Tales from the Black Oasis:

A Dark Knight Before Christmas

(Disclaimer: I own none of these characters)

(This story takes place between chapter 4 and chapters 5 & 6 of Altered States)

Dark, tranquil, silent, still… Such placid serenity had slowly crept into the Manor as much as it had crept into its occupants more recent dispositions. The windows of the master suite wore thick curtains so as to deny nature an avenue of disruption, the walls perfectly expressed the dusky calm. The room was wrapped in a circumambient non-luminance, and its inhabitants were burrowed in its pitch like a shroud.

Outside, the winds sang a song of rising and collapsing timbre. Slowly and steadily, the breeze beat at the carapace of the estate with the dulcet quality of a choir. As the gales drummed on, the pulsating opus finds an ear to stage its tune for. A set of eyes as rich as pure cobalt take focus of the scene, as the current's cadance had called her out of her slumber in such a sweet sonnet that it was as seductive a measure she could recall. Awareness of her own consciousness in the instant eluded her and the formlessness in the chamber did no favors in achieving lucidity. This seeming dreamscape warmed her to the essence breathed into her by her gods themselves, and felt as radiant in her core as Vulcan's kiln. Her bare skin now felt a sweltering reminiscent of a Themysciran summer. Was this what had ignited her just so that she finally gave rationale to her surroundings? And moreover, to the form sharing her immediate vancity?

As faculties returned to her mind, movement returned to her appendages. With a poetry of motion that could bring jealousy to a perfectly timed clock, she slid soundlessly closer to him. Every part of her found its complement in his physiology. She locked into him in a configuration that bound her arms to his frame, his hands brought to her face in a move to allow the opportunity to trace out the features of her, her legs intertwined in his that they may never have reason to seperate, and the remainder of them flush to each other and only giving way to moments of exquisite tremor. As the ballad of the external zyphere had brought her out from behind the vale of sleep, the movements she orchestrated in their bed had given him reason to join her in the shadowy expanse they shared.

Zeroing in on every divine bit of her the fleeting luster from the spritely beams of moonlight that barely found entry as the coverings of the windows now seemed to show the effects of the slipstream beyond them, his eyes took keen position. Wearing his signature crooked smile out of habit, even as it was obscured, he spoke to her in a scintillating growl: "Morning already, Princess?"

Closing the centimeters that lay between them, she rubbed her nose on his, as she purred "Not quite, my love. But as they say here in Man's World, Merry Christmas." and she kissed him lightly as she beamed almost brightly enough to chase away the darkness encircling them.

At this, he went a bit blank. "Hmmm… That is today, isn't it?" he bemoaned.

She seemed slightly amiss at this. She had known, in all their time together with the league and now in more intimate regards, that he hadn't exactly put a tremendous amount of significance on the day. However, even as he seemed to be ambivalent to the day previously, she had often noticed a rise in his spirits around the winter solstice. She had hypothesized from this that while the holiday season brought on a wake of mischief and avarese-induced larceny, it pales in comparison to the wave of charity and jovial deeds the season commanded. And, she'd wagered that he had also noticed this dichotomy and had some silent reaffirmation of mankind's better nature and a renewed vigor toward his mission. But in this moment, she couldn't make out any of that usual reserved hope that generally glinted within him just about this time of year.

Her curiosity was now in play as she bluntly inquired of him "Why do you react to good tidings in such a manner, Bruce?" locking her gaze with his. At her query, he became thoughtful and self-contained. Darting his eyes to the window, he gave thought to the patterns in the breeze, and deduced that they had likely been snowed in, and pressing a secretly positioned button that drew back the curtains slightly and allowed the brilliant light of the winter's moon to find its place along a stretch of the floor between the bed and the wall. But the photons succeeded in the effort of giving them a better measure of each other's nuances as this exchange progressed, as well as validating the conclusion Bruce had come to just now: There was indeed a copious amount of snow blanketing the grounds. Flakes still fell in rapidity as they caught a shimmer from luna's brilliance with all the resplendent quality of a meteor shower. Of course all of this was no match for the ethereal sight she was to him in every moment they shared together. Even now in the night's glow, sporting a determined smile and examining eyes, he could never recall a more perfect vision he'd yet laid eyes upon in his lifetime.

"Diana, I…" he stammered slightly, and fumbled over feeling like he needed to explain and needing to apologize. Bruce started again "Diana, I wasn't implying that I necessarily dislike this holiday. My feeling for it are just… complex."

Not missing a beat, she teased "Of course they are…"

Peering back into her, he continued to expound on his response "It was just that for so long, it was just Alfred and I here in the Manor every year by ourselves. I'd listen to the stories the other kids I went to academy with would tell about gathering with family and time spent together with relatives, and I'd always felt like I was missing out on something. I had to harden myself to it, and I continued on that way for much of my life. Things changed when I took Dick in, and I started to feel some sense of peace around this day. But as he grew up, that changed too. So that's when I'd take monitor duty so that Clark, Wally, Kyle, and the others could go spend the holiday as intended. The significance of it all never alluded me, it just hasn't quite fully connected with me as much as it could have."

Listening to him recap his sorted emotions related to the season had given her pause to consider things as they were now. There was so much she felt thankful for: that she was making a measurable difference in Man's World, that she could call the greatest people on the planet her closest friends, that she and Bruce were intimately bound and shared such a deep connection. Did he feel the same? Had all that they had been through made an impact on him at all outside of adding more compartments to his chambered psyche?

He added an addendum "Even the criminals seem to take note of the intangible essence in late December and give their malfeasance a rest for a time…" She cracked a slight smile at having guessed right about him noticing things getting a little easier in early winter. Then she noticed a shift in his demeanor. A sly warmth danced about his face and he began to speak again "But I think now, I'm ready to see what I've been missing out on, if you'll do me the honor that is."

She puzzled at this, as she demanded details "Bruce… What in Hera's name are you talking about?" She scanned his face for any tell, but found none. After a moment of enjoying her state of suspense, he finally elaborated "Check under your pillow, Princess." Sliding a hand above where her head lay, she pulled out a small velvet box and held it up to the moonlight. A sudden wave of shock and delight overtook her in an instant. She turned to him, tears forming in her eyes as she opened it to find an exquisitely formed engagement ring inside. She practically melts into him, as she grips him into her being like a vice and kisses him between tearful chuckles. "Bruce… I want nothing more than you and nothing more than this! You've brought me such joy, my love. Let us be joined!" and she drew him in deeply for a kiss to rival anything they had shared to that point.

"Merry Christmas Princess"