"Clark, I'm assuming you have some explanation for this, and any time you'd like to give it, I'd be willing to listen." Lex looked around him and took in the swings, slides, monkey bar contraption, and various other torture devices that all sat in a bed of sandy gravel.

"What, Lex? It's the elementary school playground." Clark smiled satisfactorily, glancing around him at the various pieces of metal and the woods beyond the edge of the fence.

"Thank you, Clark. I was trying to decide between that and senior-citizen home." The flood-lighting from the school and the light reflecting off the half-moon gave the whole area a gloomy, spooky look, illuminating the equipment just enough to make you sure that you couldn't see anything lurking about, but not enough to assure you that there wasn't anything lurking in the deeper shadows cast at the end of the pools of light. "I think what I meant was, why are we here?"

In answer, Clark slipped into one of the swings. He was a little big for it, since most sixth graders weren't more than six feet tall, but he was able to get it started easily enough. "Come on, Lex, it's not like there's anything better to do in Smallville after midnight. And you said when you handed over the keys that we could go anywhere I felt like driving."

Lex, trying not to categorize the various things the two of them could be doing behind closed doors that were infinitely better, sat down in the swing to Clark's left. Not much shorter than Clark, he awkwardly got the swing to swing, belatedly thinking that he should change his shoes into the sneakers that he now kept in the trunk of his car. One never knew when comfortable cross-training footwear was needed in Smallville.

"Really, Clark. Why are we here?"

"Well, it's a nice night. We should take advantage of the good weather and not sit around in your entertainment room or play pool. And like I said, there isn't much else to do that doesn't require money that I don't have."

Lex choked back a sigh, knowing that reminding Clark that he could probably afford anything that Clark could think of doing with just the cash in his wallet at the moment would only result in an argument. Kent pride and Luthor stubbornness butted their heads at very inopportune moments.

Lex tilted his head back while swinging, momentarily forgetting that that would make him dizzy, and looked at the stars. Clark was right about one thing at least. It was a beautiful, warm, clear night, and since the moon was only half full the stars were very clear. Being in the middle of nowhere only augmented the phenomenon.

"Well, it is nice out, Clark. And I haven't been on a playground in I don't remember how long. Certainly not since I was very little. Playgrounds didn't foster the type of lessons or physical training that my father found beneficial. And until I started fencing, I was a little bumbling and prone to accidents..." Lex trailed off. He could sense Clark looking at him.

Clark tried not to smirk. "Is that how you got the scar on your lip?"

Lex sighed. "Yes, though I may have to kill you for telling you this. I was running, and I tripped over my feet, straight into a railing supporting a slide. I knocked out one of my teeth, too. Luckily it was a baby tooth, but I still bled everywhere." He turned to Clark, whom he could see had stopped swinging and was trying not to laugh. "If word gets out about this, Clark, I'll know exactly who to blame. I'd like to keep up my reputation as a bad-ass who gets his scars from bar fights. Not clumsy accidents when he was a kid."

"Sorry, Lex. I just never pictured you as a klutz. I won't tell anyone." Clark got up from his swing (still chuckling) and warily approached the monkey bars, which were approximately at the same height as his chest.

Lex got up as well to follow Clark, feeling silly sitting on the swing by himself. "I think you're a little big for them."

Lex shrugged off his jacket and laid it over one of the rungs, as the night was a little humid as well as warm. He then climbed up to sit on top of the monkey bars, his feet dangling. For some reason, just being at the playground, which he didn't think he'd even seen before tonight, made him feel like a kid again. He didn't think he'd even felt like a kid when he was a kid.

Clark lurched onto the other side, looking like he didn't need to use the ladder at all. "Yeah, I was a little too big for them when they fit me, too. I never really liked monkey bars to climb on. It just seems pointless."

Ever the skeptic, Lex replied, "While swinging back and fourth on a strip of rubber connected to a horizontal bar by partially rusted chains is the most meaningful activity in which one can engage oneself."

"It's not that." Clark shrugged. "I just like the feeling of moving back and fourth through the wind. And it's good exercise." Sensing impending snark from Lex, Clark continued. "And it's a different kind of exercise than that done on the farm. I feel free. Like I'm flying." Clark didn't mention that swings were one of the few pieces of playground equipment that his parents allowed him to play on as a kid, other than the slide. With other things he could too easily lose control of his strength and hurt someone, but swings and the slide were solo activities. His parents were too afraid that with things like the monkey bars that he'd forget what he was doing and accidentally bend them.

"I can see that." Lex shifted his weight, the bars reminding him of how lean he was in certain areas. "I just always assumed that playgrounds were for kids and once you got to junior high, where there is no playground, you just grew out of the need to immerse yourself in such childish pursuits."

Clark looked Lex as much in the eye as he could with Lex half turned away and the light so poor. "You're never too old to have fun, Lex." He watched Lex's eyes shift to the sand beneath them. The poor light reflected off of his head, and with his posture, it made Lex's age indeterminable. Aside from the way he was dressed and the lack of hair, the man seated next to him could have been four or forty.

Not that Clark spent much time studying Lex. At least, not an obsessive amount of time. Not much more time than any normal guy spent studying his male friends. Well, maybe a little more. He just couldn't help himself. Lex was just so... indescribable. He was this twenty-something kid forced to act like he was fifty or something. Who he had learned had never really had a childhood. Even he, alien freak of an unknown age, had enjoyed a human childhood. That is, once he and the Kents had a grasp on what was going on when he accidentally broke things.

Lex shifted again, acutely aware that Clark was studying him as closely as he could in the orange light from the school. He guessed that it was only just, since he spent as much time as he could studying Clark in good light. He wondered if everyone brought back from the dead felt the same way about his rescuer. But his was just so damn gorgeous; the way his black hair shone in the sun, the way his blue eyes lit up when he was happy (which was not nearly as often as it should have been), and the way that you could tell he was impressively formed even through a t-shirt.

"So, Clark, do you come here often?" Lex swallowed the laugh that wanted to erupt when he realized that he had just used one of the oldest pick up lines in the book.

Clark regarded him strangely for a moment, the careful scrutiny slipping into something a little less certain. "What? You sound like you're trying to pick me up."

Lex chuckled and shrugged. "I just meant that you seem to like it here, and was wondering if this is where you came to just think about things, or whatever it is people may come here for."

"Oh. Well, when I get tired of the loft, I sometimes take drives and stuff. Sometimes I wind up here. And it's something to do when you're not old enough to do anything." He decided not to mention that sometimes kids from the high school sometimes came here to make out or have sex, and occasionally to drink. It was private enough but still public enough to give people a little thrill. "Here, let me show you something."

Clark slipped off the bars, grabbing Lex's hand at the same time, tugging the billionaire to the ground. He led him over to the slide, which, because it was really wide, looked more like it was two slides together.

Lex noted that Clark still held his hand, and shuffled through his mental interpersonal-relationship rolodex he kept in his head with every other mental rolodex he had been trained to keep. People held other peoples' hands when they were trying to comfort them. Or lead them somewhere along a dangerous path. Or when they liked that person. Clark let go all of a sudden, perhaps realizing where his hand was.

Lex watched Clark clamber the rickety stairs to the top of the ladder, sweat-dampened t-shirt clinging to the muscles in his back. He slid down (not far since the slide was only a tiny bit longer than he was) and lay there at the end of the slide, knees bent at slightly less than a ninety-degree angle, feet planted in the sand.

"Come on, Lex. Come here." Lex told himself that Clark's expression was not a "come hither" look, that the light was bad and the boy didn't know what he was doing. Lex followed around to where Clark was lying. "No, slide down."

"Why?"

"It's fun."

Already knowing that arguing with Clark was pointless, Lex climbed the grated stairs and slipped down the slide to rest alongside Clark's left side. Though the slide was very wide for little kids, there was barely room for the two of them to lie down flush against the metal, shoulders touching. Uncomfortable, Lex was tense at first, but relaxed as Clark babbled next to him.

"See, Lex? The slide points away from the school, so there isn't much light interference so the stars are a lot clearer. The loft is nice, but there's only so much I can see from the window. I can see far with my telescope, but not wide." Clark shifted his weight so he could turn slightly to Lex and still point with his right hand. "I like the way the constellations are so clear. Polaris is always bright, of course, but now you can really see the other stars in Ursa Minor. And you can easily follow Draco until he intertwines around Ursa Major. And there's Cepheus, and Cassiopeia, and Pegasus, and Andromeda..."

Clark pointed out the summer northern constellations to Lex, explaining the mythology behind them if he knew it. Lex knew most of what Clark was talking about, but the boy was so enthusiastic about it that he just let him talk. After a while he started to realize that his left side was getting chilly while his right side, the one against Clark, was nearly sweating. He tried to move closer to Clark without being obvious.

Clark, still describing the M31 cluster, noticed that Lex was shivering slightly, and thus didn't move away when Lex pressed into him harder.

Lex asked a couple of questions, since it had been a long time since he had studied astronomy and he liked it when Clark was confident in his intelligence. Clark turned to answer him, looking at him directly. Lex's blue eyes were clear. When he was done answering, he found that he couldn't look away. It was like he was being hypnotized by those eyes.

Lex could feel Clark tense as their gaze remained locked. He liked Clark's eyes, the little gold specks interspersed with the deep blue around the iris catching his attention. Because they were so close and they were not both turned on their side to face each other, both became aware that the other person was a little aroused. Without realizing it, both of them had closed their eyes as they leaned in to kiss.

Lex, who was significantly more experienced than Clark, became the more dominant, probing at Clark until Clark parted his lips a little. Lex took advantage and slipped his tongue inside Clark's mouth as he reached his left hand up to cradle Clark's jaw. Clark allowed the invasion until some voice in his head apparently started awake and told the rest of him to wake the hell up. He jerked away from Lex, his head banging into the side of the slide, creating a hollow metallic thud.

"What the hell just happened?" Clark was now sitting up, his hand locked in the hair on the back of his head.

Lex sat up a little more slowly, his thermoreceptors screaming at him to get back next to the source of heat that had been making them happy. "Well, Clark, I guess we just. I don't know." Lex wasn't often at a loss for words. But honestly, he wasn't sure what had just happened. He hadn't realized he was that attracted to Clark. The boy was the poster child for wet dreams, and he was sweet, and good, but. It was Clark. His best friend. His best male friend. His best male friend who'd been coming to Lex for advice on girls. His best male friend whom he apparently liked a whole lot more than just as a friend. He had suspected he did, but his mind had spent so much time in the gutter it had a season pass and traveled there without his permission sometimes.

"I guess that since neither of us know what is going on, I guess the next most important thing to ask is, did you like it?" Lex examined Clark's expression, looking for any sign of disgust, revulsion, fear, or the need to run away before he vomited everywhere.

For his credit, Clark just sat there, looking little more than confused. His eyes had seemed to slip out of focus a little, but he remained there, seated next to Lex.

Lex. Clark liked Lex, a lot. For having known him for far less time than he'd known his other friends, they had grown very close. Lex knew some things about Clark that he had never felt comfortable sharing with Chloe or Pete. He just hadn't been aware that he apparently liked Lex in that way. Maybe the comfort he had been feeling was a little bit more.

He thought about it a minute. Hadn't he always been a little attracted to Lex? Lex was hot, and he knew it. He had confidence in himself. Lex was smart, a trait that Clark admired. Lex also had that bad-boy thing going on that was supposed to drive the ladies wild. Well, bad girls drove Clark wild, too, under the right circumstances (he thought briefly of an incident in junior high involving a girl that had matured very early and had a propensity to smoke cigarettes and cut class and vandalize things. She had been sent to juvenile hall, but not before Clark had for some reason developed a crush on her. He must have been out of his mind.). He just always seemed to come back to Lana, who was pure and wholesome and good. And surprisingly dull sometimes.

But Lex had everything good going for him, except the obvious shadow of his father hanging over him, cloaking him in a darkness from which he couldn't seem to escape no matter how hard he fought. He thought of the way Lex moved when they played pool, or swam, the way Lex watched Clark when Lex thought Clark was oblivious. Honestly, it turned him on a bit. The clarity of that focus. That Lex was clearly undressing him with his eyes and snapping mental pictures of him at different angles. That it was Lex and not some stupid high school girl.

"Well, I, uh..." Clark looked into Lex's eyes again, aware that they were, as usual, clear and utterly focused on him. He couldn't really determine what Lex was thinking. He often wondered if telepathy would have been a more useful gift than X-ray vision. Lex was carefully blank, probably trying to not lead Clark in any direction.

Eventually deciding that he really did enjoy the way it felt to have Lex touching him, and kissing him, Clark put that old saying "actions speak louder than words" into practice and leaned in to press his lips to Lex's once more. Clark had about as much experience kissing as he did playing a musical instrument (and no one would ever know about that brief but terribly unfortunate experience), so he was very glad when Lex decided to take over again.

Lex was pleased that Clark had liked the kiss as much as he had. It was brief, sure, and completely unexpected, but it felt right. Still connected by tongues and lips, he gradually pulled himself on top of Clark, who pressed himself flush back onto the slide. His hands slid under Clark's shirt, rubbing against the well-defined muscles that had been hidden underneath the cotton. Clark rubbed Lex's back with his giant hands, seeking the muscle he knew to be there.

Lex had taken a few male lovers, though nowhere near as many as the media would like to have people believe. Sometimes males could just offer things that women often couldn't, like well-developed abs, a strong jaw, and an erection such as Clark's that was now digging into Lex. No doubt Clark could feel that Lex was also suitably aroused.

Clark, apparently now aware of that arousal, stiffened and did his best to pull away from Lex. Lex complied and sat back on his side of the slide.

"I'm sorry, I just... I don't know what to do."

"About what?"

Clark swallowed. "I have no idea what I'm doing. You're a guy. I'm a guy." He gestured between them. "I don't know what this is."

"Well, Clark, I think it's the beginning of something." Sensing the uncertainty radiating off of Clark, Lex continued. "Or, it's the end of something. I have to admit Clark, I have liked you more than a friend, pretty much ever since we met. There's a lot about you to like. I'm bisexual, so this doesn't seem that strange to me. Anything you feel towards me is natural, Clark."

"I just. I've never felt like this for a guy before. But I do like you. Like that."

"Perhaps you were just too afraid to admit it? Smallville isn't exactly known for its liberal mindset."

"Yeah. The guys at school are really nasty to Paul, the only kid who has actually come out in public."

"Maybe you've been in denial. You have been enjoying what we've been doing, right?"

"Yes! You're so different from what I would expect. It felt good to have you against me, and pressed into me. And you smell good. And stuff." Clark gave a tentative smile.

Lex returned it, glad that Clark felt okay, his teenage vocabulary notwithstanding. "Well, what would you like to do now?" Lex kept his tone playful, and hoped that Clark was comfortable enough to keep going.

"Well..." Clark's eyes dipped to Lex's lap, and then to his own. "You're the experienced one. You decide."

Finding it difficult to read the expression on Clark's face, Lex decided that what he wanted was Clark, preferably writhing underneath him. He pushed himself back on top of Clark, taking the time to pull Clark's shirt over his head. The kiss was slow, allowing each of them to get used to the taste and feel of the other. Lex liked the way Clark's hair felt underneath his hand; it had a texture unlike anything he'd felt before.

Clark, apparently making up his mind for good, started to unbutton Lex's shirt. He couldn't understand why Lex wore such formal clothing all the time. He always looked ready for a board meeting. Lex took his hands away from Clark long enough to allow his shirt to slip off his arms, but then returned them to the young god upon which he was sitting.

Lex worked his way around Clark's mouth, then along his jaw. When he got to his neck, he could feel the intense pounding of Clark's carotid artery, and he bit into it. Clark gave a little moan and bucked into Lex. He tipped his head back farther and Lex bit the other side. Lex's spry fingers found Clark's nipples and started to play with them. Clark inhaled sharply. Lex could feel certain important parts of Clark readily come to attention.

Clark, new to these sensations Lex was creating for him, sighed happily. He could feel Lex smile. Lex was also hard, and their erections pressed against each other. He started to squirm as Lex dipped his head and licked his nipples. He'd never thought that such a thing could feel so good. Especially not for a guy. The women in the pornos he'd seen never licked at the guys like that, though the guys would suck on the women. They seemed to like it well enough, so he supposed that it was natural.

Lex hesitantly slipped his hand into Clark's jeans, fumbling at the button fly. Clark seemed to be okay thus far, more than okay in fact, but he didn't want to do anything to freak him out too soon. He was surprised when Clark shimmied out of his jeans, and Lex rose off of him to give him the room. Clark must have made up his mind about what he wanted; Lex was just that good at what he did.

Lex grabbed Clark's hard-on through his boxers. He tugged it experimentally, pleased when rewarded with its intended reaction, Clark thrusting upwards. Meanwhile, Clark's hands were underneath Lex's undershirt, running over Lex's torso as if it was imprinted with Braille, or if he were trying to memorize every nuance of Lex's skin. To encourage the contact, Lex took off his shirt in one fluid motion, then returned his hand to Clark.

Still unsure of what to do, Clark decided to just mimic what Lex did, so he licked at Lex's nipples. Lex moaned happily, glad that Clark, for all his normal seeming ineptitude, was a quick study. Clark rolled each of Lex's nipples with his tongue until it came to a hard point, pleased that he could make Lex feel good. It was the least he could do, since Lex, with his carefully applied hand, was making him feel very good indeed.

"You okay, Clark?" Lex panted.

"Um, yeah, Lex. Great." Their eyes met, sparkling even in the gloom.

"Good. Because I believe I'm going to suck you off now, if that's okay." Lex's eyebrows raised in question.

Clark grinned his typical fang-bearing smile. "Lex. What teenage boy is going to turn down getting a blow job after he's been engaged in heavy petting for a while?"

Lex smiled in return. "Just making sure. I want you to be as into this as I am. And to enjoy what can be done for you by another guy. Well, what I'm going to do to you tonight can be done by a woman as well, but in the future, that is, if this is a new thing between us, I can do things for you no woman can."

"Well, I'm game if you are. I kinda like the way you taste. And smell. And feel. And look. And sound, with your voice all sexy and deep the way it is now." To punctuate his words a little more forcefully, Clark thrust up into Lex again, his body really liking the warm being in his lap. "I'm glad we finally worked through our denial."

Lex kissed Clark again. "Yes, me too. And you are also quite pleasant to perceive with all five senses." Lex slid off of Clark to kneel in the sand. He slipped Clark's boxers off, fully displaying him. Wishing they had some sort of lubricant, he began to jack Clark's cock slowly, getting a feel for it, periodically rubbing at the oozing pre-cum with his thumb. The black hair in which it was nested had that same odd texture as Clark's other hair.

Clark had stopped caressing Lex and had placed his hands alongside his body, trying to get a grip on the smooth metal of the slide. He was also trying not to dig in too deeply, since Lex would certainly ask questions that he wouldn't want to answer. Eyes only partially open, he watched the smooth-headed man in front of him as he gave his cock a lick. It jumped at the attention.

Lex sucked on the head, trying not to notice that Clark didn't have a foreskin yet also didn't seem to have a circumcision scar. He ran his tongue along the underside of the shaft from base to tip. Clark mewled in pleasure, so Lex repeated the motion at every angle for which it was feasible. Clark was panting already, and Lex hadn't even taken him fully inside.

Eventually, as he could feel Clark squirming without rhythm, Lex deep-throated Clark the best that he could. Clark was big, and it had been a while since he'd been with another guy. His saliva made movement easier, and he pumped with his hand as he moved his head up and down.

Clark thrust as best as his precarious position, now half-on and half-off the slide, would allow. He cried out something unintelligible as Lex pressed into the sensitive area that he knew was variably called the perineum, grundle, or guch. Without warning, he climaxed down Lex's throat.

Lex hadn't felt any normal signs of approaching orgasm, so he wasn't ready for Clark. He choked a little and pulled back, but got back under control fast enough to wait it out as Clark finished. He slid off and was greeted by Clark's warm mouth as Clark leaned forward and kissed him.

Clark did in fact want to kiss Lex, but he was also using it as an excuse to shift position to hook his foot around the leg of the slide. Apparently the tendency to float after orgasm wasn't limited to wet dreams. He also slipped his right hand around the edge of the slide. As he continued kissing Lex, he gradually got himself under control and settled back on the metal of the slide, which was no longer cool nor slick as it was sticky with sweat.

Clark eventually broke away and grinned at Lex as he stood. "Sit down." Clark tugged on his boxers (now gritty with sand) as Lex sat down. "Wait. Strip down first." Lex gave an uncharacteristic unguarded smile as he complied, his pants and silk boxers joining Clark's jeans on the gravel.

Wary of how much he weighed, Clark propped himself over Lex on his knees. If he had been human, it probably would have hurt. As it was, it worked. His fingers returned to analyzing Lex's skin as his tongue returned to its task of analyzing Lex's mouth. Lex's nipples begged attention and Clark's tongue eventually granted it. Lex leaned his head back as his hips thrust upwards.

Clark kneaded the wiry muscle that comprised Lex's back. Lex groaned in appreciation. He thrust up again, reminding Clark that he had been holding back for a while now.

"Patience..." Clark murmured against Lex's throat as he licked around the area where the collar bone joined. Lex thrust again, leaving pre-cum on Clark's boxers. Clark smiled and dropped down between Lex's legs.

Clark wasn't entirely sure what to do since the angle was backwards and it was Lex, so he just did what he knew felt good to him. He gripped it tightly (hopefully not too tightly) and stroked upwards. The red hairs at the base fascinated him; Lex was indeed a natural red head. The rest of the hair on his body was a pale blonde, so it had been tough to tell. The thumb of his other hand fingered the slit, drawing out more pre. He then replaced his thumb with his tongue.

Lex smiled in a way that bared his teeth. Somewhat getting the hang of it, Clark swallowed as much of Lex as he could. He could stop bullets with his hands and yet still had a gag reflex that he would apparently have to learn to get around. He set a rhythm that Lex eagerly met.

He massaged Lex's testes in one large hand, knowing that his body heat would feel very nice on the sensitive skin. Lex groaned again and threaded the fingers of one hand through Clark's hair, using the other to prop himself up so he could watch Clark.

"Almost there..." Lex sighed. Clark continued to work, at one point looking up at Lex through his eyelashes. The adoring look in Clark's eyes was enough to finally send Lex over the edge, and he cried out Clark's name as he came. Clark definitely choked on Lex's seminal fluid as Lex thrust one last time into his throat, but pulled off as best as he could.

Clark climbed onto the slide to lie down next to Lex. Lex grabbed Clark's hand and intertwined their fingers. "That was great, Clark."

"Oh, you too, Lex. That was better than I'd ever imagined it to be." Not really sure what the proper post-coital discussion should be, Clark remained silent.

"So. What just happened? I mean, we obviously like each other. But, I don't know if this was a one-time thing, or just the beginning. My experience with men has rarely gone past a one night stand." Lex turned to Clark, his eyes questioning the boy (man?) lying next to him.

"I don't know. I'm game for a relationship if you are. I hadn't ever thought about it,* much*, before tonight, but it seems right. I feel good, being with you. You feel good." Clark pulled his eyes away from the sky (shifted quite a bit from where it had been when they had first sat down) to smile at Lex in a somewhat mischievous way.

"You do, too. I had no idea you returned my affections toward you."

"I wasn't sure, either. I've only felt something for girls, mainly Lana, so I guess I didn't recognize what I was feeling. But I do now, and I think you're right for me."

"I'm glad you think so, Clark. It will be interesting to see what happens from here." Lex shivered as the sweat covering his body started to cool.

"We should get dressed, Lex. Don't want to get sick."

"Yes, this might prove difficult to explain to my staff, father, and Gabe Sullivan. `Gee, sorry, but I caught pneumonia because I fell asleep after exchanging blow jobs with Clark Kent at the playground.'"

"Yeah. Don't say that." Clark sat up to rummage at their feet for Lex's clothes. He handed them to him, and pulled on his own jeans and shirt. As Lex was buttoning up his shirt, Clark cried out, "Oooh! Lex! The teeter-totter. Come on!" He yanked Lex to his feet.

Lex followed Clark to the teeter-totter, shaking his head slightly. Sometimes Clark was so mature, and sometimes... well, sometimes, he was just a big kid who wanted to hang out at the playground. Lex was glad that they had found a way to mix the two together.