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#Clark goes home that night and cries into Lois's shoulder
redrobin-detective · 3 years
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It was the annual Justice League Halloween party and the costume theme was to dress as your favorite hero coworker. No one was surprised when Clark showed up in a tacky Batman costume, one clearly purchased at the dollar store but his dedication to staying in character dispelled all doubts of his sincerity. Barry wore a green Ringpop and domino mask while Hal chatted up Diana, who herself was wearing an Aquaman inspired dress, in a Flash themed snuggie. Bruce quietly stood off to the side and made sure no one commented on his Robin costume. At least this version has pants.
But though no one said anything, they were all awaiting a special arrival. Dinah had taken some of the younger kids out trick or treating but would be bringing them back to the Watchtower to enjoy a bit of the party before bed. It was Captain Marvel’s third Halloween with the League but Billy Batson’s first. They were all eagerly awaiting which hero the young god would dress as.
“It’s gotta be Supes, kid is practically an expy of him,” Hal told Zatanna emphatically even if he secretly was holding out hope the kid would come dressed as him. 
“Yeah but Bruce’s kid and him are practically attached at the hip and I know for a fact Jason is going as Wonder Woman so they might try to match,” Zee, as Deadman, commented. She herself thought the little magician would pull off her tailcoat and tophat quite well, perhaps saving the fishnets for when he was a bit older.
“It doesn’t matter who he comes as,” Victor defended as he straightened out his white cape and lightning bolt shirt. “He’s gonna look cute either way but I did tell Billy I’d be dressing as him so...”
“Dinah, baby, love of my life,” Ollie whispered into his phone, away from the others. J’onn in his Supergirl suit leaned in closer as he munched on Oreos. “You gotta tell me what the little guy is wearing, the betting pool is off the charts and I’ll let you in on the action if you just-”
“Oliver, you’re already a billionaire,” Dinah sighed affectionately from the other end of the line. “But we’re on our way back now so you’ll find out soon enough but uh,” she paused, “you might wanna prepare yourself. His choice is quite controversial.” 
While the Leaguers bantered and argued and ate way too snacks, they all wondered what teammate their youngest member would come as. What superhero did Billy Batson look up to the most? Who’s costume would he don for All Hallow’s Eve? Everyone not so secretly hoped they would be chosen. 
“Hey everyone, we’re back!” Dinah announced, brushing off her makeshift Zatanna costume. It was similar enough to her own and she hadn’t had time to shop this year. Jason made a beeline for Bruce, his glittering gold tiara and star patterned pants drawing attention as he chatted with his guardian about his haul. It made it easy to overlook Billy’s much subtler costume.
“Oh my god I’m going to kill that man,” Zatanna groaned into her palm as she took in the boy’s clothing. Her hand helped to conceal the small smile threatening to peek through. Billy certainly wore the rumbled shirt and trenchcoat a lot better than John ever did.
“John Constantine? Really?” Hal asked in a screeching voice. “The guys a two bit con artist and like not even a real member of the Justice League! He’s barely third string!”
“Whut can I say?” Billy said with a rakish grin and a horrific British accent. In his right hand, he held a blue lollipop like one would a cigarette. “Imma nasty piece of work.”
“Hey there Bill,” Clark sighed, also disappointed in the kid’s costume choice. The children’s Superman costumes were just too adorable and would have suited Billy much better than the Hellblazer in his opinion. “That’s an, er, interesting choice there, son.”
“Well, ya know how it goes,” Billy continued, slouching to the side and sliding a lazy hand into the trenchcoat pocket while he popped the lollipop back in his mouth. “We all got our demons, some o’ them are just more visible than others.”
“That’s a little too on the nose for my tastes,” Barry said with a grimace, imaging all the bad run-ins he’d had with the magician. “So we all agree that Bill needs his Constantine visiting hours cut short before he picks up any other bad habits.”
“Agreed,” Hal, Victor and Ollie agreed hastily.
“You wankers will get your knickers in a twist over anything,” Billy said, his blue eyes twinkling with mischief. He was very much aware of the stir he was causing and was enjoying it. He loved the League and respected them all but some days Billy felt like John was the only one who understood the real him, a dirty street rat just doing his best.
Billy reached into the inner pocket of his coat and pulled out a little flask. He fought back a smile as he undid the cap and took a long swig. He could tell them it was just apple juice but where was the fun in that?
“Constantine!”
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ambssssssssss · 3 years
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“I’m so sorry, Lena,” A harsh cough followed the words and Lena felt her eyes begin to fill with water. She was kneeling in the broken streets of National City at Kara’s sighed, mindless of the destruction around them as the injured woman before her absorbed all of her attention. 
“Hold on, Kara, just a few more minutes.” Lena found Kara’s bloody, shaking hand and grasped it with her own. Kara gave her a watery smile. 
“We could’ve had so much time if I hadn’t been so scared.” There’s a strong current of regret in her tone and Lena feels as if she can’t breathe as she pulls Kara’s hand to her lips and presses a kiss against dirty knuckles. 
“We’ll have time now, darling. All the time in the world.” 
“I thought we promised not to lie to each other anymore.” 
A long, uncomfortable pause followed. Kara’s breath grows more shallow by the second, but her eyes remain the same. The deep blue of her iris shines with that same adoration that Lena had always seen in them, and always felt unworthy of. Kara lifted the hand that Lena wasn’t holding on to desperately, ignoring the way her limbs trembled, to carefully cup Lena’s cheek. 
This is the end. They both know it. 
“No, Kara, please,” Lena can hear the desperation in her voice but ignored it just as resolutely as she ignored the tears falling from her eyes. Tears that Kara barely had the strength to gently brush away. “I can’t lose you again.” 
“You never lost me, Lena, not for a single second.” The conviction in Kara’s voice is broken by the blood that slips past her lips as a cough tears through her throat. She collapses back against the broken asphalt after the fit subsides, landing on uneven ground with a pained groan. “I’ve always been yours, even when I wasn’t.” 
The noise around them barely registers in Lena’s mind. The battle had been over for a few minutes at least, but Lena had paid no attention to the chaos around them. Kara, just as she had done since the day they met, commanded all of Lena’s attention. It isn’t until Kara coughs again that Lena realizes that she hadn’t been unconsciously blocking out anything going around them. 
Kara’s cough echoes of the wreckage of a ruined city around them. If Lena had the strength to pull her gaze away from Kara’s slowly dimming eyes, she would have seen the veritable host of people around them falling to their knees as the consequences of this final battle hit home. They won, yes, but none of them thought that the cost would be so high. 
Lena is dimly aware of another person settling on the other side of Kara, taking her hand and nearly gasping out Kara’s name in a choked cry. Even with the addition of Alex with them, Lena doesn’t tear her eyes away from Kara. 
“I know, darling,” Lena grips Kara’s trembling hand tighter, wrapping both of her own around it and pressing a kiss to Kara’s knuckles again. “I think I always have. I should have said something sooner.” 
“Better late than never,” Kara cracked a smile and just for a second, Lena could believe that she wasn’t watching the love of her life die right before her eyes. “Promise me something?” 
“Anything.” 
“Don’t blame yourself, for any of it.” 
“Kara-”
“Promise me, Lena. None of this is your fault, or mine. It happened, and it sucks.” Kara smiled again as Lena released a rueful chuckle. “But you can’t let this stop you. Promise me that you won’t give up.” 
“I promise Kara,” Lena leans over and seals her promise with a trembling kiss pressed to Kara’s forehead. 
“Good.” Kara’s strength left her completely, her head fell to the ground and if not for Lena’s grip on her hand, the same would have been true of it as well. “Remember, I am always yours. Even when I’m not.” 
Kara turns her head then, to Alex who sits on her left. Words are spoken by both of them but Lena doesn’t hear them. She can’t hear anything over the high pitched sound ringing in her ears and Kara’s last words playing on a loop in her mind. 
They should have had so much more time. They should have had years to be together, truly together. Years without lies and secrets pulling them apart. Years of light and laughter and love, so much love that it would be bursting out of them. The kind of love that couldn’t be contained. They should have had it all but now they only had minutes.
They only have minutes and Kara doesn’t know how Lena feels. A sudden panic seizes Lena as she realizes that minutes are quickly receding into seconds and Kaa still doesn’t know. 
“Kara,” even to her own ears, Lena’s voice sounds so far away. “Kara, I love you.” 
There’s no ignoring the tears now, they fall from Lena’s eyes unbidden. But Kara is smiling at Lena, that special, bright smile that always made Lena feel like she was the one who could fly. 
Kara’s smile remains as her eyes fall closed and her body goes limp. Kara’s smile remains as she exhales, whispering Lena’s name with her last breath. 
Supergirl dies a hero, mourned and celebrated by many. 
Kara Danvers dies to the sound of her sister crying beside her. 
Kara Zor-El dies smiling in the embrace of the woman she loves most.
Lena woke up feeling as if that last image of Kara’s smile had been burned into her retinas. The dream, memory, ends in the same place it always does, the moment before the realization of what she had just witnessed sinks in. Lena wakes with soul crushing despair settling deep in her chest so that her breath in a new day is little more than a broken sob. It takes a few minutes for Lena to gather herself enough to climb out of bed and reach for her phone. The move is calculated. Lena knows that if she had reached for her phone first, she wouldn’t have gotten out of bed. 
Every other day, Lena had been able to push herself through it. She could almost pretend that everything was normal, until she caught herself trying to call Kara and invite her to lunch. Even after two weeks, Lena’s first instinct was still to call Kara. The hope that maybe the dream had been a nightmare rather than a memory and Kara would answer when she called had been all that kept Lena going for the past 14 days. 
The day of Kara’s funeral had pulled that hope to a crashing halt. 
There had been a service for Supergirl the day before. It felt like all of National City had been there, human and alien alike. All the heroes that Kara had worked with over the years were there, a few of them people that Lena had only met briefly before the wave of dark matter destroyed all of their worlds. The Flash had a few words to say. Cat Grant had barely held her tears in. Superman openly cried as he said goodbye to his last blood relative. Lena had watched it all with a blank expression, Alex’s hand in hers. 
Lena had made her way to Midvale on her own and was one of the last to arrive at Kara’s childhood home. Eliza had greeted her with a hug and a far too knowing look. Lena had slept in Kara’s bed and refused to cry until she was sure that no one would hear her. 
Now, Lena pulled on the dark outfit she had selected the night before and made her way downstairs. Alex and Eliza met her at the bottom of the stairs and led her to where Clark and Lois were standing with J’onn. Eliza pulled Lena into another hug while Lois looked as if she was the only one in the room who could understand Lena’s pain. Everyone was treating Lena like she was Kara’s widow and Lena wasn’t sure she would ever recover from that. 
She had Kara had never been together. They hadn’t gone on dates or celebrated anniversaries. They’d never even kissed and yet Lena still felt like a piece of her heart had been broken beyond repair. She wasn’t Kara’s widow but she was Kara’s someday and that was somehow worse. 
How could Lena mourn what she’d never had in the first place? 
Kara’s funeral had been short. She wouldn’t have wanted all of her friends and family to spend hours crying over her. Kara had been a ray of sunshine, a becon of joy. Although tears were shed, everyone wanted to follow Kara’s wishes so it soon turned to a memorial rather than a funeral. As everyone had been distracted by Alex’s story of the first time Kara saved her, Lena didn’t think anyone would notice when she stepped onto the back patio. She nearly jumped in surprise when a masculine voice called her name. 
“Sorry,” Clark said as he stepped up beside her. Lena hummed her acceptance of the apology but didn’t say a word. 
They stood together in silence for a few minutes. If it had been any other time, Lena might have made a joke about a Super and a Luthor but it didn’t feel right with her Super missing. Eventually, Lena can see Clark’s shoulders sag and knows that the silence is about to be broken. 
“She was always so much stronger than me.” Clark speaks in a low, haunted voice. “I’ll never be able to thank her for righting my worst wrong.” 
There’s a heavy set to his shoulders and a distant glint in his eyes that makes Lena feel foolish for forgetting where all this conflict had started. Lex had killed Kara, but it was Clark that turned Lex into a staunch believer in the superiority of man. It was Clark who faced Lex time and time again. CLark who wasn’t strong enough to deal the blow that would have ended all of this conflict. It was Clark’s weakness that had pushed Kara into that position, and Clark’s cowardice that cost Kara her life. 
The urge to hate Clark for his inaction is strong, so strong it makes Lena’s stomach clench and her hands tremble. It would be all too easy to blame Clark for losing Kara, but Lena knows that it wouldn’t be fair to him. There’s plenty of blame to go around but Clark doesn’t truthfully deserve any of it. Lex does. For targeting Kara and dealing the fatal blow, but most of them blame falls on Lena herself. For her own war against Supergirl, for the experiments that gave Lex his powers, for not being strong enough to defeat him on her own. 
Kara would still be with them if not for Lena’s failures. 
“But there is something I can do for her, if you’re willing to help me.” 
It takes a moment for Lena to realize that Clark’s statement had been a request. She looks at him, blinking in askance. 
“Follow me,” Clark, in a move that Lena would never have expected to come from him, gently took Lena’s hand into his own and guided her down the porch steps towards the beach. Agreeing to Clark’s request that she wait there for a moment, Lena tries to settle her nerves. When Clark returns, Lena knows that there is nothing she could have done to prepare herself. 
Clark touches down gently a few feet away from Lena and in the space between them hovers a sleek, grey pod. The black surface on the outside fades to clear and suddenly Lena can see Kara. 
She looks peaceful in death, Lena thinks, like she finally dropped all the weight she had been carrying for so long. 
“On Krypton, when a woman died,” Clark swallows roughly. “It was tradition for the oldest female member of the House to speak Rao’s blessing over them.” 
Clark meets Lena’s gaze evenly. 
“I know that would be Eliza here, or Alura if she had come, but I also know that Kara would have wanted it to be you.” 
“Clark,” Lena hesitated, “Kal, I don’t know.” 
“I know what you mean to her. Meant.” Even though they had been doing so all day, hearing Kara referred to in the past tense hurt deeply and Lena felt the tears welling for what must have been the thousandth time. 
“Okay,” Lena agreed with a shaky nod. Clark handed her a small piece of paper from his pocket and then turned his gaze to the pod containing Kara’s still form.” 
“Whenever you’re ready.” 
Lena was sure that she would never be ready to say goodbye to Kara but there was no sense in waiting. Voice thick with tears and barely above a whisper, Lena began to read. 
“You have been the sun of our lives. Our prayers will be the sun that lights your way on the journey home. We will remember you in every dawn and await the night we join you in the sky. Rao’s will be done.” 
They stood there for a moment with only the sound of the waves crashing against the beach breaking the still air. Then, with a heavy breath like he was steeling himself for the hardest moment of his life, Clark lifted the casket into the air with him. A moment later, Kara returned to the stars that had brought her home. 
Clark returned to the Danver’s household while Lena remained on the beach by herself. There was a fleeting feeling of Lena wishing she had something to hold on to, a memento of Kara’s. The feeling faded only to be replaced with a much stronger wish to simply have Kara there with her. The feeling was strong that for a moment, Lena felt the soft, familiar warmth of Kara’s hand in her own, their fingers resting together easily. As time stretched on, Lena let herself be lost in the phantom feeling of what could have been, until the sound of a car door closing shattered the dream and brought Lena crashing back to reality. 
A reality where Kara was gone. 
Suddenly, the beach felt just as stifling as the house had been. 
Realizing that her moment with the ghost of Kara’s memory was over, Lena turned to make her way back to the house. 
Only Kara’s closest friends remained at the house. Clark, Lois, and Lucy were sitting together on the couch, the two normally argumentative sisters silent in their grief. Barry and Iris were curled together in a chair, Barry staring blankly ahead as Iris watched him in concern. Caitlin and Cisco sat together on the floor in front of Barry and Iris, their shoulders pressed together. Ava sat in the other chair with Sara leaning against her legs, her fingers idly wrapping a strand of Sara’s hair around and around. The other Legends must have gone back to the Waverider. Alex and Eliza sat together on the loveseat and made room between them for Lena. 
It was odd, Lena decided as she took the seat provided for her, to be surrounded by so many heroic figures and not feel even the smallest amount of hope. The Kara shaped whole in the arrangement could not be ignored. No one said a word as Lena sat down and the silence was no less disturbing the longer it went on. 
“It doesn’t seem right,” Cisco broke the silence with a sad voice. “The most powerful person we know.” 
“The bravest and most caring, too,” Barry added just as softly. “She didn’t even ask for help.” 
“You were all busy,” Alex shrugged slightly but Lena could see the tension in her jaw. “You all had your own villains to face and lives to live. She wouldn’t have disrupted that.” 
“She wouldn’t put all of you in danger like that.” Lena’s voice was hoarse from disuse. Not counting her blessing of Kara at the beach, that was the longest sentence Lena had said in two weeks. 
“I did, with the Dominators and Crisis,” Barry’s expression shone with guilt. “She answered every time.” 
“She was like Oliver,” Sara said, leaning further into Ava as she spoke. “More of a hero than any of us will ever be.” 
“All these powers, even time travel, and we still can’t save everyone.” Iris sighed and dropped her head onto Barry’s shoulder. Barry pressed a kiss against his wife’s forehead. 
“We would if we could.” Barry said. “I’d go back in a second if we didn’t have to worry about another Flashpoint. An event like this is too big to go back and change.” 
“Flashpoint?” Lena asked curiously. Alex looked at her with the smallest bit of surprise and a hint of question in her eyes. 
“One of the first times I travelled back in time on purpose, to save my mom. I ended up changing everything,” Barry explained. 
With everyone reluctant to leave, it took little prodding to get Barry to continue elaborating. A conversation about the difficulty of preserving the timeline arose between the members of team Flash and the two remaining Legends in the room. Lena listened with half an ear but her mind was stuck on the comment that had started this conversation. 
It didn’t feel right without Kara in the room, not only in the sense that Lena personally felt as though she was missing an essential part of her being, but in the sense that something about all of this was fundamentally wrong. The only thing about Kara’s conflict with Lex was that Lex was gone. It doesn’t make sense for him to have taken Kara out with him, especially not without Kryptonite. Lena remembered the final blow in sharp detail. The beam that had exhausted Kara was golden, not green. 
A comment about the natural order of time caught Lena’s attention and she pondered the implications of it. The natural order of time ensured that everyone was at the correct time and place, whenever that happened to be in the linear timeline of their own lives. Barry and the Legends are able to move through time as long as they don’t disrupt the natural time. There were few rules for time travel, but the most important was that one could not be in the exact same place and time as they had been before. A person cannot physically be in one specific time and place more than once. 
But, there were ways to send other things through time. The Legends used a ship, and Barry had once sent a message back in time to himself, warning of things to come. The beginnings of an idea began to form in Lena’s mind. Physical time travel was limited, but that didn’t mean that other forms had the same limitations. Unfortunately, Lena was kept from following that rabbit any further down the hole by the group finally breaking apart for the night. Lena forced the questions and ideas from her mind until she returned to National City. 
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megexpress · 5 years
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Can you talk just about aquamera please? Anything about them. I love reading your thoughts on them so much haha.
Hello, anon~ I’m answering this 2-3 months late and I apologize profusely. I had a whole plan of how I wanted to respond to this - thank you for the compliments! I hope you’re still around, anon - but I decided to write this mini fic instead. I was listening to this and got a headcanon that I decided to write out. I hope you enjoy!
“The guest bedroom is all set up for you two. Your bags are already in there. I put extra blankets in the closet if you get cold. If you get hot, there’s a table fan in there, too. If you get hungry, don’t hesitate to get something! Clark is a deep sleeper and won’t wake up. It’s like sleeping with the de-”
“O-kay!” Clark interrupts Lois’ rambling, making Arthur chuckle. “I think they get the picture. You don’t have to worry, Lois.”
Clark puts an arm around Lois, pressing her closer to his side. She wraps her arms around his waist, her eyes still tinged with concern. It’s the first time Clark and Lois have had guests over to their new house in Metropolis (not including Martha Kent, of course) and Lois has been fretting over them non-stop. Arthur can’t see why. It’s a nice house. Clark’s rustic taste in sharp contrast with Lois’ more modern taste. Him and Mera would never live in a house like this, but it’s perfect for Lois and Clark.
“Yes, Lois, thank you! You’ve made us very welcome,” Mera says, intertwining a hand with Arthur, leading him toward the guest bedroom. “Goodnight!”
“Goodnight,” Arthur calls over his shoulder to the couple, barely suppressing a yawn.
“Goodnight,” chorus Clark and Lois to the closing bedroom door. “Don’t let the bed bugs bite!”
~
“There are bugs in the bed?” Mera whispers in horror. “That’s disgusting! How can I sleep knowing that bugs are going to be crawling all over me?” Mera shivers, her nose wrinkled in disgust. “Why wouldn’t they eradicate them the moment they purchased this house?”
Arthur smiles. Sometimes her innocent commentary catches him off guard and it brings a smile to his face every time. What a dork. “It’s just a saying. There are no actual bugs in the bed.”
“There better not be,” Mera warns, “or I’ll sleep in the bathtub.”
“At least I won’t have to worry about you drowning.”
Mera tilts her head at him in exasperation, one eyebrow raised.
Arthur winks at her before taking a running start, landing on the bed with a loud thud. The mattress groans under his sudden weight.
“Arthur!” Mera gasps.
“What? I had to kill all the bed bugs,” Arthur says innocently, a smile tugging at his lips.
“What if you had broken the bed? We would have had to explain to Clark that we somehow broke the bed,” she looks at him sternly, the implication clear as day.
“You’re right. Lois caught us making out in the hallway. Twice. Once with my shirt half off. I’m surprised they didn’t sit us down and give us a  talk about birth control.”
Mera snorts, stifling a laugh. “The look on her face…”
Arthur’s eyes glitter with mischief as he joins her laughter. “She turned so red and covered her eyes with her hand as she backed away.”
Mera quietly giggles to herself as she rifles through her luggage. “Reminds me of that time Vulko caught us in the Throne Room.”
“He was so dramatic! His scream brought the guards in!”
“He got the full view of both of us.”
“We did put on a bit of a show,” Arthur muses, wiggling his eyebrows.
“Now he makes a big fuss before entering any room.”
“The old starfish needs to get out more.”
Mera just shakes her head and grins.
~
Arthur startles awake, nightmares of the creatures of the Trench ebbing away into the recesses of his mind. He used to have nightmares like this when he was younger, but the creatures were mere dark figures just out of sight, never to be focused on. He’d scream himself awake, Tom having to run to him and console him as he cried for the mother that would never return. Or so he thought, of course. But, now that he’s seen the creatures of the Trench for himself, and though he can control them, they still scare the shit out of him. Sadly, the nightmares are somewhat a regular occurrence.
“Another nightmare?” Mera asks groggily.
Arthur rolls over to face her and she gently laces her fingers through his hair.
“Yeah, sorry. Did I wake you?” Arthur asks, snuggling closer to her, drawing her into his embrace. With one hand still combing through his hair, she tucks her head under his chin. Every time he has a nightmare, they find themselves in this position. Mera playing with his hair, him feeling her heart beat against his chest. It somehow makes the nightmares stop.
“You didn’t. I can’t fall asleep.” Mera yawns. “Clearly I want to, but… you know.”
He does. She has trouble sleeping when she’s far from home. When they sleep at the Lighthouse, it’s different. The water is right there, the waves crashing like a lullaby for her. It soothes her. Once she’s parted from water, it’s like homesickness but amplified. In the middle of Metropolis, a city of skyscrapers and a massive human population, it sets her on edge. He can see it in the tautness of her shoulders, the way her eyes search the horizon. From a young age, Mera was taught to stay near water, not to fraternize with the surface. Regardless, here she is. In the middle of a foreign city, no water to escape to, surrounded by humans. She has proved time and again how strong she is, how open and receptive to new experiences. It’s one of the things he loves most about her. However, he understands her struggle.
That’s why he came prepared.
“I brought something for you, hold on,” Arthur says, kissing Mera on the forehead before disentangling himself from her and the cozy sheets.
He shivers when his feet touch the floorboards, the cold immediately seeping into his bones. They couldn’t have put a carpet in here, could they? He stumbles to the overnight bag they brought, rummaging in the dark. Thank you, night vision!
“What are you looking for?” Mera asks, sitting up in the bed. She wraps the blanket around her shoulders, snuggling into it like a caterpillar in its cocoon.
“Where the hell- Found it!” Arthur yelps in triumph. Mera shushes him and he has the good sense to duck his head in contrition. If there was a carpet, they wouldn’t have heard that.
“What is it?” Mera leans forward to get a better look.
Arthur shoves it further into the bag to hide it from view. “Close your eyes.”
“Arthur…”
“Close them!”
Mera rolls her eyes with a sigh before shutting her eyes.
Arthur tiptoes back to the bed and gently sets a pair of headphones over Mera’s ears.
“What the-”
Arthur presses play and Mera immediately goes silent. With her eyes wide, she meets Arthur’s gaze, her mouth open in shock. The smile slowly appears as her hands place over the headphones, pushing them tighter to her ears.
“Do you like it?” he asks, already knowing the answer.
“How did you…?”
“I found this CD in an old record shop. It’s supposed to be used for meditation but I thought it could help you sleep. It’s just water sounds like waves crashing, rain on pavement, water flowing along a river. It’s a good thing my old walkman still worked or-”
Mera cuts him off with a kiss, a hand behind his head to pull him closer. He smiles into the kiss, happy to have made her happy. When she pulls away, he can see the effects already taking place. Her shoulders have relaxed and the stress has receded from her eyes. She looks younger, somehow. Like all the worries have been erased with every crashing wave.
“Thank you, Arthur,” she says, touching her forehead to his.
He closes his eyes, breathing into the moment, locking it away into his memory. He can hear through the headphones the sound of waves crashing. Huh. It really is relaxing.
“You’re welcome, Mera.”
After a moment more, she pulls back, leaving a soft kiss on his cheek. She scoots over to make room for him on the bed and snuggles back under the blankets. When he is settled, she tucks herself back under his chin, dreamily lacing her fingers through his hair. The walkman is placed on the mattress behind her. Mera doesn’t move much in her sleep and, when Arthur has her in his arms, he doesn’t move much either. Before long, they both begin to doze off, listening to the sound of the waves through the headphones.
It becomes tradition. Mera packs the walkman whenever they travel on the surface while Arthur makes sure to pack extra batteries. He dreads the day the walkman stops playing but, for now, it plays and it has made all the difference. The sounds of water lull her to sleep, giving her a sense of peace and closeness to home. When Arthur has his nightmares, he holds her in his arms. The sound of the waves through her headphones carries them both to sleep with the feel of her heart beat shielding him from the nightmares.
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More Trick than Treat
Batfam Halloween Content War Day 2 is Celebration! I always think of trick-or-treat as a celebration and here we have some characters celebrating their own wit as well. Our batfam members today include Dick, Damian, and Alfred with special guests Wally, Irey, and Jai West, Roy and Lian Harper, and Jon Kent! (Shout out to @super-batgirl who helped me come up with Jai, Jon, and Damian’s costumes) Words: 1,105 Rating: G Gen AO3
Dick was beginning to seriously regret his life choices. Not the whole hero thing, never that, but rather his choice in friends. And more specifically inviting some of said friends and their kids to go trick-or-treating with him and Damian at the mansions in Gotham’s Bristol neighborhood. When Alfred had discovered that he’d invited Roy and Lian and Wally and the twins to come trick-or-treating the butler had insisted on talking Clark and Lois (mostly Lois) into letting Jon tag along. Dick didn’t mind the kids, if he was being honest he was excited to be going trick-or-treating with them and had even dressed up for it. Wally and Roy were the problem.
“Seriously? What are you even supposed to be?” Wally laughed at Dick’s costume.
He looked down at himself, Dick thought that the impression he was doing of Hal was pretty spot on. Bruce laughed at it. Even Alfred cracked a smile when he saw the Green Lantern shirt, bomber jacket, and aviators. “What’s wrong with it?” He asked with a frown.
“You look like a Top Gun reject, man,” Roy informed him.
Dick glared at him until he couldn’t help but laugh. He was almost doubled over as he tried to tell them, “I’m supposed to be Hal.”
Wally and Roy both lost it at that. “So I was right! A Top Gun reject!” Roy managed to say when he caught his breath, forcing the three of them into another round of cackling.
“What’s so funny?” Lian asked as she skipped down the steps. She had used Cass’s room to put on her Pink Power Ranger costume.
“Your Uncle Dick’s costume is, Squeaker,” Roy told her, handing over a plastic pumpkin for her candy.
“He’s obviously Uncle Hal. What’s more ridiculous is yours! You’re old! And you’re being Archie Andrews for Halloween! That’s just ridiculous Daddy.” Lian crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow, her mask still perched on the top of her head.
Dick tried not to laugh, covering his growing smile with his fist. Wally couldn’t cover as well and ended up snorting at Lian’s sass and the look of offense on Roy’s face.
“You’re not one to talk Dad!” Irey called down from where she stood above them on the second-floor landing, looking right at home in the huge old house with her Ghostbuster jumpsuit, pack, and goggles. Dick was pretty sure those were her Impulse goggles but who was going to notice that in Gotham. “I mean Hercules? Really?”
“It’s a classic!” Wally yelled back at his daughter. Dick could feel his shoulders shaking as he tried not to laugh.
Irey wrinkled her nose and leaned over the railing. “You’re pretty much wearing a dress.”
“It’s a toga! I have shorts on!” Wally cried, arms flailing and nearly taking out one of Alfred’s favorite vases.
“God I hope so,” Roy said, looking at the other redhead with wide eyes.
Wally glared at Roy before turning to Dick and pouting. He just held his hands up in a placating gesture to his friend. “Look man, karma.”
“Well if the point of this holiday is to wear the most ridiculous attire possible then I feel that I am certainly in the lead with West here and Kent tying for second,” Damian grumbled, appearing at Dick’s elbow.
“Aw, c’mon Lil D! Woody is a classic costume! And with Jon being Buzz you two look great. You’ll get all the candy,” Dick tried to assure him. However, it only earned a nose wrinkle and trademark -tt- from Damian.
“He’s right y’know,” Irey called down. She turned to yell back down the hallway. “Jai! Would you hurry up! This jumpsuit is getting hot and everyone else is ready!”
“I’m comin’! Jeez!” Jai said before appearing next to his sister. “See? I’m Captain America and I can block out the haters with my shield.” Jai proceeded to hold up said shield and use it to keep Irey from his view the entire time he walked down the stairs.
“Wooooow. Want some ice for that burn?” Lian giggled, staring at her friend who was still standing slack-jawed on the landing.
“I feel like I’m missing something?” Jon asked as he was lead into the foyer by Alfred.
Damian gave a smirk to his friend. “That would be a brain, Kent. Maybe you should have dressed as the Scarecrow from Oz?”
“And we’re done with the insults!” Dick called, grabbing Damian by the back of the vest and patting Jon on the head. Well, top of his helmet. “You kids want candy, I want to not be endangering secret identities when things get out of hand so from now on if you have nothing nice to say then don’t say anything at all.”
“So that means Daddy can’t talk,” Lian said dryly, pulling her mask over her face.
There was shocked silence from the assembled heroes. Alfred cleared his throat before speaking. “If I may say so myself, sick burn Miss Harper.”
Dick sputtered at Alfred, blinking rapidly as his brain tried to process the butler’s words. Damian was moving his mouth but no words came out as he looked between Dick and Alfred. Jon had to cover his mouth with his glove-clad hands, but even that didn’t prevent the occasional giggle from escaping. Wally and the twins all had identical expressions of glee. Lian’s face couldn’t be seen but Dick just knew from her posture that she had a smug smirk as Roy appeared to be frozen with a wide-mouthed expression. For his part, Alfred looked completely indifferent from before; the only difference was the look of polite befuddlement he wore as a mask of innocence.
Lian skipped over to Alfred, holding up a hand. Alfred responded by lightly smacking it in a high-five, prompting Lian to begin jumping up and down. She singsonged as she ran around the foyer saying, “I won! I won! Best burn of Halloween goes to meee!”
As she passed in front of him Roy managed to move again and placed a restraining hand on her head. “And that’s enough. Out. Go. Get candy to celebrate. Just don’t talk to me anymore. You’re officially Uncle Dick’s problem now.”
Dick smiled and held out his hand to Lian. “C’mon kiddo. You and the twins roasting your dads is something I needed after dealing with them my whole life. I’m more than happy to sugar you all up and send you back home if they’re gonna stay here and pout.” With that he led the small group of kids out the door and into the night. Roy and Wally yelling behind him.
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Welp I’ve written a spoken word poetry style brotherly usuk fic! To clarify, I got nothing against usuk shippers. 
But yea, I like the idea of two of them as bros, that support each other, through their crazy love lives, and their crazy life-life’s
And its inspired by Sarah Kay and Philip Kaye’s spoken word poem An Origin Story. Cos writings about friendship are so underrated!
You can also read it on A03
Enjoy~!
Title: Friends Fall in Love with each other Sometimes (**Platonically**)
Arthur: 
Here’s a toast! [raises glass]
Alfred:
Here’s a toast! [takes a PB&J from the inside of his coat] [Arthur eye-rolls]
Together:
To the both of us — !
Alfred:
And a vow, very solemn...
Arthur:
For better and for worse...
Alfred:
In the crazy wreck of life….we’ve found each other...
Arthur:
And in each other, one of the most wonderful things that can be found in life…….
 …...In me you’ve found…a friend
Alfred:
Someone who will dash over to the bar when you’re piss drunk — to pick you up, and send you home safe
Arthur:
Someone who will put up with all the pop songs you play, and all your ridiculous memey balderdash
Alfred:
Someone who will actually listen to you go on and on about 15th century literature, only because I know you care about it!
Arthur:
Right back at you, regarding comic books, and whatever nation walked past us that was “totally a hot piece of ass”
Alfred:
though bitterness and sorrow and madfests and shitshows, I promise and I swear...
Arthur:
…...if you need me, I’ll be there...
Alfred:
When I'm in trouble, I know you’ll swoop by. And be my hero —
…...Even though…...I’m no longer the Robin to your brooding Batman...because I’ve stepped out of your shadow.
And dang has that caused so many rifts and tensions between us…... 
But it's not all that bad. I know that if I need you I can reach you — even if the bat-signal is broken…...
Because I already know your secret identity. Your darkest nightmares. Your most crippling traumas. Your tears and your resolve. You don't have anything you need to hide from me, because I know you...and I know that your secret hideout will always have a place for me...
Cos we’re still, as ever, the dynamic duo
And here's a special offer, eh? I’ll generously reprise my old role as Robin for you, on the special occasion where you need Robin…...to be…...YOUR WINGMAN...aha...aha...get it?
Arthur:
Psssh, lame
And I’ll always remember that you’re boy-scout Clarke Kent, even when you take off the glasses, and put on the supersuit.
Count on me, always, to step on your cape when you’re about to take off — when what you really need — is to get your hero head out of the clouds, and your all-too-human feet back on earthy ground
I’ll tell you without hesitation — when your actions make the ‘S’ emblazoned on your chest stand for ‘Stupid’ rather than ‘Super’.
And no holds barred, I’ll say it to you straight, when part of your superhero costume…... reaaaaally looks like red underwear…...and you’re speeding off to impress Lois Lane
And I promise, I will never, ever, be afraid of you — and your superpowers. Because in my eyes, you’ll always be my brother. I’ll never carry kryptonite on me, as a guarantee for my own safety. Cos I know I can count on your kindness and your integrity...and that's more powerful...
Alfred:
If someone bursts your bubble, I’ll whip out my bubble gun and blast them away, like Team Rocket
Arthur: 
You’re strong enough to lift loads of weights at the gym. And I’m certainly stubborn enough to try lift any weight off your shoulders
Alfred:
And when the going gets tough and you’ve feelin’ the heat,
Arthur:
but you insist on handling it on your own
Alfred:  
I’ll know when you’re being stubborn, and drag you out of there, no matter how badly you kick and scream for me to let go…...
Arthur:
…...Because I’ve seen you make coffee……
Alfred:
......And I’ve seen you make tea…...
Arthur: 
…...So  I know when the heat makes people and drinks stronger…
Alfred:
Or just plain bitter
Arthur:
And if the latter happens I'll throw in some chocolate, marshmallows, or caramel into your drink of choice...and the flavours your life
Alfred:
Add in a sugar cube, some creamer, or even cinnamon to spice things up!
Together:
With the power of caffeine, we’ll be unstoppable!
Arthur:
And of course I’ll see you through the crazy adventure that is searching for true love in life
Alfred:
I’ll encourage you, seriously, to ask your crush out
With the classic proverb that hey……
Even GOOGLE had to ask to be your default browser for the first time
Arthur:
And I won't judge you for poring over your crush’s texts for hours
In fact, I’ll dissect them with you
I've interpreted Beowulf and scrutinised Bridget Jones
a couple of texts from your potential bae is nothing!
Alfred: 
And I solemnly swear to tell you the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the Truth
…….when you’re trying to freshen up for a date….....
And you ask me how'dya look......well......
Don’t worry I'll help you look cool —
my pomade, my leather jackets, and my badass motorbike...are free for your use! 
Arthur:
And if you already look cool, and are trying to freshen up for a date —
My…...err…...extensive collection of romantic poems...the highlight of which is…...18th Century English Romantic Poet Keats….is…yours…along...with...my...well...wishes???
  But also…………
…...if the one you love, is not the one who loves you...
And it becomes such that you start to say
“Mirror, mirror on the wall, who’s the ugliest of them all”
And see through the mirror, that the answer is you
I’ll trace my finger over what you think is the misshapen lump of your face
And draw out your every feature that stands out bold and proud:
That shine in your eye that could warm the sun
Your beaming smile that dares the world entire with a note of kindness
And your “double chin” — for god’s sake you don’t have it
in fact the way you hold it up suggests strength and athleticism— which I will remind you social convention finds very attractive
And anyway whoever falls in love, with you, will find a way to be enamoured your every other facial flaw
Because love is NOT a mirror, it sees the world through a completely different kind of lens, that distorts things, in the favour of you, the cherished
That’s not even to mention how I as your friend, already think that you’re beautiful just the way you are
Alfred:
And every time, your crush looks away, and hurts you in ways that he doesn’t even know
When you start to think it’s because you’re not enough, and not even worthy of true love
I’ll tell you all about the times I fell in love with you, as a friend, platonically
That moment when you took my breath away, by showing up at my work desk, with a toasted golden-brown marshmallow chocolate-sauce pizza, when I was starving after six hours of non-stop work
That look in your eye, when you listened to me, all through the night, blabber about my horrible insecurities, ugly jealousies, and nonsensical fears
And that patience, when you put cold spoons over my eyes — to stop them from swelling — and soothed me in the toilet as I cried, hiding away from the rest of the world, in the middle of a World meeting, and I was so ashamed
So how can you believe, that you are any less worthy, of beauty and of grace? Put a smile back on your face!
  But hey now, you’ve found your SO,
and I’ll keep a lookout for if he’s an asshole.
If he is, I'll deliver him a painful blow.
For you, mah man, my best bro
Arthur:
And now that you've decided that he's the one, Shakespeare’ll have nothing on the shovel talk I give your bae
Alfred:
But even then, I’ll still need you to stand by me, to watch my back, and help me with the little-big things in life
Arthur:
Well I can’t hang the stars in the sky for you, but I’ll make sure you hang your laundry
Alfred:
I’ll always share with you the cool things I find on the internet, the cat vids and the touching stories
Arthur:
You’re not Snow White or Sleeping Beauty —
and I’m certainly no Prince Charming either
I won’t wake you with a kiss to your lips.
But like hell I’ll let you oversleep and be late for world meetings
Alfred:
Throw away your ouija board, you don’t need to stress and obsess over predicting every trouble in your future.
Cos you’ve got me. And for you, I’ll raise demons and hell
Arthur:
Don't toss your coins into the fountain — toss ‘em to me
I’ll save them up for you — for a rainy day — and one day you’ll thank me  
Alfred:
If you’re tearing your hair out, cos you’re about to be checkmated in chess
I’ll help you turn the tables on your opponent...literally.
As the chess pieces scatter across the floor, I’ll remind you that there's a real world out there, beyond the chessboard.
Even if your fellow chess competitors don't see it......
Arthur:
If you grin too cockily while looking through your telescope,
thinking that you’ve already got the stars,
I’ll flip your telescope the other way round,
so you'll look through the tiny end,
and see another world where the stars are further than they actually are,
to get a heart-attack,
that shocks you back into perspective
Alfred:
And hey, I know, I won't always give you the right answers to life,
but at least like Siri, I'm programmed to listen
Arthur:  
I’ll won’t ever settle for just being your compass in life.
I’ll be more like your Google Maps and 4G 
tracking you each step of the way, until you reach your destination,
even if my signal gets a little spotty sometimes
Alfred:
And whenever I’m having a snack,  I’ll always snap my kit-kats and kinder-buenos in half,
cos half of it will always be for you.
Arthur:
What I call crisps, but you call potato chips —
even if I’ve eaten through most of the bag in a wild binge
and am down to that one last hyper-addictive handful  —
if you need it because you’re stressed —
then those crisps I will gladly give to you
Alfred:
 And the TLDR; is basically, as the classic song goes: ~If you wanna be my lover, ya gotta get with
my friends, make it last forever, friendship never ends~ [from SPICE girls]
Arthur:
And as the annoying Swiftie beside me would also like to sing — the two of us
Alfred:
We’ll never go out of style! We’ll never go out of style!
Arthur:
Because there were so many before us, before our days — their footsteps echo down to us, to show and light the way!
Alfred:
I’m talking ‘bout Ash and Pikachu
Arthur:
Sherlock and Watson
Alfred:
 Spongebob and Patrick
Arthur:
Frodo Baggins and Samwise Gamgee
Alfred:
Susan B Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton
Arthur:
Peter Pan and Tinkerbelle
Alfred:
Capt’n Kirk and Spock
Arthur:
the Doctor and his Tardis
Alfred:
Charlotte the Spider and Wilbur the Pig
Arthur:
J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis
Alfred:
Cookies ‘n Cream!
Arthur:
Jam ‘n Scones!
Arthur:
Sophie and the BFG
Alfred:
Elliot and E.T.
Alfred:
Together, we boys got chemistry! We’re unstoppable! — And even if we aren't —
Arthur:
~with a little help from our friends~ [from The Beetles]
Together:
We’ll be O.K.!
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laurelwinchester · 7 years
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Clark and Lois (Smallville iteration) for the ship thing!
Okay, so, admittedly, my Smallville knowledge is a little rusty at this point (why aren’t you on Netflix, Smallville???) but I gave it my best shot because I love these dorks! :)))
who hogs the duvet: Lois. And she is completely unapologetic about it because “you know I get cold, Smallville!”
who texts/rings to check how their day is going: Oh, this is Clark. 100%. There are a lot of emojis. A lot. A loooot. He has fun with those emojis. Lois always rolls her eyes when she sees his texts, but she can’t quite wipe that smile off her face.
who’s the most creative when it comes to gifts: My instinct says Clark but I also think Lois would be the one who carefully picks out the perfect present because she wants to make him happy but also because she wants to outdo him in the gift giving category.
who gets up first in the morning: Clark grew up on a farm. He’s an early riser. He wakes up, showers, makes coffee and breakfast, and she’s still passed out on the bed like a starfish, wrapped in the blankets like a burrito and drooling on his pillow.
who suggests new things in bed: Okay, well, you know this one is Lois.
who cries at movies: Lois, although she’s adamant she doesn’t. They took Chloe and Oliver’s son to see Inside Out and she bawled. She swore them both to secrecy and Clark bought her a box of Milk Duds on the way out.
who gives unprompted massages: They both do this. He’s always willing to give her massages when he notices that she’s feeling particularly stressed and she likes to return the favor. The problem with that is that she’s not very good at it. She sort of just like digs her fingers into his shoulders, which feels…exactly how it sounds like it would feel. But she’s trying to do something nice for him, so he’s not going to tell her that her massages are terrible.
who fusses over the other when they’re sick: Clark tries but Lois much prefers to just sleep through illness so he’s learned that rather than hovering over her and trying to force feed her tea and chicken soup, the best thing to do is to just get her in bed with a lot of blankets. And maybe lie down with her and let her pick something to binge watch on Netflix.
who gets jealous easiest: Without a doubt, it’s Lois. She tries really hard not to and she especially tries really hard not to let it show, but it’s hard to miss. You know what though? It does lead to some great sex.
who has the most embarrassing taste in music: Clark and his weird love of 90’s pop hits.
who collects something unusual: I feel like Clark maybe has something super nerdy like a stamp collection or coin collection that Lois teases him about but every Christmas, she gets him some expensive vintage item for his collection.
who takes the longest to get ready: Oh my god, Lois. Poor Clark always winds up slouched on the couch, texting apologies to Chloe and Oliver because Lois can’t decide which earrings go best with her dress. And Lois is like, “We’re not going to be late, calm down! We’re just not going to be twenty minutes early like you want.” Spoiler alert: They’re fifteen minutes late.
who is the most tidy and organized: Well, it’s not Lois. She’s a slob and a half.
who gets most excited about the holidays: Clark makes them send out Christmas cards at Christmas. Like, the kind with the family picture and the newsletter. They wear reindeer ears and Christmas sweaters and pose in front of the tree with their dogs. It’s very domestic.
who is the big spoon/little spoon: Lois is the big spoon and you can pry that headcanon from my cold, dead hands.
who gets more competitive when playing games and/or sports: Lois. They host a weekly board game night for friends and family and they had to band Charades because Lois gets way too into it.
who starts the most arguments: Both of them. They bicker like an old married couple. Ollie always says, “I can’t decide if that’s obnoxious or adorable but I’m heavily leaning towards obnoxious. Heavily, Clark.”
who suggests that they buy a pet: Clark is the one who initially brings this up. He has a pro and con list all ready to go and everything. Unexpectedly, when he tells her that he thinks they should get a dog, she looks up from her phone with wide, excited eyes and just goes  ’‘YES! LET’S DO THAT!“ Kinda startles him a little. He’s like, ’'Uh, okay. Wasn’t expecting that. Give me a minute.” They wind up with two big goofy energetic dogs and they dote on them like they’re children.
what couple traditions do they have: Couples costumes at Halloween and ugly sweater parties at Christmas.
what tv shows they watch together: Lois is addicted to the Shonda Rhimes shows. Clark is actually not a fan of them, but he thinks it’s cute how she gets so into them. So I guess it’s less that they watch these shows together and more that Lois watches Grey’s Anatomy and Clark watches Lois.
what other couple they hang out with: Chloe and Oliver. At least once a week. Except for that one time when Lois and Chloe get into a huge fight over Pictionary and they spend like a month being stubborn until Clark and Oliver lock them in a room together so they can work their weird shit out.
how they spend time together as a couple: They like to say they’re homebodies and they like to spend most of their time at home with their dogs, but… Let’s be real: She’s always “dragging” him into mystery solving shenanigans (as if he doesn’t love it) so that is how they spend the majority of their time.
who made the first move: I think it was Lois, right? Or maybe mutual? I don’t know. It was season nine, I think.
who brings flowers home: Clark brings her flowers all the time. It’s not just for Valentine’s Day and birthdays and anniversaries or if they have a fight. It’s when she wins awards, it’s because he was “thinking of her,” it’s because she helped him with his mother’s birthday present, it’s because “it’s the first day of spring.” Their house is overrun by flowers regularly. Sometimes she thinks about telling him to stop bringing her flowers but it’s just so sweet.
who is the best cook: Neither of them are amazing in the kitchen. They’re both okay. He might be a little bit better than she is. They order out a lot because they work late and his mother sends them a lot of exasperated lasagnas.
Send me a ship and I’ll tell you
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