"Is that your heart?"

M'gann's eyes fluttered open, her gaze unfocused and sleepy. A rosy color was pooling in the apples of her cheeks, burning brilliantly against her green skin. "W-what?" She blinked, clearing the fog from her eyes.

Confused, Conner frowned. He straightened himself, keeping his fingers curled gently around her soft waist and the back of her neck. He slowly took a small step away to look at her as she leaned on his bike, gazing patiently up at him.

Conner was still new to this - this living thing. The emotions and sensations that he was suddenly immersed in upon being freed from his containment pod both fascinated and frightened him. He wanted so many answers, and although it had been Kaldur and Robin and Wally who had freed him, he was too intimidated by their years of experience at being alive to ask them why his chest felt tight when Superman ignored him or why he liked black but not orange.

But M'gann didn't care that Conner was asking questions that were strange by human standards; she was eager to share what she knew about earth, about humans, the things that she couldn't talk to anyone else about (because really, who else cared about the common traits of facial structures of different human races?). She explained things thoroughly and with gusto; she would keep going and going and by the time she was done, he knew more than he asked for, and he loves it-loves her for it-because the more he learns the more he can live.

She makes him feel like less of a freak.

M'gann kept her unwavering stare on Conner as he held his breath and focused on the loud, steady beat pounding in his ears. He slid the hand grasping her neck deliberately down her throat, sweeping his thumb over her delicate jaw to allow his fingers to lay flat over her carotid artery.

"It is your heart," he murmured.

M'gann lowered her eyes coyly and shrugged modestly, mouth forming a soft smile.

"Human hearts beat at a faster rate not only when a person is performing physical actions, such as when running or playing a sport," she replies in a quiet, breathy voice, "but also when they feel a substantial increase of certain emotions - fear or anxiety or bliss.

"At first," she continued, pushing a stray strand of hair behind her ear, "it was really difficult to remember to make my heart beat at the normal human rate. But now... it comes naturally to me - even the abnormal fluctuations."

Conner smiled at her, bringing his forehead to touch M'gann's.

"It sounds great," he said to her earnestly, tracing his thumb across her lip before gently taking hold of her chin. He pressed his mouth to hers, and committed to memory the rhythm pulsing beneath his fingers.

I have no recollection of when I wrote this. It was a prompt given to me, of that I'm sure, but I don't quite recall who it was - I don't even know if I submitted it anywhere to share with them. But either way, there it is in all of its SuperMartian glory.

Hope you enjoyed!