Chapter Text
Lex Luthor was on house arrest.
Being a millionaire could get him out of trouble only to an extent. The public wanted justice for the deception, manipulation, and terror he put Metropolis through. Framing Superman as if he was a villain had to be punished. So, yes, he bribed the government to keep him out of solitary confinement in a maximum security prison but the catch was that he would be on house arrest.
The sentence was, at the moment, indefinite.
It had only been a few months.
Lex stayed inside his high rise apartment obediently. He considered it a courtesy — as if the ankle monitor he had on wouldn’t alert the authorities the second he took one step out of his apartment. After all, he was doing the government a favor — as if he didn’t actually commit a couple heinous crimes with the ultimate plan being to kill Superman.
He was still privileged with having control of his vast networks. Well, he had someone else in control right now, someone he could trust just enough to follow the rules and not turn on him.
He couldn’t use any electronic device. It was more so for his own safety and the safety of Metropolis than as punishment; if he saw how the public showed their love for Superman tenfold, he would do everything in his power to burn the world down. It was intense how much the people of Metropolis appreciated their hero. With everything that Superman had done, especially in a time where everyone was deceived, people wanted him to know that they wanted him around, that they respected him, that he was their hope for humanity. Lex would have a meltdown.
He often stared at the view of the city through the ceiling high windows as he plotted his next moves. They were all dependent on him getting out of house arrest, which he wasn’t sure when that would end. How would he kill Superman this time? Maybe go bigger this time. That was what he thought. Why do a small war when he could go for a world war? The sky was the limit for him. He pondered on that thought while taking in the breathtaking view. Or, he thought about it while watching his reflection through the glass.
There was no denying how hateful Lex could be. He was envious and angry of what Superman was capable of. He wanted revenge, the kind that would put an end to Superman forever.
Despite his calm expression in the glass, a small twitch of his upper lip allowed his irritation to slip through ever so slightly. He breathed out deeply through his nose and began pacing alongside the windows. He remained deep in thought, so deep in thought that he could envision the way he would finally have Superman on his knees begging to live. Wouldn’t that be nice? Having Superman use his last breath just to ask Lex for mercy…
Those thoughts continuously ran rampant through Lex’s mind day in and day out. Sometimes he thought he could see Superman near him with how vigorous his hatred was.
He turned towards the windows again, his eyes far away as he lived through his imagination, seeing Superman floating just outside his window. It felt like it was about to be a righteous moment.
“One day…” Lex said through his teeth as he stepped closer to the window, the vision of Superman in front of him glowing from the setting sun.
Even in all his glory, red cape swaying in the wind, symbol of peace on his chest, Lex thought that the hero was vulnerable. Nothing more than an “it” that could be dealt with. He placed his hand on the glass slowly as the illusion of the hero floated closer; it felt warm, as if he was touching the Kryptonian. It was like feeling life — feeling the goodness of humanity, what it meant to actually be alive. There was hope, kindness, and peace, all from just the gentle heat at his fingertips.
“One day, I’ll get you…” Lex muttered with calculated control of his anger.
The Kryptonian was there, looking into his eyes, watching with curiosity. The gaze was so soft and kind. Almost as if the Kryptonian was taking pity on Lex. There was even a bit of sadness in those blue eyes, one that Lex couldn’t recognize. And if he could, he wouldn’t care.
“Lex.”
That deep voice sounded soothing. Reassuring. Friendly.
But it just rose a white hot pit in Lex’s stomach, burning him from the inside out as his hatred almost bubbled over. His heart stung with so much animosity that it began to beat faster.. He frowned deeply as he realized that Superman was actually floating in front of him. The only thing separating the two of them was the glass window. His fingers curled against the glass into a fist and he sneered at the man in front of him.
In one splitting second, Lex snapped. “Get the fuck away from me!” He screamed at Superman. His eyes were wild with hatred. His nose flared and he growled through his teeth as the Kryptonian continued that doe-eyed stare that he despised with every bone in his body.
It took a second, but Superman looked away, slightly saddened by the response. His eyes gave away his disappointment. Then he took off into the sky without a word, leaving Lex to his deserved solitude.
Another month had gone by of complete and utter silence.
Lex was still on house arrest but the lifestyle was still lavish compared to any one else's. He had a gorgeous place to live with so much space and an amazing view. No headache of the world, no responsibilities on his shoulders. He had nothing to do — the ankle monitor made sure that he couldn’t go anywhere or do anything too far away from his apartment. Sure, he couldn’t get five star meals cooked for him, but the occasional delivery of groceries was more than enough for him to get by. As rich as he was, he was capable of doing things for himself. Self care, exercise, meals, he did all of that in his own space, on his own time.
It should be a relaxing time.
Yet, it was anything but relaxing.
Lex spent the last thirty days reliving a nightmare.
He didn’t forget that Superman came to see him. It was hard to forget something that gave him such a visceral reaction. The amount of anger that was burning through him took days to fade away. Even then it wasn’t enough. Lex had nightmares of Superman coming back and staring at him as if he were an animal in a cage. It was horrifying to him. Those soft blue eyes filled with pity and sadness just watching his every move. Lex couldn’t get the image out of his head.
The sun was at the horizon with a glowing halo of light around the skyline. The sky turned a shade of orange from the sunset. Lex sat on his white couch — the only color of the furniture in his apartment — and watched the sun set. It was the only thing he could do — for his safety and the safety of others. The days have been quiet and all he had to keep him company were his thoughts.
Over and over again, he was reminded of Superman floating at the window.
What would he do if it were to happen again?
He scoffed to himself.
Superman is lucky that he has powers. Well, Superman was lucky that Lex didn’t have the powers that he did. He’d be a menace to society — as if he didn’t already prove that he was when he made up the Boravian conflict just so he’d have an excuse to kill Superman.
“So close…” He muttered to himself and sighed. His plan almost worked out perfectly.
He rested his head onto the arm of his chair and kept his eyes on the glass windows to watch the sun set. That was his only form of entertainment. The winter season was approaching and Lex wore a thin long sleeve shirt with a matching pair of sweatpants to keep himself warm in his apartment. After a few months, he got used to dressing more casually — wearing a suit while in solitude wasn’t that appealing, especially since no one could see how finely tailored everything was.
That was right…No one could see him.
He couldn’t thrust himself into the spotlight.
Again, he sighed quietly to himself and closed his eyes. After a few seconds, he opened them only to find himself staring at an S emblem on Superman’s chest.
It was so quick. First there was nothing there except the skyline, and then there was Superman floating at the window with a halo of orange light behind him. Lex’s first reaction was a powerful grimace that almost left him shaking. His anger was getting the best of him and all it took was two seconds for that to happen. He was on his feet immediately and he stormed up to the glass to look Superman dead in the eyes.
“Lex,” Superman said calmly, just as he did a month ago.
Those blue eyes were still soft and kind, like they always were. But for it to be directed at Lex was…odd. It was confusing and infuriating. Lex didn’t know what to do.
So, again, he screamed at the window, hoping that he could scare Superman off with sheer hatred and anger.
This time it didn’t work.
“Lex, you must be…lonely.” Superman sounded apologetic. His eyes fell and he contemplated saying more. His cape blew in the wind just like the soft curl that fell across his forehead. His expression became more saddened as he looked at Lex again. “They should at least let you have some interactions-”
Lex didn’t let him finish. “Go the hell away!” He yelled fiercely, his voice filled with his rage.
“Is there something I can do?-”
“You can die! Right now!”
He meant his words. Lex would never hold back, and he certainly wouldn’t sugarcoat anything about Superman. He wanted to see the Kryptonian dead. He wanted nothing to do with the hero. He wanted to exist in a universe where Superman didn’t exist — although his hatred was his sole purpose for being alive.
Superman was surprised to hear Lex’s harsh words. His eyes widened and his jaw dropped just a bit to show his shock. But it didn’t last that long. Despite him trying to regain his composure, there was a sadness in his eyes that he couldn’t hide. Lex picked up on it immediately and it aggravated him more. His hands balled up by his sides and he grit his teeth as Superman continued to give him that soft doe-eyed look that he hated so much.
“You could do anything,” Lex said through his teeth, “anything at all, even bring me a peace offering, and I’d still find a way to have you dead. My disgust for you won’t wane just because of your pathetic excuse for remorse.” That hatred could only get worse. Lex took a step closer to the glass, his breath lightly fogging up the window, his blue eyes fixed into a piercing glare. “You’ll get what’s coming to you, Superman.” Lex said as a warning.
He couldn’t wait for the day that he would be a free man. He’d take Superman down and the world would be a better place for it.
The sight of the Kryptonian made him sick to his stomach. So, Lex abruptly turned away and stormed off to another room where he couldn’t be watched any longer.
A peace offering sounded like a good idea — Lex was actually not joking about what he said to Superman a month ago.
Lex was standing on his balcony, arms crossed and a horrible scowl on his face, staring at a white box in front of him. It was being presented to him by the alien he despised with every fiber of his being. By the logo on the box he could tell what Superman was trying to give him.
“You had an interview with Lois Lane where you said you liked these.” With a kind smile, Superman extended his arms to give the box to Lex, but the young man barely budged. His hands were clenched so tight against his biceps that his nails were digging into his skin. Superman waited, still a smile on his face, with visible hope that Lex would soften up a bit.
He didn’t.
“I thought it would be a great way to start over-”
“‘Start over’?” Lex scoffed at the statement. “Are you fucking stupid? Does your mind not comprehend human interactions? What makes you think I would even give consideration to the idea of not despising you for a single second?”
Superman still had a smile on his face, his dimples showing in his cheeks. He blinked once. Then he extended his arms again as if to make another attempt at his “peace offering”. Lex couldn’t understand how this alien could be so dense. It was almost shocking how Superman couldn’t pick up on clear social cues that showed he wasn’t liked.
In reality, Superman was being persistent. Everyone knew that Lex hated him. They’ve seen what that hatred made him capable of. Superman wanted to change that, though.
Hence the “peace offering” — donuts from a place that Lex mentioned he liked; the interview was years ago, and Lex didn’t think that Superman had the capacity to remember anything from a day ago.
Donuts would be a nice treat, though.
The groceries Lex usually got delivered were just enough to touch on every food group and give him the recommended daily serving of calories. He used to keep himself in top shape, only ate the best of the best and trained himself to be at his peak. He ate the same meals over and over again, and though he didn’t hate it that much, a bit of variety wasn’t a bad idea.
And the donuts were his favorite…
Quickly, Lex snatched the box out of Superman’s hands and turned away abruptly to go back inside.
“We could share-” Superman tried to make his suggestion but Lex was already inside his apartment and didn’t dare turn back to give Superman another glance.
The peace offerings came monthly. Donuts, take out, brunch — the finer things Lex was used to. How did Superman know all the places that Lex used to frequent? He had no idea. He didn’t think Superman could read so how would he know to look back at some interviews with Clark Kent and Lois Lane? What was he getting out of this? Lex was hardly ever pleasant when presented with something different that he liked. In fact, he was reluctant to even eat it. Most of it went into the trash, and he made sure to have Superman watch him toss it out.
Only once did he take a bite out of a glazed donut that was brought to him one morning. Superman saw him do it, too; there was a light in his eyes that actually made Lex gag but Superman didn’t care.
After that morning, the offerings became more frequent. Superman was staying around longer and nudging for conversation with Lex. The pleasantries were one sided. Lex would keep his arms crossed and let Superman spew whatever nonsense he wanted for only a minute before calling him an imbecile and walking away. There was only one time that Superman made it into the apartment. It was just one foot and Lex practically lost his temper at the Kryptonian the second that he was past the door frame. There wasn’t much that Lex could actually do to the hero but Superman was polite and respected boundaries.
He really was trying to start over with Lex.
Did he think they got off onto the wrong foot? It wasn’t that simple. Lex’s dislike was deeper than that. His anger and envy was his sole purpose for living. Killing Superman was the one goal that could bring him peace. That wasn’t going to change.
But by the twelfth month of house arrest, the visitations became daily.
Interactions with Superman were the only ones that he could look forward to — not that anything actually happened besides him throwing insults and giving a monologue about how much better he is than Superman. Still, the hero came to see him and hung on to every insult that came out of Lex’s mouth with an annoying smile. And Lex, well he felt some satisfaction being able to run mental laps around Superman. He easily used his intelligence as a way to show that he was the better man — as if his meltdown from jealousy and insecurities didn’t actually happen — and he wouldn’t stop until his dying breath.
It came to a point where Superman was actually able to take more than three steps into Lex’s apartment. It physically pained Lex to have this alien walking around his living room and admiring…well, not much. The aesthetic was minimal. White furniture, silver accents, glass windows. It was beautiful and expensive. While Superman browsed around the open floor plan — cape swaying, each step of his loud enough for Lex to follow, a quiet “hmm” now and again — Lex remained on his pristine white couch, hands balled up into fists and resting on his lap. He tried to control his outbursts but he was irritated. Just the sound of Superman made him feel ill. Letting him into his apartment was definitely a mistake but it was too late now. On the glass coffee table was a small white box that had assorted donuts, untouched. Lex didn’t even look to see what was inside. He didn’t want it, he swore he wasn’t even curious about it. However, it had been months of sweet treats and comfort food, and his guard was slightly broken down enough to pique his interest.
He leaned forward and lifted the opening of the box to reveal four donuts, all of them different. There was one that was a plain glaze all around and without anything else on it. The other colorful sweets made his teeth tingle thinking about them. But it was the glazed donut that he reached for and took out of the box. Reluctantly, he took a bite. He couldn’t deny it, the donut was his favorite. It didn’t appear that way on his face but mentally he was trying to remind himself that the finer things in life was not a hand glazed donut.
“Do you like it?” Superman’s voice came from behind.
Lex was startled by the question. He forgot that Superman was actually wandering in his apartment. “What-” He sputtered, mouth full, sugar glaze around his lips, and he turned back around to the sound of Superman’s voice.
For the first time, he looked like a deer in headlights.
“The donut. Do you like it?” Superman had a triumphant smile on his face as he crossed his arms over his broad chest. He was already proud of himself even before hearing Lex’s denial.
Abruptly, Lex turned back around on the couch and finished chewing the piece he had in his mouth. “You didn’t make it, so it's fine.” He grumbled to himself. Superman could hear him. “I could do without the unnecessary sweets.”
“I’ve heard that the ‘cookies and cream’ donut is popular.”
Typical. Lex rolled his eyes. He figured that Superman was always in people’s business when he wasn’t supposed to be. “It’s not their best work.” Lex said without hesitation.
“Noted.”
It was silent for a few seconds. Then to Lex’s surprise, Superman fell into the empty space on the couch beside him. It was a jarring moment to be so close to the alien again especially when he didn’t expect it. Lex was mid-bite when he looked over to Superman with a confused expression. This was the first time that he saw Superman casually fling himself onto his couch and he didn’t have a pleasant feeling about that.
Lex muttered his question through the dough in his mouth. “What are you doing?” Though muffled, Superman could understand him. The alien looked towards him, just as confused.
“Is there something wrong?”
Well, yeah. Lex had a list of a billion things he could rattle off all because Superman was the cause of it — as usual. His brows furrowed. His jaw tightened, teeth tearing into his donut as a bitterness rose into his throat.
But then…it just subsided.
That burning pit in his stomach waned and Lex was staring blankly at Superman without the same hatred that fueled his existence. That anger and envy began to settle away after a few weeks of persistence. Seeing Superman everyday, hearing that annoying voice, dealing with that horrible personality first hand — all reasons why Lex was used to him now.
Coming to this realization didn’t send Lex into a panic. Instead, he was more calculated than that. Despite his temper, he knew some things weren’t worth getting upset over. Instead, he would raise his guard up and kick Superman out of his space. After all, there was no reason for him to think that Superman actually had any humanity.
Lex finished his donut. Then he opened his mouth to tell Superman to get the fuck out of his apartment. “Superman-”
He just didn’t get to finish before he was cut off.
“It’s Kal-El.”
“Huh?”
“Kal-El. My Kryptonian name.” A small smile curved on his lips as he looked towards Lex. His blue eyes glowed from the light of the setting sun. He seemed overjoyed to share a part of him.
“I know that already.” Lex said dryly. Coldly. Heartlessly. He didn’t care what Superman’s name was. He didn’t care where he came from or what his life was like. Lex was hardly fazed by the soft smile or sweet eyes that gazed at him. “You can leave.” He was calm as he looked away.
He had enough of staring at Superman’s chiseled face and stupid curl on his forehead. The red and blue suit was getting annoying, too.
He focused his gaze on the glass coffee table, on the donuts, on the light that came through the windows. Anywhere that wasn’t Superman.
The weight on the couch became lighter. The warmth that Lex could feel slowly went away. It was cold again when he was the only one sitting on the couch. He wouldn’t go chasing after that warmth. He wouldn’t go chasing after Superman even though he was the only person to keep him company during house arrest. He could feel those sweet blue eyes still gazing at him with a weird fondness. He tried not to acknowledge it. He tried to make it seem like it didn’t bother him, but it did.
He hated to admit it, but the company was decent. Nice even.
Complete solitude, although tolerable, wasn’t beneficial for social creatures. Lex almost contemplated taking back his words. Just almost though.
Superman quietly turned away and headed towards the glass balcony door. “Goodnight, Lex.”
The visits were daily.
Superman would show up to Lex’s balcony at sunset every day with his interesting ideas of peace offerings. Lex had to finally give him a list of acceptable things to bring because donuts would not keep him in top shape. He definitely wanted Superman to stay away from the sandwich shop everyone knew was a hazard. The list actually made it easier. Superman knew what Lex liked right from the source.
It was odd. There were a lot of emotions Lex had to deal with and it didn’t help that he was constantly bombarded with Superman’s presence on a daily basis.
His anger didn’t give him heartburn anymore.
Still, some of the things Superman did or said irritated him to no end.
But…his rants wouldn’t last as long.
Lex started to leave the balcony door unlocked recently. He’d find the peace offerings on his coffee table and Superman would stand by the couch waiting for permission to sit down. Surprisingly. Lex, as usual, used that to fuel his superiority complex. Though, deep down, he was starting to be okay with the idea of Superman coming over. It took almost a year and a half to get there but it happened. Now Superman spent more time with Lex than either of them thought they could. They’d argue about which place in the city had the best food — Lex would never take Superman’s recommendations but the alien was persistent and tried to prove his point often.
The peace offerings turned into dinners that they would share in the evenings.
They sat on the couch together and ate while watching the sunset. Once the sky was filled with stars, Superman would leave Lex to his solitude. And Lex would count the hours until the next evening when he’d be able to have another annoying conversation with someone he’d grown to tolerate.
Another box of donuts rested on the glass table this evening.
The sky was a darker orange without any clouds in sight. The rays of the sun reflected off the surrounding high rise buildings, brightly penetrating Lex’s apartment and casting a glowing orange hue on the walls.
The box was half empty with traces of sugar glaze on the spots where donuts were missing.
Of course, there was some glaze around Lex’s lips after scarfing down three of the glazed donuts. It was hard to hide that he liked them. Well, at this point, he wasn’t trying to hide it. There was something so care free about a man enjoying something he considered a guilty pleasure. There was one more glazed donut left but he decided to show some amount of self restraint, especially while Superman was watching him.
That happened a lot more lately — Superman would stare and Lex would catch him doing it. That was also odd. No, it was downright weird. Lex almost always snapped and told Superman to stare at the wall instead.
This time, Lex didn’t have much to say.
He wasn’t that irritated this evening, though if he saw the smile that was creeping onto Superman’s face, that would change.
The burning pit in his stomach he used to get was nothing more than a flicker now. Superman didn’t anger him that much. Irritated and aggravated were better words to describe how he felt when Superman so much as breathed. But pure unadulterated anger wasn’t it anymore.
After another painful minute of being watched, Lex finally turned to give Superman what he wanted — just a little bit of eye contact to show that he was engaged. Lex’s eyebrows were furrowed with a crease in the middle, his frustration visible while Superman looked strangely content. Must’ve been a decent day for him, Lex thought sarcastically to himself.
“What is your problem?” He finally asked when Superman didn’t look away. His tone was abrupt and sharp, and it finally forced Superman to look down at the couch he was sitting on. He was slumped into his space, his massive frame kept to the very edge so as to not encroach on Lex’s space.
“There’s glaze on your face.” He tried to conceal a laugh but didn’t do very well. It was his smile that gave him away. The dimples in his cheeks were big from his growing amusement.
Lex, on the other hand, almost instantly became bewildered by the thought of having food on his face. He used his hands to wipe the glaze off his cheeks and around his lips quickly. The last thing he needed was the perfect image of himself being ruined. He was sure that he got all the glaze off with just a few swats of his hands, and he played it off as if there was nothing on his face in the first place.
Then he felt a soft touch on the side of his cheek. His neck snapped to the side to stare at Superman with wide eyes as he realized that his fingers were on his face. Lex could feel flesh. He could feel warmth. And part of him didn’t like that it was coming from the Kryptonian. Saying it confused him would be an understatement. His entire world was thrown for a loop just as Superman got the last bit of glaze that was on his cheek; softly, gently, his thumb passed over Lex’s skin. His touch was actually soothing considering the strength that Superman carried. However, the way that it was calmly actually sent Lex into unrest.
It was the first time that he was being touched by the Kryptonian. It was like crossing an unspoken boundary.
And Superman continued to look at him with fond eyes.
Lex felt his heart sink into his stomach. A lump got caught in his throat and he couldn’t speak. His body was almost out of his control as he watched Superman with surprise from just a single touch.
Everything moved in slow motion.
Yet, it wasn’t slow enough for Lex to realize what was happening in the moment. Before he knew it, there was a warmth that touched his lips. His mind, for the first time, had gone completely blank. Superman had leaned in to kiss him — to actually place his lips on Lex’s in a gentle show of affection. So gentle. Just barely a peck, but enough for Lex to know what he was doing. His eyes fluttered as he tried to push through the mental block. When he thought he had control, the lips that pressed to his became firmer as if to kiss him with intent. It just became more difficult for Lex to think through that.
The warmth was overwhelming.
He could feel Superman’s breath on his skin. Feel the softness of his face. Feel the subtle movements of his lips as he leaned in more. Lex remained rigid as he let Superman kiss him. His breaths were hesitant, his heart was beating so hard that he thought it was going to blow through his chest, his skin was burning hot from the embarrassment of it all. Lex wasn’t one to get flustered. However, his face was turning red and that wasn’t something he could control. It was jarring and confusing.
Superman was still kissing him, gradually becoming more enthusiastic with the hopes that Lex would return the feeling. Lex was still stunned by the display of affection. Kiss after kiss, his lips slightly parting enough to get a taste of Superman on his tongue, he noticed that he made no efforts to push Superman away. None at all. In fact, he took a soft breath in between another kiss, taking Superman’s air to soothe the flutter of his lungs, and somehow he felt…at ease. Once Superman pressed his lips to his again, Lex held his breath as if anticipating something different.
There was never a time that he would anticipate this, however.
He never thought that he would feel Superman’s tongue at the corner of his lips. He didn’t think they’d be sharing air. He didn’t think he’d feel Superman’s nose lightly graze his cheek, or his lips lightly pulling on his own. He just didn’t think.
It was the longest moment of his life.
By the last few seconds, Lex’s eyes finally closed. Briefly he had lost himself in the experience, enough that he thought whatever life he was living wasn’t real.
And then the warmth was gone.
His lips felt surprisingly cold. A stinging sensation was left behind as if he ached to have whatever was on him back again. He fought hard against the urge to bite his bottom lip, to taste the last reminisce of Superman on him, a reminder of the kiss — his wet lips. He opened his eyes slowly and saw that Superman was watching him just as before with a fondness that he was aware of but couldn’t explain.
For once, Lex Luthor was at a loss for words.