DIRK: [ARISE]

[evenindeath]

Of all the places to wake up, 'dumpster' had not actually been in Dirk's top thirty list. Of course, once he realized that's where he was he considered that had been an error in judgement on his part. It was where he belonged and thus should have been number one on his list.

"HAL?" he said, his voice a raw and rough croaking to his own ears, but his sunglasses skewed on his face showed nothing but the sky above, a bright night lit by a moon and too much light pollution from the city around him for any stars. He brought an aching arm up to right his sunglasses and give them a tap, the the bare bones of his Heads Up Display on them became visible, flickering in and out of focus. "HAL?" he asked again, but there was no answer. It said he was offline with no signal available.


The past - however long it was came back to him in flits and flashes, what lead them here. Him here, anyway. Finding our that what his friends went through was a beta run for the whole thing, that it had already failed once and they were an attempt to restart under more favorable circumstances. That their game was a null game too in different ways but unfortunately just enough overlap that the plan to make a working game between the two of them wasn't going to work. What was there left to try, a third attempt where they would likely once more end up with more problems and no solutions?

Dirk had been careful who he proposed the plan to and how he said it. Jake was the driven type, charismatic - it didn't matter he couldn't figure out how to pull it off himself, if he suggested it people would be more likely to listen, to try.

"Do you think there's a way to get out of the game entirely?" Dirk had asked Jake in what passed for late one night on a meteor where they'd taken refuge, time and day having no meaning.

The question had been posed seemingly carelessly, but it had stuck in Jake's mind like Dirk knew it would. Soon enough they were all working together on 'Jake's' new plan to try and find a universe beyond the games entirely.

There was no guarantee it would work. No guarantee they'd go to the same place, or even... anywhere.

But what other option did they have?


And now Dirk was here, in a dumpster.

It smelled terrible in a weirdly unfamiliar way to him. It was the kind of terrible that came from cramped living conditions of too many people in one place, and he had literally never experienced that before. When he managed to push himself up and crawl out of it (and get all the ... leavings... off of himself) just looking to the other end of the alleyway where cars went back and forth gave him pause as he thought that every single one of those had at least one person in it. Watching for just a couple minutes, more people walked by without a glance in his direction than he'd ever seen in one place in his whole life.

Wherever they'd landed, it wasn't his home. Not when he knew it.

Distracted by that utter culture shock, he managed to miss the sound of someone coming the other direction until they spoke.

"Hand over your money - anything you have on you," the gravely voice ordered, and Dirk turned slowly to see the barrel of a gun staring him down, and attached to it a man that could either be twice his age or a little younger with a hard life behind him. Dirk was guessing the second was more likely.

"Are you fucking deaf? Hand. Over. Your. Cash. Fucker!" the man repeated when Dirk just continued to stare at him.

Oh, this? He'd seen this in plenty of movies. He knew how to handle this.

"Yeah, no," Dirk said, with a careless flick of his wrist his clothing glitched and blurred into a different but similar set, his pointed sunglasses doing the same to be a fully face covering gas mask. The people who fought crime always wore masks in those stories, right? From the same place his new clothing came from he drew his katana.

He was used to enemies that put up a fight to someone on his level, and maybe would be over-estimating this guy's abilities.

Comments

[evenindeath]

Dirk lets out a barking sort of laugh, the tension of the moment broken in a way that doesn't leave one or both of them bleeding in the wake of it. He leaned back a bit, moving so Jason could get up.

"Yeah, I got some clothes that need some washing too," he gestured to the mess he'd wiped off on his pants and gave a little shrug. There was also the stuff he was wearing when he fell into the dumpster. "... Want to show me how your shower works?"

[lazarusinred]

Before getting up Jason gave Dirk an unhurried look over, a smile settling on him as he did. He had never thought of being into freckles, but he was starting to feel that was becoming a thing. Or it was just Dirk and what made him.

"I do want to yes," he said getting up. Now no longer half pinned to the floor and frantic it was a whole lot easier to kick off his pants. A moment of consideration before he stripped the rest of the way - it was going to end up that way one way or another. Carefully he bundled up the clothes before carelessly tossing them next to the wall on the bedroom floor on the way to the bathroom.

"Washer and dryer are also here." The tub and shower combination was American standard with one tap, safety reasons apparently. The water was nearly immediately warm. "I made then put in an inline water heater when I moved in. No shortage of hot water that way." He was kind of blocking the way to the shower with where the toilet was, but Dirk could indicate he actually wanted privacy or not.

[evenindeath]

Since Jason had already thrown his own clothes into a pile, Dirk didn't think much of stripping down and adding his as well. He'd grab the sylladex card with the rest after a chance to wash up.

While his home back in Texas was four hundred years in the future, it was in the remnants of an apartment building that was built in the beginning of this century, so much of Jason's place wasn't unfamiliar in concept. On the other hand, he didn't have a water heater. What came out if the taps was what you got and you were happy it wasn't saltwater, and boiled it over direct heat if you needed it hot for something. So much as Dirk might say the word in his usual blandack of affect, he really did mean it when he replied, "Fancy."

And… sure Jason had just washed up, but he'd then had quite a good time getting sweaty with Dirk on the floor. So Dirk gently put his hands on Jason's chest to give him a gentle shove back towards the shower.

"You should show me how to use it. Just in case. Showers could have fundamentally changed in a few hundred years, I might not know how to work it."

They had not changed, he could figure it out, but that wasn't really the point.

[lazarusinred]

It wasn't the point and Jason had been hoping he had read the underlying message properly. He had experience reading carefully neutral faces, but it took time. Fluidly stepping over the edge of the tub he let himself be pushed back.

The warm water found all the spots that Dirk's teeth and nails had done more than leave impressions, sending a rill of pleasure down his spine. "If you want it hotter, all you have to do it turn it up," he said stepping back into the water more, making room - eyes not leaving Dirk's. He had also installed a nice shower head that was plenty tall enough for him and provided better coverage. Ever since he had experienced it, he was always sure to make his bathing conditions comfortable where he lived.

[evenindeath]

Dirk's hair had considerable volume to it, sticking up every which way like he was some kind of anime character made real given Jason knew from grasping at it that there wasn't any product in it to get that result. When wet it turned out to be almost to his shoulders when fully weighed down by the water, Dirk briefly needing a moment before continuing the flirting because the warm water on demand was a surprise, the jolt of it when it hit all of his own bruises and bite marks littered across his skin.

Okay, good to know. Back to important things.

"I could do with a little hotter," Dirk, eyebrow lifting, reaching out to tug at a strand of Jason's hair. "So how would I go about that...?"

[lazarusinred]

Dirk's hair, along with the rest of him, was absolutely fascinating. The shock of white was the most interesting thing going on with Jason's, in his own opinion.

There was a challenge to be found here, in finding the right flirtations without resorting to the obvious and crude euphemisms. "It is suggested to make small changes and let the new temperature sink in before proceeding further. A light touch, until you have it just right." Jason reached out to run a finger along the edge of one of Dirk's bruises, tilting his head as if in consideration - exposing the last bruise that Dirk had given him. "Would you like a practical demonstration?"

[evenindeath]

The white shock in his hair was interesting to Dirk, though. That little incongruity in an otherwise so uniform appearance. Not that Dirk had seen many people, but it didn't seem common and Dirk wondered if he was born with it or if he just meticulously kept up with bleach and toner or what. Stoic as he tried to be, he couldn't hold back completely on the little shudder that came out when Jason tracted the edge of one of the bruises already blossoming on his skin, the action prompting Dirk to mirror it against Jason's.

"Oh, I think that could only help," he answered.

[lazarusinred]

Between Dirk's touch and feeling the shutter under his fingers, Jason made an appricatice sound. He wanted to continue to make Dirk feel that way. All their fresh marks were smudges of red, which the warm water helped draw out. Jason traced a few more before drawing his fingertips down Dirk's chest. Following lines of scar and muscle to stomach and then hip.

With a smooth motion he swung Dirk around to gently press him into the tiled wall. Leaning in Jason ran his tongue up the side of Dirk's neck to his ear. Fingers tightened on his hip. "Hotter?"

[evenindeath]

Dirk had never hard his scars explored like this, and it was quickly becoming something he couldn't get enough of. He wanted Jason to touch every one of them - yes he wanted hotter, hot enough to be consumed by it.

But they had done frantic on the floor a few moments ago, and this time Dirk was determined to draw it out - at least a little bit. As long as he could when he still had this unstable hunger. His hands went to Jason's hips when he was pressed back against the wall, tile cold against skin. His eyes slid shut and he couldn't stop a little ragged gasp from escaping.

"Gimmie a minute to acclimate," he said after a moment, words having briefly fled him.

[lazarusinred]

That gasp was nice, very nice. It made his heart beat faster and that hunger to press at him, but Jason also wanted to draw it out. He gave a couple kisses to Dirk's jaw. Instead of finishing with a kiss he said, "Of course. I want to take my time enjoying you, and you me. This time." Leaving space for times frantic and not.

Sliding his fingers back up Dirk's body he traced more of his scars.

[evenindeath]

This time, like there would be more times. Maybe a lot more. Dirk wanted them all, wanted them frantically and desperately now. He had gotten so used to a life where every tomorrow was a maybe at best. He blindly mapped the scars on Jason's body by touch, deft fingers following the thin raised line of healed skin along with the soft curves that came with solid muscle that meant business. It was like every edgy fantasy of Dirk's throughout the years brought to life and it made his knees weak to have this thing he always assumed was never going to happen within reach if only for now.

"I'm enjoying it," he replied, tilting his head to the side to lean in and mirror the kisses against Jason's jaw, a mix between teasingly light and reverent.

[lazarusinred]

Most of Jason's scars were from a variety of weapons. Usually his armor prevented anything getting through, but there were exceptions. Sometimes not weapons, like the time King Shark tried to take a bite out of him.

There were things that he had not been able to appreciate fully when they were on the floor. Like how Drik's lanky, muscular frame fit against him. He pressed forward to fractionally close the space between them. Not enough to stop exploring fingers, but enough to bring contact in some places and the promise of it to others. Letting his fingers trail down Drik's sides he brushed his lips down Drik's neck, turning to a grazing of teeth. "I'm glad."

[evenindeath]

The funny thing (one funny thing) was given Dirk's home; he was uniquely experienced at knowing what a shark bite looked like. He had none of his own, but that was a mix of skill and luck on his part.

"You're gorgeous, " he murmured, speaking without meaning to, still in awe to be allowed this. In contrast to his outward calm his pulse was working like he was getting ready for a fight, pupils noticeably large against the pale bright orange of his irises. He slid his arms around Jason's waist when he moved in, inviting the closeness even if he was hyper aware of every one of his own movements to figure out how they fit together as he tried to not project how inexperienced he was. Every place they touched was an inferno that threatened to leave a brand behind, and Dirk didn't really mind the idea of that, mouth gentle over the worst of the bruises he'd left on Jason's neck that was forming.

"Hotter?"

[lazarusinred]

The pulse under Dirk's mouth was palpable, not yet galloping but working itself there. Jason lifted Dirk's chin, his own pupils pushing the blue-green of his iris' back, soft flush over his cheekbones that had nothing to do with the warm water. "Hotter, gorgeous," he agreed, leaning into a kiss.

Lacking any need to cover his own inexperience, he was less aware of his motions than the feel of skin on skin as he pressed firmly into Dirk. His own mass being a second point of stability to the wall.

[evenindeath]

Kissing, at least, Dirk knew. Jake and him and done quite a bit of it, extensively, and Dirk was quick to use his experience there. Holding Jason close, alternating the pressure between deep and intense and soft and almost chaste, bringing his tongue in right away to coax Jason's out as well. Even focusing just on that, it was impossible to miss the other ways his body was showing interest this close, but forcing himself to wait was part of the fun.

[lazarusinred]

It was part of the fun. The frantic escalation before had not allowed for such a through exploration of what could be done with lips and tongue. Jason was a quick learner and with an experienced teacher he was starting to feel like he was learning to anticipate the shifts between intense and soft. It was all very thrilling to him, impossible to pick one expression over another. All of which creating a growing interest that was equally difficult to hide or ignore.

At a point where there was a gentle lull he pulled away just far enough to say, "You really are amazing."

[evenindeath]

It felt juvenile, but it really did make Dirk feel tingly all over - 'amazing'! Sure he had been wanting to impress Jason, but he'd barely done anything worthy of being impressive.

"And you're a fast study," he replied, the corners of his lips quirking up in a small smirk. It was mildly worrying that he would continue to be such a quick learner that he would come to understand how little experience Dirk had sooner rather than later, but it wasn't quite enough yet to make him care enough to pump the breaks. "How'd you get bit by a shark?"

Well, ok, THAT he was a little too curious about to leave be.

[lazarusinred]

Jason's assertations of awesomeness went beyond anything that Dirk had done and into things that he could not completely see yet. It was an instinct, and his instincts were the sort you could rely on.

A smile crept up on Jason half from the praise and half from Dirk's curiosity. "Mm this," he said leaning back enough that the scars in question could be seen. Semicircle of rows of slightly triangular raised marks, only slightly more pink than his skin. "That was King Shark. He's a ten foot tall shark man. Stopping a ten foot tall fucking shark man was a bit of a challenge. He managed to bite me and shake me around like I was a god damn chew toy. Before flinging me what felt like half the length of Lake Gotham. By the time I swam back the fight was long done. Which is why the bastard is still alive." The armor had taken the worst of the damage, and as he had been sailing through the air was when he had the idea to put a taser in the armor. Hitting the water had made him second guess that idea.

[evenindeath]

Dirk's eyebrows slowly rose at Jason's explanation of King Shark and getting thrown across the city by him. Yeah, that would leave a mark for sure. He let a hand drift back down to trace the scar again, circling each raised mark that was left behind with deliberate care.

"Are there a lot of ten foot tall shark men around here?" Dirk asked, like that was a normal question. He hadn't seen any, but maybe they were all... in the water or something?

[lazarusinred]

The care expressed in Dirk's touch sent a flutter through Jason's chest. He wanted this as much as he had wanted all the other ways Dirk had touched him. There was so much he wanted to experience new and experience again.

"No, just the one," Jason replied and settled his hands on Dirk's hips, letting Dirk take all the time he wanted. "Plenty of other weirdness. People with inhuman powers, people who made themselves part animal, other animals made human-like. Some people who put on costumes to work out their issues. Bit of a mess."

[evenindeath]

Dirk had gotten to feel up Jake's chest a few times, and Jake had gently pushed him away enough that Dirk felt certain that Jake was at least okay with it the times that he'd allowed it. Still, he didn't seem to revel in it the way Jason did, didn't look like he was enjoying Dirk touching him just as much as Dirk was. He couldn't stop touching Jason, couldn't get enough of the feel of his skin.

"Is that why you put on a costume? Got issues to work out?" Dirk asked, coy. He laid his palm flat against Jason's chest once he was done tracing the scar, thumb brushing against Jason's nipple.

[lazarusinred]

There was moment where Jason wound up with some kind of deflection, shrug it off with a half smile and sarcasm. But he had not been lying before when he said he wanted some kind of connection with Dirk, something more than the physical one they had established with wild abandon.

"Actually, yeah," Jason admitted, "and I bring death to those that deserve death. Is that going to be a problem?" He ran his thumbs over Dirk's hip bones, eyes full of challenge and desire in equal measure.

[evenindeath]

It wouldn't be like Dirk could blame Jason if he'd deflected - Dirk probably would have. Would have had a whole appealing story crafted and ready to go that managed to satisfy while saying ultimately nothing at all. One of his specialties.

The shameless honesty though, the way he looked at Dirk like the words themselves were a challenge to be met, fuck.

"Only in that you keep doing shit that turns me on," he replied in turn. "That could be a problem I guess."

[lazarusinred]

"Not for me. Not in the slightest," Jason said with a small, breathless smile. "I have another confession. I am disappointed I'm not your first. I want to experience things the first time with you. It doesn't change how I feel about you, but it's there. I knew before and I wanted you and I want you now. It felt... not right to not say something." He hoped this amount of shameless honesty was not going to upend everything, but if it did maybe it was better now than later.

[evenindeath]

This was when Dirk was annoyed to not have his sunglasses. Not that they would have hid the way the blush crept up from his neck, but it could have at least hid the slight widening of his eyes at the confession, the way he had to look away first. His words were frozen in his throat as he tried to figure out which was the better angle, the truth or maintaining the lie. If he kept up the lie - Jason already wanted him, was already okay with not being Dirk's 'first'. It wouldn't put him in a worse position. He hadn't technically said how experienced he was, just mentioned and ex and let Jason figure the rest out himself. Not clarifying now would involve an active lie though that he could be caught in later.

On the other hand... he could clarify now. He didn't like admitting to a lack of experience in anything, but - if that was what Jason would actually want, maybe..?

This weighing of options was done in seconds, rapidly doing his own mental math as if relationships were equations that could be solved for the best possible outcome.

"... All Jake and I ever did was kissing. A lot of kissing. And a little over clothes groping," Dirk finally confessed, a decision reached, even as it put his back up to admit to a lack of experience in something.