Noose of Light

by a campbell

Smallville, Clark Kent/Lex Luthor

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Verse I.

Awake for
Morning in the Bowl of Night
Has flung the Stone that puts the Stars to Flight:
And Lo! the Hunter of the East has caught
The Sultan's Turret in a Noose of Light.

The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, trans. Edward FitzGerald

Lex was unclear what had awakened him, other than that he’d wound up sleeping on his back, which was usually more apt to give him nightmares then to wrest him back to consciousness. Cold autumn air chilled the room, wafting in the scent of dying leaves and stale bonfires all the way from dozens of Friday night pre-game tailgate parties in town. He had the fresh air at the afternoon’s game to thank for the hard sleep so early in the night. Barechested, he shivered, fishing vainly with one hand over the side of the bed for the vanished light blanket with which he’d gone to sleep. He tugged at the gray flannel sweats which had twisted around his legs as he slept, trying vainly to straighten them.

His eyes opened a crack, then snapped wide. Someone was here.

Lex didn’t want to give in to the clutch of fear in the pit of his stomach, and forced himself to stay cool. God knows he’d survived ambushes enough before this. Sitting up, he peered through the darkness, talking himself mentally down from the unreasoning stab of combined excitement and terror.

A dark shadow in the corner by the closet stirred and gradually came clear. Lex sensed, rather than saw, who it was. Apprehension faded into the warmth of bliss and his lips curved into a satisfied smile

“Clark.”

“Yeah.” Lex couldn’t see Clark’s face, but he heard his voice, low and youthful, thick in his throat with a richness that made Lex tremble. Clark stepped from the shadows and moved to the side of the bed, a glint of moonlight catching, lingering in his gaze as he looked down and grinned. “Well? You going to move over?”

Lex shifted without reluctance from the warm spot on the sheet, but not before reaching down to drag the cover back up from the end of the bed. The mattress dipped as Clark dropped down and kicked off his shoes; Lex heard the thud as they landed over by the door. He yanked the blue tee shirt over his head, wadded it up with his socks and tossed both over to land on the leather chair nearby. Clark glanced at Lex with a grin, made a fist and flexed his muscles. “Pretty good arm today?”

“Pretty good,” Lex repeated drowsily, his sleepy gaze not leaving Clark. Now that he was here, it was no longer cold, the shadows banished despite the fact that dawn was hours away.

Clark, stripped down to his boxers, lifted the edge of the blanket and slipped underneath. Bare flesh and hairy legs touched Lex’s smooth skin as Clark shifted to get comfortable. “Hi,” he said, breath warm on Lex’s neck, and for a moment Lex, savoring the heat of Clark’s body, could find no words to answer, not even “Hi,” back. He just let one arm slip under Clark’s and the other between the pillow and his neck, and almost at once felt Clark’s soft, open mouth pressed to his.

Lex gave himself over without protest, contemplating months of sleeping alone, finally over.

Clark pulled back with a lick to the scar on Lex’s upper lip. “It was great seeing you at the game this afternoon. Glad you could make it.”

“Don’t mention it.” Lex half-gasped, still spinning from the kiss. Clark’s expression went tender, and he trailed a finger down Lex’s cheek. Lex leaned into the caress as he continued. “If I’d known you were coming tonight I’d have waited up.””

Clark planted another soft kiss on his brow, then sat back. “Some game, huh?”

Yeah, some game. Clark in the brightness of fall afternoon sunshine, beaming with happiness, marked for him. Solitude banished, hopefully for good.

“You waited a long time for that. To be out there.” He remembered all those conversations long ago, back when Clark had joined the team in his freshman year. All the griping about Jonathan, the bitterness and hurt. How back then he’d just wanted to fix everything for Clark, make it better. Hold him close. “How did it feel?”

“If I said it felt great, that wouldn’t do it justice. Felt indescribably good, though. I’d have been here sooner, but I had to take care of some stuff first. And talk to Chloe.”

“Get everything settled?”

“Yeah. We’re friends. And Lois Lane is history, thanks to the White Man Power Dance.”

Lex thought a moment. “What?”

Clark laughed. “Never mind. God, was she annoying! Brace yourself, Met U.”

Lex stretched luxuriously “So you owe me,” he said. He nipped at Clark’s collarbone, letting one hand wander down Clark’s chest to his thigh, feeling the small shudder that ran through his body at the touch.

“So name your price.” Clark stirred, arched up. And, if Clark kept talking to him like that, in that husky, tremulous voice, this was going to be over before they even got started. Lex rolled over onto his back to try to slow his breathing.

“Feel sorry for Chloe, though,” Lex forced himself to speak steadily. “Loving you and not being able to have you.”

“Someone else beat her to it,” said Clark, and rolled over and on top of Lex. He pressed a knee between Lex’s legs and pushed against him, hard already, and Lex’s mouth began to fill with water. He lifted a hand to run fingers through Clark’s dark curls.

“Getting kind of long.” Lex murmured. He took a whiff of the cheap, strawberry scent of the dusky hair, no doubt freshly shampooed after the game

“I know. I’ll get it cut soon.”

“Don’t you dare.” He was close to drifting off again in the cocoon of warmth and pleasure created by Clark’s presence. Then he realized with mild astonishment that Clark was laughing, a blissful rumble that began in his chest and spilled out in a kind of goofy chuckle. “Lex, I really hated you over the summer. But I never stopped loving you, too. I just wanted you to know that.” Clark slid down, dragged his stubbly cheek against Lex’s bare chest, planting a wet kiss on one nipple.

“I know the feeling,” said Lex, savoring the slow thrill that ran through his body at the touch of Clark’s lips. “Long summer.” All the way to Egypt and back, just to try to forget you. Which didn’t work.

“Know something else? I love you even more, now. It’s good to be back.”

“Well, you’ve had my heart all along. And it was worth eating crow, so to speak, to be here like this again.”

Clark nodded, and raised his head. He reached to lift the curtain back from the window and looked out. “Lots of stars out tonight.” He gazed at the sky for a moment longer and shoved the window closed. “Chilly. Feels good to me, but I don’t want you catching cold.”

“I don’t get sick,” Lex muttered. At least before. Now…

“What?”

“Nothing,” said Lex. He held out his arms, and Clark was in them before he could blink. Clark’s body, big and warm, and Lex kissed his brow with lips half open, spitting out a strand or two of coarse black hair when he paused.

How he’d missed this. Missed him, missed Clark’s strong arms going around him, enfolding him. Yearned for the comfort of his company, the strength of his love. He had them again and all was well. For the moment, at least.

“Fuck me, Lex. It’s been way too long. If you don’t, I’m going to die.”

***

Lex freed himself from Clark’s arms and glanced out the window at the first hint of watery autumn dawn. A few dead leaves skittered across the garden, the rest were weighed down on the ground with rain. Clark still slept, silent and still as a bird, the blanket tangled around his waist and legs, face buried in his pillow. Lex bent to kiss his shoulder, took another breath of the warm scent of his hair.

He let his tongue run down Clark’s muscle-flanked spine. Time for Clark to get up and head back home; he mustn’t know about the blood treatments, not yet.

Clark twitched and stretched a little. Lex knew he’d be awake in a minute or two. He gave a nudge, said brusquely, “Sun’s up.”

Clark rolled over and smiled up at him, and Lex wondered how anyone could look that beautiful so early in the morning. “Okay, I’m out of here.”

In a few moments, he was dressed, jacketed, and bending down for one last kiss before giving Lex a shove. “So, you getting dressed any time soon, Lazybones?”

“Yeah,” said Lex. “When you leave.”

“My, aren’t we modest this morning.” Clark responded with a brief, theatrical pout, then mouthed another kiss as he zipped his jacket. “Just remember: I love you.”

Lex smiled a faint smile and swallowed hard. His throat was so thick with emotion that he couldn’t speak, but he hoped his nod conveyed that he was definitely thinking the same thing.

Clark’s gaze softened as he slung his bookbag over his shoulder. “Good to be friends again, huh?” he said, his eyebrows raising as though he weren’t quite sure what Lex’s answer might be this morning, in the cold light of day.

“You’ve got me. See you later.”

Clark grinned. Lex lay still for a bit after he left, face turned toward the lemon-colored sunlight streaming in the window.

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