That day for the new year

Bruce had these thoughts sometimes when he was going through a moment that he felt important. Those kinds of reflections where he thought that every image had to be remembered, every sound, every emotion, every feeling. This whole evening was one of those moments. Those moments to keep preciously in his memories, those moments of happiness he felt.

The house hadn't been so lively for a long time. Clark was right to insist. He blessed him inwardly for not letting go and for inviting their friends and former comrades-in-arms to their home to celebrate the New Year. It was their turn to welcome the others and if Bruce had been reluctant to have guests, they found themselves hosting them for a few days. Every day had been a celebration, but tonight in particular.

"It's hot so don't touch it right away! "

He looked up at Clark, dressed in the ridiculous Christmas sweater that Barry had given him, who was bringing them new snacks. He put them all on the table between them. He glanced around their coffee table at the congregation. John Stewart was sitting on a footstool to his left, Barry was sitting next to him in a suit on the carpet, Diana was drinking her beer while talking to Hal, both sitting on the first sofa and next to him Arthur and Diana's boyfriend, Steve, were trying to coax their dogs with food.

This last vision made him sigh slightly as he felt Clark's hand pass over his shoulder in a gentle caress before he sat on the floor between him and John.

"Forget it, I've already tried, the dogs won't come," John told them.

Steve replied while he was making faces at the dogs.

"Yes, they're going to crack eventually! "

Diana and Steve had been together for about two years. Bruce liked him. He was also a former member of the US Air Force, converted as a training pilot next to Diana's military base. Diana was the only one of the group to remain in the military, even though she was no longer going on OpEx, she had moved up to the rank of 1st Lieutenant and was aiming for the rank of Captain.

"Here ! "

Bruce turned his head towards Clark as he gave his order in Japanese. Ace and Krypto arrived on Clark in a second, sitting down while they waited for another order. Bruce was quite proud of the result of their intensive training. It had been long, hard, but the result was well worth it. He retrieved two small cheese cabbages and placed them on the muzzles of the two dogs. They did not move a hair.

"Impressive," commented Hal, who had brought his eyes back to them. "You trained them in Chinese? "

Clark shook his head. Bruce gave the order in Russian.

"Eat. "

The dogs each ate their cabbage.

"That doesn't sound like Chinese," Barry commented in turn.

"No kidding, thanks Flash! "

They all laughed and Clark explained:

"Ace and Krypto have been trained to respond to orders only in Russian or Japanese. "

They all stared at them curiously. Arthur swept the conversation away with a wave of his hand.

"You have always had a strange complicity. Shall we resume the game? "

"Absolutely! "

"Yeah! "

Bruce had fun with all of this. When they had announced at their first big reunion that they were both living together, Clark had a huge apprehension. He had explained to him that Barry had discovered the nature of their relationship, but he was afraid of how the others would react. Wrongly so. Bruce knew that somehow they hadn't been very discreet. Their close friends must have picked up on things and it would have been obvious to him to guess how they felt about each other. But Bruce had always tended to be much more perceptive than others.

"B., it's your turn to draw! "

Clark handed him John's hat. He reached out his hand and picked up his piece of post-it, which he unfolded and stuck to his forehead. Clark did the same as everyone else had picked his.

They all scanned each other so they could begin their guessing game. It was a simple and quite fun game, which made for a great evening. Right now Clark was Jackie Chan, Arthur was Angelina Jolie, Steve ironically picked Steve McQueen, Hal was the famous Mister T., Diana picked Chuck Norris, Barry was Whoopi Goldberg and John was Emma Thompson.

"Seriously, who picked the « actors » theme?!" Barry grinned.

"I'm denouncing Hal straight in," replied Diana.

"Hey, we're not criticizing the master of the game, okay?! Besides, I did that three days ago! "

Bruce watched the debate unfold before his eyes as a grin formed in the corner of his mouth. He stroked Ace's fur with his fingertips, looking at Clark at an angle. Clark was an active participant in the conversation, laughing out loud. He loved his laugh.

"Everybody's got what it takes," Clark asked, ready to get up.

John grabbed his shoulder and forced him to sit down.

"It's okay, we've got everything we need. "

Hal added his own.

"Yeah, sit down, one-legged man! "

They both burst out laughing as Clark didn't take the disability jokes the wrong way at all. He wasn't the only one who had suffered from the after-effects, and between them, it was a natural acceptance.

"The one-legged man, he beats you when you want to run! "

"I'll take you at your word! We'll see about that later! "

Bruce laughed slightly. When Clark put on his prosthesis to go running, he was quite fast and enduring. He had trained hard for two years after his amputation to get rid of his limp, and one more year to be able to run with an adapted prosthesis. Clark hadn't stopped living because he had lost his leg, he had moved on.

"Well then, am I a woman?" Diana asked to start the game.

Everyone looked at her character, and then they burst out laughing. The game promised to be quite fun.

oOoOoOoOoOoOo

"Everyone, photo ! "cheered up Barry by placing his camera on a piece of furniture.

The music was in full swing and he had to shout to get everyone's attention.

"Barry, we've already taken a lot of pictures," protested Steve.

"Yeah, but now it's almost midnight! "

Clark was the first to join their amateur photographer, followed by Arthur and Hal.

"We're seriously wiped out," Diana commented as she joined Steve.

"That's the funny thing! "

The rest of the group joined them as they put on the first TV show that showed the countdown to the New Year.

"We're taking the picture at 0! "

Bruce slipped in beside Clark and wrapped his arm around his hip.

"10 ! "they shouted in chorus as the numbers appeared on the screen.

"9 ! "

Ace and Krypto were ordered to move away.

"8 ! "

"7 ! "

Barry lost his balance when he activated the camera timer. His swear word was lost in the number 6.

"5 ! "

"4 ! "

He ran to get back into position.

"3 ! "

Bruce turned his head towards Clark. The blue of his eyes was really beautiful.

"2 ! "

They leaned over each other.

"1 ! "

"Happy New Year ! "

And their lips were already fused.

They separated to wish each other the Happy New Year, and then John led them outside.

"Come out! The fireworks aren't over yet! "

They all went out into the park to look at the sky. Bruce was amused to see that the fireworks were over.

"You really screwed up, John," Arthur commented.

The former sniper turned fresh graphic designer rubbed his hair.

"I was sure I heard the noise... "

"Never mind! We'll be able to compare ourselves to the race ! " adds Hal while watching Clark.

Clark made a grimace.

"It's a shit idea, we drank too much! "

"Are you afraid of losing, Steel? "

Clark took a strange smile and gave him a black look before turning to Bruce. Bruce understood the message and even though he thought it was a totally stupid idea, he was already on his way home. Clark needed his other prosthesis and he was going to get it for him, accompanied by Barry and Diana. When they came back outside, Bruce was holding the prosthesis and the other two had brought back four bottles of champagne. So the race was well watered.

oOoOoOoOoOoOo

Bruce opened his eyes and immediately felt his aching head make him dizzy. His belly was loose, he had aches and pains and he had to admit it, he smelled of alcohol. How could the evening have turned out this way? He got up with difficulty and realized that he was on the floor, in his living room, occupying a completely deflated mattress with John. He was still sleeping with his legs half asleep on the floor.

He staggered backwards, clinging to the back of his sofa. There he found Hal, Arthur and Barry sprawled in the unfolded sofa. Their position was so strange that he couldn't understand how they had gotten twisted up like that. Legs and arms tangled, bodies twisted... Why was Hal totally naked?!

Bruce grunted as he grabbed a cushion to cover his private parts. The four soldiers were staying at home for the week and he was very happy that Diana and Steve decided to take a hotel room. Bruce vaguely remembered saying goodbye to them at about four o'clock in the morning. After that, he didn't remember much.

He looked at the state of the room, disordered among the clothes, dead bottles, playing cards and empty trays of food. Where the hell was Clark?! The smell of coffee answered him first. He turned to the kitchen and found Clark perched on one of their high chairs, half sprawled on their center island.

"Hi," he said as he arrived.

"Hi," Clark grunted, visibly discontented.

Bruce leaned on the table and climbed up to a chair beside it, grabbing Clark's still hot cup. Black coffee, pure. He closed his eyes as he felt the bitter taste and the heat running down his throat. He returned the cup to Clark, who drank it in turn.

"I don't think I've ever had such a hangover in my life," Bruce said. "I don't know what came over me... "

Clark ran a hand through his hair. His brown curls seemed to be stuck. Ah, yes, he remembered that a bottle of champagne had burst during the evening.

"John had challenged you, I think. "

Bruce nodded. He loved a challenge. It wasn't a surprising thing.

"And why is Hal naked on the couch? "

He saw Clark's black eyes and saw his little grin in the corner of his mouth.

"He was the loser in our strip poker game. I can't wait for him to wake up. "

The billionaire pinched the bridge of his nose. His brain was still fogged up with alcohol. He must have had trouble thinking.

"Um... why? "

Clark's drinking his coffee.

"Cause the bastard pinched my leg while I was sleeping. He put it on top of the bookcase upstairs. "

Bruce took a quick look down the stairs. At the top of the upstairs library he could see Clark's prosthesis on the last shelf. He turned his head towards Clark as he continued:

"I'm still too drunk to go up with one leg... So... "

He pointed with a gesture of his head to the back of the room. Krypto and Ace were lying on clothes. Bruce could make out Hal's things. He laughed, seizing his companion's revenge. If neither he nor Clark gave the order, Hal was never going to get his clothes back. They were in the custody of their dogs. Bruce slapped himself mentally, thinking that he had forgotten them.

"They were fed and taken out? "

Clark nodded.

"They licked my face so I could get up. "

Bruce smiled as he imagined the scene. He made coffee for them again so that Clark didn't have to get up.

"By the way, how do you know it was Hal who swiped your leg? "

Clark waved a camera. Barry's. He handed the camera to Bruce as he settled back in with the steaming cups.

He consulted the photos. They retraced their entire evening, going through the most stupid actions. Hal naked, their poker game, a break where they all showed their buttocks, their champagne-pong game, their various games and all the nonsense that went along with it. There were pictures of him having fun with Ace's ears, other series of pictures with Clark and Barry, other pictures where Arthur and John were playing acrobats in their living room. Bruce laughed in front of some pictures, others made him feel ashamed. But it had been a really memorable evening. He would never forget it.

"There are some pictures I plan to get back. Well, I'm going to get all of them back, but I'll frame some of them. "

Bruce nodded.

"There are some really beautiful pictures. "

As he looked at them, he saw the joy, heard the laughter, felt the warmth of being surrounded by the people he cared about. Those were precious moments that he wanted to keep as many memories as possible.

"I would put the New Year's in a beautiful setting. It would look good on the hall dresser. "

Bruce turned his head towards Clark and stroked his neck with his fingertips. Clark was the one who made this home so much warmer with his personal touches. It wasn't like Bruce to expose his personal life in this way, but after all, he was home. He was out of his mind when a growl was heard, followed by the sound of a fall, swearing and other grunts.

Clark and Bruce watched as Barry struggled to get up, helping Hal who had obviously landed on the floor.

"Dude, why the fuck are you naked? "

"What the fuck? "

Hal looked around him. Bruce smiled slightly as Clark stood next to him gloating with a sadistic grin.

"Give me my leg and I'll give you your clothes. "

It took a while for Hal's neurons to connect. He followed the path of Clark's gaze and his head fell apart when he saw the two dogs lying on his clothes.

"Watch out," Clark commanded in Japanese.

The two dogs sat facing Hal. Hal was totally demoralized as he kept the cushion to hide his private parts. He sighed.

"Damn it... "

And Bruce and Clark enjoyed the situation for a long time. The new year was off to a good start.

I wish you all a Happy New Year !