Of Beaches, Sunburn, and Tidal Waves
Title: Of Beaches, Sunburn, and Tidal waves
Fandom: DCU
Pairings: Clark/Bruce, John/Wally, Steve/Diana
Characters: Clark Kent/Superman, Bruce Wayne/Batman, Diana/Wonder Woman, Steve Trevor, Shayera Hol/Hawkgirl, John Stewart/Green Lantern, Wally West/The Flash, Oliver Queen/Green Arrow, Arthur Curry/Aquaman
Word Count: 3,543
Rating: PG...for the most part
Warnings: None
Synopsis: Summer is a strange magical time...a time for vacations, romance, and water wars!!
This was written for bradygirl_12's Summer-By-the-Sea Challenge.
Prompts used: Eh...you figure it out. I think there's a bit of everything in there! :)
I think I may write another. This...is one big piece of fluff. ^-^
Of Beaches, Sunburn, and Tidal waves:
The skies were clear today.
There wasn’t an ounce of white to tarnish the everlasting blue of the skies above or the highlighted streams of sunlight. The sun shone brightly overhead, warm compared to the scorching days of summer that had passed. It was a relief, but merely a break in the summer heat, and perfect weather for a little get together on a beach somewhere.
Arthur had been insistent upon it, and the other leaguers had agreed.
It was time for a mini-vacation.
A three day weekend filled with nothing more than sun, surf, sand, and relaxation.
Even Batman had agreed to go, which was a nice little shock for Flash thinking that he might get away with a prank or five. Green Lantern was shocked as well, but more from Wally thinking that he would have time to do anything but be lain up.
He was going to have to fix that, which got a laugh out of Superman.
The soft winds of a mild heat reminded Clark that he was actually out here; out in the middle of a beach with people of all shapes and types waltzing about without a care in the world. Children were laughing and running toward and away from the rolling waves of white and blue crashing gently into the shore. Parents were lain out on their blankets soaking up the sun and a moment of peace, and others were playing in the sand, building sand castles or burying their loved ones, or just throwing it up as they ran around in circles.
He’d almost forgotten what it was like to relax; to just watch people as they were when life wasn’t an emergency. He closed his eyes and let the sun take him to that place he could stay lost in if he were sleeping.
“This is where I have to hate you,” he heard Wally say. The speedster was lying out on his blanket, under the green parasol John had rented for them for the day. His skin was slick with sun block, bits of it covered in sand from a recent application. He lifted his shades and stared at Clark smiling at him as if this were the most natural thing in the world.
As if.
“Did he get all of you this time?” Clark asked.
Wally snorted and turned around and over, laying on his arms and stomach. His form fitting red swim trunks fell a little lower, but he didn’t care. “Yep…seriously, how do you get sunburned on your ass??”
“Maybe it had something to do with that speedo?”
“Maybe…but I was H-O-T that day,” Wally smirked. “If my ass wasn’t sunburned…it would have been later on.”
Clark hit him lightly on his shoulder. “I’m sure,” he snorted. “Do I have to guess that was why you were late coming out of your room?”
“No. You can assume that was the reason…all the more reason not to move.”
He laughed and turned back to the ocean in time to see two forms racing along the shore line with all their might. The Marine against the Billionaire, and it didn’t look like there was much leeway between them. The smiles on their faces, however, were enough to get a laugh out of Clark and Wally watching the competitive silliness of a race that wouldn’t have a clear victory. But they ran on, kicking up sand and racing through the gentle waves pooling in their quick footprints left behind in their haste to get to their finish line.
Their finish line was waiting for them, her hands up in the air and body glistening against the summer sun. She surely was a work of the gods, clad in a bright bikini that was almost a second skin. Her shapely hips and legs, long and sure of their stance in the sand, were clad in a sheer pale rose wraparound that traveled and ended at the length of her knees. She smiled brightly, waving at the two men making their final move and sprinting for her position.
They weren’t counting on a late comer getting in on the action, or for that late comer to skid right in front of them and splash them both with water from the clear blue waves. And it wasn’t just a little water. They were drenched, stopped cold in their tracks and forced to retreat from their goal which laughed at them.
John looked over at Bruce. Bruce looked over at John. Both men huffed and glared at the one who had invited them here in the first place. Arthur laughed loudly and ran away from them when they took off after him.
Diana was left to watch the boys try and tackle one another, laughing as she was grabbed from behind and lifted by her own lover. Steve growled playfully, asking her whose idea was it for a goddess to be the goal line. She giggled and wouldn’t answer, but her “punishment” was to be spun around and tickled mercilessly. Soon Diana was running from Steve, who stumbled a bit as he tried to catch her again.
Clark smiled at the antics, placing his head against his arms as he rested against his knees. It wasn’t everyday they could be this free.
It also wasn’t everyday he could watch Bruce act like he was fifteen again. He smiled wistfully, closing his eyes and pretending for a moment that he’d get to see it again once they went back to their lives.
“You still haven’t made your move?” Wally asked.
Clark shook his head. How it would it look for the leader of the Justice League to ask a founding leader out without even truly knowing that much about him? “We barely speak,” he sighed, “and when we do…it’s never anything too personal.”
“Well…you’re not going to know anything unless you talk to the man,” Wally said. He opened an eye and reached over to poke Clark in the side gently. “And he’s not that bad. He’s pretty wild around an open bottle of beer.”
“How you guys managed to get him drunk that night, I will never understand,” Clark chuckled.
“Hey, we managed to bump into him. And it was all Bruce’s fault anyhow.”
Something loomed over them. It wasn’t the parasol. Wally looked back and screamed, being drenched in the cold water from the ocean courtesy of John and a pail. John grinned; wet white tank top plastered to him in all the right places, chest heaving for air as he laughed at Wally glaring up at him. His fitted trunks were a little lower than normal, but also plastered to him and outlining a bit of everything. Wally unconsciously licked his lips…and then shoved himself into John to knock them both into the sand.
The Next thing Clark knew, Wally was being carried to the ocean and tossed it in, igniting a war of water between the two grown men turned ten again.
Where was Shayera in all this?
Someone sat down aside him, giving off the cool feel of the ocean though he wasn’t part of it. The soft summer breeze was suddenly cold and hot, and Clark felt his cheeks light up when he realized just who it was three inches from him.
“I think….Shayera flew around the island…” Bruce breathed. “Something….about a mini tour.”
“Oh. I was wondering where she was…”
“She’s fine. You going to sit here all day and soak up the sun?”
Clark shook his head, and he felt the world tilt a little bit. Bruce reached out and grabbed his wrist, tugging him forward and up to his feet. He cracked the stony mask, smiling brilliantly and truly, and Clark was drifting, following the laughing man as he took them down to the shore.
Arthur was waiting for them, laughing boisterously as he nearly drowned them both in bursts of water. Clark, now just as soaked as Bruce had been, tackled him into the water. Arthur shoved him off and ran, trying to use Bruce as a shield. Bruce twirled away from him, hopping backwards and falling right into the well aimed spray of a Super-Soaker wielding marksman.
Oliver Queen smirked, tossed Bruce a gun of his own, and the battle was on.
A few hours later:
Clark woke to the sounds of the beach slowing down to the crash of the shore, the cries of the seagulls above, and the voices of families leaving or packing it in for the day. The sun had finished its task of warming the earth for the day, and now it lay twined in the dusk of the evening, setting brilliantly against the impossibly wide horizon. He sat up to look at it, but a weight on his side kept him from sitting up too much. He looked down, expecting to see Wally, but he found Bruce there, snoring lightly as evening came into play.
He felt the heat rise in him again, but he didn’t and couldn’t blame it on the summer.
The whole lot of them played for hours, running around in the sand, throwing water, laughing and joking as if they’d been friends for all their lives. Bruce and Oliver were civil to one another, and Wally was enthralled with being with John for once in the public air. Diana and Steve were always content to play princess and her pilot, but today they were something more. They were an average couple looking to have fun and soak up a bit of sun with their friends. Arthur soaked everyone at one point or another, but he got as good as he gave. Shayera came back from her flight around the island, and then it was nothing more than a day full of laughter and fun.
Somewhere along the line, Bruce and he sat down to take a load off. Playing hard like that was more fun than fighting intergalactic aliens, but just as much work. They had collapsed on his beach blanket and conversed silently…until Clark had yawned and fell asleep in the middle of a sentence.
From the look of it, Bruce had fallen asleep too…
“Awake?”
…but not for long. He nodded a bit and waited for Bruce to sit up before he did. Bruce did sit up, but only enough to prop himself up on his elbows and stare down at him.
Clark felt the earth move again, as gentle fingers brushed a damp lock out of his face.
“Clark…”
“Y-yeah, Bruce?”
“…you want to get something to eat? Have dinner with me?”
Did the sky turn colors? If he didn’t know better, he’d swear Bruce was asking him out. The little inner Clark got on his knees and prayed that this was the scenario. “Um…okay…what do you have in mind?”
Bruce was smiling a lot now…and Clark didn’t think he’d get tired of it anytime soon. Bruce moved his face a little closer, laughing a bit as a drop of water from his damp ebony locks fell onto Clark’s nose. “Well,” he said gently dabbing at the moisture, “I was thinking some place quiet…somewhere private…like…your place.”
“M-my-my…my apartment?? Are you sure…I-I mean…I can read the box??” Clark laughed nervously, trying his best not to wring his hands together. “Great Wall loves me…”
“Don’t worry…I’ll bring the food…you just…”
“Just…”
“Keep being cute.”
“What?!”
Bruce laughed quietly, leaning down to press his lips to Clark’s red cheeks.
Not even ten feet from where they lay, John rolled his eyes in amusement and Wally leaned against his shoulders, smiling at the image before them. “You talked to Bruce, didn’t you,” Wally mentioned as he kissed John’s shoulder. John shrugged a bit. He might have mentioned something in passing. Regardless the sun was still sinking into the west, and his stomach was growling for food. Wally’s stomach growled in response, and they laughed as their hunger caused a small ruckus of grumbling from everyone’s stomachs.
Clark’s stomach was perhaps the loudest, which provoked Bruce into pulling him up off of the beach blanket. A short ways away was the scent of something cooking, and the site of their eating grounds. A makeshift table of a clean picnic blanket over an arrangement of smooth flat stones was where they were to dine. Drinks awaiting them, cooling in two coolers of ice. They had a choice of Beer, Gatorade, Vitamin Water, or Dasani. The water was most likely for Arthur, but he surprised them all when he popped the cap off of a bottle of Miller and guzzled it down heartily.
That was cue for them to get to the table. Things were looking and smelling wonderful.
They’d come to a beach that allowed for grilling on their own grills, which Oliver had taken the liberty of bringing. It wasn’t one of those simple black grills, but something massive and capable of holding everything that they could possibly eat. Since he’d brought the grill, the girls had decided to bring side items like salads and desserts. Those were currently in a closed cooler all their own, having been pulled from a cool spot Arthur had planted them in early on in the day to keep them from turning. There was also a container of assorted meats, mostly hotdogs and hamburgers, and some sausages and prepped shish kabob. Those were owed to Alfred, having stated that a vacation wasn’t a vacation without something skewered on a bamboo stick.
A little bit of everything was on the barbeque, sizzling and cooking, and then there was a pot over hot coal stones boiling wonderfully with the smell of true Frogmore stew. Not many people knew how to make it, and it was a treat for all when Arthur decided to make it every now and again.
Arthur smiled and kept his place near the chef, proudly holding up the biggest lobsters anyone had ever seen. Those were going in another pot once the Frogmore stew was done.
Bruce grabbed a beer for himself, tossing one to John. Wally snatched up a bottle of water, well aware of the dangers of drinking with the rest of them. Oliver laughed from where he stood, though he could understand. John and Bruce together and tipsy were for occasions when one felt like having their stomach in stitches from laughing so hard. Shayera grabbed a lite beer for herself. Diana grabbed Vitamin water and Steve plucked both a Beer and a Gatorade.
“Revive now, tank later,” he chuckled, getting a small jab to the ribs from Diana. Bruce and John held their beers up to that. “Here Here!”
“Oh, this should be good,” Wally snickered. “Already getting started…”
Bruce shoved him lightly. “You love it.”
“I’ll deny it until I turn blue.”
“Don’t give him ideas,” Shayera warned. She couldn’t help but smile a bit, lips pursed to her bottle as Bruce shook with the effort not to laugh. “Certain Bats around here like to mess with color changing chemicals…took me a week to get the blue out of my wings!”
“No one told you to go in his room and borrow his soap,” John laughed.
Shayera pointed at him, already giving into her own laughter. “YOU told me it was okay!”
“And WHY do you listen to him?!” Bruce asked. “He’s in it to make you suffer…not that it takes much.”
Diana giggled and ran her hands over Shayera’s slightly damp locks of orange. “It was almost as bad as when he turned everyone different shades of purple. Or that time someone colored your hair completely hot pink.”
“I still say it was Booster Gold,” Wally snorted.
“It was,” Oliver exclaimed. “I think turning his suit copper was revenge enough…”
“Who did that?” Steve asked. “I would have paid money to see the look on his face!”
Bruce turned away innocently. “That’s never been discovered,” he said as he took another drink of his beer. His straight laced face was enough to get a laugh out of everyone. Who said acting wasn’t the key to lying?
Oliver disrupted the light hearted revenge talk with an announcement. “Food’s on!” he exclaimed. “Who wants what?!”
Good food, good drink, and good company all come to an end eventually.
It didn’t quite end for them, since the hour of nine invited them to the lights and attractions of a summer fair in the area. Well, almost all of them. Arthur had excused himself to swim back home. As much as he needed a vacation, it didn’t quite include away time from his queen and their newborn son. They’d given him this day, which was more than enough for a man who ruled the oceans on a constant basis. He left them with the promise to visit tomorrow with his family, provided he could get away from the elders and their constant worries.
Of course there were the lingering hugs, and the small chase that ensued when Bruce tried to avoid it.
Bruce not only was hugged, he was tackled into the sand and his head kissed jokingly. Everyone was in hysterics, even after Arthur had waved again and vanished into the moonlit ocean.
Once they had collected their things and belongings, they made their way back to the hotel a short distance away. Everyone showered and changed, though it took a moment or so for everyone to meet up again in the lobby. The last to arrive were, once again, John and Wally, though Wally was all grins and John was smiling like an idiot who found honey on a gold spoon.
Bruce elbowed him. “Lucky Bastard,” he murmured.
John winked and nudged him in the shoulder. “You’ll get there soon enough.”
“If you two are quite done,” Diana said smiling slyly, “Can we…somehow manage to get to the fair? Tonight perhaps?”
They left the building, bets already in place as to who could get the most prizes or ride the most rides.
John walked with Wally hanging onto his arm openly, and Shayera under his other arm laughing at the antics of the two. Bygones were bygones, and friends were friends through the good and the bad. They had experienced both modes of being, and had come to terms with their relationship long ago. More like brother and sister now, he saw it fit to tease her about Hawkman and his blatant crush on her. She saw it as a nice opening to bop him in the back of his head, grumbling playfully as he and Wally laughed at her red cheeks.
She found refuge in Oliver, swinging to hang off of his arm and drag him into the bickering madness. He gleefully joined in, though he was less inclined to comment on the “sweetheart” remarks regarding Dinah. They…were figuring things out…but vacations were meant for all types of stress.
Diana and Steve were a little less animated, content to walk hand in hand and enjoy the gentle breeze of evening. The air was scented with the sharp tang of salted air and summer’s warm embrace on this lovely clear night. Steve inhaled it, and the gentle perfume of his princess, the picture of content as they walked on with his nose playfully buried in her ebony silken locks.
Clark and Bruce were silent, walking side by side along the path towards the swirling lights. They hadn’t much discussed what this new thing between them was, but it was a long time coming. Clark would have been happy to just walk alongside Bruce like this, but Bruce had other ideas. Bruce’s fingers reached and nudged his own, bringing them to life and curling around the soft yet calloused hand searching for his. Fingers twined and palms pressed against one another, they walked on, a picture of a shy couple that was ridiculously happy. Clark kept his head bent, but turned towards Bruce, who seemed to be more interested in the skies than walking.
A teenage love between grown men…a summer love that would blossom under the resounding boom above; a sky of blues and reds swirled in a haze of greens and yellows bathed in the twisted popping lights of silver shimmering under the full moon gazing down upon them.
Everyone gazed up at the early show, and Bruce chose that moment to steal a kiss from Clark and make a promise.
Later, perhaps in several months or so, they would realize that Wally had taken a photo of that moment. Wally slipped his slim camera back into his pocket, and enjoyed the rest of the early fireworks display.
Summer was a strange time of love and magic…
“First one to the gates gets in free courtesy of Bruce!!” Oliver called.
And it was also a time to lose several years of one’s age. Bruce tugged Clark along under the flashing magic of summer, racing after Oliver charging for the front gates. John and Wally ran after them with Shayera pulling Diana and Steve to join in on the fun.
One would think that they were a bunch of teens, and this observer knew…that for that night, age was nothing more than a number on a piece of paper.
Aah…the Tidal Wave that is summer…
Enjoy it everyone!
I hope you liked it. ^-^
Fandom: DCU
Pairings: Clark/Bruce, John/Wally, Steve/Diana
Characters: Clark Kent/Superman, Bruce Wayne/Batman, Diana/Wonder Woman, Steve Trevor, Shayera Hol/Hawkgirl, John Stewart/Green Lantern, Wally West/The Flash, Oliver Queen/Green Arrow, Arthur Curry/Aquaman
Word Count: 3,543
Rating: PG...for the most part
Warnings: None
Synopsis: Summer is a strange magical time...a time for vacations, romance, and water wars!!
This was written for bradygirl_12's Summer-By-the-Sea Challenge.
Prompts used: Eh...you figure it out. I think there's a bit of everything in there! :)
I think I may write another. This...is one big piece of fluff. ^-^
Of Beaches, Sunburn, and Tidal waves:
The skies were clear today.
There wasn’t an ounce of white to tarnish the everlasting blue of the skies above or the highlighted streams of sunlight. The sun shone brightly overhead, warm compared to the scorching days of summer that had passed. It was a relief, but merely a break in the summer heat, and perfect weather for a little get together on a beach somewhere.
Arthur had been insistent upon it, and the other leaguers had agreed.
It was time for a mini-vacation.
A three day weekend filled with nothing more than sun, surf, sand, and relaxation.
Even Batman had agreed to go, which was a nice little shock for Flash thinking that he might get away with a prank or five. Green Lantern was shocked as well, but more from Wally thinking that he would have time to do anything but be lain up.
He was going to have to fix that, which got a laugh out of Superman.
The soft winds of a mild heat reminded Clark that he was actually out here; out in the middle of a beach with people of all shapes and types waltzing about without a care in the world. Children were laughing and running toward and away from the rolling waves of white and blue crashing gently into the shore. Parents were lain out on their blankets soaking up the sun and a moment of peace, and others were playing in the sand, building sand castles or burying their loved ones, or just throwing it up as they ran around in circles.
He’d almost forgotten what it was like to relax; to just watch people as they were when life wasn’t an emergency. He closed his eyes and let the sun take him to that place he could stay lost in if he were sleeping.
“This is where I have to hate you,” he heard Wally say. The speedster was lying out on his blanket, under the green parasol John had rented for them for the day. His skin was slick with sun block, bits of it covered in sand from a recent application. He lifted his shades and stared at Clark smiling at him as if this were the most natural thing in the world.
As if.
“Did he get all of you this time?” Clark asked.
Wally snorted and turned around and over, laying on his arms and stomach. His form fitting red swim trunks fell a little lower, but he didn’t care. “Yep…seriously, how do you get sunburned on your ass??”
“Maybe it had something to do with that speedo?”
“Maybe…but I was H-O-T that day,” Wally smirked. “If my ass wasn’t sunburned…it would have been later on.”
Clark hit him lightly on his shoulder. “I’m sure,” he snorted. “Do I have to guess that was why you were late coming out of your room?”
“No. You can assume that was the reason…all the more reason not to move.”
He laughed and turned back to the ocean in time to see two forms racing along the shore line with all their might. The Marine against the Billionaire, and it didn’t look like there was much leeway between them. The smiles on their faces, however, were enough to get a laugh out of Clark and Wally watching the competitive silliness of a race that wouldn’t have a clear victory. But they ran on, kicking up sand and racing through the gentle waves pooling in their quick footprints left behind in their haste to get to their finish line.
Their finish line was waiting for them, her hands up in the air and body glistening against the summer sun. She surely was a work of the gods, clad in a bright bikini that was almost a second skin. Her shapely hips and legs, long and sure of their stance in the sand, were clad in a sheer pale rose wraparound that traveled and ended at the length of her knees. She smiled brightly, waving at the two men making their final move and sprinting for her position.
They weren’t counting on a late comer getting in on the action, or for that late comer to skid right in front of them and splash them both with water from the clear blue waves. And it wasn’t just a little water. They were drenched, stopped cold in their tracks and forced to retreat from their goal which laughed at them.
John looked over at Bruce. Bruce looked over at John. Both men huffed and glared at the one who had invited them here in the first place. Arthur laughed loudly and ran away from them when they took off after him.
Diana was left to watch the boys try and tackle one another, laughing as she was grabbed from behind and lifted by her own lover. Steve growled playfully, asking her whose idea was it for a goddess to be the goal line. She giggled and wouldn’t answer, but her “punishment” was to be spun around and tickled mercilessly. Soon Diana was running from Steve, who stumbled a bit as he tried to catch her again.
Clark smiled at the antics, placing his head against his arms as he rested against his knees. It wasn’t everyday they could be this free.
It also wasn’t everyday he could watch Bruce act like he was fifteen again. He smiled wistfully, closing his eyes and pretending for a moment that he’d get to see it again once they went back to their lives.
“You still haven’t made your move?” Wally asked.
Clark shook his head. How it would it look for the leader of the Justice League to ask a founding leader out without even truly knowing that much about him? “We barely speak,” he sighed, “and when we do…it’s never anything too personal.”
“Well…you’re not going to know anything unless you talk to the man,” Wally said. He opened an eye and reached over to poke Clark in the side gently. “And he’s not that bad. He’s pretty wild around an open bottle of beer.”
“How you guys managed to get him drunk that night, I will never understand,” Clark chuckled.
“Hey, we managed to bump into him. And it was all Bruce’s fault anyhow.”
Something loomed over them. It wasn’t the parasol. Wally looked back and screamed, being drenched in the cold water from the ocean courtesy of John and a pail. John grinned; wet white tank top plastered to him in all the right places, chest heaving for air as he laughed at Wally glaring up at him. His fitted trunks were a little lower than normal, but also plastered to him and outlining a bit of everything. Wally unconsciously licked his lips…and then shoved himself into John to knock them both into the sand.
The Next thing Clark knew, Wally was being carried to the ocean and tossed it in, igniting a war of water between the two grown men turned ten again.
Where was Shayera in all this?
Someone sat down aside him, giving off the cool feel of the ocean though he wasn’t part of it. The soft summer breeze was suddenly cold and hot, and Clark felt his cheeks light up when he realized just who it was three inches from him.
“I think….Shayera flew around the island…” Bruce breathed. “Something….about a mini tour.”
“Oh. I was wondering where she was…”
“She’s fine. You going to sit here all day and soak up the sun?”
Clark shook his head, and he felt the world tilt a little bit. Bruce reached out and grabbed his wrist, tugging him forward and up to his feet. He cracked the stony mask, smiling brilliantly and truly, and Clark was drifting, following the laughing man as he took them down to the shore.
Arthur was waiting for them, laughing boisterously as he nearly drowned them both in bursts of water. Clark, now just as soaked as Bruce had been, tackled him into the water. Arthur shoved him off and ran, trying to use Bruce as a shield. Bruce twirled away from him, hopping backwards and falling right into the well aimed spray of a Super-Soaker wielding marksman.
Oliver Queen smirked, tossed Bruce a gun of his own, and the battle was on.
A few hours later:
Clark woke to the sounds of the beach slowing down to the crash of the shore, the cries of the seagulls above, and the voices of families leaving or packing it in for the day. The sun had finished its task of warming the earth for the day, and now it lay twined in the dusk of the evening, setting brilliantly against the impossibly wide horizon. He sat up to look at it, but a weight on his side kept him from sitting up too much. He looked down, expecting to see Wally, but he found Bruce there, snoring lightly as evening came into play.
He felt the heat rise in him again, but he didn’t and couldn’t blame it on the summer.
The whole lot of them played for hours, running around in the sand, throwing water, laughing and joking as if they’d been friends for all their lives. Bruce and Oliver were civil to one another, and Wally was enthralled with being with John for once in the public air. Diana and Steve were always content to play princess and her pilot, but today they were something more. They were an average couple looking to have fun and soak up a bit of sun with their friends. Arthur soaked everyone at one point or another, but he got as good as he gave. Shayera came back from her flight around the island, and then it was nothing more than a day full of laughter and fun.
Somewhere along the line, Bruce and he sat down to take a load off. Playing hard like that was more fun than fighting intergalactic aliens, but just as much work. They had collapsed on his beach blanket and conversed silently…until Clark had yawned and fell asleep in the middle of a sentence.
From the look of it, Bruce had fallen asleep too…
“Awake?”
…but not for long. He nodded a bit and waited for Bruce to sit up before he did. Bruce did sit up, but only enough to prop himself up on his elbows and stare down at him.
Clark felt the earth move again, as gentle fingers brushed a damp lock out of his face.
“Clark…”
“Y-yeah, Bruce?”
“…you want to get something to eat? Have dinner with me?”
Did the sky turn colors? If he didn’t know better, he’d swear Bruce was asking him out. The little inner Clark got on his knees and prayed that this was the scenario. “Um…okay…what do you have in mind?”
Bruce was smiling a lot now…and Clark didn’t think he’d get tired of it anytime soon. Bruce moved his face a little closer, laughing a bit as a drop of water from his damp ebony locks fell onto Clark’s nose. “Well,” he said gently dabbing at the moisture, “I was thinking some place quiet…somewhere private…like…your place.”
“M-my-my…my apartment?? Are you sure…I-I mean…I can read the box??” Clark laughed nervously, trying his best not to wring his hands together. “Great Wall loves me…”
“Don’t worry…I’ll bring the food…you just…”
“Just…”
“Keep being cute.”
“What?!”
Bruce laughed quietly, leaning down to press his lips to Clark’s red cheeks.
Not even ten feet from where they lay, John rolled his eyes in amusement and Wally leaned against his shoulders, smiling at the image before them. “You talked to Bruce, didn’t you,” Wally mentioned as he kissed John’s shoulder. John shrugged a bit. He might have mentioned something in passing. Regardless the sun was still sinking into the west, and his stomach was growling for food. Wally’s stomach growled in response, and they laughed as their hunger caused a small ruckus of grumbling from everyone’s stomachs.
Clark’s stomach was perhaps the loudest, which provoked Bruce into pulling him up off of the beach blanket. A short ways away was the scent of something cooking, and the site of their eating grounds. A makeshift table of a clean picnic blanket over an arrangement of smooth flat stones was where they were to dine. Drinks awaiting them, cooling in two coolers of ice. They had a choice of Beer, Gatorade, Vitamin Water, or Dasani. The water was most likely for Arthur, but he surprised them all when he popped the cap off of a bottle of Miller and guzzled it down heartily.
That was cue for them to get to the table. Things were looking and smelling wonderful.
They’d come to a beach that allowed for grilling on their own grills, which Oliver had taken the liberty of bringing. It wasn’t one of those simple black grills, but something massive and capable of holding everything that they could possibly eat. Since he’d brought the grill, the girls had decided to bring side items like salads and desserts. Those were currently in a closed cooler all their own, having been pulled from a cool spot Arthur had planted them in early on in the day to keep them from turning. There was also a container of assorted meats, mostly hotdogs and hamburgers, and some sausages and prepped shish kabob. Those were owed to Alfred, having stated that a vacation wasn’t a vacation without something skewered on a bamboo stick.
A little bit of everything was on the barbeque, sizzling and cooking, and then there was a pot over hot coal stones boiling wonderfully with the smell of true Frogmore stew. Not many people knew how to make it, and it was a treat for all when Arthur decided to make it every now and again.
Arthur smiled and kept his place near the chef, proudly holding up the biggest lobsters anyone had ever seen. Those were going in another pot once the Frogmore stew was done.
Bruce grabbed a beer for himself, tossing one to John. Wally snatched up a bottle of water, well aware of the dangers of drinking with the rest of them. Oliver laughed from where he stood, though he could understand. John and Bruce together and tipsy were for occasions when one felt like having their stomach in stitches from laughing so hard. Shayera grabbed a lite beer for herself. Diana grabbed Vitamin water and Steve plucked both a Beer and a Gatorade.
“Revive now, tank later,” he chuckled, getting a small jab to the ribs from Diana. Bruce and John held their beers up to that. “Here Here!”
“Oh, this should be good,” Wally snickered. “Already getting started…”
Bruce shoved him lightly. “You love it.”
“I’ll deny it until I turn blue.”
“Don’t give him ideas,” Shayera warned. She couldn’t help but smile a bit, lips pursed to her bottle as Bruce shook with the effort not to laugh. “Certain Bats around here like to mess with color changing chemicals…took me a week to get the blue out of my wings!”
“No one told you to go in his room and borrow his soap,” John laughed.
Shayera pointed at him, already giving into her own laughter. “YOU told me it was okay!”
“And WHY do you listen to him?!” Bruce asked. “He’s in it to make you suffer…not that it takes much.”
Diana giggled and ran her hands over Shayera’s slightly damp locks of orange. “It was almost as bad as when he turned everyone different shades of purple. Or that time someone colored your hair completely hot pink.”
“I still say it was Booster Gold,” Wally snorted.
“It was,” Oliver exclaimed. “I think turning his suit copper was revenge enough…”
“Who did that?” Steve asked. “I would have paid money to see the look on his face!”
Bruce turned away innocently. “That’s never been discovered,” he said as he took another drink of his beer. His straight laced face was enough to get a laugh out of everyone. Who said acting wasn’t the key to lying?
Oliver disrupted the light hearted revenge talk with an announcement. “Food’s on!” he exclaimed. “Who wants what?!”
Good food, good drink, and good company all come to an end eventually.
It didn’t quite end for them, since the hour of nine invited them to the lights and attractions of a summer fair in the area. Well, almost all of them. Arthur had excused himself to swim back home. As much as he needed a vacation, it didn’t quite include away time from his queen and their newborn son. They’d given him this day, which was more than enough for a man who ruled the oceans on a constant basis. He left them with the promise to visit tomorrow with his family, provided he could get away from the elders and their constant worries.
Of course there were the lingering hugs, and the small chase that ensued when Bruce tried to avoid it.
Bruce not only was hugged, he was tackled into the sand and his head kissed jokingly. Everyone was in hysterics, even after Arthur had waved again and vanished into the moonlit ocean.
Once they had collected their things and belongings, they made their way back to the hotel a short distance away. Everyone showered and changed, though it took a moment or so for everyone to meet up again in the lobby. The last to arrive were, once again, John and Wally, though Wally was all grins and John was smiling like an idiot who found honey on a gold spoon.
Bruce elbowed him. “Lucky Bastard,” he murmured.
John winked and nudged him in the shoulder. “You’ll get there soon enough.”
“If you two are quite done,” Diana said smiling slyly, “Can we…somehow manage to get to the fair? Tonight perhaps?”
They left the building, bets already in place as to who could get the most prizes or ride the most rides.
John walked with Wally hanging onto his arm openly, and Shayera under his other arm laughing at the antics of the two. Bygones were bygones, and friends were friends through the good and the bad. They had experienced both modes of being, and had come to terms with their relationship long ago. More like brother and sister now, he saw it fit to tease her about Hawkman and his blatant crush on her. She saw it as a nice opening to bop him in the back of his head, grumbling playfully as he and Wally laughed at her red cheeks.
She found refuge in Oliver, swinging to hang off of his arm and drag him into the bickering madness. He gleefully joined in, though he was less inclined to comment on the “sweetheart” remarks regarding Dinah. They…were figuring things out…but vacations were meant for all types of stress.
Diana and Steve were a little less animated, content to walk hand in hand and enjoy the gentle breeze of evening. The air was scented with the sharp tang of salted air and summer’s warm embrace on this lovely clear night. Steve inhaled it, and the gentle perfume of his princess, the picture of content as they walked on with his nose playfully buried in her ebony silken locks.
Clark and Bruce were silent, walking side by side along the path towards the swirling lights. They hadn’t much discussed what this new thing between them was, but it was a long time coming. Clark would have been happy to just walk alongside Bruce like this, but Bruce had other ideas. Bruce’s fingers reached and nudged his own, bringing them to life and curling around the soft yet calloused hand searching for his. Fingers twined and palms pressed against one another, they walked on, a picture of a shy couple that was ridiculously happy. Clark kept his head bent, but turned towards Bruce, who seemed to be more interested in the skies than walking.
A teenage love between grown men…a summer love that would blossom under the resounding boom above; a sky of blues and reds swirled in a haze of greens and yellows bathed in the twisted popping lights of silver shimmering under the full moon gazing down upon them.
Everyone gazed up at the early show, and Bruce chose that moment to steal a kiss from Clark and make a promise.
Later, perhaps in several months or so, they would realize that Wally had taken a photo of that moment. Wally slipped his slim camera back into his pocket, and enjoyed the rest of the early fireworks display.
Summer was a strange time of love and magic…
“First one to the gates gets in free courtesy of Bruce!!” Oliver called.
And it was also a time to lose several years of one’s age. Bruce tugged Clark along under the flashing magic of summer, racing after Oliver charging for the front gates. John and Wally ran after them with Shayera pulling Diana and Steve to join in on the fun.
One would think that they were a bunch of teens, and this observer knew…that for that night, age was nothing more than a number on a piece of paper.
Aah…the Tidal Wave that is summer…
Enjoy it everyone!
I hope you liked it. ^-^