crack_van | Butterfly by Alis Dee (PG)

Fandom: SMALLVILLE
Pairing: Clark/Lex (barely)
Length: 7,945
Author on LJ: loqia
Author Website: Badfic
Why this must be read: Starting where Jitters ends, this fic is told from Jonathan Kent's POV and is in second person. This is a Jonathan I can get behind 100%. His behavior is very much OoC in this fic, but the difference is explained in why he's doing it, or...at least why he's doing it at first.

Lex arrives at precisely 6 o’clock carrying a bottle of wine you’re fairly certain could pay off a large chunk of the farm’s mortgage. He seems oddly ashamed as he hands it over. “I wasn’t sure what we’d be having,” he offers by way of explanation, and for the first time it occurs to you that perhaps Lex doesn’t revel in the Luthor fortunes the way you’d expected him to.

Martha, always the peacemaker, says, “Fried chicken.”

“And pie!” Clark appears from upstairs, and you try not to notice the fact that he’s wearing one of his nicer shirts. A look of consternation crosses his face as he turns to Martha, “There’s pie, right mom?”

“Yes dear, there’s pie,” Martha teases, ruffling her son’s hair.

“Aw, mom, geeze—!” Not in front of Lex, Clark doesn’t say, but you hear it.

Dinner is surprisingly easy. You’re not quite sure what you expected, but Lex is both charming and deferential. He seems genuine in his praise of the food, in his interest in Clark and the farm, in his plans for the plant and for Smallville. He doesn’t leave that clamy feeling of oil and grit that Lionel always did, and not for the first time you think that Clark is right. It’s both relieving and horrifying in the way it plays right into your half thought out plans for revenge. Because Lex isn’t Lionel, in so many ways, and you get the sudden, sickening feeling that all he’s waiting for is someone to tell him.

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