Batman and Robin: now with licensed tie-in gayitude.
I was reading Inheritance, the new DC Universe novel by Devin Grayson, and I came across these little passages here that made me break out in a sweat. There's not much of it, but what there is, is potent. *g* Not spoilery, in that it reveals no plot points.
For just one fraction of a second, Nightwing closed his eyes and exhaled in time with a hot release of breath on the back of his neck, synching his breathing to the presence behind him almost instinctively. Even after all these years, the strange feeling of protective danger that ran up the back of his spine when he unexpectedly found himself in his mentor's shadow thrilled and overwhelmed him.
"What are you doing?" The voice was dark and thick, and the question, though spoken less than two centimeters from Nightwing's ear, was directed at Green Arrow. The entire room fell silent and all eyes turned to Batman. Only Nightwing remained with his back turned to him. Batman was standing so close behind him that Nightwing couldn't turn around without bumping into him. Batman had learned years ago that it was the only way to keep Nightwing still.
*speechless*
It gets better, though.
Green Arrow spun around toward him and growled his best Batman imitation. "Dick!" he barked, using the young man's civilian name. "Are you coming!?"
The transformation in Nightwing was substantial and immediate. Like a soldier caught napping, the young man snapped to instantly...Dick only responded that way to older men, and then only if they were being deliberately unkind (or in Batman's case, chronically impassive). Arsenal couldn't think about it without instantly recognizing the complex relationship between Batman and Nightwing that made it so...
Uh-huh. Oh, my god. *g*
[Nightwing said,] "Man, I wish I'd been doing something that cool when Batman first saw me."
Green Arrow climbed off the back of the bike and gave Nightwing's shoulder a quick, paternal squeeze. "One look into your baby blues and I'm sure he didn't care what the hell you could do."
Nightwing, whose baby blues were at that moment hidden behind his eye mask, nevertheless managed to look so completely shocked that Green Arrow found it necessary to throw in a playful wink.
...!
And last, but not least:
A few paces ahead, Aquaman caught up with Green Arrow.
"Your boy's looking good," he commented...
"Yeah, he is, isn't he?" Ollie sounded pleased. "That kid's always been a looker. No wonder people like to speculate."
Arthur frowned slightly as Ollie laughed. "I meant he looked healthy," Arthur clarified.
"Oh, yeah." Ollie was undaunted. "I meant the hero-sidekick thing, how everyone assumes we're doing dirty things with these gorgeous kids in the--"
Arthur used his most regally authoritative voice to cut his friend off. "I know what you meant."
"You never got that as much. Guess the whole breathing underwater thing is freaky enough. But Bats, man! Well, look at that kid, no wonder."
And in summation: this novel is intermittently one of the gayest things I've ever read. Devin, you minx.
In other news, a draft vid was achieved today, but it's so hot that my computer begged me to end its life quickly, so I had to shut down and wait for draft #2 tomorrow.
And now, to answer comments.
For just one fraction of a second, Nightwing closed his eyes and exhaled in time with a hot release of breath on the back of his neck, synching his breathing to the presence behind him almost instinctively. Even after all these years, the strange feeling of protective danger that ran up the back of his spine when he unexpectedly found himself in his mentor's shadow thrilled and overwhelmed him.
"What are you doing?" The voice was dark and thick, and the question, though spoken less than two centimeters from Nightwing's ear, was directed at Green Arrow. The entire room fell silent and all eyes turned to Batman. Only Nightwing remained with his back turned to him. Batman was standing so close behind him that Nightwing couldn't turn around without bumping into him. Batman had learned years ago that it was the only way to keep Nightwing still.
*speechless*
It gets better, though.
Green Arrow spun around toward him and growled his best Batman imitation. "Dick!" he barked, using the young man's civilian name. "Are you coming!?"
The transformation in Nightwing was substantial and immediate. Like a soldier caught napping, the young man snapped to instantly...Dick only responded that way to older men, and then only if they were being deliberately unkind (or in Batman's case, chronically impassive). Arsenal couldn't think about it without instantly recognizing the complex relationship between Batman and Nightwing that made it so...
Uh-huh. Oh, my god. *g*
[Nightwing said,] "Man, I wish I'd been doing something that cool when Batman first saw me."
Green Arrow climbed off the back of the bike and gave Nightwing's shoulder a quick, paternal squeeze. "One look into your baby blues and I'm sure he didn't care what the hell you could do."
Nightwing, whose baby blues were at that moment hidden behind his eye mask, nevertheless managed to look so completely shocked that Green Arrow found it necessary to throw in a playful wink.
...!
And last, but not least:
A few paces ahead, Aquaman caught up with Green Arrow.
"Your boy's looking good," he commented...
"Yeah, he is, isn't he?" Ollie sounded pleased. "That kid's always been a looker. No wonder people like to speculate."
Arthur frowned slightly as Ollie laughed. "I meant he looked healthy," Arthur clarified.
"Oh, yeah." Ollie was undaunted. "I meant the hero-sidekick thing, how everyone assumes we're doing dirty things with these gorgeous kids in the--"
Arthur used his most regally authoritative voice to cut his friend off. "I know what you meant."
"You never got that as much. Guess the whole breathing underwater thing is freaky enough. But Bats, man! Well, look at that kid, no wonder."
And in summation: this novel is intermittently one of the gayest things I've ever read. Devin, you minx.
In other news, a draft vid was achieved today, but it's so hot that my computer begged me to end its life quickly, so I had to shut down and wait for draft #2 tomorrow.
And now, to answer comments.