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[batsymbol]

( slowly, eyes flutter open and he lets himself look to the sky as per dick's suggestion. he's seen it numerous times. usually when heading back home after a long night on the streets of gotham. but it's not his to enjoy. not to be taken as the beginning for him as it is for so many others. for him, it's the end of another day. another night. because night is his beginning every time it falls.

the kiss, the softness, the way dick is so close to him there... bruce glances down then — glances to the arms around him beneath the blanket enveloping them. dick deserves better than this, he thinks. better than this life he's now stuck living. better than the sacrifices he's no doubt made at the cost of his own well-being and happiness more often than not. better than him, right here. someone who, he may have thought saved him at one point, but. wonders now, if he might have simply just damned him instead. damned him to live the very same life he's living.

sigh leaving him, he shifts then, letting himself pull away from the warmth of dick's embrace and the blanket. standing, he looks back to him, blue eyes soft. )

We should head inside.

[cohero]

[There's a moment, and then it's come and gone as the night has. It melts away with the day. Dick doesn't know what exactly caused it, but he knows it's there in the pull and tug out of his arms. They release, but it hurts a small part of him. It had been so warm, and the soft circle is broken. The huff becomes a sigh.

Dark eyes still meet the soft blue ones and he closes his eyes as the sun begins to crest, pushing himself out of the swing that pushes back and smacks him in the behind. Laughing, he turns and holds it still before taking them both inside. The spell is broken, but it was a lovely one indeed. The day isn't done, and neither is the night they have before them.

Eventually they will probably nap, not that Dick has to, but it might feel good. Padding back to his bedroom, where now there are no more cartons in the way, Dick stopped by the kitchen to pick up some coffee he brewed before they went out. ]

Shall I set this over on this side?

[Dick motions to the side that he doesn't have his supplies on, and crawls into the bed completely. ]

[batsymbol]

Sure.

( this is when bruce usually crawls into bed anyways. when he drops his head to the pillow and tries to find some semblance of peace within his slumber. it doesn't always come— rarely, really. nightmares are more prone to greet him when his eyes finally fall shut, but. not always. sometimes there's just nothing but black and he doesn't dream at all. he prefers it that way, really. even if it all feels over within the blink of an eye.

he makes his way to the bed — removes the robe he'd been given. naked. pale. scarred. both physically and emotionally as dick himself is. dropping down on the bed, he sighs. lets his fingers gently brush over the clean sheets beneath him. they're not his own, yet somehow they remind him of his. after a moment, he falls back. lays there on the bed and cards a set of fingers through his hair that's now just a little damp. he's tired. of a lot of things. but he tries to not let them weigh him down. not right now, right here, at least.

if he can find just a moment of peace, he'll take it. for as short-lived as it may be. )

[cohero]

[Coming back to lay in his bed is so very different from the way they left it, and the reasons. Before, it had been because they were making room to lay out because Dick had wanted more room to make out with Bruce-- who had been more than agreeable at the time. Their hands had been shifting along the insides of their robes and moving with a determined intent, that had still been soft and gentle all the same. No making messes, that's all it had been, but the moment was spoiled.

It seemed like in the span of fifteen, twenty minutes it all had changed. True, Dick now had Bruce laying naked in his bed, but he was on his back and quiet. There were no more huffs, or little brushes to his nose as they moved back into the room. Neither met at the doorway to catch a kiss or something else.

Removing his robe, Dick lets it fall to the ground and slides over to Bruce. He moves an arm across the other male's midsection and lightly kisses his chest. ]

Tired now? I can leave you be.

[batsymbol]

( slowly, an arm raises and fingers blindly find their way carding themselves through dick's hair. gentle and lazy. eyes half-lidded staring across the room as he lays there with him. )

Thought you wanted to stay.

( the words are a low murmur — a slow tilt of his head to better look to the other man there against him. watching the way strands of hair gently sift through his fingers. a shift forward, he noses at dick then. best he can, given their current position, but. an attempt made all the same. )

You should stay.

[cohero]

[The words surprise him for a second, but he smiles and shakes his head. That hadn't been what he meant, but it feels good that Bruce wants him there. It feels nice to be touched again. Moving in closer, Dick closes his eyes at the touch to his hair and leans in deeper still so he can let their noses brush.

Carefully, Dick grazes his lips across Bruce's, leaving them close.]

I wasn't going to leave the bedroom. I was merely going to let you be, and lay over on my side if you were tired of me and needed time to not be touched. I know that you aren't used to it, but I think you also need it. I'm not sure. I know that I enjoy it. A nap is fine if you need one.

[Lowering his head, Dick kisses along Bruce's jaw and then back up, counting ribs with his fingertips, not too soft-- not to tickle, but gentle enough to be tender, caress. ]

[batsymbol]

( the touches don't seem to burn this time. rather, they almost lull him into a state of contentment. something he hasn't really felt for some time now. yet here dick is, giving that to him and, like he says, maybe he needs it. or some part of him, at least.

pressing his head back into the pillow, he sighs, eyes falling shut while fingers continue to gently card through those dark coloured strands of dick's. quiet. lazy. just laying there with him like this. those kisses pressed along his jaw draws a low hum deep from the back of bruce's throat. )

Probably should. Least for a couple hours.

( he can manage on a few hours of sleep. has more or less trained himself to. )

You should, too.

[cohero]

[Feeling the laziness, Dick lets himself be lulled into the moment. He turns his head to the side and lays it down next to Bruce's, keeping their bodies close. Inhaling deeply, Dick tips his head so that his nose barely brushes Bruce's shoulder, and lets his arm cross the other man's body to rest low against his hip. ]

I can manage a few hours just fine. This is nice. I don't remember when I last let myself do this...

[Sex is one thing, sleep is another thing completely different. It was probably when he was with Dawn ages ago, letting himself be this vulnerable and open-- he doesn't think he's ever done it completely. It's a new experience, but then again isn't all of this? Closing his eyes, he lets out a long quiet breath and works to rid his mind of thoughts, counting circular breaths a thing he taught himself ages ago so that he could catch at least an hour of sleep in the middle of his roughest cases.]

[batsymbol]

( then that's what they'll do.

both of them.

with dick settled there so close and warm against him, bruce takes it upon himself to gently wind an arm around the other man nestled there with him. the pads of his fingers softly tap, tap, tap against a shoulder — an arm. simply as a means to touch him and lull him into a state of calm and contentment. as much as they're capable of feeling, that is.

a gentle turn of his head, he noses at dick's hair — takes in his scent so fresh and clean from the shower they'd shared, and softly presses his cheek to him. breath quiet. eyes falling shut. the faintest of hums just barely there on his lips. falling asleep like this... he can't say he can get used to it, but. he can enjoy it. at least for now. this moment. with dick. )

[cohero]

[At first the nightmares didn't come. Dick slept for a while, who could really tell for how long it was until after the fact. He'd hoped when they fell asleep together that it might not happen. Dick hadn't slept with anyone since then-- his death, and the pit--, beyond the titans that is. They understood, because they knew. They mostly ignored it, because he always had his own room.

He was back there, the bat in his hand and he was slamming it into Jason over and over, watching his beloved Robin replacement, and the teen he was supposed to mentor turn into so much blood. This time instead of staying his hand like he had in the pit, Dr Crane got to him, and hauled him away -- turning him into one more person living inside their heads.

Dick screamed as his fear began to close in on him. "I must not fear. I will not fear. The wolf will fear me." He cried out his mantra, knowing that eventually he'd wake. Still, pain, excruciating pain, canvased his body while he slept. He was fine in the real world, minus the trembling of his body, his jerking motions and the eventual terror-like cries that began to escape his lips. ]

[batsymbol]

( it seems fitting that one of them has the nightmares tonight.

bruce, for the most part, sleeps without much in the way of dreams. a gentle blessing for the night— morning, in their case. but when dick starts to move — when he starts to jerk and jostle the bed some, blue eyes flutter open and his whole body becomes alert.

it takes him no more than a couple seconds to piece together what's happening and he shifts some — doesn't leave the bed nor dick's side, just gives the other man a bit of space as he looks to him there, bracing himself on his arm. )

Dick.

( it's not a question. it's an attempt to reach out to him verbally first before he gently places a hand to dick's shoulder. a means to rouse him from whatever terrors plague him behind his closed eyes. )

[cohero]

[It does seem like it should be fitting. Dick didn't know that it would be him. He would have rather it not have been him. For once, he would have liked to slept peacefully with someone. Goodness knows that Bruce has done enough to make him feel peace tonight-- at least more than he's felt in a long time. If there's any way to bring in a New Year, it's this.

Tossing and turning, Dick fights the darkness of his dream, and screams through the hold that it has on him inside. It takes the touch to bring him out. It's not until Bruce reaches in and physically pulls him from the pit that Dick realizes that he's not there any more.

Knowing what happened when he wakes, Dick can feel the dampness of his forehead, and sighs against the echo of maniacal laughter. Turning, Dick wraps his arms around Bruce and closes his eyes not saying a word. He knows the other man understands, and that there doesn't need to be words right now. Taking comfort isn't a crime. ]

[batsymbol]

( when bruce wakes from nightmares, it's often by himself. when he was younger, alfred would be there to check on him — to offer an embrace if he needed it and chase away whatever terrors clung to him in the waking world. now, he turns to shots of alcohol in deep amber shades. alone in the kitchen or sometimes in his room. chasing them away with drinks rather than the company of another.

so when dick turns into him — when he wraps those arms around him seeking comfort, he blinks. just for a moment. until a hand comes up and cradles the back of the other man's head. staying like that in the bed. together.

swallowing, he looks past dick — across the room — and when he speaks, his words are soft, meant to try and soothe the best he can. )

I got you.

[cohero]

[Dick is no stranger to a glass filled with dark amber liquid. There are plenty of nights that he's resorted to his private stash, the one locked behind a panel in his bedroom wall. He got into the habit of keeping it there when he was in Titan's Tower and the kids kept nicking his liquor. Dick got smarter, and found a place they would never find it.

Now it's there when he needs it. Always more than one bottle, and always several kinds for the different types of evenings he has. Tonight he doesn't need it. Tonight he doesn't even think about it as he tucks his body tight against another one. It must be an instinct, because Dick doesn't think twice about it.

If it had been any other person, he might not have done it. In fact, Dick knows he wouldn't have his arm wrapped tight and his lips pressed to Bruce's chest, had it been anyone but Bruce-- but here he is. Dick kisses up Bruce's chest and along his chin, finding comfort in the action. He noses softly at the base of Bruce's chin and looks at him with overly large brown eyes.]

I know. Don't let go.

[batsymbol]

I'm not.

( it's not i won't because eventually he'll have to, but. he also doesn't know if he might let go of him sometime in the future. bruce is a man of complexities who has a tendency to complicate things that don't need to be. sometimes without even realizing he's doing it. for now, though, he's here with him. hand still cradling the back of dick's head, even with those kisses having been pressed to his skin. )

Do you need something?

( a beat, voice still soft. )

Drink? Fresh air?

[cohero]

You. I just... this is good. I'll be fine in a second.

[Swallowing, Dick takes a deep breath and truly kisses Bruce on the lips, soft and eager but keeps his mouth closed, so that there's heat but not desperation. He traces his fingers through the slightly tangled bits of hair that have fallen forward to cloud and shadow the beautiful blue of Bruce's eyes. Brushing it back, Dick smiles and pushes out another long breath of air.

He sits up a little bit, and turns away to grab the bottle of water he left at his bedside before they settled to sleep. It looks like they got four hours, which is hardly something to shake a stick at for them. Taking a long sip, Dick turns back to Bruce.]

Thank you. I've never really had anyone here that understands.

[batsymbol]

( when dick pulls away, he lets him. kiss lingering there on his lips, fingers slipping out of the strands of hair they held between them. a nod, he watches the other man take a moment for himself, knowing how it goes, like he said. )

Probably a good thing.

( he says, quiet. the meaning of that being more that it's not anything he would wish on anyone else to have to deal with. bad enough dick understands. that he goes through it, too. again, things that he feels are a result of him— another version of him. bringing someone else into this. having them share it.

sitting up himself now, sheets pulled at his waist, he brushes a few strands of dark coloured hair from his face, blue eyes soft in their gaze as he continues to watch dick there. )

I usually don't like going back to sleep after.

[cohero]

I'm the same way. The pit has a bad after effect. Dying does that to you. It's like a stain on my soul. I used to dream about other things, and now...this.

[Strange thing to be able to share the nightmares with another person. He could never talk to his mentor about this type of thing. They weren't the type to talk about things that were perceived as weaknesses. It was known they existed, because each had been there to bring water or to wake the other from screaming, but no words were ever spoken, no comfort given. That was weakness.

Looking at Bruce now, Dick hoped there wasn't that same thought. Wetting his lips, Dick slid lower in the bed and laid his head on Bruce's lap, across the sheets that pooled in his lap. He ran a hand up and down the outer portion of his thigh. A small smile began to form. It had been ages since he'd done anything as simple as this with someone else, so long that Dick couldn't even recall it-- had it even ever happened before?]

[batsymbol]

( when dick shifts to lay his head down across his lap, bruce remains quiet as he watches him. it may have been ages for dick, but. for bruce, this is new and it takes him a second or two to really process this... process this shared moment here between them of understanding and relating to one another in, again, ways he didn't think he'd be able to with someone else.

gently, a hand comes down to rest atop dick's head and fingers are careful in the way they slowly brush through those dark strands of hair. he remembers his mother doing this with him — knows that he liked it and felt safe when she did. maybe dick will feel the same, if even for a short window of time. )

Maybe don't die again.

( it's said softly, as a means to gently lighten the mood. )

I might miss you if you do.

[cohero]

[It certainly could have been an overt gesture for how well they knew one another. It was impossibly intimate and Dick realized it the longer he stayed laying there. He could feel the warmth of Bruce's groin pressed to the side of his face through the sheets, and the sturdy strength of his thighs as well.

It was unique in that Dick was comforted and turned on all at once. He let his fingers trail back and forth, up and down as he lay there slowly catching his breath, and even after he stayed. The fingers in his hair were mesmerizing, and for as much as Dick figured he should move, he didn't want to. ]

Don't worry. It was a unique situation. I won't let it happen again. I was trying to keep someone else safe that I cared about, and things got messy.

[Dick rolled around so that he was laying on his back now, looking up at Bruce, eyes blinking thoughtfully.]

Would you really though. Miss me?

[batsymbol]

( fingers slip away from dark strands of hair when dick moves around on the bed, hand gently falling to the sheets instead. for a moment, he's quiet. then dick goes and asks him that and the silence seems to stretch further. not because he doesn't know how to answer it. but because he does know how to answer it and, doing so feels like revealing a vulnerability to him. even if it's dick. even if it's fine to do with him, just. it's still difficult to, at times. with others. even when he wants to. )

Yeah.

( simple and genuine. even if blue eyes are focused on the sheets rather than dick's face. )

[cohero]

[There's a weight that Dick knows comes with that word, and it lifts a feeling inside him. Maybe it will be anything but smooth sailing. Even in a night and then some it's been up and down and around the table. They are unique individuals, that's to be certain.

Dick admires Bruce deeply, even the darkness and the shadows that huddle around him so deeply. Leaning up using only the muscles of his stomach, Dick reaches out to caress the swift bone that he's touched so often in the last twelve plus hours. ]

You too, more than I thought. You're so stunning. All these angles, and edges and somehow not as hard as you should be when I take in the whole picture.

[Not that Batman isn't hard and frightening. He's every bit that, but the countenance before him is different, and stunning all in own right, a right that Dick is completely attracted to in every way, shape and form.]

[batsymbol]

( it's strange to hear someone think that of him. possibly because he doesn't think that of himself in the slightest. dick says it so effortlessly — so genuinely and bruce finds it difficult to swallow. does he want to get used to this? to being thought of in such a way? will it possibly rub off on him at some point if he hears it— feels it from someone so genuine in what he feels like dick? as always, his thoughts take off and he falls to that familiar silence he so often does.

at least, until he looks over to dick there beside him on the bed. )

I can be hard.

( softly, smile faint on his lips, words meant to tease. )

Especially when around you.

[cohero]

[It's funny to think that any of those words were not difficult for Dick to say. Most of the words that he's come by tonight have been difficult on one level or another. He's still not used to saying the things that he thinks, or the ones that settle over the beating vessel in his chest. They get stuck in his larynx, and there are still times when Dick parts his lips only to close them. Words that will never be said because he can't.

He's done so well for himself here tonight, because if there's ever been another soul who might understand him-- it's Bruce. Perhaps so different from his mentor, yet the backstory and the pain still lets them match the heartbreak and manner of speaking and withholding. It is still this which lets Dick speak. It might not settle well with Bruce, but Dick doesn't find it as odd.

He sees so many differences, that there is barely anything that he finds in common. Sitting up, Dick leans over and runs his hand along Bruce's thigh outside the white cotton of the sheets. ]

You're not too hard.

[pushing it up higher to brush fingers along the edge of his softened prick.]

At least not now. I do like a challenge though.

[batsymbol]

( he knew damn well what he was doing when he went and said that.

gently, he noses at dick, blue eyes falling shut for a moment before they flutter open and rest a half-lidded gaze on the other man so close there next to him. they should probably get out of bed at some point. it's well beyond morning now what with how late they had stayed up last night; he still remembers the fleeting sunrise there on the balcony with dick.

smile faint on his lips, he ducks his head. just a little. )

I'm sure you do.

( like a challenge, that is. )

But you might need to take it easy. Going like you did last night.