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[cohero]

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[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. ]

[batsymbol]

( lord knows bruce needs reminders — needs a push every now and then when he becomes so fixated on something. so obsessed to the point it's [seemingly] all he cares about. where he drops others in favor of his current fix which, for the past couple years, has been being the batman. yet despite the effortless way he manages to do this — sometimes without even realizing he's doing it — there's still that part of me that yearns for something else. something more. and he wonders if he'll ever have that something else. something more.

or if he even deserves to have it.

he doesn't know if he deserves this — if he deserves dick and all he gives to him tonight, but. he goes with it. goes with the flow that dick pushes onto and into him with lips and his touch.

palms smooth along the other man's waist. soft. slow. before he pulls him in closer with a quiet breath on his lips, mouth lingering so close to dick's. he cups his face with a hand, nosing at him, then kisses him harder rather than softer, an edge of fixation that can almost be tasted on his tongue that seeks out dick's. )

Cancel your day.

( words he murmurs against dick's mouth, pad of his thumb running across that bottom lip as blue eyes pierce their gaze into brown eyes right there in front of him. )

And the night, too.

[cohero]

[Whatever drug it is that has seeped into Dick's system, he's slowly drowning in his addiction as it grows deeper minute by minute. Does it feel mutual, could it ever be mutual. Does he even deserve it? They are all question without direct answers. All he knows is that he holds out his arm, ready for infusion-- taking any and all direct deposits by whatever means they come, and this time he's not disappointed.

How could he be with the way Bruce lays his hands over Dick's stomach, muscles tremble and then harden beneath that gentle touch. Dick succumbs to another round of nuzzling, which he could linger here doing all night. The tenderness and closeness it maintains between them is to a degree that Dick isn't certain he's ever kept at this level with any other person he's been intimate with for this length of time. It's new and different and creates a brand new story between them never told before.

Their tongues connect and Dick doesn't back down from his own beginning obsession tossed about between them during this new hearkening of their mouths, he presses himself higher in the bed, raising up on his knees so that his hands can slide down the shoulders of Bruce's robe, knocking it back and partially away. He continues to stay as close as needed for nudging, but he wants more of Bruce on the bed-- this edge is difficult for his hands to continue the paths they want, the new exploration they desire at the pace they wish. ]

They are yours.

[His eyes hold tight the weight of Bruce's knowing gaze.]

[batsymbol]

( is it ever a good idea to become the current fixation of bruce wayne? the batman himself?

still, dick so willingly clears his schedule for him, even with the approaching sunrise and bruce leans back some on the bed. hand at the other man's waist. lips ghosting over his. he's careful as he does, of course. not wanting to accidentally spill any of the cartons over, but. lucky them with being trained so well and all with their movements and how to be light and precise with them.

but. accidents happen sometimes.

lips trail down the curve of dick's jaw. slow and teasing. tasting him more than kissing him. skin so warm and clean from a shower they'd both shared. much like dick's desire to, bruce lets his hands explore the other man beneath the robe he wears in ways they hadn't really done earlier. that had been more carnal in nature. more desperate to fill something and be filled in ways neither have been [for a long time] and while that desire still beats like a pulse beneath the skin, beside it lays a want to touch and taste more slowly. more intimately.

maybe a bad idea, but. bruce is known to dive into those from time to time and hope for the best. )

[cohero]

[Maybe that's a quandary for another day, but having been under his mentor's taunts and torments for years, it's really nothing in comparison for Dick. He knows that Bruce is very much The Batman, but is also not Dick, Nightwing. They are both winged creatures of the night known to strike terror into those that might oppose them. The crazy may tell stories about them, but so many more are locked away wishing they'd never looked upon the masks of either.

Dick can hold the eyes that settle upon him now, and as fixated as they are-- he won't let them go, not now and he has no thoughts for the future. It's about moment by moment, and perhaps today and tomorrow.

The bolder they grow, the more Dick too thinks about the cartons on the bed. Even as he presses into the hand that moves within his robe, and tips his head to the mouth that covers him, there's a sigh knowing that they will have to move. Pulling his hands up into Bruce's hair, Dick's fingers stick to the short feathered bits in the back and clings to them]

Let's move...

[He bends to kiss Bruce's lips and then the corner's of them, nipping lightly before pulling back.]

The food. So that we don't spill, or mess the sheets, like dogs.

[batsymbol]

( the pause is one that's inevitable, yet it still gets him to huff in soft amusement. yeah. he did mention that earlier. )

Can't have that. Especially when neither of us are dogs.

( they're a bat and a bird. tangled up in one another as they are.

bruce lets hands and lips slip away from dick, giving him the space he needs to move about. he leans back on his arms for a moment, robe laid open and baring all. watches dick with a sort of fixation there in those blue eyes of his that tells of things he has in mind for him. maybe just for today, who knows. but he did ask him to clear his schedule for him and dick so willingly did so. that deserves a sort of praise, he thinks.

after a moment, he sits himself upright, looks around at the cartons while running the pad of his thumb over his bottom lip. obviously he figures this will go in the kitchen. where else would dick put it? but he's not all that familiar with the layout of the place, so he looks to the other man as he starts to reach for a carton, shoving a chicken ball in his mouth while he can. )

Where do you want them?

[cohero]

I've never had one either... Maybe some lions in the circus.

[He laughs. It's a joke, obviously. They had plenty of animals in the circus and Dick was pretty good with the elephants. He loved everyone so much at that place. It was most likely why he tried to seek out similar type families with the titans as he grew up. It was all twisted around by the missteps in his growth and lack of a real childhood after his parent's murder, but he tried. He had a small group of friends for what it was worth-- even if they were all scattered.

Stacking up all the boxes he had. Dick nods with his head at Bruce. It was easier than losing his precarious hold on all the things he was carrying at once so that they only needed one trip. ]

You can follow me. It's to the right, down the hall and on the left side of the great room, right off the living room, basically.

[Following his own directions, Dick moves silently through his house, not bothering with lights. There's a small glow from the light above the stove in the kitchen. It illuminates that area of the house. Dick opens the fridge and stacks boxes up, moving so that Bruce can do the same with whatever he has. The paper plates go in the trash, and silverware into the dishwasher to the left of the sink. All things in their place. While they are there, Dick turns to Bruce and sneaks a hand around his waist and pulls him in so that he can kiss him there in the quiet of the kitchen. They can mark every room with at least a kiss. Why not.]

[batsymbol]

( he does just that. follows after dick with the couple cartons he has and stacks them where they need to be stacked in the fridge. bruce is used to delivery and take-out when he doesn't have alfred's cooking. bruce is a shit cook and he's learned that the hard way a couple times. he wonders if dick inherited that from the one he knows or if he managed to get more of alfred's influence there.

regardless, the thought trickles from him when he finds himself suddenly in a kiss and he lets it happen. because he wants it to.

gently, he leans back against the edge of the counter, his own hands gripping to it at his sides while they indulge in a few seconds of making out in the kitchen. when he finally tips his head back some, it's done with a softness there both in his eyes and on his lips — a hum that almost seems to vibrate through him from the back of his throat. )

You cleared your schedule pretty quickly for me.

[cohero]

[Currently, Dick's letting all the worries of this second drift away as they sit there in the kitchen. It's like there's a tiny little bubble that's going to last all of a few minutes and it will allow Dick the wonder and priviledge of wrapping his arms around a half naked Bruce and pressing his own half naked body against the man while he seeks little tokens of affection.

He curls up the corners of his lips against the other male's and noses against him. ]

I make my own schedule. If I want to clear it then I do. There's nothing pressing going on. The city won't rot without me for two nights. It helps that there are others out there.

[Dick might not approve of Red Hood's tactics, but he does take the trash out so to speak. He's always watching, covering things that Dick misses, or things that Dick doesn't feel the strong need to get involved in. There are darker deeds that Red Hood makes it his mission to do. He breaks the carnal rule of being a former Robin. He kills when he feels it's right. They fight over it often, but it's the darkness from the Lazarus pit that still lingers in his brain, still addled from his death. Still -- he's out there.

Dick doesn't have to worry, and so he can lick over Bruce's lips and kiss down his chin.]

[batsymbol]

( the sound that leaves him at that lick of lips is soft in its amusement, hands smoothing down the small of dick's back before they settle themselves over his torso and its muscles. gentle. slow. much like this moment seems to be between them for the time being. there's a chance it'll shift — blow up into something more needy and impulsive like it was back in the bedroom. almost a guarantee it will, maybe. but right now, it's this. for however long that might last. )

Just two nights then.

( insinuating that they shouldn't push it beyond that. )

One's already more than I could have ever asked for.