Ficlet: Dark (FebFF 2016 Day One, G, 622 words)
Title: Dark
Category: fic
Rating: G
Word Count: 622
Spoilers: None for the series
Warnings: Dark start to the month. I expect to have a companion piece before the end of February.
Notes: Written for my little February Fic Fest thing.
Summary: Clark is swallowed by the dark.
Clark woke again to the dark. He lifted his hand to his face and opened and closed his eyes, feeling the flutter of his lashes against his palm. Darkness, still. He forced himself to breathe in and out slowly even as his heart continued to beat too fast.
"I'm going to touch your left elbow," a voice said, barely audible over the rush of blood in his ears. It was followed by light physical contact to match what the voice had said, cool fingers sliding over his bare skin. The fingertips of the hand rested only briefly, and then slid up his bicep, rounding his shoulder and slipping toward his neck without further warning.
Clark's breath caught as the fingers paused against his pulse point and his voice was little more than a ragged gasp for more air. "Lex?"
"It's four thirty-seven in the morning, the sky is still dark out. You're in my bed at the mansion. The curtains are open. So is the bedroom door. The closet door is closed. The lamp on your right is on, but the shade makes the room glow purple and it's not very bright."
Little had changed since the last time Clark had woken like this, hours ago according to Lex's statement of time. It was easier to listen to the cadence of Lex's voice and stay calm than it had earlier. "Thanks."
"How are you feeling? Aside from the obvious, of course." The bed dipped and Clark could almost imagine he felt the brush of heat of Lex's body close to him, but he knew he himself was covered by blankets and it was doubtful that Lex was wearing less than a layer of clothes. It was nice to imagine it briefly, though.
He squeezed his eyes shut and pretended the darkness was a choice. It pulled the skin of his face and the sting of his left cheek was a reminder that his vision wasn't the only thing he was lacking. He hated to lose his powers now that he'd grown accustomed to them, but to lose his ability to heal even a scratch was like insult to the injury of his blindness. Or maybe it was related.
"Whoa, Clark," Lex's hands pushed against his shoulders and Clark realized that he must have sat up. It had been a purely thoughtless response, a precursor to getting up to go and solve this puzzle. He sighed and laid back down, felt Lex's hands smooth over his chest before they lifted away. "What was that about?"
"Sorry. I just realized that--" It was almost a secondary pain, having to stop himself from talking, but it was as if the loss of his sight--and powers--had also robbed him of his memory. He and Lex weren't friends, not like their early acquaintance had promised, and while Clark had been trusting Lex up to this point, he was suddenly reminded of the last weeks--months, years!--of antipathy and outright antagonism. "I just realized that Mom hadn't come by."
"She did, while you were sleeping," Lex answered smoothly.
All of his answers were delivered in that calm, deliberate, "trust me, I know what I'm talking about voice" and only now did it seem grating and wrong.
His silence must have belied his thoughts. The mattress shifted as Lex's weight was removed from it. "Oh, Clark," Lex murmured, simultaneously mocking and sympathetic. "You really have trust issues."
There was the barest susurration of sound. Lex walking away? It was impossible to tell, as the other man said nothing more. "Lex?" Clark called out, but there was no answer. Just the darkness, the absence of light and the sudden vacuum left by the death of his hope. "Lex, please. Lex!"
This was meant to be posted on the 1st, but I had some computer issues yesterday and wasn't able to get it posted. I will be double-posting today to make up for it.
Category: fic
Rating: G
Word Count: 622
Spoilers: None for the series
Warnings: Dark start to the month. I expect to have a companion piece before the end of February.
Notes: Written for my little February Fic Fest thing.
Summary: Clark is swallowed by the dark.
Clark woke again to the dark. He lifted his hand to his face and opened and closed his eyes, feeling the flutter of his lashes against his palm. Darkness, still. He forced himself to breathe in and out slowly even as his heart continued to beat too fast.
"I'm going to touch your left elbow," a voice said, barely audible over the rush of blood in his ears. It was followed by light physical contact to match what the voice had said, cool fingers sliding over his bare skin. The fingertips of the hand rested only briefly, and then slid up his bicep, rounding his shoulder and slipping toward his neck without further warning.
Clark's breath caught as the fingers paused against his pulse point and his voice was little more than a ragged gasp for more air. "Lex?"
"It's four thirty-seven in the morning, the sky is still dark out. You're in my bed at the mansion. The curtains are open. So is the bedroom door. The closet door is closed. The lamp on your right is on, but the shade makes the room glow purple and it's not very bright."
Little had changed since the last time Clark had woken like this, hours ago according to Lex's statement of time. It was easier to listen to the cadence of Lex's voice and stay calm than it had earlier. "Thanks."
"How are you feeling? Aside from the obvious, of course." The bed dipped and Clark could almost imagine he felt the brush of heat of Lex's body close to him, but he knew he himself was covered by blankets and it was doubtful that Lex was wearing less than a layer of clothes. It was nice to imagine it briefly, though.
He squeezed his eyes shut and pretended the darkness was a choice. It pulled the skin of his face and the sting of his left cheek was a reminder that his vision wasn't the only thing he was lacking. He hated to lose his powers now that he'd grown accustomed to them, but to lose his ability to heal even a scratch was like insult to the injury of his blindness. Or maybe it was related.
"Whoa, Clark," Lex's hands pushed against his shoulders and Clark realized that he must have sat up. It had been a purely thoughtless response, a precursor to getting up to go and solve this puzzle. He sighed and laid back down, felt Lex's hands smooth over his chest before they lifted away. "What was that about?"
"Sorry. I just realized that--" It was almost a secondary pain, having to stop himself from talking, but it was as if the loss of his sight--and powers--had also robbed him of his memory. He and Lex weren't friends, not like their early acquaintance had promised, and while Clark had been trusting Lex up to this point, he was suddenly reminded of the last weeks--months, years!--of antipathy and outright antagonism. "I just realized that Mom hadn't come by."
"She did, while you were sleeping," Lex answered smoothly.
All of his answers were delivered in that calm, deliberate, "trust me, I know what I'm talking about voice" and only now did it seem grating and wrong.
His silence must have belied his thoughts. The mattress shifted as Lex's weight was removed from it. "Oh, Clark," Lex murmured, simultaneously mocking and sympathetic. "You really have trust issues."
There was the barest susurration of sound. Lex walking away? It was impossible to tell, as the other man said nothing more. "Lex?" Clark called out, but there was no answer. Just the darkness, the absence of light and the sudden vacuum left by the death of his hope. "Lex, please. Lex!"
This was meant to be posted on the 1st, but I had some computer issues yesterday and wasn't able to get it posted. I will be double-posting today to make up for it.