CH8: Snowball Fight

Alfred Pennyworth was in the mansion's library reading Romeo and Juliet once again. He was on the second story of the balcony overlooking the main floor seated at a simple table with a lamp. In the middle of turning a page he heard the door at the base of the room open and caught chills as the cold air made its way through the shelves and up to his floor.

"Dinner is well underway master Bruce."

Pennyworth shifted his attention to where the frosty wind was coming from and was surprised to see Diana walk in with Bruce right behind her. She was wearing his thick trench coat to protect her from the snowfall leaving Bruce exposed though he showed no discomfort. After shutting the door he looked at her awkwardly before informing Alfred what was happening.

"Umm Alfred, could you prepare a little extra for dinner. We are having a guest for the evening."

A look of sheer happiness overcame the humble butler's face as he shot up from the chair and tossed his book aside yet again.

"Jolly good sir!" He immediately headed toward the kitchen to make extra amenities for the Amazon princess but paused at the library entrance. "Just so you know, it will probably be a couple more hours for the full meal to be prepared." He raised an eyebrow with a playful look on his face. "Meaning you two have practically all the time in the world to… well I'm sure you will keep each other entertained."

Bruce was glaring at Alfred with a bright red face whilst Diana gave her undivided attention to the nearest inanimate object out of embarrassment.

"Thanks Alfred." Bruce seethed through his teeth as the Amazon princess managed a giggle.

With the butler gone it was now just the power couple.

"You really don't have to make extra. I don't eat much, plus I don't want to inconvenience you." Diana voiced taking off the thick coat.

"Nonsense. There is plenty of time left in the day to get it done. Besides, I invited you for dinner so it's my job as the host to be able to sustain you with my home."

Bruce took back his coat back which he hung on the rack and then stood in silence. Aside from work he and Diana didn't really know each other that well so it was hard to come up with a conversation. This certainly wasn't the first time he brought a girl back to the mansion, but it was the first time in which he was a bit unsure on how to approach one. The arrogant playboy act worked on the women he saw as a means to cope or when it came to business, he didn't care whether they left in the morning or not. Diana however was different, seeing as he wanted to make sure she stuck around in the long run. Thankfully she was the one to initiate conversation first.

"I've never seen so many books in a person's home before. This collection almost rivals the Great Library on Themyscira."

Bruce observed how high the bookshelves rose requiring a rolling ladder to access anything above the sixth tier. Even though the collection was impressive he knew she was just exaggerating.

"Honestly I'm not completely certain what all I have in here. Most of this collection was my father's. He was very fond of historical literature as well as Charles Dickens and Shakespeare."

"The books I was most fond of were that of Greek stories and poetry. Odysseus was one of my personal favorites."

"I remember studying that in high school. The book reports were annoying."

"But wasn't it fun to read?"

"It would have been had the instructor not assigned it. Any literature that you are forced to read automatically becomes a chore and not fun at all." Bruce shuddered remembering the page requirement he had to meet for that assignment.

"Are there any books you did enjoy reading from school?" Diana asked as she made her way down the shelves.

"One of Shakespeare's short stories, The Cask of Amontillado, was an enticing read."

"Ah the revenge story. I guess it makes sense why you would enjoy that one."

"Yes well, I empathized with Montresor and his scheme was suspenseful to see unfold."

Diana made her way to the edge of the shelf and paused at the large window perpendicular to it which gave a great view of the manor's courtyard. The snowfall was consistent but wasn't heavy enough to obscure vision. The green bushes were covered in the substance like syrup topped off ice cream cones. Additionally the shrubbery that were pruned into animals caught her attention consisting of a couple elephants, giraffes, and other impressive works.

"Why the animals? It looks like a zoo out there."

Bruce just stared out the window in a daze before he responded.

"That's exactly the point." His expression remained the same but the tone of voice indicated a touchy subject. "We used to take family trips to the Gotham Zoo when I was a kid. I thought all the exotic animals were the funniest looking creature on the planet. Eventually father hired some landscapers to give me my own inanimate zoo in the courtyard so to speak."

"Oh." Diana once again had no idea. It was a strange situation for her, being that she wanted to connect to Bruce but risked brining up his childhood trauma every time she talked. She was going to need a different approach.

She grabbed Bruce's arm and dragged him outside into the courtyard. He was hesitant at first and gave her the most suspicious look. They just came from outside after all and neither of them were fully dressed for the cold. After separating from him she ventured off behind the wall of bushes near the elephant as Bruce looked at her confused.

"Aren't you cold?" He yelled.

"Trust me, you'll want to take off a couple layers in a bit."

Bruce merely stared into the sky as he saw the millions of flakes trickle down like shooting stars. He was puzzled when he saw one abnormally large, round "snowflake" head right towards his face. He caught the snowball with quick reflexes and winced as some of the ice managed to slip between his fingers and onto his face.

'That's odd.' He thought as he saw more snowballs fly his way. He tucked and rolled to avoid being hit and noticed a mischievous Amazon ducking behind the elephant-shaped bush.

"What are you doing?" He asked.

"Oh come on. Have a little fun Bruce!" She responded as she began stockpiling ammo.

Bruce looked at the ground and begrudgingly began shaping one of his own. He threw it at the top of the elephant where there was a bunch of snow accumulated. The impact knocked a good portion off right onto the unsuspecting Amazon at the bottom. The courtyard echoed with her surprised shivering yelp.

"Bruce!"

Diana emerged from behind the bush with the powdered substance all over her.

"Bet you wish you had a coat now." Bruce smirked.

Diana, now in a warring mood, began to take the pile of snow that drifted off her and shape it into a massive snowball the size of a person which she lifted effortlessly. She levitated into the air and began to close in on the wide-eyed billionaire.

"Now Diana be reasonable!" He shouted as he began to look for anything that could provide cover. "Do you know how heavy a snowball that size can be to a normal human being?"

"You better not get hit then." She grinned evilly as she threw the boulder-sized snowball like a shotput.

Bruce backtracked to avoid Diana's prediction and managed to avoid being pelted… or killed. However the force she threw it at resulted in a massive explosion sending snow everywhere. A good portion of the mansion's courtyard pillars were now consumed in the white substance.

Diana noticed a moving pile next to one of the columns and out emerged a snow covered Bruce. He brushed it off his face in annoyance and just narrowed his eyes at her.

"What? You played dirty first." She smirked.

Bruce took out a remote from his pocket and the button he activated split the pool in half. A platform emerged with a large bat-like mech suit with armor and a glowing insignia in the middle. It was his Thrasher suit which he has used to take on strong enemies and even Superman. The cockpit opened and he hopped in giving Diana a smirk of his own.

"That's not fair!" She exclaimed.

With Bruce sealed inside, the Thrasher shoveled a blob of snow towards her with the equivalent force of an avalanche. Diana was propelled through the courtyard trimming several bushes along the way before hitting the ground like a meteorite and piling dirt as the trench she was making got deeper.

As she pried herself from the ground, Diana felt the adrenaline coursing through her system. Her heartbeat increased and she felt more excited realizing what a challenge Bruce would actually be. An originally intended innocent snowball fight ended up becoming a gladiator sport and she was completely thrilled.

…

Chopping up vegetables in the mansion's kitchen was Alfred who was humming a simple tune as he sautéed the sides. His head was full of silly imaginations of what Bruce and Diana were up to and what would end up happening.

'You better not botch this up you hooligan.' Alfred thought knowing how Bruce could be.

Carrying the tray of food into the dining area he was shaken literally as vibrations echoed through the mansion halls like an earthquake making him drop what he was carrying. He stared as the vegetables scattered all over the floor in irritation.

'Honestly, I didn't think their activities would be this rambunctious.' Another wave of seismic quakes rumbled as he rushed to catch certain delicate decorations as they fell from the walls they were nailed to. 'Good heavens, I do hope master Bruce doesn't break anything else today… I'm not fixing him up twice in one day…'

…

Diana eventually embedded the Thrasher into the ground straddling it with a triumphant smirk on her face. Her hair was messed up and she had snow in places she didn't want to think about. She held a singular snowball in her hand and waited patiently.

The cockpit opened revealing a distraught Bruce who was looking over his battle suit. The inside of it was sparking like crazy while the arms and chest plate were dented from the heavy snowballs the princess chucked at it during their scuffle. Finally making eye contact with her he couldn't help but notice the ball of ice in her hand.

"You've got to be kidding me." He cringed.

Diana playfully smashed the snowball on his head. "To the victor go the spoils." She stroked his cheek tauntingly and hopped off the Thrasher heading for the mansion while fixing her tiara. Bruce merely smirked and followed close behind as he brushed the white powder off his black hair.

"Now what?" He asked curiously.

"Now…" She turned to face him, "we warm ourselves up."