He gives a bit of a... pout. It's a pout. He can call it a 'put out expression' inside his own head, but he's pouting.
"It's the first time I'll get to try out the whole thing. I've already got something of a lesson plan sketched out and a four week course. I'm trying to make sure that they learn a little something each time they make a meal, keep the learning gradual."
He scrunches his nose at Bruce, because he does plan things, you know, jeez.
"There are going to be paying customers. They deserve a little more than me yammering about food. I want to make sure I'm making the most of the time they give me."
"As long as you can be patient, I'm sure everything will be fine." He drinks his coffee, already itching for a second cup when this one's half gone. It's probably laughable for most people to hear Batman advise patient, but he's taught a lot of students over the years. His patient might not be warm and tolerant, but he has it in spades.
"Well, it helps that all we have in this place is time," he says with a shake of his head and a bit of his breakfast. "Not exactly rushing off to fight a giant robot in the middle of town around here."
"Mm." Eventually, something is going to go wrong. (Like a gigantic dream dragon thingy, for example.) But when something does go wrong-- well, Superman is here.
Batman isn't. Not really.
Bruce finishes his food and coffee, only moving to get more life blood caffeine. When he's done he takes Clark's face in his hands and kisses him, still feeling a little strange but choosing to express it through affection instead of torturing himself.
Clark would, if he knew, approve of this method of dealing with things. As it is, he just approves of the kissing and leans into Bruce's kiss and his hands like they're warm sunlight.
"Let me do the dishes and we can get the day started." He tilts his head towards Bruce's coffee cup. "Well, once your gas tank is full, anyway."
Another grunt. Maybe he could function without coffee, but why try? Bruce kisses him again before he moves away, going to change and get ready to work on the bathroom. He's got everything already, and is sitting on the floor putting things in order by the time Clark rejoins him. Plumbing parts and sealant, tools; there's something almost funny about this brilliant engineer and scientist working with things so mundane.
It's Bruce who gets pulled into a soft, slightly unexpected kiss again as he walks into the bathroom and leans down. Bruce is here, and that's really all the reason he needs.
"What've you got for me?" is what he asks as he pulls back, looking around the bathroom. Bruce's got the tools, but-- "Would it be easier for me to rip things out for you?"
He's going to try to cling hard to the memory of these kisses over the next few days. Something uncomplicated and comforting. Clark is so wonderful; Bruce knows he's steadily on his way to winning every heart in this city. He can't blame anyone.
"Everything that was rotten is out already," he says, and moves to show him the lack of plumbing beneath the sink counter. The sink basin is curiously nice-- new, installed already but obviously not connected to anything. He points out what he's already done and where the hookups for everything are.
"So we're just down to slotting things together and patching over it, I see," he notes as he leans back a little. "Well, want me to start in on the toilet while you work on the sink?"
Bruce makes a noise that passes for 'Sure', and sort out what each of them will need. He know Clark could get all of it done in the blink of an eye, but Bruce wants to actually do this, experience t, fill a few hours and let his brain relax under the orderly lines.
He's quiet while they work; if Clark wants to chat he won't object, but won't add much beyond noises of assent or disagreement every so often. Ace wanders upstairs and lays across the bathroom doorway in a furry heap.
Eventually,
"Did you know people write fanfiction about Batman and Green Lantern?"
Clark knows how this goes, both with Bruce and in general. He and his father used to do work on the farm and just spend the time together without so much as a word after a point. There's a peace in this and a special kind of enjoyment in someone's simple, quiet company.
And as he'd told Bruce before, there were some things you did properly and plumbing was definitely one of them.
...hitting yourself with a wrench due to complete and utter confusion at your life, the universe, and everything, however--
Bruce suddenly has to clear his throat or cough or something. It's definitely not a laugh. He does a thing with a screwdriver to another thing, very technical.
"Courtesy of network chatter. According to Jason, anyway."
"Well, I for one had no idea you felt that way about Guy." Deep sigh and there's a 'tsk' in there somewhere. "You really ought to show your affection with less punching in that case."
"Wow, getting petty," Bruce says, reaching out with one foot from where he is (on his back halfway under the sink, as one does) and shoving Clark lightly (how else does one shove Superman). "Just for that I'm going to anonymously suggest Superman and Plastic Man."
"You're still getting the short end of that stick," Clark points out with a quick, soft laugh of his own. The foot that shoved him gets a brief pat with one hand.
"Unfortunately, in real life, I hope you're happy with me as your consolation prize. Guy's just... too much Lantern for any one man, Bat or otherwise, I think."
"Why does it have to be Guy? That's incredibly harsh, why wouldn't it be John?" Mildly affronted. Batman is definitely good enough for John, okay, he doesn't have to be slumming it with Guy Gardner.
"You can't nix John because you like him." J'accuse, Clark. "That's the only viable option." Hal is, yes, Hal.
Bruce's eyebrows knit together as he looks over at the other man, his hands still poised over his head on the drain piece he's working on. "He did a painting of that?"
Clark can't help the little snicker that shakes his shoulders.
"Oh, yes," he says with some delight, "Yes, he did. It was a present for Guy's birthday one year. He asked me if I thought he'd captured your 'essence' before he presented it."
Another nudge to his foot.
"And I absolutely can nix John because I like him."
Bruce snorts because-- Clark likes Diana, and there was no nixing going on there. There are more important things to address, though:
"Did he capture my essence?"
He knew Dinah had taken commemorative photos of Guy's stupid, reckless, insubordinate, unconscious form on the metal floor, but artistic renditions of the moment are a whole new world.
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"It's the first time I'll get to try out the whole thing. I've already got something of a lesson plan sketched out and a four week course. I'm trying to make sure that they learn a little something each time they make a meal, keep the learning gradual."
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"Mm. It's good you have a plan. I'm impressed." More teasing, because Superman? Planning something? Surely not.
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"There are going to be paying customers. They deserve a little more than me yammering about food. I want to make sure I'm making the most of the time they give me."
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"As long as you can be patient, I'm sure everything will be fine." He drinks his coffee, already itching for a second cup when this one's half gone. It's probably laughable for most people to hear Batman advise patient, but he's taught a lot of students over the years. His patient might not be warm and tolerant, but he has it in spades.
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Batman isn't. Not really.
Bruce finishes his food and coffee, only moving to get more life blood caffeine. When he's done he takes Clark's face in his hands and kisses him, still feeling a little strange but choosing to express it through affection instead of torturing himself.
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"Let me do the dishes and we can get the day started." He tilts his head towards Bruce's coffee cup. "Well, once your gas tank is full, anyway."
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"What've you got for me?" is what he asks as he pulls back, looking around the bathroom. Bruce's got the tools, but-- "Would it be easier for me to rip things out for you?"
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"Everything that was rotten is out already," he says, and moves to show him the lack of plumbing beneath the sink counter. The sink basin is curiously nice-- new, installed already but obviously not connected to anything. He points out what he's already done and where the hookups for everything are.
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He's quiet while they work; if Clark wants to chat he won't object, but won't add much beyond noises of assent or disagreement every so often. Ace wanders upstairs and lays across the bathroom doorway in a furry heap.
Eventually,
"Did you know people write fanfiction about Batman and Green Lantern?"
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And as he'd told Bruce before, there were some things you did properly and plumbing was definitely one of them.
...hitting yourself with a wrench due to complete and utter confusion at your life, the universe, and everything, however--
"What?"
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"Courtesy of network chatter. According to Jason, anyway."
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Ass.
"Well, I for one had no idea you felt that way about Guy." Deep sigh and there's a 'tsk' in there somewhere. "You really ought to show your affection with less punching in that case."
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"Unfortunately, in real life, I hope you're happy with me as your consolation prize. Guy's just... too much Lantern for any one man, Bat or otherwise, I think."
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"Yeah, you're alright."
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"Because I like John, Kyle's too young, Alan's married, and Hal's..." he couldn't quite describe it, but-- "Hal."
Another pause before Bruce might hear him leaning back against the bathtub.
"Did you ever get to see that painting Kyle made of the time you clocked him? Guy, I mean?"
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Bruce's eyebrows knit together as he looks over at the other man, his hands still poised over his head on the drain piece he's working on. "He did a painting of that?"
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"Oh, yes," he says with some delight, "Yes, he did. It was a present for Guy's birthday one year. He asked me if I thought he'd captured your 'essence' before he presented it."
Another nudge to his foot.
"And I absolutely can nix John because I like him."
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"Did he capture my essence?"
He knew Dinah had taken commemorative photos of Guy's stupid, reckless, insubordinate, unconscious form on the metal floor, but artistic renditions of the moment are a whole new world.
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"Indubitably," Clark says, and the fact that he has a straight face is definitely another superpower at his disposal.
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He's slightly sorry he never saw it-- or rather Guy's reaction to it.
"I was always sort of offended he didn't quit over that," he muses. "He held out until you were vaguely condescending."
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"...I wasn't really all that condescending, was I?"
He tries not to be condescending.
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