March 1st
Destin, Florida
1434 CST
He loved the quiet times when there was nobody else around to make noise, or ask questions, or make a mess of things. Sure, Kristof loved his second family, dearly in fact, but they weren't exactly quiet people. It's a shame this wasn't a quiet time.
"No no no!" He called out at the contractors doing the basic structural work on the Hacienda, waving his hands to catch their attention. "The junction for the service box must be at least twelve feet from the door!" he called out, his accent slipping in his annoyance.
"Why?" the electrician's employee called out, the man nearly the color of new brick from his time in the sun. "That ain't in the plans."
"Don't tell me you don't know basic safety." Kristof said, fuming. "In the event of tropical weather, the service box has to be far enough away from any exit to ensure a safe egress." He scowled as he explained. "Move the junction."
"I'll have to call my boss." The laborer began, digging into his tool belt for his phone.
"How about you call the general contractor instead?" Kristof said, glaring daggers. He watched as the employee shrugged, pulled up his contacts, chose the correct one, and hit send.
Without skipping a beat, Kristof pulled his own ringing phone from his pocket and showed the screen to the electrician's assistant. "Oh, look there. I suppose I'm the general contractor." He said, fists clenched. "Now, was it your boss, or you, who showed enough negligence to ignore the new plans that were emailed last night?"
"It had to be my boss." The assistant said, dodging the issue. "I never received the new plans."
"Of course it was your boss." Kristof said with a sneer. "I'll be contacting them now." He added, and walked off, heading back into the Hacienda. Over the past few days, the team had banded together to help one another move things into storage, as well as secure their home. It wasn't just the Movers either. Superboy and Miss Martian had stopped by to help move things two days ago, and yesterday Nightwing, Impulse, and Blue Beetle had popped in to help obfuscate the Zeta system.
Since Kristof was tagged as the general contractor, using some subterfuge the League had cooked up, he was able to make sure what needed to be secret, remained that way. It also meant, however, he was living in the Hacienda during the expansion and remodel, so the noise was relatively constant.
He knew two members of the League were extremely wealthy, though he hadn't realized exactly how wealthy until the choices in plans arrived. All of their options had required the use of the properties to either side of them, and since they were both bay front properties as well, the expense would be considerable.
But, the League had offered, so the five of them had sat down and argued, fought, compromised, swore, and cried until they agreed on the current course of action. In honestly, the small scale model Kristof had made showed remarkable promise. The warehouse-sized structure was getting a new roof and an expansion, in order to make room for more people. It also allowed for small individual bathrooms in each bedroom, and more space in those rooms. In addition to that, a small, respectable infirmary that would see a solid uptick in stocking once Mustang completed Medical School.
The warehouse wasn't the only expansion either. What used to be a respectable garage on the other side of the parking lot was about to become much more, including a retractable roof for their helicopter. It would be attached to a completely independent workshop; something Kristof had discovered was for more than just super heroing about. Part of the arrangement to expand the place had been to begin collecting meteorological and tidal data, so that the whole location could be zoned as a science lab and receive less scrutiny as to the types of equipment being brought it.
"So, your employee," Kristof said, after dialing the electrical engineer that they didn't really need. "Oh, he's called you already? Then you understand the situation?"
Kristof nodded as the engineer spoke. "Very well, thank you. There can be no errors here, due to the amount of delicate equipment being delivered very soon."
He strolled around, looking at his model from another angle, desperately trying not to be so fussy about things. "No, computer equipment and precision fabrication. You do? That would be excellent, yes please."
"Okay, thank you, and I will speak to you soon. Goodbye." He said after another moment, and slipped his phone back into his pocket after ending the call. The electrician had offered to set up additional redundancies to apologize for his employee, which meant better, and more wiring that Kristof would have to play with later.
Before heading back out, he grabbed his tablet and began looking through the interior plans on the living space. More seating and a larger kitchen was of the utmost importance, so they were getting an almost restaurant type setup, with several burners and ovens, instead of the large in-home style they'd been working with. Since Mustang and Koa were so pleased to feed everyone, he imagined they'd be extremely excited.
They were keeping the massive television, since it doubled for communications and research purposes; it was currently covered with a reinforced drop cloth to protect it while the interior would see more work. To match their outside environment, the floors were going to be tiled in a sun-bleached white and emerald green tile, though the living space proper would get carpeting, while the walls would get the same white, though Aasha had already donated several paintings to keep the walls from being too stark.
Yes, the place was coming along quite well. It would certainly serve as a second home, or, for some, their only home. Maddie would remain a permanent resident, as would their new members Fujin and Shield Maiden. Since Captain Atom had some budgetary concerns, it left Kristof wondering how best to keep them all fed.
The idea struck him, and he seized control of the dormant microscopic machines which made up the scale model. Picking up a piece of the foam board resting against the table, he set it on the roof of the building, giving the tiny machines some building material. In just a couple of minutes, they'd shaped the foam, and, according to his whims, built a rooftop garden. On a whim, he added a small outdoor kitchen setup as well. Now, with a bare minimum of effort, they could grow some vegetables to supplement their grocery bill. When Liho was available, he enjoyed going spear fishing as well. It meant they could save considerable funds when everyone was in.
"Sehr gut." He said, with a proud look at his work. Problem solved. Well, one problem solved. There were plenty more, though not with construction or finances. Maddie and Pacifica still hadn't been around one another for more than a few moments, and once Mustang had pointed out that particular situation, Kristof had agreed it was a ticking time bomb.
The best he could do was try to pre-assign living quarters, but the moment he tried, he knew that there was going to be argument. Sighing, he decided that hurdle would be best jumped later. Maybe, just maybe, he would get lucky and it would blow over easily. Not that such things ever really did.
Kristof was about to walk back outside and see how things were progressing when his stomach began rumbling. Grumbling, he dug his phone back out, and ordered a pizza, since he had no kitchen with which to prepare a meal here.
At least, though, it wasn't Central City. He loved his hometown, considering it that over Dresden, where he'd grown up as a child. The problem came in that, well, his mother was there. He loved her, dearly, but she didn't exactly understand or approve of his choice to live his life the way he wanted.
It wasn't always that way though. It took her hysterectomy after suffering ovarian cancer to get flaky about the whole thing. She used to be supportive, but when she lost her ability to have more children, it had gotten her onto Kris' case to just be a girl and have a baby. His father was of little use in the issue too. While he'd been a badass leader to his men, he couldn't really find the nerve to speak up to his wife.
Kristof sat in the huge empty space where the team used to spend their time together, the emptiness weighing on him. None of them had spoken a single word of judgment when they'd learned how he'd been born, instead accepting him unconditionally on his merits.
He'd be glad when the place was finished, or, at least the outside, so he could just cut his nanoswarm loose and get the rest finished in a couple of hours. It was too quiet.
March 1st
Gotham City
2325 EST
Deke stumbled into his apartment, quite possibly more exhausted than he'd ever been in his life. The entire week was filled with nothing but work at every turn, between the clinic, doing some shifts at Gotham Metro as well, and of course, schoolwork. He'd asked to get his assignments early, so he could knock them out and not have to worry about them on the weekend, so his workload had almost doubled.
When combined with doing some patrols in Gotham to try and make sure he and Barbara wouldn't be missed, picking up a shift at the Mercado auction to make some extra money, and having to show up to Dr. Thompkin's clinic to try and cover for a sick nurse, it left him feeling like he'd been run over.
He reached out with his sixth sense, and couldn't feel his Babs in the apartment. She'd texted an hour ago saying she was going to do one last patrol, but he wasn't sure how long she'd be out. This gave him a little bit of time, at least.
Hanging his stethoscope up next to his jacket, he tossed his scrubs into the laundry, and walked naked through the apartment to the bathroom, rubbing his eyes and trying to stay awake. When he got into the bathroom, he turned the water heater on, and checked himself out in the mirror.
Still heavily muscled, he'd remain that way as long as he used his powers often enough. Since they relied on the electrical signals that made his muscles operate, he was effectively always working out, which allowed him to keep his body fat percentage down to single digits, regardless of how he ate. Of course, for the past year or so, he'd been eating a lot better, more for Barbara's sake and peace of mind than his own.
He was developing a jungle around his equipment though, so, he stood over the small trash can and used his powers to cut the hair around his tool shorter. If nothing else, this particular method of grooming had certainly trained him for fine motor tasks, since there was absolutely no margin for error. This was something he did for Barbara, who was kind enough to put her mouth on his junk on a pretty regular basis, and didn't need a mouthful of man pubes as a thank you for it.
His head hair, a long mane of dishwater blonde hair, hadn't seen more than a trim in a very long time. Again, Barbara crossed his mind where it was concerned. She loved his hair as much as he loved hers, and he loved her fiery hair an awful lot. When the time came for them to become parents, the first thing he knew was, their kids would have some amazing hair.
He ran a brush through that hair of his; taking a few tangles out before he washed it, to make life easier later. He set the hair brush down and was about to turn the water on, when he heard a noise. Stretching his senses out again, Deke felt Barbara's mind, and pushed a picture of him, looking at the mirror, into her thoughts.
A couple of minutes later, the door opened, and Barbara, just as naked, slipped in. "Hello Cowboy." She purred, slipping behind him and resting her head on his shoulder. "I'm glad your home."
"Same here." He said, turning around to pull her into a proper hug. "I thought you were patrolling though."
She nuzzled into his chest before looking up at him. "Yeah, about that. Turns out, Falcone doesn't pay his men enough to, and I quote 'get our asses handed to us by the Bat-skirt.' So, tonight was a whole lot easier than I thought it'd be."
"They actually called you a skirt?" Deke asked, surprised by the use of language. Granted, there were a lot worse things they could call her, and Babs had indeed been called some pretty ugly things. Keezy femme came to mind there.
Barbara giggled and nuzzled her boy again. "Yep, Bat-skirt, Bat-broad, Bat-bitch, you name it, they've put bat in front of it and said it to me. Penguin called me Bat-cunt once actually, before you and I met. That's the only one I've ever taken personally." She explained thoughtfully.
"I called you Bat-babe that one time." Deke said, giving her a grand gesture to hop into the shower with him.
"And you're one of maybe three people that can get away with calling me that, so feel privileged." Barbara explained, shaking her bottom at him as she stepped into the shower, the muscles in her long legs ripping in the movement. Unlike her boy, she worked hard to maintain her physique, but it showed, and for those very few lucky enough to see it, it never failed to impress.
"Damn you're sexy." Deke muttered, stepping in behind her and pulling the curtain closed.
"Thank you." She said sweetly, color rising in her cheeks. She was a beanpole all the way to her junior year in high school, believing she'd never fill out, and she was teased mercilessly. Her boy, on the other hand, was significantly overweight throughout school, and received similar treatment. She would probably blush at his compliments until the end of her days, and she had a feeling he'd do the same.
"You're welcome." He said, planting a kiss on the top of her head. His hands slipped from her shoulders down her chest, causing her to hum pleasantly and lean into his touch. She was by no means deprived of his touch lately, but she wasn't about to say no either.
When he stopped at her nipples, and the new ornaments she was sporting in them, she glanced down and watched him play with them gently. "How are you liking them now that they've been in a few days?" he asked, just toying with the black captive bead rings.
"I didn't think it through, if I'm being honest here. I got excited by the idea and had a moment of not using my thinking brain. I like them fine though, don't get me wrong, but I've been walking around with my headlights constantly on." Barbara said, bending over to grab her shampoo and conditioner, making sure to give her bottom an extra wiggle. "It's been padded bras since I got them done, but I like how I look, so I guess it balances out."
He definitely noticed her wiggling, though he was so tired he wasn't certain his body realized how it should be behaving. If nothing else, he could take care of her after their shower; that was plenty of fun. "I know you like them." She added, turning around to get her hair wet, which had the added benefit of showing them off when she arched her back to get all of her hair.
"I do." Deke said, trailing his fingers across her breasts and up to her head. "I also like washing your hair, so, y'know, you should let me."
"Oh, I'd planned on it." She replied, letting her head rest in his hands. "So, are you packed and ready for the weekend?" she asked, excited to see Hawaii without having to be in her costume to do it. Not that she wasn't bringing it; that was just foolish talk.
"I am, actually." Deke said triumphantly. Packing was not a strong suit of his, remembering to even do it was similarly not something he was good at.
"Will wonders never cease?" she asked, showing him the tip of her tongue. "How'd you do at the Mercado?"
It was a reasonable question to ask. She'd put the rest of the money she'd gotten for her most recent article towards bills and groceries, to add to the stipend the Thomas Wayne scholarship offered. Whatever he pulled in at the Mercado was pretty much all they were going to have.
"Six hundred, but I'm worried the place is about to get shut down. Mister Ruiz was talking to some Grade A heavies when I showed up, and neither of them had polite conversation on their minds. I'd probably do something about it, but I don't know if letting the place stay open is the right idea either. I mean, the Bat hasn't done anything about it yet, but, it's kind of a gray area." Deke said, shampooing his love's gorgeous hair.
"Bruce lets it keep operating because it's a good place to get information on a lot of things. If you know art, and history, it's easy to see where things are going down in Central and South America. When we get back, make that a priority. You've lived in Gotham long enough that she's showing you what she needs." Barbara replied, her eyes closed and her voice dreamlike.
"You make it sound like Gotham's a demanding wife." Deke said, scratching and massaging her scalp as he scrubbed.
"She is. But she knows how to take care of what's hers too." Barbara replied with a familiar look in her eyes. "I like to think I'm less demanding, but Gotham showed me how to treat what's mine too."
She placed a hand on his chest, letting it slide up to his shoulder, where her nails dug in just the slightest bit. Maybe, just maybe, Deke wasn't as tired as he thought.