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[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.

[cohero]

Two nights, for now.

[He agrees in part at the start, not worrying about too much more because this is Bruce and they are liable to change all the rules whenever they both feel like it, and Dick knows that as much as he says that he won't push later-- he will. There's too much chemistry that he enjoys and extending this stay another day will only prove to be more than he will be able to tear himself from in the future.

Arching against Bruce's touch, Dick feels so much like an animal falling under the spell of its owner. He sighs in utter contentment. Unable to help himself, he leans forward and lets his head fall against Bruce's chest for a matter of time nondescript.]

You can ask for whatever you wish. I know you will only allow yourself so much, but I'm not leaving the city.

[batsymbol]

( sometimes bruce needs to be pushed. he might resist at first — is more than likely to in all honesty, but. sometimes, he needs it. like batman has always needed a robin. someone to ground him. to keep him from slipping too far into the darkness he carries with him. to make him remember he's also bruce wayne.

he leans back some when dick goes and says that, hands slipping away to grip under the edge of the counter he's against. blue eyes search the other man's face. not for anything in particular, really. just searching. )

What if I make you leave?

[cohero]

[When he feels Bruce retreating, Dick lifts his head. It lasted for a few seconds, as all of the best things in life do. There and then gone, Dick has learned. He knows exactly how this life works, and has learned it very well by this point.

Sliding himself back from Bruce, Dick draws his fingers over the chest that's still near winging his own symbol over Batman's chest. A fierce reminder of who he is, and what he as Nightwing has gone through. A spark lights Dick's dark eyes and he curls up a corner of his lips.]

How do you plan on doing that, Bruce? Kicking me out of our city?

[batsymbol]

( could he do such a thing? it certainly seems within his power to. his status, his name, the intimidation that comes with him at times. the way he can more or less completely erase someone from his life and not seem to care. he does, though. always. but bruce is a man who sacrifices far more than he sometimes needs to. all because he believes he should. that it’s what’s needed.

a duck of his head, damp strands of hair fall in front of his face. he stares at the floor. quiet. finally lifting his head to look up to dick, still leaning there against the edge of the counter. )

I was thinking more making you leave on your own.

( because he has a knack for overcomplicating things that don’t need to be and, in doing so, ruining things by his own hand. self-sabotage at its finest. )

[cohero]

[It takes a beat. two. three, and then Dick realizes what Bruce meant. Everything softens. The spark that had settled in his eyes turns into a different sort of look. The finger that had been tracing along Bruce's chest moves over to his heart, joined by the rest of Dick's hand and spreads out there.

There's a small twist to his lips that turn them into a soft smile. Dick's free hand reach up into dark, damp strands of hair and tuck them back as he leans in and rests their foreheads together. Pressing in even closer he lets the front of their bodies rest as one again.

Lips dust in bare observance of one another.]

You're not going to make me leave Bruce. I didn't leave before, and so much has happened. There's no way I'd leave now.

[Not even if this is self-sabotaged does Dick intend on leaving. He's not even sure he would intend on letting it go all that easily. He's pretty good at screwing things up in the most brilliant factor-- so maybe this one time he'll figure out how to combat someone like himself. Maybe. There are never, ever guarantees in life. So, it's still one day at a time.]

[batsymbol]

( if only he could believe that.

he knows he's difficult — knows he puts those who care about him through the ringer at times. alfred certainly has had more than his fair share of probably wanting to rip his hair out when dealing with him. yet he stays around. for some reason. love, he assumes. love for a boy he raised and sees as his own in ways.

being so close to dick as he currently is, blue eyes gently fall shut and he stands there with him. just breathing. just taking in this moment as he's been doing over the course of the night. taking in the smell and presence of the other man. )

I wouldn't blame you if you did though.

( and those words are so very soft as he says them. )

[cohero]

[Merely laying their faces together, Dick listens to the sounds around them. The hushed inhales and exhales of their breathing as it mingles between them, and the small ticking of a clock somewhere off in the distance. There's a hum from the fridge, and a creak every now and again as the apartment settles here and there.

Bruce isn't the only one who knows how to be difficult. Dick has been a stick in the mud for so many years, and had chased of all his girlfriends, and many, many friends. He's brought harm to people he's loved and worse. Maybe that's one of the reasons why he's not so afraid of all the things that he knows Bruce capable of.

The words are soft and yet still powerful. It twists Dick's heart to know how deeply Bruce feels -- how deeply he feels about how things might end up between them. Pulling back he slides a finger along Bruce's chin and looks at him softly. Eyes open or not.]

What if you don't. What if you're one of the reasons I want to stay the most. Don't chase a future you don't know yet.

[batsymbol]

( this feels vulnerable of him and yet, some part of him seems to lean into it. lean into dick in ways he hasn't really with another before. maybe it's due to the fact that dick understands this life — understands how difficult and how much sacrifice comes with this path. or maybe it's the fact that they both share a darkness within themselves that strike similar chords within one another. like attracts like, isn't it? but is it always for the better? he doesn't know and he's sure to overthink it at some point like always, but. for now...

...for now he noses at the man there so close to him. the man who slides a finger along his chin with brown eyes soft and warm on him that he can almost feel despite his own blue ones being closed. gently, lips chase after dick's and he steals a kiss from him. soft and slow. tender almost in ways that one might not think bruce is capable of being. he is. in his own ways. he just doesn't always show it so much. a vulnerability he can't always seem to afford.

but with that kiss comes a gentle touch to the nape of dick's neck, fingers pressing so soft to warm skin there and when that kiss comes to an end, he presses his forehead to his again. breath slow and steady, like his heartbeat seems to be right now. content. he doesn't even know how long it's been since he's felt that emotion. )

[cohero]

[Much of this feels like a play and replay of some of their earlier moments, the tiny gentle ones that they started the evening off with-- except these are tempered with an even greater amount of emotional entanglement than previously. Dick knows that they've wondered what it is that continues to bring them back to this, their bodies close, noses touching, lips sharing space and breath curling between them.

Their shared darkness, the evil that twists up their lives, the murders and mangled up childhoods they never quite had, all bring them into this place where Dick knows that he is drawn to Bruce in a way that he is drawn to no other man. He's given a part of himself over to this man that no one else will ever have, and there is not an ounce of regret. There will be moments to ponder-- but regret is not something that Dick has a feeling will come, not for the action.

When they kiss this last time, Dick can sense the soft tick of their hearts and the whole of ease that is brought into this singular moment. There's so much contentment that Dick barely breathes out of want to hold it. He runs his fingers softly over the swell of a prominent cheekbone, and back into bits of drying hair. With a smile his eyes greet the ones that stay across from his. Emotion wells up, and Dick holds steady, reveling in the simple fact that it exists.]

[batsymbol]

( the vulnerability— the softness of this moment has bruce gently duck his head. this version of him is so much more fragile than the dark knight of gotham who hides within the shadows of the streets at night. skin, pale and littered with scars and bruises that batman earns. then there's his heart that wears unhealed wounds across it that cut so incredibly deep, he doesn't even know if they'll ever fully heal. the loss of his parents and the guilt he carries with him for not finding their killer(s)... it gives him purpose, despite the pain, but it comes with such a cost and so many sacrifices at the same time.

he feels more comfortable — less vulnerable when he sits there in his darkness than he does in moments like these that often leave people feeling warm and safe. but that's not to say he's not trying. he's right here. to be happy... he doesn't know if he'll ever reach that. but... maybe he can try. slowly. very, very slowly.

at least he has this. at least he has... at least dick is here.

a lift of his head, he just barely noses at dick again. blue eyes searching his face in a way that's more soft than scrutinizing. )

You planning on watching the sunrise or want to go back to bed?

( that's where they'd been before the whole we should probably move the food suggestion happened. )

[cohero]

[It doesn't matter how slow they have to go. Dick will move at the speed of a glacier if that's what it takes for Bruce, and he knows that it'll be one step forward and half a million back. That's how this dance works, and how it was always going to work if they truly crossed the threshold of it. All it meant was that the word try had moved into their vocabulary. Not that there were any expectations on it. It merely existed on its own, as simple as a word could, wrapped in the warmth of a moment created here in the dim light of Dick's kitchen as they both shared the heat of their bodies and the brush of their faces, in tiny intimate gestures.

Dick was becoming more and more used to the tiny little sacrifices of nose and cheek that Bruce gave every time he would feel anything. It was a language all of its own, Dick believed. He'd done it enough throughout the night and now into the early morning, that it begun to make him hold his breath in anticipation, waiting for the tiny touch of lips that usually followed.

Watching those eyes, Dick softens his and lets them speak gentle emotions, care, safety, comfort. Nothing overtly dangerous all on their own, but mildly cautious and there to wrap around Bruce exactly like Dick's arms do. ]

Which would you rather. The glow is just beginning. We can go to the window, or even to the balcony to watch the colors before the sun actually rises.

[Moving around the counter, Dick moves toward the door in the living room. There's no one to see him this chill morning hour. He grabs an extra blanket from the couch and holds out a hand to Bruce. ]

Come to me?

[batsymbol]

( there's a softness with his movements — with his very expression when dick goes and says what he does. but it's the come to me part that has those blue eyes of his really looking to the other man there with that blanket. with his hand held out for him. it's enough to have a huff leave him, though it's more in gentle amusement than anything else. a sort of is this really happening? in his head. because... since when does anything as soft and gentle and intimate like this ever happen with him lately? )

I get the feeling you might like when I come.

( a bit of innuendo there, because why not.

but he takes the other's hand and lets himself be dragged to wherever dick wants to take him. he won't resist or be picky about it. he'll just follow. this time. for now. )

[cohero]

[The huff has grown to fondness status that equals a touch of a nose, or the way Bruce flicks his hair back from time to time when they are so close it falls against both their cheeks. It's almost a term of endearment in Bruce's world as far as Dick is concerned. There's the same simple amusement in Dick's eyes, settled there, patient, waiting.

A larger laugh meets the question, and Dick can't help but smirk. ]

Well, I do like that. You are a beast. That's not what I was looking for here. Get your gorgeous bruised up ass over here, Bruce.

[Taking the other's hand in his, Dick pulls open the door with a short blast of cold air that tempers when the door is closed behind them. He quickly wraps them up both with the blanket and moves to nuzzle them down in a small single person hammock he has on the balcony.

With Bruce in front of him, Dick is able to wrap arms about the the other male, and rest his chin on Bruce's shoulder, wrapping them together tightly while they gaze toward the pale glow of reds, pinks and oranges that begin to peek over the horizon, pushing back at the shadows they both know so well.]

All long nights eventually come to an end, or so they say.