For flyingg

[hypnoticsong]

The doctors would keep the amnesiac Dick Grayson another day for observation but aside from still not remembering his identity, his brainscans were good so they eventually released him into Hartley's care. He was the only visitor the man had received and no one had thus far reported a man matching Dick's description missing unfortunately.

So as they stood there outside the lobby of the ER, the former Rogue found himself hesitating. What now? He couldn't just take the man home like he was a stray. That would be both presumptions and just a little bit creepy.

"So...what now? Do you want to go find your car? Maybe we'll get lucky and there's some kind of identification in it? You didn't have a wallet on you, after all. I sometimes forget to grab mine too so maybe it's just waiting for you stuck between two seats?" He was babbling a little and he knew it. "Or we can go clothes."

Piper shot Dick a wry smile. The shirt he'd picked out for the man was probably a size too small and was distractingly tight around his shoulders. But at least he couldn't really go wrong with sweatpants, right?

Comments

[hypnoticsong]

He hadn't done anything, Hartley was just having trouble controlling his libido in check.

"Huh? Oh, no everything is fine." The older man reassured him with a smile as he made his way back to the trunk. Please don't let there be a body in the trunk. Or other signs of criminal activities. He didn't know what he'd do if he found out his new crush was actually some mobster hitman or other criminal.

[flyingg]

Which Dick probably would have gotten, if his mind wasn't working in sixteen directions at the same time, on lower power because, explosion.

He eyed the redhead over the hood of the car, then nodded, slightly. "Okay. That's good." Because, really, what else could he say?

There was no body in the trunk. There weren't weapons there, either, well, other than a couple of smooth black sticks. Unmarked. There was an extra suit, though, some random makeup, and an empty backpack which didn't exactly fit with the suits - the one here or the one he'd worn yesterday, but it looked comfortable, the straps a little worn.

And a thermos of yesterday's coffee.

"... is it bad that even this smells good to me?" Dick asked when he got to open and sniff that last one.

[hypnoticsong]

"Lets see what's behind door number one, shall we?" He jested lightly as Dick moved to open the trunk. No, there wasn't any dead body thankfully but his eyes were immediately focused on the makeup. Piper immediately seized upon the most logical explanation, that the amnesiac--no Dick--had a girl waiting for him somewhere. She was probably worried sick that he hadn't come home last night.

He fought to keep the disappointment off of his face but truth be told, it kind of hurt to see that makeup. Stupid man, of course he wouldn't be single or straight. "Huh?" Was his distracted query as the musician tore his eyes away from the trunk.


"I...wouldn't drink that, who knows how long it's been in here, Dick." Hartley said somewhat weakly and managed to dredge up a smile. "Wouldn't want to end back up in the hospital for food poisoning, do you?"

[flyingg]

Hartley kept most of it from his face, yes, but he din't exactly bother to correct his body language. Dick could see the disappointment in the way his shoulders fell, the slight tension in his spine. The sound of his voice.

So Dick moved, closer, shoulders touching. He couldn't figure out why the change. (The make-up did not in any way call up an image of a woman. It was just... there.)

After a moment of proximity, he managed a smile, too, his voice much stronger. "You're right, of course. But can we pick up coffee on the way to the hotel?"

[hypnoticsong]

Piper very nearly flinched when he found his personal space being invaded by Dick and at the subtle brush of their shoulders. There were shadows in the man's eyes now however.

"Of course we can." Hartley even managed to sound enthused despite the subtle dampening of his mood. "I'll take you to my favorite indie coffee shop, it's kind of on the way to the hotel."

[flyingg]

Oblivious, still, to the cause of the shift in mood, Dick grinned... then met Piper's eyes and. The shadow, there.

The words left his lips, anyway, quiet and close. "You've got my mouth watering, Hartley."

[hypnoticsong]

The former villain's pale blue gaze was intense suddenly as the urge to grab Dick and yank him in for a kiss. The naked desire was plain to see in the older man's eyes when Dick quietly uttered those very suggestive words.

His hands moved of their own volition and he moved to cup the handsome man's face gently, slowly. He was giving Dick plenty of time to pull back before. "Please don't hate me for this," he whispered before leaning in to kiss Dick softly. There was so little distance between them right then that it was easy to do so.

[flyingg]

Dick didn't pull back. In fact, his hand came up (the thermos was long ago restoppered and replaced in the trunk) to steady them both, at Hartley's waist (not below), and he kissed back, just as gently. His heart was beating a lot faster, suddenly, and when they leaned back, he made a show of considering it, even hummed quietly.

After a moment, he smiled. "Nope. Definitely don't hate you." And then he added, "at the very least I know I wasn't imagining things."

Without giving it too much of a thought, he pulled the slighter man closer, into a hug. Surprisingly steady for how he was, in fact. Even without remembering all things, he knew such a thing took courage, between men. And he was grateful (and wanted it, too, but...)

"Let's figure me out, and then we figure this out, too?"

It was, basically, not turning him down. But this was not the time, and the if you still want it goes unsaid.

[hypnoticsong]

Hartley could hear the way Dick's heart-rate increased suddenly as they kissed. It wasn't even a very passionate one, just slow and sweet. Yet it left him feeling vaguely warmed on the inside but that could have just been the relief in not having Dick try to deck him or yank away in disgust.

A slightly hesitant smile pulled at the redhead's lips when he heard those words. "No, you definitely weren't." And when the younger man pulled him into a hug, he went along with it. Piper hadn't gotten too many of those in his lifetime. His parents had been emotionally distant and remote for most of his life. The only hugs and affection he'd gotten as a child had been from the hired staff and nannies who were hired to watch over Hartley and his sister. It hadn't been until he'd gotten out on his own and buried himself in the gay scene that Piper had come to know people so utterly unlike anything in his privileged upbringing. Twinks, drag queens and a whole host of people brought together by the tenuous bonds of being excluded from polite society because of the nature of their sexual orientation.

Piper hugged him back gently. "I know, worst timing ever." He smiled wryly and leaned his cheek against Dick's affectionately before he pulled back. "And I'm sure you desperately want that coffee and to find that hotel. Do you want to leave the car here and take mine? It'll be easier than trying to follow me through a strange city, probably."

[flyingg]

"Don't say that, it might get worse." For Dick, the hugging felt natural, as did the quip about the superstition. The cheek on his cheek? That felt amazing.

He smiled, eyes thoughtful. "Desperately may be a bit off the mark, but we can go with it. I want to know." He blinked. "I think... somebody's told me that my greatest weapon or asset is my mind. Can't use it right when I'm missing stuff, right?"

And, on that note, he shook his head. "I'm not driving. So... I'll take you up on that offer. But... just a sec."

Dick moved around Hartley, to get to the passenger seat and snag the papers - and card - for Dick Grayson. Whatever the reason for the other identities, he was going to stick with what he felt the most certain about. Then he bounced back (yes, sort of bounced) to Hartley, moving to close the trunk so he could lock the car.

"Lead on, oh Piper!"

No, Dick had not made the connection with Pied Piper, yet. But if he was going to tease, might as well use the other name that Hartley told him people called him by, right?

[hypnoticsong]

"Okay, I won't say that." Amusement colored the redhead's tone. He didn't quite get the whole Rom thing or just how much superstition might play into Dick's everyday life.

Piper felt the need to touch Dick again when the young man admitted soulfully that he wanted to know who he was. The urge to reassure the dark-haired man was overpowering so Piper reached out to squeeze his shoulder again. "Hey, we're batting a thousand here, Dick. You're doing great. You remember your name, we have a good lead on where to go next."

He patiently waited for Dick to finish gathering his things from the car and even grabbed the backpack and other contents from the trunk for the younger man. It was amusing to watch Dick all but bounce back to him excited as a puppy. In some ways, he reminded him of Trickster before he'd gone straight and reformed.

But when Dick made that jest about him leading on much like the Pied Piper of legend, a dismayed look flashed across Hartley's face. He paled somewhat in dread and the realization that he needed to tell Dick about his checked past and soon. Otherwise it was probably going to explode in his face later. He just wanted to cling to the belief that for Dick, he could just be Hartley Rathaway, not the Pied Piper, not a reformed Rogue who was met with suspicion from most everyone because of the things he'd done in his youth.


"Alright, let's go." He managed to mask that dismay quickly enough and pasted on a smile for Dick's sake.

[flyingg]

To be fair, Dick didn't know, either. He was joking.

And he smiled into the touch, straightening up a bit. "Yeah, we do. And it wouldn't be nearly as good if I were on my own."

By the time he said what he did, he was definitely back, and in full sight of the man's face. His smile dropped, faded, and he blinked in confusion. That was so not the kind of reaction he was thinking of.

"Hartley?" Yeah, he wasn't using the other name again anytime soon. "You said people call you that, 'm sorry. I won't do it again."

It wasn't at all a kicked-puppy expression or apology. Just a sincere reaction to seeing he'd caused hurt, unwittingly. And he really meant not to repeat that.

[hypnoticsong]

Piper could feel the weight of the lies of omission pressing down on his shoulders. He just didn't want Dick to react poorly as some people did. If anything, he cared more about the younger man's opinion today than he had the day before.

"No, I don't mind. It's just...well, let's get to the hotel where we can talk more privately and I'll tell you everything."

Just give him a few more minutes to pretend everything was okay. Which it wasn't not by any stretch of the imagination. Look at his companion, for crying out loud! Seeking to reassure Dick, he caught the younger man's wrist and stroked his thumb across the back of his hand soothingly. "It's okay, really." And with that, he'd lead the younger man upwards towards the ground level of the garage.

[flyingg]

Currently, Dick was worried, by those reactions, his eyes searching Hartley's face. What is wrong? Did somebody do something to you? Because, if they did, I'll... what? What would he do? What could he do, who was he, to be able to do anything?

He swallowed, and nodded. "That works, okay."

And when Piper's caress came, Dick turned his palm and laced fingers with the redhead's. He'd let go at the first sign that Hartley wanted him to, because people, or comfort levels, or anything. But he? He was nobody, here. Nobody had recognized him this far, and he wondered anyone would, yet. It didn't matter what people thought about him.

He could offer support, at least, as he went with his new friend.

[hypnoticsong]

If only Dick knew. And he would, just as soon as Hartley worked up the nerve to tell him.

Hartley smiled more realistically this time and bumped his shoulder against Dick's affectionately as the younger man laced their fingers together. He had no problem with the gesture however and squeezed Dick's fingers reassuringly in answer. "It's okay, really."

Once they made it out onto the street and back towards where Piper had parked his car, shock of shocks, no one really paid them any mind. It wasn't like they were back in the 50's and 60's where gay men had to hide their lifestyle from the general public. Sure, there were still homophobes and people who objected to the gay lifestyle but Piper had learned to have a thick skin where they were concerned.

After all, he'd had to listen to just about every deprecating remark from the Rogues over the years. Having cybernetically enhanced hearing could be a bitch sometimes. It was only after they approached Piper's car that Hartley withdrew his hand from Dick's and that was so he could dig out his keys and unlock the door.

"You want to put your stuff in the trunk?"

[flyingg]

"Sure, yeah." Dick almost seemed to startle when Hartley let go, and asked, but he started towards the trunk promptly and without a sign of reluctance. The shortish walk was still a time of silence when Dick had managed to sink in his thoughts, the linked hands his anchor, and he... was not making much sense of what he knew about himself. Little bits and pieces, flashes and feelings that just didn't add up.

Here-and-now. Focus on the here-and-now, he told himself, and, by the time he slipped into the passenger seat, a 'light' version of his smile was back in his eyes.

"Thanks. For... having patience with me." Oh, yes, his thoughts not making sense reminded him that it was the case. Patience. "Doesn't seem to be something I do very well with."

[hypnoticsong]

He moved to pop the trunk for Dick before climbing inside the car. Piper watched the younger man's actions from the rear view mirror and looked over at Dick with a smile as he climbed into the passenger seat of the car.

Hartley leaned over and looped one arm around Dick's shoulders and pulled him in for a hug. He leaned his head against the younger man's affectionately over the console separating their seats. "Luckily for you, I happen to have an over-abundance of patience." He teased affectionately before pulling away.

"And I meant it, you're doing great so far. Once we get back to your hotel room, I'm sure we'll find plenty of other things that will jog your memory."

[flyingg]

"Thank you," he breathed out, sagging a little into the hug, hugging back.

The emotional whiplash was draining, actually. He could keep going, would keep going, but he wasn't firing on all cylinders, and it was taking a tall.

Hartley's presence, his support, helped more than he had words to say. Or even think. And the gratitude was real.

After a few moments, Dick gently pulled back enough to look up into the blue eyes. Into the warmth and comfort there. And he smiled.

"So long as I don't start tripping over my feet and make a fool out of myself, I think I'll survive."

[hypnoticsong]

He had the overwhelming urge to kiss him again but Piper reined in that urge and settled for dropping an affectionate kiss to the crown of Dick's head instead.

"You're welcome and I know this is a lot but you'll get through it and I'll stick with you the whole way if you need me to."

For his own sanity's sake, Hartley finally let the hug drop and focused his attention on driving the car and not the warm look in the younger man's eyes.

"Somehow, I doubt that will be a problem with you, Dick. You're pretty light on your feet." Which was to say he was one of the most graceful people he'd ever clapped eyes on.

[flyingg]

"I've no doubt that you will," Dick murmured back. And it was not an empty statement, either. He trusted Hartley. It felt right.

When the redhead let go and turned ahead, he sat back and buckled up. Grinned slightly.

"Well. It kind of feels easier to be light, yes. I'm pretty sure I stumble, too." Without explosions and concussions. "Probably."

Yeah. Right.

"But, yeah, light. Almost like I should try to fly, which is silly, isn't it?"

[hypnoticsong]

Hartley simple spared him a quick smile as he backed out of the parking space and finally exited onto the street. He knew this part of the city like the back of his hand because this was where the gays in Central City tended to congregate. Which meant he knew which alleyway to cut down to avoid most of the detour traffic.

"Not really, I know a couple of people like that. One guy I know, James, he was actually an acrobat when he was younger. His family is apparently some famous tightrope and trapeze act called the Flying Jesses but James is actually afraid of heights. Sufficing to say, that went over well with his family."

Piper murmured a little sadly. James had confided that to him one night when he'd been especially drunk. His father had been a harsh man supposedly and despite James's fear of heights, he'd forced the young man up on the high wire anyway. It had been what drove the Trickster to invent his first pair of flying shoes actually.

[flyingg]

"I'm not afraid of heights," the response was quick and unthinking, "and I was taught to walk - on a tightrope. It was--"

And then the easy, cheerful, eager voice that comes with remembering some things just clamped up, Dick freezing in the passenger seat, the flash of flight on the trapeze, the sure touch and hold of his mother's hands around his arms, the whistle of air against his ears as he rolls through it, one, two, three, four times... that memory flashed into watching them fall, kneeling before their still bodies, sprawled on the ground. There was a thin trickle of blood from the corner of his mom's mouth.

After maybe a full minute, he finally managed, "I'm not afraid of heights, even if some could say that the heights took my parents from me."

[hypnoticsong]

It was probably a good thing that Piper was stopped at traffic light when Dick let that slip because he was genuinely floored. "I'm sorry? What, you're saying you grew up in a circus like James?"

Piper asked with a quiet laugh. A glance at Dick however struck him dumb. The dark-haired man had grown ashen and there was a decidedly glassy look in the man's eyes which he could only take to mean he was digging through something in his mind. A memory perhaps? Not a pleasant one if Hartley were to guess judging by the subtle twitch of grief that briefly flickered across the man's face.

"Oh...Dick. I'm so sorry." Sympathy touched Piper's face and the rude honking of the car behind suddenly reminded him that they were in fact in the middle of the road and the light had just gone green. He stomped on the accelerator a little harder than was necessary and headed down the street the next four blocks until they reached the coffee shop he'd told Dick about.

[flyingg]

"Yeah, I think so." Quiet, very quiet, and the words were coming hard. "I remember flying with them. The tightrope. Remember falling asleep curled up against an elephant." His voice softened with fondness, at that.

He moved, for the first time since remembering ... that, to run a hand back through his hair. "Somebody frayed a rope before a show. No safety net. In Gotham. That's how I stayed there, I think. It... seems like it was a long time ago."

He couldn't say it was all right, because right now, it wasn't.

By the time the car stopped, he'd recovered some of his color, though not quite the smile. He stepped out of the car, rolling his shoulders a bit.

"Right. Coffee. Sorry for... dumping this out." He wasn't quite lost to memory enough to miss Hartley's reactions. "It all just hit me when I thought of circus and trapeze..."

[hypnoticsong]

"Sounds like a pretty interesting childhood." Piper murmured with a soft look. The concern was plain to see on the man's face as he watched Dick from the corner of his eye.

He put the car into park in front of the coffee shop that had a rainbow flag hanging proudly in the window and proclaimed itself a LGBT friendly establishment.

"Alright. I've got my laptop with me we'll hop on the wifi and figure out all we can about Dick Grayson from Gothan City, how about that?" Hartley suggested solicitously and grabbed his laptop bag from the back seat before crossing onto the sidewalk next to Dick. "Don't ever apologize, I'm just sorry that memory was so bittersweet."