Chapter Text
Lex did not have a silvery voice, it was golden – as befitted a man as rich as he was - and flowed like honey. To Jonathan it spelled TRAP with every syllable that fell from his lying Luthor-tongue, too bad that it seemed able to completely bewitch his son.
These days everything revolved around the young man who raced through Smallville and life in general without caring what or who he hit and hurled to doom with him. Only a handful of people still resisted his charm, remembered that the elder Luthor had been oh so charming as well when he first came to town. The most simple thing to believe was that the apple didn't fall that far from the tree.
But even his wife was taken in when the guy decided to invade Jonathan's family farm. And that had also been far too much like his father's actions showing up unannounced and making nice until things wouldn't go the way he wanted them. The farmer had never managed to explain to Martha the full scope of the threat about the adoption, the factory and the town. Being the kind soul that she was, she had blessed the developing friendship and relationship between their son and the Luthor offspring. She reminded him gently that their son didn't have many friends and that children sometimes saw he world very differently than their parents, picked a partner they didn't approve and what consequences stubborn refusal to welcome said partner could bring. (Which was the opposite of the desired effect.)
It didn't matter that Jonathan thought their son too young to pick the partner he would spend his life with, he could feel his son slip farther from his influence any time he tried to talk to him about Lex and the dangers of stepping too close to the fire. How would his invulnerable child understand that metaphor? Every teenager felt invulnerable with their first love, their first partner and Clark had no reason to think warnings about heartache applied to him any more than the ones about burning himself on a stove. The crush on Lana, their girl-next-door, had started to fade when Clark had shared his breath with the damned tempter on a riverbank. Clark had been in shock so his father had tried not to fault him for blurting out the truth.
“I could have sworn I hit you.”, “You did. You did.”
Now, only 15 months after that fateful accident. Jonathan had to listen to the two of them sing Karaoke. (Because as bad as that was, now that he knew the two of them were an item, he wouldn't let his under aged child go unsupervised to a party that included the Luthor boy and Clark would need a ride back to the farm at the end of the night, if only to not attract attention about not needing one, and in Jonathan's opinion that ride better not park somewhere along the way or let irresponsible hands wander from the steering wheel.)
His teeth hurt from grinding them together but what else was the appropriate response when there was sweet-talk, laughing and duet singing going on?
Martha laid a calming hand on his shoulder and completely ruined the effect by giving remarks about the two of them joining in that craziness instead of staying in the outskirts, trying to restore peace by glowering at every public display of affection the kids had going on in front of their very eyes.
When Whitney had kissed Lana full on the mouth after their duet it had lead the football team to cheer. Pete had his arm laid around his date, the look on his face very much besotted and Clark had let his head sink on Luthor's shoulder and for several minutes the rich smug demon had plunged his fingers into Clark's hair and stroked him. It was a testimony to the strong moral core of the Kent family that Jonathan had not gone over and snapped his wrist like a stick but it was a nice fantasy except for the part where Clark inevitably looked at him with betrayal and hurt in his eyes because while Clark would be quick and strong enough to stop his father from doing something like that he trusted him and would never expect a physical attack from that front.
And why, why on earth had Clark chosen to sing the female part? Because ever since he had chosen to date a man, Jonathan tried very hard not to think about his son in terms of girlish behaviour (because that was not acceptable according to his wife). It helped that he was clearly bigger and stronger than the spoiled rich brat but the way they touched each other with Luthor holding him and displaying protective soothing gestures whenever Clark was the slightest bit upset, while Clark tended to lean on, snuggle up and let himself be held – Jonathan could not help the sigh that escaped his mouth.
When he turned to his wife, he was suddenly and without warning confronted with her “resolved face” and had to fight down a shudder. This did never bode well. Martha had made up her mind about something and he wouldn't like it but have to go along with it because she sure as hell would not back down if she looked like that.
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Martha had just about had it with Jonathan's behaviour. First he insisted to come to the first Karaoke night in the Talon and then he sat around glowering at everybody else.
It didn't especially help that no other grown up was here - despite being of age and working a management position, Lex did not count as a grown up. Even if the gentle mothering she gave him often enough embarrassed the boy, he seemed to have an appropriately thankful response after the fact and had started to be more comfortable around her.
At least he was mature enough not to make a fuss, Clark sometimes tried to get away from her these days, when she reminded him to wear a hat. Lex always seemed to loose them and she was not convinced that he actually only forgot where he put them but he had never once protested when she handed him a replacement.
It was great to see that the new relationship between those two had been accepted, after a bit of a rough patch with Pete, if not by everyone than at least by the younger generation. She had been worried about that. But for all the animosity that had been there before it was official, things had settled quickly.
Chloe seemed much more happy these days, now that she was sure that Clark just hadn't noticed and returned her feelings because he was gay and grinned up a storm any time the two of them held hands or leaned in closer than friends usually do. She had fiddled with her compact camera all evening and started to twitch in her seat when they had started to sing but she had focused her pictures on the crowd and avoided anything that could be exploited by other reporters. This was between friends.
Jonathan was still throwing dark looks around and when she laid a hand on his shoulder and suggested that they joined in on the fun and did a little number together her husband sighed as if he was the one who had to put up with irrational behaviour and if anybody had told her a few months ago that there would soon come a time where her husband would ignore her during their date night to unofficially take on chaperone duties for a bunch of teenagers at a party that would not even have seemed outrageous to her own parents, well, she would have laughed it off because Jonathan might have old-fashioned views in a lot of things but he was a reasonable man for the most part.
She knew that her face had settled in what was known as her resolved face and when he turned to look at her he reacted appropriately. She pushed the ledger with the list of songs at him. “You're going to sing, Jonathan Kent, one song with me and then you'll ask our son if he'd mind singing with you. If he doesn't want to, we'll do another duet or you could try to woo me on your own and I expect you to pay me some attention once we're home. Do you understand?”
A swallow and a nod, no protest. Oh, but the way he was taking a breath meant he prepared himself to still try something. “I've been patient with you”, she stated, “but this is our date night and you chose to come here. You knew what Karaoke was. You are going to sing.”
Stressing those facts really didn't leave him any room for arguments. His feeble attempt to circumvent her wishes crumbled without resistance.