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[cohero]

[the moment for whatever it was worth, a million stars on a lonely night cast across a galaxy held within the arms of infinity, or maybe only the lone sound of a saxaphone playing through a dirty crime filled city to minions that will never care-- whatever it was worth, it lingered and bred a seed of something deeper within Dick, a something he didn't care to look at or really even want. And yet, it curled like the steam around them as lip tasted lip in that soft, sympathetic touch.

Inhaling deeply, Dick curled his fingers around Bruce's hips and held him near while their foreheads met in quiet contemplation. It settled, and Dick tipped his head forward, brushing their lips together again, and once more, measuring a compassion he hadn't thought to offer before when his mouth parted this time. It wasn't as needy or desperate, merely warm and inviting.

It was as if the spray of water that surrounded them had opened up another set of arms, and recreated it in the form of a body that tenderly wrapped itself around Bruce inch by inch, in a terribly slow fashion. Nothing was hurried, and nothing gained momentum other than the sighs and weighted feelings that came undone in that small glass cage that held them in a tenuous exchange as the physical evidence of their earlier pleasures washed away.

[batsymbol]

( a moment like this feels dangerous, almost. it's one thing to be physically close to another — to indulge in desires that are carnal at the very root of it. but this... these touches, soft as they are, and the way he finds himself leaning into the warmth of the other man there with him beneath the water falling down around them... it might hurt to lose this. if he lets himself fall into it too much. fall into dick.

fall into this.

he noses at dick. slow and soft. lips barely there over his again before he tilts his head away from the other man. pad of a thumb slowly brushing over a scar dick wears across his skin. blue eyes watching the way he gently drags his thumb down. he's like him in this way. wearing scars so few get to see across skin... and the ones beneath, angry and deep across the soul, even fewer get to see. )

How late do you usually get up?

( because lord knows they're not always up at the crack of dawn when they're constantly working nights. )

[cohero]

[Lingering tides that come in from the shore, captured and kept. Dick knows what is and what was shared between them is impossibly dangerous, and it's the kind of thing that can easily be taken at any moment's notice. Before the night started, Dick did his best to guard against the searing pain that would eventually come and mark another scar somewhere deep inside him. It was an eventuality, and he'd figured that it would come one day, especially once Bruce had taken him, had filled him. Dick knew there was no coming back from that.

Now is no different. He took watches as Bruce traces a thumb down his scar, thinking about how similar they are. Dick takes his own index finger and marks a wound on Bruce's shoulder, shorter, more distinct and fresher, he's certain. It's still there, they both know the marks from blade and loss. Everyone hurts them, and they all leave. Inevitability, all of it.

The question brings his head up.]

I don't have anything important in the morning, so it'll happen when it does. It's not late now, so it won't be late morning. Maybe eight? I can get up earlier if you wish.

[batsymbol]

I was just wondering.

( words soft under the shower spray, there's the gentle nosing between them that comes again, lashes dark and thick with eyes falling shut. he'll hate to leave this — this warmth from both the shower and the man with him, but. eventually, they'll need to get out. eventually, they'll fall asleep. eventually, he'll leave in the morning.

it's partly why he'd asked when dick was going to be getting up. thinking... maybe it might be better for him to leave before the other wakes. that it would be easier for the both of them, but. what does he know? it's not as if he's routinely found in such a situation that he has it down to a science with how to go about it. maybe he won't. maybe he will. he'll figure it out whenever he wakes.

letting himself pull back some, he swipes his tongue over his bottom lip — a flick of his head as a means to get the water out of his face. hair sticking wet to his forehead and temples. )

Food should be here soon.

[cohero]

It's no trouble.

[Inhale and then exhale. There's got to be a strategy to this, to intimacy to this desire to keep someone near even when Dick doesn't know how long he gets it for. There's more. Dick wants to continue to talk, to keep their bodies naked and alive, touching here and there -- so that it doesn't stop for as long as he can.

Maybe he shouldn't have mentioned food, but the truth was they had to eat. Even now his stomach turns over and announces its presence. He chuckles and runs a hand along Bruce's hip and along the curve of his ass. He noses a last lingering kiss to the base of the other man's neck, right there at the crease, far below his ear. ]

Yeah, I guess I should throw on a robe and go to the front door to get it. We can eat it naked in bed if you want. It would make Alfred throw a fit, but he's not here. It's just us. Or, you can get the other robe hanging on the rack next to the towels.

[Cupping Bruce's face one final time, Dick leans over and kisses him lightly and then leaves the shower. He uses one of the warm towels to dry off and then dresses in the robe and heads off to get the Chinese from the front door, and some bottles of water from the kitchen.

Reappearing, he sets it all on the bed, plates, silverware and the like as well, in case they want to be formal and not just dig all the food out of the containers like Dick normally does.]

[batsymbol]

( this moment was sure to end. bruce knows it. he knows dick knows it, too. regardless of how much time spent here — together — in the warmth they've found within both each other and the confines of the shower, it'll never be enough.

bruce opts for the robe when the suggestion is made and takes his time to dry himself off after dick leaves him to address the food situation. he stands there. alone. staring to the blurred reflection of himself in the fogged mirror he stands in front of. there's that part of him that wonders what he's doing— it would make alfred throw a fit dick had said in regards to food, but bruce tacks it onto if he knew about this. about them. what had transpired above sheets that have now been changed.

tying the robe at his waist, he joins the other man there in the bedroom and stands for a moment. quiet. thinking. if one knows bruce, they know that expression he gets on his face when he's slipping into whatever thought is nagging at him. granted, he's not liable to talk about it, but. that's bruce wayne for you. )

Silverware?

( the word comes out soft as he pads his way to the bed. )

Getting fancy on me.

[cohero]

[No matter what Dick knows, he's still going to expand on a hope that one day their shared experiences will bring them back to this and to the space where they find a common ground that doesn't continue to break with a myriad of spiraling thoughts upon the morning light, which is always far, far too bright for them both. Dick may be better aquainted with it than Bruce is currently, but that doesn't mean he always was.

It certainly doesn't mean he still doesn't see better in the dark. In fact when the food is brought in, the only light that Dick leaves on is one in the hall that casts a dim shadow across the room allowing them a slightly better vantage of the bed and the various types of food. It's really only on out there even in case a grain of rice gets wildly out of hand, obviously.

Dick takes his time to watch Bruce gather himself, enjoying the view of the wet man tying a robe around himself. It leaves bits partially exposed, and bits of chest showing-- and is rather enticing all in itself. Dick smirks, and then laughs at the thought of Chinese ever being fancy. ]

Oh yes. I broke out the fancy dishwear. You see these paper plates, and yes, silverware. I thought the wonton soup might go better with a spoon than fingers. I mean, we could pour it down our gullets, but we might choke on the bigger pieces, and I'm not up for lifesaving measures tonight. All that stuff is in the other room.

[What's funny, is he really does have everything needed to preform minor surgery in a room down the hall, even if he only needed a heimlich maneuver. ]

What do you want first, Eggroll or sweet and sour chicken. I also have lomein, and some spicy shrimp stuff. Crab rangoons, and I think there's even chow mein too. Then two boxes of white rice. I planned for left overs, obviously.

[batsymbol]

( ultimately, he comes to sit down on one side of the bed, leg pressed to the bed while the other dangles off the side. hair damp, he brushes a few strands out of his face as he lets himself take a look at what dick went and ordered for them. )

Sounds like you ordered more than enough.

( given their extensive workout, he knows an appetite has been built, but. still. he finds it... funny. if even to himself. )

Eggroll. ( a beat. ) And sweet and sour chicken.

( even as he makes his decision, he reaches for a paper plate. more than willing to dish himself out some of the dinner that's laid out before them on the bed. what would alfred think? indeed. )

[cohero]

You know that saying about eyes being bigger than the stomach? I think it might have been a case of that. My stomach was starting to eat itself. I feel like I could eat most of this, but I imagine that once I get started I'll wear out once I get a little in me.

[Normally Dick eats ridiculously healthy and it drove the rest of the younger Titans nuts, but tonight was all about splurging. He reaches for a beer he got out, now that all the rest of the alcohol had been pushed from his system. He had water standing by too. He knows that he'll go through a few more bottles of that in between. He can feel the natural dehydration from alcoholic and physical depletion settle in.

Having moved up to the headboard, Dick has a pillow propped up and leans against it as he plates himself some lomein, rice, and an eggroll. He also grabs a few sauce packets to squeeze out. Nothing like a little hot mustard to dip the eggroll into. Grabbing a set of chopsticks, Dick smiles and takes a deep breath.]

Do you have any big plans brewing? Charity or Bat-wise. I know that things haven't been easy for you lately.

[He tips his head, because there's a small disconnect between the past and present and how the wayne fortune that dick handles is different than the one that Bruce currently commands. The current regime doesn't have nearly the reach or the funding yet. He has faith that Bruce will find his stride, but also knows that he needs a lot more time.]

[batsymbol]

Not really.

( the words are soft, bruce taking a moment to help himself to some of the food he has there on his plate. when he remembers to eat — when alfred makes sure he eats, he does. sometimes he just gets too busy to. or sometimes he's not in the mood to, strange as it sounds. still. he's eating now. on the bed. with dick. something he can't ever say he thought would ever happen. then again... this entire night is not anything he thought would ever happen.

and here they are.

he reaches for the water — helps himself to a slow gulp before he's looking over to dick for a moment. )

Still trying to figure that out.

( how to be bruce wayne again, rather than just the batman as he tends to easily slip into. much to alfred's dismay. )

[cohero]

[Took Dick years to realize all the different roles that his mentor actually played, and the work that he put into the portrait of the man he'd become. He was there for some of the earlier years, the darker ones. He'd often see it when his mentor would sequester himself for a month or more on end, never leaving the cave-- going out night after night on some tortured hunt. Some of the biggest fell during those times, and Gotham was saved repeatedly.

More would always come, and come back. If recent events had shown anything, it would show that death was never permanent and the darkest haunts always slipped back in the shadows to rise again. Taking a bite of rice, Dick nodded.]

It's not easy. I'm happy to be taking a short break from anything earth shattering right now. I had too much happen in a row. I don't know how much you caught of the Red Hood incident, but it was a mess. It'll be nice to work by your side when the newest threat shows up.

[Slipping his hand over, he reaches out and slides it along Bruce's leg. He knows that whatever Bruce's next mission is, Dick will make it his as well. ]

I can help with... business and household things. If you want. I don't like a lot of it, hate it, really, but I know how to play the roles. I was.. trained well.

[batsymbol]

( the thing is... bruce still isn't used to working with others. aside from alfred and gordon, though neither of them are typically out in the field with him. gordon, sure. but not always in the ways bruce recklessly does. so when dick goes and shows a sort of eagerness in being there by his side, bruce gently eyes him for a long moment before he goes back to eating. staring at the plate rather than dick or his hand on his leg.

after a moment, he huffs — faint stifle of what could be considered laughter there on his lips as he takes a sip of water. )

I don't make for a great roommate. Even temporarily.

[cohero]

[Dick laughs, truly laughs then. They may have had hot sex and perhaps Dick feels a connection, but he would hardly offer to move back to the mansion or have Bruce live here. He likes his life the way that it is. Dick is only now learning how to live in a world where he's not beholden to someone, living with someone or trying to impress. He's finally his own person, and while he's happy to help to do what needs to be done to further along the life that brought him here. He's not moving backward.

He piles a long stringy bit of lomein into his mouth and shakes his head.]

That's really the last thing I'd want. I don't need any roommates. You can stay over on nights, or visa versa and when missions happen, sometimes it's always easier to crash at the manor, but our rooms are wings apart. No matter what does or doesn't happen with us, I'm not moving backward. I paid all my dues.

[He glances over again.]

I want to help, but that doesn't mean I want more than that. When I said business and household, I meant keeping things running ... nothing more than that.

[batsymbol]

( no matter what does or doesn't happen with us. that's something bruce will have to mull over. or, the more likely scenario, ignore and repress while busying himself with work and whatever else. because that's what bruce does when he doesn't want to really think about — or deal with — anything concerning his own wants and feelings outside of being batman.

the smile he wears is as faint as the laughter that left him and he pokes at his food a bit before he shoves some in his mouth. a means to give him a bit of pause. )

We'll see.

( he finally says and, after a moment, he looks over to the other man there on the bed — lets his gaze soften some as a telltale sign of slipping into thoughts that are currently overtaking him before he snaps himself out of them. )

Come here?

( closer to him, he means. )

[cohero]

That's good enough for me.

[ Dick knows that We'll see is a fairly concrete answer from Bruce and he's content with it. Besides, he made his offer and placed on the ruminating board inside Bruce's overly complex mind. While Dick does a lot of wasting away hours whittling over his own thoughts, he knows he's probably an amateur compared to the other man.

Still, he watches him poke at his food before taking a bite. Dick wears a simple smile as he does, trying to regain control of the emotions that have been trickling out this way and that all night. He's not quite sure he's got a chance of reigning them all back in any longer, and he'll have to figure a way to sit with that, but right now it's not such a great problem.

There's another scoop of noodles that he lets dangle into his mouth, before sipping at water. He's got his head tilted back and mouth around the lip of the bottle when Bruce speaks.]

Sure.

[Moving from the head of the bed, Dick slides up behind Bruce, bending one knee behind him and leaving the other folded along the one that hangs off the bed. It lets their bodies touch in all sorts of ways. Dick lays his chin on Bruce's shoulder, anchoring it forward to dot a kiss on the white fabric of the robe.]

[batsymbol]

( the closeness is not anything he's used to... and not anything he's sure he should get used to, but. that's bruce for you. denying himself even the smallest of things — the smallest of pleasures in life in favor of his mission. of being gotham's dark knight. of being the batman.

the drop of lips to the white fabric is a sweetness that burns him. that makes him feel guilty for having it. not necessarily because of who it comes from. but because there's some part of him that wants this and he knows it.

eyes fall shut. a slight turn of his head towards dick, and a quiet breath leaves him that could be taken for a huff of laughter. )

I was going to kiss you.

( he murmurs, soft. eyes still closed. )

But now I'm not sure.

[cohero]

[Sitting this close, Dick can smell the soap from their shared shower and when he lowers his head to the robe, the enormity of this entire evening engulfs him for a second. A practiced stillness takes over as he sits there and ponders the words that Bruce speaks.

It's a weight that Dick now wonders how he will handle. He asked for this, he wanted this-- he still wants this and he can feel the that small tug of desire that wanders around Bruce, a battle that Dick knows he will fight.

Wondering over the answer for several beats of his heart, he shakes it off and once more hardens his resolve. This is more than worth fighting for. Turning his head towards Bruce, he slides his fingers along a rough jawline and tips it towards him. Leaning in close, Dick's lips graze gently across the ones in front of him, barely touching. ]

How about I start then, and you can figure out if you want to keep going.

[batsymbol]

( he wants to pull away. wants to thank him for the food and for... whatever all this was tonight and disappear into the night as he's known to do. that's what his mind keeps landing on for an outcome of this. for the best outcome of this, but. every time he thinks he starts toward it, he doesn't. it's not so much hesitation as it is lingering within this. reluctant, despite his own resolve, to pull away from... this.

gently, he noses at dick, hum soft there on his lips as he feels the other's touch running across him. )

As long as you don't make a mess on the bed.

( it'd be a shame after he'd just changed the sheets and all. )

[cohero]

[Feeling the stopgap in the kiss, Dick runs a hand along the side of Bruce's thigh, and then moves it around to linger more toward the center, fingers curling inward. He doesn't push anything further. He said that it was Bruce's choice and Dick meant it. They both had rights in this -- whatever this was, and while the night hadn't ended, it was closer to sunrise than it had been so many hours before when all this had started.

A lot of things had grown softer, more intimate after the sex. It was easy and gentle, but that could be a lot harder.

A laugh, and he noses back. ]

I'm not a dog, and who says I'll mess the sheets this time. [a beat] There's more sheets where these came from. Always more.

[There's an allusion to more beyond a kiss, but it could also be only a kiss. Dick plays his lips upward, still light and soft, brushes this way and that, teasing the offering of so much more-- of all that Bruce knows rests just beyond the surface of their plush exterior.]

[batsymbol]

( softly, those words tug a smile from him — one which presses against dick's lips. )

I meant more knocking all the food over.

( since dick had gone and ordered so much for the two of them, but. an appetite had certainly been worked up for it. still, no one wants to roll around in sweet and sour sauce and end up with a chicken ball in places it shouldn't be.

but that doesn't stop bruce from bringing a hand up then — from letting it curl around the nape of dick's neck and he kisses him. soft. slow. letting it slip away long enough for him to nose at the other again, head bowing as the pad of his thumb brushes down the slope of his neck. still holding to him. )

I wish you didn't do this to me. ( softly. ) Makes it harder to want to leave.

[cohero]

[That small gesture against his lips, tugs warmth from deep within. It really does make it more difficult. It makes Dick want to dig deeper and further this kiss into more. ]

Oh.I'll move it. In a minute, or ten.

[Fingers slide up Bruce's leg, edging aside the fabric of the bathrobe. He sighs and leans in further and allows the kiss to finally take him over, before finding himself nosing back. Little tiny kisses are stolen in breaths between, dusting cheeks and noses in the tangled tether of their breath.

There's no way Dick's letting go now. He only grips tighter, one hand tying itself up into Bruce's hair at his words. It takes Dick a few moments to figure out what to say back. He understand it, and he doesn't want Bruce to leave. Not yet. ]

I know. I can't say I wish I didn't feel this way, because it feels good. I like you. [He sighs between them, and closes his eyes, touching their mouths together as he speaks.]

It's not morning yet, and you can come back. No one said you couldn't come back.

[batsymbol]

( i like you. three little words that send part of him into a panic. the more people he brings into the small circle he has for himself, the more people it means he has a chance of losing. it's different with dick, sure. he's capable of handling himself, on and off the streets of gotham, and understands the sort of life that they both have. the sacrifices that come with it and oh, how there are always so many sacrifices to make. but he's never truly managed to get over the deaths of his parents — never truly managed to conquer the sort of fear and pain that comes with losing those he cares so much for. even if he comes across as having conquered it. he knows, deep down, he's still vulnerable there, and he can't afford to have vulnerabilities.

or... batman can't, at least.

there's a moment of silence from bruce. a sort of twist in his expression as those blue eyes stare down between them. )

It's not that I couldn't... it's that maybe I shouldn't.

[cohero]

[It wasn't that Dick hadn't said the words before. They were a part of what started this night, a part of what begot all the warnings and the inner warbles that eventually gave way to their evening of shared pleasure. It was the softness that fell from Dick's lips in every sigh and touch of soft red against Bruce's own lips. It was nothing surprising, even if it was a refreshment in advertising.

Loss is always there. Dick has lost so many in his life, titans, friends-- all people that have grown in someway into the heart he works so hard to protect. Yet still he opens himself back up, bit by bit for new people and growth, especially after his own death. Dying and the darkness held within gave him new appreciation and the need to hold onto the opportunities, be they temporary or more.

This wasn't something he could turn from merely because the danger of losing Bruce in so many ways.]

I know. You told me as much in the beginning. You think it's a dangerous thing. If death and life have taught me anything, it's to enjoy what there is for as long as it is there. I understand that. I will be here. I only expected tonight, and I will not push beyond.

[batsymbol]

( for as detached as bruce can sometimes come off, he actually cares so very deeply to the point that he ends up self-sabotaging as a means to protect it. it's not healthy — so much of him and his life isn't healthy. but it's how he copes. even if it ends up doing more harm than good in the long run. dick's died once already. come back from it, but. that's not to say it'll happen again. that he'll come back if he dies again.

he pushes away the morbid thoughts that threaten to ruin whatever is left of this moment and, instead, presses his forehead to dick's mouth. taking a second. letting his eyes fall shut. when he lifts his head and looks to dick then, it's with a softness there in those blue eyes he doesn't often give to others, hand sliding down the slope of.the other man's neck as he does, dropping to rest on his shoulder. )

Maybe you should. ( push, he means. ) Just a little.

( with lips so close there to dick's, he catches them in a slow brush, kissing at his top lip before claiming them a little more properly with just the faintest hint of need behind it. )

[cohero]

[Before it's always been the opposite in a way with Dick. He cares, deeply but there's still always been a place where no one gets in, never quite all the way at least. His mentor taught him that there was no place for fear in his life, it was a detriment to the job and would hold him back, so he never let that fear of losing someone ever truly strangle him like it did when he lost his parents. That's why every relationship he ever hosted failed.

Robin and Nightwing always, always came first. He said he needed the team, but when it came down to it, Dick shouldered the heaviest burden, and ran into the face of danger without the rest. He trusted only himself -- never willingly laying complete trust in another person. That would cost too much. Now that he's died and come back, life looks different. Dick has faced the fears of loss and seen what damage he's done by never trusting.

The war was won because he finally let go of that last piece, and so now, here with Bruce, he wants to let go again. So when he's taken in closer, pushed and pulled in differing directions, Dick holds on tight to the softness that he sees, and knows that it's for him alone this time. There's an equal and opposite reflection in the dark brown hues of Dick's own eyes.

The hand that had been on Bruce's thigh, moves upward within the robe, loosening the sash as it does. Dick slides his hand up to rest along the curve of Bruce's hip at the cusp of his waist, squeezing lightly at those words. Dick knows what they mean, and he nods his forehead as it rests against the other male's.

When lips finally give in to need, Dick slides in forward, pressing his own need into the kiss. All that he'd been holding onto since they started this soft play begins to seep out between his lips where his mouth opens and his tongue slides over and along Bruce's lips, eager to take this even deeper. ]