multiversallogs | anything that's dead shall be regrown

Entry tags:

anything that's dead shall be regrown

Who: Lex Luthor and Adrian Veidt
What: returning home with snake carcasses, hooray!
Where: The House of Ego
When: backdated to after the missions
Notes: italicized words are spoken in German
Warnings: a couple of weirdass mad scientists are up in here

This time when Lex went out for a round of battling creatures he was much better protected. He had worn body armor under his clothes and as he was the team's driver the truck was his primary concern over the fog. He's sporting a few minor injuries but nothing serious, at least nothing serious unless you count the snakebite on his left hand between thumb and forefinger. None of his other team members had died from bites they sustained and coupled with his immunity he sees no reason to be worried. It stung when it happened and now he has a battle scar for the moment. It couldn't hurt to gain favor around the city.

He heads straight for the section of the house designated as the shared research lab between he and Adrian and lays his prize in front of him on a steel table.

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"Housekeepers were for cleaning, nannies were for infants. I was raised to be independent." And ruthless, calloused, and unflinching to name a few other qualities, and certainly not in a way Lex would have chosen for himself. "It wasn't a matter of incompetence so much as bootstraps."

He tips the contents of the pot into a strainer and leaves it in the sink while he busies himself with a saucepan. "It was as awful as you'd expect it to be. Thankfully I never attempted to serve anyone." He turns down the heat and allows the pan to simmer, finally turning his attention fully to Adrian with drink in hand. "I wasn't aware that being able to cook was that surprising."

"I have a feeling our parents had different ideas about child-rearing," Adrian muses. He doesn't elaborate, instead smiling at Lex's remarks about his early attempts at playing chef, but it seems the man is intent on turning the conversation back to Adrian's own comments. Adrian carefully maneuvers it back.

"I'd call it unexpected in someone from a privileged background." No judgment there, just a statement of fact. "Were you given professional lessons, or is this all just the result of childhood experimenting?"

"I've taken lessons from private chefs," Lex admits. As much as he'd like for a skill to be his own doing, Adrian knows Lex's obvious strengths and pretending like this was one of them would be pretty insulting to them both.

"And I don't know about different ideas. You're certainly not lacking in independence." He gently turns the conversation once more, giving Adrian a compliment to ease the topic of making him the subject of conversation.

"And had other private tutors as well, I imagine." They've already touched on the fact that Lex has self-defense training as well, it would make sense that his father would have wanted to provide him with every possible opportunity.

Adrian's smile grows mildly amused, and he sips at his wine and then looks away for a moment, gathering his thoughts. It isn't that he minds being the topic at hand, but rather that Lex's questions are delving into areas beyond the standard answer he usually reserves for inquiries about his childhood. "My parents were more invested in maintaining a certain lifestyle than they were in indulging the interests of a child, and they were both dead by the time I was seventeen. What independence I hadn't acquired in my youth, I picked up very quickly."

"Tutors when the time was right for them. I went to boarding school until college so lessons were for breaks or when I got older and could schedule my own." He dishes the food out onto plates and serves Adrian before taking his own seat.

He pauses after Adrian finishes his own statement, giving it the attention it deserves. He doesn't feel sorry for Adrian and he doesn't coddle him, but he does understand how talking about these things can cause one's mind to go to unwelcome places and he's willing to match Adrian beat for beat.

"My interests were never an issue. I was groomed to be the successful heir of LuthorCorp in the event of my father's death. I was," he stops, touching his fork to the food, "much less sure of myself than you were after my mother died. I understood the importance of image and I dutifully made what appearances were required of me, but mostly stayed away when it was convenient for my father to not have a son."

"I had private school in the city." And was a perfectly average B student, just like his parents wanted. "Although they did at least encourage my interest in gymnastics."

Adrian divides his attention between Lex and his plate, wondering how such different parenting styles wound up producing men with such similar goals. "You seem to have done a good job overcoming that lack of self-assurance. I was raised to consider image before everything else myself, albeit not quite the same kind of image that I imagine your father had in mind when he paraded you out."

Lex shakes his head. "Probably not. My father fluctuated between laissez-faire parenting or intense and disciplinarian. I remember being quizzed on Sun Tzu, Machiavelli, with swift retribution if I gave the wrong answer. No son of Lionel Luthor's was going to be weak and my flaws were drilled out one way or another."

He addresses Adrian's previous statement about different styles and similar goals. "I'm not saying that I believe in fate, but I do think certain things were meant to happen. Without any of that I wouldn't be where I am today and I have no regrets about the place in the world that I've carved for myself." While Lex doesn't always like to necessarily be reminded of his childhood, he doesn't have any great difficulty sharing. How he was raised was simply a fact that he couldn't change. Events that occurred as a result of that however are kept far closer to the chest.

Adrain tries to imagine how things would have been different had his own parents pushed him to succeed instead of holding him back. "I have a feeling that, when we were children, we'd have enjoyed trading places. It's interesting to me, that while you sound as though you didn't appreciate the way you were raised at the time, you do now. It's also interesting to me that you don't mention your mother."

He knows he's probably broached a more personal subject than Lex would have preferred, but something in him wants to push for more. Wants to understand what this man's life was like, what forces made him into the man he is today.

"I wouldn't go so far as to say appreciate," Lex says with a touch more bitterness than he intends. "But I do see the value in certain things."

Adrian's question causes a shift in Lex's demeanor. What easiness the conversation had halts immediately and though he is eating in his own home, his body language reverts to the familiar closed off poise meant for the board room. "She died when I was young," is all that Lex will grant Adrian for the moment until he is given reason to say more. "I think it's your turn."

Edited 2011-08-15 21:36 (UTC)

It's as Adrian suspected, and although he can't say he regrets asking the question (he'll ask it again, worded differently, at another time, because there's a story there and he wants it), he is sorry to have caused the change in atmosphere that descends on them.

Unfortunately, he does perhaps regret the fact that his misstep has pushed his own history back into the spotlight, and it's a few minutes before he responds. When he does, his tone is neutral and light, as if he's speaking about someone he has only a passing familiarity with. "It was very important to my parents that our family maintain the appearance of being utterly normal in every way. And it was made clear to me from an early age that high achievers draw attention, and so I worked very hard to be as average as I possibly could. High marks made my parents uncomfortable, as did exhibiting any special interest in scholarly pursuits, so I did most of my studying on my own in secret."

Lex allows Adrian to speak and eats slowly. His eyes may be turned downward but his every attention is on Adrian's words. He doesn't want to talk about himself just yet, but he does want to continue along this line of conversation. If that makes him a hypocrite he has no qualms with being one.

He finally looks up with a slight tilt of the head to the side, speaking quietly. "What made you want to study despite the attitude of your parents?" His own were quick to squash any desires that didn't coincide with theirs. How he and Adrian were raised so differently is fascinating, and he wants to know more beyond the carefully constructed image that he's been allowed to see. Lex may know Adrian slightly better than the others of this city, but he understands perfectly clearly that Adrian doesn't stop putting on a show just because he is at home.

"I...needed to."

Adrian doesn't infuse much emotion into the things he says -- even when he's passionate or angry about something, it's all still carefully contained. But he also doesn't often converse about topics he hasn't prepared himself for in advance, or discussed repeatedly until he can recite the carefully constructed story in his sleep. This feels uncomfortable, a little dangerous even, but it's also something that he's surprised to realize he might actually want to share.

"I know this sounds like conceit, but I always felt so much smarter than everyone around me. Until I realized how much it upset my parents, I excelled at everything. I was reading books far beyond my years, mastering subjects in school that children twice my age were studying. When I had to start pretending, I read everything I could get my hands on, spent hours at the library pretending to study for classes I barely had to think about to pass. I couldn't stand holding myself back, but I had no other choice."

He takes a deep breath, having said a great deal more than he'd planned, and reaches for his wine. "Which is why once I set out on my own, I promised myself I would never accept anything less than everything I wanted to accomplish."

"And have you?" Lex goes for the follow up question that is the most logical, but also one of the riskiest. He doesn't feel badly about asking, Adrian had done the same. He also knows that the difficult things are best accompanied with something to ease the bitterness. The wine helps them both in that regard, but Lex also knows that Adrian's ego is in play and carefully handles it alongside the question.

"I understand the need for constant improvement, Veidt Enterprises speaks for itself, and not to mention your time as a mask." He sets down his silverware and holds his fingers against the stem of his wineglass. "Back home we talked about mutual goals. Were these in your plans of everything?"

Edited 2011-08-16 06:11 (UTC)

"Not yet." There's no bitterness there, however. Adrian knows his plans are long-term, and although he was very close to being ready when he was snatched up and dropped in Baedal, he also refuses to believe that he can't pick up where he left off as soon as he returns.

He offers a slight smile at the compliment, nodding at Lex's mention of their previous discussions. "In some form, yes. I will admit to adjusting my goals slightly after meeting you, but the ultimate endgame is the same as it's always been. And I won't accept failure at any level, not anymore."

Now Adrian looks up and meets Lex's gaze. "What about your goals? Have they changed at all over the years since you were a child? Did you want something different from what they wanted for you?"

The answer to that one was a mixture of factors. Lex didn't count on Adrian to understand, but this was something that he could reply to without flinching. "I wouldn't say they've completely shifted so much as evolved. Regardless of whether or not I want that position, I am the heir to LuthorCorp. Despite any ideas that my father gets, the company is mine. I used to resent being forced to fill someone else's shoes, but I can have what I want without doing that."

"I progressed from a shy child to an angry one, but I began to realize that embracing my status rather than resisting it bought me the unexpected effect of gaining that independence I wanted. Instead of hiding in my father's shadow I learned to step out of it while still playing by his rules, and I think it scares him." Like Adrian, Lex is certain that his time within Baedal is temporary, and when the time comes to leave he will return with a knowledge none around him can touch, climbing the ladder he'd built for himself. It also wouldn't hurt to put a prodigal son slant on things to thrust him into the spotlight once again.

But that was for the future. "It's like that German proverb: Anger without power is folly." He shakes his head, clearly remembering something of the past. "I had a lot of anger, still do in some ways, admittedly. But someone can't let that be the driving force behind everything they do."

Edited 2011-08-16 08:15 (UTC)

"Were my own parents still alive, I suspect they'd sympathize with your father," Adrian says wryly. He's been listening carefully, and as Lex talks his expression relaxes slowly. Their experiences are too different for Adrian to truly connect with what he's being told, but the results are similar enough for him to at least be able to understand intellectually. And maybe, despite the obvious distaste the other man has for that aspect of his childhood, to feel a little envious of the attention.

The German proverb catches him a little by surprise, although Lex of course would have no idea how appropriate his choice of sources is, and Adrian smiles a little. "True, but they also say: He who conquers his anger has conquered an enemy. Anger will only take you so far. It's when you finally step beyond it that you can act with true clarity." A pause, and then he adds, in a more conversational tone, "Your accent is very good. Did you study German at your boarding school or abroad?"

Lex catches the shift in tone, and it's interesting to note that it's the return proverb that is delivered in a more serious manner than when Adrian is obviously looking for more information. There's something at play with both of these lines of thought, and Lex is going to implement the same kind of strategy he had with Lionel: play by the other's rules to get what you want. While Lex doesn't have the same kind of issues with Adrian as he does with his family, he knows that the man is trying to get at something. After making that realization long ago that this is how Adrian operates, Lex knows that the best thing to do would be to avoid the man altogether. Yet he's always enjoyed playing with fire, and what was more, living with Adrian Veidt was almost a study in himself. They are alike in a lot of ways and nothing feeds the ego more than looking into a mirror.

"A little of both, actually. I studied in school but we have a house in Switzerland so when I went there I had to adapt pretty quickly." He shrugs before reaching for the bottle of wine and topping off his glass and doing the same for Adrian. "Regardless of environment, my accent's more German than Swiss. It's how I first learned and it stuck."

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