Ficlet: It Is the Distance (Clex, G)
Title: It Is the Distance
Category: Ficlet
Pairing: Clex
Rating: G
Word Count: 543 words
Spoilers: None.
Notes: Inspired by ATB's "You're Not Alone". I wrote this earlier in the month and left it, thinking I might grow it out, but it sits well enough as is.
Summary: It is the distance that makes life a little hard...
Lex kept his back straight through sheer force of will, his footsteps falling in a steady cadence with similar determination until he was in his office with the door shut behind him. Alone, he allowed himself a slow collapse against the door, his fatigue finally wearing down his resolve to keep his head up.
His chin tipped against his chest as his eyes closed. The lamp on his desk was on, but the overhead lights were off and the dull, painful throbbing of his head quieted after the raucous laughter of his father's party guests.
He was incredibly tired, but going to bed would have been a defeat. This important phone call he was supposed to be making was only a short reprieve. And no matter how unscheduled it actually was, knowing how surprised the person on the other end of the line would be to hear his voice at such an hour, the idea of not following through made him sick and tired for reasons that had nothing to do with the false manueverings of the crowd he'd left.
The walk to his desk was a simple eight strides and a graceless slide into his chair. The phone on his desk didn't have Clark on speed dial, but he knew the numbers and pressed the numbers quickly.
Clark answered on the second ring, sounding groggy as he whispered Lex's name.
"I didn't wake your roommate, did I?" It was an old joke, one only attempted because of the lateness of the hour and the low volume of Clark's voice.
"Wha- No. Is the party awful?" Clark asked, raising his voice a little to reach an approximation of normal conversation level.
"Very much so," Lex admitted. Then, because that was weakness enough and he had nothing that could, or should, be said over the phone, he excused this whim as best he could. "I shouldn't have called so late. You should go back to sleep."
Clark rumbled a tired laugh into the phone and Lex closed his eyes against the low light of the lamp and imagined hearing that laugh next to his ear instead of hundreds of miles away. "It's never too late, and sleep isn't worth talking about without you here. I miss you." His voice dropped again on the last three words.
"Two days," Lex promised. The sentiment was wholeheartedly returned, which was likely obvious, given that they were talking on the phone at such a time. He hesitated, and then allowed himself a soft, "I love you."
"I love you, too," Clark answered immediately. He had no concern for who might stand outside the door and listen to his side of the conversation. Lex envied that nearly as much as he envied Clark the right to be in bed, ensconced in their blankets. "I'm keeping your side of the bed warm."
Lex chuckled at the admission. "And letting yours grow cold?"
"I'll share your heat when you're here. I'm never cold when you're home."
"Neither am I. Two days."
"I'll be listening for your key in the lock," Clark whispered. It was a much subtler way of saying he'd be listening for Lex's car on the highway back to Smallville, or his heartbeat from as far away as Metropolis.
A decidedly pornier psuedo-sequel: Any Distance Too Much, Hard R (written in 2009 for the SV kink meme)
Category: Ficlet
Pairing: Clex
Rating: G
Word Count: 543 words
Spoilers: None.
Notes: Inspired by ATB's "You're Not Alone". I wrote this earlier in the month and left it, thinking I might grow it out, but it sits well enough as is.
Summary: It is the distance that makes life a little hard...
Lex kept his back straight through sheer force of will, his footsteps falling in a steady cadence with similar determination until he was in his office with the door shut behind him. Alone, he allowed himself a slow collapse against the door, his fatigue finally wearing down his resolve to keep his head up.
His chin tipped against his chest as his eyes closed. The lamp on his desk was on, but the overhead lights were off and the dull, painful throbbing of his head quieted after the raucous laughter of his father's party guests.
He was incredibly tired, but going to bed would have been a defeat. This important phone call he was supposed to be making was only a short reprieve. And no matter how unscheduled it actually was, knowing how surprised the person on the other end of the line would be to hear his voice at such an hour, the idea of not following through made him sick and tired for reasons that had nothing to do with the false manueverings of the crowd he'd left.
The walk to his desk was a simple eight strides and a graceless slide into his chair. The phone on his desk didn't have Clark on speed dial, but he knew the numbers and pressed the numbers quickly.
Clark answered on the second ring, sounding groggy as he whispered Lex's name.
"I didn't wake your roommate, did I?" It was an old joke, one only attempted because of the lateness of the hour and the low volume of Clark's voice.
"Wha- No. Is the party awful?" Clark asked, raising his voice a little to reach an approximation of normal conversation level.
"Very much so," Lex admitted. Then, because that was weakness enough and he had nothing that could, or should, be said over the phone, he excused this whim as best he could. "I shouldn't have called so late. You should go back to sleep."
Clark rumbled a tired laugh into the phone and Lex closed his eyes against the low light of the lamp and imagined hearing that laugh next to his ear instead of hundreds of miles away. "It's never too late, and sleep isn't worth talking about without you here. I miss you." His voice dropped again on the last three words.
"Two days," Lex promised. The sentiment was wholeheartedly returned, which was likely obvious, given that they were talking on the phone at such a time. He hesitated, and then allowed himself a soft, "I love you."
"I love you, too," Clark answered immediately. He had no concern for who might stand outside the door and listen to his side of the conversation. Lex envied that nearly as much as he envied Clark the right to be in bed, ensconced in their blankets. "I'm keeping your side of the bed warm."
Lex chuckled at the admission. "And letting yours grow cold?"
"I'll share your heat when you're here. I'm never cold when you're home."
"Neither am I. Two days."
"I'll be listening for your key in the lock," Clark whispered. It was a much subtler way of saying he'd be listening for Lex's car on the highway back to Smallville, or his heartbeat from as far away as Metropolis.
A decidedly pornier psuedo-sequel: Any Distance Too Much, Hard R (written in 2009 for the SV kink meme)