mahem | inbox for duplicity;

look i get being freaked out by all of it
or not liking being in control of yourself
i know what that feels like

but even if it seems like you're the only one going through it
we're kind of all in it in different ways yknow?

yeah, I know how that goes
we've got to look out for each other

something like that
makes it a little less overwhelming

yeah

thanks

I'll let you get to sleep now

well you know what would make it extra perfect
a big warm blanket

it would?

maybe I should bring you one

you gonna read me a bedtime story?
tuck me in?

will that help you sleep?

might just put me to sleep like a little baby

good

I'll be there in a little while

i'll tell em to let you right on up

[ As it turns out, getting to the Up is easier with practice. This time Hellboy barely even glances at the SIN guards and thankfully they decline to question him on why he's unaccompanied so late at night, and he makes decent time to Harley's apartment building, letting himself admire the glitter and hum of this part of the city at night.

The click of his hooves muffled by the fancy carpet, he arrives outside her door and knocks carefully, not knowing who else he might be waking up. ]

[ it's definitely a very mature hour, so mature it could probably get into an r-rated movie all by itself, but the harley who answers the door isn't the harley he's probably used to seeing, even if she's still wearing bright colors. no, this harley looks... softer, blonde hair freed from its pigtails and her face scrubbed clean of any makeup, lips an almost-bloodless shade without her trademark red.

paired with her off-the-shoulder sweatshirt and a pair of rainbow leggings, she either looks like she's on her way to a dance class or ready for some hardcore snuggling, but she leans against the ajar door and grins sideways up at him. ]

Ya know, I almost didn't think you'd show.

[ He doesn't bother hiding the smile that crooks up the side of his mouth, either because of her grin or her outfit, though he makes a show of looking a little offended at her accusation. ]

Hey, I'm a man of my word. Didn't want you to end up sleepless on my behalf. And.. [ He reaches into one of the big pockets of his coat, pulling out something loosely wrapped in wax paper which turns out, when he shows Harley, to be a thick beef bone. ] I got something for Bruce.

Well, you're just spoilin' both of us then, aren't you? [ she has to get enough momentum in order to rocket herself up onto her tiptoes so she can reach his cheek in order to deposit a kiss there, a quick peck before she sinks back down onto her heels and carefully takes the package from him. ]

We can surprise him with this in the mornin', he's totally passed out right now and I like to let him get his z's in. [ because a tired hyena is a cranky hyena, to no one's surprise, and sure enough, if hellboy happens to look over at the living room sofa there's a furry body splayed out on it snoring almost as loud as a person would, occasionally making little barking noises in his sleep. harley glances back over her shoulder at him, clucking her tongue once. ] Isn't he the most precious thing you've ever seen?

[ Hellboy's grin spreads in the wake of that kiss, bordering, a tiny bit, on being goofy for while she's occupied with taking the gift from him before he pulls his composure back. He follows her look into the living room, expression softening again at the sight of Bruce sprawled out like that. The hyena isn't anything like Mac, the dog that's almost seventy years behind him now, but he's got a soft spot for animals that the passage of time hasn't managed to erode yet. ]

Yeah, he's pretty far up there. [ He glances back at Harley. ] Didn't pull you out of bed did I?

Who, me? [ she's already in the process of finding a place to toss that bone — in the fridge seems like the best way to keep it fresh until bruce can chow down on it — and she glances up at him over the open door before letting it close quietly. ] Nah. I'm gonna be the one pullin' you in in a minute.

[ because she reaches out to slip her right hand into his left one, giving it a small tug to lead him down the hallway to the last door on the end, a smile clinging to her lips. ] Might be a little bigger than what you're used to sleepin' in down there, but —

[ that might be an understatement; the bed in the room is obscenely large, enough to sleep at least ten people let alone two, and there might be a few articles of clothing haphazardly tossed at the foot of it, but she slips free of him to bound toward it and hoists herself up, spinning around to flop onto her back with her arms outstretched. ] Mmmm. Like layin' on a cloud.

[ He doesn't think he's ever going to be able to get used to how easily she reaches out for him, not just with an outstretched hand, but with a word or a glance, making him feel wanted, included in ways he didn't expect to find in a place like this. He lets her pull him down the hall, enjoying the tiny almost boyish thrill of being lead to her private sanctuary.

He smiles at the sight of the bed, though it's mostly because of her excitement, gently closing the door behind him. He glances around at the decor, the scattered bits and pieces of her life, and shrugs out of his coat, draping it over the back of a chair. Though they've already shared so much of each other, it feels strangely intimate. ]

My kinda bed. [ He walks over to stand at the foot of it, tail waving idly behind him, and looks down at her. ] Guess it pays being up here, huh?

[ it's not really a space of hers he's been in before; truth be told, not very many people have been in this room, period, and as she props herself up on her elbows to watch him shed an outer layer, she's struck by that realization, something that manages to fill her with excitement and enjoyment all at the same time. she likes that he's here. likes that she's getting to share this with him.

and maybe she wants to prove that she's not just the wild, whirling dervish he first met not very long ago now. that she has other sides she's still capable of, sides she thinks she's willing to trust him with. crazy as it sounds even just in her own head.

she extends one hand slowly to pat the space beside her — though really, there's so much of it in either direction he could have his pick of any side, since she's crawled more to the middle. ] Well, I probably won't be up here for much longer, so... if you wanna take advantage of this whole sitch, now's your chance.

[ It's a kind of trust he hasn't been offered all that often, at least not by the living, or people who have expected him to stick around for longer than the space of the job they've hired him for. He doesn't know quite how to act, but he's happy to take cues from her.

He climbs up onto the bed, moving across to her left side so he can stretch his big right arm up above her, settling his weight carefully. He doesn't try to reach out and touch her yet, though, just stays on his side looking down at her stretched out next to him. ]

You're not staying here?

Uh-uh. [ she rolls over onto her side so she’s facing him, elbow nudged into the mattress with her cheek docked in her palm. ] First chance I get, I’m gonna move to the Down, Brucie and Cass and me and whoever else might be with us by then.

[ she’s distant for a moment, reflective, pressing her lips together in thought before she continues out loud. ] This place... it’s fine, but it’s not me, y’know? Too fancy. But I got my heart set on this warehouse space, could be perfect with a little overhaul. So once I have enough to make it happen, I’ll move us all in. Still plannin’ on havin’ a bed just like this one in it, though. [ she shifts inward until her knees skim his thighs, tilting her head back to keep him in her view. ] For sleepovers, that sorta thing.

Yeah?

[ Slowly, he reaches out with his left hand to skate his fingertips along the edge of her sweatshirt until he can rest his palm on her hip. There's no magical compulsion between them now, only a few inches of space among the soft blankets, and he finds himself feeling strangely nervous. ]

I guess it must be kinda tough living in a place like this. [ His voice is low and thoughtful, his thumb rubbing her gently through the fabric of her shirt. ] Feels like you've got someone watching your every move. View's.. uh, pretty good, though.

Mmhmm. [ she's already comfy enough lounged out on the bed like this, but now that he's shifted to lay beside her she becomes even more aware of just how much heat he gives off merely by existing, warmth radiating outward, and that happens long before he touches her, fingers brushing the hem of her sweatshirt where she feels the weight of it against the curve of her hipbone. it prompts her to sidle in, and now she's so close that she barely needs to raise her voice above a murmur. ]

Yeah, security's a real bitch. Plus they make it almost impossible to have just anybody up here unless you put 'em on a list, and I know what a freakin' hassle it is for you every time you come since you don't have a contract or anything, and — [ she sighs, gives herself a second to collect her train of thought again before it derails. ] Livin' in the Down just seems... easier. Simpler. Better. Whatever you wanna call it. The kinda place a girl like me is suited for.

[ Curled up in the shelter of his body, Harley seems a long way from the firecracker who stopped in the street to lick his chest, but he's finding he likes this side of her just as much, if not more. He can hear the conflict playing out under her words, the parts of her life she's struggling with, and it makes him wonder just how comfortable she really is with her situation, as much as she seems to have fun with the sexy side of it. Whether she gets lonely in this big bed with the good view of the city glittering through the big windows, and whether that's anything like the long years he's spent in the strange corners of the world.

He moves his hand a little on her hip, stroking her side, then lets it come to rest draped down over her back. ]

Well, lemme know when you move, I'll come over and make sure the place isn't haunted. [ His fingertips draw small, soothing circles. ] You know, just in case.

[ there's a lot about this place to love — the luxury, the 24-hour room service, the very bed they find themselves in now, the fact that she could stay here for an entire year if she wanted to before she'd have to find somewhere else to crash — but it doesn't feel like her, not the way the down feels. when she's there, she can't help but be reminded of home, even with its darker corners, its shadowy edges. it's what she rubs up against all the time in gotham, and it just makes more sense for her to be there once she can have enough cash to swing it.

but his hand shifts along her hip and then his arm drops further across her, making it easy for her to find a place where she's tucked into him with her knees pulled up so she's almost docked in like a fitted puzzle piece. ]

Yeah? Give it a looksie for me? [ her smile is a little more subdued, but no less genuine. ] Maybe there'll be somethin' in it for ya. Like... free pizza.

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ugh this is so soft i can't handle it

just too soft

:3