scribblinlenore: (SV: Lex Downcast Glance)
[personal profile] scribblinlenore
Rifty non-fluff.

Day Twelve: Tradition, SV, Clark/Lex, R



Tradition
by Lenore

The only light is the glow from the hearth, orange-yellow, sending shadows licking up the walls. This is the way they both prefer it, without any incandescent blare that might make it too difficult to ignore all the unanswerable questions. Lex sips his brandy, and doesn't react when he hears the front door or the footsteps in the hall.

Clark comes through the door, snowflakes on the shoulders of his coat, melting in his hair. "Hey." His cheeks have brightened a sharp pink, possibly from the cold, or more likely the schoolboy self-consciousness that he's never quite lost.

Lex nods to the empty place next to him. There's a glass of eggnog waiting on the coffee table, from a carton, with extra nutmeg and no rum, the way Clark likes it, and he sits, helps himself.

"It's snowing," Lex says idly. There are so few safe subjects between them, and the weather must serve for conversation.

"Just started on my way over here." Clark meets his eye, braver now.

Lex holds out his glass. "To another year."

The clink of crystal sounds oversized and significant in the larger stillness of the house. Lex tilts his head back, downing the last of the brandy, and Clark's eyes fasten on him, eggnog all but forgotten.

Covering the floor in front of the fireplace is the skin of a Javan tiger, one of the last of its kind. Clark pushes Lex down into the soft pelt, pulling at his clothes, and Lex enjoys the irony, as he always does, that they are besmirching one of his father's lessons with their messy love. Lex was only seven, but Lionel had insisted he come along on the hunting trip, and he'd spent the days wheezing and fretful, terrified of the explosive crack of his father's shotgun. The tiger had been Lionel's proudest prize, and he'd made Lex watch as it was skinned, even though Lex had cried, the message perfectly clear, that there was no room for softness in the life of a Luthor.

Every year on this night, Lex has the same thought, that his father won the battle, but not quite the war.

Clark finds the bottle of lubricant set out for him. He always needs to be inside Lex the first time, and Lex opens his legs, inviting him. Too much held-back desire, and Clark isn't careful, one hard thrust and he's all the way inside. Lex draws in a startled breath, because the rawness of Clark's possession never stops being a surprise. He digs his fingers into Clark's shoulders, into his impervious skin, and holds on, savoring the burning sense of being alive.

Later, in Lex's bed, there will be more time for luxuries, to look and taste, to tempt and discover. Lex will have Clark laid out like a banquet, his hands fisted in the sheets, the way he has to exert himself not to rip them a thing of beauty. Lex will sink into him, so, very slowly, just the way Clark likes it, and Clark will cry out, voice like a sob in the back of his throat as Lex takes him over, bit by little bit.

This is the way it's been for ten years, one night plucked from the waste of all the rest, to relive their last Christmas together, when happily ever after still seemed more than a fairy tale. It was the next day that Lex learned of Lionel's plan to destroy Superman, insidiously clever, the next day that Lex took the responsibility for stopping his father into his own hands, the next day that ruined everything. All but this one night when the only thing that exists is the last time that they were happy and blameless.

Afterwards, after the heat and desperation, Clark falls asleep, head tucked under Lex's chin, and Lex stays awake--always the same, every time. The only part of the ritual that he dreads comes in the morning, how clear Clark's eyes are when he first wakes, fumbles for a kiss, and then the way the realization slowly starts to creep back in, the old weight, a burden of grief and guilt that cleaves them apart the way only death ever can.

Clark dresses, and bends down for a final, restrained kiss, brushed across Lex's temple. "Take care of yourself."

He trudges off, back to his own prison of aloneness, and Lex doesn't react to the footsteps in the hall or the closing of the front door. Three hundred and sixty-four days will pass in separateness, three hundred and sixty-four days in which Lex will be more impervious than his father even imagined, while he waits for the chance to become himself again.

Page 1 of 2 << [1] [2] >>

Date: 2006-12-05 05:23 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] murklins.livejournal.com
*heart breaks*

Date: 2006-12-10 01:22 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] scribblinlenore.livejournal.com
*pets* Sorry this wasn't more holiday-ish.

Date: 2006-12-05 05:27 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] norwich36.livejournal.com
Ohhhh. So lovely and so sad!

Date: 2006-12-10 01:22 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] scribblinlenore.livejournal.com
I'm so glad you thought so, doll! Thank you!

Date: 2006-12-05 05:29 pm (UTC)
kyanoswolf: (Default)
From: [personal profile] kyanoswolf
This begs for a resolution.

Now that's an idea for a New Years Eve fic... *blatant hint*

Date: 2006-12-10 01:23 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] scribblinlenore.livejournal.com
I will give it some thought! I would love for them to reconcile. They've been tormented too long.

Date: 2006-12-05 05:35 pm (UTC)
danceswithgary: (Default)
From: [personal profile] danceswithgary
You've created such an incredible sense of despair and sadness on both parts. *sniff*

Date: 2006-12-10 01:24 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] scribblinlenore.livejournal.com
This is actually why I don't write that much SV anymore. I've lost my ability to really believe a happening ending. :(

But they are still fascinating to me.

Date: 2006-12-05 06:00 pm (UTC)

Date: 2006-12-10 01:24 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] scribblinlenore.livejournal.com
*pets* I'm hoping to be more fluffy the next time!

Date: 2006-12-05 06:01 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] storydivagirl.livejournal.com
Jeez. That was lovely and heartbreaking!

Date: 2006-12-10 01:25 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] scribblinlenore.livejournal.com
Thank you! I'm so glad you thought so!

Date: 2006-12-05 06:11 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] luvmax1.livejournal.com
So heartbreaking and bittersweet, Lenore. Really sad and beautiful.

Date: 2006-12-10 01:26 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] scribblinlenore.livejournal.com
That's how I find them these days, kind of heartbreaking. Thank you so much for the lovely feedback!

Date: 2006-12-05 06:25 pm (UTC)
ext_1718: (Default)
From: [identity profile] beeej.livejournal.com
*sobs*

I love it when it hurts this good!

Date: 2006-12-10 01:26 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] scribblinlenore.livejournal.com
I'm so glad! Thank you!

Date: 2006-12-05 06:29 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] cosmic.livejournal.com
I thought these were supposed to be happy and aww-inducing! Not heart-breaking. *cries*

Date: 2006-12-10 01:27 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] scribblinlenore.livejournal.com
*hugs* I'll try to be more fluffy next time, I promise! :)

Date: 2006-12-05 06:30 pm (UTC)

Date: 2006-12-10 01:27 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] scribblinlenore.livejournal.com
That's how they really strike me these days. Just tragic.

Date: 2006-12-05 06:38 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] slinkling.livejournal.com
Wow. That was just brutal. Heart-stompingly gorgeous, and the last line makes me ache. I find myself wishing -- as I'm sure both characters do -- that this whole piece could slow down, that if this is all they/we are going to get, it could be drawn out enough to let us savor every detail.

Man, this one's really going to stay with me for a long time.

Date: 2006-12-10 01:29 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] scribblinlenore.livejournal.com
Oh, thank you for the lovely feedback! It's wonderful to hear that it affected you. They are just breaking my heart these days. It's hard for me to really do fluff with them.

Date: 2006-12-05 06:44 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] mickeym.livejournal.com
Oh, man. Ouch. *hugs them*

Thank you for sharing, Lenore :)

Date: 2006-12-10 01:30 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] scribblinlenore.livejournal.com
They are so heartbreaking to me these days, doll.

I'm glad you liked this.

Date: 2006-12-05 07:09 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] rosy5000.livejournal.com
*cries* That's NOT fluff!!! *sniffle*

That broke my heart. :( (But so beautifully written)

Date: 2006-12-10 01:32 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] scribblinlenore.livejournal.com
*pets* They are making me sad these days. I might have lost my fluff groove a little. :(

Date: 2006-12-05 07:21 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] ladydey.livejournal.com
*sniff, sniff* --nothing to see here, no I'm not teary-eyed, thank you very much, pbbt! --

This is lovely, sad, but lovely.

Date: 2006-12-10 01:33 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] scribblinlenore.livejournal.com
I saw no tears at all! *g*

Date: 2006-12-05 09:24 pm (UTC)
ext_1175: (Default)
From: [identity profile] lamardeuse.livejournal.com
Oh my god, you broke me. I'm broken. Beautifully and lyrically, though, so I don't seem to mind. :)

Date: 2006-12-11 06:29 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] scribblinlenore.livejournal.com
Ah, glad you liked this! You know, I really wanted to write fluff, but the point they are with each other on the show now...this is what comes out.

Date: 2006-12-05 09:39 pm (UTC)

Date: 2006-12-11 06:31 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] scribblinlenore.livejournal.com
*consoles you* They could still come to their sense sometime!

Date: 2006-12-05 09:46 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] tamalinn.livejournal.com
*sobs inconsolably*

Date: 2006-12-11 06:33 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] scribblinlenore.livejournal.com
*pets you* I wanted to write fluff. Honest.

Date: 2006-12-05 10:18 pm (UTC)
poisontaster: character Wen Qing from The Untamed (Default)
From: [personal profile] poisontaster
Oh. This gave me this lump in my throat like you wouldn't believe. And I think I have a total fangirl crush on these lines right here:

Too much held-back desire, and Clark isn't careful, one hard thrust and he's all the way inside. Lex draws in a startled breath, because the rawness of Clark's possession never stops being a surprise.

Just...eloquent, aching, and sexy. Lovely.

Date: 2006-12-11 06:33 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] scribblinlenore.livejournal.com
Oh, thank you! What lovely feedback. I'm so glad you liked the story.

Date: 2006-12-05 10:27 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] lastscorpion.livejournal.com
That's lovely! Poor boys.

Date: 2006-12-11 06:34 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] scribblinlenore.livejournal.com
*pets the poor boys* Thank you! I'm so glad you liked this.

Date: 2006-12-05 11:41 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] bitchygrrl.livejournal.com
*sniffles* That was lovely.

Date: 2006-12-11 06:36 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] scribblinlenore.livejournal.com
Thank you! I'm so glad you thought so!

Date: 2006-12-06 12:08 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] lapetite-kiki.livejournal.com
Ah! That was so sad!

Date: 2006-12-11 06:37 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] scribblinlenore.livejournal.com
I like to think that they could still come to their senses one of these Christmas nights. :)

Date: 2006-12-06 01:19 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] epeters.livejournal.com
SV made it again. YAY!!

Okay, yes, sad and heartbreaking as only you can do.
I loved it. Absolutley fabulous!!

Date: 2006-12-11 06:38 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] scribblinlenore.livejournal.com
Oh, thank you! I'm so glad you liked this! And I think...I should have at least one more SV story in me, something more porny and light-hearted next time. *g*

Date: 2006-12-06 01:23 am (UTC)
ext_3952: (Default)
From: [identity profile] duskwillow.livejournal.com
*cries*
So heartbreaking and beautiful!!

Date: 2006-12-11 06:39 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] scribblinlenore.livejournal.com
I still love them, but their relationship (or lack thereof) makes me sad these days!

Date: 2006-12-06 01:24 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] jakrar.livejournal.com
So beautifully written, and so utterly heart-rending. *weeps for them both (but especially for Lex)* Now it's your responsibility to make things better for them....

Date: 2006-12-11 06:40 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] scribblinlenore.livejournal.com
I like to think that one of these Christmas nights they'll come to their senses and let the past go and try to go forward with a fresh start. :)

Date: 2006-12-06 01:40 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] madame-d.livejournal.com
*sniffles* I thought this was the season of happiness and fluff. This is heart-wrenching. *whaps Clark upside his stupid head*

Date: 2006-12-11 06:41 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] scribblinlenore.livejournal.com
*pets* I tried to write fluff, but...this is what came out. I do like to think that one of these Christmas night they'll come to their senses and let the past go and start to move forward again together.
Page 1 of 2 << [1] [2] >>

Profile

scribblinlenore: (Default)
scribblinlenore

October 2024

S M T W T F S
  12345
67891011 12
13141516171819
20212223242526
2728293031  

Most Popular Tags

Style Credit

Expand Cut Tags

No cut tags
Page generated Jul. 10th, 2025 04:40 am
Powered by Dreamwidth Studios