Fic: Save a horse... (2/2)
Title: Save a horse… (Part 2/2)
Author: chauve_sourit
Characters: Bruce, Clark
Pairing: Bruce/Clark
Rating: G
Genre: Fluff
Warning: not beta-ed - point and I’ll rush to correct. Also: I know that Arabesque is not a pinto… but it just fit so well. Furthermore, I had to mess with the hitherto timeline. I know I had made them start in the late morning but… well… pretend that they started later. Or that a day has only 12 hours. Or something like that.
Disclaimer: the boys aren’t mine, the story is
Words: 1586
Summary: 2 cowboys and nothing but countryside… Brokeback Mountain, anyone?
This is still for hitokaji ’s birthday and I am very sorry that the second part took so long to finish. I still hope you enjoy and I wish you again a happy birthday! :)
Part 1
“Wow” was all Bruce could manage. He didn’t know a whole lot about horses but he could see that this was a particularly beautiful one. “Can I… touch him?” he said, tentatively putting forth his hand.
“Sure, Aslan is a nice one.” Clark smiled proudly, patting the black stallions chest.
Bruce slowly extended his arm towards the horse’s head, a bit unsure where to touch it. He decided for the cheek and when Aslan didn’t move, his hand softly crept behind the ears and started caressing the neck - a choice the animal clearly appreciated with a content snort, which in turn put a smile on Bruce’s face.
Clark watched this scene of immediate friendship. “Well, you two hit it off quickly.” he grinned, happy that he had managed to mollify his boyfriend’s previous anger.
“How about I finish up with Arabesque, and then I’ll give you a quick introductory lesson?”
Bruce’s eyes widened a little bit but he swallowed down his protest. He had made a fool of himself by dressing like someone from a different planet or so it seemed - the least he could do was to actually sit on a horse, which would be appropriate given his ridiculous attire.
And if he was to ride a horse, he could hardly do better than with his new black friend, Bruce mused, mindlessly stroking Aslan’s neck.
Some thirty minutes later, he cursed his initial lack of protest. In an unnerving flood of commands, Clark kept correcting pretty much everything Bruce did.
“Sit straight. But don’t form a hollow-back. Keep your hands calm. Don’t let the rains hang there just like that but don’t pull too hard on them either. Heels down.”
Bruce couldn’t help but roll his eyes. “Tell me again… why are we doing this?”
“Because it’s fun, Bruce. And unless you get at least a slight grasp on the basics of how to ride a horse, we’ll never be able to make it out into the countryside on a horseback.”, his instructor explained patiently.
“So… tell me again… why were we going to do that?”
“Because it’ll be even more fun. You know, nature, freedom, independence.” Clark gave his lover a good-natured grin that said he didn’t care if Bruce wanted to continue pouting.
“Right. I almost forgot.”, Bruce muttered sarcastically and stared forward, straight through the ears of the black stallion who walked leisurely through the sand of the small hippodrome.
“Okay, I think we’re good here. Don’t sign up for the Olympic Equestrian Team yet but I think you’re good to go for this afternoon.” Clark smiled happily.
Bruce rolled his eyes at the hint of mockery but chose to keep silent.
He watched Clark quickly saddle Arabesque who had been grazing on a nearby meadow during their little lesson. Bruce had to admit that there was an ease in the farmer boy’s movements that he admired - not to mention the view of a pair of jeans tightening around certain areas as the other man mounted the horse.
His musings were interrupted by the click of Clark’s tongue which set both horses in motion.
Remembering his thoughts from the last day and how his friend always tagged along no matter what kind of ventures the billionaire proposed, he promised himself to try to enjoy this trip into Clark’s world.
Soon after, Bruce had to admit that taking pleasure in being outside in the nature wasn’t all that hard. He got used to Aslan’s rhythmic movement and took in his surroundings from a completely new viewpoint - metaphorically as well as literally.
“Pretty cool, huh?” Clark softly interrupted Bruce’s thoughts.
“Oh yeah.” Bruce sighed mindlessly and when he turned his head, he found that his friend had been watching him for what seems like quite some time. “Now I know why you made me do this.”
Clark smiled silently, looking as if he was to say something but tore his eyes away from Bruce to inspect the scenery ahead of them.
“How about some faster pace? Gallop?” he proposed.
Bruce felt a little squeamish in his stomach but he was too proud to admit the slight fear slowly spreading through his veins. “Sure” he mumbled through clenched teeth, hoping that the Men of Steel remembered that only one of them was invulnerable.
Clark signaled his horse to speed up which was enough of an indication for Aslan to follow their example and fall into a quicker pace as well.
Looking back over his shoulder, Clark shouted “Just relax. The worst you can do is to get all cramped and unsettle your horse.”, an advise Bruce answered with a grunt. Right… because it was all that easy, right?
It took him a minute or two to realize that indeed it was that easy. Slowly, he relaxed and joined Aslan’s movements and suddenly it hit him that he was having fun.
The two men spent the rest of the afternoon this way, without exchanging more than a couple of words, only rarely commenting on the nature or announcing where to go next.
Bruce didn’t have the slightest idea where they were but he figured that Clark had done this hundreds of times during his childhood and adolescence.
Passing cornfields, meadows, forests and rivers, the two of them enjoyed taking in the ever-changing landscape of rural Kansas.
“This is it.”, Clark announced as they stopped in front of a barn.
Bruce looked around. “What is what?” He didn’t quite know why, of all things, this place merited descending from the horses. For one thing he was getting hungry and wasn’t sure he cared to take a break from what was hopefully their way back to the Kent farm. He was also a bit afraid of what his butt would feel like when he had to mount Aslan again.
“It’s dinner. You can leave the horses here while we eat - they can have their own dinner and we’ll have an eye on them.”, Clark said, walking into the barn as if it was the most natural thing to do.
Bruce slowly followed him, not sure if he liked the idea of intruding just like that. Turning around the corner, he saw the answer to his questions.
In front of the barn, there was a small fireplace made of logs of wood, surrounded by stones.
“Wow…” Bruce said in utter amazement. “This is like… what other kids told me it looks like when they talked about summer camps.”
“I had hoped you like it.” Clark smiled proudly. “Of course, the flashy cool bag over there doesn’t quite fit the image. But for the sake of convenience I figured, you would do with a little anachronism.”
With that he used his heat vision to light the fire.
“Is that what they taught you at the boy scouts?” Bruce couldn’t help but snortle.
“Not really.” Clark said, unable to hide a little frown. Seeing the concern in his lovers’s eyes, he quickly changed the topic, urging him to inspect the cool bag.
Peeking in the bag, Bruce let out an appreciate whistle. “It seems you went all out. Meat, potatoes, strawberries, wine and… yikes… what is this?”, the city boy eyed a bowl of some light squishy mass of… something.
“It’s dough for twist bread, why? Wait… don’t tell me you never had twist bread before?”
Looking into Bruce’s blank expression, Clark couldn’t believe what he had just learnt. “Oh, you’re so in for a treat.”
Over the next hour or so, the boys enjoyed an abundant bonfire dinner, with grilled sausages, potatoes in aluminum foil, the notorious twist bread and roasted marshmallows.
Bruce couldn’t find words for how much he enjoyed this new experience, whereas Clark was glad to share a piece of his childhood with someone dear to him.
As the sun set, they lay in the grass by the embers, lazily feeding each other strawberries, watching the orange sun that had turned the sky purple.
“I’m so glad we did this. All of it.” Bruce began slowly.
“Me too. You did damn fine for someone who had never been on the back of a horse. You see… I never had anyone to come here with me. It’s not something my Dad would ever do for pleasure, to him the horses are tools to work the farm. To me, they’re just so much more, especially Aslan.”
Bruce could hear the warmth in his Clark’s voice when he spoke about the black stallion. “You really seem to love him.”
“I do. I really find that being on the back of a horse changes the way you look at things. There’s something soothing about being so close to someone, without them judging you for the way you look or if you’re different from everybody else.” Clark trailed off.
Realizing how important this topic was for his friend, Bruce felt the need to apologize. “Listen… I’m sorry that I was a pain this morning.” he started. “I didn’t mean to, really. I guess, I was just… scared. Sometimes, when things are new to me, I don’t know how to act appropriately.”
He realized that he wasn’t talking solely about horseback riding anymore but continued, the insecurity palpable in his voice. “I wish there was a manual, something for me to study, so that I’m prepared and I won’t look like a fool when I don’t know what to do.”
Clark slowly searched Bruce’s hand and squeezed it lightly. “Let me say this again… you’re doing damn fine.”
-----
Note: So, does anyone else not know what twist bread is? It’s super common in my region but… well, who knows what people in, say, Gotham grew up with… ;)
Author: chauve_sourit
Characters: Bruce, Clark
Pairing: Bruce/Clark
Rating: G
Genre: Fluff
Warning: not beta-ed - point and I’ll rush to correct. Also: I know that Arabesque is not a pinto… but it just fit so well. Furthermore, I had to mess with the hitherto timeline. I know I had made them start in the late morning but… well… pretend that they started later. Or that a day has only 12 hours. Or something like that.
Disclaimer: the boys aren’t mine, the story is
Words: 1586
Summary: 2 cowboys and nothing but countryside… Brokeback Mountain, anyone?
This is still for hitokaji ’s birthday and I am very sorry that the second part took so long to finish. I still hope you enjoy and I wish you again a happy birthday! :)
Part 1
“Wow” was all Bruce could manage. He didn’t know a whole lot about horses but he could see that this was a particularly beautiful one. “Can I… touch him?” he said, tentatively putting forth his hand.
“Sure, Aslan is a nice one.” Clark smiled proudly, patting the black stallions chest.
Bruce slowly extended his arm towards the horse’s head, a bit unsure where to touch it. He decided for the cheek and when Aslan didn’t move, his hand softly crept behind the ears and started caressing the neck - a choice the animal clearly appreciated with a content snort, which in turn put a smile on Bruce’s face.
Clark watched this scene of immediate friendship. “Well, you two hit it off quickly.” he grinned, happy that he had managed to mollify his boyfriend’s previous anger.
“How about I finish up with Arabesque, and then I’ll give you a quick introductory lesson?”
Bruce’s eyes widened a little bit but he swallowed down his protest. He had made a fool of himself by dressing like someone from a different planet or so it seemed - the least he could do was to actually sit on a horse, which would be appropriate given his ridiculous attire.
And if he was to ride a horse, he could hardly do better than with his new black friend, Bruce mused, mindlessly stroking Aslan’s neck.
Some thirty minutes later, he cursed his initial lack of protest. In an unnerving flood of commands, Clark kept correcting pretty much everything Bruce did.
“Sit straight. But don’t form a hollow-back. Keep your hands calm. Don’t let the rains hang there just like that but don’t pull too hard on them either. Heels down.”
Bruce couldn’t help but roll his eyes. “Tell me again… why are we doing this?”
“Because it’s fun, Bruce. And unless you get at least a slight grasp on the basics of how to ride a horse, we’ll never be able to make it out into the countryside on a horseback.”, his instructor explained patiently.
“So… tell me again… why were we going to do that?”
“Because it’ll be even more fun. You know, nature, freedom, independence.” Clark gave his lover a good-natured grin that said he didn’t care if Bruce wanted to continue pouting.
“Right. I almost forgot.”, Bruce muttered sarcastically and stared forward, straight through the ears of the black stallion who walked leisurely through the sand of the small hippodrome.
“Okay, I think we’re good here. Don’t sign up for the Olympic Equestrian Team yet but I think you’re good to go for this afternoon.” Clark smiled happily.
Bruce rolled his eyes at the hint of mockery but chose to keep silent.
He watched Clark quickly saddle Arabesque who had been grazing on a nearby meadow during their little lesson. Bruce had to admit that there was an ease in the farmer boy’s movements that he admired - not to mention the view of a pair of jeans tightening around certain areas as the other man mounted the horse.
His musings were interrupted by the click of Clark’s tongue which set both horses in motion.
Remembering his thoughts from the last day and how his friend always tagged along no matter what kind of ventures the billionaire proposed, he promised himself to try to enjoy this trip into Clark’s world.
Soon after, Bruce had to admit that taking pleasure in being outside in the nature wasn’t all that hard. He got used to Aslan’s rhythmic movement and took in his surroundings from a completely new viewpoint - metaphorically as well as literally.
“Pretty cool, huh?” Clark softly interrupted Bruce’s thoughts.
“Oh yeah.” Bruce sighed mindlessly and when he turned his head, he found that his friend had been watching him for what seems like quite some time. “Now I know why you made me do this.”
Clark smiled silently, looking as if he was to say something but tore his eyes away from Bruce to inspect the scenery ahead of them.
“How about some faster pace? Gallop?” he proposed.
Bruce felt a little squeamish in his stomach but he was too proud to admit the slight fear slowly spreading through his veins. “Sure” he mumbled through clenched teeth, hoping that the Men of Steel remembered that only one of them was invulnerable.
Clark signaled his horse to speed up which was enough of an indication for Aslan to follow their example and fall into a quicker pace as well.
Looking back over his shoulder, Clark shouted “Just relax. The worst you can do is to get all cramped and unsettle your horse.”, an advise Bruce answered with a grunt. Right… because it was all that easy, right?
It took him a minute or two to realize that indeed it was that easy. Slowly, he relaxed and joined Aslan’s movements and suddenly it hit him that he was having fun.
The two men spent the rest of the afternoon this way, without exchanging more than a couple of words, only rarely commenting on the nature or announcing where to go next.
Bruce didn’t have the slightest idea where they were but he figured that Clark had done this hundreds of times during his childhood and adolescence.
Passing cornfields, meadows, forests and rivers, the two of them enjoyed taking in the ever-changing landscape of rural Kansas.
“This is it.”, Clark announced as they stopped in front of a barn.
Bruce looked around. “What is what?” He didn’t quite know why, of all things, this place merited descending from the horses. For one thing he was getting hungry and wasn’t sure he cared to take a break from what was hopefully their way back to the Kent farm. He was also a bit afraid of what his butt would feel like when he had to mount Aslan again.
“It’s dinner. You can leave the horses here while we eat - they can have their own dinner and we’ll have an eye on them.”, Clark said, walking into the barn as if it was the most natural thing to do.
Bruce slowly followed him, not sure if he liked the idea of intruding just like that. Turning around the corner, he saw the answer to his questions.
In front of the barn, there was a small fireplace made of logs of wood, surrounded by stones.
“Wow…” Bruce said in utter amazement. “This is like… what other kids told me it looks like when they talked about summer camps.”
“I had hoped you like it.” Clark smiled proudly. “Of course, the flashy cool bag over there doesn’t quite fit the image. But for the sake of convenience I figured, you would do with a little anachronism.”
With that he used his heat vision to light the fire.
“Is that what they taught you at the boy scouts?” Bruce couldn’t help but snortle.
“Not really.” Clark said, unable to hide a little frown. Seeing the concern in his lovers’s eyes, he quickly changed the topic, urging him to inspect the cool bag.
Peeking in the bag, Bruce let out an appreciate whistle. “It seems you went all out. Meat, potatoes, strawberries, wine and… yikes… what is this?”, the city boy eyed a bowl of some light squishy mass of… something.
“It’s dough for twist bread, why? Wait… don’t tell me you never had twist bread before?”
Looking into Bruce’s blank expression, Clark couldn’t believe what he had just learnt. “Oh, you’re so in for a treat.”
Over the next hour or so, the boys enjoyed an abundant bonfire dinner, with grilled sausages, potatoes in aluminum foil, the notorious twist bread and roasted marshmallows.
Bruce couldn’t find words for how much he enjoyed this new experience, whereas Clark was glad to share a piece of his childhood with someone dear to him.
As the sun set, they lay in the grass by the embers, lazily feeding each other strawberries, watching the orange sun that had turned the sky purple.
“I’m so glad we did this. All of it.” Bruce began slowly.
“Me too. You did damn fine for someone who had never been on the back of a horse. You see… I never had anyone to come here with me. It’s not something my Dad would ever do for pleasure, to him the horses are tools to work the farm. To me, they’re just so much more, especially Aslan.”
Bruce could hear the warmth in his Clark’s voice when he spoke about the black stallion. “You really seem to love him.”
“I do. I really find that being on the back of a horse changes the way you look at things. There’s something soothing about being so close to someone, without them judging you for the way you look or if you’re different from everybody else.” Clark trailed off.
Realizing how important this topic was for his friend, Bruce felt the need to apologize. “Listen… I’m sorry that I was a pain this morning.” he started. “I didn’t mean to, really. I guess, I was just… scared. Sometimes, when things are new to me, I don’t know how to act appropriately.”
He realized that he wasn’t talking solely about horseback riding anymore but continued, the insecurity palpable in his voice. “I wish there was a manual, something for me to study, so that I’m prepared and I won’t look like a fool when I don’t know what to do.”
Clark slowly searched Bruce’s hand and squeezed it lightly. “Let me say this again… you’re doing damn fine.”
-----
Note: So, does anyone else not know what twist bread is? It’s super common in my region but… well, who knows what people in, say, Gotham grew up with… ;)