Making the Best of It
Chapter 40
Wayne Manor
It was gray. Definitely gray. And it was getting worse. Bruce stared into the mirror of his bathroom, his heart deflating as he examined his graying hair. He was in his mid-forties and his hair was graying, wrinkles starting to form on his face. The lines dishearten him just as much as the hair. He was seriously considering dying his hair to cover away the gray.
He theorized that all the stress he had put his body under over the years were wrecking his body and his hair was the most visual symptom.
It certainly didn't help that he needed glasses to read now. His eyes were damaged by constant use of his cowl's various vision modes and staring at computer screens. The only silver-lining to it was that Diana had commented that he looked rather dashing with them on.
With a grumble he strolled out of the bathroom and back to his bed, where Diana lay slumbering peacefully on her side. He crawled back in the covers pull up. His eyes were trained on the rise and fall of her body, the gentle rhythm slowly lulling him to sleep.
He was still half-asleep under the shower, even though the warm water wasn't enough to rouse him from sleep. Too many late nights, perhaps. He was getting old. He didn't even notice the slender hand reach for him until it grabbed him.
His eyes shot open, instincts kicking in. He grabbed the wrist of the hand that accustomed him, pulled them in and shoved them into the tile wall.
"Cold! Cold! Cold tile!" a naked Diana squealed in surprise at the sensations that assaulted her tender flesh and Bruce violent reaction.
"Diana?" a surprised Bruce uttered, before releasing his hold on her. He took a step back to make room for her.
A flustered Diana turned to him, a bemused expression on her face. "You are usually much more receptive to my sudden arrivals," she said. She stood under the hot water, letting the rushing rivers warm her sensitive flesh washing away the cold that plagued her.
"Sorry," the man replied. "You… surprised me," he finished, appearing sheepish.
A pleased Diana responded. "Oh? I must be getting better at sneaking up on you." She was concerned when she saw the faraway look on his face.
"Are you okay?"
He jolted awake when he felt her hand cup his cheek, a worried look in her eyes.
"Yes. I'm just a bit distracted."
"What about?" she pressed lightly. The running water was racing down their bare bodies.
"Time," he sighed, melancholic.
Understandingly, she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled them close. "We still have time. And you still have time. You can still fix Gotham in other ways that don't need your body," she tried to reassure him.
It didn't work. It only caused him to feel even worse about getting old.
"I find the gray very attractive," she pointed out coyly. Her finger lazily teasing his soaked locks.
"Oh?" a piqued Bruce uttered, a small smile forming on his face.
"Very, very, attractive," she whispered to him, eyes starting to close and leaning in closer until their lips met.
That evening, Bruce was seated on the kitchen island, having his dinner. Alfred was cleaning up the sink. And in came Elissa appearing a bit haggard.
She took a seat at the island right next to her father.
Instinctively, Alfred turned and approached her. "What can I get you, Miss Elissa?"
"Chocolate milk. Extra chocolate," she answered, like how someone would ask for a drink at a bar.
The butler chuckled and went to fetch her drink, while an amused Bruce smirked.
"Rough day?" the dark-haired man inquired with a hint of amusement.
She sighed, slouching in her seat. "Being a kid is hard," she proclaimed, crossing her arms in front of her, leaning on the table.
Her response made him laugh. "Yeah, must be incredibly difficult," he put laconically.
"Can I have a pop tart?"
"I don't know. Can you?" he countered. Poking at her poor grammar.
"May I have a pop tart?" she corrected herself, her cheeks beating a bit red in embarrassment.
"Sure."
Alfred placed her beverage and her treat in front of her.
"Thank you, grandpa," she said sweetly.
"You are very welcome, young miss." He spoke to her with great affection and went back to his duties.
"How's school?" Bruce wondered, glancing over to the girl gulping down her chocolate milk.
"Okay. I just finished my homework."
A perplexed Bruce uttered. "It's late. You usually finish your homework when you get home from school."
"I was doing my artwork," she explained.
"You've been doing a lot of art lately," he noted.
She nodded her head, slurping her chocolate milk until it was gone. "I like it," she beamed.
"Your mother was telling me about some of these pieces of yours. She said you have quite the talent," he mentioned with a hint of pride in his eye.
Elissa was happy to hear her father compliment her art projects.
"Maybe we should get you into an art program to hone that talent of yours," he expressed. "Would you be interested?"
"Yeah!" She exclaimed. She loved her art class at school and was always diligently putting the effort into making whatever she made perfect from her mind's eye. "When can I start?" she pressed, stars sparkling in her blue eyes at the idea.
"We'll look into it," her father promised, returning to his dinner.
"Cool!" Elissa cooed, nibbling on her pop tart.
Hall of Justice
Wild passion suffocated Diana's quarters, whilst Bruce and Diana were tangled with one another as Bruce slammed her into a Grecian column. Her quarters were decorated in architecture from her heritage.
The Amazon gasped as her lover made love to her against the column. Her arms wrapped around his neck, her bare legs clutched his waist, her red boots discarded upon the stone floor.
Her tiara, his cape and cowl along with his belt, shirt and gloves littered the floor, a trail leading to her lavender colored bed.
Bruce had been called in to consult on an investigation and upon finishing the investigation, he and Diana thought they could celebrate a bit.
"Yes," she chanted, flailing her pelvis wildly to meet her lover's powerful thrusts. Her hands grabbed the sculpted flesh of his back. She whimpered when he bit her neck lightly, sucking the tender flesh.
Sweet euphoria ran through her veins as the sensations deep within her core flooded her body, drowning it until it drove her over the edge and to sweet bliss.
Releasing shuddering gasps, the woman's pupils dilated to needle pins. She tingled, feeling Bruce's large and coarse hands squeezed her sculpted rear.
She whimpered, feeling her lover find release as well. Soon, they slumped against one another. Languidly, pressing loving kisses into the other's flesh wherever they felt the most appropriate. Their racing heartbeats pounded in their ears and momentarily found themselves in her bed.
The sheets were a mess, the remainder of their clothes were on the floor. On the left side of the bed were used condoms littering the floor.
Diana was a hot mess, but to Bruce, she was breathtaking. Sweat soaked disheveled hair, bite marks on her shoulder leading up to her slender neck. Beads of sweat trailing down her splendid body, a pool of sweat above her cleavage. Her bronze skin was highlighted by the lights reflecting on her glossy form.
Her red lips swollen from their aggravative lip lock and sometime teasing nibbles.
After catching her breath, the raven-haired woman noted him staring at him. With a quizzical look, she questioned him. "What are you looking at?"
"You," he said simply, dumbfounded by her splendor.
She gave him a wide smile. Gingerly leaning close to give him a loving kiss in gratitude. "Thank you," she whispered against his lips. She pulled away before he could respond, much to his minor annoyance.
She ran a hand through her thick wavy locks straightening her hair a bit, the bed sheet falling into her lap. Instead of pulling the sheet back up, she rolled onto her stomach. Lightly, kicking a leg back and forth and she cradled her chin in her palm deep in contemplation.
"I've missed you," She suddenly uttered tenderly.
"I've missed you, too." He replied lovingly, his eyes focused on the tantalizing view. They had not seen one another for a while as Diana had been very busy with the League as of late. Something she regretted as she had not seen much of Elissa either. Only a few phones calls, some of which Elissa had already gone to bed for the night.
She felt terrible as Elissa had apparently gotten use to her mother's prolonged absences. Something that hurt the Amazon greatly. Feeling that she had been neglecting her daughter the woman vowed to make up for her absence in a manner that Elissa desired.
"I need to do something for her, Bruce." She expressed passionately while he listened intently.
"What do you want to do?" He questioned.
"I don't know. But something!" she exasperated with frustration; her hand thrown out.
"We're already enrolling her in the art program," he reminded her. His hand lightly rubbing the small of her back in a loving manner.
"Zatanna said she had a spare ticket to a spa," she recalled. "Maybe I could take her to the spa with me," she suggested.
Bruce grimaced. "She's ten. She doesn't need the spa," he retorted.
The woman sighed. Pondering what else she could do with her daughter.
Bruce thought with her, contemplating something they both could enjoy. Suddenly, he felt a lightbulb light up in his head.
"She loved that pony ride a few years back," he mentioned. Diana stared at him in surprise. And then kissed him fiercely.
The kiss left the man frozen and when she pulled back, she declared, "You're a genius!"
It took him a moment to regain his faculties and when he did, he smugly responded. "No kidding," he chuckled.
"It's almost three," he stated. "Do you want to pick Elissa up from school?" he questioned her kindly.
She checked the clock near her bed with wide eyes. Frantically, she leapt out of bed and raced to her shower, leaving a bemused Bruce chuckling to himself.
"I guess I'll clean up," he slowly got out of bed to pick up after the mess laid around the room.
Elissa walked out of school searching for Alfred only to find her mother waving to her.
"Mom?" she uttered in surprise. She met up with her mother quickly embracing one another.
"What are you doing here? Where's grandpa?" she questioned inquisitively.
The woman chuckled. "Are you not happy to see me?" She feigned hurt.
"No!" Elissa let out a resounding denial, giggling as she held her mother tighter.
They broke their embrace; her mother left her hand on her shoulder and went to the car. "I thought we could get some ice cream before we go home."
"Okay!" the dark-haired girl chirped. As they walked to the car, Elissa asked. "What did you do today, Mom?"
"Oh, I just had to save some lives and stop some bad guys," she shrugged.
"Cool!" Elissa laughed.
Opening the car door, Diana proposed her idea of spending time together. "What do you think of the two of us going horseback riding this weekend?"
Elissa brightened up. "Yeah, let's go!" she cheered, sitting in the back of the car.
"Okay," Diana brightened up at her daughter's excitement.
He was in hell.
Trapped.
Surrounded.
No way out.
Damn.
It was just him and his little girl, who was the source of his discomfort.
She sang Wannabe by the Spice Girls as it played on the radio, swaying side to side in her seat.
If you wanna be my lover,
You gotta get with my friends,
Make it last forever,
Friendship never ends
Bruce gripped the steering wheel tightly, his knuckles turning white from the strain. The song was extremely grating to his nerves.
He contemplated driving into oncoming traffic.
IF ANY OF THE DAMN CARS WOULD MOVE!
He hated traffic jams, and it was bumper to bumper traffic. The occasional horn blasting outside their car.
His patience ran out and he reached to change the station only for Elissa to slap his hand away and continued singing.
It was almost comical as he kept going for the console only to be discouraged by Elissa's repetitively slapping hand.
Eventually, Elissa asked. "What's the definition of insanity?" A mischievous gleam in her crystal blue eyes, and a smug grin on her face.
Her father glowered her way and accepted his fate. For the next two minutes, he hoped. He really wished he hadn't agreed to take her to the store for more art supplies. But… he could never deny his little girl anything. Especially if it made her happy.
So here's a story from A to Z,
You wanna get with me you gotta listen carefully,
We got M in the place who likes it in the face,
we got G likes MC who likes it on an
Elissa sang along, swaying her body and clapping her hands enthralled by the song.
The dark-haired man breathed a sigh of relief when the song ended.
But then his hopes were dashed away when the station jockeys played a new pop song.
Love Game by Lady Gaga
Let's have some fun,
This beat is sick,
I wanna take a ride on your disco stick.
"No," Bruce spoke, shaking his head. He immediately turned off the radio and let silence take the inside of the car.
"Hey!" An outraged Elissa cried. "I was listening to that," she protested.
"And now you can listen to the honking cars," her father retorted.
Elissa crossed her arms and pouted profoundly in the attempt to shame her father into putting the radio back on.
It would not work.
At least not this time.
Their car slowly moved up only to come to a stop and more blasting of car horns erupted.
It was silent between the two for a few minutes until Elissa's curiosity got the better of her.
"What's a disco stick?"
As soon as her father heard that he shut off the radio, meaning it had to be something bad.
The graying man paled as he heard her innocent question.
"Nothing you need to know about," he discouraged abruptly.
She knew that tone. It meant he wasn't going to tell her anything.
"Fine," she scowled. "I'll just google it at home," she said decidedly.
"You're grounded," he stated nonchalantly.
"Why?!" An outraged Elissa sputtered. "I didn't do anything," she argued.
"Doesn't matter."
"I'm telling mom." She frowned. Her arms still crossed along her chest. "We'll see what she has to say," she muttered.
Boy, already pitting her parents against one another.
Impressive.
They were silent the whole car ride to art supply store and back.
When they got home, Elissa immediately went to mother telling her what had happened. Diana soothed her and promised she wouldn't be grounded if she promised to be good.
Diana found Bruce in his study, typing on his computer.
"You are ridiculous," she shook her head, approaching the desk.
"Then you can explain it to her," he countered, which surprised her. He smirked inwardly seeing Diana didn't want to explain it to their daughter either.
"What are you doing?" she inquired, slipping behind him peering into screen.
"I've realized that we've been careless when it's come to Elissa's welfare," he began.
An offended Diana arched a fine eyebrow shocked by his statement.
He looked over his shoulder, his piercing blue eyes steely. "I'm setting up parental controls on the internet," he explained.
The raven-haired woman laughed. She kissed his cheek, "Smart," she praised as she dreaded the future conversations with their daughter.
He chuckled throatily, finishing setting up strict parental controls blocking anything unwarranted in their daughter's time on the computer. He was grateful he had the foresight to let use a desktop that was stationed in the study where Alfred or someone else could watch what she was up to.
Upstate
Diana took Elissa to go horseback riding. Something that excited them both. Riding on horseback brought back memories of home to Diana. Unfortunately, it also made her homesick, wishing them she could see her mother and sisters again. But after all these years she still could not find her way back home.
Elissa loved riding. She found horses adorably magnificent.
Her mother helped her up mount the horse, which huffed upon Elissa's added weight. Grabbing the reins and giving the horse a slight kick, they trotted off.
Diana quickly mounted her horse and followed her daughter. They raced along the fence posts as the owners or workers of the farm watched them as other patrons mounted their horses.
Elissa looked over her shoulder wondering where her mother was and was surprised that they were gaining on her. She urged her horse to go faster, barely hearing her mother call out to her.
"Slow down!" the raven-haired woman yelled from behind the racing child. Diana had no problem with some fun but not to the point where someone got hurt.
However, Elissa didn't listen and enjoyed the wind in her face, the rocking of her stead between her legs.
She felt so alive. Her troubles were gone. It was just her and her horse, Biscuit.
She was brought out of her revere when her mother came from her side and surprised her by grabbing her reins, forcing her daughter's horse to come to a complete halt.
Elissa held a look of surprise and then remorse due to the stern look her mother was giving her.
"When I tell you to slow down. You slow down," she sternly chided her daughter.
"Sorry," a meek Elissa mumbled.
Diana still held a frown for a moment. She sighed, releasing the reins of Elissa's horse.
"Now, slowly," she stated firmly. Diana started first and then Elissa followed.
When it was time to go, Elissa had already dismounted Biscuit and was whispering sweet words to the trusty creature.
"Thank you for letting me ride you," she said. She petted its' mane, nuzzling her face into Biscuit's.
You're welcome. Biscuit huffed, turning its head into hers.
"I promise to visit next weekend," she promised.
An astonished Diana stood by and watched the scene.
When Elissa handed Biscuit over to the farmhand, who walked the four-legged creature to the stable.
A puzzled Elissa cocked her head to the side. "What?"
"You… can speak with animals?" She wasn't aware that Elissa had developed that power.
"Yeah," the dark-haired girl nodded, dusting her pants off a bit.
"When?" Diana asked, dismounting her stead and handed it off to the next farmhand.
"A while," Elissa shrugged.
The two started walking away from the stables continuing their conversation.
"Why didn't you say anything?" the mother pressed.
"I didn't know for a while," Elissa answered simply. "I was feeling a bit down and Ace and Titus came by to cheer me up. I started talking to them, telling them to go away but they said they wanted to cheer me up," she explained.
Her mother listened intently as she heard the story.
"I thought I was hearing voices. That something else was wrong with me," she thought bitterly. "But then I started having fun talking with them. We started talking like I was talking to people," she looked up at her mother with a grin.
"Why didn't you tell anyone this, Elissa?" Her mother questioned.
"I told Cleo."
The woman sighed. "I meant either myself or your father."
Elissa merely shrugged. "This was the only power that doesn't make me feel bad," she said earnestly.
Diana pulled her daughter close, holding her. A surprised Elissa slowly returned the gesture.
"I'm glad you are enjoying this gift and that you have a friend that you trust enough to tell the truth with. But please, tell me when more of your powers manifest," she expressed pleadingly.
"Okay," her daughter chirped. "Sorry."
Diana forced them to come to a halt. Getting low, she placed her hands on her shoulder. "You have nothing to apologize for," she assured. "I just… get a little worried about you."
"I'm okay, mom." The dark-haired girl promised.
"Okay," a smiling Diana accepted. "Kisses," she said.
And the two ladies kissed both of their cheeks in an act of pure affection and love.
At a spa resort in the Catskills, Diana let out a relaxed moan.
"You were right. I needed this," Diana said pleasantly to Zatanna as the two were lying face down on a pair of massage tables where two attractive masseurs were giving them heavenly massages. Both were clad in white towels covering their pelvic areas.
"I told you." The magician hummed; eyes closed at the hottie masseur was rubbing her back pleasantly. Almost sleepily, the dark-haired woman inquired. "How was the wedding, by the way?"
She was of course speaking of Barry Allen and Iris West's wedding just last week. It was a long time coming but after something called the One-Minute War where an intergalactic empire invaded to steal the speed force powers of the planet's speedsters, Barry had proposed after fearing Iris was killed.
Diana had admitted that it was a lovely ceremony. Especially seeing Wally West and Linda there after all the pain that had occurred years ago at Sanctuary. But time heals all wounds as well as time erasing such tragedy from their lives.
Diana was delighted to receive an invitation; however, her partner wasn't as thrilled. Finding no logical reason for Bruce Wayne to attend a police forensic scientist's wedding, had refused to go. Which led to an argument between himself and Diana.
It took a lot of coaxing from Diana, perhaps even a bit of guilting him into attending.
"It was very lovely," Diana admitted kindly.
"I have to send them an apology and a gift," Zatanna confessed. "I was on tour at the time."
"I'm sure they will understand," the Amazon assured.
"Hopefully," the magician remarked, before going out into a long-drawn-out moan as the masseur did wonders to her back. "Oh, take me!" she released breathlessly.
Diana soon followed her friend moaning as her masseur rubbed her aching legs.
"When are you and Bruce gonna tie the knot?" Diana's shut eyes opened quickly upon hearing her friend's surprising question. Her head lifted from her crossed arms.
It was an entirely innocent question. But Zatanna and many of the other League who were aware of Diana and Bruce's relationship often wondered the same thing. They had been together for years now. Living together, raising an incredible daughter. They were practically already married, all that was missing was the ring.
"We…" the woman trailed off. What was once a blissful expression that had changed to one of surprise turning into a blank one. "Mister those are not my thighs," she icily put.
"Sorry, miss," her masseur quickly changed where his hands once were back to her thighs. But not before Diana flashed him a fierce scowl.
After a while, she returned to her friend's question. "We have discussed such things. Besides, we're fine. All we need is each other and our family," she explained passionately. "I don't need a ring."
A relaxed Zatanna listened intently, although it was a struggle. "I heard he had to be talked into going to the wedding," she mentioned.
The other woman sighed relaxingly. "He just wants to keep Elissa safe," she defended. "He took his resignation seriously even for him."
"But he seemed to enjoy the wedding as well. He danced with me for most of the night."
"That must have been fun," Zatanna mused.
"He certainly swept me off my feet," the Amazon hummed.
"How's Elissa?"
"Growing up so fast," Diana uttered fondly. "Bruce and I put her in her school's art program. She seems to be enjoying herself," she told her.
"That's good," Zatanna sleepily mumbled as her masseur's efforts started to lull her to sleep. A compliment to the masseur's talents.
"She's very excited. You should see some of her work, such an eye for detail," she gushed.
She got no response for some time, making her worried. "Zatanna?" She lifted her head up trying to see if the other woman was okay. "Zatanna?" she called out again. Only seeing the light rise and fall of her friend's chest.
"Huh?" the Amazon was dumbfounded as her friend had fallen asleep. She was slightly peeved that her friend had fallen asleep while she was chatting about her daughter, which she tried not to take personally and hoped it was just fatigue and the talents of the masseur.
Quickly finding that Zatanna had the right idea. She glanced over her shoulder, "Take me to Elysium, sir." She said in a sing-song voice, jerking her head side to side as she said it and let the man do his job.
"Mmm," she hummed as her shoulder felt the pleasure of bliss soothe her aching flesh.
Wayne Manor
Bruce strolled through the manor having just returned from the office. Intent on checking on Elissa he looked in on her bedroom, finding it empty. Knowing that she was home, he went to the next likely location of his daughter.
They converted a spare room into an art studio for her so she could cultivate her talent at home. As he drew near, he heard the unmistakable sound of laughter. Curious, he pressed his ear close to the sealed door listening in.
He heard excited squeals of his daughter laughing and someone else. It took a second and he learned Diana was in there with her.
He opened the door and was stunned to find both his daughter and girlfriend covered in paint.
"What is going on here?" he couldn't help but ask.
Both painted ladies noticed Bruce's presence.
They were both covered head to toe in paint. What had started out as an accident turned into a full color spectrum war.
The art room was heady with the scent of paint and other art supplies. Tables littered with art pieces and materials were covered in paint.
The carpet had been pulled up and replaced with stone.
The art stands holding up the latest canvases were splashed with various colors of paint, still dripping.
The ladies paused in their war laughing at their appearance and at being caught.
"We…" Diana chuckled. "Had a bit of an overreaction," she tried to say. Her daughter giggled as soon as she finished speaking.
Bruce glanced around the casualty that was the art room inspecting the damage.
"How?" he incredulously uttered.
"Well," Elissa began, rocking back and forth on her feet. "Mom was drawing Themyscira, and I needed some paint. So I tried to borrow some of hers and got her arm," she explained, appearing sheepish.
"Which was an accident. No harm done," the Amazon excused. Her expression changed from amusement to mortification.
"But then…" she trailed off.
And Elissa smirked, whipping her green colored cheek.
"Mom tried to help me with my drawing, but I turned too fast, and her brush got me in the face," she explained.
"Which then escalated into a little colorful warfare," Diana interjected with some levity.
"Huh," Bruce uttered, crossing his arms. He let out a sigh, "Well, I hope you got it all out of your systems," he soothed.
"Yep!" Elissa chirped with a giggle. She shared a knowing look with her mother, whom gave her an equal smile.
A wistful Bruce just shook his head. He jolted in place feeling something spray on his right cheek, which followed a thump on his shoulder.
He glanced at his shoulder, noting a drop of red paint had fallen on his shoulder. Reasoning it came from above, he glanced at the ceiling. He was surprised to see even the ceiling had been caught in the crossfire of his family's little war.
He frowned at the two ladies in his life.
Both sheepishly couldn't meet his gaze and tried to act innocent.
He sighed and shook his head chuckling to himself.
NEXT: Days Gone Pt 2