Chapter Text
They just had had the time to take a shower in their Oan lodgings after the end of their mission when Hal had suggested they go out for a drink.
"Come on. It's my birthday,” Hal pleaded when Bruce didn’t seem convinced by his enthusiasm.
“You want us to go out… here ?” Bruce clarified.
“No paparazzi. That and the nearest Earth bar is at least twelve hours away,” Hal pointed out.
“And where’s the nearest local bar with human-adapted drinks ?” Bruce asked, doubtful it would be much closer.
“Only a ten minutes walk from here,” Hal replied.
Bruce sighed. He knew he had already lost. He didn’t want to say no to a drink, and it was Hal’s birthday, after all.
“Why do I feel like you planned this ?” he said, shaking his head as he resigned himself to follow Hal’s lead.
“I swear I didn’t. The place we’re staying at is one of my favorites around here and Naria’s bar happens to be quite close. Maybe that’s why it’s one of my favorite places to stay at, though. Naria owns one of the best Oan bars. Many Lanterns stop here, Naria's used to a multispecies clientele. Her brother Gevh is also a Lantern and a good friend, I know their family quite well,” Hal explained.
“Naria’s your good friend too ?” Bruce asked.
“Not in the way you mean. So, are you coming ?” Hal asked. “Please.”
Bruce sighed and followed him.
“In that garage ?” Bruce asked, surprised.
Hal had pushed the front door of an old looking building. The room they found themselves in seemed empty of living beings but a lot of metallic pieces were laying around.
“The rents are expensive around here so Naria and her mother pay theirs co-jointly. Æneria owns the front part, her shop sells ships’ parts. Naria’s bar is in the back. You’re coming ?” Hal said impatiently, walking toward the back of the shop.
“What kind of ship-” Bruce asked, looking at a curious piece of metal.
“Come on, you’re going to love it,” Hal said, pushing the door at the back of the garage without glancing twice at the piece that had picked Bruce’s interest.
It was unusual. Hal usually rejoiced in explaining spaceship’ engineering to others. He must really love this bar.
“You think ?” Bruce asked.
“Oh, I’m sure,” Hal said, taking Bruce’s hand into his and dragging him inside the bar.
Of course, he had to be right about this. Everything about Naria’s bar seemed amazing.
“What’s this ?” Bruce asked, gesturing toward the strange piano in the angle of the room Hal was leading him to.
He was trying to focus on one element at the time. They were surrounded by all sorts of people and all sorts of things Bruce couldn’t wait to ask Hal about.
“A pianocktail,” Hal said with a large smile, his eyes shining.
“How does it work ?” Bruce asked, interested, as he went around it.
“Let me,” Hal said, sitting on the bench. “It’s been a while but I should be able to play it,” he added under his breath, his fingers caressing the touches lightly before he started to play.
Bruce stayed still next to him, listening to the melody Hal’s hands gave birth to.
“Here,” Hal said after he played the last note, handing Bruce a bowl full of colored liquid.
“I didn’t know you knew how to play,” Bruce said appreciatively.
“Not much. Just some party tricks,” Hal said, shrugging.
“I wouldn’t call the third movement of Beethoven's piano sonata no. 14 just a party trick,” Bruce said sardonically. “Who taught you how to play ?”
“Mom used to call it the Moonlight Sonata but she was more of a romantic than you.”
“Hal,” Bruce sighed.
Hal was quite good at deflecting when they talked about his family.
“My Dad was a really bad musician but he loved listening to my Mom’s playing. She was the family’s artist. I’m nowhere as good as she was but she taught her kids the basics. Jack’s not very good at it but Jim did some small concerts when he was a teenager.”
Bruce didn’t comment on Jessica Jordan’s conception of the basics. Chances were that Jessica and her youngest sons had been brilliant piano players. Poor Jack, he was probably a better player than Hal was giving him credit for.
“Have you ever played on a concert grand ?” Bruce asked.
“Are you kidding me ? Have you ?” Hal said, laughing.
Grand pianos were awfully expensive. Not to mention concert grands. Hal was not a professional performer, he had never played on anything more expensive than his mother’s upright piano that had been a wedding gift from her parents.
“My mother used to play the piano too. Alfred taught me.”
Hal’s eyes became as large as saucers.
“On a grand piano ? Scratch that, a concert grand ?” Hal asked.
What kind of people had concert grand pianos at home ? What kind of people let their kids learn to play the piano on a concert grand ?
“An Imperial Bösendorfer. You’d like to play ?” Bruce asked.
Hal looked at him incredulously. Would he like to play on an Imperial Bösendorfer ? Was it a joke ?
“Would I like to… Bruce,” he sighed.
“It’s a serious offer. Next time we’re at the manor, you could try it,” Bruce said.
Hal looked at him, then, watched the light cast shadows on his face and smiled.
“I’d love to play with you,” he said with a smirk.
“You’re impossible. How do you know it’s drinkable for humans ?” Bruce said, shaking his head as he reported his attention to his drink.
Bruce had noticed that the clients of the bar around them were drinking from ceramic bowls and hadn’t been surprised when Hal had handed him one. His beverage had a shiny rusty color that wasn’t especially appetizing but smelt heavenly. He had yet to touch it.
“Because I played human music,” Hal said.
Bruce took an hesitant sip and was surprised to find his drink not only tolerable but actually quite nice.
“Do you know any alien tunes ?” he asked, interested.
Hal smiled at that.
“A few but they usually require people to use more pedals than a two-legged being could. I’d play one for you if you want to hang out with me and the guys, someday.”
Bruce hadn’t expected an invitation to hang out with Hal’s fellow Lanterns. It was easy to forget how much of a life Hal had made for himself in space. He also had friends there, and bars he went to and places he stayed at. It was quite fascinating, how Hal could adapt himself to even the most alien environments.
There probably wasn’t an alien population Hal couldn’t charm.
“What are you going to drink ?” Bruce asked.
“I could go get something at the bar but since no one’s using the pianocktail, I think I’m just going to do my own mix,” Hal said before taking a seat at the piano again.
Bruce looked at him as Hal pressed a few touches and pedals.
“Specific tunes produce specific drinks but you can pick your own ingredients the way I did. I’ve done some bartending for Naria when off duty when I was in my early twenties so I know most of the stuff humans can drink here. Mostly by trial and error. If Gevh’s around, he’ll love to share a few tales with you,” Hal said, back at their table, taking a sip of his drink.
Hal's drink was an interesting mix of pale yellow and neon green. There was something in it that looked like citrus peel.
“I’d offer you a sip but I doubt you’d enjoy it. It tastes like a strange mix between cotton candy, whipped cream, marshmallow and sparkling champagne with a touch of strawberry kir. It’s actually a mix of popular Oan alcohol and berries.”
“How can you even drink this ?” Bruce said with clear distaste.
“Habit. Those were the first human stomach’s compatible flavors this bar proposed back when Naria opened it. It doesn’t really taste good but it’s like tradition.”
“In that case, to tradition. Happy birthday, Hal,” Bruce said before kissing him lightly.
The overly sugary taste of Hal’s lips should have acted as a deterrent. It didn’t.
“Thank you,” Hal said, resting his forehead against Bruce’s for a bit. “Would you mind if I said hi to a few friends over here ? I'll be back quickly and then we will be able to celebrate properly.”
“Sure,” Bruce said, smiling at him.
Hal smiled back before he went to another side of the room, full of Lanterns in uniforms.
A tall mauve skinned alien dressed in so many layers of gauze you could hardly make their body out behind it took Hal’s seat not long after his departure.
“Hello. Are you here alone ?” they said in good English, without any accent.
Bruce looked at their neck. Yes, he could see the chain of an intergalactic communicator sticking out of the collar. Hal had shown him what they looked like.
“No. I’m here with the Green Lantern Hal Jordan,” Bruce said cautiously.
The alien didn’t look threatening but she didn’t look naive either and Bruce knew the magic power the title “Green Lantern” could have in space.
“Oh, I should have recognized that scent !” the alien said with a throaty laugh.
Their laugh sounded quite like a hyena’s, Bruce thought unkindly.
He raised an eyebrow at the alien before remembering that they probably couldn’t read his non-verbal language well.
“I’m Æneria. My daughter owns this bar. My son and his Lantern friends often come here. Is Hal Jordan your partner ?”
Æneria. The mother of Hal’s friends, then. She owned the garage Hal had dragged him through to reach the bar. Bruce had a bad feeling about that woman. She clearly had seen Hal before and was fishing for information. Maybe he shouldn’t tell her that he and Hal were here together.
“He is,” he eventually said firmly, not liking her tone.
“Oh. Good,” she said.
She wasn’t frowning and she did sound full of enthusiasm but something seemed off to Bruce. Of course, he didn’t have Hal’s experience with aliens but…
Before any of them could say anything else, Hal was back.
“Æneria,” he greeted her frostily, touching his own forehead with three fingers before sitting next to Bruce.
“Green Lantern Hal Jordan,” the alien said more smoothly, offering him her hand over the table.
So she was accustomed to human customs. It seemed to be quite rare, around here, but then her daughter owned a bar that served drinks humans could consume.
Hal shook her hand, radiating bad grace.
“It was a pleasure to meet your partner,” Æneria said, as if she didn’t notice Hal’s foul mood at all.
It was very much possible, Bruce decided. Himself was having a hard time reading the alien’s reaction. What did the darkening of her wrists mean ? Was her slight accentuation of vowels at times natural or a sign of her feelings ?
“My -” Hal started saying, frowning, before turning toward Bruce.
“I’ve left you for five minutes,” he murmured, shaking his head at his companion softly before turning toward the alien woman, leaving Bruce confused.
“I wasn’t aware you had a partner,” she said. “My children didn’t tell me.”
“It’s recent. I've heard Naria is taking a partner herself," Hal observed.
Despite his disdain for the alien woman, Hal sounded like he really wanted to hear more about his friends.
“There must be something in the air. She picked my mechanician. She hasn’t told you ?” the alien said.
She didn’t sound too happy about her precious daughter marrying the mechanician, if her tone was any indication.
“I wish her and Neo all happiness. I haven’t seen her or Gevh for the last few months.”
Hal had spent quite a lot of time on Earth, compared to usual. This friendship with benefits thing that Bruce and him had meant he was spending more time there than he usually would.
“She mentioned inviting you. Of course, she’ll extend the invitation to your partner.”
“Of course. We’ll be delighted to be here, bar emergencies of any kind,” Hal said.
“That’s settled then. Oh, isn’t it Aeozon Soemon over there ? I haven’t seen him in ages and I'd like to salute him, if you’d excuse me ?”
“Gladly,” Hal said, but the alien woman had left before they could answer her.
“What’s a partner, here ?” Bruce asked once she had left.
He had mostly figured it out, but more information from Hal couldn’t be bad to have.
“Some sort of spouse, but it’s more complicated than that. They take partnerships very seriously,” Hal explained.
“Hence the grimace,” Bruce said, amused.
Their relationship was nothing like a marriage and he was well-aware that Hal wasn’t interested in commitment.
“Yes. Could I interest you in another drink ?” Hal said, trying to shake the awkwardness away.
“You want me to come with you at the… the ceremony ?” Bruce asked.
How had the woman put it again ? Something to do with partnership, maybe.
Hal had sounded like he wanted to be there for his friend and Bruce didn’t want to deny him that.
“I know you’ve better things to do than attending alien ceremonies but Naria is a good friend and I’d like to be at her bonding ceremony and now that you told her mother I’ve got a partner, they’ll expect you to be here. Not taking my partner with me would be considered quite strange. I can probably pass it off as a human thing but…”
Hal paused here, expecting Bruce to speak up as he organized his thoughts, but his companion stayed silent, waiting for him. He had never felt the need to share this part of his life with anyone but… wouldn’t it be nice, to come accompanied to one of those things, for once ? And not by a fellow Lantern but by a human, one he even liked ?
“Well, if you don’t mind, I’d like you to come there with me. It could be a fun experience for you, you know ? I bet you haven’t been to many alien gatherings.”
“Do they serve anything like that, there ?” Bruce asked, showing his empty bowl.
“Naria’s the best bartender in the galaxy. I wouldn’t worry about the alcohol,” Hal said, laughing.
“What should I worry about then ?” Bruce asked, standing up to go to the piano and refill his bowl.
“Climbing up the stairs of our lodgings after our second drinks. Alien alcohols rarely taste like it but are usually stronger than ours,” Hal said, taking his bowl with him to the piano to listen to Bruce starting to play the third movement of Beethoven’s most famous sonata. “So, you’ll come to the ceremony ?”
Bruce hummed, focused on his playing.
“Since we’re partners. But you’ll have to come and play the piano in the ballroom of the Manor.”
Hal laughed.
“Deal. Funny you’re mentioning the ballroom. You’ll have to learn a few alien dances for the ceremony.”
“And you’ll teach me ?” Bruce said, his voice dropping slightly.
“I’ll teach you,” Hal said, smiling at his bowl.