Clark debated lying. Pretending that he'd just seen Xander in such a state, he felt compelled to sit next to him and try and comfort him. Xander would see through that, though. Clark nodded slowly. "Yeah," he said. "I was a little...surprised." At least Clark was honest, right? That...was something?

"You're good," he offered, "like...really good." His brow furrowed. "I...mean it as a compliment," he said genuinely. "There was the smallest twinge of..." What? "Envy, though. I could never do that. That takes guts to put yourself out there like that."