Six
Words
By: Arian
Disclaimer:
I don't own them, I don't profit from them, I just like to play with them.
Author's Note: Written for CLFF Wave 20: Pets. My prompt was
hamster.
***
Lex strode into his bedroom, loosening his tie and slinging his jacket across the bed. He paused as the sound of soft curses and shuffling inside the walk-in closet reached his ears, and he was already reaching for the gun hidden in the dresser drawer when a voice spoke.
"No, come back here! Stay out of the shoes!"
"Clark?"
There was a startled gasp and more muffled curses. "Lex!" Clark appeared in the doorway looking tousled and flustered. "What are you doing home so soon?" He hastily shut the door behind him and leaned back against it casually, trying to look as if it were perfectly normal for him to have wandered into Lex's bedroom after dropping off the produce order.
"My meeting ended early. What were you doing in my closet?"
Clark looked sheepish as he shrugged and ducked his head. "I was setting up a surprise for you."
"In my closet?"
"No, the closet was an accident. Your surprise kind of got away from me." Clark looked over at Lex, eyes wide and pleading as his friend narrowed his eyes slightly. "I figured you might get lonely here sometimes. I wanted you to have something to keep you company."
Lex followed Clark's hands as he gestured to the desk behind Lex's back. Sitting on top of the usually empty surface was a brightly coloured plastic cage with little neon connecting tubes running up the sides and around the top.
"You bought me a pet?" he asked in disbelief.
"Yeah, a hamster. But he kinda got scared when I tried to move him from the box to his cage, and he got loose. I managed to corner him in the closet, though!" Clark was still staring wide-eyed at Lex.
"You got me a hamster because you didn't want me to be lonely?" A smile twitched across his lips.
"It was a dumb idea."
"No, Clark. It's probably the nicest thing anyone has ever given me."
"Really?"
"Yeah. Thank you." Lex moved forward and clapped a hand to Clark's shoulder briefly before stepping back.
Clark grinned at him and Lex knew he was done for. Clark's smile was his weakness; he'd walk through fire to catch just a glimpse of it.
"I figured with Victoria gone..." Clark trailed off, worried he may have overstepped a boundary.
Lex smiled, genuine and bright, the way he only smiled for Clark. "You said you cornered him in the closet?" Clark nodded. "I guess we’d better find him then." He moved past Clark and opened the door, stepping quickly inside and motioning for Clark to join him.
Twenty minutes later found them both on their knees, peering under the multi-tiered shoe rack where Clark had last seen the furry brown and white animal hiding.
"Are you sure he's in there?"
"Positive. I can see his head." Clark paused and then laughed. "Okay, not his head, but I can see him. He's-" Clark made a slightly distressed noise in the back of his throat.
"He's what?" Lex bent over further, trying to see what Clark was seeing.
"He's, um, well... he's using one of your shoes as a toilet."
Lex paused, mouth half open as he took in the look of half-horror, half-amusement on his friends face. "Which shoe?"
"Uh, the black leather one?"
Lex rolled his eyes. "Which black leather one, Clark?"
Clark reached forward and snagged the shoe in question, throwing his hand over the opening so that the hamster couldn't escape. He was up and across the room to the cage before Lex could even stand. When he came out of the closet, Clark was lifting the little creature into the cage and speaking in a hushed voice. As Lex drew closer, he could distinguish words.
"It's ok little guy, Lex will take good care of you, I promise. And you have a great home with all sorts of tubes for you to run through, and a wheel!" He shut the cage door and turned to Lex, looking apologetic. "Sorry about your shoe. It's got hamster pee in it."
Lex couldn't hold back the laughter this time. "It's alright, Clark," he finally said. "It's just a shoe. So, what should I name him?"
"Well, he is brown and furry. You could call him Lionel."
Lex raised his eyebrows and grinned at Clark, who smiled slyly back at him, looking at him from under his lashes. "My dad would just love that. Lionel it is."
Clark laughed and threw his arm over Lex's shoulder. "Let's go clean out your shoe."
"How about we toss the shoe and play pool instead?"
"It's just a little hamster pee."
"Six words I never thought I'd hear."
Clark grinned and started towards the hallway. "Come on, we'll play pool and then decide what to do with the shoe."
Lex shut the bedroom door behind them and called after him. "The shoe's life is over, Clark." He followed the sound of Clark's laughter down the hall. "Just accept it and move on!"
-end-