Title: Baby!Clex Story -- Chapter 3, "Did you write this, honey?"
Author: PepperjackCandy
Series: Yes
Rating: PG (Probably "G," but what the heck)
Pairing: Clark/Lex
Category: Pre-slash friendship fic, for now.
Spoilers for: Nothing.

Disclaimer: I own nothing Smallville-related, or related in any other way to Clark Kent, Superman or any of the various creations of the wonderful folks at DC Comics.

Feedback: Always welcome, either by e-mail, using the review system at fanfiction.net, or you may leave a comment at my lj ()

=========

The next morning, Lex arose at the same time as the other boys, dutifully waited for his assigned shower time, which, as both the youngest and the newest arrival, was after the other boys had showered, and then headed downstairs to breakfast.

He slid into his seat at the boys' table, overwhelmed by the uncomfortable silence in the room. Lex didn't dare ask what had happened.

The meal passed in a silence broken only by the clatter of silverware on dishes and occasional munching sounds.

Everyone in the room, save Lex, flinched when Tim spoke up. "Please pass the orange juice."

Warily, Doug passed the juice to Mr. Johanssen, who silently passed it to Tim.

"Thank you." Tim responded politely.

Silence descended again, and continued until time for the children to leave for school.

Carl and Doug walked towards the center of town together, Tim ahead of them, Lex trailing behind them. Then, Tim slowed to a stop, allowing Carl and Doug to pass him. "So, what did you think?" He asked Lex once they were even.

"About what?"

"This morning. Do you think my apology went well?"

"You apologized?"

"Yeah. I think they were more surprised by that than they were when I set fire to the kitchen towel yesterday. Who knows how long I can keep them off-balance with this?" He shrugged. "It'll be fun finding out."

They'd reached the turnoff for the middle school. Tim took it. "See you back at the house."

"Yeah. See you later." Lex smiled as he continued on to the elementary school.

***

After school, Lex headed directly for the Kent farm, his book bag overflowing with homework.

Lex arrived in the Kent family's yard, to see Jonathan leading a recalcitrant Devana out of the barn. "Martha wanted to know, whoa, there, girl, if you'd like to exercise Devana for a while."

Lex's eyes lit up with delight. "Oh, yes, please, Mr. Kent."

"Do I have . . . I mean, should I tack her up for you?"

"No, thank you, Mr. Kent. I can do it myself." Lex tried to restrain himself from smiling at the obvious relief on Jonathan's face when he said this. Without saying anything, he took the lead from Jonathan's hand and led Devana to the corral.

"She's all curried and brushed. I'll bring the saddle and bridle out and leave them over the railing for you, all right?"

"Yes. Thank you, Mr. Kent."

Lex led Devana the rest of the way to the corral, while Jonathan went back to the barn for her tack.

"Where's Clark?" Lex asked as he picked up the saddle pad and threw it over her back.

"He's still taking his nap, I expect. That's why Martha sent me out here to ask if you wanted to exercise her. I'll go in the house and get a couple of carrots for you."

"Thank you, Mr. Kent."

While Jonathan was in the house, Lex finished tacking Devana up, and before he put the bit in her mouth, he took a piece of carrot from Jonathan and fed it to her, stroking her nose and praising her as he did so. Once she'd finished the carrot, he put the bit in her mouth and swung up into the saddle.

Jonathan watched Lex walk her around the corral a few times, then deciding that Lex was a competent enough horseman, he went on about his chores.

Lex had just advanced Devana from a trot to a canter and was beginning to wonder if he it would be possible to jump a horse in Western tack as the back door of the house sprung open.

"Lex!" Clark cried, running to the corral.

Lex began to slow Devana back down to a trot, but was astonished when Clark sped up to keep up with the horse.

He went one more time around the corral, then brought Devana to a stop. He dismounted and grinned at Clark, who was obviously winded from the exertion. "Hi, Clark. This is Devana. Your mom's horse." He said, keeping the reins in his hand as he approached the rail.

"Devana. Mom. Horse." Clark responded clearly, his panting having slowed to normal breathing.

Lex laid the reins across the railing. "Your language skills seem to be improving." He said to Clark as he walked to the railing.

"Clark! There you are!" Martha panted as she ran down the steps of the back porch. When she saw Lex, she laughed. "Hello, Lex. He was sleeping so nicely, and then suddenly I heard the back door slam. I went to check on him and he was gone. I should have known it was you."

"Hello, Mrs. Kent." Lex touched Devana's breast to see if she was cooled down enough to be allowed to eat. Judging that she was, he began to remove her bit and bridle. "Clark said, 'horse' just now."

"You did!" Martha looked down at Clark.

Clark grinned up at her and said, clearly, "Horse. Devana. Mom. Lex."

Martha looked over at Lex, a playful astonishment on her face. "Once you finish untacking her, just leave her in the corral. Mr. Kent will put her back in her stall. Then you and Clark can come inside and have a snack."

"Thank you, Mrs. Kent."

The trio trooped into the house, where Lex and Clark sat at the kitchen table. As he had done the previous afternoon, Lex pulled out two sheets of paper and two pencils, setting one of each in front of Clark.

Today, though, rather than picking up the pencil immediately, Clark watched Lex as Lex picked up his pencil and began to write.

As Lex wrote his name in the upper right-hand corner of the paper, he saw Clark begin to make markings in the upper right-hand corner of his paper. He finished his name and looked over at Clark's paper.

Lex Luthor.

Lex realized immediately that Clark hadn't just been copying his own movements; Clark's handwriting was different from his.

"You should be writing your own name, Clark." Lex put his pencil on the top line and wrote Clark Kent.

Clark Kent.

Lex pointed to Clark, "Clark." He said clearly, then pointing at Kent, "Kent."

Clark duplicated Lex's pointing, saying, "Cark. Kent."

Clark studied the page for a moment.

Clarc, he wrote, then on the next line, Klark.

"Clark," he pointed to the first, "Clark," he pointed to the second, then looked up at Lex inquiringly.

"Yes, both the C and the K in your name are pronounced the same way. I don't know why you have one of each, though."

"One of each what?" Martha asked as she came back into the kitchen.

"A C and a K. In his name."

Martha came forward to read over Clark's shoulder. Her jaw dropped. "Did you write this, honey?" She put her hand on Clark's shoulder.

"Yes, he did," Lex answered for him.

"That's wonderful, Clark!" Martha hunkered down next to her son and gave him a hug. "And your name is spelled C-L-A-R-K," she pointed at the letters as she said them, "because that was my last name before I married your daddy."

Lex realized that he wasn't going to get any of his math homework done so long as Clark was doing what he was doing. "Mrs. Kent?"

"Yes?"

"Does Clark have any books to read?"

"A couple of Dr. Seuss books."

Lex nodded. "I've got some reading to do in my Social Studies book. Geography," he rolled his eyes. "Where do you keep Clark's books?"

"I'll go get them."

The two boys spent the next hour reading in tandem, Clark dutifully turning pages along with Lex. Lex knew it couldn't possibly take him as long to read, Pup. Cup. Pup in cup. Cup. Pup. Cup on pup as it had for Lex to read two pages of his social studies book, but it reassured him that he'd made the right call to do some reading rather than his math homework.

Finally, Lex finished the chapter and looked up at the clock. "I should probably be getting back to the Johanssens' house," he sighed.

Martha nodded. "Would you like a ride back?"

"No, thank you, Mrs. Kent." Lex stood and put his social studies book back in his book bag. "I'll see you tomorrow, Clark."

Wordlessly, Clark stood and gave Lex a hug goodbye, "Lex," he said simply as he let go.

Smiling, Lex hoisted his book bag onto his shoulder and headed off towards his foster family's house.