Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Yellow Polka Dot Bikini
Summer scene, and they're all lounging by the Small Public Pool. And it is a small pool, Clark thinks, at least compared to the Olympic sized beauty that Lex keeps heated to a perfect 95 degrees. He wishes he were there, now.
This pool is kidney shaped; with cracks in the garish blue-green sides that Clark doesn't need X-ray vision to see. Three kids have drowned in it, in the twenty-three years it's been open. Currently, he and Pete, and Chloe and Lana are all sprawled beside it, soaking up the July sun.
He knows it's quite an indulgence for him, to be allowed this free time in the middle of the day, but Martha understands how much he craves it. Sunlight does something to him. Gives him energy. Makes him feel more real.
As long as he's discreet, his parents look away when he super-speeds through chores, and rushes off to join his friends. It's been a break he sorely needs.
Jonathan slaps him on the back, and tells him stories about his summer escapades with high school girlfriends. "You probably don't want to bring this up with your mother," he says. Clark doesn't think it would much matter. The stories are more innocent than anything else, and he's sure his Mom had boyfriends before his dad. Not that he wants to think about it in detail.
Chloe wore what could really only be called an "itsy bitsy teeny weenie yellow polka dot bikini". Small and silky, the color brought out bright golden highlights in her hair. The way it held up her voluptuous form was as gravity defying as the way Clark woke up when he had those dreams about Lex.
Why was he thinking about Lex? Damn it. He was trying not to. Lex wasn't even here, out by the public pool, on a hot summer afternoon. Lex was probably dressed to the nines, silk boxers -- that was only a guess, linen suit, gold cufflinks. He certainly wouldn't be caught dead slumming by the county pool.
He had his own pool, where he could do swift and elegant laps in his form fitting purple trunks. Lex's pool is all cool marble, in dappled shades of gray and white. Clark doesn't think Lex actually uses the pool very often. He makes a mental note to ask him about that, maybe invite himself over for a swim. Clark imagines Lex dolphin sleek, cutting through the water towards him. He pulls the towel higher up his waist, and pretends to be engrossed in the magazine he'd found next to the lounge chair.
He wished he were more like Pete. Pete was currently at a loss, eyes roaming from Chloe to Lana, and back again, as Chloe smoothed SPF whatever on Lana's exposed skin. And there certainly was a lot of exposed skin.
Once upon a time, the sight of Lana in her red swimsuit would have driven him to some sort of distraction. But after that weird experience with Lana and that nicodemus flower, the sight of her near a pool just made him nervous, and a little creeped out.
He'll be happy if the only mishap that happens in this pool today is someone getting a cramp, or one of the little kids peeing in the kiddy pool. Please, let there be no one going flower mad, or aging prematurely in a moment. Sudden freezing would be a bad thing, too.
Chloe, on the other hand, was the picture of health and vitality. A natural beauty, even when she was in experimental mode, and slathered herself with gloss and glitter, she made Clark feel playful and fun. He didn't want to kiss her, so much as toss her lightly into the water, so he could feel her splash indignantly at him, and hear her laugh. He knew she would laugh, and he couldn't resist her grin. He wanted to see more of it. Lately, she had seemed diminished, and he knew it was partly his fault.
He got up, and slipped into the deep end, speeding across the pool to pop up in front of Chloe, and douse her with chlorine scented water. He let her push him back into the pool, and they played a spirited game of chase. He could lose when he wanted to. Her sputtering, "I'll get you, you dork," let him know she was feeling better.
He wouldn't dare try that with Lana, who was currently lying with her head in a book, looking slightly annoyed at the light droplets of water that happened to fall on her. She really didn't seem to be enjoying her vacation, Clark thought. She was probably planning the Talon's next movie night, or poetry reading, in her head. Maybe he should go tell Pete to try and take her mind off things. Even Lana needed to let loose once in a while. Especially Lana.
Speaking of letting loose, there's someone who needs to do this even more than Lana. Clark excuses himself from the public pool, showers and changes, and heads over to the mansion. He knows Lex is working at home today. Something about a communications takeover, and Lionel is up to no good. It all sounds like the kind of mess that makes Lex's nerves whir faster. Just the thing to give Clark a reason to make him relax.
He gives a perfunctory knock on the door, then keys in his special code, and walks in. He's always welcome. Lex's housekeeper smiles at him, and says, "He's in his office. I'll tell him you're here. He could stand to eat something. Shall I bring you both some sandwiches?" Clark knows the only way Lex will take a break for lunch is if he says he's hungry.
"Sure, Leslie," he tells her. Lex's latest housekeeper is a treasure. Motherly in the best way, but knows when to steer clear. He's lucky to have her. Clark grins, and tells her exactly that.
"C'mon on in, Clark," Lex tells him, beckoning him in with an elegantly crooked finger. He doesn't look up from his paperwork until Clark clears his throat.
"Hi, Lex!" Clark says brightly. He knows Lex won't be able to resist that much good cheer.
"Clark. Good to see you," Lex replies, finally looking up, and giving him a sincere smile. "Did we have plans? I don't remember making any. Not that I'm unhappy to see you?"
"No, not exactly, Lex. I just needed to see you. To ask you something." He looked down at Lex expectantly.
"What is it, Clark?" Lex asked. "Are you in trouble? Are your parents all right? Is it Lana? Sit down and tell me all about it." Lex punched his intercom and told his assistant to hold his calls.
"No, nothing like that. I'm fine. We're all fine." Clark hesitated a moment, and then went on. "What I wanted to know was, when was the last time you used your pool?"
"Spring, sometime, I think." Lex answered, puzzled. "Why? You know I told you you could use it any time you wanted, but you told me the public pool was fine."
"It is fine, if you want to swim in public. I had a nice time there today with Pete and Chloe, and Lana," Clark told him matter of factly.
"Then why this urge to swim here, too? Lex asked. "Not that I mind."
"Because you weren't there, Lex. All I could think about was you sitting here all alone, stressing out over work on this beautiful day. And then -" Clark's voice lowered to a near whisper "I couldn't stop picturing you in your purple swim trunks, doing laps in your pool. And I wanted-wanted to be here, watching."
"Really, Clark?" Lex gave him a heated look, and a small smile. Any possible annoyance he might have felt at being interrupted at his work was long gone. "You know, the nice thing about a private pool -- a really private pool, is that I don't actually have to wear swim trunks at all."
He let that thought digest in Clark's mind, as he got up to tell his assistant to cancel his afternoon appointment. It wasn't urgent; they could wait until the next morning. Feeling generous on this beautiful summer day, he gave her the afternoon off. Then he took Clark by the hand, and led him downstairs.
The water in Lex's pool was warm, and Clark was right. Lex did move across it as sleekly and gracefully as a dolphin. But the noises he made when Clark was finally doing what he'd dreamt of for months -- kissing him, and touching him all over -- were nothing like Clark had ever heard on Animal Planet. And Clark was much too polite to make jokes about blowholes.
It's a hot July day, and Clark and Lex are lounging by the Luthor pool. There's splashing and joyfulness, and warm skin exposed to the sunlight streaming through colored window glass. If Lex is a dolphin, Clark is an otter, irrepressibly playful, guiding Lex into fun. Chloe, Pete, and Lana are nowhere to be seen, and that's just fine with them.
It's a perfect summer scene.