Chapter Text
“Hi, Bruce. Is that breakfast ?” Tim asked, pointing at the colorful food in the various dishes Alfred had put on the living-room's table.
Bruce looked up from The Gotham Gazette.
“Good morning, Tim. Dinner from last night, actually. Space food courtesy of Hal. You can give it a try, the colored sticks are quite nice.”
“Didn't know you were on a date,” Tim said, picking a single stick and looking at it suspiciously.
It looked fine, but the Kryptonian cookies Kon had proudly made for him had looked fine at first glance too. He'd only started feeling sick hours later.
To this day he had yet to determine if it was a reaction to the ingredients or if Kon's cooking skills alone were to blame. Which wouldn’t surprise him.
“Monitor duty, actually,” Bruce corrected.
Surely the young man hadn't heard him correctly. Bruce hadn't been on any date since he had started seeing Hal. He was too busy for that.
“With your boyfriend who brought dinner. Basically a date,” Tim nodded, chewing a piece of alien food bravely and hoping for his stomach to stay put.
Bruce opened his mouth, closed it, put the newspaper down and pressed his palms together.
“Are you under the impression that Hal and I are dating ?”
Tim looked at him mid bite -the red stick was really quite yummy- and sighed.
“You're aware we all know you two are seeing each other, right ? Hal's here every other day.”
Hal's regular presence at the manor was clearly not a secret. Bruce hadn't even tried to make it one – Hal spent most of his free evenings there, and occasionally had dinner with them.
They had had breakfast all together at times.
“I see. There seems to be a misunderstanding here,” Bruce said slowly.
“I doubt it but go on,” Tim encouraged him.
He had given up on lunch to give his whole attention to Bruce. This conversation sounded like one definitely worth registering and sharing with the others. Steph would love it.
“Hal and I do spend time together. As friends. And sometimes, we also… um, we…” Bruce said, stumbling on his words.
Tim hoped his face hadn't turned crimson.
“Why did you have to make it this awkward ? I’m seventeen. I know what sex is and I was quite certain you and Hal weren't working on League projects in your bedroom.”
“Obviously. My point is that Hal and I aren't dating,” Bruce explained.
Tim just rolled his eyes at him.
“Believe it or not, you're not introducing the concept of sex friends to me. What I'm saying is that you two have one of the most sickeningly sweet couple relationships I've ever seen. Now if you don't mind, I'm going to ask Cass if she wouldn't mind giving me a concussion during training so I can forget all about the most cringeworthy discussion we ever had.”
Tim had never fled from a breakfast table that quickly.
Hal had sneaked into the Batcave in the late afternoon a few weeks later.
As he kissed Bruce hello, he noticed his concerned air.
“What’s on your mind ?” he asked, claiming the stool next to Bruce's chair.
Hal was expecting to learn more about Gotham's criminal life, and Bruce's next words surprised him.
“Tim said something to me, that other morning. He brought to my attention that my relationship with you could be mistaken for something it wasn't.”
“What do you mean ?” Hal asked, leaning toward Bruce, both quite unsettled by the turn the conversation was taking and intrigued.
“Tim thought we were dating.”
Hal's whole body relaxed as he threw his head back and laughed.
“Hilarious. Seriously, what did he say ?” he asked, his hand grazing Bruce's shoulder.
“That he thought we were dating,” Bruce reiterated, intertwining his fingers together in a nervous gesture.
Hal stopped laughing.
“Wait, he really thought that ?” he asked hesitantly.
His eyes betrayed the emotional turmoil he was going through. Bruce just nodded stoically.
“Yes, he did. And he implied my other kids did, too.”
The billionaire didn't mention that he strongly suspected Alfred would agree with Tim, now that he paid attention to how Hal was perceived by the rest of the family. The pilot looked troubled enough as it was.
“Why would they think that ? It’s not like we did any dating stuff,” Hal stated, looking at Bruce expectantly.
“That's what I tried to explain to Tim,” Bruce admitted.
“But ?”
“But I did some thinking and realized that he could be right. From an outsider's point of view, it could look like a romantic relationship.”
“You're joking, right ?”
“Well, my previous dates included a lot more galas and movie theaters.”
Hal barely refrained from asking who was idiotic enough to ask the Waynes’ orphan out to the movies.
And of course he would never go to any kind of social function with Bruce, that was a given.
“I should add that most of those dates were incredibly boring.”
He had never felt that way about their own personal meetings.
“I can imagine. I had some good ones too, though.”
The ones with his first girlfriends were a bit awkward but not so bad, all things considered. And going on a date with Carol used to be quite fun, when he wasn’t late.
Most of his other dates had been quite dreadful when not downright depressing. One night stands were easier to deal with.
“Me too,” Bruce said.
“With Catwoman ?” Hal asked in a doubtful tone.
Bruce smiled at him, amused.
“Selina's not the dating type.”
A few years back, that affirmation would have hurt but it seemed he was past that, now.
“And somehow you are ?”
“I didn't think so. However…”
Bruce closed his eyes for a second. This discussion was more complicated than he had expected.
“Yes ?”
Bruce took another second to convince himself that facing Hal wasn't that intimidating before opening his eyes again.
“However, according to the common definition of the word dating –”
“I sense a headache coming. Spare me the verbiage and go straight to the heart of the matter.”
He seemed to have recovered from the initial shock. Bruce bit his lip, not sure how much he could reveal him without making him run for the hills.
“Well, despite good sense and all the objections we both appear to have, it seems we're dating, Hal, and have been doing so for a while.”
Hal shook his head.
“Bruce, you said yourself –”
He had caught hold of Bruce's hand as he talked, apparently without realizing it.
“I made a list of our common activities for the last two months, Hal. If we leave League meetings, training and the sexual part of our relationship out of the equation, we've eaten take out in front of TV a few times, dined out six times, and had breakfast together quite regularly considering our busy schedules.”
At this point, he almost expected Hal to call him a freak but Hal tended to take in stride that Bruce did Bruce things.
“We did eat out together a few times and also shared quite a few meals at the Manor but that's just what friends do, right ? Your kids were even there sometimes.”
Hal didn't look so sure. Bruce decided it was a good time to press his advantage. He squeezed Hal's hand. The pilot's eyes fell on their interlaced fingers.
“That's not just it. We did some sightseeing in Molosava after our mission there. I was your plus one at your friend's bonding ceremony. We've been ice skating and rock climbing. We went to Coast City's aquarium and joined Gevh and Litby at their local zoo to see caopards. All that in a few weeks’ span. How many times have you seen your friends these last two months ?”
Hal was now holding Bruce's right hand in his two hands. Their gazes met and Hal smiled.
“Outside of League or Lantern Corps meetings, you mean ? Touché. Maybe I can see your point, actually. I - I may not have realized we spent so much of my free time together, all things considered. Look, maybe we’re dating then.”
Bruce was looking at him so intensely Hal had to wonder if Clark had given him pointers about X-ray vision.
“And you're just fine with that ?”
“It doesn’t change anything, does it ?” Hal shrugged.
In truth, he had freaked out a bit at first, but he accommodated quickly.
“How long has it been going on, do you think ?”
“Us dating, you mean ? Well, I don't know. It may have started the first time I stayed the night at the Manor. Or when I took you to Naria's bar for my birthday. I don't know for sure but now, with some hindsight, I’d say it's probably been a couple years, if you ask me.”
Which made it Hal's longest romantic relationship to date. Maybe he was still freaking out a little.
“We've made things work out quite well,” Bruce added.
The bat sounded like he attempted to reassure himself.
“We have,” Hal approved encouragingly.
“You're not surprised.”
He wasn't. Being with Bruce just felt so natural at times. If he was a romantic, Hal would have said they were meant to be.
“We're good together.”
They were. As teammates, as friends, as lovers. Why not as a couple ?
“So, are we on a date ?” Hal asked.
“I guess so. Do you want a drink ?”