Chapter Text
Brook hates working in customer service. The constant smiling, making small talk, dealing with difficult customers, dealing with dumb customers— she could go on and on about why her job sucks. Truly, she could make it into a powerpoint presentation night with the girls. It could be fun. Whoever can come up with the most reasons why their job is the worst, wins.
The sound of the hotel's front entrance opening interrupts her half-formed plans of a hangout session with the girlies. Brook straightens in her place, plasters on her business smile, and greets the pair of rich assholes who just came in.
She takes stock of the two men—most likely a couple with how they keep angling their body towards each other to talk—as they approach the reception counter. The older man with the short brown hair and the cocky smile must be the rich counterpart. He's wearing an obnoxious Hawaiian shirt and shorts, despite it still being spring. But his unfortunate fashion did nothing to hide his strong, muscular physique. And if Brooks looks closely, she can tell he has a handsome face under the large, heart-shaped, orange-tinted sunglasses.
Ugh. Eccentric rich (and unfairly handsome) men.
But what makes her pause is the man's clearly younger partner. She's seen many attractive people walk through the front door of this hotel. Celebrities, supermodels, nepo babies who can afford every expensive plastic surgery under the sun— but this is the first time she's welcoming a couple where both parties are handsome enough to be worthy of envy.
The shorter man is radiant, with long bangs framing the most gorgeous face she's ever seen. His eyes are a gentle blue, and he has a warm, indulgent smile. He's dressed more modestly, in a simple bomber jacket over his t-shirt and a pair of jeans, and yet the simple outfit seems to make him glow .
Brook recognizes immediately that this is the type of ethereal beauty that most people only get to meet once in a lifetime. And if this is her once in a lifetime opportunity, she'd be damned if she couldn't make the most of it.
She quickly brushes a hand through her hair and softens her smile into something more welcoming and pleasant.
"Hello, sirs! Welcome to the Lavish Lantern ! How can I help you today?"
She falters a little when Beautiful Blues meets her eyes. And she feels embarrassingly tongue-tied when he gives her a friendly smile.
"Hello." Even his voice is mellifluous. "My fiance and I—" Oh… "—had a reservation here. It should be under the name "Robert Malone"? We signed up for the Power Ring Premium Package ."
"I'll check that for you right away, sir." Only a little broken-hearted, Brook searches through the logs. "Ah yes, here it is! I see a reservation for Mr. Robert Malone." She painfully drags her attention away from Beautiful Blues to look at his partner. "May I confirm your identity with some form of identification, sir?"
Who she thought was Robert Malone turns to look at Beautiful Blues instead, who takes out his driver's license and hands it over to Brook. "That's me," Beautifu— Robert Malone says, "Is there anything else you need?"
"O-of course, sir. Just one moment , please." Brook feels like melting into the floor from embarrassment. She was so sure the only way someone could've bagged this beauty is by being filthy rich. She didn't expect the beauty to be dripping with money himself. "I've confirmed your stay with us. Please leave your luggage where they are, someone will bring them to your room soon. Here are your keys to your couple's luxury suite. The elevator is just down the hall to the right, Danielle," she gestures to the bellhop behind them, "will show you to your room whenever you're ready to follow her."
Brook somehow makes it through her whole speech without looking either of them in my eyes. Robert accepts the room keys and takes his ID back from her. "Thank you, Brook," he says, and—
Her eyes dart back to look at him again. And the way he smiles, with how her name sounds on his lips… Brook falls in love, just a little.
"Y-you're welcome, sir." She hears a snort off to her left and quickly corrects herself, " —sirs.
Danielle comes to her rescue by rushing the couple. "If you would follow me, sirs."
Despite her multiple fumbles, Robert didn't seem to mind, and his older partner (Harrison, his name in the logs was listed as Harrison) seemed more amused at her fumbles than anything else…
So hopefully she won't get fired today.
"She was totally ogling you."
Dick hums noncommittally but doesn't say anything as they're led to the elevator.
"I could see the moment she fell in love with you. It was written all over her face," Hal continues, "Pretty ballsy of her, considering I was standing right next to you."
Dick sees the way the bellhop's shoulders stiffen, but her smile stays just as friendly and pleasant as they keep walking down the hallway. Truly a professional.
"Can't say I blame her though," Hal interrupts his observation by grabbing his wrist and pulling him backwards. Dick has to make a conscious effort not to regain his balance and let Hal back him into the wall. "Bet she's never seen anyone as gorgeous as you, babe."
Dick bites down on a smile and rolls his eyes at Hal. Hal lets out a soundless scoff, looking baffled and offended that his mediocre theatrics wasn't enough to get Dick swooning in his arms.
Dick had a feeling that Hal wasn't going to take this lying down. He puts his hands on Dick's waist and presses Dick into the wall with his body. He looms over Dick, lowering down to speak directly into his ear, quieter, but just loud enough to make sure their audience can still hear, "Too bad all of this is reserved for just me. The only person that gets to hear you scream at night is me." Hal stares down at him with hunger in his eyes, and that cocky, irreverent smile that makes Dick's stomach flip. "And baby —" Hal's fingers inch their way under his t-shirt, settling on his naked waist, "I plan to make you scream all. night. long. "
Rough, calloused hands holding down his hips. Teeth nipping at his neck, trying to leave another colourful bruise that Dick will struggle to cover up. A breathy, sultry voice whispering filthy promises into his skin. Hands and mouth that refuses to stop touching him, even when he's shaking and falling apart, persuading him to give in 'just one more time, sweetheart. I know you can give me one more—'
Dick has to fight down the blush threatening to colour his face. Hal's self-satisfied smirk grows wider when he notices Dick's reaction.
Asshole.
Hal Jordan is nothing if not arrogant and competitive.
But too bad for him, Dick is also competitive. And the day he lets Hal get a win over him, is the day he'll join the Justice League only to do monitor duty.
Dick decides to indulge his "fiance" and wraps his arms around Hal's neck, pulling him closer, until their lips are inches apart. He takes pride in the way Hal's breath stutters, even if the intimacy sets his own heart racing.
"All night? You sound confident," he purrs, scratching the short hair at the back of Hal's neck. Seeing the way Hal shivers under his touch is way too fun and satisfying. Satisfaction makes him grow bolder, shifting his weight until he can squeeze a knee in-between Hal's legs.
It's dangerously suggestive.
Dick wants to go further.
"But I do worry," Dick pouts. "You know I'm flexible , are you sure you can keep up?" He looks off to the side with mock concern. "With your age and all—you're not as young and energetic as you used to be…"
He's never seen Hal's smirk fall faster as his face pinches into a grimace. "Why, you little—"
" Sirs? "
Dick accidentally (mostly accidentally) kicks Hal in the shin when he pinches Dick on the ass. Hal steps back and turns to look at the bellhop. She's looking patiently at them, her hands folded politely in front of her. Her smile is still polite and friendly, but Dick notices the tension along the corners of her lips. It's so subtle, he doesn't think anyone other than him would've picked up. Hal surely doesn't.
"Yeah? Is there a problem?" Hal asks. He's still holding onto Dick's waist, rubbing circles into his skin, leaving them tingling and sensitive. If he was going for the image of a rich, horny dude with a total lack of self-awareness, he's pulling it off a little too well.
"You must be tired from travelling all the way here. You'll be served complimentary drinks once you enter your room. Our luxury suites have the most incredible view of the ocean, with a floor to ceiling window. Relaxing with a wonderful view like that will definitely be refreshing for you both," Danielle not-so-subtly suggests. "We will also be starting our first couple's activity, a group dance class, in just under 2 hours."
Dick figures this is his time to chime in. "Oh, I adore dance classes!" He gasps, grabbing both of Hal's wrists and getting them off his body. The simple touch was messing with his head more than he'd like to admit. "Harrison, we have to go!"
Hal groans but doesn't object. "Whatever will make you happy, sweetcheeks."
And that was all the chance Danielle needed to get the horny couple with a lack of self-awareness to stop their hanky-panky in public. "Perfect! Then can I lead you to your room first? So that you can relax and get dressed for the class?"
Dick steps on Hal's feet to stop whatever derailing remark he's about to make. "Of course! I can't wait to try out all of the couple's activities. It's why I picked the Power Ring Premium Package ! Isn't that right, darling?"
"Right, yeah." Hal wraps an arm around Dick's waist as they follow the bellhop to the elevator. "Whatever my babygirl wants."
Dick resists the urge to step on him again and makes polite conversation with the bellhop, "We plan to participate in all the package activities!"
"We do?" Hal asks, sounding surprised. "Baby, I thought we were going to relax and have fun."
Dick frowns. "You don't think dancing and boat trips are going to be fun?"
"Those are fun, yeah, but I was talking more like," Hal wiggles his eyebrows with a suggestive expression. "I thought we were here to relax and… have fun , if you know what I mean ."
"This is a week-long trip."
"Are you doubting my abilities to keep you in bed? Baby, if I wanted, I could make sure you couldn't walk the next day."
"If you make me skip parasailing, I'm divorcing you."
"If I make you skip parasailing, I'm divorcing me." Hal pauses. "Divorcing me from… a life with you." He snaps his fingers. "Yeah, that works, right? That's a sentence?"
"I don't think I'm the person you should be asking that to."
The ding of the elevator bell puts a stop to their conversation. Danielle keeps her hands pressed on the button and politely urges them to enter.
"Your room is on the top floor, sirs. We're halfway there!"
Dick wonders who she sounds so encouraging for. Them, out of Danielle's sense of duty; or herself, knowing she'll be free of them soon.
"Alright, we can take it from here." Hal ushers Dick into the elevator and blocks the entrance with his wide frame after he enters. "Thanks for escorting us this far, but we're good now. Take care of our luggage, yeah? Bye bye." He waves to Danielle as the door closes. And despite all the uncomfortable situations they've put the poor girl through, this is what gets her business smile to crack and leaves her looking stunned.
Dick leans back against the wall and closes his eyes, sighing. He can feel Hal watching him, but he takes a moment to breathe and recompose himself. The elevator trip is silent. It's out of character for the "madly in love" couple they're playing, but Dick isn't too worried since there weren't any CCTV cameras in the elevator (a major oversight, really).
Dick slips his hand inside Hal's, and slips a smile on his face when the elevator door opens. He hums a cheery little tune as they exit. Hal's perfectly content with letting Dick lead him around in the wrong directions before finally arriving at their suite.
"It's smaller than I imagined!" Dick comments rather loudly after they enter the room. "You'd think they'd make it a bit more… wow -feeling to pay tribute to the Green Lantern."
"Hey, I'm sure they tried their best to pay respect to him. He's their hero, after all."
Dick keeps his tone light when he asks, "How can he be their hero when he's in space more often than he's on earth?" He doesn't look at Hal, he doesn't stop moving, flitting around the room looking for bugs and hidden cameras.
There's a short, tense pause before Hal replies. "Him being away doesn't change the fact that he cares about this city more than anything else. When he doesn't have responsibilities, he always comes back to Coast City, right?"
Dick shoots a quick glance in his direction before going back to work."Hm. I suppose so."
There's a heaviness in the air as they let the conversation die out. Hal's eyes on him this time feels heavier, searching. Dick knows he can't ignore it forever.
He finishes his investigation of the room with an, "All clear."
Hal groans and stretches his arms. His sunglasses are gone. "Finally! Can we talk freely now?"
Dick resists the urge to flee the room or cross his arms. Going into this discussion all defensive isn't going to help. "Yeah, go ahead."
"Okay, cool." Hal flops down on the loveseat. "Now that we're not talking in metaphors anymore—what was that?"
Dick sighs and sits down at the foot of the bed. "It's nothing. I was being unprofessional. Can we talk about the mission?"
" You wanted to break up. You said you couldn't do it anymore." Hal's voice is filled with accusation. And Dick kind of wishes he couldn't hear the hurt underneath it. "So I don't think it's fair of you to take cheap shots at me when you're the only one who wanted to end things."
Dick takes a measured breath. "You're right. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that." He could end it here. He could end the conversation here, but— "Do you really believe that? That I'm the only one who wanted to break things off, when you refused to commit to our relationship?"
Hal's lips drag downwards. "Being a Green Lantern means—"
"—you always have to be on-call, save the universe, put the lives of millions before your own," Dick interrupts. " I know that. I know how important your job is, and how important your job is to you . You have responsibilities I can barely comprehend the scale of."
When Dick was younger, Green Lantern, Hal Jordan, was someone he admired. He'd drop whatever he was doing and run down to the Batcave if he knew Green Lantern was doing an impromptu visit. By the time he was a teenager, his little hero worship grew into something much more than admiration. Superman may be his favourite superhero, but Green Lantern was his first crush. And when his lifelong crush started flirting with him after reaching adulthood… well, Dick would've been remiss not to take a leap of faith.
"But I'm talking about after, when you were just… Hal Jordan. Could you honestly say that you never tried to break things off?"
Hal's mouth snaps shut, the look on his face turning into a grimace.
Yeah, that's what I thought, Dick thinks, a little bitterly. But that's not fair to Hal when he brought his own share of luggage into the relationship.
"I didn't want to break up," Hal insists.
"But it wasn't working," Dick counters.
Between both of their chaotic schedules, responsibilities as heroes, Hal's fear of commitment, Dick's fear of being burnt by another relationship— they barely had time for themselves, much less each other. It'd be a lucky quadrimester if they could cram a single date night in. Even when they shared an apartment, Dick felt like he was living alone, most days.
There was love. There was passion. But not enough dedication to make it last.
"Can we debrief on the mission?" Dick pleads.
Hal looks ready to argue, his face twists and contorts from one emotion to another, before settling on defeat. "Yeah, yeah. You're right, sorry." Hal finally breaks eye-contact and looks away. "If you'd rather not do this anymore, I get it. I'm sure I can ask someone else for help—"
Dick forces out a laugh, trying to bring some levity into the air. "Hal, be reasonable. You asked me for help because you needed me and my expertise—"
"I feel like undercover missions are pretty general and not a hero-specific expertise or anything—"
"And I'm not quitting until we get our hands on the data chip you need. Am I clear?"
"Sheesh, you're bossy. You're gonna have to stop acting that way if you don't want me to get all hot and bothered."
Dick glares at him, unamused. Hal raises his arm in defense.
"Alright, alright! Have it your way. I promise to make an attempt at not flirting with you outside of when we're acting as a couple."
Dick swallows down his protest of 'an attempt' isn't good enough! and sighs. If he pushes Hal too much, he'll go in the opposite direction. So an attempt to behave is probably the best Dick could ask for. When he looks at Hal, there's a familiar self-satisfied grin on his face. The man knows what he's doing, and he knows it bothers Dick. There's a daring glint in his eyes, challenging Dick to fight him on it.
With just a few words, Hal's managed to completely get rid of the tension in the air. He's always been good at that, breaking the ice. Being with Hal were some of the few instances where Dick didn't feel like he had to be hypervigilant of other people's moods and emotions, in case they needed him to redirect any conflict or argument. Things almost felt a little… lighter, on occasion.
Thinking back on those days makes his heart squeeze painfully in his chest. there's this muted feeling of longing, that he can never seem to get rid of, whenever he thinks about Hal. And it comes back stronger now that he's sharing a space with him again.
Fuck.
This is going to be rough, isn't it?
Going on an undercover mission with his ex (that he never got over), pretending to be happily engaged (when they've never had the chance to go that far), sleeping on the same bed (but not allowed to touch), on a week-long island getaway?
Surely nothing could go wrong with this.