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Lex Luthor pulled up outside the Kent's farmhouse.
It was Monday. He wasn't technically supposed to be there.
agreed that he and Clark could visit with each other on the weekend
and on Wednesday evenings, if Clark didn't have too much homework.
This was their way of trying to put the brakes on a love affair that
had been careening terribly out of control. They knew there was no
way to stop Clark from seeing Lex altogether and so, despite Jonathan's
better judgement, they had come up with this arrangement.
Lex wasn't supposed to be here, but he had
been restless and lonely and had lived through a dreadful phone
call with his father. He decided that dropping in at the Kents to
see if they would let him stay for dinner wasn't too much to expect
from his boyfriend's family, was it?
As he extricated himself from his Porsche,
Martha Kent came out onto the front porch with a watering can. She
looked up in surprise at Lex walking towards the house.
"Lex! What brings you out here on a
Monday?" she asked pleasantly, but Lex could make out the underlying
caution.
"Bad day, Mrs, Kent. I had a very bad
day and thought, if it wasn't too much trouble, that maybe I could
have dinner over here tonight..." Lex trailed off watching
her test each potted plant with her pinky finger to see if needed
watered.
"Well, Lex, I'm not sure how Jonathan
will feel about that...you just saw Clark yesterday, you know."
Martha watered some marigolds in a large terra cotta pot. Lex pursed
his lips a little and looked down at the ground.
Martha thought about what Lex had said, how
he had admited a semblance of vulnerability and this, she realized,
shouldn't go unrecognized. She looked up kindly and said, "I'm
sorry you've had a bad day, hon. You are right to have come here.
Yes, you can stay for dinner."
She walked over and threw her arm around
Lex's neck. Lex froze and then patted her back uncomfortably. She
pulled back smiling, "However, you are awfully early, it is
only 4 o'clock."
Lex looked at his watch, gritted his teeth
a little. "Oh."
"Clark is finishing up his chores and
then I was going to send him into town to the Wal-Mart to run some
errands." Martha continued.
"Lex!" Clark's voice shouted and
there was no disguising the joy behind it. He was jogging carefully
across the yard, the characteristic smile spread across his face.
Martha watched him fight the urge to go into super-speed in his
eagerness to reach Lex. She shook her head at herself. Seeing her
son so happy...she just wished she could more easily trust the person
that Clark had invested all that happiness in.
Lex turned at his lover's voice, "Clark!"
he responded eagerly. Martha noted the way Lex's voice changed when
he uttered her son's name. It deepened, softened and seemed to vibrate
with true tenderness.
Clark halted in front of Lex and looked over
at his mother briefly before following through with his impulse
to embrace his boyfriend. "What are you doing here? It's Monday!"
Clark asked. Lex watched as Clark ran his eyes up and down Lex's
body obviously checking for signs of injury or illness.
"I'm fine, Clark." Lex chuckled,
"I know it is Monday, I just had a bad day. That's all. Had
a rough call with my father." Lex shrugged, crossing his arms
across his chest embarrassed at his admission of the problem being
his father in front of Martha.
"Ah, Lex, I'm sorry," Clark wrapped
his arms around him again, "He is such a jerk to you sometimes...all
the time. I'm glad you came here." Clark was really glad to
see him and despite the potential problem with his Dad, he was thrilled.
He knew that Lex coming here when he was having a bad day was the
same thing as Lex admitting that he needed Clark. Maybe even that
he loved Clark, something Lex hadn't said yet. Not only that, but
it was really a better alternative to Lex's usual method of dealing
with bad days, excessive drinking of expensive Scotch.
"Clark, I told Lex he could stay for
dinner...but you still have to go to Wal-Mart for me. Lex can either
go to Wal-Mart with you or he can come back closer to dinner time."
Martha interupted hoping that Clark would release Lex from the bear
hug he had him in before Jonathan came around from the barn.
Clark did release Lex. "Okay, Mom."
His eyes were shining, " Um, Lex, you wanna go to Wal-Mart?"
Lex shrugged and nodded, "Sure. I've
never been to Wal-Mart. Sounds interesting."
Clark laughed, "You've never
been to Wal-Mart?"
Lex didn't seem to understand why Clark was
so surprised, "No, I have never been to Wal-Mart. Why is that
funny?"
Clark looked at his mom in amazement, "Mom,
did you just hear that? Lex has never been to Wal-Mart!"
Martha smiled at her son, nodded her head
and responded, "I'm sure there are a lot of things Lex has
never done."
Clark guffawed, "I doubt that. He's
pretty much done it all." And then he blushed because he realized
just how suggestive his voice had sounded.
Martha looked uncomfortable momentarily before
Lex cut in, "Actually, Clark, there are a lot of things I've
never done that you can introduce me to. Like Wal-Mart or like feeding
cows...I've never done that...sounds like it could be fun."
Clark shook his head, "Feeding the cows
is not fun, but you can help sometime."
"I'd rather he didn't," Jonathan's
voice came clearly from behind them. Martha blushed at her husband's
rudeness. "I think Lex has had enough to do with Kent cows..."
Lex bowed his head briefly before saying,
"Mr. Kent, I've told you before that I have no idea how those
chemicals were dumped on your property...I don't know how I can
do more to try to make it right."
"It can't be made right, Lex. And you
are never helping to feed our cows." Jonathan pushed past them
into the house.
Clark frowned furiously and started after his father. Martha stopped
him by placing her hand on his chest, "Stop, Clark. Go to Wal-Mart.
Have fun showing it to Lex. I'll handle your father and he'll be
civil to Lex over dinner. Okay?"
Clark frowned responding, "Okay, but
he'd better be nice."
"It's okay, Clark. Let's go to Wal-Mart." Lex interjected.
Clark, still looking after his father unhappily,
reached his hand toward his mom who handed him the keys to the truck,
a credit card and a two page grocery list. "I know I don't
have to say this. But Clark, make sure Lex doesn't pay." She
whispered to him as she gave him a hug.
Clark pulled out her arms and turned toward the Kent family truck.
"We're going in the truck?" Lex asked.
"Um, yeah, how the heck do you think
we'd fit two weeks worth of groceries and household supplies in
your Porsche?" Clark's frown broke and he grinned at Lex, shaking
his head like the older man was crazy.
Lex sat on the passenger side of the truck
breathing in the sweaty scent steaming up from the hot seats. He'd
never been in an old truck like this. He wasn't about to say that
to Clark, afraid that it would sound insulting. But he was really
intrigued by the sensory experience. The rough shocks, the smell
of the seats, the dirt and dried mud on the floor.
Clark turned to him, "Fasten your seat
belt, Lex."
"Okay," Lex obediently strapped
himself in, he knew better than to argue with Clark about vehicular
safety.
"So tell me about what happened with
your Dad," Clark asked gently as he maneuvered the truck out
onto the road.
"Don't really want to go into the details."
Lex murmured.
"Okay, well, what do you want
to talk about?"
Lex sighed, reached over and put his hand on Clark's thigh, "I
don't want to talk at all. I want to sit here in silence with you.
I want to look out the window and think about this magical place
we're going called Wal-Mart."
Clark grinned over at Lex, "Okay...but
don't get too excited. It isn't Disneyland or anything."
"Now, Disneyland I've been to."
Lex replied earnestly.
Clark cracked up, "I haven't."
Lex smiled, "I'll take you sometime. It's pretty fun."
"Tell me about Disneyland." Clark
loved to hear Lex's purring voice.
"Nah. Later. Let's just enjoy the ride."
Clark nodded, taking one hand off the steering
wheel long enough to caress Lex's hand still on his thigh, "Okay."
Lex disengaged his hand from Clark's leg
as they pulled into the Wal-Mart parking lot.
"Wow, there are a lot of cars here."
"Yeah, Lex, the Wal-Mart is always busy. Everyone goes
to Wal-Mart, that's why I was surprised you've never been. But I
guess since you have eveything delivered to you..."
Clark tenderly teased.
Lex was unfastening his seatbelt and watching
the people walk out of the Wal-Mart. "Why is everyone so fat?"
he asked earnestly.
Clark looked at him in bewilderment, "How should I know why
they are fat? I don't go home with them and monitor their diets."
Clark was thoughtful for a moment as they
approached the store, "But...and I've never even told my mom
this, but sometimes when I'm shopping, I will look at what people
have in their carts and if they are fat, I make sure I don't buy
what they have."
Lex looked at him in amusement, "Really?"
"Yeah. We'll test it out today...just
to show you. I mean it isn't fail safe or anything, but we'll see
how it works out today."
Lex nodded looking rather intrigued, "Okay,
cool."
As they entered the store Clark moved ahead
of Lex to pick out a shopping cart. Clark checked a few carts to
make sure that he had one that rolled smoothly. He didn't want Lex's
first Wal-Mart experience to be effected by a cart that pulled one
way or the other or that rattled. When he had chosen one he turned
to find that Lex was lingering over by the little toy dispensers
at the entrance of the store. Clark rolled the cart over to him.
"So you put in a quarter and this machine will spit out a random
toy, right?" Lex looked at the dispenser carefully.
Clark nodded, "Yeah...but it's all junk."
Lex pointed at a plastic ring that had Darth
Vadar head molded in plastic as it's center, "That's pretty
cool, huh?"
Clark chuckled, "Lex, it's all junk."
"Do you have a quarter, Clark? I'll pay you back."
"Lex, it's a waste because you never
get the toy you want and it's just a bunch of junk."
Lex looked up into Clark's eyes, "Do you have a quarter, Clark?"
he whispered again.
Clark looked into his eyes and started searching
his pockets, "Umm, I've got two, here." He handed them
over to Lex.
Lex smiled, "Thanks. Okay, so I stick
the quarter in this slot, right?" Lex put the quarter in the
slot and twisted the handle.
"Now you lift that little door and the
toy is in there."
Lex's hand paused at the door, "You
think I got the cool Darth Vadar ring?"
Clark shook his head, "I doubt it Lex,
I never ever got what I wanted."
Lex opened the door. The plastic bubble contained
two temporary tattoos one of a snake and one of a bird.
Clark said, "Those are pretty cool."
Lex was frowning, "What do you do with these?"
"They are temporary tatoos, you put
them on with water and then they wash off later."
"Oh, I saw some of these in college but they were really big
and elaborate and you had to pay to have them put on." Lex
leaned over and whispered, "Will you put these on me next Friday
night?"
Clark nodded, "Yeah, in some very naughty
places," he whispered back.
Lex smiled smugly. "Okay, I've got one more quarter."
He slid it into the slot and twisted the handle.
This time the plastic bubble contained a
plastic bracelet that had a rosebud in the center of it. Lex tried
to put it on his wrist but it was too small. "I really wanted
that damn Darth Vadar ring." He muttered.
"C'mon, Lex. I've got a lot of stuff
to get."
Lex took a long look at the Darth Vadar ring
and followed Clark into the store.
"I'm all out of love
I'm so lost without you
It can't be too late
To say that I was so wrong!"*
The song played over the Wal-Mart sound system
and Lex Luthor sang the chorus lightly under his breath as he trailed
along beside the shopping cart. "God, how do I even know the
words?" he muttered, watching Clark place toilet paper on the
rack under the shopping cart.
"The mass music sinks into the subconscious
via commercials and various hypnotic sound systems like the one
here." Clark replied.
Lex looked at him, "Sounds like you've given that some thought."
"Yeah, every trip to the Wal-Mart reminds me how much the popular
culture has sunk into me. I mean, I never make it out of here without
some terrible pop song stuck in my head. Last time it was "Time
In A Bottle" by whoever sang that." Clark looked at his
list. "Shampoo." He stated and guided them over several
aisles.
Lex noticed that they were walking right
past the condoms. He stopped and studied them briefly. "Should
I get some of these?" he asked.
Clark, looking at the shampoos, trying to
find one on sale, blushed violently when he saw Lex examining the
condoms.
Lex held up a package, "Ribbed for extra pleasure." He
smirked.
"Lex! Put those back!" Clark hissed, looking around to
see if anyone was around.
Lex put the condoms down. "I was just
fucking with you, Clark."
"Yeah, well, if you do that again, you
won't be fucking with me, if you know what I mean."
Clark whispered, beet red and turning redder.
Lex chuckling followed Clark over to the
shampoos and watched as Clark finally settled on a brand that was
buy one get two free. Lex had never realized before this shopping
expedition just how frugal the Kents had to be. Clark pointed at
another brand and said, "This is the brand I like best. It
smells good. See?" Pulling one off the shelf, taking the lid
off and putting it under Lex's nose.
"Yeah, it does smell good. You must've been using this last
month." Lex replied.
Clark nodded as he replaced the bottle, "Yeah, it was on sale
last month."
Clark turned back to his shopping list, "Okay,
now it is time for the groceries which are on the other side of
the store."
"This is one huge ass store." Lex looked around wonderingly.
"It's got everything. Hardware, dishes, clothes, groceries,
toys..."
"Yeah."
"Do you buy your clothes here?"
Lex asked as they passed the clothing section.
Clark blushed a little, "Um, yeah sometimes. If they are on
sale." He bit his lower lip in embarrassment. "When I
went through my last growth spurt I almost put my parents in bankruptcy
over my clothes. They had to buy new stuff for me about once a month
for a year. It was tough."
"Why are you embarrassed?" Lex asked gently.
"Because, I know you buy really nice
stuff. I know this stuff is really cheap. I don't know...I mean
I guess I shouldn't be. My parents do the best they can."
"Clark, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to
embarrass you."
"I know, let's just get over to the
food, okay?"
Lex trailed behind him for a moment to let
Clark regain his composure. He really hadn't intended to embarrass
the kid. He wondered if it was bad that he had become so relaxed
with Clark that he didn't really consider the implications of things
before he asked questions.
Clark looked behind him, "Come on, Lex,
keep up."
As they walked toward the bustling grocery
section of the Wal-Mart they began to attract attention. Lex distinctly
heard one woman gasp to her husband, "Is that Lex Luthor
here in Wal-Mart?" He ignored them and followed Clark
to the frozen foods section.
Clark once again scanned the aisle for sales
trying to match his mom's shopping list with the best buys.
"Clark, darling!" A voice cooed. Clark looked up to see
Marcela Woods, his 6th grade math teacher and her daughter,
LouEllen, returned from college.
"Hi, Mrs. Woods." Clark smiled politely.
"How is your mother, dear?" Mrs.
Woods drawled.
"She's fine." Mrs. Woods looked
pointedly at Lex, "Um, Mrs. Woods, this is my friend Lex Luthor.
Lex, this is my 6th grade teacher Mrs. Woods."
Clark looked at Lex and saw that the public mask had dropped over
his features. "Mrs. Woods, it is delightful to make your acquaintance."
Mrs. Woods pulled LouEllen to her side, "This is my daughter,
LouEllen, Mr. Luthor. She's just returned from Metropolis U for
the summer break. She will be in the Smallville area all summer
long." LouEllen was blushing terribly and seemed humiliated
that her mother was rather obviously trying to attract Lex's attention
to her daughter.
Lex shook LouEllen's hand and commented, "I'm sure that you
will enjoy your break." LouEllen mumbled something incoherent
in response.
Clark's mouth was twitching as he found himself remembering the
activities he and Lex had engaged in just the day before...activities
that would make Lex a very poor match for LouEllen Woods despite
his mega-bucks.
Clark rapidly wrapped up the conversation
by telling them that he and Lex were in a hurry to finish up this
errand for Martha. Mrs. Woods walked away looking over her shoulder
at Lex. Clark's super-hearing picked up her whispering, "Very
good, darling, I think you made an impression."
Clark barely stifled a giggle when he looked
to see Lex paying more attention to the package of fish sticks Clark
had added to the cart than he had paid to LouEllen or her mother.
Clark pulled a few things out of another
freezer, rushed down the remaining aisles and checked the list one
last time. "Okay, that's it, Lex. Let's go." Clark started
pushing the cart toward the check out. Lex followed him hands in
pockets.
As they stood in line Lex ran his eyes over
the headlines of The Globe, The Enquirer and the other tabloids.
"Oh, look, Clark. I'm on the cover of this one." Lex murmured
indicating The Globe. "Lex Luthor Devising Means to Clone Self."
He read aloud, "Hmm. That's a good idea." He smirked.
Clark was busy with the girl checking out
his groceries. "Hey Melissa, did you do okay on that geometry
test you were worried about?" Lex listened absently to their
chatter as she bagged the groceries and Clark paid. Lex noticed
that Clark slightly cringed when the total was announced but pulled
out the credit card and paid anyway. Melissa had noticed Lex but
was trying to act cool about his presence.
When it was all wrapped up, Lex pulled out
his own wallet and found his smallest bill. A $50. "Can I get
this in quarters?" Lex asked. Melissa nodded, "Let me
call my manager."
While they waited, Clark smirked at Lex in
silence. Finally a manager arrived with $50 in quarters in a bag
for Lex. "Thank you, ah, Mr. Guthrie" Lex smiled looking
at the manager's nametag. "Oh, and I'll need another bag too,
please."
"Paper or Plastic?" Melissa asked.
"Plastic please" Lex replied.
Clark wheeled the cart full of bagged groceries
behind Lex as he walked purposely to the exit of the store. He approached
the toy dispenser and proceeded to put one quarter after another
into the machine until the elusive Darth Vadar ring finally popped
out. Clark looked in wonder as Lex smiled almost gleefully. "Look,
I got it!"
Clark chuckled, "Yeah, `cause you put
like $20 worth of quarters in the thing!"
Lex sat at the Kent kitchen table with his
bag of cheap toys fondling his Darth Vadar ring.
"Well, what did you think of Wal-Mart,
Lex?" Martha asked as Clark came into the kitchen freshly showered
and clean.
Lex looked up at her with a rare open smile,
"I loved it Mrs. Kent. It was really fun."
Clark and his mom exchanged glances and Clark
leaned over and gently kissed Lex's scalp.