Work Text:
When Artemis came home, Wally was lounging on the couch. He wasn’t asleep, wasn’t watching television or studying. He was just sitting. Quietly.
This in of itself was weird. Wally lived up to the speedster name in practically every fashion. He talked fast, thought fast, and he was almost always moving.
“Hey babe,” she said, locking the apartment door behind her. “Is everything okay?”
He hardly moved, just turned his head slowly, a grin blossoming across his features. “Artemis,” he said. “Hey.” The last word was drawn out, and sluggish, and she felt certain something wasn’t right.
She kicked off her boots, and dropped her bag at the door, before making her way across their apartment to sit next to him. He put his head on her shoulder, and Artemis reached out of his wrist, subtly checking his pulse.
“Hey,” he said again, and brushed his lips across the underside of her jaw.
She smiled down at him, quietly counting his heartbeat. It was steady, but slow. She released his wrist and twisted on the couch, drawing her legs up underneath her so she could face him.
“What happened?” she asked.
Wally shrugged and snuggled deeper into her embrace. Artemis wrapped her arm around his shoulder, and propped him up more before he could slide down and rest his head in her lap.
“Seriously, Wally,” she said. “Did something happen?”
He shrugged again, slowly, and she could see him struggling to sit up straight. “Hal gave me something,” he said. The words came out of his mouth like molasses.
Artemis sat upright. “Wally!” she said, and caught him around the waist to stop him from toppling over. “What was it?” she asked. “When was he here? For the love of all that is good, why did you eat it?”
Wally just looks at her for several long moments. It was like he was trying to process her words, but his brain was working at half speed.
“I’m not sure,” he said.
Artemis waited to see if he was going to say anything else.
“That’s it?” she prompted, and he shrugged.
She pushed him gently aside, and reached for her phone, thumbing through the contact list before landing on Hal’s name. She pressed send, and listened to the phone ring. And ring. And ring. Finally it went to voicemail.
Artemis resisted the urge to throw her phone across the room. Whenever anyone needed Hal he was suddenly AWOL. Artemis scrolled through her phone again, only hesitating a moment before calling Barry.
It rang twice before he picked up.
“Artemis?” he asked. “Is everything okay?”
She paused for a moment before answering. “I’m not sure,” she finally said. “I came home from class, and Wally was just sitting on the couch quietly. He said Hal gave him something, and he seems really out of it. I tried to call Hal, but he didn’t pick up, and I’m worried.”
Beside her, Wally pushed his forehead into her shoulder. “Is that Barry?” he asked asked. “Hi Barry.”
On the other end, Barry laughed. “Oh shit,” he said. “Yeah, I know what Hal gave him.”
“What?” Artemis asked, when he didn’t explain further.
“To put it simply? Space booze.”
Artemis pulled her cell away from her ear to stare at it. Then she stared at Wally for a moment, before bringing the phone back up. “What?” she asked.
Barry laughed again. “There’s a fancy name, which I can’t remember, but basically it’s booze. From space. He brings it to Justice League parties sometimes, and it’s basically the only thing I can get drunk off of.”
Artemis glared at Wally again, and he had the good sense to look a little sheepish.
“I’m not sure why he gave it to Wally though.”
Artemis had a few choice thoughts about that, but she kept them to herself.
Barry coughed on the other end. “Listen,” he said somewhat awkwardly. “There’s a certain... aphrodisiastic side effect that I feel morally obligated though completely familially embarrassed to tell you about.”
“What,” she said, her voice completely devoid of inflection.
Barry laughed awkwardly. “Yep, have fun with that gotta go bye.” The words came out fast and jumbled, inhumanly so. Artemis cursed her relation to speedsters, as she stared at her now disconnected phone.
She turned her attention to Wally. He was still pressed up against her side, and it looked like he was trying to make himself as small and unobtrusive as possible. “I’m going to kill you,” she said.
He smiled slow and lazy up at her, and despite her best intentions, she felt her stomach drop. She knew that smile. She was intimately acquainted with that smile.
He put his hand on her knee and squeezed. Artemis felt a familiar longing for him, and she leaned down and kissed the top of his head, before resting her cheek against his hair. They sat like that for several long moments, the only movement between the two of them was Wally drawing idly circles on her thigh with the tips of his fingers.
“Hey,” she said eventually, shifting so she could hold his face in her hands.
He turned his eyes toward hers, and Artemis searched his gaze. He was hazy, his focus going from her eyes down to her lips and throat, and then up again.
“Hey,” she said again. “Look at me, Wally.” He did. “That’s good,” she said. “That’s great. I need you to tell me you’re okay, and that you know where you are.”
He smiled at her, and it held none of the earlier promise. It was just a happy smile, a safe smile. It wasn’t until she saw that look on his face that she knew they’d really be okay. She let out a shaky breath.
“I’m okay,” he told her, his words still coming out slow. He didn’t sound like himself, but when he leaned forward and pressed his mouth lightly against her own, it was familiar and comforting.
“Okay,” she said, and took his hand. They walked together into the bedroom.
Artemis led Wally over to the bed, and sat him down on the edge. She crouched down in front of him and pulled his socks off one at a time. Wally watched her, head bowed, as she efficiently stripped off his pants, then hers. All that done, she climbed into bed beside him, and lay her head on his chest.
She listened to his heart beat for what felt like a long time. They could stay like this, she thought. They could stay like this, together, until whatever it was Hal had given Wally worked its way out of his system, and they’d be okay.
Wally’s hand was running up and down her spine slowly.
She could still vividly remember the first time they had sex. It was a disaster. It was awkward, sweaty (and not in the fun way), and when it was over, they lay next to each other, the sound of their harsh breathing the only thing that broke up the silence.
After a moment, Wally put both hands over his face and let out a long, strangled moan.
Artemis laughed, and it broke the tension. She rolled over, and propped her chin on his chest, and he smiled at her.
“Sorry,” he said.
She hadn’t orgasmed, and she was still feeling vaguely horny, and uncomfortable. Wally had come just when it started to feel nice, and she didn’t know what to say.
“I can do better,” he promised, and reached out to touch her again.
He fingered her, and it was good, but after a while she just felt uncomfortable. She wasn’t close to coming, and she wanted him to stop. She pushed on his wrist.
“What’s wrong?” he asked. There was a small furrow between his eyebrows.
“Nothing,” she said. “I just want to stop.”
“But you didn’t...” he trailed off, gesturing awkwardly between them, and Artemis didn’t know what to say.
“It’s okay.”
Wally frowned again, but lay down next to her. It felt like forever until she could fall asleep.
After that, things between them were fine. They continued to have sex, and sometimes she could come, but more often than not she wouldn’t. She liked it best when he used his mouth or his fingers (god, his hands...), but most of the time when they were having sex she felt too shy and awkward to ask for what she really wanted.
It left them both feeling frustrated.
“I think we should talk,” Artemis said, three weeks later.
Wally looked stricken.
“I want--” she paused, shook her head. “I want you to go down on me,” she said, blushing hotly.
Wally let out a harsh breath.
“Yeah,” he said. “Yeah, I can do that.”
“And I want,” she hurried on. “I like it when you use your hands when we have sex.” She blushed again, or rather, her face felt entirely red, and hot.
Wally inched closer to her on the bed where they were sitting. “Yeah,” he said. “Yeah, Artemis, I like that too. I like making you feel good, you’re so hot.” He kissed her neck and pushed her down into the mattress.
They were better at talking, after that.
Now, she was lying in the crook of Wally’s shoulder, his fingers still tracing idyl patterns on her back, and she wanted him to talk to her.
“How do you feel?” she asked him, raising her head to look at him.
“Good,” he said. The word was quiet, and it flowed out over the both of them. “Really good, Artemis.” There was a quiet desperation, an urgency to his voice that was familiar to her.
“What happened?” she asked, hoping that he could or would be more forthcoming about what had brought this on. “Why did you...” She wasn’t sure how to finish her question.
He shrugged, and the hand on her back was firm now. He trailed the fingers of his other hand down her side and over her torso, exploring the familiar territory.
“Nothing happened,” he said. “I just wanted to...” He struggled for words for a moment. “Relax. Stop thinking for a little bit.”
She nodded. “Okay,” she said. “You know I love you, right?” she asked.
He kissed her cheek, her nose, her forehead, and then dropped a slow, lingering kiss on her lips, opening his mouth against hers. She gasped into it, and he sucked her tongue into his mouth.
“Yeah,” he whispered.
He rolled over onto her body, pressing her down into her down into her bed, and she spread her legs automatically, making a space for him. He was hard against her. She tilted her head back when Wally nudged against her jaw. He kissed the exposed skin on her throat, and it was warm and languid.
She put her palms flat on his back, enjoying the shift of his muscles underneath the skin. When he turned his head, she met him in a kiss that was dirty and wet, and Artemis couldn’t help but moan into his mouth as his hands trailed over her stomach and breasts. She arched into his touch.
Wally pushed his hands under her shirt, and she lifted her arms and shoulders so he could pull the garment up and off. She shivered when the air hit her skin, but the sheets were warm underneath her, and Wally was hot above her. He dropped his mouth to her chest, sucking and biting along her collarbone and the top of her breasts.
She curved her back up, and reached behind her to unclasp her bra. The straps fell loose and down her shoulders before Wally pulled it away and threw it somewhere over his shoulder. She twisted her fingers into his hair, and he turned his mouth back towards her skin. She shuddered as his tongue made a long, wet trail from her breast to under her jaw. He sucked lightly at the delicate skin there, and Artemis pulled on his hair.
“Wally,” she said. “Tell me, tell me you’re okay.”
He leaned back far enough to meet her eyes, and smiled. “I’m amazing,” he said. Kissed her once, quick on the mouth. “You’re amazing.”
She moved her hands from his hair, and pulled on the collar of his shirt until he ducked his head and slid free. She pressed down on his shoulders, and he kissed her again, moved slow and sure down her body. He kissed the side of her breast before sucking hard on her nipple, and she gasped loudly.
He moved his hands down to her waist, holding her firmly against the mattress as he kissed and sucked on her skin. She tried to press up into his touch, but she was pinned. He teased her nipples for several long moments, and she continued to writhe against the sheets. Sweat gathered in the dip of her throat, at the base of her spine, and she panted as he continued to alternate soft licks around her areola, and hard, jerking sucks on her nipples.
“Oh god, Wally,” she gasped.
He pressed his nose into the flat surface between her breasts, before travelling down her body. His hands were still firmly on her hips, and she laughed breathlessly as he kissed her stomach lightly. He bit, hard, on the skin by her hip, and she tried to buck up, but he held her down, sure and steady.
She glared down at him, and he just smiled slow and lazy. Their lovemaking usually had more of a competitive streak to it. They would wrestle, and roll around on the mattress, jostling for who got to be on top. Their bodies were familiar, and known, conversing in a language shared between the two of them.
This was different.
Wally was both not himself, and more of himself. His movements, were confident, sure. He was quiet, steady. He was warm. He was safe. She arched her back, urging him to shed the barrier of her panties between them. Instead, he pressed his face against the damp fabric, and she moaned loudly, when he scraped the blunt of his teeth over her pelvis.
“Off, off,” she chanted.
Instead, he pushed the fabric aside with his hands, and stroked his fingers along her damp folds. His forearm pressed down across her lower belly and hips holding her cruelly in place, and then he fucked slowly into her with two fingers, scissoring them apart when they were all the way inside her. She watched his head tip forward, and his mouth joined where his hand was, licking between his fingers.
“Holy fuck,” she moaned.
The arm that was holding her in place released her briefly to strip her underwear down and off her legs, and she bucked her hips up into his face when his tongue slipped as deeply into her as he could manage.
The air around them seemed to shift, and Wally groaned against her flesh. His fingers jerked inside her, and then crooked up. He sucked almost savagely on her clit, and Artemis never stood a chance against this. Against him. Her whole body clenched tight around him. She came.
Wally fucked her through it with two fingers, and his mouth on her, winding her back up before she really had the chance to come down in the first place. She tugged on his hair, and then again harder when he didn’t move. He groaned again, and swirled his tongue around her clit once, twice, before climbing back up her body. He stopped briefly to suck at each of her nipples, then bit her chin, before kissing her mouth.
The kiss was wet, hard, and fast. His cock was hot against her hip through his boxers, and she slid her hands down his back, and under the fabric, pushing it over and down his hips. He rutted hard against her thigh, whining in the back of his throat, and when she reached between them to hold him, his hips bucked forward into the loose circle of her fist.
“I want,” he panted. “Oh god, Artemis, I wanna fuck you,” he said. His voice was deep, and scratchy.
“Yeah, yeah,” she urged. “Come on, Wally, come on.”
She spread her legs for him again, his dick still in her hand. She guided him into her, and his fingers bit into the flesh at her hips, and he fucked into her fast and hard.
“Oh shit,” he said, and dropped his head into the crook of her neck. “Oh shit, oh fuck, Artemis, yeah, yeah,” he panted. She felt it in her skin, in her whole body.
He released her hips, and slipped one hand down under her knee, hiking her leg up and over his waist. Everything was hot. She could hear their bodies clapping together, her entire body was covered in a heavy sheen of sweat, and her hands slipped on his shoulders, trying to get a steady grip.
She reached down between them to touch herself. She was close, so close, but Wally batted her hands away, and grabbed them in one of his holding them above her head. He smiled at her, and rubbed tight circles with his fingers around her clit. She gasped, and clamped her legs down hard around him, and came again.
He continued to move inside her, hard and fast. His hands letting go of her own, and skimming over her arms, her shoulders, her breasts, her belly, and hips, and she strained her neck up, so she could kiss him. She sucked his tongue into her mouth, and he dropped to his elbows. His hips pumped once, twice, three more times, and then she felt him coming inside her in a rush.
They lay together with just the sound of their own harsh breathing in darkness.
After a minute, her leg started to cramp, and she pushed gently on his shoulders. He rolled to his side, and she sprawled on top of him.
When she opened her eyes it was completely dark in their room, and Artemis’ back was cold. The clock on their bedside table read just after four in the morning, and she shifted so she could reach for their blankets, pulling them up and over her shoulders.
Wally mumbled sleepily next to her, and she pressed a kiss to the exact centre of his chest before falling back asleep.
The next time she woke, it was light out, and Wally was running his hand over her clavicle. She smiled before opening her eyes.
“That tickles,” she said.
He kissed her shoulder. “No, it doesn’t.”
“It’s a good tickle,” she said, blinking awake.
His eyes were laughing, but he only pulled on her arm, so he could bury his head in her shoulder, squishing her boob. His fingers trailed over her chest, and arms, drawing up goosebumps.
“Are you okay?” she asked him. “You were kind of... intense last night,” she paused. “A bit out of it.”
He shook his head. “No,” he said. “I mean, I’m fine. I wasn’t... I was myself, Artemis,” he told her. “It wasn’t like being drunk, it was like,” he paused. “It was like everything was moving at a manageable pace, and my mind was just clear. Quiet. It was...”
He didin’t finish. Whatever it was, she could tell it had worn off, because his hands were flexing and moving on her body, and even though his eyes were closed they were shifting back and forth beneath his eyelids. The quiet hum she had always associated with him was back. She hadn’t even realised it had been gone last night until now.
Wally looked happy, relaxed. Quiet. Content. She felt his warmth and presence next to her, and she felt all those things too. She squeezed his shoulder, and kissed the top of his head.
He smiled, and she felt it against her skin. “Amazing,” he said, and laughed.