Clark makes a wish. Santa grants it. Lex gets a better glimpse at what a perfect future might look like.
Happy Clexmas!
This fits the prompt fills for @clexevents Clexmas Day 7 Prompt: Second Chances/First times. It's both!
Here's a snippet from Chapter One:
âYou donât know anything about me.â The defense is automatic. It feels good, sharp and quick. And true, because there isnât anyone in the world that truly knows him. Heâs better off that way, safer. He made up his mind in the silence of his own head and heart and he is determined now. Lex is going to take whatever happily ever after he can snatch from fateâs cold hands and he is going to do it with every ounce of power at his control.
Santa rolls his eyes at him. âI know all about you, Alexander. I know all about the dream you just had. I know all about the decision you think youâve made. I know what you were doing in Edge City when you were shot in the street and I know about the labs you think are so secret.â
With each declaration, he takes a step forward. The low and steady intensity with which he delivers each one, coming from Santa Claus, is enough to shake even Lexâs firm resolve and force him to take a step back. His shoulder blades hit the mirror and there is nowhere else for him to go. He looks down into Santaâs face and blinks wide eyes at him.
âI know that when you were nine years old, you wished for a Game Boy for Christmas but your father didnât like videogames. He thought they were a waste of time. When you were ten you wished for the new collectorâs volume of Warrior Angel comics but your father gave you Marcus Aurelius instead. By the time you were eleven, you gave up on wishing for things at all.â
Lex focuses on his breathing, in and out, slow and controlled. His father likes to tell him he is ruled by his emotions. Lex has worked very hard to make sure that isnât true. He bites down hard on the inside of his cheek to hold back every nasty thing he wants to say to Santa Claus.
âNone of that means anything,â is what Lex settles for instead. âAll of this is happening inside my head. Youâre not real.â
Santa laughs at him and lets up on backing Lex into a corner. This is the Santa Claus Lex might have expected from popular culture. The look is right, red suit and white beard, but this is no jolly old elf. He is jaded somehow, blunt and brusque. Caustic, with little holiday spirit to be found in him.
âIâm as real as you want me to be. Iâll tell you what kid, you stick around in this vision, live out a day in this world, and if you see anything you like, you let me know.â
Lex narrows his eyes. âBeen there, done that. Iâve already had my vision of Christmas-future, thanks.â
âYeah, and what a nightmare that was.â
âExcuse me?â
Santa grins at him. âYou donât really think thatâs the future you want, do you? Wife, picket fence, house in the suburbs, two point five kids, middle class income? Come on, if that was your brain trying to help you make a decision about what to do, it gave you that vision because you had already made your choice. You were making it easy on yourself to do the wrong thing. And you know itâs the wrong thing, thatâs why youâre agonizing over it.â
Lexâs jaw works, mouth falling open and then closed tight again, over fury that canât seem to work itself into words. Because thatâsânot entirely untrue. And God, it is extremely strange to be called out on that kind of elliptical thinking inside of his own head.
Santa places a hand on his upper arm and though Lex flinches back, Santa keeps it where it is. He gestures at the room around them. âIf you rethink the path youâre on, the path youâve chosen, all of this could be yours. Including the man waiting for you out there.â
The collection will stay open for a week or so (or until mod remember to close it). Thank you to those who contributed and happy holidays! âââđ
Join us for Clexmas 2025, a Clark Kent/Lex Luthor prompt week!
đ All canons featuring these characters are welcome.
đ Prompts can be interpreted creatively; the holiday theme is optional.
đ Participants must be 18+.
Rules and posting information are available đHERE on AO3.
Join us for Clexmas 2025, a Clark Kent/Lex Luthor prompt week!
đ All canons featuring these characters are welcome.
đ Prompts can be interpreted creatively; the holiday theme is optional.
đ Participants must be 18+.
Rules and posting information are available đHERE on AO3.
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