"Come on Bruce," Clark nagged grabbing his harm and dragging him along. "It's a team building exercise. You of all people know it's important to trust your team!"
"Clark, it's a movie," Bruce deadpanned. "If the fate of the world ever rests on watching guys with salon hair dos open the wrong door or women in clothing two sizes too small screaming every three minutes, I'm pretty sure Wally's got us covered."
"Aw, don't be such a downer, Bruce," Hal heckled.
"Yeah B," Wally added as he zipped up beside Bruce from nowhere. "This movie is supposed to be crazy scary! Hell, you might be able to pick up some pointers."
"I. Don't. Need. Pointers," Bruce growled.
"Umm, point taken!" Wally said as he moved to the other side of Clark, away from Bruce.
"They say there will be a great sea beast in this film," Arthur added. "I wish to see what you surface dwellers fear from the ocean's depths."
"I too am looking forward to this entertainment," J'onn said. "On Mars we sought joy and love for entertainment. The human tradition of seeking fear and anxiety as a way of achieving enjoyment is perplexing. I look forward to the opportunity to study it."
"J'onn, movie night is a way of relaxing and forgetting about the real world for a little while," Clark explained. "You can't enjoy it if you over analyze it."
"Yeah, big green," Wally cut in with his normal flare. "A good scare now and again is always good for you, and don't worry, we won't tell anyone if you scream like a girl," Wally laughed before screaming like a girl when Diana's hand suddenly clamped down on his shoulder.
Even Bruce couldn't help but grin as the scarlet speedster lived up to his name even without the benefit of the red costume.
Seven of the world greatest champions made their way down a Metropolis street as nothing more than a group of laughing, joking and, most importantly, normal friends.
Clark's apartment was nowhere near as fancy as Wayne Manor and other than a single art deco picture hanging above the couch, it had little in the way of decoration, but it was clean and simple and Bruce had to admit, probably far better organized than his own bachelor pad would likely be without Alfred around. Though to be fair, Clark could clean at super speed.
"So, where's the popcorn?" Wally asked the moment they entered.
"There's a box in the…" Clark started.
"Found it," Wally hollered, cutting him off. "Umm, CK. You've only got one box here!"
"There's twelve bags in that box, Wally," Clark pointed out.
"Fine, I'll run to the store and get some more," Wally whined before disappearing in a gust of wind.
With everyone laughing and getting popcorn and drinks, Bruce took the opportunity to put his training to use and make one of his signature silent exits.
"And just where do you think you're going, Mr. Wayne," came the stern scolding of the beautiful Amazon that suddenly appeared in the hallway in front of him. Does everyone have to have super-speed?
"This is a waste of time, Princess," Bruce replied, doing his best to hold a stern look.
"This is my first 'movie night' with my new friends in Man's World," Diana replied. "The least you can do is join me!"
The spirit of an Amazon warrior, the beauty of a goddess, resolve of a hero and eyes that any man would happily lose himself in for eternity; this was one argument Bruce knew he'd lost before they'd even begun.
Sighing, he turned and started to walk back towards the apartment, much to the delight of Diana who smiled victoriously and hooked her arm in his.
Wally returned a moment later with enough popcorn to feed an army and two cases of Coca-Cola.
"Okay, it's movie time," Clark declared.
"Is Ms. Lane not coming to join us tonight, Clark?" Diana asked, much to his obvious embarrassment. Kent flushed at the mere mention of the beautiful reporter that was so obviously in love with his alter-ego but oblivious to Clark's small town Kansas courting attempts.
"N-no, Lois isn't coming tonight," Clark replied, doing his best to keep the red out of his face. "Tonight's just us super powered types."
Bruce scoffed.
"And Bruce," Clark amended with a grin. He'd done that on purpose.
Clark put in the DVD and everyone took a seat. Being a bachelor pad, Clark only had a four seat couch for the seven of them to share. Clark and Bruce each sat at an end of the couch with Hal and Arthur in the middle. Wally took a seat on the floor with what seemed like a never-ending bowl of popcorn and J'onn sat beside him, taking his fair share of the popcorn; finally found something besides Oreos… and Diana decided she would be most comfortable straddling the arm of the couch beside Bruce.
As the movie began to play, most of the idle chatter died down. Wally would occasionally make a juvenile remark about the size of the heroine's breasts, Clark always seemed like he was having trouble not flying in to save the day from the fictional monster, Hal kept hoping the monster would eat everyone, Arthur seemed confused by the protagonists and J'onn seemed far more interested in the popcorn than what was happening on screen. Diana on the other hand, instead of being scared by the high priced horror film, or even laughing at it for what Bruce considered it's sad attempts at creating fear, she was picking apart the heroes' tactics.
"Why would he attempt to evade the beast in such a narrow corridor?" she asked rhetorically.
"This incessant screaming helps no one," she protested. "Pick up the metal pipe and strike the beast for Hera's sake!"
Bruce was thinking about how he could be out patrolling Gotham or completing a new upgrade on the Batmobile, or maybe running down a lead as to what the Penguin was up to, but he couldn't help but be distracted by Diana's charm.
Here she sat beside him, looking as innocent as a child, far more beautiful than any of the supermodels and movie stars he so often dated and yet was constantly showing that she had a brilliant tactical mind and understood that life is a battle; even if she did share an annoying amount of Clark's naiveté about hope and love.
When it came time for the obligatory sex scene, the bleached blonde actress who had somehow managed to maintain her perfect makeup despite the crisis and several swims in what should have been hypothermia inducing waters, stripped off her shirt and practically tackled the hero.
Hal was the most vocal of the group, continually impressing Bruce by finding ways to somehow prove he was even more immature than Bruce had previously given him credit for with comments like "look at those melons bounce!" or telling the male protagonist to "get out of the way, you're blocking the good stuff!"
Clark was making an obvious attempt not to watch; His bashful small town upbringing clearly not preparing him for the near ex-rated scene.
Wally just sat there watching in awe and J'onn looked like he was studying for a biology exam.
Diana just scoffed.
Leaning in to whisper as not to disturb the others, Bruce asked, "What?"
She leaned down to whisper in his ear, her warm breath washing over his neck making his heart beat a little quicker, "Her technique is terrible."
Bruce couldn't hide the shock of something so forward coming from the seemingly innocent princess.
"What?" she whispered with a mischievous grin. "Did you forget that I'm blessed by Aphrodite?"