Ya’ll thought I forgot, right? Admit it.
Okay, so after…approximately a year and literally four discarded drafts (three of which had parts which were posted at one point or another), one major plot overhaul, and a considerable amount of sulking and stomping on my part — the third part of the Conflicts of Interest trilogy is finally — and thank GOD — officially underway.
Just a little snapshot from it:
Arc, the very first opening scene
Conner found out his dad was running for president when he stepped out of Whole Foods with half a brownie hanging out of his mouth and got assaulted by the entire North American press corps.
“Conner—do you have any comment on your father’s decision to enter the Democratic primary?†somebody had shouted at him, to which Conner felt compelled to reply, “What the fuck?†and drop his groceries in the process, eggs splattering across the pavement.
It was moments like this, Conner reflected glumly five minutes later, down on his hands and knees crawling out from a mass of flashbulbs and screamed questions, that he really wished that Superman could make a brief reappearance. As it was, Clark was probably at home, freaking out next to some kind of transmitter that hooked up to an implanted GPS slash radio that relayed Conner’s every move. Conner loved his father, but he had no illusions as to the depth of Lex Luthor’s crazy: it was dark and magical and extremely hi-tech.
It was pure luck that let Conner slip away from the madding crowd and down into the Norlina subway stop, half tumbling down two steep flights of stairs and dashing through the turnstile as he swiped his card. Conner was pretty sure he lost a chunk of his hair to the closing subway car doors but the entertainment value of seeing Melissa O’Brian from Action New 16 with her face pressed up against the glass in what looked like an extremely painful way was worth it.
As soon as the car started peeling away from the station—and Melissa O’Brian’s considerable amount of concealer—Conner dug through his jean pockets, tugging out his cell phone and stabbing speed dial four, and as soon as he heard his father pick up he yelled, “You’re running for president?â€
Lex made a dismissive noise.
“Dad,†Conner promised, “I’m going to kill you!â€
“Conner, really, don’t you think you’re overreacting a little?†Lex asked, voice wry. “It’s not as if you didn’t see this coming after my last senate race.â€
In the background, Conner could hear Clark saying, “I told you we should have had a family meeting.â€
“I was just attacked by like, three-quarters of the reporters in America!†Conner shouted over the sound of the rails. “I would know! I’ve spell-checked half of them!â€
“I left you a voicemail,†his dad said evenly. Conner pulled his phone away to glare at the display, and there it was in the right hand corner of the screen: 1 new voicemail. “You should really check your messages more,†Lex was saying when Conner brought the phone back to his ear.
Conner tore at his hair. “I was coming out of the grocery store,†he moaned. “I was eating a brownie. I was coming out of the grocery store eating a brownie and then I dropped my groceries and now the only things in my refrigerator are a thing of mustard and Geoffrey’s God damn eye drops!â€
“He should really just go to my ophthalmologist for that,†Lex chided.
“You suck!†Conner snapped and hung up, snapping his phone shut. And wasn’t until he leaned against a handrail, running his hands through his hair, that noticed everybody else in the subway car was staring at him. Wincing, Conner waved awkwardly. “Sorry. You know. About that.â€
A guy in a hoodie gave him a sympathetic look. “Dude,†he said to Conner. “You know—it’s not like everybody didn’t see this presidential run coming.â€
Conner gaped at him. The rest of the people in the car nodded.
After the Smallville High Brain Trust had strung Conner up half-naked and beaten and concussed in a field, Conner’s lifetime of media invisibility had dissolved. No one could have stopped the tsunami of public interest and it was only worse because Conner refused each and every single interview request—and still did when they trickled in one or two every season. It was nobody’s business. Conner knew the Luthor family notoriety was equal parts boon and bane—but at least he had money and bodyguards and an army of lawyers, all three of which Terry and Whitney had none.
So it had been weird to come back to Metropolis and get recognized—and even though it’d been a decade since Smallville and the corn field and the worst teen angst outing ever, Conner was still shy to be recognized. And everybody—Conner could tell—in that train car recognized him.
“It’s true,†a girl nearby said, her glasses glinting in the light. She held up a flier. “There’s actually a Luthor for America meet-up tonight at the Pinter Center at MetU.â€
“I got a Facebook message about that,†somebody else piped up. “What time is it supposed to be?â€
The girl looked to the left. “Starts at 7:30—they’re ordering pizza.â€
“Arriving at West Eden, with transfers to lines three and four,†the mechanized announcer said as the subway car screeched to a halt.
“I’m gonna kill him,†Conner muttered, and stomped out of the train car.
*
TBC!
Oh man! I just read the first two parts of that this weekend (just getting into smallville lately) and i’m super psyched that there is a third coming!
(ps the first two are amazingly amazing)
Argh, I think my comment was eaten by my attempt to log in to open ID.
anyway…this snippet is great!
I just found the first two parts of this over the weekend and i devoured them. It’s exciting to see more! Well done!
eaten again! either you are going to have 85 comments from me, or open id hates me deeply.
this is what i tried to say last time:
“Argh, I think my comment was eaten by my attempt to log in to open ID.
anyway…this snippet is great!
I just found the first two parts of this over the weekend and i devoured them. It’s exciting to see more! Well done!”
YAYYYYYYYY!!!!!! BEST START EVER!
Ohmigod. I am filled with enormous amounts of glee that you’re starting this again! I jumped up and clapped my hands, giggling, at no less than five points in this opening scene. Brilliant!
That was too short!
A guy in a hoodie gave him a sympathetic look. “Dude,†he said to Conner. “You know—it’s not like everybody didn’t see this presidential run coming.â€
Conner gaped at him. The rest of the people in the car nodded.
Poor Conner, so oblivious.
Conner was pretty sure he lost a chunk of his hair to the closing subway car doors but the entertainment value of seeing Melissa O’Brian from Action New 16 with her face pressed up against the glass in what looked like an extremely painful way was worth it.
Hee! Wonderful! Oops, News is missing it’s ‘S’.
OMG! I honestly had given up hope that there would be more of this! That was a really awesome beginning to what I hope will be another fic as long as Visiting Hours or Conflicts of interest. Seriously! I dont think I could ever get enough of this universe, I always want more and more so I hope you keep enabling my obsession!
Starting back into this universe again, eh? I knew you couldn’t leave it alone. Too many stories to tell. It’s like a drug. Have fun, and don’t let yourself get too stressed over it. You’ll do just fine. You’ve made a good foray back into it with this tentative footstep. :)
Seriously, you’re off to a good start. Couldn’t keep away, what with all the stories left to tell from this universe, eh? More awkward tales from the gay side. Good for you!
Thankyou, Thankyou. Oh my God, I love Conner and Geoffrey, nd crazy crazy Lex and less crazy but still worried!Clark.
Seriously, thankyou.
(Do you think Gibbs and DiNozzo might make an appearance…?)
I just read CoI for the first time like, 2 weeks ago. And now there’s ging to be more. I - YAY!
YAY! More CoI! Can’t wait.
Actually, comment not eaten — the way that my spam filter works is that I have to approve first time commentors. So usually you just have to give it a couple of hours for me to get around to approving it, no need to double (or triple) comment.
I’m very, very excited. I love that everyone on the subway knew about Lex’s presidential run before Connor did. And I’m looking forward to more details about that, because, considering “On the Road”, you writing about politics may be the best thing ever to happen in the world of fanfiction.
EEEeeee!!!!
This just totally made my day. I re-read the Conflicts of Interests ‘verse on a regular basis.
Yay! Oh, how I missed you, CoI-verse.
speed dial 4.
Oh yay!
Yaaaaay! *does the happy-la-la-dance* You just have a certain way with words that makes me laugh and squee.
Pru, I’m sorry, but I wrote those comments rather late at night and I thought I was losing my mind. Sometimes I think I’ve commented, but I actually haven’t. So, it was actually me, thinking I had another brain fart. That’s dementia for you!
Wheeee! I’m so ridiculously excited…Connor being recognised by the people on the subway, all of whom are casual and affirmative, just made my day.
Lex being speed-dial four made my WEEK.
And Connor spell-checking half the reporters in America makes me grin.
I totally thought you forgot about this–I remember reading the first snippet, and then I could never find it on your LJ or your site, and I seriously thought I’d lost my mind.
this is me shaking my head going, this is ten kinds of wrong…WHY AM I READING IT?!?!?!? *facedesk* whatever. it’s charming and cute, and once again, WHY AM I READING IT?! this is something i’m going to say with each successive chapter, until i nurse the pain away with “stitch and bitch.”
and, as you can tell from this comment, i am not dead. though it appears to be something i’m attempting with the chain smoking. 12:41 pm- i’m on pack number 2 for today. \o/
Awesome! So very happy to learn you’re writing Arc again. Favorite line:
Conner loved his father, but he had no illusions as to the depth of Lex Luthor’s crazy: it was dark and magical and extremely hi-tech.
Oh yeah, I *love* your Conner stories. He’s definitely the best original character based on an existing character I’ve ever read.
It’s funny how much this story makes me happy.
Reading that Conflicts of Interest is being continued makes me deeply happy in ways you cannot possibly fathom. There are sparkles, GROWING IN MY SOUL in with the shower of joy that this has sprinkled on it.
This is made of win, and I’m so happy to see more of it. (And I bet when he comes home there is a fridge full of groceries and a pie.)
I cannot express the amount of love that I have for this story. Really, really can’t. It rocks. You rock. Connor rocks. You get the picture. And you do a fantastic job of transmitting the craziness that is a high-profile political campaign.
*happy, happy, happy*