Chapter Text
“I said it reacts with the enzymes of a compatible mate. It’s only with the one person I am best suited for, it only happens when the chemicals in my body and mind are in agreement that I’ve found . . . the one.”
“Glow in the dark soulmate semen?”
“Kryptonians are a lot of things, subtle is not one of them.” Clark gave a dry scoff as his eyes darted away from Bruce to his floor. “I . . . kept it from you because seeing it . . . reminds me you are my soulmate and I know that doesn’t make me yours. I know you don’t want that kind of relationship from me so-”
“So you do have a nasty habit, just the one, but it’s getting you in-” Bruce grabbed a few tissues from his nightstand and wiped his face clean, perhaps worried the messy rave look took away from his lecturing tone. “It’s getting you in one pickle after another with me Clark. You don’t ask you just either take or assume.”
“Take?” Clark gulped hard. “What did I take from you Bruce that you didn’t want me to?”
“That ok . . . maybe that was a harsh way of putting it but, you never asked me out on a date Clark. That’s why I got mad when you would steal kisses or put your arm around me. You asked and I agreed to the sex, we were on the same page. You . . . it felt like you wanted the benefits of being a couple without the effort. You don’t get to hold my hand or kiss my cheek in private if you’re not willing to do it in public. I have no problem with casual sex, I have no problem with dating, but having one doesn’t imply the other. I don't want to date you in the shadows.” Bruce thought Clark didn't want to be seen with him, wanted all the good things that came with a relationship without any of the hurdles, unwilling to face them side by side.
“But you could have said something . . . pushing me away that . . . I . . . that seemed like just as clear a sign as anything my body was saying. You couldn’t just say hey . . . take me out to dinner first? I would have, in a heartbeat I would have, but instead you just say no, or we’d talked about this, we-”
“I . . . was stubborn.” Bruce shrugged. “I’m sorry.” He was willing to shoulder some of the blame for their circumstances. “I didn’t want to seem desperate, I wanted you to ask me out and I was willing to wait until that happened . . . instead of telling you what I wanted.” Which happened, more often than it should when it came to Bruce, perhaps he though everyone was as great of a detective as he was, could see clues within riddles within winks. "You get me to admit to things . . . so easily in other ways maybe I thought if it's what you wanted you'd-"
“So . . . we both got bad habits.” Clark pondered on that for a second or two. “Care to discuss them over dinner? Know we just ate, maybe tomorrow or-”
“You were right in what you said, the fact that I’m your soulmate, doesn’t make you mine.” Bruce cut him off. “What do you think . . . makes me that, to you?”
“Well, you’re my best friend Bruce, you’re the jelly to my peanut butter and that’s been for . . . shoot, a while. I can be myself with you, at my most human, and my most alien. ” Clark saw a little smudge on Bruce’s chest, poked his finer into it drew a faint heart in the glow, it was improper, it was dirty, it was not something he should have done, but Bruce smiled at him, he liked Clark, his personality, his urges, his biology, his feelings, all of him. “I like spending time with you, clothed or not, I just . . . miss you when you aren’t around. It boiled over you know? Wanting to be around you, wanting to be with you . . . that first time we had sex I just . . . gave into the first option available, I wanted you then not . . . when it fit into our schedules. I'm sorry, I should have asked you out to dinner, a movie, a . . . what do rich people do for fun? The opera? Sky diving?”
“I feel like the thrill of sky diving would be lost on you.” Bruce finally smiled at him. "On me as well." Bruce didn't fly but he dove with the best of them, frequently. "I prefer the spontaneity of being caught mid air to a parachute."
“Alright, then something else, anything else. I catch you now and again, but I'd prefer to sweep you off your feet. Things are just better when you’re with me, that’s how I knew, I mean that and the-”
“Would you really go to the opera with me? I love going but the children don't have a taste for it and the rare nights I find someone to accompany me-” Bruce was clearly mentally calculating how many nights at the opera had ended in a hostage situation. “Bad things happen less when you’re around . . . and even bad things . . . you’re someone good Clark, someone I could see my soul taking a shine to if I gave him the chance.”
“Concider it done! I can order us tickets for next week-" Clark was looking around for a phone or a tablet so he could finialize these plans. "What do you wear?! I don’t think I have anything opera level just laying-”
“Borrow some pajams first Clark, then we'll look into finding you a suit that meets the dress code and more importantly my tastes.” Bruce started to tug Clark towards the bed.
“I want to make sure I did it right, I want to make sure . . . you're sure that I want this, all of this. Bruce Wayne will you-”
“Yes Clark I’ll go on a date with you.” Bruce hugged Clark, it was soft and loose, brief as well, but it was a step towards something more than sex on wheels. Bruce had cut him off before Clark went off the rails and asked for anything past that. They didn't need to go back to skipping steps.
“Tired?" Clark gave a fond smile as Bruce whiped his lidded eyes. "Our first unofficial date can be spooning in bed and watching some movies? I've . . . Tha's something I didn't ask for but wanted.”
“I’m not kicking you out, you can . . . practice your spooning, change and cuddle up Clark.” Bruce had looked so open in the shower, so sinful on his knees, but watching him nestle up in his covers and close his eyes, waiting blindly for Clark to join him, that got Clark all hot and bothered in a different way. Clark found a pair of Bruce’s sweats and a Gotham Knights tshirt, they were a bit snug but it would do till he worked his way up to boyfriend who had an overnight drawer status. “And Clark?” Bruce murmured half asleep as Clark curled in behind him.
“Yeah Hun?” Clark knew they hadn’t gone on their date yet, and he’d just been schooled on taking it one step at a time, but sometimes those instincts he acted on sent him in the right direction, even if the road was bumpy. Bruce gave a pleased hum that seemed to affirm Clark could go with his gut on little things, bigger picture they both needed to work on their communication skills.
“About the opera date. I’ll pick you up a suit, all you need to do is pick a show . . . and show up.”
“I’ll do some research in the morning.” Bruce wanted Clark to put in effort into wooing him, and Clark was plenty eager to exceed expectations.
“That’s all you need to bring, leave the condoms at home ok?”
“See our souls are synching up already.” Clark kissed Bruce on the back of the head.
Clark had almost fallen asleep when Bruce yawned out a question. “Clark? How long does it glow for?” Bruce planted a kiss against Clark's bicep, the mark glowed but only faintly, Bruce let out a somewhat disappointed sigh.
“Donno, I've never timed it.”
“I was just thinking, about after the opera, hit a club, one of those neon nonsense-”
“I’ll think about it Bruce.” Clark kissed Bruce again. "Messy rave, it's on the bucket list."
“That's the spirit glow worm . . . Oh I’m sorry I didn't mean-”
“Not so bad when you say it.”
Clark thought that was it, but he was going to have to get used to the fact Bruce did not fall to sleep till his mind was settled, and that could take some time. “You understand dating me . . . we will glow a bit? It won’t be a lot of private life, a lot of public-” Bruce still thought Clark apprehensive about dating such a public figure so publicly, how that would affect his image, his lifestyle.
“I love you Bruce and if my shine doesn’t weird you, be sure yours can't scare me away.”
“Hmm . . . maybe there’s something to your bunk science.”
“My bunk science?" Clark had enough instincts for one day, he fought the compulsion to thwack a pillow over Bruce’s face. "It’s literally my body Bruce, screaming at me that I-”
"Yes but we haven't really studied it, what if it was a false positive? I think over a nine week span we should do controlled testing. I will collect sample in different-"
“That’s it, should have gone with my instinct.” Clark took his pillow and smacked Bruce in the face with it. "Live to fuck another day Bruce, go to bed!"
"I'm just saying-"
"You don't believe it yet, that I love you and you're not sure that you love me. That's fine Bruce, I thought you had all figured out, what you wanted from me, what you were willing to accept from me. That's not the case . . . we're still unsolved but we'll get to the bottom of it. Starting tomorrow. Nothing we can't crack as partners right?" Clark was surprised when he heard no counter argument or Conesus, just the gentle sound of Bruce snoring.
"I know you think the glow is some bunk or party trick but I'll prove it . . . Bruce, I don't just glow when you touch me. I burn something awful for you just being around you." Clark kissed Bruce's forehead one last time before cuddling up and falling asleep.