I can handle myself." She smiled sweetly and gave him a quick peck, "This won't take long. It's just some unfinished business."
Her husband didn't look too happy but he also must have trusted her judgment because he gave her a slight nod before giving Clark a warning look of 'you hurt her I'll hurt you.' Michel then went back to listening to the bar's entertainment.
Elizabeth gave her husband's arm a slight squeeze as she stood up and seemed to expect Clark to follow her as she walked towards the back of the room. 'Just great, the bathroom area again.'
After getting to the same stop that he and Lex had been a few minutes earlier, she abruptly turned around scowling at him in an agitated way.
"What do you want?" Elizabeth's hands were on her hips and she stood in a way that made her look like she wanted to pounce on him and tear him to shreds. "I don't have much time to waste talking to you."
Ignoring her malice, Clark was excited by her partial acknowledgment of him, "You do remember me then, don't you?"
Not directly replying to his question, Clark walked closer to her and saw a small flicker of recognition in her eyes as his only answer. She appeared restless, and she glanced back towards her husband who wasn't quite visible from where they were standing.
"Look, I don't know what you are, and I don't care-"
"What do you mean by that?" Clark cut her off, suddenly worried about how much she knew about him. The past few days had revealed his powers to numerous people, but if tomorrow turned out to be Saturday they wouldn't remember any of it, only Lex would know for sure. And, Clark was almost okay with that. But, her knowing could put him in major jeopardy. The fact that Elizabeth didn't seem to like him very much for some unknown reason was also another good reason to worry. Clark apprehensively glanced around the room searching for his friend but coming up empty.
"You're obviously quite different to be left unaffected by my abilities. When I touched you the other day I knew it was you and not your friend who'd changed something for you to be there. You surprised me by being at the restaurant, and I may have over-reacted a bit." She stated matter-of-factly as her eyes began to glow, after giving him an extremely eerie once over.
'Over-reacted? That's an understatement of the century.' How can a simple look make him feel so violated? She was acting just like so many of the other kryptonite gifted individuals that he had run into the last three years: arrogant, rude, egotistical, and callous. 'Why did power corrupt people so easily?' This was going to be much harder than he had hoped.
She was doing this intentionally, but for what gain? Well, since she was then she had the power to stop doing it. Standing right in front of Elizabeth's face, Clark observed that he didn't feel any kryptonite presence radiating off of her. 'Not a meteor mutant than.'
Totally outraged, he replied, "You've been doing this on purpose?"
"I'm truly sorry that you have been forced to endure this while somehow retaining your memories. But I'm not stopping-" She unexpectedly stumbled backwards and grabbed her head in pain, and at the same time Clark felt another strange strong wave of vertigo.
Before he could reach out to help her, she recovered from whatever ailed her and took a deep unsteady breath. Straightening up, she seemed twice as disturbed as before as she challengingly bellowing, "And you can't make me!"
He became concerned about her obvious look of pain so Clark used his x-ray vision to peer into her body looking for any apparent injuries. Her brain appeared different than most people he had seen, there were strange dark areas where there shouldn't be. Suddenly, he remembered reading her medical documents and the long list of brain problems she seemed to have. 'Maybe there was something physically wrong with her? Is that what gave her these time shifting abilities?' His friend Ryan had become telepathic from a lethal brain tumor. His heart hurt as he thought about his failure to save his young friend. Life was simply never fair.
Clark calmly but firmly stated, "You can't play God."
"Why not? Because you say so?" Her laugh lacked any actual humor. And he watched as the whites of her eyes flashed brightly at him, she looked insane at that very moment. 'Great another mentally disturbed person.'
"No, because it's wrong! What do you get out of making the same day repeat over and over, anyway?" Clark felt like shaking some damn sense into her. This was going nowhere fast.
All of a sudden, she appeared to deflate, looking profoundly sad and resigned. "My husband... He is the other half of my heart."
"What do you mean?" Clark leaned against the wall confused.
"I can't live without him. If I don't, I'll loose him forever." She raised her arms up to eye level and stared at them as if they were foreign objects.
Clark wished that this current conversation would lead them somewhere important, "Does he know that you are doing this?"
"No. It's better that way."
Elizabeth didn't seem to want to talk anymore as she silently began to stare off into space. For several minutes, Clark waited and paced, having no idea what to do-- he began to become more upset. Where was Lex? He had already x-rayed through half the walls and people and still came up empty. His friend had simply disappeared. Lex had agreed to wait for him, and now here he was alone with a woman who was the reason and answer to all of his problems, and all he wanted to do right now was slap her. 'Where was Lex!'
Finally, Clark fervently yelled out, "This is horrible! You can't be so selfish, so misguided as to not care about the rest of the world."
"They don't know." She dramatically sighed waving her arm to motion around the room, "It's not hurting anyone that I know of but you. Sorry, but I can live with that just fine." Starting to walk past him she stated, "Look, I must get back, this is taking too long."
Clark stepped in front of her, blocking her path, he passionately announced, "I will find a way to stop you."
"Don't you dare! I'm warning you only once to leave me and my husband alone." Elizabeth stopped and glared back at him threateningly.
"No, this ends tonight. Tomorrow is going to be Saturday. You are going to stop doing this right now." Clark grabbed her by the arm and pulled her forward.
People around them started to openly stare at them and whisper amongst themselves. This was very bad. Maybe he could get her to leave with him without creating too much of a scene. 'Super-speed maybe?'
She laughed at him as his extra strong grip didn't seem to bother her in the slightest. "No one can stop me. Not even you. You want to have a taste of what I can do?"
Clark let go and stood firm. What can she do? He really had no idea. "You can't hurt me."
"Really? Can you live without your heart?"
He watched slightly afraid as her grey eyes began to glow blue. Freaky. Clark took at step back expecting some kind of physical attack to come from her. Then, something bizarre began to happen. His chest abruptly felt dead inside like his nervous system had just been turned off and it quickly spread so that his whole body was numb all over. Opening his mouth to speak, his lungs choked on the words. Desperate, Clark pounded the front of his body with his fist, barely feeling it. Attempting to take a step forward he fell to his knees feeling intensely dizzy and nauseous.
"No you can't. No one can live without their heart." Elizabeth sighed then turned towards the bar and quietly walked away.
The crowd around her looked at him with distaste and ignored his strange position on the floor. They almost certainly thought that he was either drunk or had been abusing the women that he had been talking to and deserved whatever was happening to him.
'Lex, please, where are you? I need you, Lex?' Around his eyes blackness started to envelop his vision. Clark slumped the rest of the way onto the floor- landing on his face. He was barely able to roll onto his back as one hand landed on his still and silent chest and the other fell onto the cold cement. As his senses faded, Clark thought he heard a very distant though familiar voice crying, "Nooo!" – but, it must have been his imagination because his super-hearing couldn't seem to penetrate the suffocating stillness that had crept over him. Clark eyes glazed over as he stared blindly at the ceiling above him.