"Hey., you!" he heard a voice calling behind him; he didn't expect anyone he knew to be around, so he didn't turn around. Not until the voice insisted.
"Hey, you… the bald guy!"
He turned around then, not quite sure what to expect… he found a blondish girl, staring at him intently.
"Excuse me?" he said at last, not recognizing her at all.
"You are Lex Luthor, aren't you… only younger" she said, and although it didn't really sound like a question, he answered anyway;
"I am Lex Luthor, but I don't know what you mean by younger… this is quite the oldest I have been so far, and I assure you that, despite the t-shirt, I am not a schoolboy."
"It's a nice t-shit. It's rather funny that you should be wearing it." the girl opined
"It reminds me of someone…" he confessed, looking down at the picture of the superhero on the t-shirt he had been forced to don, for lack of a better option.
"That's okay, I understand vicious obsession." she assured him, sounding entirely non-judgmental "Anyway, I met you when you were older. You probably won't remember me yet, because we haven't met in your timeline at this point… it's probably for the better that you don't remember me, actually. So, what are you doing here?"
"I think it's quite safe to say I am taking a walk" he answered, his face perfectly neutral even if he was actually trying to assess the situation "Enjoying the warm California night and all that. What about you… I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name?"
"Anya. That's not really my name, but it's shorter and easier to pronounce, so I go by that these days." she explained "You probably knew me by another name, only you don't know me at all yet. But you will when you do, if you do at all… you know how these things are."
"Would it be too shocking if I said that I don't?" he answered. The girl could have sounded completely insane if it weren't for the fact that he had woken up in a strange bed in a strange city in a, curiously, strange world where Metropolis, KA, didn't exist, and apparently neither did he. And still, she knew him.
"Oh, you don't? How did you get here in the first place, then?" she questioned him, surprised.
"Strange enough, I woke up here."
"I hate that." she said sympathetically "You were lucky to wake up here, though. I once woke up in a reality with huge snow-white bunnies… although it ended up being a joke from a friend. Do you think that your been here might be a joke from a friend?"
"I shouldn't think so." he answered "Somehow I manage to get in trouble quite well by myself, and I don't think I know anyone who can send me to… what? A parallel reality?"
"You could call it that… so, you're not freaked out?" she sounded impressed.
"I wouldn't say that I'm not. You honestly sound like the product of a psychotic break, and it wouldn't really be a first for me… On the other hand, I suppose it's very unlikely that I am having a very fortuitous psychotic break in what one would call a very quiet and fulfilling period of my life. And, if this is not a psychotic break, then I am living in the flesh the realization of a very interesting part of physic theory. Which, frankly, thrills me."
"Well, great." she murmured, checking her watch at the same time "We can talk about that later. I have to be going now… where are you staying?"
"I have a room at the Holliday Inn, which I probably won't be able to afford for more than a few days… if I'm still here." he admitted, telling himself one more time that he needed to carry more cash in his wallet, just in case.
"I didn't figure you for the Holliday Inn type…" she wondered for a second, but soon shook it off "Well, here, this is where I work…" she produced a card from her pocket "You can find me there in the morning, and maybe I could help you get back to your dimension. It'd be nice of you to buy something, too…"
"Alright, I will see you then. I was nice meeting you again Anya… or for the first time"
"Yes, it was nice seeing you again too… specially in a situation not work-related. Alright, I'll be going now… Goodbye!"
¸.·¯·.¸¸.·¯· ¸.·¯·.¸¸.·¯·
"So… it must be really cool to be you!" Xander said, as soon as the left Mr. Giles' house, and sounding entirely like an over-excited child.
"It's okay…" he answered, not really sure of where the coolness lay "I've always been like this… it has its setbacks, though."
"Like what?" Xander asked in disbelief.
"Well, there are a lot of things normal kids can do that I can't" he confessed; when Xander looked at him like he didn't follow, he felt the need to explain "I'm really strong… and I can't really control some things all that well? I'm kind of… dangerous, in a way"
"Well, that probably sucks…" Xander agreed, but the silly grin didn't leave his face "Still, look at you! You must be a real success with the chicks!"
"I'm not really popular in school…" he blushed "It's not like they bash me all that much, you know, other than the one time last year… but nobody really wants to hang out with 'that hick Kent kid'. Other than Pete, who has been my friend forever, and Chloe, who moved to Smallville a while back."
"Hey, that's just like me and the girls! I have been friends with Wills since we were in diapers, and then Buffy moved here from L.A. That's an awesome coincidence!" he exclaimed cheerfully, making Clark wonder if he was always like that, or it was just a freak reaction to his presence "So, you've not gone to Metropolis yet…"
"I've been to Metropolis a couple of times, with mom and dad when I was younger, and with this… friend of mine a couple of times."
"Ah, is that a "friend" friend?" Xander winked and waggled his eyebrows "I'm sorry if I sound like an old wife, it's just so thrilling to have you here!"
"That's ok" he tried for a smile "I guess it's pretty much as if I were meeting Guardian Angel. Only less cool."
"We have an Angel here, and he's kind of guardian in a way, but he's definitely not cool." the other boy said regretfully "But hey, maybe next time you get lost in inter-dimensional travel you'll end up in… wherever that guy lives!"
"I think I'll just try and stick to Smallville, if I ever get back there…" Clark sighed.
"Oh, don't worry, we'll send you back in no time… we just have to find out how you ended up here to begin with." Xander assured him "Between the two of us, you weren't actually trying to get somewhere, right?"
"I definitely don't think I can do that. And it's not like I wanted to be anywhere else… I like it in Smallville, it's nice." his eyes went suddenly as large as two balloons "Oh gosh, I had chores to do this morning! Dad must be going crazy with all that work… he can't handle the whole farm by himself. And –and I have school on Monday. I really have to get back soon!"
"Don't worry, I'm sure we'll get you back home in no time" Xander assured him, suddenly very glad to be on his doorstep as he didn't think it was okay to feel sorry for Superman. The geek in him was in tears.
¸.·¯·.¸¸.·¯· ¸.·¯·.¸¸.·¯·
"Xander! There you are! I have been waiting for you for some time now, where were you?" a girl Clark had not yet met asked as soon as she saw Xander go in, and then seemed to reconsidered as she saw Clark "Oh, hello! I would definitely not go to the Holiday Inn if I were you…"
"What? He's not going to the Holiday Inn, he's staying here for the night Ahn." Xander sounded confused.
"Well, good then…" the girl seemed satisfied "He won't mind if we share orgasms while he sleeps, will he? Because I came here for that, really."
"I don't think it's appropriate that we do that with him over there in the couch, Ahn." His host hurried to say, watching with mortification the way Clark's face had turned a bright crimson "It's not only incredibly gross, but also unbelievably immoral…and quite probably also illegal."
"Well, what then?" the girl sounded puzzled "Can't he stay someplace else? Don't be cheap, you should give him some money to get a hotel room."
"Ahn, he's sixteen, and he's alone in an alternate dimension… I swear I'll make it up to you, but he not going to get a hotel room." Xander said "I can't even afford a hotel room."
"Well, alright… I'll be expecting flowers and chocolates, and also large amounts of compensatory sex when he leaves" the girl stated matter-of-factly "By the way, why did he come here?".
"It's a very long story… but also an incredibly thrilling one!" Xander brightened up "Do you want to hear it?"
"Not really, thank you Xander." the girl dismissed him, putting him down a bit "I was just mildly curious, but I don't need any details… I will be on my way now. Goodnight."
"Goodnight Ahn" Xander waved as the girl left, and then turned to Clark with an apologetic look on his face "I'm sorry… that's Anya, my girlfriend. I would say she's not always like that, but she kind of is… so, you know, I'm sorry?"
"That's okay" Clark assured him, keeping his eyes firmly away from his host "Is that the couch I will be sleeping in?"
