AN: I so have not forgotten about any of my other stories. It's just that, this and one other are kinda in the forefront of my mind.
Also Failsafe- Damnit Kaldur STOP SACRIFICING YOURSELF! D'8 The team don't deserve you, baby.
"Uh-oh." Wally says watching Kaldur pace, "You've got that look on your face."
"What look?" Kaldur tries hard not to snap at the red head but he was incredibly frustrated. After 'that', Bruce had become insufferable. Criticizing every little thing he did. It's not enough, it's never 'good enough' and he's close to doing something drastic to at least silence him. Unfortunately, he doesn't know what could.
Wally smiles setting his bowl of fruit- Alfred's making him eat healthier-aside before standing, "Like you're gonna kill Bruce, right?"
He threw him a dour look, "What ever makes you think that?"
"'Cause only Bruce ever pisses you off that much. What was it this time? Didn't lick his boot right?" Wally jokes a bit but blinks when Kaldur says nothing in return, "Dude, man, you need to sit and calm the fuck down for a bit. After all, Roy and Artemis will be here in a few hours."
Walking over, he pushes Kaldur down into a sit in the Pet Room and stood in front of him. He tilts his head, green eyes considering something before they lit up with an idea. "I know what will make you forget."
"What would that be?" Kaldur's still in a sour mood. All he could think is how to get back at Bruce. What could he do-? His eyes widen as his mind stops in mid-thought when Wally kneels in front of him much like he's done before and leans forward with almost a deviant smile on his face. "W-Wally?"
"Come on, it's just a little fun between pets." Wally nearly purrs reaching up and undoing Kaldur's pants, "You need to relax. I need something to do."
"I-"
"Shut up." Wally leans forward and is a bit pleased that even Kaldur couldn't resist him. Well, sure he was half-cocked but that's something. He could work with that as he starts playing and teasing it to be hard.
Wally is...Wally is very talented. Kaldur couldn't help but think that. He shouldn't be doing this, yet at the moment he couldn't help himself. Webbed hand threads through Wally's hair, encouraging him as Kaldur groans softly.
Why is he doing this?
Of course, as soon as that thought slipped out, he knew why. He did it because he's mad at Bruce. Because he's tired of being frustrated and angry all the time.
Because he considers Wally his friend.
"What about you?" His accent his thicker then it had been before. "I should return the favor."
Wally only grins, "Well, since you put it that way."
Bruce really wants to go in there and stop them, but at the moment, he's almost glued to the spot in front of his monitors watching them. Pets 'played' together like this often enough before. Wally was notorious for it. Like now, he's watching them.
Bruce is completely enthralled with how Kaldur looks at the moment. He's almost regretting this, but since they were only doing foreplay for now..he'll let it slide and enjoy the show.
After all, Oliver's group won't be there for another hour or so.
Meeting Roy and Artemis is..interesting to say the least. They were both rather brash and abrasive in their own way. Beautiful too.
Kaldur wonders if all pets are like that- if they all have some quality that made them automatically beautiful. If this was so, he thinks even Dick could've been one.
He listens to them, smiling and nodding politely, though his eyes strays towards the adults. All cloistered together with their drinks and Dick who keeps stealing looks to where they were.
"So, Kaldur, are you really some prince or is that just a load of bull?" Artemis asks bluntly sipping her tea, "I mean really. That sounds like something from a cheesy novel."
Kaldur raises a dark brow, "I am, but I have no need to prove such a thing."
"Right." She still looked skeptical of this but decided to move on to another subject.
Much to his relief. He didn't want to talk more about Atlantis then absolutely necessary. Eventually, though, he got up to excuse himself. One of the few perks about this 'get-together' is that they could wander at least outside to the verbena.
Which was were he headed to finally to be alone with his thoughts. Or rather, to have no thoughts at all. He had far too many of them right now that it almost filled most of his minutes with such useless thoughts.
He wonders if Bruce had seen him with Wally. He's been acting a bit strange, at least from Kaldur's perspective, but that's not a problem is it? Not really.
He turns his head, hearing laughter float out of the main room. Land-dwellers were so strange. He doesn't understand them at all. What is with them and the need to possess things or try to fit them into little neat boxes?
Wally's pessimism about magic, Dick's unusual need to cling to his pet, Bruce thinks he could own just anything and now...
He's not sure what to think about Artemis and Roy. He doesn't even think that this get together was even necessary. They weren't going to kill each other. So what was the reason for all this?
Leaning against the balcony, Kaldur wonders if this is just a way for him to make friends or something of that nature. Or, it could be for him to get used to having more than just the Wayne household around him.
That Pet Party will be the following week. He's expected to not bring disgrace to the Wayne house.
Maybe Atlantis and this place wasn't so different after all, he thought to himself. They both certainly have standards and honor to uphold.
Light eyes turn upwards towards the sky, it's getting dark, yet Kaldur wants to stay right there until the moon climbs into the sky. Something about sunset that moves something in him that has some kind of emotion attach to it. He's just not certain what that emotion is yet.
He's only seen sunset once before.
'I cannot believe I did that!' Panicking, a young Kaldur raced off into the eerie blue sea that seem deprived of life at the moment. 'What if I..I killed her?'
He should go back and see if she was fine, but Garth had raced off to fetch help, so what should he have done?
Kaldur closed his eyes tightly against the imagery and went up towards the surface. He's never been there, but has heard much from others. There's a thing in something called a sky-it's blue too but lighter- that's bright and gives off heat like the volcanoes and lava streams that he's seen.
There's another thing there too, it gives off light but it's not warm or as bright.
If he's going to be punished, he should at least see those things once. Just once.
He broke through to the surface and saw it there. In the far horizon, it seemed huge and orange. His eyes widened as lazy clouds drifted across it.
Sol- the Sun.
It was beautiful.
That's when the net fell over him and-
"Kaldur?"
He turns, snapping out of the memory and looking towards Roy with a tentative smile, "Is there something you need, Roy?"
"It's dinner time." Roy doesn't smile back but studies him for a moment, "Something wrong?"
"There is nothing wrong." Kaldur answers walking towards the doors, "Why would there be?"
Roy doesn't reply but follows him.
Now Kaldur knows that land-dwellers really weren't so different from his home land at all. At the moment, the Pet Party is supposedly in 'full swing' now. Everyone's dressed up-with the exception of a few pets- and the chatting and laughter were to be had.
As expected, Oliver's pets weren't wearing what the rest had to. Which were collars and leashes.
Actually, Kaldur reassesses his thought on how similar the two were. They were nothing alike at all.
Who in their right mind would do this to another living being? Still, he's walking behind Bruce, being ogled at by various people.
It's annoying, he really does hate this but at least they're keeping their distance.
Except-
"Well, well, well." A dark haired woman saunters over with a ruby red smirk painted on her face, "If it isn't Bruce."
"Ms. Kyle." Bruce smiles at her a touch warmer than others, "I didn't think you would be here."
"And miss a chance to see this exotic pet of yours?" She turns her dark eyes towards Kaldur, that smile widening, "This is him?"
"His name is Kaldur'ahm." Bruce nods, but moves so she could see him better, "He's quite a find."
Kaldur stands still, like he has all the other times people have come up to Bruce to inspect him. The outfit he's wearing reminds him a little of the one he was caught in only it cuts off at the calves and is sleeveless with a low cut in the back. It's mostly to show off his better attributes. Really though, he'd rather run around naked then wear this outfit, but wouldn't suggest such a thing to Bruce.
He might actually make him do it.
"He really is something, Bruce." Selina said walking around him again slowly, "Quite fit. Have you been training him?"
Bruce smiles a bit, "No, he seems to do that himself. He's quite..body conscious."
When there's nothing better to do, Kaldur thought to himself annoyed, what else is there but that?
"I see." She ran a hand along his exposed arm to his shoulder, "and this? It seems almost as if it's his skin." She even smiles more, "And a sensitive spot as well."
Bruce raises a brow, "As I've told others, I wouldn't touch him if I were you." Slight tug on the leash has Kaldur moving towards him. In a weird way the Prince was glad of it. He doesn't like strange people touching him. "He's got a nasty reputation for shocking unwanted attention."
Selina's eyes narrow just slightly, "Is that so?"
"It is." Bruce sighs slightly dramatically. "It's been a challenge, he nearly did one of my servants in with that. She simply couldn't help but touch them. Next thing I know, I'm getting a call from Alfred about a maid knocked out in the library."
Kaldur tries hard not to look at him with an incredulous expression. Instead, he did what Wally advised before they came to the party and leans against Bruce like he wanted his attention. Which he didn't. No, really he did not want...
Fine. He did. But he's not telling him the truth of that.
Bruce only smiles indulgently and runs a hand over Kaldur's hair-it's still very soft. Like seal fur or something- that drifts down towards the small of the teen's back. "So you see, Ms. Kyle, I wouldn't want you to get hurt because he's skittish."
"He doesn't seem to be any more skittish than the others. Well except for that one over there with Stewart." Selina barely flicks her eyes over to the dark man and his younger companion. "What did you say he was again?"
"The seller says he's from Atlantis."
"I think he was pulling your leg, Bruce." She tosses her hair over her shoulder, "Then again, he is different isn't he?" She eyed him once more, "Well, I must simply visit to have a better look, shouldn't I?"
"If you wish to visit, you know how to arrange that. How is your own pet, Kitten?" Low, but Bruce is getting a little tired of her act. There was a reason why they didn't work out. "I would've thought you would bring her with you."
Her face became blank, but he could see the anger sparking in her eyes, "You know I had to let my precious puss go. She simply wasn't meant to be kept." There was a sharpness to her words as she turns to leave, "I'll call, Bruce. Have a good evening."
"When is this over?" Kaldur glances up at him, thoroughly bored.
"What?" Bruce smiles a bit, "Not enjoying yourself? They're all here to at least catch a glimpse of you."
"I do not enjoy being put on display." He mutters crossly, "I have had enough of that for a lifetime. The difference is there is no glass."
"You should." Bruce casts a look around, "After all, you're supposedly a Prince. Isn't that what you've been doing? Putting yourself on display for others to look at too?"
Kaldur only stares at him for a moment before trying to move away and then is reminded about the leash with the light tug from Bruce.
He wonders if it would be bad manners to shock his owner-if he had such precise control that is. The idea of Bruce on the floor twitching almost made him smile.
An: Easter egg time!
Well, not really. Only Easter Egg here is that Kitten is a canon Character from the Adam West Run of Batman (the TV show). She was a henchmen of Catwoman's that wanted to be a singer I believe.
