Title: Six Words

Author: arianstarr

Rating: PG

Prompt: Hamster

Summary: Clark doesn't like to see Lex lonely.

Notes: Set in the early days. Thanks to krissielee and cinderella81
for the beta.

***

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 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
four-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 the 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-