"Oh, sorry." Clark turned to leave the sauna when he saw Whitney through the steam.
"Kent. Come on, you don't have to leave."
Clark wasn't quite sure if he trusted the quarterback, but hey, this was Smallville; as Chloe said, live on the edge. He turned back and sat on the wooden benches, across from Whitney, but not far enough away that he looked scared of him. Positioning was everything.
He hadn't expected anyone to still be here. Football season was over, and baseball didn't start for another month. The basketball team was in the hospital after a dog attack in the school bus. He, Lana, and Chloe had put the Torch to bed, and Clark had decided to indulge in a swim and a sauna before returning home. The sauna had been rebuilt after Clark's run-in with Coach Walt, made bigger and set up for students, not for an egotistical coach.
Clark hadn't seen much of Whitney recently, not since his first football scholarship had fallen through. His father's operation had gone well, and after Whitney's involvement with the thugs that had broken into Lex's home had been covered up… well, he faded into the background. The second scholarship had been tighter than the first; Lex had made sure this one was earmarked for Whitney.
It would still be a few months until it all came to pass, the final months of Whitney's senior year and the end of Clark's junior. The only thing that left in common between them then was Clark's continuing habit of saving Whitney's life. Of course there had been Lana, but that was a distant memory, at least to Clark.
Strangely enough, things had gotten easier since Clark and Lex's inadvertent coming out of the closet. Clark had thought it would be more difficult, instead there seemed to be very few cases of outward hostility. He had the feeling that Lex had born the brunt of the disapproval, never sharing it with Clark. Many people who cared enough to talk about it to Clark had been very polite, sharing their own stories.
It seemed almost everyone had a gay uncle or cousin in Metropolis.
Clark had suggested to Lex one night that they should have a 'gay uncle and cousin meet ' n ' greet'. Lex had replied that there probably wasn't a big enough venue in Metropolis.
Of course, there had been one or two people virulently opposed to their relationship. Jonathan Kent had been in a horrible mood for a week or two, but luckily the idea of Lionel Luthor hating it had been enough to make him slightly more... accepting.
Lionel had come to town a week after Clark and Lex's outting, hellbent for leather. Lex had not been pleased by his father's arrival. A yelling match had ensued, ending with Lionel leaving in a huff after Lex had informed him unlike Victoria, Clark wasn't interested in warming Lionel's sheets.
Clark hadn't asked for details, figuring his own interpretation of that was enough.
"... Kent?"
"Oh. Sorry, Whitney. I was thinking. What did you say?"
"I just said. You and Lex Luthor, huh?"
"Umm... yeah."
Whitney nodded. "You know, that whole scarecrow thing... it didn't have anything to do with you... liking guys."
Clark pondered the little red devil on his shoulder for a second, but decided against tormenting Whitney. "I know that, Whitney. I didn't know, then. Don't see how you guys could have." He looked at Whitney through the steam. "Still sucked though. A tradition best left dead."
"Yeah. It didn't have anything to do with the guy thing, though. Really. My uncle in Metropolis is gay, you know." Clark hid a grin as Whitney leaned forward and scooped a ladle of water onto the stones, releasing more steam into the room. "What's it like?"
Clark thought for a minute, thought about, and decided against pretending not to know what Whitney was asking. "I don't know. Natural, for us. What's it like with you and Lana?"
Whitney's eyes shaded for a moment, and Clark knew he was remembering Clark's obsession with Lana. "It's... right. Like you said. Natural, I guess."
They were quiet for a time, the only sound the hissing of the steam, the soft clunking of the hot rocks as they shifted. The scent of the cedar benches becoming stronger as the steam penetrated the wood, making it almost a taste.
"Kent?"
"Yeah?" Clark was totally relaxed, spread out on the bench, his back against the warm wood of the wall.
"Do you guys, you know. Do it?"
Clark opened one eye and looked across the room. "Does one answer end up with me strung up in a field again?"
"No, of course not."
He sounded sincere. Clark thought for a moment. It wasn't something he talked about, not with his parents, or even with Chloe or Pete. "Yeah."
"Huh." Whitney laughed, slightly bitterly. "Well, at least you guys are having sex."
Clark stared at him. "You and Lana haven't...?"
Whitney grimaced. "Auntie Nell told me when I first started dating Lana that if I even thought about touching her before senior prom, she'd castrate me with her shears. She cut the head off a rose, just to make her point."
"Ouch."
Whitney nodded, then stood up. "I think we better leave now, we're at the maximum time limit."
Clark nodded and they headed toward the showers, not saying a word as they stood under the cold water, letting the impurities the steam had forced out wash away. As they were putting on their shoes, Whitney looked up. "Want a ride home?"
"Sure, that's be great." He could run home faster, but if Whitney was going to be polite, Clark figured he might as well respond in kind. Clark looked around the parking lot once they were outside. Whitney continued on his way to a bright green new Ford F-150. "New truck?"
"Yeah. You wouldn't believe the insurance, though."
The ride passed quickly, and Clark thanked Whitney when he dropped him off in front of the Kent farmhouse. He watched, through the corn with his X-ray vision, as Whitney drove straight to Lana's place, swinging her into a hug as she jumped down the steps to meet him.
Feeling at peace, for a reason he couldn't quite put his finger on, Clark turned to go into his house, thinking that he'd definitely run over to the castle after dinner.
© EAS, April, 2002
Disclaimer: All canon based Smallville characters belong to WB and/or DC Comics.
I am making no money, just enjoying playing in the sandbox.
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