One more for isilya's Snugglefic Challenge. The title is from the Margaret Atwood poem, "Variations on the Word 'Sleep'". Thanks to Jenn, Peach, Eliza, and 'tilla for beta duty. Thanks also to the captive audience I inflicted this on one night in chat. *g* Peach's luscious food comparison: "Cantaloupe. It's the taste, I think. Firm, mellow and juicy, with a tang of something else entirely."

Lex has a theory that Clark needs more sleep than humans do. He doesn't know why; there's only so much testing he can do alone, and he's not about to risk exposing Clark by hiring some assistant just to find out if Clark's tendency to miss the alarm is physiologically driven. He asked the AI at one point, but he's found the damn thing to be nearly useless in helping him understand how Earth can and has affected Clark. The closest he's come to a hint of an answer is that it sounds like Kryptonian nights were half again as long as Earth nights. Though the conversion of time units could be off and he's not sure how that would make a difference anyway, since Clark was raised on Earth and therefore--

"You're thinking too loud."

He comes back to himself to see Clark looking up at him with one eye slitted open. He slides his hands into his pockets and gives Clark the patented Luthor smirk. Clark closes his eye again, shifts on the pillow, and then rolls over onto his back. Lex's mouth goes dry at the sight of Clark like that, tangled from the waist down in the dark blue sheet, his skin flushed with sleep from the waist up. It's too much resist; he finds himself sitting on the bed and reaching out to brush Clark's chest with his hand. Clark captures it in his own and holds him there, Clark's heart beating strong and steady under their entwined fingers.

"Did you ever think that maybe I just really like this bed?" Clark asks without opening his eyes.

Clark has assured Lex telepathy is not one of his powers. Lex knows for a fact that Clark lies better these days than he used to.

"I've talked to your mother, Clark. She told me how often you were late for the school bus because you slept in."

"Well, I liked my bed at the farm too," Clark says complacently, smiling.

"Clark--"

"Or maybe I'm just making up for all the sleep you're not getting." Clark opens his eyes now, glances at the bedside clock long enough to read the time, then looks up at Lex with one eyebrow cocked.

"I get plenty of sleep, and again, I've talked to your mother. You were doing this before you met me."

Clark's eyes drift closed again, and then he pulls Lex down onto the bed beside him. Lex goes with the movement. Resistance, he has learned, only leads to a great deal of indignity. Clark pushes up onto one elbow to look down at him, the sheet sliding down to reveal one well-defined hip. Lex wants to cup that hip, wants to draw the sheet away slowly and bare Clark like unveiling a masterpiece, which is exactly what he'd be doing. He raises his hand to Clark's face to help him concentrate on their conversation.

"We met as kids, Lex. I know Mom told you that, too."

"Yes, but she didn't tell me you hibernated from the ages of nine to thirteen, and you would have if you were sleeping for us both."

"Well, I don't think it quite works like that, but don't tell me you haven't noticed that after I've slept, you feel less tired." Clark tips his head more securely into Lex's hand, one stubbled cheek scratching faintly against the palm. "I think it's a recent development, though. The amount of sleep I got didn't seem to make a difference for you in Smallville."

"You're serious." Of course, it's actually a theory he's entertained himself, given how often he's certain he should be more tired than he is. He relegated it to the "not likely" pile after the AI failed to give him any indicators that such...sharing was common among Kryptonians. Really, he's beginning to wonder what Jor-El's point was in building the thing at all.

"I'm an alien in an alien environment." Clark shrugs and settles down with his head under Lex's chin. The movement causes Lex's hand to slide from cheek to hair, and he always forgets how soft Clark's hair is until he's touching it again. "Who knows how that will affect me?"

"You're very calm about this."

"I did enough freaking out in high school to last me, and you'll notice that didn't change anything."

Lex is trying hard to keep his focus, but he's got one hand tangled in Clark's hair and the other resting on Clark's back, and Clark's breathing warm and soft as he murmurs against Lex's chest, strong hands brushing idly along Lex's sides. Sleepy Clark has always been one of his favorite things, and it's hard to remember why he's worried about so much sleepy Clark.

"That still doesn't explain why you slept so much growing up." He's a little surprised he managed to get the sentence out.

"I think it might have been Mom back then. Dad once mentioned she was a lot more energetic after they found me, but he thought it was because she'd wanted a child so badly for so long."

"What makes you think that wasn't the reason?"

Clark turns his head to brush his lips against Lex's skin just above his collar, and he can feel Clark's smile. "I always slept in the morning after."

It shocks a laugh out of him, and Clark rises up onto his elbows, sliding up Lex's body enough so that they're face to face. Lex doesn't have to look to know the sheet is now covering nothing but Clark's legs, and he glides his hand slowly down Clark's back as he coaxes Clark down for a long kiss. Clark goes with the movement, rolling his hips down, and Lex breaks the kiss with another shaky laugh.

"You're trying to distract me."

"I thought I was succeeding."

Lex pushes up, turning them until he's the one on top. Clark offers no resistance, his hands sliding up under Lex's shirt as he waits.

"What if you stop waking up?"

"I won't." Clark's grin is slow and wicked. "Especially if you spend more time in bed."

Lex has to return the smile, shaking his head. "And on what do you base that conclusion?"

"Science." Clark shifts beneath him and really, that grin should be criminal. "Anatomy, biology, chemistry.... Interspecies compatibility."

"You don't think," Lex undulates slowly and Clark's breath catches, "that this solution will make you sleep more?"

"Well, I haven't been able to test the theory yet." Clark breaks off as Lex licks his throat. He arches his head back, his voice coming strained and unbearably sexy. "But it seems a possibility worth...god...exploring."

"Mmm." It gives him a place to start from again, and maybe he can put that damn AI to some use, have it analyze his brain chemistry and compare it to...someone. Maybe he can get Martha Kent to agree to a few tests. He swore to protect Clark before he knew how much Clark needed to be protected, and part of that has been learning what constitutes how much of a threat. He'll fucking hibernate if that's what Clark needs, but he's got to be sure Clark won't just drop into a coma someday.

In the meantime....

He drags his tongue down Clark's throat to his collarbone, tasting sleep-warm skin. Clark tenses beneath him, then pulls impatiently at his shirt, making a sound somewhere between a moan and a growl. It is a sound that has come to define sex for Lex.

In the meantime, Clark is far from a coma, and Lex has his own possibilities to explore.

~END~