2013.10.19 - Family Meeting

Lex was sitting in the boardroom. His eyes were glancing over forms as he was waiting for his company to arrive. By now it was seven P.M. long post the time the board was sent home hours away. Wearing the dark grey suit with a white shirt, vest and tie. He just kept reading forms until the sound of the door opened. "I fear the Greeks even when bearing gifts," Lex said and looked to his son. His green eyes had taken in his offsrping and it was clear there were many things on his mind.
"If she planted little men inside the dog, I'm going to be scared," Leo responds. And Leo is holding a black leash, the dog himself wears a black collar with silver studs on it. And the dog? Well...
A Great Dane. Apparently Emma thought his apartment large enough to handle him. He has a base of white with black spots, one of which is over his right eye, while his left eye looks like it has some mascara on it. It makes a sound in it's throat, like it is about to bark, but doesn't.
Leo uses the hand holding the leash to pet the dog's head, "Ya, that's my Father. He's pretty cool, huh?" And the young man smiles a bit as he uses his free hand to close the door behind him. He then looks back up at Lex, "Thought you like to meet the dangerous gift. I decided to call him Bandit." Yes, he brought a dog into your boardroom.
"The Shaws are manipulative son. Let's examine the evidence, shall we?" normally Lex would have paid the dog more attention but more pressing matter were on his mind. He looked at Leo, "Take Miss Frost for example. Ignore the anger you feel rising in you. She often claimed to be saved by him and I know he pulled her from a different life. We both agree Shaw is a shell of a once great man," he gestured for his son to sit if he hadn't. 
"Yet at every turn Emma is there with Shaw like a lost puppy dog. She claims to do it by choice, but he provided her with gifts, trinkets, a new life and now she is loyal to him toward a fault. And now let's look at you. New Dog, striving for approval as a young Miss Frost must have whilst getting used to her new life. She had to cut things out of her life in order to adjust a thing that she did happily I can imagine. With you it's trickier and they're using me to cut myself out of your life," Lex paused letting all of that settle in. His green eyes watched Leo for a second, "Calm what you feel and look at the evidence logically it is all I ask of you this evening."
"The Shaws? If you mean Mr. Shaw, you stopped me from killing the bastard if you remember." Leo sighs, and moves to take a seat, unclipping the leash from the dog's collar. As soon as Leo sits and stretches out his legs, the large dog tries to climb into his lap. Leo just seems to ignore the awkward action of the Great Dane trying to be a lap dog.
"And I know what Mr. Shaw did for her." He doesn't explain how, but he sounds serious rather than dismissive about it. "But honestly, she puts too much emphasis on it. He gave her an opportunity and she took it. She ascended to her position under her own power, determination, and strength."
Leo shakes his head slightly, "You don't have to worry about ever losing me Father. My loyalty is first and foremost with you. I wouldn't trust anyone else at my back more than you. And the only way I'd ever join that damn club, is to watch your back. I don't trust Mr. Shaw at all. I must agree, I do think he manipulates her, but I don't think Emma is malicious in her interest in me. It would have to be one hell of an elaborate ploy, and considering Emma's obession with emotions, I highly doubt it is." Her obession with emotions huh?
"But I understand your concern and will be watchful. I got a bad feeling Mr. Shaw is going to come looking for me sooner or later, much to my -great- annoyance." And Leo scowls at that. He really isn't happy with being in that man's presence.
Bandit gets half way into Leo's lap and lifts his head to try and lick Leo's chin. He keeps moving his face just out of the reach of the tongue.
"Shaw's comment about committing patricide. He was happy to see me usurp your Grandfather. Now he is planting the seeds out there for you to do the same," he said firmly. Lex's eyes went to bandit. Then he went to Leo, "You know I was trying to pursue Emma romantically, correct?" 
He sighed "I was given advice by Shaw, took it wrong, failed badly. At other times I failed badly without advice. They both knew I was after her," then he looked at his son, "And I know they are trying to use me against you because of what Miss Frost said to me in my head. She told me that she found you more attractive than me. This was probably used to create jealousy from me toward you." He paused for a moment and sighed, "But I know when I'm being played." 
"You will be given praise, gifts like Bandit, their praise and already expressing a desire for you to be in their little useless club. All of it will result into positive reinforcement in order for you to continue to please them efficiently. Before you realize it, the damage will be done," Lex looked back at Leo. His eyes examining his son, "Look at the Hellfire club itself if you wish. It's a club or organization as Shaw insists it's to change the world to how the world sees it, but really it's his club. What he lacks is the various resources other members have. They become added into the collective and he just gains power. However the members see it as a opportunity to change the world under a collective mentality," getting out of the chair Lex went into his office. A hand grabbed a bottle of bourbon, and the other snagged a spirit glass. Setting the glass down he poured it, "But every member is so very wrong. It all goes to Shaw. In a perfect world it would be Shaw in his grand master position, his black King position and White Queen controlling some mindless asshole. Think of it like game of Thrones with prince Joffery when they are first manipulated by their mother."
A blink from Leo, as something links. He winces. "He must have been really bad for you to do so Father." Leo didn't link it, he refused to, entrusting his Father to tell him what he wanted to know. As for the romanatic comment, he nods. "I suppose you had some purpose in doing so." He doesn't think is Father is much interested in people romanatically, so he hasn't thought too much about it. Though, he has apparently known...likely Emma tattling.
Leo scowls at the words you tell him that Emma relayed to you. He's not happy about them at all. He also keeps his mouth very well -closed- this time. He finally starts to pay a bit of attention to the dog, rubbing and patting its back. "If I join, as I said, it would be to protect you Father. And of course with the ultimate goal of upsurping Mr. Shaw. He knows it as well, my opinion of him, and that I would gladly seize power from him. I am like you, I like to move forward in time rather than backwards. Humanity deserves protectors, it needs protectors."
Leo's blue eyes that are so much like his Father's then lift up to the man he adores. "Those protectors are the Luthors. Not the Shaws, not the Frosts. We both have our strengths, and together, anything is possible. And as time moves on and I gain more experience, I will have the confidence to stand by your side, Father. It's the place I want to be at most, where I feel like we are partners. As I am now though...I know I'm lacking." He ruffles the dog's ears.
Bandit pants with his tongue hanging out, apparently very happy with the situation. His tail wags.
"You gave me a chance to experience the world, to dream, to grow, to -fly-." Leo looks down at his dog, seeming a bit embarrassed. "I guess from what I observed from others, that would classify you as my hero, Father."
A smile pulled at Lex's lips as Leo called him his hero. "Thank you Leopold. It means a lot to me son." He noted the change in emotion. Therapy was going to be ended. A bit of it to control the anger and emotion. Not turn him off. That would have been wrong. However there was a time and place for everything. Leo needed to learn to keep things in check. Thinking on it Lex said, "Keep doing what you're doing." That was all he had to say on that matter. "You just need to be aware of things that are happening behind the curtain." Shaw was trying to pull a few ones over on Lex while using Leo as a chess piece within the same swing.
A nod a that. Leo was born with a nasty temper, one Lex always worked to have him restrain it. Since released in the real world, the incident at Emma's was the closest to having it released since then. And the reason? Protecting his Father's honor. A quiet mmmm, "Yes sir," he says, not really understanding everything his Father meant, but he understood most of it. He looks up from the attentions he was giving to the dog. "Have you gotten a chance to look into Julian Keller?"
"Not yet that's what I'm doing after I solve this next problem," Lex said his mind working overdrive right now. Issues needed to be solved first. Rapping the table a few times, "What are your thoughts on the situation? We're both being used to the ends of an organization so some people can play their little games." Oddly enough this was Leo's first political game. How Leo saw it would have determined how to guide him, if at all. Sometimes Leo's intelligence was surprising.
"Shaw is an ass. Not letting him get to you would be difficult. The key is to find something he wants and hold it ransom one might say. But I wouldn't bother unless you really find his resources worth while. If you really deem their resources worthwhile, then I'll join to have your back. Emma is easy. She wants me to like her, she wants me to grow in power. I doubt she would even step in the way if I overthrew Shaw, though I haven't the means, power, or experience to do so. The key to Emma is not Mr. Shaw, it's making her feel wanted or needed. She likes to take care of people, to watch them grow. She wants to give other people what she never had." His eyes flicker over to Lex, carefully weighing his next words.
"Opportunity, security, and stability. She wants to challenge youth, but also be there to catch them. She likes the idea I believe of being seen as others protector, their friend, the one they can depend on. Not so she can betray them, but so she can be loved by them."
Leo stops paying attention the dog, his expression falling deep in thought. "I understand those feelings. As a result, I'm an ideal interest to her, but certainly not from a romantic perspective. It means also that I have the potential to be able to manipulate her, if I am careful. Even if she discovered my desire to manipulate her, she would likely find it 'cute' and aim to indulge if possible as she would approve of my efforts."
Shaking his head at one part of Leo's speech, "Emma is a telepath and a powerful one. She will protect Shaw at all cost. I've never had to tell you to trust me before but trust me on this one," he said firmly. Emma was never going to leave Shaw's side. At the moment she was still too much the same girl he had taken in. "She wants to challenge the youth for her own goal but he own goal will never be without Shaw." 
God he did not want to say this next part. "You say you want to manipulate Emma. You can and will one day, but at the moment she can dance circles around you. She will probably make it look like you're manipulating her then you will be trapped because she is that good." He looked at his son with a pained expression, "She has ten years on you while being taught by Shaw directly before senility kicked in. Her telepathy will be used against you so she can see what you're doing then she will used that against you." The last part was an educated guess. Between knowing she had peaked around in his own head he only imagined what meetings with a board room and her would be like.
Leo falls thoughtful. "She has technology to block telepathy, she has entrusted it to Mr. Shaw. That will be a mile stone, obtaining that technology. Perhaps I really am looking too far into the future, and I need to be careful. One step at a time, so I do not stumble and fall."
His face gets licked by Bandit, and Leo sighs. He pats the dog again, absently paying attention to it which seems to still make the dog happy. "I will be careful, Father. In the meantime, we should search for something of great importance to Mr. Shaw, or somethings. Perhaps we should dig into his past, and not just his current activities." Leo then tilts his head to see if this is enough to get on to the current project.
"Learn about the Hellfire Club's history. I'm sure either would help you," Lex had thought about Leo could do. "If you are to be the Prince you have to learn the History," he nodded to his own words. Taking the glass he sipped his drink and thought about the neural inhibitor, "Give that one time. That will take patience." Leo's points weren't unfounded but things needed to be secret.
"Very well, I will look over the history." And Leo doesn't expect it very soon, but if he obtained it, that would be a milestone. Still, "Anything further on this matter?" He is double checking.
Bandit finally gets bored harassing Leo and slides off his lap. He goes walking about the boardroom, sniffing around as he starts to head toward Lex.
Extending a hand toward Bandit. Waiting for the dog to sniff and trust him, "That is all on the matter. We could talk about dinner. I'm in the mood for steak, how does that sound? We can grab something and bring it back with us. Get something for Bandit too, how about it?" he asked looking toward his son. Lionel Luthor had never thought of spending time like this or offering to accept a family dog. For a brief moment this brought Lex solace.
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