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

[myheadisaprison]

PSL with auricular_acuity

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[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."

[youcouldbeagod]

He gives a facial shrug at that. He's probably right. But somehow, they'll manage. That much, he's certain of.

He smirks and nods his head, "C'mon," he leads the way across town to his apartment. "Home, sweet, home," he mutters, pushing the door open, following Hartley inside and kicking the door shut behind him.

He hadn't exaggerated before, the apartment was small, but it's home and that's all that matters.

[auricular_acuity]

Hartley steps in without hesitation and glances around the small apartment. It's nothing like what he aspires to have, of course, but he certainly isn't inclined to throw stones.

He smiles back at Paco and then moves to explore the apartment, peeking out the windows. "Can your portals move you from place to place within the same universe, or only move us to other realities?"

He's never dug deep into understanding Paco's abilities before, but he is quite certain that his boyfriend's abilities will be key to the success of their mission.

[youcouldbeagod]

He drops gracelessly down onto the couch, propping his feet up on the table because, well, it's his and he really doesn't give a damn.

Paco can't help the grin that spreads across his face at Hart's guess at his powers. "Actually, I can do exactly that. What're you thinking?" He thinks he has a general idea of where he's going with this, but he'd rather hear it from him.

[auricular_acuity]

"It's very simple. I'm thinking this," Hartley purrs, flopping down onto the sofa and wrapping an arm around Paco's shoulders. "We learn my double's habits, everything about him that might alert someone else that he's been replaced. Then, at the right time, you teleport us in, grab him, and send him back to Earth-1."

[youcouldbeagod]

Instinctively and without realizing it himself, Paco leans into him, still grinning. "Sounds perfect," He presses a soft kiss to Hartley's lips. "Surveillance should be pretty easy. We just have to make sure no one catches you before we switch you two out. I don't really know what would happen, but...it probably wouldn't be fun."

[auricular_acuity]

"It might cause some confusion," Hartley agreed, and returned that peck on the cheek. Planning while sweetly making out might be distracting, but it was way more fun than when he'd planned his attack on Doctor Wells. "Thankfully, I doubt it'll take too long for me to learn my double's habits enough to replace him. You almost managed to fool me, pretending to be Cisco - how hard can it be?"

[youcouldbeagod]

"I'd been watching him for awhile. I think the worst part about my double is how doubtful he is in himself. It's kind of pathetic." He scrunches his nose. "Aren't you glad you landed the superior doppelganger?" He smirks.

[auricular_acuity]

"I am glad," Hartley said, with complete sincerity. Why would he want Cisco, when he could have the more interesting version? He planted a more serious kiss on Paco's lips, and added: "We start tomorrow."

[youcouldbeagod]

"Mmm, yeah, tomorrow." He mumbles against Hartley's lips, shifting to lay back on the couch and tug him down with him, fingers tangling in his boyfriend's hair.

[auricular_acuity]

The two of them broke in Paco's couch in a delightful way, and later moved to the bed and fell asleep in each other's arms.

The next morning, Hartley was up early, rooting through Paco's fridge, energized by a project that he could work on. When he discovered that the fridge was all but empty, he put up the hood on his hoodie and went to the store to buy groceries.

[youcouldbeagod]

Paco wakes up the next morning to an empty bed, "Hart?" he calls out, but he doesn't get an answer. He throws the blankets back and wanders out into the front room, but finds the apartment empty. "Aw, shit, Hart, where did you go?"

He sighs softly and shoves a hand through his hair, going back to the bedroom to grab some pants and start a search in town. "What're the chances he'd get seen on day one, right?" He mutters as he walks around downtown.

[auricular_acuity]

Hartley grabs pancake makings and then hurries back down the street with his bags, keeping his head down to make sure no one recognizes him.

He heads back towards the apartment, unaware that Paco is currently out and looking for him.

[youcouldbeagod]

Paco has a problem with overthinking things, so he isn't even considering basic things, like grocery shopping or breakfast, he's just trying to consider places Hartley might go.

What he doesn't expect is to run into him in the middle of his search. "Hart?"