Chapter Text
Lex is reluctant to admit that he’s gotten used to the farm. Not because he can’t do the work after being there awhile… he can. He milks the cows and puts in fence posts. He’s been through a calving season, seen more of a cow’s backside than he’d like.
No… he’s reluctant to say he’s used to it because he’s not happy that he could see himself just doing this for the rest of his life.
Martha and John have been… so kind to him. More than he deserves honestly. They welcomed him without judgement and let him heal before easing him into work as he was able. He’d finagled some funds from his personal accounts and built what was essentially a mother-in-law suite onto the house from himself and Conner since Clark still had his room and the cousin had basically claimed the guest room which-
That was fun- finding out that he had dog-induced PTSD.
The stupid mutt remembered him too, growling abit which, of course, got the cousin suspicious and it became a whole thing that Clark had to come and deal with because Lex had found himself unable to move and barely breathing with the mongrel staring at him. His one leg and arm ached in memory and Clark had had to shut themselves in his room with the stupid Mighty Crabjoy’s poster.
Kara didn’t like him much, which was fine.
She was rather amused by Conner though… something that Clark seemed to think was good for her… but not necessarily good for Conner given the blonde’s penchant for drinking and just being a general menace. She wasn’t around much though, mostly holidays and the odd weekend. Clark seemed to make extra effort into being there those times, keeping Lex and dog away from each other.
Lex has managed a tan despite his very white skin doing its best to convince him that he’s half lobster. Those first few summer weeks when he’d managed to go outside to help with little things had been… painful. He’s grown his hair out since then, mostly to keep his scalp from burning as fast. The red’s grown back in, thick and slightly wavy. Despite hating to sweat, he’s come to like the summer… mostly because he can move. The cold gets to him. Anything below fifty Fahrenheit makes his joints ache terribly. Some days, especially in deep winter, he’s completely useless, camping out by the fire to keep himself warm and, by extension, ease the pain. If he’s not there, he’s in his room which has been fitted with several space heaters to keep it feeling summery all year ‘round. It’s terrible because he hates sweating… but the pain is so much worse. He uses those times to read or tinker with something. He's saved several small appliances, updated the tech in the house. They know now who's coming up the driveway before going to the door.
He’s made a few other improvements around the place, although he’s had to work around their ‘not into technology’ approach. Instead of a conveyer to get the hay and straw up into the loft- when Clark was unavailable to do so himself- Lex had created a fully automated pulley system. Attach one hay bale by a clip on the center cross-section of binding twine and push a button. The pulley did the lifting, bringing it up to the loft to be removed and set on the pile without anyone needing to pull a rope. It was double ended too so there could be one going up or down with each button push. Lex and John had actually found a good rhythm with it, John being downstairs and Lex upstairs.
There’s also the automatic feeding dispenser for things like grain and supplements. That’s more of a winter thing since the cows all eat mostly grass in the summer but it also works for the couple of other non-cow critters like the pair of goats that were Martha’s babies and the fifteen year old draft horse they’d taken in when a neighbor’s house went into foreclosure a few years ago. The dark grey Belgian/Percheron cross, aptly named Marlboro or Marly for short, was an absolute beast of a horse with the temperament of a dopey dog. Lex had grown to like him quite a bit. He also needed several additives to his grain mix, stuff for his joints and such, which was all automatically measured out at the push of a button.
He’s set up solar on the house roof and part of the barn roof. He’s also updated some of the wiring. Plumbing is a different thing but the house is fine there anyway. There’s more he plans to do in the time he has left here.
John had received a new tractor about six weeks into Lex's stay… well more like the old one was broken beyond what John could fix so Lex bought them a new one and they only accepted under the condition that they’d use it until the old one was fixed up.
Spoiler alert: Lex was never going to fix the old one.
Oh he tinkered with it just enough to make it look like he was trying but he was never going to actually fix it. The thing was a dinosaur well past the years it should’ve been working. It would cost the same as the new tractor to get it up and running again.
When he’s not working or tinkering, he’s helping Connor with homework. The kid’s taken to school though maybe not quite as heartily as Lex would like. Conner likes the socialization aspect but , while he’s good at most of the subjects Lex considers important, he doesn’t exactly enjoy them. He likes the sports, which he has to watch and not play because he hasn’t quite figured out that, as Conner Kent living in Smallville, people can’t know he’s part alien.
It’s been four months since his ‘house’ arrest and it’s Christmas time. Thanksgiving was something of an event with the dog. Clark kept them apart as much as possible, going so far as to kick it outside for most of dinner. The cousin didn’t like that much.
She decided to stay away from Christmas, leaving the day to the five of them. Conner deeply enjoyed getting ready for it. The Kents did Christmas… loud. They put up alot of lights, alot of knickknacks and themed pillows and such. It clashed terribly… but Lex had also never seen ‘Christmas’ feel as warm as this. All of his had been tasteful, classy… a little sterile. Where the Kents had Christmas plaid and a mismatched tree full of ornaments, The Luthors- and Luthorcorp- had silver with touches of red and green, new decor every year, themed.
A few years ago he would have walked through his penthouse, seen the tasteful bow or maybe a wrest on his door, the possible large tree in the living room lit with white lights and maybe some ribbon to keep it from looking empty. Some of the early years there was some garland hanging over the railing, but he’d stopped that years ago.
Now, he sat on a worn couch, next to a fire, under a mishmash of multi lights. Clark was next to him, almost like a furnace to keep him warm on all sides. Conner sat on the floor, looking like a small child. John and Martha spoiled him with several boxes of clothes and Lego, which was apparently good for practicing how much strength he could use in day-to-day things. Clark gave him some sports things for the farm and Lex had gotten him a telescope.
Other gifts were passed around. Clark got things like books and shirts and Lex got some things like long johns and hand/feet warmers. Lex gestures for Conner to hand the Kents the marked envelopes.
“What is this?” Martha looks confused. She opens hers and she gasps, hands flying to her face as she tears up, handing it to John.
The older man reads it… reads it again… “Lex… This can’t be…”
Lex half shrugs, “It’s what it looks like.”
“But- we still owed money and-”
He smiles a little, “And taking care of the rest of it is the least I can for everything you’ve done for me.”
John stares at his own envelope… slowly opens it, tears up. He hands it to Martha who reads it.
“No,” she shakes her head, almost looking upset, “This is so much money-!”
“And I’m not doing anything with it,” Lex replied, “You’ve let me live here, rent free, for months. You’ve fed me- and my son- without complaint. You’ve let me add on to your house which also comes with higher property taxes, higher utilities… This is the least I can do.”
“But you’ve contributed in other ways-”
“None that would make up the bills…”
Clark takes his hand, “Ma… Pa… let him help.”
“Did you know he was doing this?” John asked.
“Not that precisely…” he squeezes Lex’s hand and glances at him, “Although I did happen to overhear Mercy make an interesting phone call with a certain bank chain.”
Lex neither confirmed nor denied that Luthorcorp now owed said certain bank chain… or that a certain mortgage had been forgiven…
Or the fund that was now attached to the Kent account, set up for automatic withdrawal for property tax and the electric bill.
Martha gets up, hand patting her chest to self soothe as she leaves and starts clattering around in the kitchen. John follows her. Conner excuses himself to go fly his drone.
Lex sits there, confused, “Did I do something wrong…?”
Clark shakes his head, “No… It’s just a lot of money… a very… generous gift. Thank you… I um…” he blinks a little, eyes misty, exhales… “It’s a relief to know they won’t have to worry about that again.”
Lex is satisfied with that.
“I um-” Clark stammers, “Could we go somewhere else really quick? Since everybody else is gone…”
Lex isn’t thrilled with the implication… or how nervous Clark seemed to be, “Sure… Let’s go to mine.” at least he could throw Clark out if he needed to. They end up in the small-ish living space between Lex’s and Conner’s bedrooms, and he props his hands on his hips, “Ok… What do you want?”
Clark pulls something from his back pocket, “I wanted to give this to you without them around.”
“Oh… ok…?”
Clark offers the thing in his hand. Lex slowly takes it, slides what ends up being a piece of copy paper out of the envelop and-
“Oh God-” Lex stares at what seems to be a recent photograph of Mr. Handsome. He looks up, “What-”
“I found him,” Clark smiles a little.
Realization dawns, “He’s not dead?”
Clark shakes his head, “He’s still alive and I'm going to get him. I’m not sure when, might still be abit, but-” he cradles Lex’s hands with his own, “He is alive.”
Lex… feels alot at once.
He leans closer and pecks Clark on the mouth. Clark freezes, stunned. Lex does question himself, which is something he’s not thrilled with but… well he’s never felt this with any of his girlfriends.
Clark cradles one cheek, asks Lex with a head tilt and slightly arched eyebrow. The second kiss lasts a little longer, still chaste. Clark doesn’t pull away entirely though.
He stays close, “If I asked you ‘why’...”
Lex swallows, “Was it wrong…?”
“That depends on the why.”
“And if I said that… I’m having alot of emotions at the moment… that it seemed like the thing to do… that I don’t regret it…?”
“You don’t?”
Lex stares at him, “No… I think maybe I’ve been wanting to do that for a long time actually…”
Clark dips his head the inch down, kissing him deeper this time, “Good.”
Lex wants to know ‘how it’s good’ when there’s so much between them. Sure they’ve talked, had several good discussions actually… but he’s well aware that there’s still things that should make this ‘not ok’. That Mali guy for one. It was a sensitive topic, one neither of them had really brought up since that disastrous dinner in Clark’s apartment. He’s well aware that pulling that trigger is something Clark will likely never forgive him for.
Which makes this very confusing.
He doesn’t know if he should nip this now and avoid getting hurt later or if he should ride it out and enjoy it while he has it.
Thankfully he doesn't need to worry about figuring it out right then.
Clark jets off a few minutes later to answer some call for help somewhere and then doesn't come back for a week.