{You break down my defenses, you are my only weakness

[myheadisaprison]

PSL with auricular_acuity

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[auricular_acuity]

Hartley wouldn't mind some kind of distraction, though wiling away his days working on his projects and snuggling with Paco made him the happiest he'd been in years.

He blinks at Paco, recognizing that look in his eye as something that might herald something great. The look is not unlike something he'd seen on Cisco's face, actually, though he doesn't intend to let Paco know that.

He arches a brow. "I'll bite - why?"

[youcouldbeagod]

"Because," He shrugs one shoulder, "I'm bored. And I wanna go do something. And I can't really do anything here, so..." It was blunt, but that was sort of his style. "I literally have the multiverse at my fingertips, we should take a day trip or two."

[auricular_acuity]

Hartley reached out and slung his arms casually around Paco's shoulders. "Are you asking me out on a date?" he purred, strongly suspecting that he was grinning just a bit like a fool.

[youcouldbeagod]

He's thrown a bit by the question, and despite himself it's evident on his face, but it's only a second before he recovers, a smirk passing over his lips. "Yeah, I guess I am." As weird as it feels to label it that way, he doesn't completely hate it, either.

He's been trying to work on how terribly he reacts to things that should be considered normal for two people in their situation. Dating. For two people who were dating. Were they dating? God, he doesn't know, he hates thinking too deeply on it, still. But he doesn't hate considering Hartley his boyfriend. Quietly. To himself, in his head.

The working on things bit is still a heavy work in progress.

[auricular_acuity]

Hartley's own smile brightens at the acknowledgement. He knows Paco's pretty sensitive about this stuff, though he hasn't yet felt out all the edges where Paco tends to get prickly.

He...thinks they're dating? Boyfriends? Something? Hell, they're practically living together at this point, so there has to be some kind of label that applies.

"Great," he says, and plants a kiss on his nose, then untangles himself and gets up. Going to a new world, he's got to pack a few things. "How long will we go for?"

[youcouldbeagod]

He crinkles his nose at the action, but it's accompanied by a soft chuckle as he watches Hart get to his feet. He shrugs, "How long d'ya wanna go? I've got all the time in the world." A beat. "In every world, even." He smirks. He's hilarious, shut up.

[auricular_acuity]

Hartley pauses in the doorway to his bedroom, then glances back at Paco, his brows furrowed. "There's someone who looks like me in your world, right? Do you know anything about him?"

[youcouldbeagod]

"Yeah, of course." He answers easily, but shrugs a bit. "Not much, I never actually met him." Paco tips his head slightly, "Why?" There's a quip about wondering if he's the evil twin between the two Earth's, but he keeps it to himself. Something tells him that particular lack of tact wouldn't be so appreciated.

[auricular_acuity]

Hartley considers him for a moment. No, he's not thinking about evil twins. He's just...thinking. "Is he still the heir of Rathaway Industries?"

[youcouldbeagod]

"I think so," a slight frown etches into his features. He studies his boyfriend curiously for a moment. "Comparing your life to his isn't a great idea." He doesn't mean to be unfeeling, but...He's just bad at it. He's better with blunt truths.

[auricular_acuity]

"I wasn't," Hartley assures him. He leans against the doorway, arms folded in front of him, and smirks. "I was thinking of taking his life."

He frowns. "Literally speaking. I don't mean killing him. He can come here, and I can go there, and then everyone's happy - except him, anyway."

[youcouldbeagod]

Both eyebrows arch at that statement. He's not really phased by the idea, exactly, but he's a bit surprised by it.

That look quickly fades into a smirk as he explains further what he really meant. Paco pushes himself to his feet and crosses over to where Hartley stands. "If it's what you want," he kisses him softly, "then I'll make it happen."

[auricular_acuity]

Hartley slips his arms around Paco's waist, kisses him back and then grins at him. There's a hopeful, slightly nervous quality to the grin. "I think we'll have a bit more fun together if we have money, don't you?"

[youcouldbeagod]

"Actually, money doesn't mean a lot to me... I get what I want, regardless. But..." he reaches up and slides his fingers through Hartley's hair. He can't help it, he just likes doing that and he's far touchier of a person than he usually seems to be. "I can't deny the appeal. And if it makes you happy..."

That's the only thing that matters. But he can't quite bring himself to finish the sentence. It's a little too much like admitting to feelings he's not ready to actually accept. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he's realizing it, but he makes a conscious effort to ignore it, and try to continue to convince himself that he could step away from this any time without a problem any time he wants to. Paco spends a lot of time lying to himself about Hartley Rathaway and the effect he has on him.

[auricular_acuity]

Though Paco doesn't actually finish his sentence, Hartley hears the unspoken word anyway, and he beams. He leans into that touch to his hair - he loves it when Paco does that - and slips his arms around Paco's waist.

"I just want to give you everything you could ever want," he says. "After we take this one thing... we'll never need to take anything ever again. We'll have the power to do whatever we want without hurting people."

[youcouldbeagod]

Paco doesn't notice the way he settles into Hartley's grip around his waist. He's comfortable here, despite himself. A smile spreads across his lips as Hartley leans into his touch. It's kind of validating and that's kind of nice. So he doesn't stop his fingers assault on his hair, instead just twists bits of it between them instead.

"Mmm...it does sound pretty nice." He's been a criminal for a lot longer than he'd care to admit, long before Zoom had ever entered his life, before Wells' miscalculation had given him powers. "Is it weird I don't know what I'd even want to do with my life if I'm not fighting for it all the time?" He'd never considered it, really, because it had never quite seemed in the realm of possibilities.

[auricular_acuity]

That's a sad admission, and it brings Hartley face-to-face with something he really didn't want to think about - that even after all this time, he knows little about his companion.

He leans forward and plants a sweet kiss on his lips. "Let's find out," he says.

[youcouldbeagod]

While Hartley may see the sadness in the admission, Paco doesn't at all. Probably because he'd accepted that his life was his life a long time ago, and while there were certain elements of it he'd be able to change, some things never could.

Until now, apparently.

He kisses back and smirks a little, nodding. "Yeah, okay."

Once Hartley declares he's ready a short while later, Paco wastes no time in opening a breach right there in the middle of the room. "Come on," he grins, grabbing Hartley's hand as he steps through. He might be a little eager to go home. And to show it all to his boyfriend, but shhh let's not register that thought mmkay.

[auricular_acuity]

Hartley packs a few things in a backpack, including some important equipment. Though he can't carry much, he really doesn't have many possessions that are truly important to him.

He grins and squeezes Paco's hand as he steps through the barrier, then clings hard as they're whipped headlong through spacetime.

He's gasping when they arrive, eyes wide as he looks around. It really does look pretty much the same. "Where do we go, first? Where do you live?" he asks with excitement.

[youcouldbeagod]

Paco is so used to traveling this way that it's lost its novelty on him, but there's something about watching the way Hartley's eyes light up that's just intoxicating. He can't help smile at the obvious fascination he has.

"Uh-- in a...shitty apartment on the lower east side." He shrugs one shoulder. And that was assuming nothing had happened to it or it hadn't been taken over by someone else in his absence. He wasn't exactly around to pay rent or anything lately.

[auricular_acuity]

Hartley chuckles and folds his arms across his chest. He wants to go on holding Paco's hand, but he knows that right now he will need to stay in the closet, or he'll just wind up getting disowned again.

Once he's taken over his doppelganger's life, then he can move to the next step.

"Well, you've been staying in my shitty apartment for a few months, so there's no need to be embarrassed." He glances around, trying to figure out exactly what neighbourhood they're in. "But if you prefer, we can go straight to surveilling my double, and planning his kidnapping."

[youcouldbeagod]

"I'm not," he assures him, grinning.

He considers it for a moment, squinting in thought. "Up to you, really. I'm game for whatever you want to do." There's a smirk on his lips as he teasingly adds, "Although, I don't know if that kind of work counts as a vacation."

[auricular_acuity]

Hartley just can't help himself. He takes a quick look around, and then gives Paco a hug and a kiss. "When I have my fortune back, we can take a vacation anywhere."

He disengages and straightens. "For now, though, you'll have to pretend to just be my friend. If a paparazzi gets hold of this... well, that's how I ended up losing everything in the first place."

[youcouldbeagod]

He kisses back easily, almost forgetting himself for a moment. He nods a bit, "Of course. Easy enough." At least, he thinks so. He has gotten rather used to touching Hartley whenever he feels like it, but...For Hart's sake, he could do a lot.

"So, for now, let's go by my place and drop your stuff off and we can figure out our plan from there?" Because this whole thing with his doppelgänger was going to take some serious planning.

[auricular_acuity]

"No, it'll be hard as hell," Hartley murmurs knowingly. He knows it's going to be difficult to keep his hands off Paco, to keep from any affection - not even a glance.

And yes, this operation was going to take some serious planning. Luckily, Hartley was good at planning.

He gave Paco's hand one last, quick squeeze, then let go. "Take me home, lover."