Title: Do You Believe In Magic?
Author: danceswithgary and morganichele
Pairing: Clark/Lex
Rating: NC-17
Warnings: None
Spoilers: None
Word Count: WIP
Archive: Fine, just let me know
Summary: AU. What if the circus was in town the day the sky fell down?

The Magic Starts Here


cover by danceswithgary



Despite feeling pleasantly satiated from their earlier activities, Clark lay sleepless in the narrow bed, holding Lex close against him in the dark. Lex's skin was warm and smooth, and Clark was extremely aware of every silky inch wherever they touched. He shifted slightly and felt Lex move with him, as if refusing to separate their bodies, even in sleep. A soft sigh escaped Lex's lips, and the sound sliced through Clark, clenching his chest tight with restrained emotion.

A fumbling hand shifted from the pillow to his hair, long fingers gliding through the strands in a hypnotic fashion. Rolling onto his side, Clark carefully arranged Lex until they lay facing one another. When he felt his lover's fingers tighten in his hair, he realized he'd managed to trap the slim, elegant digits against the pillow. He lifted his head to free the roving hand; a sharp tug pulled his head down, and Clark sighed as he let himself be reeled back in.

Looking across the pillow into heavy-lidded eyes, Clark smiled apologetically. "I woke you."

"I don't mind," whispered Lex, moving closer to bestow a kiss on the corner of Clark's mouth. "What's keeping you awake?"

Unable to bear the thought of losing the sweetness lying next to him, Clark's eyes slid shut, as he tried to summon his courage. He didn't want Lex to leave. The fear, scorching-hot, once buried but now surfacing, that Lex might not accept...might be disgusted with him... It was almost too much to endure, even with all of his vaunted strength. Stretching, he flipped on the small light by the bed so that he could see Lex's face more clearly.

"There's something...more...about me that you don't know, a secret," Clark stammered in a barely audible voice. "But, I feel as if I need to tell you. I have to...because you're so important to me, Lex, and because I believe in you, that I can trust you with all that I am."

Lex looked into anxious, sea-green eyes and smiled reassuringly, his fingers still buried deep within ebon silk. "I'm right here, Clark. You can tell me anything. I'm not going to judge you. Whatever it is, I can deal with it, I promise."

Clark took a deep, cleansing breath and nodded. His heart was beating wildly in his chest, and he wondered for a moment if that was normal for someone like him. "You've met my parents."

A wry grin crossed Lex's face, smoothing the worried lines between his eyes. "Yes..."

"I'm sure that you noticed that I don't look like either of them."

"So, you're adopted." Lex stated, matter-of-factly. "Clark, why would you think that would trouble me?"

"It's more than that," Clark insisted. "My birth parents sent me here."

Confused, Lex waited for Clark to continue with his explanation. Reaching out, Lex stroked his free hand lightly over Clark's neck and chest in an effort to comfort the increasingly tense man.

Stilling the roving hand with his, Clark clarified his statement. "Not to Kansas, or even to the United States. They sent me to Earth, Lex. I'm not human." Clark paused, watching Lex's eyes, noting the shock and disbelief that flickered in them before Lex assumed a deliberately blank face.

"I think there are days when we all feel less than human, Clark," Lex murmured.

Shoving Lex away, careful despite his distress, Clark jumped out of the bed, dragging his hands through his hair roughly in frustration. "No, Lex! I don't feel alien. I am." He held out a hand to Lex, who was watching him warily. "I'm trying to tell you that I'm from another planet." Clark felt his heart twist painfully. "Let me show you," he pleaded, his hand trembling as he waited.

Lex got up slowly, and cautiously placed his hand in Clark's, sucking in a surprised breath when Clark wrapped a blanket around him, lifted him up into his arms, and began to...run. The world seemed to shift around them. Hard, nearly-solid walls of air, and the roar of unintelligible noise, overwhelmed Lex's senses until they came to an abrupt stop.

Lying frozen in Clark's arms, Lex searched the unfamiliar landscape for clues to their location. "Where are we?"

Clark set him down carefully in front of a concrete storage locker, squat and ugly under a floodlight, its only visible feature a double-wide door. "We're at the show's winter quarters in Florida." Keying in a code that audibly released the lock, Clark pushed down on the handle and shoved the door open. He held it as he reached around the corner, flipped a switch for the fluorescent lights recessed in the ceiling, and waved Lex inside.

Frowning, Lex swayed a little on the concrete step outside the door, and pulled his blanket closer around him. "Florida? You just ran here. In less than a minute. Barefoot." Surveying Clark as he stood in the doorway, Lex's brows lifted comically, and a smirk twitched at his mouth. "Naked."

A startled gasp turned into a snicker as Clark looked down in chagrin. "I guess I was in too much of a hurry to get here."

Realizing there was little he could do about it right then, Lex just shook his head as he entered the building. "I suppose I should be grateful you grabbed the blanket for me." He stopped to peer around the crowded space filled with canvas, poles, coils of rope and various other pieces of extra equipment. "What exactly am I looking for, Clark?"

Letting the door fall shut behind him, Clark stalked over to the back wall and yanked a tarp free, dropping it to the concrete floor. The shining object that stood revealed drew Lex near, and he halted next to Clark, close enough to feel the nervous tremors that racked his large frame. Opening his blanket, he wrapped it around Clark, drawing him inside to share. Clark shifted to bring them face-to-face, and his head dropped to Lex's shoulder as he tried to burrow in even closer. Holding the blanket shut with one hand, Lex ran the other up and down Clark's back as he rocked him gently in his arms, humming in wordless reassurance.

Taking a corner of the blanket, Lex tipped Clark's head up and carefully wiped away the tears that had spilled from his distressed, green eyes. "It's going to be okay, Clark. I told you that I could deal with whatever you told me." With a light kiss on the tip of Clark's slightly reddened nose, Lex pulled back with a teasing smile. "Granted, I wasn't exactly expecting something like this..."

Looking toward the object that was still waiting for Lex's inspection, Clark nodded and gave a shaky laugh. "Yeah, I guess it would be kind of a shock."

Clark stepped back, leaving Lex to gather the blanket around himself again and Lex walked over to look more closely. "Traveling at Mach 3 was a shock, Clark. Spaceships are a walk in the park, comparatively speaking." He slid his hand over the surface of the strangely warm metal, noting there were no discernable seams. "I've never seen anything like it. How do you open it?"

Clark shrugged his shoulders. "We don't know. Mom and Dad said it was this way when they found it at the bottom of a crater that day. Supposedly I led them to it after they stopped to pick me up." He looked down and then lifted his head to grin sheepishly at Lex. "They said I was naked that day, too. It must be the ship's fault."

After grinning back at Clark, Lex walked around to the other side of the ship. "What's this?" When Clark came closer to look at what he was talking about, Lex pointed to an unnaturally smooth eight-sided indentation, the break in the smooth surface jarring, as if a piece were missing.

Clark shook his head, his face puzzled. "Don't know. I really haven't spent much time thinking about this, or trying to figure it out. It's just here, locked away." He shrugged and turned away from the ship; picking up the tarp and covering it back up with a flick of his wrist. "Guess I didn't want to find out anything else before now."

Lex watched as Clark withdrew, growing quieter as he stood waiting for Lex, and his face flooded with sympathy as he remembered what it was like to grow up being different. The sheer magnitude of Clark's difference suddenly struck him. "Who else knows about this?"

Shrugging, Clark sat down on a nearby bolt of dark, rough fabric, his back against a wall. "Mom and Dad...and Gabe." He sighed, the sound sad and muffled, as he wiped the remnants of his tears away. "Everyone else thinks I'm just another meteor mutant, and I've never told them otherwise."

Lex paced back and forth across the narrow open space of the locker, his movements jerky and intense. "We've only known each other for...God, Clark! You've known some of these people almost your entire life." Stopping dead in front of Clark, he studied his face intently. "Why did you tell me?" Lex wondered aloud, his voice low and throaty with emotion.

Clark smiled tentatively, and held out a hand, sighing happily when Lex accepted it and drew near. "It felt right," Clark whispered, looking down at their entwined fingers. "You feel right. For the first time in my entire life, I know something with absolute certainty, Lex. I know that telling you the truth was the right thing to do." Raising Lex's hand to his lips, he kissed each knuckle gently. "You don't keep secrets like this from the person you...you love."

"Love?"

"Why did you follow after me, Lex?" Clark asked, looking up with wide, dark green eyes that sought out and discovered all his secrets. "Why did you decide to join a circus? Why would you do that?"

Lex slid down to his knees in front of Clark, and let out a shaky breath. "I don't really know. It almost felt like I had no choice, that I had to be with you, or else I would lose myself."

Clark nodded. "Yes. There's something about...you and me. Lex, call it destiny, call it fate...call it whatever you want. Refuse to call it anything at all. It doesn't matter. We found each other, and we both know it's meant to be. We...we-"

"Belong together." Lex finished, something akin to awe lighting his face as he touched Clark's cheek with a trembling hand. "Loving each other."

"Yes."


. . .


If Lex had one serious complaint about staying in a motor home, it was that the shower would only hold one of them at a time. Clark had graciously insisted Lex go first because if they ran out of hot water, the cold water wouldn't affect him as much as Lex. He'd leered and teased that having Lex take a cold shower was the last thing he wanted because he had plans for Lex's hot body. Rolling his eyes, Lex gave in and hurried through his shower, washing off all the dust and grime that traveling at high speed had deposited on his body despite the blanket's protection.

Dried off and lying on the bed, facing the doorway, Lex waited for Clark to emerge from the tiny bathroom. Fortunately, just before Lex's rapidly dissolving patience had completely evaporated, Clark strolled into the bedroom, his skin flushed with healthy color. He casually let the towel slip from around his waist and moved towards the dresser.

Lex wasn't willing to wait until Clark found what he was looking for in a drawer. "Don't."

Clark paused and turned towards Lex, his face revealing nothing beyond a mild curiosity.

"Just...fuck, Clark." Lex's voice broke, and he sucked in a ragged breath that shuddered through his lean body.

Clark stepped closer to the bed and smiled. "Okay." His gaze swept over the bed where Lex sprawled across it, lying on his side, his head propped up by an elbow. "Are you going to let me in?"

Lex shook his head slowly. "Not yet." He extended an unsteady hand, and tested the firmness of the tautly muscled abdomen that tempted him. Drawing his hand back, he gazed up into puzzled green eyes, Clark's bewilderment overlaid with arousal. "I want to look at you."

Blinking in surprise, Clark chuckled softly, a moan eclipsing the laughter as Lex's finger slipped into his navel before sweeping over the defined lines that led to his strongly-muscled thighs. "Lex, you've seen me before," he managed to hiss out from behind clenched teeth.

Tilting his head to the side, Lex's eyes traced Clark's body until Clark could have sworn he felt his gaze, molten-hot, tangible on his prickling skin.

"I've seen you," Lex explained, "but not like this." He swallowed hard, sitting up and then kneeling back on his heels. "Now I can see all of you. Strong and golden. All of that flushed, perfect skin, ready and waiting for me." He twirled a finger, silently asking Clark to turn around.

Clark was accustomed to being watched, but this time it was so much more intense than anything else he’d ever experienced. It was so real. He smiled shyly and knew he was blushing as he slowly rotated in place, letting Lex see everything, concealing nothing.

A possessive growl from the bed made him tremble. Twisting, he looked back over his shoulder and met Lex's eyes, nearly black with need. He felt an essential heat rush through him, and he slammed his eyes shut, tight against the rising flame that threatened to break free. "Lex..."

Blinded by his need, the touch on his back jolted through him like lightning. The warmth of Lex's palm skimmed from shoulder to waist before fingers sampled the indentations above the slope of his ass, sliding over and then down. Teasing, they tickled along the crack, joined by wet heat, a gentle sucking at the tender place at the top of his thighs. Tiny nibbles and licks kept Clark on edge, hands clenched into fists to prevent any inopportune grabbing. Trembling hands on his hips urged him to turn back to the bed. He moved slowly, his legs ponderous, heavy with the weight of desire. The abandoned skin of his thighs twitched as cool air drifted over the damp patches left behind by Lex's searching mouth.

There were busy hands on the front of his thighs, dragging, squeezing, down to his knees, cupping the joint before returning to their downward exploration. Strong, determined fingertips massaged his calves, digging in gently and pressing across his skin in firm strokes. Lex's blunt-cut nails scraped across invulnerable flesh, trailing through the oddly silky hairs sprinkled over Clark's legs. Scarred lips pressed a kiss onto the base of Clark's sternum, a warm, slick tongue slithering down to tease the slight dip where the ribs ended, silent amusement huffing against his skin when he moaned Lex's name in protest at the exquisite torture.

"I want you to lie down."

Slowly regaining his control, Clark ventured a glance through his lowered lashes, watching avidly as Lex shifted back out of the way, allowing Clark to sit on the bed and swing his shaking legs up. Shifting towards the pillows, he eased himself back slowly, painfully hard. "Lex, please."

"The way you move is incredible. Every motion is so fluid and smooth. It's...as if...you're made of deep, cool water...reflecting within a spectrum of light never before seen...something...something that I can't even begin to describe with words. I should have guessed, should have known that you weren't born here on Earth. You're too stunning, too perfect, Clark." Lex crawled up and over him, his cock settling hot and full across Clark's thighs, teasing Clark's heavy sac with a slide and scrape of the broad tip. His mouth descended to move across Clark's shoulder, tasting and humming in deep pleasure. "I could become addicted to the way you taste."

Clark was writhing soundlessly, his body coiling on the bed, then bucking up against Lex in tiny jerks. Lex's mouth descended to the base of his throat, and suckling hard, spurred a gush of fluid from his all-too-ready cock. He throbbed against the press of Lex's soft belly, and groaned loudly as Lex slid backwards until he knelt between Clark's thighs, his face hovering over Clark's cock in a profane obeisance.

Lex stilled, silent, and Clark propped himself up on his elbows to find Lex looking up at him. Looking, eyes intent, tongue darting out to moisten reddened lips, and a low moan thrummed through the air, neither caring where it originated. Lex's mouth descended, surrounding Clark, consuming heat and surging need. Eyes fixed on Clark's, torn between watching his face contorted in passion and the flesh possessing his mouth. Lex moaned around him, eyelids fluttering shut, and he pulled off for a moment, gasping for air and swiping across his shining, friction-darkened lips with the back of his hand.

Unwilling to miss anything, blue eyes opened wide and transmuted to solid gray as Lex's eyes devoured Clark. "They should build temples to honor you, worship you in the streets," he rasped. "Conquer cities in your name." Lex rubbed his prize against his jaw, dragging it across his lips, whispering against the straining flesh, "Everything about you is fucking amazing."

Clark gasped, a nearly hysterical laugh escaping from him as he fell back, twisting on the sheets and fighting to keep from losing control, balanced on the edge. Damp hair clung to his face, and he reached up to swipe it back. Heat, sucking pressure, and a knuckle pushing firmly against the space behind his sac, yanked a rumbling cry from him, and his fingers clung to his hair, grasping desperately. "Lex. All I need...you. I need..." Focus narrowing to the immediate, all past experience was wiped clean, vanished, and he bit down, his lip splitting as he tried in vain not to beg for release. "I need to come, Lex. Please, I can't..."

Lex's hands clawed into carved hips, and pushed Clark even deeper into his throat. A brilliant bolt of heat roared through Clark, detonating, the final explosion surging through his cock into Lex's perfect mouth. Burning alive, consumed, Clark squeezed his eyes shut, and heard his lover's wet, greedy throat working, swallowing his offering.

While the aftershocks still rocked his body, Clark attempted to rise, to return the pleasure, surprised to find his arms shaky and weak. Shocked, his dilated green eyes opened wide when the pale hand on his chest was able to restrain him with surprising ease.

"Stay there," whispered Lex, his fingers stroking and soothing. "I'm not done with you yet. My father may have groomed me to be the quintessential businessman, but I've always preferred the sciences." An apologetic kiss followed a nip after Clark yelped; a finger teased the tight ring of muscle between Clark's legs, making him moan and his softening cock jerk. "I'm going to indulge myself, apply scientific method, and investigate your differences...all night long."

Part 11


Glossary of Circus and Magic Terms