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innocentpain2018-01-30 11:32 pm
teto) wrote in innocentpain2018-01-30 11:32 pm
Gentle Gestures
(Gentle Gestures)
Sometimes, it's the softer side of affection that means more than anything else. Small things that only matter so much more just because you're slowly falling in love. Perhaps you don't even know it yet. However, that gentle feeling always seem to linger.
There will be a few prompts with some extra suggestions to pick from! Feel free to RNG or pick if you want. You don't have to follow the extra suggestions in the prompts obviously. Just consider it some inspiration in case you can't think of any other ideas!
01. Rain. Offering an umbrella to someone. Sharing an umbrella. Helping someone avoid a deep puddle. Stuck watching the rain together.
02. Flowers. Gardens. Perhaps picking a flower for someone. The meaning of flowers. A gift.
03. Letters. Perhaps it's a long-distance penpal. Sharing notes in class. A small, secret note of inspiration. A mystery message left on a desk.
04. Phones. Texting. Phonecalls. Maybe it's late at night when the message finally shows up. Or maybe you're trying to get the courage to send a message yourself.
05. Walks. Walking home together. A stroll through a park. Along a beach, near the waves. The sights and sounds when you're together.
06. Injured. First-aid. Carrying an injured person on your back. Warm and cool touches. Checking temperature. Staying by your side.
07. Blankets. Sharing blankets in the cold. Napping together. Someone falling asleep on you.
08. Music. Trying to find out whose voice that is. Listening to them play a guitar. Sharing headphones. A song that is dedicated to you.
09. Small touches. Brushing someone's hair out of their face. Hand holding. Sleeve tugs. Leaning against a shoulder. Indirect kisses. Smiles.
10. Chores. Doing taxes. Bills. Cleaning up messes together. Sharing a burden is easier than alone. (Thanks, Marie).
11. Photos. Taking a picture of someone. Selfies. Photobooths. Looking over old photo albums. Memories that can't be forgotten.
12. Winter. Playing in the snow. Watching snow together. Staying near the fireplace. Drinking hot cocoa. Finding warmth.
13. Sky. Watching fireworks. Stargazing. Looking at the clouds, imagining the shapes they make.
14. Food. Sharing snacks together. Remembering their favorites. Meeting at a cafe.
15. ANYTHING ELSE. There are so many things you can consider! Accidental handtouching while picking up scattered papers! Handing a balloon to someone. Stuffed animals. Carrying things together. Train and bus rides! It's the small stuff! It's all great!
This is open to anyone, feel free to share with your friends if you wanna play. Toplevel, tag around, we all secretly want schmoopy goopy.
no subject
it doesn't. he can go out, if he takes precautions, and he does every now and then, but he doesn't wander around at night, doesn't let himself get into situations that might cause trouble. he doesn't carry his guns. he lets himself be a small inconsequential shadow in an uncaring city, something that would have been unthinkable to him before.
he cooks for tim. he's not amazing at it, but he's getting better with practice, and he's got nothing but time. he orders ridiculous novelty lingerie to wear to the door when tim comes home, smiling wickedly. he gets nice sheets for the bed and cleans the shower and waits to feel stupid, or humiliated, or pathetic for living like this, and it doesn't come. he likes pretending to be red robin's secret civilian squeeze, pretending to know nothing about tim’s life as a superhero. it's too risky for him to be out on the rooftops with tim, even as backup. he'd come if the emergency beacon went off, but it's better for now that he just pretends that he's never been a vigilante or a gangster. he's just the guy that uses all of tim’s good creamer and eats popcorn in bed and sometimes does his laundry and kisses tim goodbye while still half-asleep, his alarm thresholds worn down by trust and comfort.
besides, it's funny to pretend that they have to dance around tim's night job in conversation, the way tim would if jason was really a clueless civilian. ]
no subject
Honestly, Tim hadn't been sure that Jason would really be okay, coming to his world with him, living like this. He'd suggested it without really knowing if Jason would agree, and it still feels like they're in a trial period of sorts, still settling into the new swing of things, but Jason has adapted incredibly well. Almost too well - but then, he's away from all the triggers in his own world. He's somewhere he knows is safe, where he's not alone, where he doesn't have to be who he was, where there aren't any expectations weighing down on him. Tim is still a vigilante, still going out on patrol and fighting the bad guys, and Jason... doesn't have to. He can, if he wants to, if he's careful, but he doesn't have to. He has choices, here.
Apparently, he's chosen to drive Tim a little bit crazy by pretending to be his secret girlfriend and playing at civilian life. Tim has no problem with a little bit of role play, a few little identity games, and it is kind of fun, pretending that Jason is just a normal, ordinary civilian that he's dating. It's definitely fun, coming back to his safehouse to be greeted by Jason in some ridiculous lingerie, and find that he's used Tim's platinum card to buy fancy new sheets and comfy pillows for them to cuddle up in. It's just...
It's just that Jason keeps up the charade for a while, and Tim is starting to wonder if he's doing it because he feels like he has to, or something. He's a little bit worried - Jason hasn't done combat training in a week, and he hasn't even mentioned thinking about shooting anyone. Also, he's watching way too much trashy reality television.
He waits until after they've finished the dinner Jason cooked and are cuddled up on the comfy couch before finally deciding to ask, while Jason is nuzzling pleasantly at his neck - ]
Hey, um... how are you doing? With this, you know, living situation.
no subject
he's not surprised tim asked about it. if anything he's surprised tim waited so long, sensitive and level-headed brat that he is. jason hooks his chin over tim's shoulder amiably. ]
You worried I'm gonna go stir-crazy and rampage through the city?
no subject
No. [ Tim pauses, and raises an eyebrow. ] Okay, maybe a little, now that you mention it.
[ He leans back against Jason's chest and tries to think of how to word his concerns. ]
You don't have to pretend to be completely normal all the time, you know.
no subject
he still gets angry, yeah, he gets upset, but not like it was in the beginning. maybe it's the natural therapeutic consequence of living in a magic city where bad things didn't happen, or maybe he's got enough distance now to think of his complete failure as the arkham knight without wanting to die, or maybe it's just the chemical imprint of having as much sex as he wants, living in a place he feels safe, spending time with someone he likes. maybe it's the simple fact that he doesn't have to do anything, doesn't have any orders to follow or vendettas to pay back. he doesn't have to do anything at all, except the things he wants to do. the things he likes to do.
it's hard to think of the last time he liked anything, aside from knives or the way a gun felt in his hands or bullshit on that level. now he has an arrangement of pillows that he likes. he has a certain method to cleaning the kitchen and organizing his clothes. he has a shampoo that he prefers, and a brand of cereal. he likes certain outfits of tim's. all small things, inconsequential things. things batman would've never cared about, things that wouldn't have mattered to his private army. personal things that only matter to him.
it feels reckless and even a little dangerous, to be so undisciplined, to be so aggressively civilian, but he likes that too. why should he be afraid of staying inside? no one's making him stay here. he can go get a coffee whenever he wants, he can check the PO box or go sit in the park or ride the train. he doesn't feel claustrophobic in the apartment.
of course, it's also possible that he's being too detached about all this. he's still got the bracelet that will let him just up and vanish off to another reality if he needs to, so it makes everything here feel just a little inconsequential. this is tim's world and tim's life, and it's important to him in a way that it might not ever be to jason.
he'll take being a little detached over being too emotional, though. thinking about some alternate bruce wayne out there living his life should be, used to be enraging, thinking about the damage he's caused, but after dealing with multiples and their bullshit all jason can do is remind himself that they don't have anything to do with him. there are a million worlds out there all wrapped up in their own business, and he doesn't have to make it his. other jasons out there screwing up, dying, or living happily ever after, all without his intervention. he doesn't matter to them and they don't have to matter to him.
he tells himself that. it might not be entirely true. he's not willing to walk up to the mansion's front door and find out for sure, though. somehow, probably through tim's influence, he's learning to get a better grip on his dog-car brain and his terrible shitty instincts. it's a good thing. he knows he's going to need that stability someday, probably someday soon, so tim can lean on him the way he's spent all this time leaning on tim. ]
I like it here, [ he says, meaning the apartment, breathing in the scent of tim's hair and tim's clothes and tim's skin. it's taken long enough, but his stupid animal brain associates those smells with good, calm things. safe things. ]
This city's got enough shit going on without me adding to the mix. It'd be-- irresponsible, I guess. Going out for a lark, picking a fight knowing that I'd win, maybe beating up some gang thugs that deserve it, but I won't be out there the next night. It'd be starting something I'm not going to finish.
[ and he knows that he isn't ready to put a mask or a helmet back on. he's not ready to present himself to gotham and become a player again. that's selfish, probably, but he's already had the wonderful experience of shattering himself against gotham, against batman, against the ghost of the joker, because he thought he could handle himself. hell, maybe it would be better for everyone if he never went into the field again.
he smirks against tim's cheek. ]
I'm almost, almost positive that living the pampered life of your secret mistress, Mr. Drake-Wayne, isn't actually normal. I think I'm supposed to have one of those things, a job, or twenty billion in student debt. Medical school debt! That would be normal.
[ jason, dance around the issue? never. ]
no subject
Also, he sees what Jason is doing. ]
You know what I mean. [ He huffs, then adds drily, ] I'm not sending you to medical school, but I could get you a job. I think you'd stand out too much as a bodyguard, though.
[ Nepotism could open the doors to employment, but only at Wayne Enterprises, and putting Jason's photo and details into the employee records is almost as bad as having him walk up to the mansion door and wave through the window. He sighs and leans into Jason, turning his head to mouth lightly at the dip of Jason's collarbone. ]
Point taken. If you like being my pampered secret... not mistress, you can't be a mistress if I'm not married - if you're happy, then I'm happy. Although I'd be happier if I could kick your ass in a sparring match again soon.
no subject
that thought doesn't bother him as much. it might be a selfish motivation thing, that he'd pick up his guns again for tim's sake and not to rescue the civilian masses that are out there right now getting mugged or shot or threatened, the ones that tim puts himself in harm's way for, but it might also be a guilt thing. maybe the best thing for the citizens of gotham in any reality is that jason doesn't let himself go off the leash.
that thought doesn't bother him either. it would be okay for tim to keep a hand on his collar, give him orders, because tim won't treat him like a mad dog. he doesn't know if he could stand it from anyone else.
they haven't talked about tim quitting. jason honestly hasn't thought to ask; he sort of assumed tim thinks of this as getting back to work after a vacation, and that he would've said something if he wanted to continue the hiatus. ]
I'd have terrible bedside manner, [ he agrees, sneaking a hand under tim's clothes to stroke his thumb over the jut of his hip. ] Maybe I'm not cut out for real work, god knows I don't have any practical experience. You'd have to forge all my letters of recommendation.
[ he's kidding, although it's nice of tim to offer. what kind of real job would he do, anyway? bag groceries? flip burgers? it would just be something he'd likely have to abandon. ]
Aw, you think I'm losing my touch? [ he slouches further against the couch while tim nibbles away, not so incidentally spreading his legs a bit wider. ] You're married to your work, so I get to be your mistress if I'm distracting you from your responsibilities.
[ and, because tim's question deserves an answer and he's not a total asshole: ]
I'm happy. I know this is all temporary, though.
no subject
If Jason does end up going out on the field again - and it's really a when, an inevitability of Tim risking his own life every night when he knows Jason can and will get protective the moment it turns into a real risk - he'll be there to back him up. He doesn't think of it as controlling him, but keeping him focused, and giving orders, that he can live with.
At the moment, he's not doing so well at keeping himself focused, as the stroke of Jason's thumb over his hip sparks a conditioned response of anticipation that has him shifting in place a little bit. ]
I'm pretty good at forging documents. [ He notes, just a touch self-satisfied - he really is. Not that he thinks that will change Jason's mind, of course. ] And I mean, I could just buy you a bar to run, we've got experience with that.
[ Although running a bar in Gotham is bound to be different from running one in Eudio. ]
Yep. You're not even working out any more, so you're bound to be going soft. [ Bluntly teasing. He notices Jason spreading his legs a bit wider and considers, then slips a hand down to stroke over Jason's thigh, not quite getting as high as his hips. ] I'm not married to my work, I'm - just dedicated. But you are good at being distracting.
[ It's good to get an actual answer, and to hear that Jason is happy, but Tim still huffs quietly. ]
Some of it is temporary.
no subject
[ apparently they're going to have this conversation while groping each other teasingly. he doesn't even rise to the bait about getting soft, he knows that tim knows that jason knows that the decision to temporarily stop training is both foolish, for the lives they live, and also therapeutic, for the lives they live. it'll take a long time for training, even enjoyable training with tim that usually ends up with them fucking on the mats like heathens, to not come with baggage, if ever.
not doing it at all makes him feel guilty, and then he gets annoyed for feeling guilty, and then he gets annoyed for being annoyed because he's supposed to be a grown adult now and he doesn't have to listen to bruce's ghost or even the arkham knight's ghost ranting at him about discipline and how he doesn't have any.
none of that is tim's fault. it would be wrong to dump it on him, especially when tim is only bringing it up because he's concerned, and rightly so.
he tips his head back, leaning against the couch so tim doesn't have to look at whatever expression is on his face. ]
What if some of it was permanent?
no subject
[ There's always something to work on, but here Tim is, cuddled up on the couch with Jason instead. And excuse, who started the teasing groping?
He doesn't mean to make Jason feel guilty or annoyed at himself about the lack of training, he's just asking because it's a slightly worrying thing, when it comes to any of them. And because he honestly misses it - the kind of training they do, in particular, that isn't so much training as it is extended foreplay that ends with them having sex on the mats. It's a good thing that Tim's apartment has its own private gym built underneath, along with all the other necessary facilities for being a vigilante.
He pauses, taking in the weight of Jason's question. ]
I think I'd like some of it to be permanent.
no subject
[ tim's the worst workaholic he's ever met, and that includes bruce.
he can't help tensing up underneath tim at his response, though. it's... not a conversation they should have while groping each other, but jason stubbornly doesn't move his hands, even though he stops actively trying to work them lower.
it's a stupid reaction, considering he was the one who said it first. he just doesn't want to hear tim say aloud 'maybe it would be good if you never went into the field again.' it's ok for jason to think about that, but having someone else say it to him is going to scrape over raw nerves, which irritates him. if it's true, why should it make him upset?
of course if it's true, he should admit it to himself. he should know, for certain. he's been putting off making any kind of real decision, and he knows before the words come out of his mouth that he's not being fair, throwing it back at tim instead of volunteering which things, exactly, he'd been talking about making permanent.
lightly, ]
Yeah? Which parts?
no subject
Uh, I should be working all the time? There isn't a normal amount of time to not be working, other than when I have to sleep.
[ Gosh, you weirdo, Jason. When Tim has to split his time between running a company and fighting crime, it's really hard to factor in down time, or give it any kind of priority. Which, of course, is why it's good that he has Jason around to force him to stop, sometimes.
He notices the way Jason tenses up under him, and how his hands stop moving any lower - they're still resting where they were, but that's all. He takes it as a sign that they're entering some delicate territory, and maybe it isn't the kind of thing they should be talking about while they're groping each other on the couch, but... there aren't many times that he's with Jason and the older ex-Robin isn't groping him, at least casually, so. Now is actually as good a time as any, really.
He's still careful when he answers, pausing to think over his words. What parts of this would he like to be permanent...? ]
Mm... the part where you're here instead of your own world, mainly. The part where I know that I'll get to see you every day. I know that's - selfish, but that's, you know, those are the parts I like.
no subject
I can't believe you know how labor laws work well enough to lecture me about them, and also just said that with a straight face.
[ also it's absolutely not jason's fault that he can't keep his hands off tim, that is tim's fault for being so... tim. he's never considered it in terms of being touch-starved, he just got into the habit back when tim was his fake-hostage and tim never told him to stop it. the span of his waist just fits so neatly into jason's hands, and tim always jumps or shivers or makes that faux-protest face when jason cups his ass or tugs at his zipper or shoves his hands down tim's pants, which only encourages him.
also tim is playing softball with him, and he relaxes again, letting himself start to stroke idly over bare skin again. ]
You've got those already, you idiot, [ he says softly. ] I'm not going back to my Gotham any time soon, if ever. God knows what you'd do without someone to remind you to eat and wash your underwear.
[ a beat of silence. ]
Do you... do you think it's a waste, for me not to fight? That me being here is hiding?
no subject
Labour laws are for other people. You can't apply them to being a vigilante when that's literally an illegal thing to be.
[ How is Tim supposed to tell Jason to stop touching him when it's - well, when it's Jason? Right from the start, when he'd been Jason's fake hostage, he'd put up a cursory protest only for his defenses to melt away, and now it's a comforting thing, the feel of Jason's larger hands warm against his skin, making him jump or twitch with stirring anticipation even when he should be working. There's just something irresistable about it, something vaguely scandalous and definitely indulgent, and maybe a little dangerous, but that's what he likes about it.
So when Jason relaxes and starts stroking over his skin again, he relaxes too, sighing quietly. ]
I eat! [ Goldfish crackers and marshmallows, if left to his own devices. ] And you should wash my underwear more often, you're the one choosing most of it these days.
[ And all of it ridiculously risque in nature, all silk and lace and frills over too-tight fabric that he's already flushing at the thought of, let alone the sight of himself wearing. But it's impossible for him to refuse when Jason tells him to wear it, whispers low in his ear and makes dirty promises about what he'll do to him, for him, if he does.
He frowns slightly, though. ]
No, I don't. Anything that makes you happy isn't a waste. Listen... I know everyone likes to talk about how fighting crime is a duty, a mission, but at the end of the day? It's a choice, and every one of us has the right to make their own choice about it, including you. You shouldn't have to feel like one choice is hiding, it's not - if taking a break feels right to you, then do it. Take all the time you need. You can go back to it when you're ready, and that includes never, you know? Just... if you do decide to fight again, make sure you go back to training first.