Something old, something new
(Disclaimer: I own none of these characters)
(The events in this story take place between chapters 6 & 7 of Altered States)
A crack of daylight filters through a dirty window, the standard Gotham gloom had subsided, if only momentarily. The heat from the sun's rays pouring in activated the aroma stored within the worn pages of the aged texts covering the countless shelves of the secluded literary trove, making the whole establishment all the more inviting.
Nestled in-between two stacks of the finer points of the last few thousand years of human philosophical meanderings, sits a raven-haired figure with her nose buried deep in a volume of "An introduction to Classical Philosophy". As she thumbed rapidly through its contents, she hadn't noticed that there was now a figure standing in her peripheral area.
Without preface, the silence is broken by a low and husky utterance "Your evasive skills have improved, Princess. But you were still easy to track down". A slight smile dances across her lips, as she plants her thumb on the page she was reading. She looks up and responds, "Bruce, as smart as you are, do you still think it's wise to try to sneak up on an Amazon?" not missing a beat, he replies "Well you do bring out all of my risky tendencies…" as he returned a smirk to her. She stared up at him from her seat, as a breathless chuckle followed this and she rolled her eyes around to him saying "Your night life is a thorough disproof of that statement, Mr. Wayne." She was now aglow at having bested him in their trademark game of repartee.
Smirking a little broader now, and internally very proud of his beloved's razor-sharp wit, Bruce changes the subject seamlessly. "I hope I didn't interrupt you, I'm sure you were mid-way through deconstructing some stuffy academic's wholly incomplete analysis on the history of Western thought.…" Slightly stunned, she raised an eyebrow at him "Either I've made this into too common a habit or your deductive abilities have given way to legitimate precognition…" Feigning modesty, he replies "Well I would like to think I know something of my wife's interests and habits, but the compliment is nice." as he contorts his face in the nearest manner to a smile Bruce Wayne can muster.
The sound of that word gave her a great sensation of warmth. She was his wife, he was her husband. The two ships seemingly always passing each other in the night were now set on the same course. Knowing that they had bound themselves to each other gave Diana an unending wellspring of strength to rival her Godly-rendered abilities. And in their line of work, that was a multi-fold blessing. But moments like this, where they could simply slow things down and enjoy their combined love of the written word as just Bruce and Diana, were the times she longed for in the darkest moments that hero work could present them with. This was what got her through the worst of times: Her soul's recognition of its counterpoint in this stoic man's warm yet piercing glare, and that two exceptional people can still have some normalcy from time to time. Truly she loved the adventure of it all as much as her life-mate, but after the drums of war had silenced, she now took comfort in a different & shared song that they were writing together. Without realizing it, her gaze had drifted out to the shining sun as the reality of the commitment they made hit her very suddenly between lines of Socrates and the sound of Bruce's voice.
Bruce chimes in again suddenly, "Wow, this one must have really left out a lot of important information for you to be contemplating it this intently..." Bringing herself back into the moment, she coolly responds "I try to be mindful of the disconnect in time when I read someone trying to get in the head of thinkers that lived thousands of years previous to them with nothing but other people's dialogues to go on, my dearest." she says meeting his eyes.
Contemplating this for a microsecond, he laughingly replies "True, and a very forgiving platform. But, not everyone has had the privilege of reading The Symposium in its original format. I have to imagine that library of yours back home could set the record straight on quite a few things if it were more accessible." he says with a wink as he bent down closer to her.
She met his face and with a grin planted a kiss on the end of his nose. "Oh Bruce, you have no idea..." as she settled back down she couldn't help but recall how the smell of this place took her back to the Great Library. Even though the scale wasn't nearly similar, her quaint surroundings allowed her to breathe in the nostalgia all the same. How she missed Themyscira, and its many rolling hills and great statues. These were the places of her instruction as a girl. Riding, fighting, reading, and reasoning in the many endless summers spent there in the light of the Mediterranean sun. Being away was its own special kind of heartbreak. But for her to truly see the Amazon ideals gifted to Man's World so they might be made better by them, she must remain. At least that was her main reason for being away from paradise, for a time, but that was now by-gone as well.
Returning to the moment again, a playful look on her face, Diana looks to Bruce and says "Well, our recently discovered future addition can perhaps smuggle you some reading material back on one of her visits to her Grandmother's" she teased him. It suddenly dawns on her that they had indeed come to select books for their nursery, but she had once again become side tracked with the prospect of a fully stocked philosophy section. Of course this was probably subliminal, but she rose at the recollection of this and she faced her love's darkly warm aura with an almost renewed appeal. Ancient wisdom was grand, but now her thoughts were pointed directly to the future; their future.
With a playfully agitated tone, Bruce retorts "Come on now, don't tease." Looking up at him, feigning innocence, she replies "I would never..." in a wide eyed expression. As they locked hands, they began to walk in shared motion, toward the brightly colored area containing the children's literature. Smiling, Diana asked the burning question in her mind "Bruce what did you read as a child? I mean what sort of literary background makes a boy into...you" she couldn't stay wholly composed at the conclusion of her sentence. He chuckled in an agreeing manor at her ends as he scanned his mind to recall the answer. "Alfred gave me a copy of Sun Tzu's Art of War when I was 9. I never recovered. I carried it with me everywhere" Diana went blank at this admission, and walked beside him silently for a few steps with her mouth flattened. Finally she responds, "Somehow, I'm not surprised." A smile starts to form "So Alfred is to blame..." Raising an eyebrow, Bruce replies "For...?"
Her immediate retort was already prepared "For your utilitarian nature." Brightly, he fires back "Well, Sun Tzu is technically..." Diana rolls her eyes as she continues on alongside him.
In a matter of seconds, Bruce asks her "So what was on the Amazon's curriculum?" Lowering her glance in a wary smile at the thought of her millennia-past childhood, she answers "The many classics of the ancient world, my dear. We had very early and well preserved copies of the best epic poems, philosophic tomes, and fables to be had. And we had all the time in the world to read and discuss them. But we had special reverence for Diotima. Her theory of love is one of the Amazon's most implemented explanations of our inherent compassion. As one ascends the ladder as she illustrates, it is easy to see that all things have divine beauty in them, and thus are deserving of reverence." with her eyes still locked on the book in her hand.
Glancing up, she noticed Bruce staring off ahead. She could only imagine him trying to envision the Grand Library, even though she was sure he wasn't doing its actual totality justice. A smirk cracked his face again, causing Diana to finally ask him "What's got you looking so uncharacteristically optimistic?" Dropping his glance now, he dreamily goes on "Oh, I just pictured how enthusiastic a child with your exploratory tendencies and my curiosity would be at the site of something like Paradise Island's book collection..." This admission brought a tear to Diana's eye. This man, once so guarded and reserved, was now more open than ever before with her. The life they had created together was now another step for Bruce into the light.
Stopping mid-step, she looks at Bruce as if it was the first time they laid eyes on each other. His dusky ambiance matched with her radiant intensity. Without words, their lips meets in the way two people that have no more need of words use their physical beings in a perfect form of expression. Wiping away the tear from her eye, his hand finds hers again as they continue on, finally finding themselves in the children's section. They waste no time in landing on a few previously conceived selections. Diana shows Bruce a gilded copy of Aesop's fables, much to his delight. She looks over at Bruce, rolling her eyes at him yet again, saying "When did you grab The Book of the Five Rings? What's that even about!?" Laughingly he segued "Ok, perhaps some Sherlock Holmes instead?" Smiling, she nodded in approval. "Truly, I cannot wait to read these to our little warrior".
At this, she got quiet for a moment. "Are you ready for what's ahead?" She finally asks him, breaking the silence between them. Thinking deeply on the question, he replies "I don't know that anyone is truly ready, but I do know that there is no one else in the Multiverse I want to take this journey with than you." A look of tearful joy washed over her "Honestly Bruce, are you just trying to make me cry now?" Happily, he retorts "Well, if it makes you feel any better, we have Alfred and several months of prep time. I think we will do just great, Princess."
At this, she reaches up and pulls him into a short but impassioned kiss. "You make a good case, Mr. Wayne". He responds through a smirk "Shall we?" as he points toward the check-out. Turning on her heels, she says "Indeed. I think our greatest adventure is still ahead of us..."