I'm home from work on a snow day. Whee! So I actually started writing this thing. And as I thought about it, I also felt that Clark could keep this secret if he really needed to.
I think secrets follow a typical trajectory. They're very hard to hide at the beginning. They get easier to keep over time. Until some distant point when the pressure just builds up too much and it all starts to crumble.
What I'm envisioning is that Clark's initial decision is to not tell what happened with Lionel and just to be friends with Lex. Maybe he confesses the big secret instead, a gesture to make up for the other secrets he's keeping, his love and the sex with Lionel, even though Lex won't realize that's what it is.
After a while though, he can't keep his love a secret anymore, either. And they start a relationship.
And then in the distant future, maybe ten years out, Lionel finally grows tired of the personal victory, and his insinuations become obvious enough that Lex figures it out.
There's a fight. A separation. Clark sleeping on Lois' sofa. Much angst. Pictures of Lex in the paper with some beautiful blond woman. More angst. And then news items turn up in the paper that show LuthorCorp is starting to unravel. Until finally it's in such bad shape that--yes, you guessed it--LexCorp acquires it for a song. And Lionel is sent packing in disgrace.
At the end of the story, Clark leaves work to find Lex leaning against one of his shiny cars, waiting for him. They take a walk, sit on a park bench, hash it all out. It's revealed that the blond bimbo was simply a means to an end. Lionel pulled the sleep-with-Lex's-girlfriend trick one too many times. Lex was able to pass along false information, much as he did with Victoria, and Lionel finally has his comeuppance, in the only way that can really hurt him.
The boys come to an understanding. And maybe it's not quite bright, shiny happiness. But it is love, and it does endure.
Re: Sequel talk! Yay!
Date: 2003-02-18 12:35 pm (UTC)I think secrets follow a typical trajectory. They're very hard to hide at the beginning. They get easier to keep over time. Until some distant point when the pressure just builds up too much and it all starts to crumble.
What I'm envisioning is that Clark's initial decision is to not tell what happened with Lionel and just to be friends with Lex. Maybe he confesses the big secret instead, a gesture to make up for the other secrets he's keeping, his love and the sex with Lionel, even though Lex won't realize that's what it is.
After a while though, he can't keep his love a secret anymore, either. And they start a relationship.
And then in the distant future, maybe ten years out, Lionel finally grows tired of the personal victory, and his insinuations become obvious enough that Lex figures it out.
There's a fight. A separation. Clark sleeping on Lois' sofa. Much angst. Pictures of Lex in the paper with some beautiful blond woman. More angst. And then news items turn up in the paper that show LuthorCorp is starting to unravel. Until finally it's in such bad shape that--yes, you guessed it--LexCorp acquires it for a song. And Lionel is sent packing in disgrace.
At the end of the story, Clark leaves work to find Lex leaning against one of his shiny cars, waiting for him. They take a walk, sit on a park bench, hash it all out. It's revealed that the blond bimbo was simply a means to an end. Lionel pulled the sleep-with-Lex's-girlfriend trick one too many times. Lex was able to pass along false information, much as he did with Victoria, and Lionel finally has his comeuppance, in the only way that can really hurt him.
The boys come to an understanding. And maybe it's not quite bright, shiny happiness. But it is love, and it does endure.
That's what I'm thinking. Thoughts?