Ficlet: In Quiet Joy | DCU | Bruce Wayne/Clark Kent | PG | 1/1
Title: In Quiet Joy
Fandom: DCU
Pairing: Bruce Wayne/Clark Kent
Rating: PG
Word Count: 860
Prompts: For the 2012 WFGE: #F14: Clark gets the short straw and has to work at the Planet on Christmas eve or Christmas day. Bruce stops by to cheer him up.; For PB XIV: kiss, friendship; For the 2012 DCU Free For All Winter Holidays Challenge: Twinkling Lights/Star/Sparkle, Hot Cocoa; and lastly, a super late entry For bradygirl_12's 2012 DCU Fic/Art Silver Bells Winter Holidays Challenge.
Summary: Working late at the Planet on Christmas Eve, Clark is surprised when Bruce shows up to bring him a little holiday cheer.
Disclaimer: DC and WB own everything, the schmucks.
Author's Notes: Gods, this is late. *hangs head* To my WFGE recipient: So sorry for the delay! I hope you like this. :)
In Quiet Joy
Other than a small handful of Planet staffers, Clark was the only reporter left in the building. Sad, that he didn’t even have to really listen to know that. But it was Christmas Eve, and everyone else had families and friends to be with, so why shouldn’t he have been here, keeping watch while his colleagues enjoyed the holiday with their loved ones?
It wasn’t as if he didn’t purposefully draw the short straw to work tonight, anyway; he could’ve left it up to chance, but with literal straws in the Chief’s hand, and the knowledge that Lois had plans with her sister’s family, he just couldn’t resist taking this one for the team. Even if … even if he knew there was a chance he’d be needed elsewhere. He could be gone and back in a jiffy, no problem. And if something major happened, the rest of the League was on in shifts tonight. No worries.
Except that he could still hear every single thing going wrong in Metropolis tonight. Squealing tires, sirens, calls for help, a fire breaking out in Bakerline, a child gone missing from a church Christmas pageant-it was all too loud in his ears for him to ignore. So, he’d been out a few times and come back in the span of time it would’ve taken him to go on a bathroom break. Not as much as he’d have liked, but it was enough to quiet the mild anxiety of being on both jobs at once.
And besides, it was a quiet news night. Nothing more to report than the few things he’d dealt with. Nothing pressing on the international front. No political scandals. No major disasters. Just a brief article hastily typed up about Superman responding to the Bakerline fire.
“Wouldn’t be Christmas without Superman putting out a fire,” he grumbled to himself, voice low.
“Wow, it’s a good thing I got here when I did. You’re talking to yourself, Clark.”
Startled, Clark lifted his head from where he was halfway hunched over his computer, and found Bruce striding up to his desk, two steaming cups from the local coffee place in hand. How in the world had he not heard him coming?
“Relax,” Bruce laughed as he reached him. “You’re distracted. I wouldn’t have expected anything different, considering.”
Forcing a small laugh in return, Clark accepted one of the cups from Bruce, and took a long sip. Sweet warmth slid over his tongue and down his throat to heat his core. Sweet … chocolate. “Cocoa,” he said after realizing it wasn’t coffee. A small smile, and he blinked up at Bruce. “You know me too well.”
“Of course I do. And I couldn’t let you spend Christmas Eve all alone, even if you’re getting holiday pay for it.”
At that, a genuine laugh escaped Clark, and he felt the knots in his neck-how had he even gotten those?-start to ease. “Thank you.”
Bruce gave him a wry smile. “You’re welcome. Now, you need a break. Come on.”
Clark lifted a brow in question, even as he got up to follow Bruce back out of the bullpen, cocoa in hand. “Where are we going?”
“Just up to the roof,” Bruce called back over his shoulder, looking even more mischievous.
Whatever his partner could be up to, Clark didn’t have a clue, but a short elevator ride later, and Bruce was tugging him by the hand out onto the rooftop, which-
Which was awash in pale light from the full moon, the usual shadows banished to hidden crevices beneath that silvery glow, even the Planet globe looking somehow dimmer in its brilliance. And the city … Metropolis was beautiful, lit both with shimmering moonlight and the twinkling of thousands of holiday lights, the usual city nighttime lights, and Christmas trees and flickering candles in many windows.
The sight took Clark’s breath away, and he blinked in awe, absently settling down beside Bruce on a ledge, their legs dangling free as they sipped their cocoa. He’d been so absorbed in his own moping that he hadn’t even taken the time to appreciate the glimmering beauty of his own city.
“Bruce-” he started, gratitude swelling in his chest, but Bruce cut him off, a warm arm slipping around his shoulders.
“Just enjoy it. I know I don’t take enough time to appreciate Gotham, and you’re pulling double duty, so you need the breather even more so.”
Clark could only smile, leaning into that embrace and opening himself up to the splendor of Metropolis. Beneath that shimmering twinkle, the city was awash in the sounds of merriment and love: children laughing as they settled in for their long winter’s nap, parents preparing for Santa’s visit, choir voices lifted in song, the crystal clear chiming of church bells as the clock struck nine. It was everything Clark had been missing, everything he needed, and his soul eased, just to know it was there.
“Thank you,” he told Bruce again, and this time, his words were met with a kiss, long and slow and perfect.
Then, together, in quiet joy, they watched over the gleaming city.
~*~*~*~
Fandom: DCU
Pairing: Bruce Wayne/Clark Kent
Rating: PG
Word Count: 860
Prompts: For the 2012 WFGE: #F14: Clark gets the short straw and has to work at the Planet on Christmas eve or Christmas day. Bruce stops by to cheer him up.; For PB XIV: kiss, friendship; For the 2012 DCU Free For All Winter Holidays Challenge: Twinkling Lights/Star/Sparkle, Hot Cocoa; and lastly, a super late entry For bradygirl_12's 2012 DCU Fic/Art Silver Bells Winter Holidays Challenge.
Summary: Working late at the Planet on Christmas Eve, Clark is surprised when Bruce shows up to bring him a little holiday cheer.
Disclaimer: DC and WB own everything, the schmucks.
Author's Notes: Gods, this is late. *hangs head* To my WFGE recipient: So sorry for the delay! I hope you like this. :)
In Quiet Joy
Other than a small handful of Planet staffers, Clark was the only reporter left in the building. Sad, that he didn’t even have to really listen to know that. But it was Christmas Eve, and everyone else had families and friends to be with, so why shouldn’t he have been here, keeping watch while his colleagues enjoyed the holiday with their loved ones?
It wasn’t as if he didn’t purposefully draw the short straw to work tonight, anyway; he could’ve left it up to chance, but with literal straws in the Chief’s hand, and the knowledge that Lois had plans with her sister’s family, he just couldn’t resist taking this one for the team. Even if … even if he knew there was a chance he’d be needed elsewhere. He could be gone and back in a jiffy, no problem. And if something major happened, the rest of the League was on in shifts tonight. No worries.
Except that he could still hear every single thing going wrong in Metropolis tonight. Squealing tires, sirens, calls for help, a fire breaking out in Bakerline, a child gone missing from a church Christmas pageant-it was all too loud in his ears for him to ignore. So, he’d been out a few times and come back in the span of time it would’ve taken him to go on a bathroom break. Not as much as he’d have liked, but it was enough to quiet the mild anxiety of being on both jobs at once.
And besides, it was a quiet news night. Nothing more to report than the few things he’d dealt with. Nothing pressing on the international front. No political scandals. No major disasters. Just a brief article hastily typed up about Superman responding to the Bakerline fire.
“Wouldn’t be Christmas without Superman putting out a fire,” he grumbled to himself, voice low.
“Wow, it’s a good thing I got here when I did. You’re talking to yourself, Clark.”
Startled, Clark lifted his head from where he was halfway hunched over his computer, and found Bruce striding up to his desk, two steaming cups from the local coffee place in hand. How in the world had he not heard him coming?
“Relax,” Bruce laughed as he reached him. “You’re distracted. I wouldn’t have expected anything different, considering.”
Forcing a small laugh in return, Clark accepted one of the cups from Bruce, and took a long sip. Sweet warmth slid over his tongue and down his throat to heat his core. Sweet … chocolate. “Cocoa,” he said after realizing it wasn’t coffee. A small smile, and he blinked up at Bruce. “You know me too well.”
“Of course I do. And I couldn’t let you spend Christmas Eve all alone, even if you’re getting holiday pay for it.”
At that, a genuine laugh escaped Clark, and he felt the knots in his neck-how had he even gotten those?-start to ease. “Thank you.”
Bruce gave him a wry smile. “You’re welcome. Now, you need a break. Come on.”
Clark lifted a brow in question, even as he got up to follow Bruce back out of the bullpen, cocoa in hand. “Where are we going?”
“Just up to the roof,” Bruce called back over his shoulder, looking even more mischievous.
Whatever his partner could be up to, Clark didn’t have a clue, but a short elevator ride later, and Bruce was tugging him by the hand out onto the rooftop, which-
Which was awash in pale light from the full moon, the usual shadows banished to hidden crevices beneath that silvery glow, even the Planet globe looking somehow dimmer in its brilliance. And the city … Metropolis was beautiful, lit both with shimmering moonlight and the twinkling of thousands of holiday lights, the usual city nighttime lights, and Christmas trees and flickering candles in many windows.
The sight took Clark’s breath away, and he blinked in awe, absently settling down beside Bruce on a ledge, their legs dangling free as they sipped their cocoa. He’d been so absorbed in his own moping that he hadn’t even taken the time to appreciate the glimmering beauty of his own city.
“Bruce-” he started, gratitude swelling in his chest, but Bruce cut him off, a warm arm slipping around his shoulders.
“Just enjoy it. I know I don’t take enough time to appreciate Gotham, and you’re pulling double duty, so you need the breather even more so.”
Clark could only smile, leaning into that embrace and opening himself up to the splendor of Metropolis. Beneath that shimmering twinkle, the city was awash in the sounds of merriment and love: children laughing as they settled in for their long winter’s nap, parents preparing for Santa’s visit, choir voices lifted in song, the crystal clear chiming of church bells as the clock struck nine. It was everything Clark had been missing, everything he needed, and his soul eased, just to know it was there.
“Thank you,” he told Bruce again, and this time, his words were met with a kiss, long and slow and perfect.
Then, together, in quiet joy, they watched over the gleaming city.
~*~*~*~