FIC: The Jewel in the Lotus (3/8)

[jij]

Title: The Jewel in the Lotus 3/8
Pairing/Characters: Clark/Bruce
Notes: "Music of the Spheres" is a series set in the combined universes of "Batman Begins" and "Superman Returns." Other stories and notes on the series here.
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Bruce meets with Lavender Lee, goes to yet another party, and greets the dawn with his lover.
Word Count:

Comments

[icarus_chained]

*hugs them both* Oh, Bruce! Oh, baby. I gotta say, I've never thought of how that aspect of things would affect him. This story has shown me a whole new aspect of Bruce that I'd never considered.

And then the moment of dawn. So, sooooo gorgeous. Beautiful all round!

[jij]

It's funny, I'd never really written a storyline where Bruce gets woobie about his parents. It happens so often in canon that it's kind of overplayed...but the movieverse Bruce doesn't really seem to have gotten quite through those issues (the moment in the first movie at the party, when the guy says "The apple has fallen very far from the tree" and Bruce just...agonizes...kills me so much).

And I loved the idea of them always trying to share the first moment of down together when they can, so I'm happy to hear it worked for you. *hugs*

[ladybugkay]

You're killing me with Bruce in this arc, you know. The toll being Brucie takes on him is large, and this is the vulnerable Bruce that needs someone so much. It's a huge relief knowing he already has Clark, here, to take care of him and love him and tell him he isn't shaming his family's name.

*hugs Bruce*

[jij]

It's all vigilante_wake's fault. She sent me the Gotham Times newspaper from her TDK viral-advertising swag and it was just chock-full of horrible family issues for Bruce and really stressing how isolated he feels. It definitely grabbed this arc and shook it, lol. :) So I'm kind of glad to hear it's getting you in the way I hoped it would. :)

[anonymous]

This chapter was so bittersweet! I liked the subtle use of the lilac and jasmine perfume in the beginning, and felt really badly for Bruce when it sunk in just what was lost with his company's logging. I was also happy to see that Dr. Sugiyama was back safely from the previous arc! I was really rooting for him and hadn't expected to hear about him again, so I was really happy to know he got better ^^ I felt terribly for Bruce in this chapter, though. I remember in Batman Begins Alfred saying that the family name was all that was left of Bruce's father, and wanted to shout "But what about BRUCE?" I agree with Clark that Bruce's parents would be very proud of him, but what followed after completely broke my heart ;_

[jij]

I was also happy to see that Dr. Sugiyama was back safely from the previous arc! I was really rooting for him and hadn't expected to hear about him again, so I was really happy to know he got better ^^

I have a terrible tendency to create original characters for a specific purpose and then forget about them, so I have to remind myself to mention them now and then later so they're not simply a tool I used and dropped again, if that makes snese. :)

I remember in Batman Begins Alfred saying that the family name was all that was left of Bruce's father, and wanted to shout "But what about BRUCE?"

Comics Bruce has struggled so darn often with the ghosts of his parents (sometimes literally) that there isn't much left to be done there. But it still seems to raw to the movieverse Bruce that I can't resist playing with it a bit, the poor guy.

I'm glad Clark was there to provide some support and caring for Bruce. I really like how the different arcs of MoTS show them caring and supporting one another ^^

I mentioned to genclay that it seems each

[goldenrat84]

Poor Bruce, this is really exploring what he sacrifices with his Brucie persona.

[jij]

It's a theme I love but find hard to write, because he does give up so much (assuming he's not an automaton for the Mission, which some canon writers do)...

[yavieriel]

Oh, *nice*. Everyone wondering when the playboy's going to get bored with his plain-jane reporter, and Clark being all "If only they knew!" Hee! And Kal getting the chance to hold an comfort his lover, just really makes me melt. I love that kind of emotional H/C. Yay for more next chapter! Amusingly enough, this corresponded rather nicely with this week's Trinity scans, I could almost see that being in the future of this universe.

[jij]

Everyone wondering when the playboy's going to get bored with his plain-jane reporter...

I hadn't really realized until I wrote that scene that of course Gotham gossip would assume Bruce was totally cheating on Clark, and that Bruce and Clark could probably manipulate that at times to their advantage. There's a one-shot fic in there somewhere. :)

It did work out really well with Trinity, doesn't it? I think that was part of why I was so fangirly over it, lol. :)

[yavieriel]

Rereading, I remembered something I forgot to mention the first time - the lotus blossom. For some reason that visual really struck me as reflecting the way Bruce sees Clark; it struck him so hard to think that perhaps this shining perfect thing was gone.

[jij]

Heh, if you've read the next chapter you know that lotus is the central image of the story, so I'm glad it caught your eye in this chapter! *dances*