A Problem Shared

by May_Seward

Summary:

‘I don't... understand,’ Clark finally admitted. ‘Where is this coming from?’

‘Selina. She has the same problem.’

Clark blinked. ‘Her problem... is that she thinks that I have feelings for Bruce?’

‘No, her problem is that Bruce is in love with you.’

Notes:

This was not the original plan but my first superbat fic turned into a superbat polyamory fic and also Author’s First Attempt At Smut so uhhhhhh hi fandom how’s it going??

Chapter 1: Setup

One thing Lois didn't expect to get from her double date with Clark, Bruce Wayne and his fiancé, was to become friends with a notorious criminal. Then again, she was married to an alien from outer space and the mother of his son, so her life was probably just like that.

She looked up from her desk at the sound of the elevator ding to watch Selina Kyle step out and scan the Daily Planet ’s bullpen, her perfectly made face brightening when she spotted Lois.

‘Lois, darling!’ Selina cooed, slinking up to her. ‘I was hoping to take you out to lunch.’

Across the bullpen, Lois saw Clark blink as fucking Catwoman sashayed past his desk to drape herself over Lois’ cubicle.

Curious, Lois studied the woman. ‘I could go for lunch,’ she said, saving her document.

‘Excellent.’ Selina turned to Clark with a flirtatious smirk. ‘Don’t worry, handsome, I’ll bring her back in one piece, promise.’

Clark had a bemused smile on his face. He shot Lois a raised eyebrow, and Lois sent back a shrug. She placed a kiss on his cheek before collecting her things and letting Selina steer her towards the elevator.

‘Where are we going?’ Lois asked once the doors had closed behind them.

‘Oh, not far,’ Selina said, sending her a sideways smile. ‘I just wanted to have some friendly girl talk. Catch up. Where’s good around here?’

Selina, in her black pantsuit and dark lipstick, looked a little incongruous in the bright light of a clear Metropolis afternoon, but you wouldn’t have known it by the way she walked into the cafe Lois suggested like she owned the place. Selina selected a booth at the back and ordered a coffee with more syrup than Lois would have expected for someone who had just about pinned down the Batman. Lois ordered her usual and sat back in the booth, studying Selina to puzzle out her motivations.

‘A long way to come for some friendly girl talk,’ Lois said while they waited for their orders.

Selina placed her expensive pleather purse on the table and plucked a small black device out. She pressed a button on the device and put it back in the bag, tucking it in the seat next to her.

‘To ward off curious ears,’ Selina said with a conspiratorial wink.

Lois laughed. ‘Is this sort of subterfuge necessary?’

‘Of course. I have something important to discuss and it would be unfortunate if either of our boys overheard,’ Selina said, leaning forward to take a sip of her iced coffee. 

Lois watched her painted lips wrap around the straw with reluctant fascination. She had watched Bruce Wayne turn nonverbal flirting into an art form at various events over the years. It seemed his fiancé could give him a run for his money without even trying. Either that, or Lois and Clark’s busy schedules were making her far more... distractible than she thought.

Lois was glad to be saved by the arrival of their food. She turned her attention to her plate, unwilling to look Selina in the face while she was being so distracting. She was married for God’s sake. ‘And what's up for discussion that you wouldn't want them hearing??’

‘Our boys.’

‘Sure,’ Lois said, dismissing any inappropriate thoughts as a side-effect of her stressful week. ‘What’s up? Everything okay with Bruce?’

Selina studied Lois across the table. Instead of answering Lois’ question, she asked, ‘Do you love Clark?’

Lois startled, an incredulous laugh bursting from her lips before she had properly processed the question. ‘Of course I do. He’s the love of my life. That's why I married him.’

Selina nodded. ‘Of course. And you want to stay married to him, I assume?’

‘Selina,’ Lois said, a tension settling between her shoulder blades. ‘What are you getting at?’

‘I want to marry Bruce,’ Selina said, and for the first time in her life, Lois saw something like insecurity cross the Catwoman’s face.

‘Is that not going to happen?’ 

Lois placed her hand on the table between them, stopping short of taking Selina’s hand in a comforting gesture, unsure if it was something the other woman would appreciate.

‘Oh no,’ Selina said, her moment of vulnerability wiped away with a smile. ‘It is - as far as he knows, anyway. The problem isn’t with our relationship, really. It’s your husband.’

Ah. Lois sighed. So that’s what this is about. 

‘Clark and Bruce,’ she confirmed. ‘I wondered if you’d noticed, too.’

Selina hummed. ‘They’re in love.’ 

‘Yes,’ Lois agreed, for once allowing the dull ache that came from the knowledge to rise to the surface. ‘It’s painful to watch, sometimes.’

Selina took the hand Lois still rested on the table between them. ‘Does Clark know?’

‘That he loves Bruce, or that Bruce loves him?’ Lois asked. ‘The answer is “no” to both.’

At that Selina let out a surprised giggle. ‘Oh my God, that’s precious.’

‘You mean Bruce knows ?’ Lois breathed, caught between incredulity at her beloved husband’s naivete and an ugly jealous fear that he might not be her husband for much longer.

‘Bruce knows he loves Clark,’ Selina clarified. ‘Not that the feeling is mutual. He barely believes it about me most days and I’m wearing his engagement ring.’

Lois sighed. ‘Clark and I have been together for so long that I think he’s forgotten that being married doesn’t mean you’re incapable of developing feelings for anyone else. If he knew, he’d probably try to leave me as some sort of noble self-sacrificing gesture.’

‘Isn’t that the point of marriage, though?’ Selina mused. ‘To love just one person?’

‘It’s a promise not to act on any feelings for anyone else, not that you’d never feel attraction to anyone else. We’re still human, after all.’

‘With notable exceptions,’ Selina amended with a wry twist to her painted lips. ‘I see. So, what do you think we should do about this?’

‘What can we do?’ Lois asked. ‘I’m not divorcing Clark for having feelings for someone else when he doesn’t seem to even notice they exist. He loves me, he proves that every day. He loves our son, our family. He’s not going to do anything to jeopardise that. He’s not stupid.’ She hesitated. ‘Do you think Bruce might?’

‘I don’t know,’ Selina admitted. ‘I don’t want to find out the hard way. Bruce is so disciplined because he’s naturally impulsive. He’s not stupid very often, but when he is, it’s always spectacular .’

Lois chewed on that revelation with a forkful of salad. ‘So, what? You call off the wedding? Bruce will be devastated. Clark’s never seen him this happy.’ Selina flinched minutely at the last word, which Lois had not expected. Instead of pressing on that sore spot, she asked, ‘What do you want to do about this, then?’

‘I have a proposal for you. Something of a middle ground.’ 

Selina leaned further across the table, far enough that Lois could see the lace of her bra under her shirt. Lois snapped her gaze to Selina’s face instead, suddenly dry-mouthed. This rollercoaster of a conversation already had her all confused. She didn’t need further distractions. 

‘We could give them the opportunity to get these feelings out of their systems,’ Selina suggested, voice low. ‘Let them see each other, fuck, whatever, but on our terms. Make it a condition that we’re there too.’

Lois choked on air, her mind’s eye suddenly full of very different kinds of images of Clark and Bruce together. ‘You’re suggesting a foursome? Are you trying to get into my husband’s pants?’

‘No,’ Selina said idly, turning Lois’ hand over to trace her fingers over Lois’ palm. ‘I’m trying to get into yours.’

Lois’ face flamed .

She was not often speechless, but she had decidedly not been expecting to be propositioned like this when she agreed to this impromptu lunch date. ‘I thought you loved Bruce,’ Lois said, once she regained her voice. 

‘I do,’ Selina said. ‘Very much, but if our boys get to have each other and us, we might as well have some fun ourselves, don’t you think?’

Lois retracted her hand to take a long sip of her coffee. Selina hadn’t moved except to brace her elbows on the table, a move which did delightful things to the view of her neckline.

‘What makes you think I’d be interested?’ Lois asked, leaning back. 

Selina smiled, slow and predatory. ‘Aside from your reaction just now? I saw how you looked at me when I put on your dress for our double date.’

‘The dress was shorter on you than it was on me!’ Lois protested in a hiss. ‘You have longer legs!’

Selina laughed and Lois schooled her expression as impassively as she could make it. ‘Not by that much,’ Selina said. ‘And you were also looking when I was in the catsuit.’

‘Yeah, well, really it’s no wonder you snagged Bruce if he had to fight you while you were wearing that thing, it’s not exactly... tactical.’

‘I find it very strategic, actually,’ Selina purred. ‘I could show you sometime.’

And Lois... considered it. Selina was right about one thing; she was a very attractive woman, and Lois was not blind nor entirely straight. She also had a certain magnetism that Lois knew she’d enjoy being pulled in by if she allowed herself to. 

But Clark. He would never betray Lois that way, and Lois was no cheater. She could never do that to him, no matter what delicious fun Selina was promising. Not unless... 

But if she and Clark had agreed to it beforehand, that wasn’t cheating, was it? They could still be everything they were to each other, just without the guilt and pain of having to watch Clark also pine for someone else.

Selina’s smile grew as she watched Lois make her decision.

This was going to blow Clark’s poor small-town mind.

---

 

It was embarrassing, really, how quickly Clark came around to Lois’ frankly ludicrous idea.

It was late. Clark was splayed on his back in bed with Lois tucked under his arm, head pillowed on his chest, reading the latest Superman news article aloud with an exaggerated air that turned a rather dry report on his latest match against Lex Luthor into a comedy special. Clark was only half listening to her voice, just enjoying her presence. He could hear Jon turning over in his bed down the hall. His Ma was snoring over in Smallville. Bruce was taking down a pair of muggers in downtown Gotham.

Clark abruptly realised Lois had stopped reading. Her heartbeat had picked up a little with anxiety or arousal. He looked down at the top of her head only to find her already looking intently at him. She sat up.

‘Clark, I want to talk to you about something,’ she said with a determined look in her eye that usually spelled trouble.

Clark sat up, too. He settled against the headboard and studied her face. She hid it well, but she was nervous about something. ‘Sure, go ahead.’

Lois moved to straddle his lap and captured his face in her hands. ‘I love you,’ she said, fierce, with intent.

Clark’s chest warmed at the words as it always did, but something wasn't right. ‘I love you too, Lois,’ he said, because he never let an opportunity to tell her so go to waste.

‘I know,’ Lois said. ‘Clark, I know you love me. Keep that in mind, okay?’

Now Clark’s heart had ticked up, pounding a little harder in his chest. ‘Okay?’ he agreed, unsure.

‘It’s just, I know you, Clark, and... I know you also love Bruce.’

Clark stopped breathing. His mind went blank for a moment. Everything paused as he processed her words. Then, he couldn't help it. He laughed. Hard .

‘Oh, Lois, no, sweetheart. He's my best friend, that's all.’

‘Clark, don't you think that after being married to you for this long, I know what you look like when you're in love? Don't you think I haven't spent the last decade watching your eyes follow him around a room, talk about him like he's the most interesting person alive outside of our family, trust him with things you won't even entrust to me -’

Clark felt an icy panic sweep away his earlier incredulity. He gripped her arms, searched her face for clues to her thoughts, but all he could see was her determination to get this out in the open. ‘Lois, no, I promise, I'd never-’

‘I know , Clark,’ Lois said. ‘I know you wouldn't. You'd pine after him for fifty years and wouldn't do a thing about it if you knew it would hurt me. This isn’t about me not trusting you. I do trust you.’

She let out a long, tired breath. ‘I just want you to finally admit it. To me and to yourself, because...’ she bit her lip and her face betrayed something that was decidedly not anger or anxiety. ‘I might have a solution.’

‘A solution,’ Clark deadpanned. ‘To my feelings. For Bruce.’

Perhaps this was a dream conjured by one of his psychic villains to confuse the hell out of him, perhaps as a sick joke.

Lois nodded, still biting her lip.

‘I don't... understand,’ Clark finally admitted. ‘Where is this coming from?’

‘Selina. She has the same problem.’

Clark blinked. ‘Her problem... is that she thinks that I have feelings for Bruce?’

‘No, her problem is that Bruce is in love with you .’

Once again, Clark’s mind screeched to a deafening halt. Then, rapid-fire, his perfect recall supplied him with a thousand snapshots; Bruce’s voice calling for him in the aftermath of a bad Justice League battle, breaking his own rules about using civilian names when in the suits with his worry. A late night stakeout on a Metropolis rooftop, Bruce pressed between Clark’s body and an air conditioning unit, warm at his side despite the layers of body armour. Bruce’s smile when Clark had told him Lois had agreed to marry him, the way his rock-steady heart had stumbled almost imperceptibly in it's rhythm. Bruce’s awkwardness introducing Clark to Selina, Clark’s own insecurity when Bruce kept putting off reaching out to tell him he was finally engaged. The way Bruce’s low bass in Clark’s ear could electrify him into action on a mission or the way he could translate each of Bruce’s ‘ hm’ s into such complex concepts that he'd been asked more than once if telepathy was in his veritable arsenal of superpowers. Slow nights on the Watchtower where Clark found himself a little too distracted watching the play of starlight and earthlight on his best friend’s face.

The way even his villains who knew his identity knew the best way to bring Superman to his knees wasn't with Kryptonite, but with images of Batman’s broken, lifeless body. Not Wonder Woman’s, or Lois’ or his Ma’s, but Bruce’s.

And suddenly, something Clark had taken for granted for so long was new again. His thoughts and feelings about Bruce, taken out of their well-worn box, took on a subtly different hue.

Clark looked up at Lois with wide, pleading eyes, at a loss for what to say. The guilt and shame that followed the realisation punched the breath out of him. How could he have done this to her? How could she have stayed silent for so long?

‘I’m sorry,’ he whispered, gutted, choking. ‘Lois, I’m so, so , sorry.’

Lois smiled a little sadly and stroked her fingers through his hair, pulling him to her in a tight embrace. Clark clung to her, a new kind of terror lancing through him at the question now ricocheting through his mind. How can she stay with him now?

‘It's okay, Clark,’ she hummed. ‘I'm not angry. If I couldn't live like this, I would have left a long time ago. I'm still here. I'm not going anywhere, I promise.’

Clark didn't cry, but it was a near thing. His chest swelled with love for her, for this beautiful, incredible woman he did not deserve.

‘I don't deserve you,’ Clark mumbled into her chest.

He felt her laugh under his lips. ‘Oh, Smallville. Don't you think I should be the judge of that?’

Clark leaned back and stared at her in surprise. ‘How can you say that after this?’

‘Because,’ she said, and kissed him, lingering but chaste, leaving the taste of her toothpaste behind. ‘I told you, I don't doubt your loyalty to me. Like I told Selina, just because we got married didn't mean we were never gonna look at anyone else again, it just meant that we had made a commitment to each other never to do anything more than look.’

Clark frowned. ‘So... your solution? Is to what?’

‘Well...’ Lois drew out the word, a lascivious grin slowly crawling across her face. ‘Bruce Wayne is a handsome man, I’ll give you that much. And his fiancé, I mean... wow .’

‘Wait, what?’

Lois shifted her weight more securely onto his lap. ‘Selina and I talked it over. We think the solution is to go on another double date only this time, you and I stay the night at Wayne Manor afterwards.’

Clark gaped. ‘You- I thought- all this time you've said nothing about my... feelings for Bruce and now you want me to act on it?’

This was insane, his wife had gone insane or was possessed or mind controlled or something-

‘No, darling,’ Lois said, punctuating the statement with a lazy grind of her hips. ‘I'm saying we should act on it.’

Clark made a very manful noise that resembled the old fashioned tea kettle Alfred used to brew tea when Clark came to visit.

‘ We,’ he echoed, breathless.

Lois shrugged. ‘I mean, it's not like Bruce isn't my type and Selina certainly is. Besides,’ she leaned down and whispered directly into Clark’s ear, ‘It's not cheating if I'm there, too.’

Clark’s mind filled with images at her words, a confused jumble of memories and imaginings; Bruce above him, dark hair falling in his sweaty face, Lois in much the same position she was now, bare, her throat exposed. A whirlwind of Bruce and Lois and Bruce-and-Lois, and-

‘Okay,’ Clark rasped, heart pounding in his chest, his entire world tilted on its axis. ‘Okay, I’m in, but only if he is.’

---

 

Gotham was unseasonably warm. Bruce had already finished his usual patrol route. He’d sent Alfred to bed, told him if Selina asked, that he had stayed late to check out a few things before turning in. She wouldn’t ask, though. He needed space to think, and she knew it. She’d given him a lot to think about.

Like the fact that the woman that had agreed to marry him believed that his best friend was in love with him.

Despite what everyone seemed to think, Bruce’s emotional intelligence was not so abysmal that he couldn’t tell his own feelings. He knew he was in love with Clark. Had known for years. It was difficult to keep an objective view of the facts of a case when he was unaware of how his own emotions could get in the way. He knew his own weaknesses better than anyone. 

It was everyone else’s emotions he found difficult to parse. When he had admitted his feelings for Clark to Selina, he had done so out of his own sense of guilt. He loved his fiance, did not regret asking her to marry him for a moment, but he couldn’t let her walk down the aisle into his arms without being honest about this. That even though he loved her, part of him gravitated to another.

She had taken the revelation with astonishingly good grace, Bruce had thought. Until he’d realised that, for Selina, it hadn’t been a revelation at all. He hadn’t been prepared for Selina to know his heart so well. The two of them had always existed in specific contexts. He knew that getting engaged, getting married , would be a huge adjustment for them both, that he was asking her to make room for him in her life - and vice versa - that he had never asked of her before.

It had been weeks of long midnight talks, confessions whispered in the dark. They bared their souls to one another the only way they knew how, speaking as if in a confessional to an unseen ear, waiting for the other’s judgement, for their forgiveness. Bruce had so much to beg forgiveness for.

They had been in the Cave when Selina had suggested it, both suiting up for patrol. Her catsuit unzipped to her waist, unmasked so he could see her eyes, dark and heavy-lidded, smirking at him through her eyelashes. In other words, irresistible.

And then, she’d said, ‘We should invite Clark and Lois to another double-date.’

‘Hm.’

She had pressed herself against him, nipping at his chin to get his attention. ‘And then bring them back here afterwards.’

Bruce had stopped fastening his gauntlets to stare at her, sensing a trap. ‘What for?’

‘Sex, of course. Lois has already said yes.’

So now he was hiding on a Gotham rooftop overlooking the bay, his gaze drawn to where the lights of Metropolis were just visible over the water, a faint halo of light, like a midnight sunrise.

Lois has already said yes . Lois has said yes because Clark-

Because Clark wanted him, too. Clark had feelings for him.

A shadow moved at Bruce’s back and he tensed, hand going to his utility belt where he had his batarangs stashed, but then, as if summoned, Clark’s voice said, ‘Bruce.’

Bruce turned, schooling his expression into impassivity, willing his heart to remain steady. Clark's red and blue uniform was ruffled and windblown, his impossibly blue eyes wide. His feet didn’t quite touch the rooftop Bruce was standing on.

‘Superman,’ Bruce said. Monotone was all he could manage right now.

‘There’s no one around,’ Clark said, drifting closer and finally alighting on the roof in front of Bruce. ‘We can speak freely.’

Bruce cleared his throat, and Clark almost smiled. ‘Lois talked to you.’

‘Selina talked to you.’

‘She did. Is...’ Bruce almost couldn’t get the words out. ‘Is she right?’

Clark let out a gusty breath, averting his eyes. With a jolt, Bruce realised he was embarrassed . Clark was blushing .

‘Is Lois right?’ Clark asked in a rush. ‘Do you...’

Bruce nodded, and then, because Clark hadn’t seen the movement, ‘I’ve had... feelings for you for... a long time.’

He sounded painfully awkward even to his own ears. He didn’t know what to do with his hands. They fluttered at his sides, fingers flexing with the need to hold something. 

Clark stepped forward, taking his hands, running his thumbs over the knuckles, smooth skin catching on armour and kevlar. ‘What are we going to do about this, Bruce?’ Clark asked, and when he met Bruce’s eyes, they were almost pleading. ‘I can’t ignore this anymore. Not now that it’s out in the open.’

‘And you’d never leave Lois,’ Bruce filled in for him, his eyes flicking down to study their joined hands.

‘No,’ Clark agreed. ‘I love her, Bruce, I do. I just...’

‘Your heart’s always been too big for your own good,’ Bruce grumbled, but he felt a smile twitching at the corners of his mouth, couldn’t help but feel his own heart swell a little knowing Clark felt something for him beyond friendship and camaraderie.

‘And your best kept secret is that yours is, too,’ Clark murmured. ‘Are we really doing this? Are we really saying yes to our wives’ crazy scheme?’

Bruce’s breath stalled slightly at Clark’s casual reference to Selina as his wife , even if it wasn’t legal yet. It still didn’t seem real to him most days that Selina had said yes.

‘We don’t deserve them,’ Bruce said. ‘But... could you go back? To being just friends, knowing what we know now?’

‘If I had to,’ Clark said. ‘If that was the only way to keep you and Lois both in my life. Would you?’

Bruce nodded. ‘If I had to.’

‘So, do we have to?’ Clark asked. ‘Or do we see where this goes?’

A million possibilities flew through Bruce’s mind in an instant, all the ways this could go wrong. How this would affect the Mission, the Justice League, his sons, his fiancé, his city. But he’d already made most of these calculations about Selina. Adding Clark, and, he supposed, Lois, as variables to the equation, was surprisingly simple in the face of that.

Bruce met Clark’s gaze and felt something settle in his gut, an acceptance that he had already jumped and now all that’s left was the fall. He stepped into Clark’s space, leaned up to close the distance and kissed his best friend, sweet and slow. When he pulled away, Clark’s cheeks were as red as his cape, eyes wide, mouth open. The giddy elation that he was the one to put that stupefied look on Clark’s face was intoxicating. Clark wanted this, his expression the last proof Bruce needed. He blamed the urge to purr in satisfaction on Selina’s influence.

He smirked up at Clark, quirking an eyebrow in challenge. ‘How does Friday work for you?’

 

---

 

Bruce had, somehow, convinced the Kents to let him pick the restaurant and Selina was more than happy to let him work out the details. Since their lunch date, Selina and Lois had kept in contact, sharing regular updates on their boys’ states of mind and each other. So far, Selina's text flirting had yielded no fruit but she was well used to throwing flirtation at a brick wall until it caved in, so she wasn't concerned. 

They were in Metropolis so the Kent's felt like they were in home territory, with an easy exit if they changed their mind. It was a clear, still night, which was fortunate given the location of their reservation - a cosy rooftop terrace with a magnificent view of the Metropolis skyline lit by strings of soft, warm lights that gave the place an ethereal glow. Leafy green potted plants added a splash of colour to the warm stone terrace and outdoor heaters kept the air toasty despite fall breathing down their necks. Gentle piano music filtered through hidden speakers dotted around the terrace to complete the scene. 

The corner nearest the door boasted a bar tended by a straight-backed, impeccably groomed young man drying a set of wine glasses. The other tables and sofas littering the terrace were empty and would remain so for the duration of their date. Bruce had bought out the entire terrace for the night. Selina approved. Even the Kents might forgive the expense, given the privacy it would afford them. Whatever happened tonight would be just for the four of them. No witnesses, no masks.

The sun was setting at Bruce’s back and Selina watched the rose gold light play over her fiancé's dark hair. She and Bruce had both dressed to impress, Selina in a shimmery midnight blue low-cut halter dress and black heels that made her legs look divine. Bruce had foregone his customary dinner jacket and was wearing a fitted black vest over a black dress shirt that emphasised his broad shoulders. He caught her watching him and sauntered over, reaching out for her.

‘Say the word and we call it off,’ he murmured, his lips at her ear, his voice a low baritone that she could feel where his chest pressed to hers. 

She shivered. ‘Oh, no, Bat, if you wanna get out of this, you're gonna have to do it yourself.’

She studied his face. Bruce was excellent at hiding his emotions, but this close, she could see the tightness in his eyes that betrayed his nerves. There was something a little possessive in the grip his hands had on her hips. 

‘I still don't understand why you're doing this.’

Selina ran a hand through his perfectly slicked hair, giving him a more mussed, rakish look. ‘You're going to have to learn to trust me eventually, Bruce. Is it not enough that I love you and want you to be happy?’

‘I... don't know,’ Bruce admitted after some hesitation. ‘This isn't what I expected when I asked you to marry me.’

Selina smiled and leaned up to kiss him. ‘My ability to surprise you is why you asked me to marry you.’

He chuckled, warm and low. ‘I suppose it is.’

A delicately feminine voice cleared her throat and Bruce froze, staring over Selina's shoulder at the door to the inside. ‘Are we interrupting something?’

This close, Selina could feel his breathing shift into something more deliberate and measured. He turned slowly and revealed the sight of their guests to Selina as he did so.

‘Clark,’ Bruce said, flat in a way that Selina could effortlessly translate as the bat equivalent of breathless. ‘Lois.’

Lois and Clark stood in the open doorway, their waiter standing politely to attention behind them. Clark looked slightly out of place in his oversized suit. Lois was elegant as ever, in a deep purple dress Selina couldn't wait to see on her and Bruce's bedroom floor.

Clark cleared his throat and offered a sheepish smile. ‘Bruce, Miss Kyle, uh, hi.’

Selina laughed at the formality and walked towards them, putting a sway to her hips she knew made her look fantastic. ‘Now, Clark,’ she purred when she reached him. ‘We're all friends here.’ She stood on her tiptoes to kiss his cheek and lingered there, a hint too long, her hand shamelessly resting on his broad chest. ‘Call me Selina.’

She stepped away when she felt him start to stammer and Bruce's eyes began boring into the back of her head. She moved on to Lois, taking her hand and kissing her cheek, too. ‘Lois, darling,’ she said. ‘It's so good to see you.’

Selina returned to her fiancé's side as he was waving the waiter over, sending him off again with an order for a bottle of fine wine.

‘Shall we?’ Bruce asked the Kents with his most charming smile.

They settled at the table, Bruce at Selina's side, Lois in front of her.

There was a long minute of painfully awkward silence. Selina watched Clark open his mouth to speak several times before clearing his throat and looking down as if he was studying the wood grain of the table through the tablecloth. Bruce was watching his best friend with growing barely disguised panic.

Selina met Lois's eyes across the table and they both promptly dissolved into giggles.

‘Oh my god,’ Lois gasped. ‘This is ridiculous.’

Bruce was staring at them with wide eyes. Clark's shoulders were creeping towards his ears.

‘I think your husband is having kittens,’ Selina agreed, ignoring her fiancé, smothering more laughter behind her hands.

‘I'm right here,’ Clark protested, startled out of his staring contest with the table by the sound of their laughter.

‘Clark, sweetie,’ Lois laughed. Selina watched her take her husband's hand, her wedding ring glinting under the fairy lights. ‘You can relax, it's okay.’

Selina met Lois's eyes again and flicked them behind her towards the bar. Lois nodded.

‘Okay, boys,’ Selina said. ‘Lois and I are going to get us something a little stronger than Chardonnay to drink while we wait for our dinner.’ She stood and poured herself over Bruce's broad shoulders, placing a kiss on his cheek, which he returned with a smile, small, barely a flicker, but that's how she knew it was genuine. Selina winked at Clark. ‘If you're stuck for conversation topics, you can always tell darling Bruce here how handsome he is,’ she suggested, then added in a conspiratorial whisper, ‘we picked this outfit just for you, after all.’

Then, she stood, hooked her arm through Lois's and they sauntered towards the bar.

Once settled and their drinks being made, Selina turned to Lois. ‘So, how are you doing?’

Lois shrugged and thanked the bartender as he placed her drink in front of her. ‘I'm good. We’re doing the right thing. You should've seen Clark this week. It's like a weight’s been lifted off his shoulders. He's been... lighter since he had his talk with Bruce.’

Selina scoffed. ‘Yeah, our boys are in love, okay, that's old news now. I was more hoping to find out if you'd given the other half of this arrangement more thought.’

Lois glanced down at her hands on the bar top, her fingers playing with the stem of her cocktail glass. Selina watched her contemplate with a seductive smile, taking a long, slow sip of her drink. Lois’ eyes flicked up to meet her gaze just briefly, but the look Selina received was not nearly as reluctant or nervous as Selina expected.

Lois’ dark eyes flicked down to watch Selina's throat work as she swallowed. ‘I've thought about it,’ she said, finally.

Selina leaned closer, propping her chin up on her fist. ‘And?’

Lois ran her eyes over Selina's form. ‘You've got a lot of confidence for someone competing with Superman.’

Selina grinned wide. She shifted so she was pressed against Lois’ shoulder, lips almost brushing her ear. ‘I never said anything about competing.’

Lois turned her head and suddenly they were nose to nose, almost touching. Lois’s breath on Selina’s face was warm and sweet. ‘As long as we know where we stand,’ Lois murmured and closed the distance.

The kiss was chaste - by Selina’s standards, anyway - a testing of the waters, lingering and slow. They separated at the sound of a choked-off noise from their table. Selina glanced over to see both of their boys staring wide-eyed at them. Bruce’s mouth was a neutral, flat line, but his eyes were dark in a way that left Selina feeling deliciously bare. By contrast, Clark was flushed, one hand pressed flat to his thigh, the other gripping Bruce’s forearm across the table.

Bruce’s heady expression flickered and he glanced away, towards Clark with a look of concern, murmuring low. Clark froze up for a second, then relaxed all at once, grinning and laughing quietly at something Bruce said. Both boys turned back towards each other, heads together. The hand that Clark had been using to grip Bruce’s forearm slowly, almost playfully, found Bruce’s fingers, twining them together.

‘ Interesting, ’ said Lois, one eyebrow raised.

‘Problem?’ Selina asked.

Lois leaned back against the bar, watching Bruce and Clark with amusement. ‘Not at all. I think my husband just discovered how much he doesn't mind me kissing you.’

Selina laughed and downed the last of her drink. ‘I have a feeling we are going to be learning all sorts of fun things about ourselves tonight.’

---

 

‘Come with me,’ Bruce said, once Clark’s eyes were back on him.

He stood and offered Clark his hand, the gesture so familiar, except for the face on the other end, his best friend’s wide blue eyes behind familiar frames. All of Bruce’s usual moves felt foreign and awkward because this was Clark . Flirtation was always so much harder for Bruce when it was genuine, when he wasn’t playing a character, when he wanted . Bruce so rarely let himself want.

Clark either didn’t, or perhaps more likely, simply pretended not to notice Bruce’s awkwardness and took his offered hand with a charmingly shy smile. Bruce led them over to one of the low walls that offered an uninterrupted view of the Metropolis skyline. Their backs to the bar, it was almost like it was just the two of them. Selina and Lois’ low voices were carried away by the gentle Fall breeze.

Bruce waited for Clark to say something, but he seemed content to watch the sunset, his eyes not even flickering in Bruce’s direction. 

‘You’re nervous.’ 

It was a clunky opening line, particularly in the flat tone that fell out of Bruce’s mouth.

’And you’re not?’ Clark asked, finally looking at him. ‘This is weird.’

Bruce shrugged, calculatedly nonchalant. ‘Say the word and we go back to what we were, no harm, no foul.’

Bruce’s hand, previously resting on the stone wall, was suddenly engulfed by warm kryptonian skin. ‘ No ,’ Clark said. Apparently realising what he’d done, Clark removed his hand from Bruce’s, leaving Bruce feeling embarrassingly bereft.

’I-I mean, I don’t want that. I’m just still getting my head around all of…’ he gestured uselessly to the empty restaurant. ‘This.’

Bruce placed his hand on Clark’s shoulder in a gesture he’d done unthinkingly a thousand times. He felt Clark relax at the touch and, emboldened, he slid the same hand down Clark’s arm until they could entwine their fingers. Clark watched their hands with fascination, giving Bruce’s fingers a gentle squeeze.

’Maybe we’re both overthinking this,’ Clark said with a little self-deprecating laugh.

’Hm,’ Bruce agreed. 

He watched Clark’s face as Clark watched their hands, cataloguing the barely-there interplay of microexpressions on his features. In the fading sunlight, he was unbearably beautiful, limned in gold, carved from marble, solid and soft all at once.

Clark glanced up and froze, his mouth falling slightly open. ‘ Oh .’

This was his best friend, Bruce remembered ruefully. Possibly one of the only people on the planet who could read Bruce Wayne like a book.

’Have you always looked at me like that or is this new?’

Bruce didn’t blush as a rule, but his face made a valiant effort. ‘Like what.’

’Like you can’t look away.’

’Not always,’ Bruce admitted, then added, ‘I… trained myself out of it.’

Clark’s beaming smile was like a sunrise. ‘Really? And now?’

’Now, I’m allowed to look,’ Bruce said, some of his unease disappearing under the light of that smile. ‘And… touch.’

He reached out with his free hand and with reverent fingers, he brushed an errant curl from Clark’s wide eyes. It was different from any other touch they’d shared before, barring their rooftop kiss. Bruce had clapped Clark’s shoulder in comfort, carried his bleeding body through wreckage, pulled him to his feet after a bad hit, and Clark had done the same to him more times than they could count, but this? Touching him just because he wanted to? Just for the sake of it? This was new and strangely intimate. Bruce hadn’t expected to be rendered breathless by a mere brush of his fingers on Clark’s face.

Clark closed his eyes, savouring the touch. ‘This is…’

’Still weird?’ Bruce asked.

’No,’ Clark said. ‘It’s not weird at all.’

Bruce’s lips flickered with a small, genuine smile. ‘Good.’

As one, they turned back to watch over the city, pressed together from hip to shoulder. Bruce leaned minutely into the touch, savouring the warmth Clark always gave off.

’Have you thought about how we would explain this to our kids?’ Clark asked.

Bruce snorted. ‘Let’s make it through the first date,’ he suggested. ‘We’ll decide what to tell them when there’s something new to tell.’

’New?’ Clark asked, curious.

’My engagement to Selina raised several eyebrows amongst my kids,’ Bruce said dryly, remembering the conversation with Jason, of all people, where he’d realised just how much his Robins knew about his love life. ‘One or two were surprised it wasn’t you.’

’But… I’m married?’ Clark said, genuinely baffled.

Bruce laughed. ‘Yeah, I was there. Some of them thought we’d been going behind Lois’ back.’

Instead of being offended, Clark groaned, placing his head in his hands. ‘Did everyone know about my feelings before I did?’

’You’re loyal to Lois,’ Bruce said, resisting the urge to laugh at him. ‘It’s admirable.’ He hesitated, searching for the words. ‘I’ve always found that very... attractive.’

For a man often in the public eye wearing spandex that left very little to the imagination, Clark had the endearing quality of having no idea how beautiful he was. The shy, surprised expression on his face at Bruce’s words was well worth the effort it took to say them.

Before Clark could say anything in response, however, Selina’s voice called them over. ‘Boys! Dinner’s here!’

Bruce and Clark both turned to see Lois and Selina back at the table, drinks refilled and in hand, tucked comfortably in adjacent seats. Bruce shrugged and led him and Clark back to the table. He met Selina’s eyes across their meals as Clark settled into the seat at his side. 

Selina winked at him.

With Selina and Lois across from them, laughing over their food, and Clark’s shoulders brushing his, it was much easier to relax than when the Kents had arrived. The nervous tension had thoroughly dissipated, replaced with a far preferable kind. Selina’s foot found his ankle under the table and nudged lightly at his pant leg, idly toying with him. He raised an eyebrow at her, but she just smirked in a way he knew from experience meant trouble.

‘Having fun?’ he asked, relaxing minutely, back in more familiar territory with his attention on her.

‘Absolutely,’ Selina purred. ‘You boys got your fretting out of the way?’ 

Bruce turned his head to watch Clark, being teased mercilessly by Lois, for a moment, sensing Selina’s eyes follow his gaze.

‘Yeah,’ he said. ‘I think we have.’

When he looked back at Selina, her eyes were huge and dark, an oddly vulnerable expression he was still learning how to read. He took the hand she was resting on the table, brushing his thumb over her knuckles in imitation of a kiss.

‘Thank you,’ he said, with as much feeling as he could manage.

Selina’s expression flickered and disappeared behind a more customary sultry smile. ‘The night’s still young, Bat. Thank me when it’s over.’

Chapter 2: Payoff

Notes:

This one wrestled with me and not in the fun way. I’ve never written smut before so of course I had to make my life difficult by making my first time writing sex be a foursome. It was definitely a learning experience, that’s for sure. I hope you enjoy!

Unbeta’d.

Bruce looked good.

Of course, Bruce usually looked good, but something about how he looked tonight with his fitted vest and his perfectly not-quite-perfect hair had Clark's mouth going dry.

He was glad that Lois was now sitting across from him - she was a welcome distraction. Bruce was warm at Clark’s side, their shoulders and arms brushing as they ate and talked. It was such a familiar feeling that Clark could almost pretend that they had always done this, that this new step to their relationship wasn’t new at all.

The food was delicious, but the company was even better. Selina was surprisingly witty in a way that was entirely her own, and it coaxed a playful side out of Lois that Clark never saw enough of. Bruce, likewise, was a fascinatingly earnest version of the charming man that came out at galas and interviews, as laid back as he ever got, a small smile on his face. Clark kept catching Bruce’s eyes flicking to his face, that smile flickering briefly into something warmer as their eyes met. 

Bruce and Clark finished their meals before the ladies, and Bruce took the opportunity to lean back in his chair and stretch his arm over the back of Clark’s, a thumb gently stroking down the shoulder of Clark’s best jacket. The casualness of the movement started a fire under Clark’s skin, and he found himself subconsciously leaning into the warmth of Bruce’s body.

By the time the waiter returned to collect their dishes and asked, ‘Shall I bring out the dessert menu?’ Clark’s arm was tingling from Bruce’s touch from shoulder to elbow and he was cursing his past self for not removing his jacket when they arrived.

The four of them shared a questioning look in response to the waiter’s question, but it was Lois who answered, ‘Just the check, please. We have other places to be tonight.’

The waiter nodded and left. 

Selina smiled at Clark and Lois, full of promise. ‘So,’ she said. ‘Our place or yours?’

---

 

Selina and Lois had their arms around each other as they waited for Bruce to pay the check. Lois’ free hand was around Clark’s waist, tucked into the pocket of his suit pants. Clark had taken his jacket off as soon as they’d left the table, and the feel of it hanging over his shoulder felt almost like the weight of his cape, giving him courage. Clark was vibrating in place, feeling like he’d spent hours in the sun’s orbit, absorbing the radiation until he almost glowed with it and needed an outlet for the excess energy.

Bruce sent Clark another startlingly broad smile as he returned to the group, leading them toward the exit like a gentleman, one hand on the small of Clark’s back, just above Lois’. Having both of them there was a new sensation that did nothing to bank the solar flare building in his chest.

They piled into the back of the black towncar Bruce had waiting on the curb, Lois and Selina facing Bruce and Clark. Selina immediately stretched out, playfully nudging Bruce’s knees with a heeled toe, the hem of her dress riding up shamelessly. Bruce settled into his seat and placed a hand on Clark’s knee. Clark looked over at him and found Bruce’s entire attention directed at him, his head tipped back and his hair falling out of its gel. Clark reached out and ran his fingers through it, a hot thrill rippling through his chest cavity when Bruce tilted his head into the touch like a cat being petted.

Clark dragged his fingers from Bruce's hair to the shell of his ear, tracing a feather-light touch down to the hinge of his jaw, then up to the divot of his chin. He tilted Bruce's face up towards him, then glanced over at Lois. 

Her dark eyes glittered in the low light of the car, watching them both with a surprisingly vulnerable expression. Selina had her hand on Lois’ thigh, fingers digging into the flesh like she was holding on for dear life, but Lois barely seemed to notice. Beside him, Bruce had stopped breathing. 

Clark reached over to her and took her hand, squeezing gently until she smiled at him. When he let go, Lois leaned back in her seat, relaxed once more, and wrapped the hand Clark had been holding around Selina’s shoulders. Selina hummed and melted into Lois’ side, ending up half in Lois’ lap, her body twisted to show off the long line of her spine and draw attention to her chest. 

Lois raised an eyebrow at him - well? What are you waiting for?

Beside Clark, Bruce made a low rumble and Clark turned his face to look at him. In a blink, Bruce was all Clark could see, their faces barely inches apart. Bruce’s hair was falling in his eyes - eyes that were dilated and fixed on Clark’s lips. Clark was hit all over again with a breathless hunger, yanked helplessly closer with all the grace of a meteor strike.

They collided without hesitation, the coyness of their first kiss nowhere to be found. Bruce gripped Clark’s hair hard enough he could feel the pull even with his invulnerable skin. Clark twisted in his seat to grip Bruce’s upper thigh, the only thing his blindly questing hands could reach. Bruce opened his mouth and Clark’s senses were overwhelmed by the taste of wine from their meal, sharp and heady. Bruce rumbled deep in his chest, a sound that sent electric shivers through Clark’s body, lightning to Bruce’s thunder. Clark’s sigh came out almost as a squeak as he opened his mouth wider for Bruce to explore. He tried sucking on Bruce’s tongue, which wrung another thunderclap from Bruce’s chest. 

Bruce pressed forward, halfway to climbing into Clark’s lap to chase the kiss. Clark took his weight easily, let Bruce press him as far back into his seat as he could. It shifted their positions enough that he could get an arm around Bruce’s thick waist and press him even closer.

It was delicious; Bruce’s heat, his weight eclipsing everything else, the way he tugged on Clark’s bottom lip with his teeth digging in, a starved man at a feast. Clark clutched Bruce to his body, kissing back with a reverence that softened the edges of Bruce’s ravenousness, a push and pull that took on a rhythm of its own. Molten heat spread from his chest and stomach to the top of his head and the tips of his fingers and toes, cresting in waves in time with the press of Bruce’s mouth.

He registered, dimly, the other two heartbeats in the car with them picking up, Lois’ familiar timbre thumping at an ever-increasing tempo. He pulled away from Bruce’s lips just long enough to look at her and Selina, their faces flushed, mouths slack as they watched, Selina’s fingers creeping higher under the hem of Lois’ skirt.

Bruce’s teeth latched onto Clark’s neck, pouring all of his efforts into the impossible task of leaving a mark on Clark’s unblemishable skin. The sensation knocked the wind out of Clark. His whole body burned.

Lois made a choked-off noise as Selina’s fingers grazed her sex through the beginnings of a wet spot in her underwear. She and Clark shared a giddy grin before Bruce’s ministrations overwhelmed him and he had to close his eyes. His head fell back against the seat and he focused on breathing as Bruce devoured his way towards Clark’s clavicle, shoving his too-big dress shirt aside as he went. 

Unable to take it anymore, Clark gripped the back of Bruce’s head and tugged him up into a filthy, open-mouthed kiss. Another thunderous rumble was wrenched from Bruce's chest as they tasted each other, and Clark found himself humming, deep and clear in response. Clark pressed forward, changing the angle of their kiss and forcing Bruce to tip his head back until Clark was almost curling over him, making use of the scant few inches he had over Bruce in height.

Bruce made an entirely different noise at that - a choked breath released with a faint whine - and every heartbeat in the car stuttered.

‘Do that again,’ Selina suggested breathlessly.

Clark grinned as he pulled back, enough to take in Bruce's face, his cheeks flushed, eyes hazy and half-lidded, his mouth kiss-bitten red.

‘This?’ Clark murmured and tilted Bruce's chin up to him, looming over the other man until the only thing keeping Bruce in Clark's lap was the arm wrapped around his waist. 

Bruce sucked in a breath, then stopped altogether. Clark dipped his head and aimed for the juncture of Bruce's neck and jaw, scraping his teeth lightly over the thin skin there. Bruce exhaled with a shudder, his back arched and throat exposed.

Clark pressed him tighter against his body with the arm holding him up and jolted when he felt a distinctive firmness pressing against his stomach. A full-body shiver rippled through him at the heady promise of Bruce's arousal and he couldn't help but dive down to Bruce's neck and bite, as hard as he dared.

‘Fuck!’ Bruce swore and clutched at Clark's hair with another thin, reedy whine.

Bruce's hands pressed down on the crown of Clark's head, a silent demand for him to stay where he was, his teeth pressing in but not breaking the skin.

He almost lost control when the car rolled to a stop and Selina said in a deep purr, ‘Here we are, darlings.’

Clark unlatched from Bruce's neck and let him go. Bruce grinned a beatific, disarmingly boyish grin at the other three and was the first to slide out when the driver opened the door for him.

They piled out in an uncoordinated stumble. Lois and Selina ended up with their arms wrapped around each other. Selina had her free hand clutching Bruce's shirt cuff and Clark followed, helplessly charmed as the six-legged monster that was his dates staggered towards the garage elevator, a little tipsy, maybe, but mostly high on being together and what they intended to do next.

Selina pulled Bruce and Lois into the elevator when it opened, Clark bringing up the rear. Clark and Bruce stood opposite each other with their partners in between, staring at each other, winded and rumpled. Clark couldn’t tear his eyes away from the rapidly purpling bruise on Bruce’s neck.

As the elevator began to ascend, Selina locked eyes with Lois and advanced, a wicked grin on her face. Lois backed up into Clark, pressing her back all down his front. In the mirror behind Bruce, Clark saw the expression on Lois’ face, a challenge and an invitation in one. Clark didn’t think before wrapping his arms around Lois’ waist, holding her the way she liked, where the difference in their heights was most obvious. Lois hummed appreciatively in Clark’s direction as Selina advanced on her, and Clark found his arms trapped between two warm feminine bodies.

‘Good boy,’ Selina murmured, barely sparing him a glance, and dived for Lois’ mouth.

A hot, electric thrill raced down Clark’s spine as Selina’s weight pressed Lois more firmly into his chest, as if he were simply a wall, a prop to make out against.

It seemed, it was Bruce and Clark’s turn to watch. Selina and Lois certainly were putting on a show. Lois was still trapped in Clark’s hold, but she seemed to have forgotten Clark was there, squirming in his grip as Selina ravaged her mouth. Their kisses were wet and messy, lipstick smearing across cheeks. Lois’ fingers dug into Selina’s short hair and Selina’s hands kept roaming lower. Clark nearly choked when, at Selina’s encouragement, Lois used Clark’s arms around her as leverage to lift herself and wrap both her legs around Selina’s waist. Selina gave a low hum and started trailing hungry kisses down Lois’ neck. In the mirror, Clark watched Selina’s well-defined bare shoulders and back flex and ripple beautifully in the warm elevator lights. He saw his own dumbstruck expression above them, standing statue-still, and the way Lois’ hair was getting caught in his shirt buttons from her movements. It was strangely exhilarating to be ignored by them like this, like his only purpose here was to be a piece of furniture for them to use. Something in his gut wound so tight he couldn’t breathe.

Bruce watched the display with open hunger, his eyes almost black with it and mouth hanging open as if itching to taste. Clark gripped Lois tighter, the resulting shaky exhale her only acknowledgement. Bruce’s burning gaze snapped to Clark and the distance between them suddenly became unbearable. Bruce’s hungry eyes kept flicking between Clark and their partners making out between them with an almost pained expression. Clark was trapped like this, unable to move or use his arms, unable to touch Bruce the way the other man so clearly needed him to. It was an exquisite kind of agony when the ladies were putting on such a delicious distraction for them but simultaneously preventing them from touching.

Clark watched as something in Bruce snapped. He launched forward and plastered himself to Selina's back. He traced her earlobe his tongue and she pulled back from Lois just enough to gasp, ‘Took you long enough,’ before diving for Lois’ lips again.

Bruce's arms easily encircled the two women. He took advantage of his significant height over them to press forward and grip Clark's hair and pull him into a searing kiss. Clark felt himself start to relax as the weight of all three of them pressed him harder into the wall.

The elevator doors pinging open snapped everyone back to reality. Lois heaved in a gasp of air. Clark thunked his head back against the elevator wall. Bruce held the doors open like a gentleman, which Selina ignored as she dragged Lois by the hand into Bruce’s penthouse. The ladies were back on each other in a moment, Selina leading Lois to the master suite by the lips.

Bruce taking his hand snapped Clark’s gaze away from the ladies disappearing through a set of double doors.

‘Come on,’ Bruce murmured, achingly tender in a way that set Clark’s nerves afire.

Bruce moved to follow, but Clark snatched him back, tugging on his hand with a jerk until Bruce crashed against his chest. Clark ducked his head the scant inches to capture his lips again and crushed him closer until they were plastered against one another. Bruce hummed and pulled away with a wicked grin only to jump up and wrap his legs around Clark’s waist. Clark caught him effortlessly, like he had uncountable times before, and kissed him again. He walked them towards the master suite with Bruce held tight to his chest, lips locked.

Lois’ back was to the doors as they entered. Selina sent Clark a wink over Lois’ shoulder, reached up and untied the halter of her dress. It fell in a silent waterfall of satin to pool at her feet, revealing her bare breasts and a barely-there pair of black panties.

Bruce growled at him from where he was trying to undo Clark’s shirt buttons without separating their bodies and Clark realised he’d frozen in place. He couldn’t help the way the low lamplight of the bedroom made Selina’s skin almost glow, the lascivious grin she wore, her eyes fixed on Lois’ face as she knelt in the midnight pool of her dress. Her fingers slid up under Lois’ skirt as she descended, pulling Lois’ underwear down with her to the floor. Settled, Selina pushed Lois’ skirt up and pressed her mouth between Lois’ legs.

Lois let out a shaky sigh at the contact, which caught Bruce’s attention. He glanced over his shoulder and watched the two for a moment, dark eyed and intent. Clark heard his heartbeat thud a single beat out of time before resuming its steady - if slightly elevated - pace.

In a flash, and without making a conscious decision, Clark was standing over the massive bed that took up the center of the room’s north wall. He dropped Bruce roughly onto the perfectly made sheets, just to get his attention, and Bruce’s eyes snapped to Clark’s face so quickly it must have made him dizzy. Clark grinned.

‘We’re falling behind,’ Clark said, his voice heavy with want.

‘Can’t have that,’ Bruce agreed and pushed Clark’s shirt off his shoulders - and Clark couldn’t pinpoint when Bruce had succeeded in undoing all his buttons - revealing a white undershirt clinging tightly to his skin. Clark ripped the thing off over his head and attacked Bruce’s vest with a blur of fingers, careful not to rip the garment which was surely more expensive than he could imagine. Bruce started on his own shirt buttons at the same time and in seconds he was spread out before Clark, his pale, scarred torso on full display.

Clark had seen Bruce's bare chest before, seen it bruised and bloody, fresh from a post-patrol shower, and many states in between, but his eyes roved over the bare skin as if the sight was new again. God, he was so beautiful, Clark wanted to bite him.

Clark fell forward, catching himself on his hands braced on either side of Bruce's head. He pressed himself chest to chest with Bruce, who let out a low growl at the contact and twisted his fingers into Clark's hair, deliciously tight, and tugged him up for another kiss.

Clark broke the kiss after only a moment, his sights set lower. He trailed a set of open mouthed kisses down Bruce's jaw, his neck, to his chest. He laved his tongue over Bruce’s rapidly pebbling nipples, and when he reached the meat of Bruce's pec, he bared his teeth and bit down, hard enough to bruise.

Bruce let out a choked off gasp at the sensation and Clark grinned as he worried Bruce’s skin between his teeth, letting go with a soft pop and devouring Bruce's other pec instead.

His mouth occupied, Clark let his hands wander down Bruce's heaving stomach towards his belt.

‘Clark,’ Bruce whined, his voice cracking. ‘Clark, please-’

Clark detached from Bruce's chest to look at him. ‘Yes?’

Bruce's face was flushed, his pupils wide, bottomless black, but he still managed to look annoyed when he growled, ‘Get on with it!’

‘With this?’ Clark asked innocently, his fingers slowly teasing Bruce's belt out of the first loop.

‘For fuck's sake,’ Bruce swore and the world turned upside down.

Clark blinked up at the ceiling from his new vantage point lying flat on his back, his legs half hanging off of the foot of the bed. Bruce was now standing between them, working efficiently at Clark's own belt and fly.

‘Impatient,’ Clark chided him, breathless and giddy.

Bruce ignored him, unzipping Clark’s pants and pulling them down his legs. At that moment, Lois made a high, reedy noise Clark knew well and his eyes snapped over to where Lois was still standing on shaky legs with Selina between them, a bright red flush high on her cheeks, her eyes squeezed shut. Lois’ grip on Selina’s short hair was white-knuckled and Clark could see red scratches on Lois’ upper thighs where Selina’s nails were digging into the flesh.

Cool air found Clark’s cock as Bruce dropped his underwear to the floor with a surprised, ‘Hm.’

A belated sense of embarrassment washed over Clark as he realised he hadn’t warned Bruce about the more inhuman parts of his anatomy. Bruce cocked his head like a curious bird at Clark’s cock, mostly normal looking except for the way it lay soft against his thigh despite feeling like he was about to spontaneously combust with desire. 

Lois giggled breathily. ‘Don’t- don’t worry about it - ah - Bruce,’ she said. ‘He just needs some - oh, Selina! There! - some direct attention.’

‘So, if I-’

Bruce gave Clark’s cock a few experimental strokes and Clark cut Bruce off with a loud moan, his vision flashing grey as all the blood in his head rushed south so fast he nearly blacked out.

‘Oh,’ Bruce breathed quietly, as if to no one in particular, his eyes going wide as he watched Clark’s cock fill to full hardness in seconds.

‘Yeah,’ Lois said, then moaned as Selina did something Clark couldn’t see.

Bruce gave Clark’s cock a few more firm strokes that made Clark’s thighs shake. ‘And this?’ he asked Lois, his hand traveling lower to Clark’s balls and underneath, which revealed a small second hole.

Clark’s spine shivered with electric shocks of pleasure at the thought of Bruce touching him there-

‘It's vestigial,’ Lois sighed with a smile Clark could hear. ‘Doesn’t seem to have a function anymore, but-’ she was interrupted by Clark sucking in a sharp breath as Bruce pressed a fingertip to that hidden entrance and a bright solar flare cascaded from his chest to every inch of his body in fizzing, liquid heat.

Floating on a cloud of pleasure, Clark was distantly aware as Lois sucked in another high, strained breath and went rigid, jerking as she came on Selina’s mouth. When he opened his eyes, both of her hands were braced on Selina’s shoulders and seemed to be the only thing keeping her upright.

‘Lots of nerve endings,’ she said to Bruce once she could speak again, and Clark realised they were still talking about him. ‘He’ll even slick up if you finger him enough.’

Bruce met Clark’s glazed over eyes with a wicked smirk. ‘Oh, really?’

‘Yeah,’ Clark said, his head clearing. He sat up and wrapped his arms around Bruce’s chest, heaving him up on top of him. ‘Alright, your turn.’

Bruce settled comfortably straddling Clark’s waist. Clark unbuckled his belt and held him up so Bruce could kick off his dress pants and send them sailing over the edge of the bed. Fully naked, Bruce leaned over Clark to fetch something from the nightstand. Clark took the opportunity to press wet kisses between his pecks, laving his tongue over the bruises he’d left.

With a thump that sent the mattress bouncing, Lois landed with a breathless laugh on her back, her head settling next to Clark at a right angle. Clark was momentarily distracted by Bruce’s thighs flexing around him to keep his balance. Like riding a horse, Clark thought with a rush of heat straight to his cock.

‘Hi,’ Lois murmured, her breath warming his ear.

Clark entwined their fingers on the bedspread and squeezed for a second before Lois was distracted by Selina crawling up towards her face.

‘Don’t look at him, look at me,’ Selina purred. Her face was still wet from Lois’ juices. 

She wiggled her hips and Lois grinned up at her. ‘Come here,’ Lois beckoned and Selina positioned herself over Lois’ mouth.

The smell of their arousals hit Clark like the best kind of kryptonite, making his head spin and his heart pound with want. The wet sound of Lois’ tongue on Selina’s lips came only a second later, the perfect countermelody to Selina’s delighted sigh.

As the girls settled in, Bruce sat back up, a bottle of lube and a ream of condoms in his hands. He held them up for Clark to see.

‘So, Boy Scout,’ Bruce said with a smirk. ‘Do you want to take it or should I?’

Clark ran his hands up and down Bruce’s thighs and shivered as they flexed at his touch. ‘I need to be inside you,’ Clark said, his voice only steady through sheer force of will.

Bruce ground down on Clark’s erection, letting the shaft slip between his cheeks. ‘I hoped you would say that.’

As Clark watched, Bruce popped the cap of the lube bottle with his thumb and doused his right hand, reaching behind himself without preamble. An offer to help was on the tip of Clark’s tongue, but then Bruce moaned at the feeling of his own fingers and tipped his head back and Clark couldn’t help but touch. He ran his hands all the way up Bruce’s thighs, to his stomach, to his chest, before dragging them up to cup the long, exposed line of Bruce’s neck, his thumbs resting on Bruce’s pulse points. Bruce hummed, that thunderous rumble from deep in his chest that Clark was already half addicted to. Clark felt the vibration all the way down to where Bruce’s hands and ass were still rubbing against his cock and his hands flexed around Bruce’s neck without permission, just enough to turn that rumble into an open-mouthed moan.

Bruce ground down again and Clark’s gaze snapped to between Bruce’s legs. He let his eyes unfocus and refocus, looking through layers of skin, muscle and fat to see where Bruce’s fingers twisted and pressed inside himself. As Clark watched, Bruce added a third finger and shuddered at the stretch.

‘That’s it,’ Clark murmured. ‘You’re almost ready for me.’

Bruce’s breath hitched and when Clark met his gaze, those blue eyes were ablaze. ‘You’re watching,’ Bruce said, his voice clipped with surprised desire.

‘Of course I’m watching.’

‘No, you’re-’ Bruce’s breath stuttered as he brushed against a spot inside that made his whole body tense for a second. ‘You’re- inside.’

Clark made a show of trailing his gaze down from Bruce’s face to his pelvis like a caress. Let his eyes refocus until he was once again greeted with the sight of Bruce’s fingers inside his ass. ‘Yeah, baby, you ride your fingers so well for me.’

Bruce choked and all at once those fingers vanished. He scrambled for the lube and a condom and Clark barely had time to brace himself before Bruce was rolling it down Clark’s shaft. 

‘Need you,’ Bruce murmured, quiet but frantic. ‘Need you, need you, need-’

He sat forward on his knees and, with unerring accuracy, lined himself up with Clark’s tip and sank down halfway in one fluid movement.

Clark stopped breathing entirely, the whole of his awareness narrowing to that one molten point of contact, the hot, wet grip of Bruce slowly sinking down the rest of the way.

‘Bruce,’ Clark gasped when his lungs remembered how to work again.

Bruce’s thighs trembled where he sat, holding himself up just enough to get used to the stretch. Clark watched his head fall forward, his dark hair obscuring his eyes as he breathed and breathed.

A hand much smaller than Bruce’s landed on Clark’s shoulder and he snapped his head away from Bruce to see Lois and Selina both watching them, wide-eyed. Clark and Lois shared a grin before turning, as one, back to their respective partners. Clark heard the distinct sound of a finger entering Selina’s pussy and her accompanying mewl, but any subsequent sounds were drowned out by the sight before him.

Bruce’s eyes, ice-blue and burning pinned Clark in place with the weight of a black hole.

‘There you are,’ Bruce murmured, a smirk spreading across his face, and he rolled his hips once.

Clark choked on whatever he was going to say, the velvet-and-steel grip of Bruce’s hole on his cock erasing everything but the sensation from his mind. Clark’s hands scrambled to hold onto something - Bruce’s thighs, his ass, his back, his wrists where his broad hands were braced on Clark’s chest.

‘That’s better,’ Bruce’s voice in his ear, liquid bass that burned like whiskey going down.

Viper-quick, one of Clark’s hands snatched at Bruce’s hair, holding him tight as he growled out, ‘Move.’

Bruce did. He raised himself up on those powerful thighs, almost to the tip, and slammed down in a fluid, controlled motion that had Clark seeing stars. Bruce grunted at the sensation, then set a brutal but steady pace, bouncing on Clark’s cock, still half bent over from Clark’s hand in his hair.

Clark’s breaths came in quick, cool gusts that made Bruce’s nipples visibly harden further. Bruce paused his motions briefly to tease Clark’s hand out of his hair and pin both of Clark’s hands up by his head. The movement had their fingers tangling in something soft - Lois’ hair where she was still laid out beside Clark, her face once again buried in Selina’s cunt. The back of Bruce’s knuckles stroked down Selina’s toned thigh and then he started moving again and Clark’s attention was drawn elsewhere.

Clark lost time, consumed by Bruce’s rhythmic, relentless pace. The sight of him, legs spread, cock jutting proudly, the bruises staining his chest like ink, the way his head tilted back to expose the long, pale line of his throat - it was enough to undo Clark completely. Somewhere in his awareness, he felt Selina still over Lois and let out a loud whine as she came, but it found his ears as if from underwater, Clark’s entire focus trained on Bruce and only Bruce.

The bed shifted, jostling them, and Clark felt small, familiar hands start stroking his hair. Another darker pair of hands snaked around Bruce’s chest, unerringly finding the bruises Clark was so proud of. Bruce groaned as blunt nails dragged across the sensitive skin, and Clark had to close his eyes against the onslaught of sensation.

It was a kiss, still wet and stinking of sex, pressed to his forehead by Lois that sent Clark over the edge. His wife’s hands in his hair, his best friend impaling himself on his cock, Clark arched his back and choked out a jumbled mess of words as the world turned white behind his closed eyelids.

He came back to himself in time to watch Bruce grind down on Clark’s softening cock and spill over Selina’s hand - at some point she had wrapped her slim fingers around Bruce’s cock and was stroking him through his orgasm.

All the tension left Bruce’s body at once. He slumped forward with a gusty breath, with all the gravity of a toppling skyscraper. Clark caught him just as easily, wrapping him up in his arms and easing him onto the covers. Selina emerged from behind Bruce and crawled up beside him, curling around Bruce with her lips pressed to the space between his shoulder blades. Lois slid down beside Clark and he automatically lifted his arm for her to slip under. She laid her head down on his chest with a deep, contented sigh that settled something down in the marrow of Clark’s bones.

‘Still love me, Smallville?’ she whispered in Clark’s ear, quiet enough it was for him alone.

Clark turned his head to press a heartfelt kiss into her hair. ‘More than ever,’ he breathed into her sweaty bangs. 

‘Good,’ she said and settled further into his embrace.

Selina hummed. ‘So... what now?’

‘We clean up,’ Clark said at the same time that Bruce grumbled, ‘Sleep.’

Lois snickered and the next thing Clark knew, he was almost curled in half with laughter, something he hadn’t been aware of the whole night leaving him in a rush that left him feeling light and giddy. Bruce just grumbled wordlessly and buried his nose in Clark’s neck, sighing like a big grumpy dog.

‘We’ll need to talk about this at some point,’ Lois mused.

Selina hummed.

‘Can we at least wait until after breakfast?’ Clark asked.

‘Inviting yourself to stay the night are you?’ Selina teased.

Clark glanced down at where Bruce had wrapped his arms and legs around Clark like a koala bear. ‘I don’t think I’m going to be allowed to move for a while.’

Selina popped her head up over Bruce’s massive shoulders to see Clark’s predicament for herself. ‘Oh yeah. He does that,’ she said. She settled back down and said, ‘Looks like you’ll just have to stay, then.’

Clark looked over at Bruce’s face, eyes closed and relaxed where it was smushed into his shoulder, then over to Lois, who was watching him with glittering dark eyes from where her head was pillowed on his chest. They shared a wordless look born of years of working and living side by side. It said, I’m following this lead wherever it goes and I need you at my back.

‘Looks like we will,’ Lois said and closed her eyes.

Clark let the weight of his wife and his best friend press him into the plush mattress and smiled to himself. 

His heart had never felt so full.

Notes:

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Notes:

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Shoutout to TheResurrectionist/frownyalfred for finally giving me the courage to post this ((((((:’