Similis

"I think we're going to have to face facts here, Lex. Haze's natural talents obviously don't include any degree of skill at pool..." Clark teased.



With a grin at Lex, Haze accepted the cue from Clark and chalked the tip.



Lex returned the grin with interest. The sight of both Haze and Clark together in the same room, dressed in identical butt-hugging jeans, would have made him volunteer for far more unpleasant undertakings than sparing a little of his personal time to impart the basic's of billiards to a novice player.



"It takes practice," he assured his new acquaintance. "You'll get the hang of it, if you just keep working at it. Remember to look along the line of the cue…"



Oh Lord! So long as one of them keeps bending over that table, I don't care how long it takes Haze to learn to play! Lex added mentally, watching the seams on the denim tighten as Haze leant in close to the immaculately brushed baize, the fabric of the black tee pulled taught across his pecs and almost brushing the eight ball.



Damn, does he know what he is doing to my sex drive?



Hitting the target ball, and waiting as the cue ball slid smoothly to a halt back in front of him, Haze turned and flashed Lex a megawatt grin.



"Better." Lex approved. Haze may not have played anything with a cue before, but he knows his game, and exactly what he's doing…! A thrill of sheer excitement tingled up Lex's spine, raising goose bumps on his arms. The face was Clark's, but the body language was nothing like that of the perpetually innocent farm boy. The knowing twinkle in those stunning eyes nearly made Lex choke as it occurred to him precisely what this meant: Clark, but without any of the attendant complications! In the excitement Lex failed to pot his ball either, but somehow he just couldn't bring himself to care.



"Okay, Haze …" The usual recipient of Lex's undivided attention decided to remind them of his presence. Ambling over, Clark patted Haze's shoulder as he extracted the cue gently from his twins' hand.



"My turn." Clark reminded his silent partner. "Let's see how many points I can make back up for us?" He glanced around the table hopefully. Straightening up, Haze ruffled Clark's hair amiably, and beamed.



Clark blushed. "Hey stop mussing me like I'm a kid."



The resulting gesture made him laugh. "I'm NOT a kid, Haze! 'Sides if I was then what would that make you?" He paused, "Maybe you're an alien body snatcher?" He gave Haze a knowing glance, which Haze returned with interest and a total lack of concern.







Winking at Lex, Haze continued to tease Clark, tickling him around the ribs. Lex decided that he would volunteer to let Haze snatch his body anytime, if he promised that any of what he was doing to Clark would be on the menu?



"Or maybe Haze is your evil clone?" Lex suggested covering his lapse, and chuckling at the horrified expression that appeared on Clark's face.



"Don’t say things like that!" Surprisingly Clark was instantly and visibly upset by the offhand comment. "Haze isn't evil! And he's not my clone!" Abruptly a flash of alarm crossed his face, "That's freaky and way too Sci-Fi…" He added quickly.



"Oh, like alien body snatchers isn't?" Lex reminded him. "In case you had forgotten, Clark, it was you that said it …"



Clark blushed. "That's just a stupid joke between Haze and me…"







Lex glanced at the other youth and approved when Haze seemed entirely unbothered by any of it. "Chill Clark…I was just pulling your leg, no need to panic." He soothed. What was it with Clark and the mere mention of aliens? The boy was practically xenophobic for heaven's sake. Definitely a good time for a change of subject, and with Clark, food was always a safe topic…



"You guys want another soda?" Lex took a quick look at the empty bottles on the coffee table. "If I'm not mistaken you just finished both yours and Haze's, Clark."



"Umm…" Clark's cheeks flamed brighter. "I was kinda thirsty…" He began. "And Haze can't complain about me taking his stuff."



Lex stared at him blankly. Surely Clark wasn't suggesting that he would ever take advantage of Haze's mute status? As soon as he considered it, Lex realised that he was letting his Luthor streak have far too much leeway.



"After the number of times he does it to me." Clark continued, oblivious.



"Right." Lex agreed hurriedly, trying very hard to keep his thoughts pure. "Yep, all that watching you're doing has to be thirsty work." He added, "Don't you think so Haze?"



Haze obviously did agree, as he looked over at Lex and gestured at the empty bottles.



"You're asking if I mind if you go fetch another couple while Clark plays on?" Lex guessed. He waved graciously. "Feel free. You know where the kitchen is now, and there are plenty in the fridge. I always stock up when I know Clark is coming over. If you're not back in a half hour we'll send out a search party," He joked.



Haze grinned.



"Would you mind doing something for me while you're down there?" Lex hoped that the suggestion should sound as though he was just asking Haze to fetch him back another drink. He didn't expect for a second that Clark would understand the wider implications, but something in the other youth's eyes hinted that Haze just might…



In reply Haze gave him a wicked smile.



Offer, and counter-offer, with possible acceptance to follow... Sounds like a contract to me... Grinning the Luthor-heir licked his lips, enjoying watching Haze's intense gaze track his tongue as it glided along the moistened surfaces. "If you're sure you don't mind?"



As far as Lex could see, Haze didn't seem to be objecting in any way… To anything Lex was suggesting. And wasn’t that a wonderful thought?



"That'd be … great." Lex purred.



Still smiling, Haze wandered off toward the kitchen.



"You like Haze, don't you?"







Lex turned to find himself the subject of Clark's attention. "What's not to like, Clark?" He asked, hoping that his young friend had not picked up on the subtle, no – oops - make that fairly blatant, flirting that had been going on, and realising all too suddenly that this could easily develop into an uncomfortable rift between himself and Clark. Or worse, between Clark and Haze! Damn! What had he been thinking, letting himself act on emotion like that? His Luthor streak had been getting out of hand, again…



"I like Haze too." Clark asserted, in his quiet, unassuming way.



Lex wondered whether Clark knew what signals he was sending out at that moment? Half of him hoped so, while the other hoped not, wanting to believe in that delicious innocence for just a little longer.



"I'm glad Haze likes you, Lex." Clark continued, "And that we all get on so well. You don't usually get comfortable this quickly with new people, but you seem to have hit it off right away with Haze." Clark hesitated, as if unsure whether he might be going too far?



"Just like Haze and I did when we met," He continued with the same guileless expression. "I just wanted you to know that I'm okay for you to treat Haze as your friend too, but at the same time I don't want you to feel like anyone could ever replace you, Lex," The blush on his cheeks returned as he looked at Lex from under those impossibly enticing lashes. "That'll never happen." He promised.



"Thanks." Lex looked at his best, and until recently pretty much only, friend, "Of course it helps that Haze happens to have the same face as you." He added, noting that Clark tensed slightly on hearing the last part. Briefly, Lex wondered if Haze's sudden arrival somehow had anything to do with Clark's secret? Hell, he was beginning to wonder if anything that happened in Smallville didn't somehow have a connection to the mysterious beauty in front of him?



"I guess…" Clark turned back to the table, as apparently oblivious to Lex's churning thoughts as he was to the feelings that he constantly inspired in his older friend. Frowning, Clark leant on his perfectly sculpted forearms and leaned over the table, as he evaluated what he had been left to work with.



With a barely suppressed sigh of longing, Lex considered what Clark had said, as well as what he hadn't. The boy's body language indicated that Clark was being honest about his hopes for the future of their friendship, but underlying it all there was something that Clark still wasn't going to touch on, something that the teen was not as comfortable with.



But what? Lex reviewed his initial impression of the 'clark clone': Haze was at ease, both with himself and with Clark and Lex, no hint of any hidden angst.



Polar opposite to Clark then… No, whatever Clark is hiding, Haze either doesn't know or he doesn't care. In fact, Haze didn't seem to be at all concerned that he had suddenly turned out to have an identical twin. Clark also seemed to have accepted it with surprisingly little fuss… Unless there had been fireworks at the outset and Lex had not been around to notice?



But are they twins? While the two youths seemed utterly identical physically, at least as far as Lex could tell, personality wise they could not be more different. Clark behaved as if he were much younger than Haze, both in his actions and in his emotional responses. The other youth carried an air of maturity about him; and was very much adult, in comparison to the man-child that was Clark.



Something else suddenly occurred to Lex, something about the way that Clark had spoken about his 'twin' … in what way did Clark 'like' Haze?







Down in the immaculate and currently deserted kitchen, Haze eased the door of the huge refrigerator open and promptly liberated two fresh bottles of soda and a beer. Grasping two of the bottles in his left hand, he flicked his right thumbnail under the cap of the second soda, flicked it free, and cheating with his abilities just a little, deftly elbowed it toward the trashcan. Smoothly the lid of the trashcan opened under an unseen force and the spinning lid vanished inside.



Smiling softly to himself at this minor bending of the physical laws, Haze lifted the open bottle to his lips and turned…



"Well, if it isn't young Mr Kent?" Lionel raised an amused eyebrow. "Raiding the refrigerator in bulk now? Surely even a person of your growing proportions only requires one bottle at a time? And beer? Are you not still a little too young for alcohol?"



Haze didn't know who the man was but he didn't see how this was any of the newcomer's business. He reverted to standard procedure in new encounters, observe and learn… He calculated that angle of the counter would have hidden his 'talent' from the stranger. There was nothing to be concerned about on that score.



"Oh, come now Clark… I realise that we are hardly fond acquaintances, but you surely don't think I will tolerate you ignoring me?"



Haze shook his head. Something in the man's eyes hinted of danger, and hidden agenda's, and Haze pricked up his inner ears and listened attentively to the other-wordly clues.



"How impolite not to respond. I thought that Martha and Jonathan would have raised you better than that." Lionel murmured, reaching into his jacket pocket for the small lead box that he had taken to carrying everywhere with him. "You are being very foolish, Clark. You should know by now that no one ignores Lionel Luthor?"



Haze looked at him carefully, and shook his head.



Lionel sneered. He gave a carefully contrived 'sigh'. "You have no idea of how dangerous a game you are playing, young man." He told Haze, his eyes glittering unpleasantly.



In point of fact Lionel was quite right, Haze had no idea of the conventions of this new encounter, and no idea of who Lionel was either, apart from the blatantly obvious.



"I don't suppose that you would find it as easy to ignore this pretty green rock?" Pulling out a fragment of crystalline mineral from his pocket Lionel held it up, looking expectantly at 'Clark'.



Haze stared at the rock for a second, then shrugged, while thinking that it looked rather like cheese fungus. He decided that it would be ungracious to Lex to be openly rude to his obviously crazed father, while standing in Lex's kitchen and drinking his soda.



"I know a lot about this particular meteor rock." Lionel said softly. "Including its rather unpleasant effects on you, young man." He stepped closer, a feral gleam glinting in his eyes.







By now, something about the combination of the green rock and Lionel was triggering Haze's extra senses, and seeing as Lex's dad seemed pretty eager that Haze should get up-close and personal to that lump of stone, Haze decided to oblige.



Reaching out, Haze lifted the stone lightly from Lionel's unresisting fingers.



Lionel stuttered, eyes wide. "It's not possible … you …?"



Haze gave the rock a cursory examination. Meteor, he'd seen enough of them in his time to recognise the signs, and mildly radioactive. They really should be careful where they left this thing: it could have side effects. He lost interest in the rock. Hopefully he had sufficiently humoured this old fool by now? Somewhere upstairs there was a better game waiting to be rejoined, and not just the one with the flat table and the coloured balls, and Haze was exceptionally keen to get back up there…



Uninvited, a bony human hand closed around Haze's wrist.







At the unexpected contact, the angel's meta-human senses flared into life. Flickers of memory rose in Haze's mind: flashes of Lionel, pages of data, piles of glowing green rocks, and … Clark!



Haze hissed an indrawn breath. This unpleasant old man had not only mistaken Haze for Clark, which was perfectly reasonable, he had quite deliberately intended to cause pain to Clark, which was not. Reflexes, honed by a lifetime of danger kicked in, expanding Haze's reactions to an additional level. The rules by which he had been trained to live rose in his mind: Gauge the opponent, identify their weaknesses, and eliminate the problem…



Shocked at the hawk-like expression on the younger man's face, Lionel abruptly let go, stepping back warily.



Haze's eyes narrowed as he re-evaluated Lionel Luthor. This human was more than a minor league irritation and, although the current situation didn't merit a full threat response, the man must be swiftly persuaded to see Haze's presence as not exploitable. Also any threat to Clark must be removed, and equally rapidly. Haze would have been inclined to protect his friends in any event, but for the present Clark's safety was of vital importance to him. Haze was still quite heavily dependent on Clark's stabilising influence, and expected that he would remain so for some time to come.



The rock seemed to be the key to this problem, remove that and the threat was also gone. Manipulating space-time Haze slipped the rock carefully into another dimension for secure storage. Taking the drinks and pushing past the bewildered older man, he headed determinedly back to more pleasant company.







"We thought you'd decided to walk into Metropolis for the drinks?" Lex joked, as Haze came back in, delicately nudging the door shut behind him with one foot.



"Clark went off to, uhm, empty out." Lex gestured at the abandoned cue, now standing propped against the edge of the table. "It's your shot."



Putting down the bottles, Haze nodded in acknowledgement and gestured, indicating that he had run into some unexpected company in the kitchen.



"A man?" Lex looked suddenly concerned. "Someone else is in the house?"



Haze set the bottles on the table and made the signs he used for 'man' and 'Lex,' then waved a suggestion of wavy hair to clarify the point.



Lex thought for a microsecond, before reality hit. "My father?"







"Is here." Lionel interrupted. "Young Clark there has something of mine. I intend to have it returned." He approached the sofa and glared over it.



"Dad. This isn't Clark."



"Rubbish." Lionel disagreed. "I think I should know Clark Kent when I practically bump into him. He also has a valuable piece of meteor crystal secreted somewhere on his person. That stone belongs to me and I have no intention of relinquishing it."



Haze met his stare without a flicker of concern.



"I will have you strip searched if necessary, young man." Lionel began.



Grinning Haze gave Lionel an arch look.







"If you are suggesting body searching my guests I think I shall have to insist on seeing a warrant, Dad, the Sheriff would not be pleased to hear that you were harassing minors." Lex interrupted firmly, deciding that whatever warped game his father was playing this time Lionel had already gone far enough. "I very much object to your bothering my friends. Besides, what exactly are you looking for?"



"As I said, this young man took a piece of meteor rock from me while we were in your kitchen." Lionel answered. "Of roughly this size." He held up his fingers in a broad approximation. "Green."



Lex's eyes flickered across to Haze, and he frowned. So that was Lionel's game? Lately his father had become positively obsessive about that green mineral. "Really, Dad! Perhaps you should go back and check that you didn’t just leave it in the kitchen?" He suggested dryly.



"Lex. I know what I saw. The stone is no longer in the kitchen, and Clark did not have time to deposit it anywhere on his way back here, therefore he still has it on him."



"Where exactly do you think that Haze could have something that size hidden?" Lex smirked. "It doesn't look to me as if he's concealing anything…"







Dismissing the scathing tones and curious nickname as a mere whimsy, one of the many childish games in which Lex would insist on engaging with the young Kent boy, Lionel's eyes flickered over the youth, noting the uncharacteristically brazen way that the boy returned the glance.



Lionel was sure of one thing though – he had followed Clark the entire way along the corridor, Clark could not have had time to find a hiding place for the stone; therefore it must still be on him. His hands had been occupied with the soda bottles; the most likely option would be that he had shoved it into his front jeans pockets. But would Clark even do that? Knowing what the rocks could do to him? And why was it not weakening him already? Or had Clark neutralised the rock in some way? If that were the case then it was even more important that Lionel get that stone back.



Lionel stared appraisingly at the lad's form fitting clothes. It appeared that Lex had made at least one valid point: there was absolutely no way that anything the size of the rock could be concealed under those clothes. Even on a cursory inspection it was immediately apparent that the lad had nothing under there at all… Except acre on acre of hard rippling muscle…



Lionel hoped very much that neither of the boys noticed him practically drooling over the Kent child. Kent! Visions of an angry Jonathan Kent with a shotgun quickly decided Lionel against any further rash actions. He inadvertently shifted a step back, and into the path of the returning … Clark…?



"Oops. Sorry." Surprised, Clark stared over at Haze and Lex, "What's up guys?"



"Kent!" Lionel stared at the familiar glossy raven hair. "But…" he looked from the teen in front of him, across to the other one still standing beside his son. "You can't be…"







"No." Lex agreed. "He can't be."



Haze leant back against the billiard table and lifted the soda bottle to his lips.



"He's Clark," Lex gestured toward the latest arrival, "And as I said before, this is Haze." He patted the shoulder of the lad standing beside him. "Now that we've effectively established that you don't know Clark when you bump into him, maybe you're wrong about the rock too?" He cast an appraising look at his guests. "They're quite the matching pair though, don't you think, Dad?"



Disbelieving, Lionel reached out and took hold of Clark by the shoulder, raising a querying brow. He was going to get to the bottom of this if it took all day!



Clark yelped reflexively, squirming at the unwanted contact.



The air in the room was suddenly charged. There were no words but that did not hinder communication in the least. Wielding the pool cue deftly with only one hand, Haze flicked his wrist, slapping Lionel's hand up and away from Clark with the tip, and leaving a streak of coloured chalk across the exposed cuff of the executive's business shirt.



"In case you were wondering, Dad," Lex interjected. "Haze doesn't speak. Even so I think you can guess what he's telling you, can't you?"







Lionel blinked in stunned surprise. His wrist stung from the force of the contact. "I believe so." He stated. He decided immediately to forget that particular rock. There must have been something wrong with that sample. Besides he had plenty more. What was important now was the presence of what seemed to be a carbon copy of dear little Clark Kent.



Lionel would dearly have loved to know how this new twist had come about? He knew only too well that there had been only one dark haired child found in the aftermath of the meteors.



Except now there were very obviously two! A matching pair indeed. One to work on … and a spare! The new possibilities that this opened up almost took Lionel's breath away. This would need to be handled very carefully… very carefully indeed.



Rubbing his shoulder as if to wipe away the taint, Clark grinned as he took his place beside his twin.



For a moment that seemed to last for an eternity, Lionel Luthor simply stood and stared open-mouthed at the two raven-haired figures, until the pain in his wrist overrode his racing imagination. Massaging the sore spot with his other hand, "Strength evidently runs in your … family." He suggested coldly.







Without a trace of hesitation, Haze rapidly chugged down about half the bottle, winking at Lex in the process.



"We do have a very healthy lifestyle." Clark agreed, as Haze belched almost loudly enough to make the windows rattle.



"However, there are more types of strength than mere brute force." Lionel reminded them, cataloguing the insult for later retribution and deciding that the other boy would be first on the table, once he had them both in his power.



"If you were even thinking of threatening us, don't." Clark said with sudden determination. There was no trace of childishness in his voice now, and the steely undertone raised the small hairs on the back of Lionel's neck.



Curious, the boy would not readily defend himself, but Clark would jump to protect his sibling?



"Haze and I do share a remarkable similarity, but the way we see it, that isn't anybody's business but ours."



Haze looked at Clark and then, fixing Lionel with a cold glare, he made a stepping action.



"Haze would like you to know that he wouldn't think twice about stomping on you." Clark interpreted.



"Are you two daring to threaten me?" Lionel demanded.



"Nope. We're daring to dismiss you." Clark told him, and turned back to his brother. "We're not interested in having anything to do with you, MR Luthor."







Haze kept his eyes firmly on the fuming figure of Luthor senior, while Clark looked over the lay of the balls.



"So Lex, how badly are we losing now?" Clark asked with studied casualness.



"By my reckoning you're one up…" Lex replied meaningfully, keeping a watchful eye on his fuming father.



"No one treats Lionel Luthor like that!" Lionel stormed around the end of the sofa and across the intervening floor.



As Clark subtly tensed for action, Haze reached out and rested his hand on Clark's arm.



"No I guess not," Clark drawled over his shoulder, relaxing under the touch. "After all there are no firing squads here, or Senate hearings…" He added sarcastically.







As he stamped in closer to the youngster, Lionel was practically spitting fire. Reaching for Clark, he suddenly found himself dangling several inches off the floor, his own wrist caught in an iron grip.



"If you want to enjoy your life with everything intact, then stay well away from us." Clark advised, watching impassively as Haze lazily held the older man at arm's length. "Haze really has taken quite a dislike to you. Which is strange, as he seems to like most everyone else."



Lionel was not a heavy man, but even so he was aware that very few people could have dangled him at full stretch without at least showing some signs of effort. The boy's breathing never wavered.



So either Haze has supreme control, or his strength is off the scale? Exactly as the computer figures implied for Clark…



"Haze." Clark said quickly. "Fun as this is, we'd better let Lionel go, at least for this time. He'll only cause trouble for my folks, and for the rest of Smallville if he gets riled."



"Sensible boy." Lionel gloated. "I always said there was something … special… about you, Clark."







"There IS something special about Clark." Lex commented dryly, watching as Haze lifted Lionel just a little higher, "But a person's good nature isn’t anything that you should be trying to exploit, Dad. Besides, as you can see, Clark has powerful friends."



Had Lionel been in any position to notice the finer points of his current situation, he might have observed that the soles of his captor's boots were now floating a little over an inch off the floor. However, from Lionel's current viewpoint, the most obvious thing was the pair of angry eyes glaring at him from only an arms length away, with a matching set glaring at him from the other 'brother'.



"I suggest you forget all about causing trouble for anyone here, Dad." Lex said solemnly. "From what I understand Haze here recently lost everything and everyone he held dear. I don't think he intends to let that happen to anyone else. And you know how the courts are about taking the side of trauma victims?"



Lionel knew how to read a person, and what he saw in this lad's eyes was enough to send a shiver through even his jaded soul. His youthful captor shut the anger off like a steel door closing, rendering the calm empty gaze behind it all the more terrifying.



It was obvious to Lionel that Lex was being entirely accurate in that statement. Whatever was in this boy's past, and wherever Haze might have come from, there was nothing left there for him to return to.



Best not to corner any animal… Certainly not one as powerful as this fellow… Or his brother… Something in those impassive eyes convinced Lionel that a hasty retreat would be the best course of action. He would need to work on this. Still tactics were what he did best…







"Haze, really. Put him down." Lex locked his best poker face into place as Lionel's feet touched back down on the floor. He looked his father straight in the eye "Bye… Dad. Let me know next time you are planning on dropping in."



And I'll be sure to be out… Lex would have loved to voice that thought aloud, but was too smart to do so. His father would understand perfectly what was intended, but could prove nothing.



Lionel's eyes narrowed at the deliberate insult. "I shall be seeing you soon, Lex." He span on his expensive heels and left.



"Prick." Clark muttered, after the door closed behind Luthor senior.



"Clark?" Lex could not believe what he had just heard, or who he had heard it from.



Haze stared at his 'brother' with a look that was borrowed straight from Martha Kent.



Flushing red, Clark dug his toe in the carpet. "Well, that's what Dad says." He looked imploringly at Haze. "And he is… Isn't he, Lex?"



Haze was obviously struggling to hold onto the disapproving frown.



"Officially, and having earned the right to pass comment," Lex glanced over at Clark, "I'd say that you were 100% accurate." He finished.



Haze and Clark totally lost it at that, and slumped down together on the sofa, slapping each other in mirth. Haze's face creased in delight, and he lay back against the howling Clark and shuddered with soundless laughter.



Lex tactfully kept a modest distance from the oblivious pair. He had seen Clark do too many inexplicable things to want to be on the receiving end of an accidental example of the boy's incredible strength. For himself, Lex preferred not to chance it. He was enjoying having all of his skin in one undamaged piece for once, this condition having become an all too rare occurrence in Smallville these days…



To Lex's amazement though, Haze seemed to be perfectly comfortable with taking whatever was being dished out. That additional fact was noted, along with the other details Lex had observed about Haze, after all, one never knew when a seemingly insignificant point might provide a crucial insight …