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Clark is ecstatic. Finally. It took years and years of pining and angst and overthinking, but the long game he's been playing finally paid off. Their weekly lunch catch-up is now a weekly lunch date, and he could not be happier.
Bruce snorts. "Clark, you are objectively the most beautiful man on our corner of the galaxy, so you really don't need it, but you do not have game. Long or otherwise, in any measurable length."
Clark beams. Beautiful, he says, in a matter-of-fact way that only Bruce can pull off, as if it's just a fact of nature, and to think otherwise would be ignorance. "Well, I wasn't playing a long game per se. Does thinking about you all the time, all this time count?"
Bruce mouth almost twitches to a smile, but looks like those are for very special occasions only. Instead, he looks relaxed, free of his usual and ever-present worry, in a way he only does when he's alone with Clark. "No, thinking without action doesn't count as game. The only game you ever had was the approximately five minute conversation we had last week, when you told me what you felt."
Clark continues eating his pie with a beaming expression. No insult can pop this bubble of happiness he's found himself in.
Bruce phone buzzes with a phone call, his eyes widening at the name flashing on the screen. "It's Jordan."
Except that, Clark thinks, feeling the metaphorical bubble popping and deflating around him.
"Hello, you've reached Bruce." he answers, pitching his voice to an upwards tilt. "You have to tell me, who is this again? I have so many numbers."
Clark feels tense - it's Hal, of course he feels tense - and he can't help opening his ears to the tinny sound coming from the phone. He leans forward and hides all pretension that he isn't listening; Bruce will most definitely tell him if he's being intrusive.
Hal is laughing, "No need for the Brucie Wayne Treatment, Spooky, it's really me."
"This call is so unusual and unexpected that I had to make sure. Why are you calling."
"Weeeell, it's Thursday, and I know you're out on your lunch with Clark. Want to go grab a coffee with me afterwards? Since you're already out and about. We can get one before you go back to work."
Clark is shocked. A surprise attack! Of course he's aiming to catch Bruce off guard! If there's no prior plan, Bruce can't set the terms and won't be as prepared. Hal might just get the setting he's aiming for, with a Bruce a bit off-balance, in a context he did not foresee.
But Clark isn't worried yet. Bruce will say that Hal should've made plans with him properly, because there's such a thing as a schedule.
"This is extremely presumptuous, Jordan. What if I have meetings scheduled immediately after lunch?"
"Aw, c'mon! 30 minutes getting coffee won't hurt, it's the same amount of time a coffee slave you hired gets your drink anyway, I'm sure. I'm trying to start that thing where we get to know each other outside work ASAP, you know?" Hal replies, and Bruce is oblivious to the suggestive tone.
Oh, he's good. Outlining pros and cons, making sure the benefit outweighs the cost. Reminding Bruce of shared objectives. Clark is starting to get annoyed.
Bruce is frowning. "Well, I suppose it was too much to expect you'd be organized in going about this."
Oh no.
Hal is laughing again. "Lesson one you'll learn hanging out with me 'outside of work' is spontaneity, Spooky! So are we gonna grab that coffee or what?"
"I have exactly thirty minutes after Clark and I finish dessert."
Clark smiles, lips tight, slightly giving away how his invulnerable teeth are grinding against each other. "Bruce, can I talk to Hal too?"
"Alright then." He looks surprised. "Jordan, Clark wants to talk to you."
A silence. "...Really now? Give me to him."
Clark grips the phone carefully. He wonders why he's so high-strung about this. Is it because it's so new? So new that he's afraid of anything that might take this away, when it doesn't have time to be normal to him yet?
"Hi, Hal."
"Hello, Clark. I have a hunch why you want to talk to me."
Clark forces himself to relax. "Could I come with you guys on your coffee run? I'm sure that won't be a problem. I'd love to get to know you outside work too. You know, strengthen our own friendship as well." He replies, making sure to put emphasis on the right words. "I want to tell you all the funny stories I know about Bruce since way back then, you wouldn't believe the weirdos we fought, just the two of us. It was way before we met you, you wouldn't have heard about them."
"Oh really now? You and I both know it's not just friendship I'm angling for here."
Clark keeps his voice light for Bruce's benefit. "I know. That's why I want to come with you guys. Make sure you know exactly what Bruce wants." He pauses. "When you order his coffee."
Bruce scowls. "What a bizarre thing to say, I can order for myself."
It's quiet at the other end of the phone, then a sigh. "Don't worry Clark, I didn't know. I'd never ask Spooky out if I knew you had a thing going. Message received, even if it was gibberish."
Clark instantly feels guilty. It's not Hal's fault they haven't told anyone in the League yet; isn't his fault he fell in love with Bruce.
"Yeah, well." Clark replies, the tightness in his voice easing. "It's not your fault, he keeps things to himself, but he has his reasons." A low chuckle from the other line, and that's an understatement. "I really would love to grab a drink with you. I'm sure we'd have a lot to talk about."
"Yeah, like trying to make a move on Schrodinger's Cat? Both the smartest and densest man in the world. But I guess that's part of his charm."
"Ease up there."
"Okay, sorry."
"That's enough about me." Bruce takes the phone back. Both Hal and Clark laugh at that. He has no idea how much of all of this is specifically about him. "I don't know what Clark is thinking, but the three of us can't be seen together in public, it's too suspicious."
"You just invited me to join you last week!" Hal replies.
"I was planning to invite you both to the Manor. You heard that, Jordan? Planning. You should try that, sometime."
Hal laughs, then sighs again. "You could've done my planning for me always, Spooks. I'll need to take a raincheck on that coffee run, I'll wait until Clark can join us. Catch you later!"
Bruce looks incredulously at the phone. "What's gotten into him? That conversation was disjointed from start to finish."
Clark rubs his face. They really need to tell the League soon. He messages Hal:
<< I never told him anything about how you feel, it's your story to tell, just so you know. But he might start wondering if something's wrong with you based on this whole phone call.
A reply:
>> I doubt it.
He feels sad about that. Just a bit. Hal's still a rival, after all. The most formidable one out of all potential rivals, but Hal doesn't need to know that. Maybe he'll let him know, once this thing with Bruce stops feeling new, and he stops feeling a bit afraid that it's going to be taken away.
>> Anyway, congrats Clark. You two are perfect for each other, World's Finest and all that. I'll act suprised at the formal announcement.
He stops himself from smiling - Bruce has enough fodder to feel suspicious, he won't add to that pile.
>> Thanks Hal.