Someone wanted a halloween one, with pumpkins. There it is! I have another Halloween one that goes along with the next arc, but I want to get more done on that first before posting it. Maybe on the actual holiday? B] Pre-dami again. sorry!
Dick-14 Jason-11 Cass-9 Timmy-7
Pies and Pumpkins
"Surprise!" Superman excitedly flew into the kitchen where half the Wayne children were working on their homework (Alfred was very good at explaining spelling and English assignments), setting a large basket of pumpkins on the ground before them. A huge grin was plastered across his face. "Pa had a good crop of pumpkins this year. Think you can use them?"
"For what?" Timmy cocked his head to the side in confusion as Cass and Alfred blinked at him in curiosity.
The man of steel nearly gaped at them for a moment. Wasn't it obvious? "For Jack-O-Lanterns of course! Haven't you ever made a Jack-O-Lantern before?"
"What's that?" The boy shook his head at the same time as his sister. Alfred caught on, explaining things to them.
"A Jack-O-Lantern is an old Halloween tradition sprung by the belief they would protect a home from wandering spirits and the undead." The old man gave them a kind smile as he elaborated a bit more. "There are several different versions of the tale as to why, but the essential reason for having them is the same: protection and lighting your path."
"Then why haven't I seen one?" he asked, confused still.
"Oh you have," the butler reminded him, "you just don't remember at the moment. And I believe last Halloween you had chickenpox, keeping out of the festivities. And previous years you were too young to handle a knife to help carving. But don't you remember scraping out the insides of pumpkins a couple years ago? You two rather enjoyed throwing seeds at your brothers."
"Oh yeah…" Timmy looked up, starting to remember what had happened previous years while his sister smothered an impish laugh. She was the one who threw the first handful of pumpkin goop at Jason. The younger boy didn't like getting his hands dirty, especially back then.
"So, think you can use them?" Superman grinned excitedly at them. He picked out two of them easily. "There's enough here for everyone to carve their own, and some extras! You could submit them to a contest or decorate your house or—"
"You can do that?!" The youngest asked, wonder in his eyes.
"Sure! We have contests every year back in Smallville!" An idea struck him. "Hey! How about you guys come over for Halloween! There's contests and prizes and games and costumes and haunted houses and mazes and more food than you can eat! It's so much fun you'll never want to leave! And the trick-or-treating is great!"
"Sounds awesome!" Timmy was getting really excited, nearly gaping at him in anticipation.
Cass looked over to Alfred hopefully. "Can we go?"
"I'm afraid plans have already been made for this Halloween Mr. Kent," Alfred regretfully informed them. "Mr. Madsen is throwing a small party and Master Bruce has already accepted his invitation. As a trusted business partner, it is unwise to take it back now."
"Awwww…." The two pouted and whined in tandem of each other. Being told they couldn't go see 'Grandma and Grandpa' Kent, let alone not go trick-or-treating with them, was something they really didn't want to hear.
"What's with the 'awwww's?" Jason, closely followed by Dick, came into the kitchen, proof of their completed homework in hand. They needed to prove they were done before Alfred would let them have any snacks. It was nearly always a race between them on who'd get the treat first.
"We can't go to the Kents because Daddy already said we're going to the Madsen's for Halloween!" Timmy explained quickly, pouting still. Both the older boys made faces, neither apparently liking the news either, but not for the same reasons.
"Dang it… Why didn't you mention it earlier Uncle Clark?!" Jason turned a glare on the kryptonian. "Then we could have picked our costumes!"
"What?"
"Are these for us?" Dick pointed to the pumpkins their visitor had brought in. He was starting to get excited.
"Yeah they are."
"COOL!" Quickly the teen started rifling through them, trying to find the best one. "Dibs on this guy! I think I'll do a ghost this year!"
"Not until everyone's work is done," Alfred enforced, giving them a shrewd look. Both Cass and Timmy looked at each other then back to their papers, trying to get their homework done as quickly as possible so they weren't the ones holding their brothers back. The butler looked away from the pouting boys now picking through pumpkins and thinking over their designs for this year, to the man of steel. "Thank you for bringing over the pumpkins Mr. Kent. I will be sure to inform Master Bruce of your generous donation when he returns home."
"Not a problem!" Superman looked back over to the kids and the pumpkins waiting to be carved. "But I was kinda hoping… could I come by later and help out? It's like decorating the tree at Christmas. A family tradition and more fun than just having it done. Plus I want to see what you carve."
The oldest child snickered while the others grinned at him. The butler raised an eyebrow. "I see no reason why not. Technically you are entitled to see the results of your investment, but I cannot guarantee Master Bruce will see this in the same light as I or the children."
"It'll be fine!" Dick insisted immediately. "I'll turn on the hypersonic switch on my watch when we're working on them, 'kay?"
This made the surrogate uncle grin. "Okay! I think I just heard a volcanic explosion in Chile anyway. See you in a bit!"
And with a wave, the most powerful humanoid on the planet vanished from their kitchen, almost as sudden as when he had entered.
Covered in soot and sweat, Clark made a quick stop at this apartment for a shower and a change of clothes before returning to Wayne Manor. He didn't think Superman would be needed again for a bit (a volcanic eruption, two wild fires, and a giant robot that might have been made by Toyman) and if he could get away with just wearing his street clothes for a few more hours, it'd be swell. Tights got confining after a while and he sort of missed wearing normal clothes all the time like he did as a kid. Plus unless it was a short visit, Alfred had a strict rule about costumes/capes in the manor.
After all, that man's word was law to everyone he met.
Stopping just short of the side/kitchen entrance of the house, Clark used X-ray vision to see what was going on. He heard the sonic device go off about an hour ago, so he knew they had started carving those pumpkins, but how many had they done? Course he could always get more if they finished what they had. Pa had a really good crop this year, for all his squashes. But it looked like there were two whole pumpkins still untouched, and about half a dozen completed. Bruce was currently working on one of them.
The man's silk sleeves were rolled past his elbows and his hands were carefully moving the small knife in and through the squash. His younger two children were watching him with baited breath as he focused solely on the problem before him. The older two were helping Alfred with the seeds, preparing them for baking so they wouldn't go to waste. The remains of a ruined pumpkin (maybe smashed by accident or for fun) waited on a countertop with a large knife coming out of it, waiting to be dealt with.
Clark smirked to himself. Nothing was being wasted. Ma would be very pleased with them for this. He waited until both parties had taken their hands off their current tasks before coming through the door. "Hey there! I'm back!"
"Uncle Clark!" The boys nearly leapt from their positions and darted over to him, giving him quick hugs wherever they could grab him. Dick even jumped up to his shoulders and started ruffling up his hair while laughing. "So what happened?! Heard there was a robot! Did you take pictures? You're awfully clean for someone who took down a volcano."
"I took a shower," he explained after a minute, grinning. Honestly, the reporter didn't expect a sudden surge of affection from any of them. Dick sure, Timmy maybe, but Jason's hug was unexpected and soon Cass even came up to him and gave him a pat on the back, grinning. 'They must really like those pumpkins.'
"You're going to need another one," Bruce mumbled to himself, concentrating on his work. Clark was about to ask why when he got a good look at the design the man was working on. A cat chasing after a witch on a broom chasing a ghost who was headed to a castle that the cat came from. Quite a complicated piece, and it was nearly done.
"That's really good."
"Just fine-tuning one of Jason's," the man assured him. "He came up with this design. And a couple others."
"Yeah," the former street rat started, grinning. "Dad's is gonna get turned into pie."
"Why?!" Clark looked between Bruce and the pieces of pumpkin on the cutting board. Why was his hard work being used like that when he never even got to see it?
"Because he got frustrated with the design and accidentally dropped it while trying to do a different angle. Went splat face down." The kid grinned at him while his father rolled his eyes, setting the knife aside. Guess the lantern was done, and he didn't want to make it any worse. Jason continued. "He's just been helping us with our designs ever since."
"Some aren't very original," Dick admitted, pointing out the crudely made faces on three of them. One looked like a vampire while another looked like Picasso. That one had to be Timmy's. "While others are a lot cooler." He particularly pointed out a pumpkin with a Superman shield on it. Then he turned it around to show off Wonder Woman's Ws and then a bat in a circle. The teenager grinned proudly. "I call this 'Trinity'."
"I call it a dead giveaway," Bruce muttered as he rolled his shoulders. "If that ever left the house, people would be suspicious."
"We could light it in the cave," he tried to compromise.
"Not a good idea," Alfred butted in. "Not with the bats, their appetites and guano. Very hazardous."
"Still, it'll look awesome in a dark room!" Dick was nearly bouncing around on his heels at the thought of lighting this guy up.
"Not near as cool as Cass' though." Their sister blushed as Jason pointed out her pumpkin. A fancy large bat was on one side, something nearly out of a carving idea book, and a well written 'Darkest Knight' on the other side. "She came up with the design and we helped her put it together."
"Mostly Jason," Timmy admitted. "He's good at carving. Look at mine!" He pointed to the third face lantern, which actually looked normal for a lantern. Considering this might have been the only jaco-o-lantern he made on his own so far, it wasn't so surprising it was basic. Still, Clark was certain Picasso was his.
"And that one's Alfred's!" The boy pointed out the last pumpkin, one with two well carved roses put into the side. Anyone could tell a professional chef had done this job. So when their visitor made a confused face, they all had to know what was bothering him. "Something wrong?"
"I was just wondering who did those two." He pointed to the first two faces curiously.
"That one's mine." Jason pointed at the vampire one, grinning impishly. "Dick's is Mr. Potato head."
"Really?" Clark looked over the pumpkins again, reviewing who made what. In the end he came to an interesting conclusion, and grinned for it. He looked over to the head of the household. All he had done was fine-tune/clean up one of Jason's masterpieces. "You can't carve a pumpkin?"
"Can you run multiple corporations, balance a budget, gather difficult intel, and organize half a dozen super powered beings into a force for good?" There was a notable amount of bite in his voice, bitter and grumpy at him for teasing him. He spent at least the past hour trying to carve and clean up pumpkins with little to no success. It was not a good time to tease him.
"Ahhhh… Probably not."
"Then for once Kent, keep your mouth shut." Bruce picked up the pumpkin he helped finish and placed it next to the others before looking at the remains of his own creation. He kept his eyes firmly on the pieces as he finished dicing them up for the blender Alfred had gotten out to start preparing the squash for the pie making process. "If you want to show them how you make lanterns, be my guest. You have two tries. Good luck."
The reporter ran a hand through his hair in slight disappointment and stopped, surprise coming to his face. Something sticky was in his hair. Slimy even. He just cleaned up! How could this be… Stiffed snickers and chuckles came from the kids around him. They even turned away to try and stop themselves from laughing. Why were they…
Finally it donned on him, making his face turn red in embarrassment. "Dick!"
A/N: Honestly, did not know how to end this. Didn't know how to continue it either. Clark just discovered that when he was attacked with hugs, their hands hadn't been washed. And Dick got his hair. Bruce did warn him though.
I like the idea of Jason being talented in carving and singing while Dick's a performer whose tastes are either fanboy, joke or just plain silly. Kinda want to give Cass a special talent too, but haven't nailed one yet. Timmy's lantern was basic really, but he's 7. Alfred's was also nice because he's Mr. amazingly talented and perfect butler and Bruce's died because he really wasn't into it. That became a pie. My mom used to turn our pumpkins into pies after halloween and first step after skinning and dicing was turning it into frepe! So much fun.
Oh and Dick's trinity pumpkin, I did it this year. =P Happy Early halloween!