Too Much Red

[zolac_no_miko]

Title: Too Much Red
Pairing(s)/Character(s): Bruce, Clark; could be slash or gen.
Rating: PG
Warnings: Ummmmmmm, really vague, non-graphic references to violence and severe injury? Emotional distress? (Nothing terribly bad, really.)
Disclaimer: Characters in this story are © DC Entertainment Inc. and Warner Bros. Entertainment. All content is fictional and for entertainment purposes only, not for profit.

Notes: This is a story in one hundred words written for mithen's prompt for the worlds_finest 5th birthday party: "Superman is seriously (not mortally) injured in a battle. Batman is trying very hard not to freak out about it (and failing)." This is also for mithen's birthday. Have a good one, you awesome person you. ♥

Posted to worlds_finest and batfic.

* * *

There is no one on Earth – or anywhere else, for that matter – whose physiology he is more intimately familiar with than Superman's.

His metrics tell him Superman will survive; experience tells him he will heal quickly.

But it's not just Superman lying there. It's Clark. Clark, drawn and pale even against the sheets, motionless when he should be flying, and his eyes won't open and it's more like death than like sleep—

Breathe. In, out. Meditate. Clark will live.

But.

He's just – he's never seen – not from Clark anyway – he's never seen so much blood.

Comments

[tabru.livejournal.com]

Ahhhhhh! I love how you portray Bruce trying to calm himself down when faced with an injured Clark.

And that chilling last line! Wonderful job! <3

[zolac-no-miko.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I'm glad you liked the last line; that was the first line that got written, I built the rest of the piece around it.

Hahaha appropriate icon is appropriate!

[lilacs-roses.livejournal.com]

Nicely done :)

[zolac-no-miko.livejournal.com]

Thanks! :D

[dizmo]

Oo, bravo! Drabbles can be kind of tricky to get right, and you managed to get it right. *applause!*

[zolac-no-miko.livejournal.com]

Yay, thank you so much! I tend to write a lot of very short pieces, but I never quite manage one hundred words or less, even when a drabble is what I'm aiming for. But I was short on time and I thought that trying to tell a story in exactly one hundred words would be an interesting challenge. I'm so glad it worked for you! I'm pretty pleased with the result myself. ^_^

[eternal-moonie.livejournal.com]

Absolutely LOVE this!

[zolac-no-miko.livejournal.com]

Yay! I'm so glad!

[bradygirl_12]

Packs a punch! Excellent job. That last line is chilling.

[zolac-no-miko.livejournal.com]

Eeeeee, hurray, I'm glad it's so effective! Thank you!

The last line's my favorite part, I wrote it first and built the rest of the piece around it.

[saavikam77.livejournal.com]

Oh, Bruce! *hugs him* He'd definitely have a hard time learning that panic, fear, and grief don't exactly follow logic, and especially where love is concerned. Poor boys.

[zolac-no-miko.livejournal.com]

He's trained so hard to be able to be in control of himself at all times; it must be so disconcerting to him when that control slips. Thank you so much for commenting!

[isawrightless.livejournal.com]

I loved this! It goes straight to the point and it's sweet because Bruce is worried and there's this whole creepy feeling floating around.

Oh my poor little heart needed this so much! <333

[zolac-no-miko.livejournal.com]

Thank you! :D I'm so glad!

[trista-zevkia.livejournal.com]

Poor Bruce! The brain vrs the heart is his biggest fight;) This is so great, and scrolling down to leave a comment, I find I love your icons too!

[zolac-no-miko.livejournal.com]

I'm glad you enjoyed!

Haha, thank you! I'm quite pleased with my collection of DC icons. ^_^

[mithen.livejournal.com]

Oh, oh, oh. That's a devastating use of the one-word paragraph, that But. What a gut-punch.

His metrics tell him Superman will survive; experience tells him he will heal quickly.

Oh man, I always love that tension in Bruce/Batman between his brilliant, logical mind, and his passionate heart. The moments when they conflict are always the most fraught, and you've captured that so well, with such economical grace. How did you get so much into 100 words! Damn, good drabble writers always awe the hell out of me. Thank you so much!

[zolac-no-miko.livejournal.com]

=^_^= I'm so pleased you like it! This was actually kind of an experiment for me... I have a tendency to do short pieces, but I'm usually not able to confine myself to a proper, 100-word drabble. I decided to give it a try this week, and I'm quite happy with how it turned out.

You're welcome! ^_^

[kojonoyuri.livejournal.com]

Chilling and so powerful in so few words!

Great job!

[zolac-no-miko.livejournal.com]

'Chilling' seems to be a common reaction... guess I must be doing something right! ^_^

Thanks, I'm glad you enjoyed it!

[angelinachaser7.livejournal.com]

Poor Bruce, to see someone you care about hurt and even though he knows Clark will be alright, he still worries about him, especially considering that last line. Such a lovely little piece of fic, thanks for sharing :D

[zolac-no-miko.livejournal.com]

:D Thanks for the lovely comment, and thanks for reading!

[niftywithan.livejournal.com]

I love that you manage to pack such an emotional punch into so few words! This line in particular really got me:

...motionless when he should be flying...

Oh, Bruce. ♥

Really nice job!

[zolac-no-miko.livejournal.com]

Ahhh, thank you! =^_^=

Yes, doesn't it just seem so unnatural for Superman to be lying still and motionless when he's usually full of so much power and energy?

(I love your icon, btw, it's way cute!)

[kainnero.livejournal.com]

It really is creepy when Superman is hurt!

[zolac-no-miko.livejournal.com]

I know, doesn't it just seem... wrong? Like it's breaking some natural law of the universe?

Thanks for reading!