DRABBLE: A Bridge of Moments

[mithen]

Title: A Bridge of Moments
Characters/Pairings: Clark/Bruce
Rating: PG
Summary:   The right moment always comes at the wrong time.
Word count: 480
Continuity:  Toonverse
Notes:  Originally written for the wonderful fictionalknight 's birthday!

The right moment always comes at the wrong time.

Clark is sitting in the Fortress, remembering the battle on Apokolips the day before.  That moment.  Parademons all around them.  Time always slows down in combat, every moment bright as crystal, edged with light and danger.  Batman's black cape whispered past Superman's ear, a caress of silk as Superman dodged, punched, hurled another enemy away.

That moment.  Even beneath the flat white lenses, Clark could feel Bruce's eyes lock on him, a fierce smile on his face that pulled an answering smile from Clark.  It was like a touch, intimate, confiding:  a recognition of beauty.

Then the sweep of combat carried them apart, the moment gone.  On the flight back, drunk with adrenaline, they all laughed as Wally imitated Desaad's shock when they burst into his chambers.  Clark watched Bruce's face, his grim smile warming into something like camaraderie for one of those rare instants.  It was a good moment.  But it wasn't the right moment.  That moment was gone.

In the Batcave, Bruce is watching tapes of a combat from last week against the Royal Flush Gang.  The security camera feed is grainy and glitchy, but still--he leans forward, watching intently.

On the screen, Batman has leapt from the casino chandelier to land on Ten, who is bent over Superman.  Batman rolls with the impact, coming up at the end of the roll, and--there.  Bruce pauses the tape to catch the moment.  Superman is looking at Batman and the camera catches the affection and something like awe.  And something more. 

Batman remembers his body's reaction to that look.  Body and heart;  his mind had been busy planning the next step in the battle.  But the body and the heart had known.

Bruce hits play and the moment is gone;  King attacks and Superman and Batman scatter before his blasts.  An instant, fleeting, almost unmeasurable.  The right moment always comes at the wrong time.

He could, Bruce knows, seize that moment the next time.  Ignore the battle raging around them, grasp the lifeline of Clark's gaze and follow it to the source to claim it as his own.  He could.  But neither will risk distraction.  Neither will let the world go for the time it would take to make the potential actual.  It's always the wrong time. 

But each moment is right.

Bruce pulls off his gloves and finds that he's smiling. 

In the Fortress, Clark speaks the Kryptonian command that lowers the lights.  In the dimness, he remembers again the touch of Bruce's gaze, rich and rough as velvet.  His lips curve, an echo and a mirror of a smile on the other side of the world.  It's just a moment, one heartbeat connecting the past and present.

A bridge of moments to fill the space between them.

Enough to build a life on, if not the life most would expect.

Comments

[genclay.livejournal.com]

I loved this the first time I saw it :) Very bitter sweet.

It does make me want to smush them together... some how.

[mithen.livejournal.com]

I was in the mood for bittersweet when I wrote it, I guess! I'm not often, so I ran with it. :) I'm glad you liked it! *joins you in the smushing*

[carolandtom.livejournal.com]

That was stunningly beautiful! I love how you parallel their thoughts, feelings, memories and emotions. The idea is wonderful and the writing superb!

[mithen.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I don't often write dialogue-free stories and admire people who can capture emotion in a scene without spoken dialogue, so this was a try for me. :) Glad you liked it!

[yanyann.livejournal.com]

...if not the life most would expect.
Definitely not how I would have imagined it.

Will there be a sequel? So we can maybe see them get together?

[mithen.livejournal.com]

*grin* I know, this one was a sort of experiment in "Can I have them together in their hearts but not in the world?" I have mixed reactions to it...

I think you can consider almost anything I write to be a sequel to this in some ways. Any story that shows them finally bridging that gap, you know... *wants to write some*

[fictionalknight.livejournal.com]

*tight hugs* Thank you again for this - I so, so love it. :happy sigh:

[mithen.livejournal.com]

Aw, I'm so glad! *hugs back*

[bengleman.livejournal.com]

Aww- bless them, poor boys. They need locking in a room and not letting out to save the world until they've sorted things out- y'know, if not for the fact that Bruce could pick the lock or sumpin and Clark could well- yeh, okay so maybe locking them in a room wouldn't work but they need to find some free time!

[mithen.livejournal.com]

They're difficult to get trapped together for long periods of time, lol. But yeah, just a few minutes together would help, the crazy workaholics. :)

[saavikam77.livejournal.com]

Wow... So ethereal and bittersweet. I just want to smish them together so they can have all the perfect moments in the world.

[mithen.livejournal.com]

Aw, me too! Part of what I love about the pairing is finding them those times, even though I know canonically they'd be pretty hard to come by...

[hitokaji.livejournal.com]

This is so beautiful! I love how you play with the images here. :D Thank you so much for sharing this. Love it! ;)

[mithen.livejournal.com]

Thanks! It was an interesting piece to write, just trying to free-associate a bit...not my usual style but I enjoyed the results. :)

[snake-easing.livejournal.com]

C'mon, you guys! You both want it! Stop playing hard to get!

[mithen.livejournal.com]

LOL, I'm sure the right moment will get there eventually somehow. They're mostly just kidding themselves that it might never get there, I suspect...

[starsandsea.livejournal.com]

Ooooh, pretty drabble! :)

Time always slows down in combat, every moment bright as crystal, edged with light and danger. Batman's black cape whispered past Superman's ear, a caress of silk as Superman dodged, punched, hurled another enemy away.

Pretty! I love how you described all of their actions.

He could, Bruce knows, seize that moment the next time. Ignore the battle raging around them, grasp the lifeline of Clark's gaze and follow it to the source to claim it as his own. He could. But neither will risk distraction. Neither will let the world go for the time it would take to make the potential actual. It's always the wrong time.

*pets them*

His lips curve, an echo and a mirror of a smile on the other side of the world.

Oh, and that was so pretty too! Wow...

This was beautiful! :) I love the idea of them looking at each other in battle, just for a second or two, and knowing...

*glomps*

[mithen.livejournal.com]

You inspire me with your drabbles! I was hoping to try and get something as evocative and wordless, somehow...I'm glad you liked it! *dances*

[senmut]

Oh, oh, oh!

So in love, yet...separate!

[mithen.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I like them that way, although I can so rarely resist the temptation to smush them together a bit more. :)

[dizmo]

... Oh, boys. Make more moments! You're allowed! I promise!

... That being said, aaah so evocative. Lovely writing as usual, and I just agree with everyone else who just wants to smish them together until they give in. :|

[mithen.livejournal.com]

I shall happily smish them a bit in the next story! :) They were in the mood for some mooniness, I guess. *grin*

[northernwalker]

Two lonely people connecting in the only way they dare. Perfect.

Sequel?

[mithen.livejournal.com]

*grin* I can't help but consider just about any story where they finally get around to it a sequel because they're always that close in my head somehow... I'm glad you liked it!

[cmer.livejournal.com]

Aww, this was so sweet and so bittersweet! I agree with everyone here, I want to smush them together too. But thankfully you can do that with all your beautiful stories, Jen, which I'm always happy to read and enjoy with everyone else here. :D *giddy hug*

[mithen.livejournal.com]

Awww, thanks! I'll be posting something happier soon, I hope! But I did like the bittersweet take for this one. :)

[ladybugkay.livejournal.com]

In someone else's hands, this could be bittersweet, but in yours, it's not. It's neither bitter nor sweet, it merely is. It is moments not missed but fleeting and yet heavy with significance and emotion. This is a love story at the same time that it is not, and it's beautiful.

[mithen.livejournal.com]

It's neither bitter nor sweet, it merely is.

Thank you, I like that way of putting it. You know, I was really trying to capture the feeling of some of your beautiful intrspective pieces here, so I'm especially glad you liked it!