Firsts

Disclaimer - DC and WB own them, etc etc.

Future fic, Clex, AU. Sap. Oh and sap. Did I mention the SAP?

Feedback would be fab. For my smoochie. *smooch* Thanks to everyone who helped :)

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This was entirely his own fault, Lex mused, as he stared down at the really quite appalling shoes covering his feet. "Whatever you want," he'd said. "It's your birthday, Clark. The choice is yours."

Lex just hadn't expected the choice to be this.

Forty minutes ago he'd picked Clark up from his dorm. Ten minutes ago he'd parked the car and, still seated, stared out through the windshield in horror. A surprise until the last minute (at Clark's insistence, of course), Lex hadn't had the faintest clue where they were going until Clark had told him to take the next turn-off.

And then everything had made sense.

And here he was now, staring down at his 'new' shoes, and just who the hell had Okayed the colour scheme for these things anyway? His were white bases with red on one side and blue on the other. Bright blue and red? Together? Who did they think he was - Clark?

"If you really don't like them," Clark said, employing that disturbing ability he'd developed recently of apparently reading Lex's mind, "you can always buy out the company and tell them to design new bowling shoes. Something with purple, maybe."

Lifting his head to witness the teasing grin Clark wore, Lex knew there was only one possible course of action.

He stuck out his tongue.

It wasn't a very Luthor thing to do. It wasn't a very Lex thing to do either, or at least not Lex Before Clark. Lex After Clark was a strange creature who often acted without previously consulting his higher brain functions, as if he was trying to make up for everything he'd missed as a child.

Lex secretly knew which one he preferred.

Clark's grin broadened. "There's the mature corporate businessman who taught me everything about Greek mythology."

Opening his mouth for a quick retort, Lex faltered when he thought over Clark's words. Corporate businessman... "Clark," he started, carefully looking around to see if anyone was watching. The kid behind the counter was completely ignoring them now, which could only be a good thing. "Not that I don't want to do this with you, but if someone recognises me..." True, this wasn't the type of place where any of his business partners or stockholders were likely to be found, but LexCorp was a familiar name everywhere now. Lex's picture was frequently in the paper, and if someone called the press...

He didn't want Clark's day to be ruined. "If someone recognises me..."

"Right!" Clark yelled, as if he'd forgotten something he'd meant to remember. "I brought you a disguise," he continued, then proceeded to pull something out of his jacket pocket.

Something that turned out to be a hat.

A woollen hat.

A bright yellow woollen hat.

Taking it from Clark, Lex studied the hat gravely. "You're doing this on purpose."

Clark grinned not at all innocently. "Maybe."

Resigning himself to his fashion horror fate, Lex pulled on the hat and then had to submit when Clark leaned towards him to start tugging and adjusting it until it was, apparently, just right.

"Okay," Clark declared happily when he was done, finally leaving the hat - and sadly, Lex's head - alone. "Let's go. We're in Lane 8."

Deciding that avoiding all reflective surfaces was a very good idea, Lex also forced himself to ignore the fact that his shoes had been worn by God knew how many other people, and - antibacterial spray provided by spotty-faced teenage kid or not - he would not freak out about hygiene.

Taking off their jackets and draping them over the blue plastic chairs in the small seating area in front of their lane, they then went off in search of bowling balls.

"The higher the number the heavier the ball will be," Clark told him, reaching down to pick a dark green one up from where the balls were kept. "There are different colours, too."

"You know, Clark," Lex smirked, picking up the heaviest one and immediately wishing he hadn't, "I may never have actually gone bowling before, but I do know the basics."

"Right, right," Clark nodded, as he took Lex's bowling ball from him and handed his to Lex, "must be all that Simpsons' viewing you do."

"Smart ass," Lex replied, and then they got down to the serious business of transferring bowling balls to their lane.

Deciding three balls each would be enough - the place didn't seem too busy anyway, so it wasn't as if anyone else would want to use them - Lex watched as Clark played with the computerised keyboard until he figured it out.

Perhaps as a nod to his paranoia about someone recognising him, Clark put Lex's name in as Alex, and for himself he put...

Pinky?

Strangely, Lex didn't find this as odd as he probably should have. "If you're Pinky I have to be The Brain. It's only fair." Catching Clark's grin with one of his own, he nodded. "Go on."

Chuckling, after some intense button pressing Clark figured out how to change the names. The only problem was that the computerised keyboard didn't have a space bar, or if it did it wasn't working.

"So," Clark said, looking up at the monitor hanging from the ceiling when he was done, "looks like you're first, Thebrain."

"That's pronounced Thu-brain, thank you very much," Lex sniffed deliberately, knowing it would amuse Clark as he stepped up and pondered over the choice of bowling balls. Eventually deciding on one that was fairly heavy but he still felt like he'd be able to control, Lex slipped his fingers into the holes and picked it up.

Hefting it up until he was holding it with both hands, he positioned himself a few feet away from the lane and stared at the bowling pins. Envisioning the rough path he was going to attempt he started moving towards the lane.

He'd seen enough to know at the basic movements and, just before he would have stepped over the line onto the lane, he stopped moving and let the ball go.

It didn't glide onto the lane so much as it thumped loudly. Wincing, Lex was nonetheless encouraged as the ball kept moving at a decent speed, even if it did veer off to the right at the end and succeeded in knocking over just one pin.

Justifiably proud given that he'd never done this before, Lex turned back to face Clark.

Who was grinning. Widely.

Lex's good mood deflated, just a little. Clark was so going to kick his ass.

Clark sucked.

There was no other word for it, and Lex knew a great many words. Clark simply sucked. Halfway through their second game, Clark still hadn't managed to knock down more than five pins with a single ball. Most of the time he didn't hit anything at all, his bowling balls almost always ending up in the gutters at the side of the lane. His bowling was all power and no control.

Not that Clark cared. Every time he'd come back to the seating area with a satisfied grin on his face.

It hadn't taken Lex long at all to realise that this was something else Clark's parents had never let him do, for fear of someone finding out how different he was.

Watching Clark aiming up at the start of the bowling lane, Lex couldn't escape the irony. For so many years he'd envied Clark's childhood, the freedom he'd had. And while in many ways he did still envy it, since being told the truth Lex realised they'd had a lot more in common than he ever would have thought.

The difference being that Clark's parents had held him back for his own protection.

Getting seven down this time with a single ball, Clark whooped loudly, and proceeded to miss the remaining pins entirely with his next try.

Standing up for his turn, Lex brushed by his friend and picked up a ball from where they were returned to (he didn't actually know the thing's name - he'd have to find out later). Surprised at how melancholy he was feeling and determined to do something about it, he turned back around, still clutching the ball.

"Clark?"

In the process of stretching and swinging his arms around, Clark paused. "Yeah?"

"Thank you for inviting me."

That wasn't how it'd worked, exactly. Technically he hadn't been invited. Clark had walked into his office at LexCorp a month ago and said, "We're going out for my birthday, just you and me," and that'd been that. Lex had decided it amounted to the same thing.

Seeming perplexed but amused by the statement, Clark hooked his hands into the pockets of his jeans and frowned as if it'd been a really weird thing to say. "You're my best friend."

Clark could have gone with anyone. He was popular at college in a way he'd never been at high school. He wasn't well known, per se, but he had a big group of friends and Lex knew they would have loved coming out with him today.

Instead, Clark was here with him. Lex Luthor. Businessman. Billionaire. Currently wearing a bright yellow hat that was seriously starting to itch.

Lex wouldn't have changed any of it for the world.

"I know."

Smiling, he turned back towards the lane and bowled his first strike.

Before their third and final scheduled game, they ordered hot dogs. Clark had convinced him to try some raspberry flavoured slush drink which was actually pretty good as long as he didn't think too much about exactly what it contained (the same could be said of the hot dogs). Clark had gleefully informed him that, yes, his tongue was blue and it was very amusing.

But then Clark's was deep red from the strawberry thing he'd been drinking, so it didn't really matter.

"You're quiet again," Clark mock-chided from the seat next to him. "Are you okay?"

Thankfully not feeling particularly morose anymore, Lex had still been thoughtful and distracted through the end of their previous game. "I'm fine Clark, really." As if to prove his point, Lex ate the rest of his hot dog and took some more of his drink before continuing. "Just thoughtful."

"Thoughtful about what?" Clark asked, having finished both of his hot dogs long before Lex, and sucking occasionally through a straw at his drink.

Leaning forward slightly, Lex held onto his paper cup with both hands. "It just struck me as odd, that's all. I mean you and I - although through different means - have done so much. Me because of the money and power the company brings, and you because you're..." Glancing at Clark out of the corner of his eye, Lex smiled. "...special. We've both done so many things that most people would never even dream of."

"But?" Clark prompted, obviously knowing this was going somewhere.

"But we've missed out on so much, too," Lex continued. "I suppose you'd call them the normal, ordinary things and most people seem to take for granted. For us it's the normal everyday things that are strange and wonderful." Turning his head his met Clark's gaze and smiled. "I'm glad we're here together. That I got to do this first with you. It seems right, somehow." He wasn't going to say anything about destiny, because destiny and bowling were just never supposed to be in the same sentence together.

"And you know," Lex said, warming up to the idea even more, "this is just the start. Have you ever been on a bouncy castle? I haven't. What about driving a go-kart? Or what do you say about-?"

"I want all my firsts with you."

His next words never emerged. Lex was too busy staring at Clark, his best friend, who looked apprehensive, scared, but absolutely determined. Lex tipped his head to one side, trying to understand if he was reading this right.

"I want all my firsts with you," Clark repeated firmly, before leaning in to press their lips together.

It was hardly the stuff poems were written about. They were both still holding onto their drinks. It was a mix of raspberry, strawberry, and the aftertaste of hot dog. They were hunched side by side on small plastic seats in a bowling alley, and it was the most perfect thing Lex had ever experienced.

Drawing back and opening his eyes, Clark was obviously pleased that Lex had kissed him back. "You look really stupid with that hat on."

Some things were never going to change. Lex half-glared at him. "I only wore it because I didn't want to risk anyone ruining your birthd-"

Reaching up with his free hand, Clark pulled the hat off. "I know." Oh, wow. The hat had vanished somewhere and now Clark's hand was rubbing over the small pressure marks left on Lex's head. God, that felt good. "You'd do anything for me."

Closing his eyes, Lex leant into the hand. If he'd been a dog he would have been thumping his leg against the floor. "Yes." It was quite possible his drink was about to explode all over his clothes and he really didn't care.

"Lex?"

"Hmm?" He was a bitch to Clark's hand and he was completely willing to admit it.

"Let's go home."

It was the simplest thing in the world, then, to pull away and stand up. To slip their jackets on, hold Clark's hand, and walk out of the building. To drive to the penthouse, fall onto the bed together, and show Clark with every word, every touch and every sigh just how long he'd been in love with him.

Later, when he woke needing the bathroom and stumbled over what he realised were two pairs of bowling shoes, he didn't even care about the shoes they'd left behind.

Smiling as he glanced over at Clark's sleeping form, he picked them up and moved them into the closet, knowing that fifty years from now they'd still be there.

Although maybe re-designing them wouldn't be such a bad idea...

~FINIS