Title: "Perfection"

Author: Bev

Beta: Val, thank's dear.

Rating: G

Challenge: # 25 "Obsession"

Prompt: #03 "No obsession too small, eh, Lex?"

Summary: It was supposed to be a simple date. But nothing is ever simple with Lex. He wants everything to be perfect ...

"Are you asking me for a date?"

Lex winced slightly at Clark's blunt question. Was he? Yes, he was. He raised one of his eyebrows, and looked over to the other end of the pool table where Clark stood waiting.

"Interested?" he asked back, though he knew that it wasn't very polite to answer a question with another question. But right now, Lex didn't care.

"Hell, yeah!" came the enthusiastic answer, accompanied by a beaming smile that rivaled the sun outside.

Lex released the breath that he hadn't been aware that he'd been holding, and dared to smile a little in return. "Good. Great. How about Friday at seven?"

The beam grew impossibly wider. Friday was in two days, and Clark agreed to the proposed date and time, still wearing his big, blinding smile.

Suddenly, the smile diminished a trifle. Clark checked his watch, and cursed slightly. "Damn, I have to go. Dad needs me to help him this afternoon with the tractor."

Lex put away his pool cue. "That's okay, Clark. So, I'll see you on Friday."

Lex didn't know what to expect, but Clark throwing his arms around him out of the blue and nearly hugging the stuffing out of him certainly wasn't it. He oofed quietly and then a mighty shiver ran down his spine when a warm breath caressed his ear, whispering, "Looking forward to it."

And then Clark was gone,

leaving the older man behind, slightly breathless...and highly aroused. Lex finally shook himself out of his musing. He had preparations to make, and only 51 hours left until Friday night, seven o'clock.

~*~

Clark ran home. No. He more or less *flew* home.

A date.

A real honest-to-god, do-you-wanna-have-dinner-with-me date.

He jumped up, fisted the air, and let out a rebel yell. Lex Luthor, the man he had saved from the river so many years ago, had finally asked him out on a date.

He skidded to a sudden halt when he caught sight of his parents.

O...kay. Now *that* could be a problem. How could he tell them about his date? Then another thought occurred to him. Did he *have* to tell them about the date? He could tell them it was simply a movie night like so many nights before.

He slowly continued his walk. Yes. He could try that. And maybe – if he was really lucky – they would even believe him.

Until then...he still had to think about what to wear.

Entering the house, he reached for the phone. This was a problem only Chloe would be able to solve.

~*~

Lex went through his list one last time, and then he looked around the room. Yes.

As far as he was concerned, this date was going to be perfect. A soft knock on the door told him that Clark had arrived, though it was unusual for the younger man to do so. Normally, Clark just barged in and didn't bother with prosaic concepts like knocking.

Slowly, Lex walked over to the door, wondering for a split second why he didn't just call out his usual 'Come in!' but felt the urge to welcome his guest inside himself.

He opened the door.

And swallowed hard.

There, directly in front of him, stood Clark. But...it wasn't the Clark he knew...not the clumsy farm boy in jeans and flannel with wind-tousled hair. In front of him stood a Greek god come to life. Clark was dressed all in black – which reminded Lex for a moment of the day Clark had walked into his office, confident, smiling, asking to borrow Lex's Ferrari – and his unruly hair was tamed for a change. He wore a long, black overcoat – another reminder of that day – and for a moment, Lex expected that Clark to be back. But then, Clark pulled his hand out from behind his back, and Lex knew that this was not the oddly influenced Clark ... this was *his* farm boy. It was easy to tell because in that hand, Clark held a bunch of wild flowers. In addition, his face didn't hold the cocky, flirty expression that had fascinated Lex, but instead the sweet, shy smile he knew and loved so much.

He opened the door a bit wider, and Clark stepped in, awkwardly pushing the flowers towards Lex. "For you," he mumbled, and Lex had to pull himself together quickly, so as not to throw him down on the floor and have his wicked way with him.

Instead, he simply took the flowers, and murmured, "Thank you."

This was a new one for Lex. He was used to fancy gifts...expensive gifts. If someone gave him flowers, they were usually rare and precious. Seldom before had he been so touched by a so simple a gift. To hide his feelings, he took a deep breath and inhaled the scent of the flowers. It was pure and clean, just like Clark, who stood before him...and appeared to be quite nervous.

He quickly placed the flowers in a nearby vase and gestured to a door. "Are you hungry, Clark? I bet you are. I told Enrique to lay the table in my private dining room. It's smaller, and a little cozier."

Cozier? Where the hell did that come from? When had he, Lex Luthor, ever used the word 'cozy' for a dining room? Still, the smile on Clark's face had deepened, and Lex was suddenly certain that it had been the exact right thing to say.

The moment he opened the doors to his private dining room – one he hadn't used in years – he could hear Clark's sharp intake of breath and a whispered, "Wow. You never do something small, huh?"

~*~

Clark followed Lex inside. For a moment, he had felt a little stupid with his little bunch of flowers. But he was nothing if not a gentleman, and his mother had ingrained in him that you had to bring a little gift when going on a date...and he knew that flowers were always the number one gift.

Unfortunately, his mother had never advised him what to bring when you have a date with another guy. So...he decided to stick with the flowers. Since he wasn't a 'roses kind of guy,' he brought the flowers he preferred himself, fresh from his mother's garden.

Then he followed Lex into his private dining room – and how come he never had heard of it anyway? – and, for a moment, he was at loss for words.

All across the room were flowers. There were sunflowers, tulips, daisies in smaller vases and, every now and then, a single rose.

He turned to Lex and smiled. "Wow. You never do anything small, huh?"

Lex reciprocated the smile. Casually strolling over to an elegantly laid table, he said, "I called Chloe and talked to her. She told me that you don't like roses."

Clark frowned slightly. Chloe hadn't told him that Lex had talked to her...but it would explain the comment about flowers she had thrown in his direction this morning. Something about wildflowers...and how difficult it was to buy them?

He'd just opened his mouth to say something about it, when a soft knock on the door interrupted him before he could even start. Enrique walked in, pushing a wheeled cart full of covered plates, a cooler with a champagne bottle, and a decanter with red wine in it.

Silently, he lit the candles, set the plates down at their places, and lifted the lids. A delicious smell filled Clark's nostrils, and he suddenly realized how hungry he was.

Lex handed him a flute of champagne and, with a little start, Clark noticed that he hadn't even seen Lex opening the bottle. He took the glass, praying silently that he wouldn't break it in his clumsiness, and carefully clinked his glass against the other man's.

He took a sip, and smiled when Lex pulled out a chair and gestured gallantly.

"Sit down, Clark. Would you prefer some red wine?"

Clark hesitated before he nodded. Lex seemed to notice his hesitancy and smiled. "I'm sure you'll like it. I checked with Susan from the Talon, and she said this was your favorite."

O...kay. That explained Susan's weird question about what kind of wine he would drink if he could chose. Maybe he had to talk to her...later, of course. Right now, he was busy watching Lex who was frowning at something. The bald man looked over to the other plate, located at the far end of the table.

And his frown deepened.

Apparently, he didn't like what he saw. Quickly, he moved his plate down to sit adjacent to Clark's seat.

"There," Lex said, seemingly very satisfied with himself, "isn't that much better?"

Clark took the first bite from his roast and hummed in appreciation. It was delicious. The meat tender, the potatoes were extremely tasty, and the baby carrots were incredible. It tasted just like home.

"This is awesome, Lex," he said between two bites. Lex smiled happily and replied, "I hope so. I told the chef to do his best to make the roast just like your mother usually makes it. I even had him call her to ask for the recipe."

Clark's fork stopped halfway to his mouth, before it slowly sank down again to the plate. "You did *what*?"

Lex looked over at him. "I had him call your mother to ask for the recipe. She was very helpful."

Clark couldn't remember the exact moment he'd fallen down the rabbit hole and entered Alice's Wonderland but, apparently, it had happened. Clark stared at Lex, who continued eating as if nothing were wrong. And really, there *wasn't* anything wrong...it was just weird as hell.

However, it did explain the look on his mother's face when he had asked her today if she could make her famous roast this weekend...not only the look, but also the enigmatic smile.

It took him a few moments, during which he hardly listened to anything Lex said to him, but the older man finally managed to pull Clark back into the conversation. The subjects ranged from Lex's day at work, his mom's day at the office to Clark's little stunt...when he had plucked the flowers straight out of his mother's garden.

"She always told me that you can't go on a date without bringing a gift," Clark finished his little story with a grin, while Lex laughed loudly, "so I decided to do as I was raised...and raided her garden."

"The flowers are beautiful, Clark. Just like you."

Clark almost spilled his wine at Lex's last comment. Beautiful? He had to admit that 'beautiful' wasn't a word he'd ever used to describe himself in the past.

"I...ah...you...." he stammered, not knowing what it was he wanted to say.

Enrique saved him, even if unknowingly. He knocked softly, and came in when Lex replied. Once more, he pushed in a wheeled cart with covered plates on it, though they were smaller this time.

Quietly, he removed the dirty dishes and placed the two small ones on the table. As discreetly as he had entered, he left again.

Curious, Clark eyed Lex who smiled slightly. When the older man didn't do anything, Clark cocked his head questioningly. Lex's smile widened.

"Go ahead," he murmured, "open it. I know you want to."

Slowly, Clark pulled up the cover from his plate.

And then he swallowed around the lump in his throat. On the plate was a piece of his mother's cherry pie. His favorite. He raised his head and gazed at Lex, the question obvious in his eyes. "My mom?" he asked.

Lex chuckled and shook his head. "Lana," he replied. "I called her today, and she brought it over this afternoon."

Clark put the cover down again, a little more forcefully than he might have intended. "Is there anyone in Smallville who *doesn't* know that we have a date tonight?" he asked, feeling strangely betrayed.

Lex frowned, reaching out to cover Clark's closest hand with his. "What do you mean?"

Clark sighed and ran his free hand through his hair. It was hard to explain, because he himself had difficulty understanding it. Of course, he didn't want to keep this...whatever it was that evolved from this day...a secret. But he wanted to at least savor the private pleasure of a first date.

He leaned back in his chair and, suddenly, he felt the urge to laugh. Really. Somehow, this was ridiculous. He chuckled slightly. Then a loud laugh broke out.

"God, Lex. This was supposed to be a simple date."

Lex bowed his head slightly and played absently with his glass, and then he got up abruptly, walked over to the window and glanced outside into the dark. "Simple?" he finally asked, not looking at Clark.

The younger man sighed softly before he got up too, and followed Lex. There was a strange expression on Lex's face reflected in the dark glass and, hesitantly, Clark reached out and laid one hand on the other man's shoulder. "I just wanted to spend an evening with you, Lex. I never expected you to make such a fuss. Be so ... obsessive."

Lex simply huffed quietly, clearly annoyed that Clark referred to his efforts as 'obsession' and 'fuss'. Clark added a little pressure to his grip and turned Lex around to face him. The other man dropped his gaze to the floor, refusing to look up. With a quiet voice, Clark murmured, "But I like it, Lex. It makes me feel...I don't know...special."

For a long moment, neither of them said anything. Lex was the first to break the silence. "I'm sorry. I...I just wanted it to be perfect."

Again, there was silence.

Then....

"No obsession too small, huh, Lex?"

Lex frowned slightly. "You keep saying 'obsession.'"

Clark gathered all his courage, leaned forward, and pressed a chaste kiss to Lex's mouth. "Yes. *Obsession*. And it was ... no, it *is* perfect, Lex. Thank you."

He was relieved when Lex didn't move back. To the contrary, Lex leaned into his touch. A soft smile grazed the older man's face. "It was?"

Another kiss, this time a little longer, a little more passionate, left Lex breathless. "Yes, it was, Lex."

Encouraged by Lex's behavior, Clark put his arms around Lex and rested his head on the smaller man's shoulder. "And you know what?" he breathed softly in Lex's ear.

A shiver ran down Lex's spine and he shook his head minutely.

Clark nibbled gently on Lex's neck, before turning him around and kissing him deeply. When he raised his head, he grinned down into dazed blue eyes and declared a little breathlessly, "I think I like being the object of someone's obsession."

The end