So Many Striders - Now With Illustrations!

Dirk's reaction to the knock is welcoming rather than 'fuck off I'm changing' so Hal walks on in, joining Dirk by dropping down to sit next to him on the bed. He sits closer than he would have before yesterday, leg pressed against Dirk's from thigh to knee. "Yo. I was just thinking, we should probably call a nurse or the hospital or something to check if there's anything else we should be doing about your concussion that the internet didn't mention. Either way, you should probably take it easy today, no roof athletics or welding or anything."

 

Hal seems to be under the impression that casual physical affection is something Dirk likes, or at least something he likes that Dirk will indulge him in, no doubt because of yesterday. He leans stiffly against Hal to see how he feels about it. It sort of helps the gnawing worries running in circles in his head, so he relaxes a bit. So far so good.

"I don't exactly remember what I'm not supposed to be doing, some of the specifics of yesterday are fuzzy. Is standing for long periods okay? How long am I meant to stay off the computer? Do I still need babysat? Maybe a nurse would know these things, yeah."

 

Dirk leans against Hal, and his shoulders are a little stiff but he is leaning against him like he wants him there and Hal grins slightly, moving his hand to lace his fingers with Dirk's.

"I don't remember anything about standing, but as you're not dizzy I think it should be fine. You were meant to avoid the computer for like... until after you slept, I think? But we should probably check with a nurse rather than just assuming. The monitoring was definitely just meant to be until it was safe for you to sleep, though, 'cause it was to stop you from sleeping too early."

 

Hand holding seems like kind of a couple-y thing to do, but Dirk hasn't decided if he's comfortable with that, or, urgh, talked to Hal about the status of their relationship. The idea of doing that is very cringey, but perhaps Hal sees hand holding as another form of casual affection. Does casual affection plus more sexually oriented activities equal a relationship? That's what he and Jake did, but there were feelings involved. Feelings he'd already been quite sure of going into the situation. Wait, overthinking shit is part of how he's ruined all of his relationships in the past, so stopping seems advisable.

Yes. Stopping. Dirk will just stop worrying.

Any second now.

... let's just continue with the fact finding mission, shall we? Dirk turns to face Hal, looking up at him slightly since by this point he's slumped into Hal's side. "You said you wanted to kiss more?"

 

Hand holding is absolutely a kind of a couple-y thing to do, and Hal relishes the fact that Dirk let him do it as he reminds Dirk of what might be safe to do and what might not be, thumb stroking repeatedly up to Dirk's first knuckle and down to his wrist. Dirk also slumps into him, relaxing against him, and Hal would put his arm around Dirk if that arm was not currently taken up with very important hand holding.

What Hal is expecting Dirk to ask is something about the nurse call, or hopes that he will be allowed to use the computer, or something along those lines. What Dirk actually asks is whether Hal wants to kiss him. This comes as a bit of a surprise. "I. Yeah? I mean yes, I enjoy kissing, and kissing you specifically, obviously, as you're the only person I've kissed, not counting like ironic older brother forehead kisses. Which aren't relevant at all so I'm going to go with 'yes I did' and shut up now."

 

Consent is important generally, and informed consent makes science ethical so Dirk supposes he'd better share at least a bit of what he's thinking. "I don't know how I feel about being with you this way. Yesterday was... confusing. And stressful. But I feel somewhat better now, so you could kiss me again and... um..." Saying 'I could see if I like this or not while in my right mind' feels mean, so he trails off unhappily.

 

"And... we see how you feel about it, now you're not overly emotional about my near death experience?" It does make sense, that Dirk would be up for different things or fewer things now that his mind is no longer addled, but the idea that Hal was happy due to the kisses yesterday was really him being happy due to Dirk being in a messed up state, mentally, is a rather sore one. Hal clears his throat. "Like... kiss you now? Is that what you're wanting me to do? Just for clarity's sake."

 

"I guess the timing isn't important, just that you said you'd like to after you talked to Davepeta. I agreed so I thought that was what we'd be doing." Dirk shifts uncomfortably. "I brushed my teeth." He adds lamely.

 

"You said 'ah okay' when I said I had to message Davepeta, then got up and left, dude. That's not exactly a response that lets a bro know you wanna make out with him." Hal bites his lip, picking at a flake of dead skin until it rips off. "We can definitely do the thing though. Now, and later too if you'd like, I am totally on board with kissing." To prove his point, Hal lifts his and Dirk's joined hands, bending down to meet them and planting a lingering kiss on the back of Dirk's hand.

 

Dirk's lips quirk down. "I was brushing my teeth, I'm considerate like that. Minty fresh smooches coming right up." Suddenly actually doing the thing seems daunting. Is Hal really okay with this, even if Dirk isn't sure that he wants them to be a 'thing' yet? He hesitates, and bites his lip because he know's he's hesitating. Fucking hell, why is this hard?!

 

"The most considerate." He assures Dirk, lowering their hands again. Dirk doesn't kiss him, though, or make himself easier to kiss, he just sits there slumped against Hal and bites at his own lip, so Hal takes the opportunity both to reassure Dirk and to get a stupid line in. He lifts his free hand, reaching across to drag his thumb over Dirk's lower lip. "Hey, now, don't bite yourself. Let me do that for you."

 

That startles a laugh out of Dirk, not that what Hal said wasn't also kind of hot. He holds Hal's hand against his face and nuzzles his palm for a second, trying to banish memories of Hal doing exactly that last night, before straightening himself up and getting to this kissing thing. Hal tastes faintly of blood. Minty toothpaste blood. Dirk has tasted worse things.

 

Hal grins widely when Dirk laughs, triumphant, and boops Dirk lightly on the nose with his thumb when his palm is nuzzled. Dirk straightens up and leans in to actually kiss him, which is very nice, and he moves his hand with Dirk's head, cupping his cheek in his palm and tucking his lower two fingers beneath Dirk's ear. Given that this kiss is an experiment to see whether Dirk still likes it or not, or something, Hal's not sure whether to let him lead or to attempt to wow him with his recently acquired skills. Until Dirk gives him any indication either way, he keeps things light and soft.

 

The kissing is nice, the hand on his face feels embarrassingly safe and reassuring. Being nervous about kissing is very stupid and uncool, and being so timid isn't going to help him figure out if this is a thing he enjoys. He remembers doing a lot more than these light, gentle kisses but he hesitates to take things further. What is too 'relationshipy' to try out in an experiment context?

After another pause where Dirk is humiliatingly unsure of himself, he catches Hal's bottom lip between his and licks it, just a tiny bit, to see both how that feels and if more of that sort of thing might be welcome.

 

Hal is not good at controlling his reactions to things. Hal has not been good at controlling his reactions to things right from when he got this body and started crying like a baby because he was so happy. This is all to say, when Dirk catches and licks at his lip, he moans like it's something more intimate that Dirk is licking, face immediately turning red. He keeps where he is like it was on purpose, though, sliding his hand up from Dirk's cheek to his hair, fingertips brushing across the edge of his ear as they pass it.

 

Hal moans into his mouth and the whole kissing thing goes from 'okay' to 'hhhhHHGOD' in an instant. Dirk shivers when Hal works his fingers into his hair and lightly touches his ear. Signs are starting to point to the fact that he does, indeed, like this while emotionally stable. He presses himself a bit closer to Hal, kissing him harder and with a bit more tongue and teeth involvement. Hal's fingers in his hair feel nice, but he's not quite confident enough to put his hands on Hal yet. But this is good, yes, the experiment is going well.

 

Dirk presses closer and Hal slides his hand right around to the back of Dirk's head, so he can use it as leverage to put a bit more force into the kiss. He's still got the fingers of his other hand entwined with Dirk's, and he gives them a squeeze, thumb rubbing slow and firm along the back of Dirk's hand. It seems that his moan was what encouraged Dirk to press up closer, so (while trying not to exaggerate at all) Hal continues to make noises, for the most part just breathy pants into Dirk's mouth.

 

Oookay. That's pretty conclusive. Hal's breathy noises combined with the hand on the back of his head holding him close is incredibly good. The best thing, though, is how much Hal seems to want him. Dirk is... sort of used to people tolerating him, to having to preform miracles to feel like people want him around. Hal just wants him, for no good reason, no impossible feats or desperate convincing required. It's a very heady feeling.

After a long minute of gorging himself on those needy little noises Dirk draws back a fraction, still close enough that his lips almost brush Hal's when he speaks. "Results are coming back pretty positive. But we could run more tests... if you wanted to convince me harder."

 

Hal is really enjoying the kissing. Kissing is really fun, and the fact that they're still kissing probably means that Dirk is also enjoying the kissing, which makes it even more of a thing that's enjoyable for Hal. He goes to chase Dirk's lips when he pulls back before reminding himself to behave because this is an experiment in whether Dirk likes to do things so he should definitely let him pull away if he wants to.

Dirk doesn't end up moving far, and what he has to say has Hal hesitating, for a moment worried that Dirk had forgotten his hang ups from yesterday, before he lets go of Dirk's hand and swings around so he's got a knee up on the bed beside Dirk and his other foot on the floor, ass hovering over Dirk's legs. He wraps his now-free arm around the back of Dirk's shoulders and leans in, forehead to Dirk's forehead. His voice is quiet when he speaks. "Anything specific you had in mind?"

 

Suddenly Hal is all up in his space, hovering over him and generally being very proactive about this whole event. "No, not particularly. Surprise me." Hal had hesitated though, and Dirk hasn't forgotten everything from yesterday. "Anything you're comfortable with. I don't want..." He clears his throat awkwardly and turns his head a bit without really breaking forehead contact. "I like that you want me. Anything that you don't want would be counter productive."