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Lex glanced at his watch and sighed as the lights dipped twice overhead, and then he obeyed the subtle signal to take his seat before the opera began. He frowned at the empty place beside him, as the last of the attendees settled and a hush fell over the audience in anticipation of the first strains of music.
"Sorry I'm late."
Raising his hand sharply to forestall any further excuses, Lex kept his focus on the orchestra pit, and stubbornly refused to turn his head toward his tardy companion, who persisted in stage-whispering his apologies.
"I really tried...mmph...mphh...."
Lex grimaced and shoved backwards a little harder, thankful that it was his artificial hand muffling super-strong lips and risking alien teeth, not his more vulnerable flesh. When Clark finally subsided, Lex lowered his black-gloved appendage and gingerly balanced it in his lap, hoping the wool of his tuxedo would soak up any residual dampness without incurring a stain. He settled back into the plush cushions of his seat, closed his eyes, and let the soaring music soothe his savage breast.
"I'm really sorry, Lex. The symposium ran late and...uh...then there was a thing with a fire and I...." Clark struggled with the sleeve of his overcoat as he tried to keep pace with the irritated strides of his husband without damaging an innocent bystander with a misplaced elbow or foot. "You know, it's not like I didn't give you advance notice about being out of town today. I don't understand why you picked tonight to attend the opera instead of later in the week when I was going to be in Metropolis all day and there was at least a chance I'd manage to make it on time."
Halting at the top of the stairs of the opera house, Lex crossed his arms and allowed the remaining members of the audience past. "Yes, I do know, but it was supposed to be a special night for us, Clark."
"It was? You mean our...but...but our anniversary's not for another six weeks. I checked." Clark dodged around several blue-haired matrons to arrive at Lex's side, his voice dismayed as he continued to protest. "I mean I have my laptop's calendar set to alert me two weeks ahead, the Fortress sends a reminder a week before, and Lois throws darts at me every hour or so the day before. I know I didn't miss it...ohhhh."
Looking up at the sky, Clark suddenly understood why the night was so special. "Wow, it's...it's...."
Lex sighed heavily and dropped his arms to his side. "Yes. I kept track, and the meteorologists predicted it was going to be exactly like our first two nights together. The opera, the moon...."
The crowd thinned around the two men as they gazed up at the bright orb above them, its glow spanning the city skyline, magical, memorable. Clark grasped Lex's hand and raised it to his lips, pressing his lips to smooth, pale knuckles before murmuring, "You look just as beautiful as you did that night."
Lex turned slightly and looked up into Clark's face, smiling as he insisted, "You're the one who's beautiful." He squeezed Clark's hand and then tucked it under his arm. "It's a nice night for a walk. Shall we?"
Clark leaned over and brushed a kiss across Lex's lips before agreeing softly, "That would be perfect."
"You stood here that night and told me that love isn't perfect, but that didn't mean I should give up on the chance I had to love the person I'd been waiting for all my life." Pausing by the fountain in front of their apartment building, Clark gathered Lex into his arms and smiled down at him, his eyes shimmering under the light of the surreal moon. "You didn't just tell me, Lex, you made me believe it could happen, that we could happen."
"That we did." Lex lifted his arms to wrap them around Clark's neck, lifting his face for another kiss. He tightened them for a brief moment after noticing he and Clark were slowly rising past the brick and stone, only to relax against Clark in absolute trust. He indulged in a throaty chuckle as they left the city below and rose toward the heavens. "And you still look like an angel in the moonlight. My angel."
"You do say the nicest things, Lex, and you have the best ideas." Clark nuzzled against Lex's temple and murmured, "Do you want to dance?"
Lex shook his head and laughed in delight. "Clark, we're three hundred feet off the ground."
Shrugging, Clark hugged Lex a little closer and suggested, "You have a good voice, Lex. Just rest your feet on top of mine and sing something for us to dance to...something nice and slow."
Lex tipped his head and thought for a moment before his mouth curled into a smirk. "I think I know just the song." He hummed a few bars and then began crooning, his voice slow with a little rasp that added to the spell he wove around them in the night.
"Well, it's a marvelous night for a moon dance
With the stars up above in your eyes
A fantabulous night to make romance
'neath the cover of October skies
And all the leaves on the trees are falling
To the sound of the breezes that blow
And I'm trying to please to the calling
Of your heart-strings that play soft and low
And all the night's magic seems to whisper and hush
And all the soft moonlight seems to shine in your blush
Can I just have one a more moon dance with you, my love
Can I just make some more romance with a-you, my love..."
Clark's feet moved in time with Lex's a capella rendition, both bodies swaying in the cloudless sky to the romantic words. As Lex's voice slowed to a whispered stop, he shivered and nuzzled under Clark's chin with a soft sigh.
"Cold?" Clark asked, tucking Lex in as closely as he could.
Lex nodded and murmured, "Mmm-hmm. It's a little cool up here, even with you to keep me warm."
"I guess we better head back then."
"I have a suggestion on how to finish up our re-enactment." Lex leaned back far enough to smile up at Clark. "Why don't we fly over to your parents' house for breakfast? I'm sure I can convince your mom to make pancakes."
"Perfect. Just like our first morning after. If I remember correctly, though, I think there's something that comes before that."
Lex's eyes sparkled in the moonlight as he laughed in anticipation. "And that would be?"
Clark's laughter joined Lex's as they slowly spiraled downward. "We do...of course."