OTA

[pecked_by_birds]

The past month- Months?- Had been strange. One night he'd found himself compelled to go out, as though something was calling to him. A silent siren song that had coaxed him into his car  and out into the country.

Where had he gone? What had he done?

Those were the questions he had to ask himself when he woke up in the middle of Hyde park in a rumpled suit and a brand new body. ...Possibly brand new. Certainly new to him in that moment, since he couldn't recall much of anything from the past few weeks. His head was pounding, and he was in agony. 

A large bird sat upon him. A hawk, he thought absently- Or maybe not. He couldn't seem to focus on it. Not when his gaze was so strongly drawn to all the blood. ...His blood.

"No," he said softly, trying to chase it away with a weak wave of his hand. "I'm free, you can't- He can't," he insisted, right before the world went dark. ...Not that it mattered. It would heal, he would heal. He always did. How else could the punishment continue?

Comments

[goodfellow]

"I do," Robin said, "and I am. But I want you to understand why I..." He finished pouring the wine and forced himself to look up at the man who told him he'd loved him a half hour before. "I can't let myself get too attached."

[pecked_by_birds]

"I know, puck. I know," Prometheus assured him. "I take no offence when you keep your distance."

[goodfellow]

"Am I?" Robin, who had had at least a bottle of wine by himself since Prometheus had arrived, stood up and crossed the short distance to him, pulling his chair out a little and putting his hands on either side of it as he looked down at him. "Am I keeping my distance, when I still have your damn painting hanging in my bedroom, and I find myself so disappointed in your absence that I spend New Year's Eve alone in my bed?"

[pecked_by_birds]

"Oh, Robin," Prometheus said softly. "I never want you to be alone just because I'm not here, dove. Never," the titan said gently, looking up at the puck and reaching out to stroke his cheek.

"You're not meant for solitude, pet."

[goodfellow]

Robin had surprised himself a bit by that outburst, and looked slightly embarrassed now as he dropped his eyes when Prometheus touched him.

"It wasn't just you," he mumbled. But then he let out a little snort and said, "But I don't think you're right about that. Pucks are practically built for solitude."

[pecked_by_birds]

"I'm not talking about pucks, I'm speaking only of you," Prometheus assured him.

[goodfellow]

"Then maybe I'm broken," Robin said, and pulled away from him, straightening up again.

But then he looked back at him, managed a quirk of his lips. "Don't worry. I promise I haven't been pining. I'm fine."

[pecked_by_birds]

Prometheus watched him, then reached for him, tugging him down onto his lap.

"You always are," he said, with a hint of admiration.

[goodfellow]

This was true. Robin wouldn't have lived this long if he weren't able to be.

He shifted a bit so that he was straddling Prometheus' lap, and took the opportunity to study his face. "You're very... angular," he said, and brought a hand up to run his thumb over the man's nose.

[pecked_by_birds]

"Am I? This body doesn't feel so strange. I feel as though I've worn variations of it in the past," the titan confessed.

[goodfellow]

Some are more variations than others," Robin said with a little smile. "Have you ever wondered how I think about you, in my head? Is it how you were when I saw you last, if only for a moment? How I saw you first?"

[pecked_by_birds]

"I've never been arrogant enough to assume you think of me at all, puck," Prometheus replied.

[goodfellow]

Robin frowned. "Seriously? You think I'm so fickle? You did think I was going to be pissed at you for being gone. It's not like I have the memory of a goldfish."

[pecked_by_birds]

"I just don't assume I'm on your mind, puck. It wasn't an insult," Prometheus assured him.

[goodfellow]

"Should I assume I'm not on yours?" Robin asked.

[pecked_by_birds]

"You linger there often," the titan shrugged. "My attention is less fickle than yours though, as is my heart."

Not an insult or a jab, simply Prometheus speaking what he saw to be true. He'd known the puck to have countless lovers, often several at once. His own heart, however, didn't have much room in it.

[goodfellow]

Robin wasn't entirely sure what to say to that. He already felt as if he revealed too much about himself to Prometheus. Felt too much.

So... he kind of ignored the comment, and answered his original question to himself.

"Most often," he said, "when I think of you, it is as you were when we were in New York, all those years ago."

[pecked_by_birds]

"You favoured that face, that mind. ...I fear you'll never see it again, Robin," the titan said softly.

[goodfellow]

"I don't expect to," Robin said, frowning. He put both hands on either side of Prometheus' face. "Are you trying to talk me out of caring about you? Because you know how hard it is for me to get here in the first place."

[pecked_by_birds]

"No, dove. Though that might be kinder of me," the titan said softly.

[goodfellow]

This was... not untrue. Though Robin certainly didn't want to acknowledge it.

"I like you right now," he said. "I like this face, I like this mind. Is that enough for right now?"

[pecked_by_birds]

"I don't know, is it, pet?" Prometheus asked softly, touching the puck almost gingerly. "Is it enough for you?"

[goodfellow]

"It is for this moment," Robin said. "You're awfully self deprecating this time around, you know..."

[pecked_by_birds]

"Am I? I don't think so," the titan replied. "I wasn't belittling myself Robin, it's just my looks aren't as important to me as they are to you."

[goodfellow]

Robin had been talking more about his mind than his face, though he didn't argue.

"It's still you," he said. "That's all I care about. Okay? Maybe it's stupid of me. Maybe I'm a masochist. But that's how it is."