evocates: (DC: ClarkBruce - Awesome capeswish)
• just another dreamer • ([personal profile] evocates) wrote2011-01-17 10:27 am
Entry tags:

[FIC] DC Comics: An Ajar Door

SO YEAH I'M RIDING ASTRIDE BOTH COMPANIES RIGHT NOW.

/stares at Marvel fic she posted five minutes ago @_@ ... Oh well. At least my DC OTP isn't obscure?

(I need to write the crossover in my head out someday.)

Also icons might be needed. One day.

An Ajar Door

Characters/Pairings:
Clark Kent/Superman, Bruce Wayne/Batman, Clark/Bruce
Rating: PG
Words: 659
Summary: Clark Kent is still learning the language of Bruce Wayne.


It should mean nothing. With anyone else, it would be nothing – a careless mistake, perhaps, or maybe an offhand sort of movement, causing the door to remain open. Just a little bit ajar.

But Bruce wasn’t anyone else. With Bruce he spoke in these little details, and Clark stood outside the door, his hand half-raised as he considered the tiny, tiny crack. Bruce knew that the door wouldn’t keep him in – it wasn’t lead-lined, and he could see past it easily enough if he was the sort to invade a person’s privacy that way. Even if the door was lead-lined, a single punch from Clark could just blow it off its hinges, and whatever inside would be exposed. Open for him to see.

Clark wouldn’t do that either.

Bruce knew that; but Bruce also knew that he could, and Clark didn’t know which one he was thinking about when he left the door ajar like this.

He placed a hand on the doorknob.

Such a speaker of tongues, he thought wryly, and let his fingertips caress the knob. It was plated in gold, curved at an angle that meant that the hand could rest there for an eternity without feeling tired. It was well-made, well-crafted, and Clark wondered, inanely, whether the colour of the doorknob had anything to do with what he was supposed to do next.

Bruce spoke many, many languages. He scaled the Tower of Babel with clawing hands and eager, hungry eyes that refused to be defeated. If his mission was to finish that Tower, then he would have learnt every single language, one by one, until he had conquered them all and could command the masses to do his stead. Or perhaps he would finish the construction himself, placing brick above brick.

Nothing would have stopped him. He blew through everything in life like they were countless battles in an endless war. Language was simply one of those obstacles he crossed.

Speaker of tongues. He even mastered Kryptonian, the language of Clark’s people. A language that was considered by its own people to be far too advanced for any other civilisation to ever master.

And of course, Bruce had to prove them wrong.

Bruce was brilliant. He could speak over ten languages; think of a thousand plans and have ten thousand contingencies for those plans and have a hundred thousand backup plans for those. He could think in circles, in triangles, in pentagons, and even octagons if he tried hard enough.

Clark’s lips curled upwards, amused at his own thoughts. If Bruce knew them, he would laugh—or Clark thought he would, anyway.

He wasn’t sure.

See, the most complex language of Bruce’s own. Kryptonian could change the meaning of an entire sentence according to the enunciation of a single syllable in the middle of the sixth word from the end, but the language of Bruce Wayne, of Batman, was entirely dependent on the tone of his voice, in his shift of his shoulders, in the tilt of his head, in the curl of his lips, in the light of his eyes. A thousand and one variables, constantly changing, without a textbook that dictates absolute meanings. It was all dependent on context, on the changes of a mercurial mood. A challenge to try to even understand, much less master.

So, an ajar door to Bruce’s bedroom. With a doorknob that had long grown warm beneath Clark’s hand.

Bruce had given him no signal that he was welcome—but he had nothing to tell him he was unwelcome either. And with Bruce, what was not expressed was often just as important—if not more so—than what was.

This—could be an invitation. Or it could be nothing. He could be overstepping his boundaries.

(So what?)

An ajar door.

Clark lifted his hand from the knob. Placed it flat against the wood. Pushed against the door.

Stepped in.

And closed it behind him.

Takes his chances.

End

[identity profile] premium-shaday.livejournal.com 2011-01-17 02:38 am (UTC)(link)
I love it.

Bruce is always so withdrawn, you can never really tell what he's thinking. This captures how Clark deals with that so perfectly.

[identity profile] evocates.livejournal.com 2011-01-17 04:06 am (UTC)(link)
ohmygod you guys are so fast dsgfsdg hi.

Thank you! Bruce is so opaque almost all of the times that reading him is pretty much like a guessing game for Clark. But hey, that's part of the challenge, right?

PS: Who is that in your icon?

[identity profile] kojonoyuri.livejournal.com 2011-01-17 03:12 am (UTC)(link)
Beautiful! Clark learning and understanding Bruce and who he is is magnificently done here. Great Job!

[identity profile] evocates.livejournal.com 2011-01-17 04:07 am (UTC)(link)
Thank you!

/ruffles Goku's hair whyishesocuteomg
ext_148128: (BM_Bruce_Superman_hug)

[identity profile] ctbn60.livejournal.com 2011-01-17 03:26 am (UTC)(link)
Wonderful. I really enjoyed this. I'm glad Clark took the chance.

[identity profile] evocates.livejournal.com 2011-01-17 04:08 am (UTC)(link)
Your icon is so pretty, ee!

Thank you! He kind of... lingered outside like a creeper for a long while, though.

[identity profile] quiltdiva.livejournal.com 2011-01-17 04:37 am (UTC)(link)
Yes, you made me smile!

[identity profile] evocates.livejournal.com 2011-01-17 03:09 pm (UTC)(link)
I'm glad. Thank you!
ext_461679: (Default)

[identity profile] angelinachaser7.livejournal.com 2011-01-17 04:49 am (UTC)(link)
Great story, Clark being the reporter he is, came up with a good overall analyse of Bruce and used that information to make an executive decision. Thanks for sharing. :D

[identity profile] evocates.livejournal.com 2011-01-17 03:11 pm (UTC)(link)
He's awesome as a reporter, yes.

Thank you!

[identity profile] aesthetica-not.livejournal.com 2011-01-17 08:44 am (UTC)(link)
Ooh, I like this a lot. The way they know each other so well always puts a smile on my face. Great job putting an interesting spin on that!

[identity profile] evocates.livejournal.com 2011-01-17 03:10 pm (UTC)(link)
Really, who will know them better? :3

Thank you!

[identity profile] sinisterf.livejournal.com 2011-01-17 08:50 am (UTC)(link)
Oh this is lovely! I love the language theme and there are just so many good lines that I can't chose a favorite.

[identity profile] evocates.livejournal.com 2011-01-17 03:11 pm (UTC)(link)
Hee, thank you!

[identity profile] glymr.livejournal.com 2011-01-17 04:35 pm (UTC)(link)
I love the way Clark thinks here, in terms of languages and messages and codes. It feels very true to the man who makes his living as a reporter. Superman is one of the very few people who can read Batman...as fluent in Batspeak as anyone can be, perhaps.

[identity profile] evocates.livejournal.com 2011-01-19 03:37 am (UTC)(link)
Batspeak is a hard, hard language to learn. :3

Thank you!

[identity profile] ladyblkrose.livejournal.com 2011-01-17 08:33 pm (UTC)(link)
"He could think in circles, in triangles, in pentagons, and even octagons if he tried hard enough."

This is so evocative and indicative of Clark. He is so entranced by language, the knowledge of, learning of, use of language. And as such a user himself is just the one to learn the language of the Bat himself.

Thank you for sharing this lovely piece.

[identity profile] evocates.livejournal.com 2011-01-19 03:37 am (UTC)(link)
The best thing about writing in Clark's POV is that I can totally play around with language and language analysis. He is a reporter, after all.

And thank you for commenting! (Are those Superman and Batman cupcakes???)
bradygirl_12: (superman--batman (flower crowns 1))

[personal profile] bradygirl_12 2011-01-17 11:32 pm (UTC)(link)
Nicely done! I love the Tower of Babel imagery and Clark's love of language. One of the things I love best about him is that love. He's a writer, which I can relate to! :)

The language of Bruce Wayne is subtle, nuanced, and clever, a challenge for our Clark, who is more than happy to try and translate! :)

[identity profile] evocates.livejournal.com 2011-01-19 03:39 am (UTC)(link)
I blame the Tower of Babel imagery on the fact that I just finished that arc. /shiftyeyes

And yes, yes it is. Even Clark sometimes needs a translator. :3

Thank you!

[identity profile] mithen.livejournal.com 2011-01-19 02:45 am (UTC)(link)
He could think in circles, in triangles, in pentagons, and even octagons if he tried hard enough.

Haaahaha! SO BRUCE. I love the sheer contrariness of his learning Kryptonian, and I love the way you have Clark move from that to learning the language of the Bat. Also, for some reason I love the little tiny detail of how the doorknob has grown warm from Clark's hand while he ponders his next move, it felt very right, there. Lovely!

[identity profile] evocates.livejournal.com 2011-01-19 03:40 am (UTC)(link)
Eee, thank you! ♥

Is this a bad time to reveal that I am actually squeeing over your fics right now and this comment made me do a very undignified fall out of my chair?

I mean. Um. Hi?

[identity profile] mithen.livejournal.com 2011-01-20 01:22 pm (UTC)(link)
\o/

Eee, thanks! And now that I've started pawing through your Inception stories in stalker-like fashion, would it be okay if I friended you?

[identity profile] evocates.livejournal.com 2011-01-20 02:40 pm (UTC)(link)
Go right ahead! I'm trawling through your Clark/Bruce archive in an absolutely embarrassing fashion and being a bad person and not leaving the feedback you deserve. (I'm usually squeeing high-pitchedly and clicking on the next story like an addict, so. Yea.)

... I hope you don't mind that I friended you too?

[identity profile] mithen.livejournal.com 2011-01-21 10:36 am (UTC)(link)
Not at all! *friends gleefully* I love your writing style and am hoping I'll know more of your fandoms at some point. :)

[identity profile] evocates.livejournal.com 2011-01-22 03:13 pm (UTC)(link)
sfdgfdsdsfh my fandoms are... mostly anime and manga because I am a sad person who just found Western fandoms lately.

/sad Asian person >_>

[identity profile] mithen.livejournal.com 2011-01-24 05:42 am (UTC)(link)
Pfffft! I've written here and there for manga and anime fandoms, I love them! It's just there are so many and so far we haven't much overlapped--I know OF almost all of them, of course, but not enough to follow a story well. But there's always good odds we'll end up following something together--though ironically, my anime and manga consumption has dropped dramatically since I moved to Japan, lol. Maybe because there's just too much to choose from and my Japanese isn't good enough to follow it easily without subtitles... I bought the Saiyuki manga in Japanese and gave up in horror after realizing that a manga chock-full of esoteric fantasy words might not be the best beginning manga to eradicate. :)

[identity profile] evocates.livejournal.com 2011-01-24 07:19 am (UTC)(link)
No, no it's seriously not. I read it in a mixture of English and Chinese (my mother tongue), and I have strong knowledge of the original myths Saiyuki is based on... and I still don't get some of the references. @_@ MINEKURA THINKS HER READERS ARE GENIUSES!!!!

The sheer number of anime/manga fandoms is boggling. I think the reason why I like comics fandom is that I can squish everything into one single world/universe/multiverse/SOMETHING, which I have been doing continuously with my animanga fandoms. In my head, anyway.

You're spoiled for choice, man. So spoiled for choice. Any idea where do you want to begin? (that won't kill you?)

[identity profile] mithen.livejournal.com 2011-01-26 05:53 am (UTC)(link)
Oddly enough, I just found out yesterday one of my fourth-year students might be studying either Nana or One Piece for her Senior Thesis, so I might have to dip into them. Neither is a short read, either! T_T

I watched all of Trigun! *puts your Trigun fic on the to-read list* Ouran High School Host Club is one of the ones I know least about, and it looks oddly tempting...

[identity profile] evocates.livejournal.com 2011-01-26 09:55 am (UTC)(link)
Ooh, you teach? Which level?

One Piece should be easy - it's published in Shounen Jump, which is mostly meant for 12-year-olds. It's also a very, very good series, though I get twitchy about the art (IT LOOKS LIKE NOODLE PEOPLE). And Nana is glory in itself. :3

I don't have many Trigun fics, though. Woe.

Ouran is... crack shoujo. Really funny, especially in the beginning. Grab the anime to watch first. The manga is slightly more twisty-and-turny, but at least it's finished?

[identity profile] mithen.livejournal.com 2011-01-27 11:49 am (UTC)(link)
I teach college in Japan--communication and media classes, which means a lot of comparing Western and Japanese media and finding different themes. The students get the giggles when I show them Western comics, they're so garish and muscle-bound to their eyes. All of those sound great--I might have to watch the Nana movie as well (which my students turn their nose up at), because a different student might be looking at the difficulties of transferring manga to live-action...

I only have one manga/anime that I have icons from! Woe!

[identity profile] evocates.livejournal.com 2011-01-31 07:02 am (UTC)(link)
I AM SORRY THIS COMMENT IS SO LATE. But ooooh! The Nana movie is...not that great. @_@ A really good transfe of manga to live action has to be Hana Yori Dango - especially the Korean and Taiwanese versions.

Chi! /picks her up and cradles in arms. She is so adorable.

[identity profile] xj-t.livejournal.com 2011-01-22 05:57 am (UTC)(link)
You go Clark! >8D
This is a very nice read, enjoyed it a lot.

[identity profile] evocates.livejournal.com 2011-01-31 07:02 am (UTC)(link)
I'm glad you enjoyed it. Thank you!

(And sorry for this being so late, sob.)