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Someone just pointed out that all of the songs we learned at uni were, in fact, drinking songs. It certainly explains a lot.
I saw the S2 trailer (thanks to
copracat), and goddamnit, I feel some SV love even though I know that makes some people less than happy because it's Lex goddamnit.
I can find no basis for this vignette except that
happyminion asked for something like it.
Random Walks
for the very inspirational
happyminion and the lovely
rosenho for sending the rolling stones into rotation ad infinitum.
Lex could be anywhere right now. He could be walking corn mazes out in Riley Field or wandering the grounds at Versaillies. He could be trampling dirt in from the garage or walking to his car in the parking lot.
He could be anywhere. Except Lex is not anywhere because he’s there, here, at the hospital, and he’s been walking their halls forever as far as he can tell. He’s camped out in Neurology and stared in Podiatry. He’s studiously ignored the Cafeteria and spent an inordinate amount of time in Neonatal.
He’s done a mental run past Radiology even when his steps were even, and he just keeps walking. Going, moving, trying very hard not to stop and think.
He’s trying very hard not to worry.
There are things that Lex will never do, words he will never say. There are actions that Lex considers beneath him and emotions he tells himself he doesn’t need to associate with.
Lex has people who worry for him. He doesn’t spend his time concerning himself with small things and expense reports. Lex sees the bigger picture; Lex is the bigger picture – except that today the bigger picture has been ravaged by falling columns and trapped dictators.
Lex really fucking hates hospitals.
He hates hospitals with the sort of passion he generally reserves for takeovers and Whitman and sitting in new cars with underage boys. Except that those are Lex's favorite things and the hospital is his least favorite thing, and on top of everything else Lex is waiting.
Lex is walking and not thinking, and if he hates hospitals, Lex reserves a very special place in the deepest recesses of the seventh circle of hell for people who make him wait. Especially when there’s nothing he can do to speed the process along, to make things happen more quickly.
If he had gotten the column off of his father sooner, if the EMT’s had come sooner. If there weren’t all those other people being affected by the tornado, god only knows what would have happened. The probability equation could keep him busy for several minutes, except that Lex doesn’t have the patience to barter with ‘if’ today; and he doesn’t like the waiting.
He thought that walking the hallways had to be better than sitting in $9.99 plastic chairs and drinking 99 cent coffee, and watching as his father just laid there. Lex has never seen his father just lay anywhere. Lex has never even seen Lionel sleep. Lex is sure that Lionel sees it as a sign of weakness - the need to sleep.
Lex, however, doesn’t need to sleep now; he doesn’t need coffee. Lex has plenty of energy and butterfly tape over his eyebrow, and who can sleep under these sorts of conditions? Who could possibly stand still when they can feel the blood throbbing in their jugular and their hands are grabbing at the lining in their pants pockets because they’re not allowed to have nervous habits.
Lex has a tendency to speak in rhetorical terms when he loses sight of the big picture. He has a tendency to move even when he’s still in one place. Right now Lex needs to move. He needs to walk and move and stalk and do the things that Luthors do.
Lex needs to be a Luthor right now; he needs to have control.
He does not need to see Clark Kent lurking at the end of the hallway with his messy hair and dirty suit, and his enormous eyes trained on Lex like Lex is on stage and Clark is the spotlight.
Lex doesn’t always get what he wants; sometimes he just gets what he needs. The problem being that Lex doesn’t remember wishing for an abused-looking Clark Kent with wet eyes.
Not that Lex would try and exchange his gift, but still, it seems a bit banged up.
“Lex? Are you – your head. Are you okay? God, what are you doing here?”
“I thought that the bandage spoke pretty clearly for itself. Is it sending mixed messages, Clark?”
“No, I just. I thought you were safe.”
Clark thought Lex was safe. Is this implying that Clark was worried? Lex isn’t sure how to proceed here. He knows how he would normally proceed with people who flirt with him, head injury be damned, but who knows who else is lurking just around the next corner.
And why is Clark slumping against the wall like he wants to collapse?
“I feel pretty safe, if that’s any consolation. You don’t look so good yourself, though. Do you need to sit down?”
“No, right here will do just fine.” Clark really meant right there. Lex thought he was joking, however the whole sliding down the wall and sitting on the floor put paid to that idea.
“Clark, should I get a doctor?”
Not that Lex thinks that Clark is ill, but he just looks a bit off. Still, it’s kind of... interesting how worried Clark is about him. Lex doesn’t remember hiring Clark to worry over him.
He does remember the last time he worried over Clark though. Maybe sitting down isn’t a bad idea.
“I’m fine. My head is fine, as the cliché goes – it’s not as bad as it looks. Which I would take to be a good thing considering that you look like you’ve been rolling in the dirt for the last half an hour. I feel the need to inquire again if you’re all right.”
Less of a question, more of a formality. Lex would be very hard pressed indeed to think that anything could happen to Clark, no matter what Lex saw the last time he was in this exact same place.
Seeing is not always believing.
“I’m okay. Just a little dirty.”
“So, I see. The question naturally being ‘why’ because I could’ve sworn that I sent you off to a dance that was being held indoors. I didn’t know they had contracted The Three Little Pigs to build Kansas schools.”
Considering the circumstances, Lex’s sense of humor is doing quite well. He suspects it might be the only bit that hasn’t been injured today.
“They didn’t. I’m here because Lana got hurt."
Lana, of course.
"I'm sure she'll be okay." Even with head trauma Lex is still one of the most sincere liars around.
"And my dad got injured, too.”
Oh. Well. That's different.
“I’m sorry.” And for the first time in a while, Lex truly means it.
“The doctors say he’s going to be all right, I just...”
“It’s hard. I understand. My father’s here as well.”
“Your dad? But what's your dad doing here?”
"I've asked myself that question a lot, Clark. I assure you."
"But I - Lex, I'm so sorry."
“Don’t worry it’ll take more than a tornado to stop him. I should know, and don’t worry about your father. As soon as the weather clears up, I’m having consultants flown in from Metropolis General, I’ll have them look at your father too.”
“I – thanks, Lex.”
“Don’t mention it. I’m glad to help.” Lex isn’t sure what he would do if he couldn’t help at least that little bit. It’s less about Jonathan Kent and his grudges and more about Clark and the small smiles that he graces Lex with when he’s happy.
Lex will do anything to keep Clark happy. In some way he finds their emotions tied together, and through Clark Lex gets vicarious thrills. He gets a filtered-down kind of love, and it’s more than he’s had for a long time. If he walked the halls for the rest of his life, he doubts he could find anything better.
**the end perhaps**
I saw the S2 trailer (thanks to
![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
I can find no basis for this vignette except that
![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
Random Walks
for the very inspirational
![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
Lex could be anywhere right now. He could be walking corn mazes out in Riley Field or wandering the grounds at Versaillies. He could be trampling dirt in from the garage or walking to his car in the parking lot.
He could be anywhere. Except Lex is not anywhere because he’s there, here, at the hospital, and he’s been walking their halls forever as far as he can tell. He’s camped out in Neurology and stared in Podiatry. He’s studiously ignored the Cafeteria and spent an inordinate amount of time in Neonatal.
He’s done a mental run past Radiology even when his steps were even, and he just keeps walking. Going, moving, trying very hard not to stop and think.
He’s trying very hard not to worry.
There are things that Lex will never do, words he will never say. There are actions that Lex considers beneath him and emotions he tells himself he doesn’t need to associate with.
Lex has people who worry for him. He doesn’t spend his time concerning himself with small things and expense reports. Lex sees the bigger picture; Lex is the bigger picture – except that today the bigger picture has been ravaged by falling columns and trapped dictators.
Lex really fucking hates hospitals.
He hates hospitals with the sort of passion he generally reserves for takeovers and Whitman and sitting in new cars with underage boys. Except that those are Lex's favorite things and the hospital is his least favorite thing, and on top of everything else Lex is waiting.
Lex is walking and not thinking, and if he hates hospitals, Lex reserves a very special place in the deepest recesses of the seventh circle of hell for people who make him wait. Especially when there’s nothing he can do to speed the process along, to make things happen more quickly.
If he had gotten the column off of his father sooner, if the EMT’s had come sooner. If there weren’t all those other people being affected by the tornado, god only knows what would have happened. The probability equation could keep him busy for several minutes, except that Lex doesn’t have the patience to barter with ‘if’ today; and he doesn’t like the waiting.
He thought that walking the hallways had to be better than sitting in $9.99 plastic chairs and drinking 99 cent coffee, and watching as his father just laid there. Lex has never seen his father just lay anywhere. Lex has never even seen Lionel sleep. Lex is sure that Lionel sees it as a sign of weakness - the need to sleep.
Lex, however, doesn’t need to sleep now; he doesn’t need coffee. Lex has plenty of energy and butterfly tape over his eyebrow, and who can sleep under these sorts of conditions? Who could possibly stand still when they can feel the blood throbbing in their jugular and their hands are grabbing at the lining in their pants pockets because they’re not allowed to have nervous habits.
Lex has a tendency to speak in rhetorical terms when he loses sight of the big picture. He has a tendency to move even when he’s still in one place. Right now Lex needs to move. He needs to walk and move and stalk and do the things that Luthors do.
Lex needs to be a Luthor right now; he needs to have control.
He does not need to see Clark Kent lurking at the end of the hallway with his messy hair and dirty suit, and his enormous eyes trained on Lex like Lex is on stage and Clark is the spotlight.
Lex doesn’t always get what he wants; sometimes he just gets what he needs. The problem being that Lex doesn’t remember wishing for an abused-looking Clark Kent with wet eyes.
Not that Lex would try and exchange his gift, but still, it seems a bit banged up.
“Lex? Are you – your head. Are you okay? God, what are you doing here?”
“I thought that the bandage spoke pretty clearly for itself. Is it sending mixed messages, Clark?”
“No, I just. I thought you were safe.”
Clark thought Lex was safe. Is this implying that Clark was worried? Lex isn’t sure how to proceed here. He knows how he would normally proceed with people who flirt with him, head injury be damned, but who knows who else is lurking just around the next corner.
And why is Clark slumping against the wall like he wants to collapse?
“I feel pretty safe, if that’s any consolation. You don’t look so good yourself, though. Do you need to sit down?”
“No, right here will do just fine.” Clark really meant right there. Lex thought he was joking, however the whole sliding down the wall and sitting on the floor put paid to that idea.
“Clark, should I get a doctor?”
Not that Lex thinks that Clark is ill, but he just looks a bit off. Still, it’s kind of... interesting how worried Clark is about him. Lex doesn’t remember hiring Clark to worry over him.
He does remember the last time he worried over Clark though. Maybe sitting down isn’t a bad idea.
“I’m fine. My head is fine, as the cliché goes – it’s not as bad as it looks. Which I would take to be a good thing considering that you look like you’ve been rolling in the dirt for the last half an hour. I feel the need to inquire again if you’re all right.”
Less of a question, more of a formality. Lex would be very hard pressed indeed to think that anything could happen to Clark, no matter what Lex saw the last time he was in this exact same place.
Seeing is not always believing.
“I’m okay. Just a little dirty.”
“So, I see. The question naturally being ‘why’ because I could’ve sworn that I sent you off to a dance that was being held indoors. I didn’t know they had contracted The Three Little Pigs to build Kansas schools.”
Considering the circumstances, Lex’s sense of humor is doing quite well. He suspects it might be the only bit that hasn’t been injured today.
“They didn’t. I’m here because Lana got hurt."
Lana, of course.
"I'm sure she'll be okay." Even with head trauma Lex is still one of the most sincere liars around.
"And my dad got injured, too.”
Oh. Well. That's different.
“I’m sorry.” And for the first time in a while, Lex truly means it.
“The doctors say he’s going to be all right, I just...”
“It’s hard. I understand. My father’s here as well.”
“Your dad? But what's your dad doing here?”
"I've asked myself that question a lot, Clark. I assure you."
"But I - Lex, I'm so sorry."
“Don’t worry it’ll take more than a tornado to stop him. I should know, and don’t worry about your father. As soon as the weather clears up, I’m having consultants flown in from Metropolis General, I’ll have them look at your father too.”
“I – thanks, Lex.”
“Don’t mention it. I’m glad to help.” Lex isn’t sure what he would do if he couldn’t help at least that little bit. It’s less about Jonathan Kent and his grudges and more about Clark and the small smiles that he graces Lex with when he’s happy.
Lex will do anything to keep Clark happy. In some way he finds their emotions tied together, and through Clark Lex gets vicarious thrills. He gets a filtered-down kind of love, and it’s more than he’s had for a long time. If he walked the halls for the rest of his life, he doubts he could find anything better.
**the end perhaps**
no subject
Date: 2002-09-17 01:03 pm (UTC)Very pretty. Yay.
no subject
Date: 2002-09-17 02:29 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2002-09-17 01:15 pm (UTC)It's *your* thingie love. You go smooch up close to SV, and lick it till it's bollocks drop off, if that's your wont.
I intend to be licking the telly when my thingie comes on... thass for sure! (I may even dust it first!)
no subject
Date: 2002-09-17 02:37 pm (UTC)well, i wouldn't want them to drop off like but i understand the pov.
no subject
Date: 2002-09-17 01:21 pm (UTC)**the end perhaps**
Noooo. No end. More! :o)
no subject
Date: 2002-09-17 02:38 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2002-09-17 01:23 pm (UTC)and do it well...
which you do..
mmm, nice.
-----
scy
no subject
Date: 2002-09-17 02:38 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2002-09-18 10:32 am (UTC)---
scy
no subject
Date: 2002-09-17 01:50 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2002-09-17 02:42 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2002-09-17 02:17 pm (UTC)And, um, you know...I'm embracing the "perhaps" part of that.
Don't end it! Don't!
awash in confusion..
Date: 2002-09-17 02:39 pm (UTC)Re: awash in confusion..
Date: 2002-09-17 02:59 pm (UTC)I love the little details, too. About the nervous hand clenching going on in his pockets, because he's not supposed to have nervous habits.
Woobie!
no subject
Date: 2002-09-17 03:21 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2002-09-17 03:54 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2002-09-17 03:38 pm (UTC)...their hands are grabbing at the lining in their pants pockets because they’re not allowed to have nervous habits.
That is *so* Lex. Really, just great.
This was a great piece, subtle and in character and just generally well done. Bravo.
no subject
Date: 2002-09-17 03:59 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2002-09-17 06:13 pm (UTC)i really have no words.
i don't knwow what to say, but it was just gorgeous.
the introduction of clark into the story was so smooth, seamless, and i was thoroughly enjoying lex before, i but i was definitely loving lex after.
no subject
Date: 2002-09-18 09:08 am (UTC)i have much love for bald 21 year-olds who drive pretty cars and are all fucked up.
no subject
Date: 2002-09-17 08:25 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2002-09-17 08:53 pm (UTC)Can there be more? Please please please?
no subject
Date: 2002-09-18 09:10 am (UTC)probably not of this, but if the boys deliver anything at all reasonably good next week there will be much happiness from me. and you know, happiness = prolificness - sometimes. *g*
no subject
Date: 2002-09-22 03:37 pm (UTC)Not that Lex would try and exchange his gift, but still, it seems a bit banged up.
Damn, I love how you write Lex.
If he walked the halls for the rest of his life, he doubts he could find anything better.
*makes all sorts of incoherent sounds* How is that both beautiful and horrible and sweet and meloncholy all at once? siiiigh.
no subject
Date: 2002-09-23 08:57 am (UTC)thank you, very much. lex and i have spent a lot of time working together so that i can represent him accurately - that's the offical take on the matter. the unoffical take is that i'm just obsessed and sometimes lex humours me.