Work Text:
Comfortember 2023: Day 6
More Than A Stack Of Papers
Prompt: Notes
Clark hated having to leave his mate alone. News needed reporting and lives needed saving though. As much as he would love to spend his days at home with Bruce and their growing kits, he had to leave sometimes. He knew logically Bruce was safe. Alfred and the boys made sure of that. Still, to ease his mind just a little bit more, he decided to offer his mate some extra reassurance when he wasn’t there. Proof that he loved him and was thinking of him.
He left notes.
Sometimes they’d be long. Sometimes they’d be as short as three words. Sometimes it would be a poem he found, sometimes a quote from a movie or book. More often than not, they’d be little words of admiration.
I love you.
I miss you.
You have a beautiful smile.
Your eyes shine like stars.
Seeing you is the best part of my day.
It was cliche. It was cheesy. Bruce would surely grumbled and grouse if he said half of them in person. However, it made him feel better. Leaving his mate with words that showed he was loved and missed whenever they were apart.
The first few times he did it, Bruce didn’t mention the notes when he returned. Clark didn’t mind. Maybe Bruce didn’t see them or maybe he forgot about it during the day? When two weeks passed, he felt a little discouraged. Did the wolf not like the notes? Had something he said accidentally offended him?
Still, he pressed on with his new hobby. Coming up with newer and more creative things to say.
I love you to the moon and back.
You give me more strength than the sun ever could.
Your heartbeat is my favourite sound in the world.
Eventually, when a month passed with no reaction, he began to suspect that maybe the notes didn’t mean as much to Bruce as they did to Clark. That was okay. His mate had a lot going on. He was carrying four kits after all. Even if the rejection of his little gesture stung, he could deal with it.
It was a normal morning in the manor when things changed.
Bruce woke up with the return of the morning sickness. They’d found balancing a diet to suit both the kits and pups was very difficult to manage and equally important in staving off the nausea. Clark offered to strip the nest while Bruce washed up. Only the top two layers really needed replacing but he thought it best to have it all washed, just in case any lingering smell set Bruce off again. It was as he dismantled the base of the nest that he found them.
Every little note, letter and poem he had written, lovingly and carefully hidden amongst the bottom of the nest. He pulled them out one by one, reading each one and catching brief hints of the wolf’s scent on the papers.
“I wanted to surprise you.”
Turning around, he found Bruce leaning naked against the doorframe to the ensuite, one hand cupping the baby bump absentmindedly. Freshly showered, teeth brushed and looking far healthier than he had an hour ago. The omega watched on with a fond smile as he looked at the stack of papers. “I planned to put them into a little scrapbook and show it to you after the pups are born. A little way to show you how much I love each and every one.”
Clark felt choked up as the weight of this revelation fully sunk in. Not wanting to cry in front of Bruce over some silly notes, he chose to try for a joke instead. “You thought of that idea?”
Bruce chuckled, stepping over to snuggle against the Kryptonian. “Well, Tim might have suggested it but I did agree it was a nice gesture.”
The two stayed like that for several blissful moments, swaying to an invisible song and getting their fill of each other before they would have to part ways for the day. Clark wanted to leave the conversation at that, knew he probably should even, but he couldn’t. “I thought you didn’t like them?”
Bruce pulled away, one hand still absentmindedly stroking one of Clark’s speckled bunny ears. “Why would you think that?”
Too late to drop it now. Clark answered with a soft whine. “You never said anything.”
To his surprise, Bruce looked confused. Then slightly stricken. “Clark…I’m sorry.” The omega whispered guiltily, moving past the closet to take a seat on the bed. “You never told me about the notes, so I thought it was a kind of ‘no words needed, actions only’ situation. Besides, I thought you knew I loved them.”
Clark’s mind struggled to process the change of events as he moved to sit next to his husband. “You…”
Bruce grinned ruefully, taking the notes gently from Clark’s hands. “I’m not always best with words but I know how much you love to cuddle, so I made sure we spent more time cuddling in the nest after you came home. I hate those reality TV shows you adore so much but made sure we watched one each night anyway, just to see you smile. The little, unspoken gestures that say ‘I love you’, right?”
Clark felt so stupid. Bruce had been making an effort to show his love in return all along, just in his own way, and Clark had missed it.
Bruce sighed, leaning forward to press a teasing kiss to his lips. “Come here you silly bunny. If those things didn’t prove how much I love your notes, then I can think of something that will.”
Clark’s ears perked at the seductive tone, all talks of love letters and TV shows forgotten, as he allowed the wolf to pull him down onto the bed. He could get away with being an hour late to work, right?
……
The next morning, as he dressed for work, he found a small hand-written note in his pocket.
Your notes mean far more to me than a stack of papers.
Clark rumbled in delight as he returned the precious message to his pocket, heart singing as he made his way to Metropolis.