week five - dare [fall asleep with someone]
OOC: Following this. Dialogue based on RP-ing with the fabulous
youdieahero who is used with permission.
Harvey sits on the bed, back as straight as a rod. Rachel can feel the tension pour off him in waves. His hands hold a book but she can tell he isn't reading it. Her tired eyes sweep over to the clock at the nightstand. It's nearly midnight. Her feet shuffle clumsily into the room, drenched jeans sticking to her legs.
Rachel shakes her head, closes her eyes as if the action alone will shove away the images floating in her brain. She thinks she sighs, a sigh of longing and exhaustion, and his shoulders tense at the sound of it.
"I'm sorry I worried you," she says softly. Cautious. Her steps are cautious and her words are cautious and in a minute she's unfolding.
Either of his hands grip at the edge of the bed. His head remains bowed. "Want to talk about it?"
Her breath hitches sharply. "No."
"Do you…" Harvey clears his throat, studies the floor with intensity. "Do you want to be left alone?"
His gaze finally locks with hers. She'd refused to show vulnerability to him in the past (hasn't she shown enough by now? All of her weaknesses up for display, a gallery for the world to pick apart for their choosing) but she can't-doesn't want-to be alone tonight. She shakes her head lightly again, hands fisting at her sides. "No."
She takes steps toward him, but they feel slow, like she's treading through stretches of lost highways to reach him. But she finally does, and the wide of her eyes are only a breath away from his and she aches all over again.
“Hey, Rach?” he asks, as she settles on the bed.
She barely grunts her response, drowsy length of her draping atop his chest, side of her head pressed at his heartbeat, eyes languidly drooping.
"Hmm?"
"Nothing's going to happen to us, Rachel. You have my word on that."
Rachel shifts in her spot, her chin settling against his shoulder blade as she peers up at him through tangled mops of wet dark hair. Her lips wobble as she tries to smile. "But you'll win. And a woman's been shot to death an inch away from us. Our co-worker was found dead in my office. What if I'd walked in and that had been you? Is that really a promise you can keep?"
He cups her face, and she can’t remember the last time she was touched so tenderly, and so she must lean into it. Tears sting underneath her eyelids because before Harvey it had been so long, so long since she'd been held like this. He wants her, it's clear, but he also wants to keep her and it's the truest thing she knows.
"Rachel, There isn't a whole lot I can offer you beyond who I am and my love and affection but I think-honestly-I will do everything in my power to keep that promise. Because-I don't know what would happen if I lost you. And-and I don't want to inflict that on anyone else."
She swallows thickly. It feels like there's glass caught in her throat and she must push through it to say the words. "You won't lose me," she whispers. "I promise. We're growing old together, remember?"
"Old and gray, darling," he agrees quietly, tucking the crown of her head under his chin.
Theirs is a comfort of a different kind, and she can’t explain, but she feels like with her head on his chest, the smooth beat residing within, every dark corner and deep secret leaves her. His fingertips rest artlessly on the low of her back, and she is safe. If she remains this way,, nothing bad can touch her.
And for the rest of the night, it remains true.
Rachel Dawes
Batman Begins
Word count: 636
youdieahero who is used with permission.
Harvey sits on the bed, back as straight as a rod. Rachel can feel the tension pour off him in waves. His hands hold a book but she can tell he isn't reading it. Her tired eyes sweep over to the clock at the nightstand. It's nearly midnight. Her feet shuffle clumsily into the room, drenched jeans sticking to her legs.
Rachel shakes her head, closes her eyes as if the action alone will shove away the images floating in her brain. She thinks she sighs, a sigh of longing and exhaustion, and his shoulders tense at the sound of it.
"I'm sorry I worried you," she says softly. Cautious. Her steps are cautious and her words are cautious and in a minute she's unfolding.
Either of his hands grip at the edge of the bed. His head remains bowed. "Want to talk about it?"
Her breath hitches sharply. "No."
"Do you…" Harvey clears his throat, studies the floor with intensity. "Do you want to be left alone?"
His gaze finally locks with hers. She'd refused to show vulnerability to him in the past (hasn't she shown enough by now? All of her weaknesses up for display, a gallery for the world to pick apart for their choosing) but she can't-doesn't want-to be alone tonight. She shakes her head lightly again, hands fisting at her sides. "No."
She takes steps toward him, but they feel slow, like she's treading through stretches of lost highways to reach him. But she finally does, and the wide of her eyes are only a breath away from his and she aches all over again.
“Hey, Rach?” he asks, as she settles on the bed.
She barely grunts her response, drowsy length of her draping atop his chest, side of her head pressed at his heartbeat, eyes languidly drooping.
"Hmm?"
"Nothing's going to happen to us, Rachel. You have my word on that."
Rachel shifts in her spot, her chin settling against his shoulder blade as she peers up at him through tangled mops of wet dark hair. Her lips wobble as she tries to smile. "But you'll win. And a woman's been shot to death an inch away from us. Our co-worker was found dead in my office. What if I'd walked in and that had been you? Is that really a promise you can keep?"
He cups her face, and she can’t remember the last time she was touched so tenderly, and so she must lean into it. Tears sting underneath her eyelids because before Harvey it had been so long, so long since she'd been held like this. He wants her, it's clear, but he also wants to keep her and it's the truest thing she knows.
"Rachel, There isn't a whole lot I can offer you beyond who I am and my love and affection but I think-honestly-I will do everything in my power to keep that promise. Because-I don't know what would happen if I lost you. And-and I don't want to inflict that on anyone else."
She swallows thickly. It feels like there's glass caught in her throat and she must push through it to say the words. "You won't lose me," she whispers. "I promise. We're growing old together, remember?"
"Old and gray, darling," he agrees quietly, tucking the crown of her head under his chin.
Theirs is a comfort of a different kind, and she can’t explain, but she feels like with her head on his chest, the smooth beat residing within, every dark corner and deep secret leaves her. His fingertips rest artlessly on the low of her back, and she is safe. If she remains this way,, nothing bad can touch her.
And for the rest of the night, it remains true.
Rachel Dawes
Batman Begins
Word count: 636