(Dated May 6th, For Cissie) A Quiet Birthday

[slowspeedster]

When Cissie had mentioned wanting to spend her birthday just the two of them, Bart had originally agreed without hesitation. He enjoyed spending time with her, more than strictly as friends, but that wasn't what made him nervous. He didn't really have anything special to give her besides an afternoon together and a picnic dinner. He knew just where they'd go, too. There was this great cliff above one of the beaches that would let them sit and watch the sun set over the water.

Sure, it was romantic, but that wasn't the point. They did these things because they finally had the time to actually stay still and appreciate them. Like riding fictional birds along the beach to get there, too. He loved the chocobos, and he and Cissie had fought their only real island mission from one. Things hadn't started there, but they'd bonded over that, and that Cissie could pick up her bow when she wanted to and still put it down again. He'd never asked her to be Arrowette here, and he sure wasn't Impulse or Kid Flash.

For the first time in their lives, they were just...them. And that was always worth celebrating.

As they reached the spot, he realized he'd been stupid not to come out here first with the blanket and basket that he had on the saddle behind him, but it was too late now. At least they didn't have to tie up the chocobos like horses, since they'd stay close or, at worst, return to the stable. One of the small ways they were different.

"I, uh, still need to set things up," he said, sheepishly, as he dismounted. "But, well, Happy Birthday."

Comments

[arrowette]

Cissie grinned happily as she hopped off Cloud. She'd suffered all kinds of teasing from everyone about this thing, but it was worth it. It wasn't that she didn't want to celebrate with her other friends because she did - it was just that she wanted to spend some private time with one of her best friends in all the world.

She flew over to Bart and hugged him enthusiastically. "Thank you! You're really awesome, you know that?"

[slowspeedster.livejournal.com]

Bart squeezed her back, startled to actually be looking down at her. "It's what you asked for," he responded, grinning.

"I'm not great at planning real parties, anyways."

[arrowette]

Cissie looked up at Bart, marveling yet again that he was now taller than her. It was something she had noticed in dance class, to be sure, but she was always more concerned with remembering the steps and trying not to stare too hard. Only when they were just doing ordinary things did the whole tallness thing sink in.

"Parties are okay and all, but this is so much better! We can have our picnic and no one around to make comments or anything. I like this."

[slowspeedster.livejournal.com]

"They'll just make the comments when we get back," Bart teased. Before he could really think about it, he reached up and brushed a stray lock of hair off her face.

"I get to hang out with one of my best friends, though. It's worth it."

[arrowette]

She ducked her head and blushed, despite her best efforts not to. So, okay, she did really like Bart but it was stupid to get all caught up when he did things like that because a) he regularly did stuff like that and b) they'd already had the discussion and they weren't going to be anything but friends. Wanting things to be otherwise was asking for trouble because it was never going to happen.

"Yeah well, they can just bite me because we're having an awesome picnic and they can't."

[slowspeedster.livejournal.com]

His brow furrowed slightly at the blush, but he drew his hand back. They'd agreed not to be more than friends, not to ruin what they had. Bart meant to stick by that.

"Never mind that sunsets are automatically romantic? I like them because we never really did sit and do stuff like this back home. There never seemed to be the time."

[arrowette]

"Or if we tried, something always happened," Cissie said, sticking her hands in her pockets to keep from reaching for his hand. "It's, you know, really kind of nice to just do all these normal things like normal people do. Like you said, we never could before."

[slowspeedster.livejournal.com]

"What's normal? For us, we weren't atypical of our type. We just had ways we expected to spend our time that didn't normally include going to the mall or hanging out," Bart said, grinning.

"I'm beginning to think normal is an idealized concept with no grounding in reality."

[arrowette]

"Okay, you have a point," Cissie conceded with a rueful grin. Asides from the fact they had been barely tolerated by the Justice League, they really had been normal for superheroing teenagers so that was something.

"See, I just remember someone once saying that they were normal, it was the rest of the world that was weird," she teased. "When did you change your mind?"

[slowspeedster.livejournal.com]

"After reading far too many psychology books to keep my head straight," Bart replied, reaching over to punch her lightly in the shoulder. "And I don't know about you, but I'm hungry."

[arrowette]

Cissie just laughed and shrugged off the punch. She was tempted to ruffle his hair in retaliation but if she did that, that would probably start a whole round of teasing and she was hungry.

"I'm starving," she said. "Let's eat!"

[slowspeedster.livejournal.com]

"Then you take the basket and I'll spread the blanket," Bart said, smiling. He wanted to spend time with her, he just kept questioning his motives as to why.

Sure, they could have just sat on the grass, but that wasn't the point. This was a picnic, and that required a nice blanket to cover the ground.

[arrowette]

"You went all out for this," Cissie said as she peered into the basket out and waiting for Bart to finish spreading the blanket out. "Seriously, I think this is the best birthday ever."

[slowspeedster.livejournal.com]

"How could I do anything less?" Bart replied, grinning as he tweaked a corner to lie flat. "Remember what I said. You'll always be part of this family, even if Arrowette never shows her mask again."

[arrowette]

There was a time when Cissie would have said there was absolutely no way that Arrowette was ever coming back. She was less sure of that now, some part of that thanks to the discussion she had with Emma but that was neither here nor there right now. It wasn't as if her masked alterego was even needed here.

"That really means a lot to me," she said quietly. "I spent a lot of time wondering if giving Arrowette meant I was giving up all my friends."

[slowspeedster.livejournal.com]

"You think I'd pull someone halfway around the universe because we used to be friends?" Bart pointed out. Then he grinned. "We're a hell of a lot more than friends, Ciss."

[arrowette]

That wasn't what he meant. That couldn't be what he meant. They were more then friends, yeah. They were teammates. Family. Bart didn't mean that they were dating or anything because they weren't. All the same, she couldn't help a flush as she dropped to the blanket and looked up at him, unconsciously biting her lower lip. "I guess we kind of are, yeah."

[slowspeedster.livejournal.com]

Bart wanted to say more, but he didn't know how. They weren't dating, even if everyone seemed to think so. This was just...what she'd wanted for a birthday present.

"Even if Kon thinks I'm an idiot," he muttered. Just because he liked Cissie didn't mean she felt anything similar.

[arrowette]

"Why does he think you're an idiot?" Cissie frowned. "Because I'm pretty sure Kon has absolutely no room to talk about being one, you know."

[slowspeedster.livejournal.com]

"Because I made the mistake of telling him I, uh, really like you," Bart said, unable to meet her eyes. "But I won't do anything that would spoil our friendship."

[arrowette]

For a moment, Cissie couldn't do anything but stare at him in shock. She and Cassie had talked about this, of course but she had always insisted that he didn't feel anything but friendship for her. To hear that she was wrong threw everything out of order and for a moment, she was scared.

But if they felt the same way about each other...then maybe, maybe it wouldn't be bad to try, especially if they kept in mind about keeping their friendship. It had taken her a long time to come to this point, but she did love Bart and she wanted to be with him. It was simple as that.

She bit her lip then slowly reached for his hand. "What if... what if I said I liked you too? Like that?"

[slowspeedster.livejournal.com]

"Then...I don't know. I don't want to try doing more and then end up being one of those couples who end up hating each other and fighting all the time," he admitted. And he'd never really had a successful relationship.

But he took her hand in his, thumb idly rubbing across the back of it.

[arrowette]

"Me neither," Cissie admitted, tightening her grip on his hand. "But we like being with each other, right? And, you know, maybe it counts for something that we were friends for so long first."

[slowspeedster.livejournal.com]

"Right. And I'm trying not to be, well, impulsive," Bart responded. "So, uh..."

This was so awkward. Probably because they were such good friends. There's always been so much casual touching between them that had only recently became awkward.

[arrowette]

"Does anything really have to change? I mean, we can do everything we've been doing before, can't we?" She inched a little closer, still keeping hold of his hand. "We wouldn't have to pretend anymore."

She paused for a moment and laughed. "Maybe I can stop tripping over you in dance class now. That'd be a first, wouldn't it?"

[slowspeedster.livejournal.com]

"And I might be able to do the same," Bart admitted, and shifted so he could put his arm around her, barely letting go for an instant. "We don't even have to say it, right? Everyone already assumes."

[arrowette]

Cissie leaned against him with a happy sigh, feeling absolutely content. She didn't need to tell herself not to feel that way anymore and that was a pretty fantastic feeling. "As long as we both know and are okay, then it's good. That's what I think."

[slowspeedster.livejournal.com]

"Then we're good," Bart said, and reached to pull the basket closer. "How do you feel about candle-free birthday cake? Because I didn't really know where to get candles."

[arrowette]

"I feel pretty okay about it," Cissie grinned. This was really turning into the best birthday ever, no two ways about it. "Candles are cool, sure, but it's really the cake that makes the birthday, you know. And wonderful friends."

[slowspeedster.livejournal.com]

"Kon would probably insist that birthday spankings make it in there, but we all know somebody dropped his test tube while they were making him," Bart said, grinning back.

[arrowette]

Cissie just snorted in response. "Let him find his own birthday girl," she said. "This one is just staying here and demanding cake and maybe some birthday kisses."