Most student athletes practiced to be their best, to use all of their skills and faculties to win, win, win.
Clark Kent practiced to do the opposite.
It wasn't that he didn't want to win. He did. But he had to make sure that he wasn't tapping into his abilities to do it, and that was hard. It was much harder to not use them than to just let go and zip through the water impossibly fast. Clark had been surprised that his father had let him join the swim team, but he supposed that since it wasn't a contact sport, his father might actually trust him not to accidentally kill people.
No bitterness there. Not at all.
Clark breathed in deeply as he pushed his head out from under the water and slicked his hair back out of his eyes. He was practicing in Lex's pool, since the school pool was closed over the weekend, and he could hardly get any good practice in at the public one.
This part of the manor had clearly been designed post-medieval Scotland, so the clean-cut, utilitarian architecture opened up the space, rather than making it feel depressing and claustrophobic, like the rest of the castle. Resting his arms on the side of the pool, Clark looked out and wondered why he hadn’t taken advantage of this room earlier. The summer had been so very hot…
Though he and Lex had been a little strained over the summer. It was a thing. More and more it seemed like there was a growing awkwardness between the two of them that neither could articulate or even approach rationally. So they ignored it.
It kept getting bigger, though.
For example, Lex had come by a few times on the days that Clark was practicing in here. He hadn't come into the room. He'd just stood at the door, watching Clark swim with a blank look on his face. Clark only knew he was there because… Well he'd felt as though someone were there. He'd sensed Lex, and after turning his head in that direction, he could see through the wall that blocked the doorway from his sight.
Sometimes Lex's tongue would peek out over his lower lip, or his eyes would narrow, but Clark couldn't read what he was thinking. Clark tried his best not to stare at where Lex was lurking behind the wall, watching Clark with his hands in his pockets and his eyes creased just slightly.
Clark ducked under the water to do a few more laps. His technique was getting better, since he rarely had to come up for air. That wasn't something he could control, though, so he just tried not to stay under for a ridiculously long time, though and rolled with it.
When he popped out of the water again, Clark looked over at where Lex had been and frowned slightly when he saw Lex walking away. It must not be very interesting when Clark was under water, where Lex couldn't see.
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branchandroot
Swimfan, post Redux S2, part one
Date: 2009-06-09 08:02 am (UTC)Clark Kent practiced to do the opposite.
It wasn't that he didn't want to win. He did. But he had to make sure that he wasn't tapping into his abilities to do it, and that was hard. It was much harder to not use them than to just let go and zip through the water impossibly fast. Clark had been surprised that his father had let him join the swim team, but he supposed that since it wasn't a contact sport, his father might actually trust him not to accidentally kill people.
No bitterness there. Not at all.
Clark breathed in deeply as he pushed his head out from under the water and slicked his hair back out of his eyes. He was practicing in Lex's pool, since the school pool was closed over the weekend, and he could hardly get any good practice in at the public one.
This part of the manor had clearly been designed post-medieval Scotland, so the clean-cut, utilitarian architecture opened up the space, rather than making it feel depressing and claustrophobic, like the rest of the castle. Resting his arms on the side of the pool, Clark looked out and wondered why he hadn’t taken advantage of this room earlier. The summer had been so very hot…
Though he and Lex had been a little strained over the summer. It was a thing. More and more it seemed like there was a growing awkwardness between the two of them that neither could articulate or even approach rationally. So they ignored it.
It kept getting bigger, though.
For example, Lex had come by a few times on the days that Clark was practicing in here. He hadn't come into the room. He'd just stood at the door, watching Clark swim with a blank look on his face. Clark only knew he was there because… Well he'd felt as though someone were there. He'd sensed Lex, and after turning his head in that direction, he could see through the wall that blocked the doorway from his sight.
Sometimes Lex's tongue would peek out over his lower lip, or his eyes would narrow, but Clark couldn't read what he was thinking. Clark tried his best not to stare at where Lex was lurking behind the wall, watching Clark with his hands in his pockets and his eyes creased just slightly.
Clark ducked under the water to do a few more laps. His technique was getting better, since he rarely had to come up for air. That wasn't something he could control, though, so he just tried not to stay under for a ridiculously long time, though and rolled with it.
When he popped out of the water again, Clark looked over at where Lex had been and frowned slightly when he saw Lex walking away. It must not be very interesting when Clark was under water, where Lex couldn't see.