Hey, I just want you to know I'm feeling a helluva lot better, and I worship you reviewers for putting up with my grouchyness while I was ill. Sorry for being somewhat of a pain in the rear, I'll do my best to be nicer in the future, I promise!
Here we go, I don't own any of this, I don't even have the comic anymore since I lent it out to a friend...
Upon hearing Rorschach's unexpected voice Dan broke away from the kiss, trying to cover up what he had just done. What was it that he had just done? What the hell had possessed him to... to do that? Had he lost his mind? If Rorschach didn't break all the bones in his body for this, he would be supremely surprised.
"Daniel? What were you doing?" Rorschach's voice was unreadable, unreadable as the pattern that currently occupied the scrunched up mask. He raised a steady hand to the exposed part of his face, a barely perceptible frown occupying his uncovered mouth. For a long, painful moment nothing was said between them, then Rorschach pulled the mask down, covering his face once more.
"Rorschach, I can explain." Daniel quickly got out of the bed, giving the other man some space. "I- I just got a little carried away." The words were coming out all wrong, but how could he really say what he was thinking? What was he thinking?
Rorschach was sitting up again, apparently finding strength in whatever hidden fury he had at waking up to find his partner kissing him against his will. It was so hard to tell what was going on behind that mask, and the urge to rip off the taunting black and white was overwhelming. But even going near the masked vigilante right now was out of the question. Not that Dan was afraid of being attacked (even though his nose still ached), but he was more afraid of Rorschach hurting himself in the process.
"Hurm. Call that carried away. Funny." Rorschach's breath hitched as he sat up all the way, injury straining under the bandages. "Never took you as homosexual, Daniel."
"No, Rorschach, I'm not, it was just a... just a..." What was it, exactly? "I was worried about you."
"Worried I wasn't breathing? Trying mouth to mouth?" The sarcasm was not lost under the furiously shifting ink.
"Please, don't take this the wrong way. I promise it won't happen again. I was... I was just tired. And you were cold, and I wanted to... wanted to...." Again, Daniel could not find words to express what he had been thinking, especially when he could not understand what he had been thinking himself.
"Appreciate concern, Daniel. But do not need your help anymore." With painstaking effort Rorschach turned his trembling body so his bare feet touched the floor, keeping his back to Dreiberg. Despite the freezing temperature of the room a light sheen of sweat coated his shoulders, only a spare pair of oversized pajama pants providing him any decency. They both knew that Rorschach would not stand a chance of survival in the first five minutes of being exposed to the cold, but they also knew that there was going to be nothing stopping him from leaving either.
Both men sat in silence, both waiting for something to be said. It was cold, it was dark, and it was miserable, but neither could think of anymore to say. What could be said? Dan had crossed a line, a line that had suddenly turned into a chasm that threatened to burn between them for the rest of their lives. Of course, Rorschach's life had been threatened to end just recently. Was that why Dan had felt the way he did? No. He had a feeling that whatever he had acted upon lingered in the past, when they were still partners. This was not just a recent thing, no matter how hard he would try to deny it.
Rorschach still hadn't moved, body still except for the occasional suppressed shiver. It was as if he had become frozen in the chilled air. His lips still tingled from the unexpected contact, and not for the first time he was thankful for the mask that Daniel could not easily interpret. As he sat there his stomach twisted with disgust. He would expect anyone on the street to take advantage of him in this condition, but Daniel? Clearly the man was just as good at deception as Rorschach himself was, and that thought disturbed him.
"Thought you were a friend, Daniel." Rorschach said quietly, not turning around. He could already picture Daniel's face twisting with troublesome emotions, his hands restlessly fidgeting with the goggles he had ripped off his eyes during the confusion. What had made the fearless Nite Owl go so... so soft?
No. Daniel wasn't Nite Owl anymore. Whatever had happened since the Keene Act had left Nite Owl a soft, pathetic whimpering shell of what he used to be. If this was what was left of the masked heroes that used to stand for what Rorschach stood for, then there was no use staying put and succumbing to it too. While he was still breathing, all that was wrong in the world would eventually suffocate. If Nite Owl had lost sight of that then Rorschach would be damned if he would linger.
Behind him Daniel muttered something intelligible. Rorschach took no notice, forcing his unwilling body to stand and lurch towards the door. He would not stay here any longer, not while Daniel was apparently waiting to take advantage of him in his weakened condition. With each step the pain escalated, making him break out into a cold sweat all over again, and he bit back the aggravated groan that was dying to be released. No. He was not going to let this injury get the best of him. No time to rest, not when there was so much to do. New York never slept, crime never took a breather, and the injustice that lingered in every dark corner of the world certainly never cried under the covers when things got a little painful.
Then again, usually the scum of the earth managed to avoid being shot with their own grappling guns and left for dead in dark alleys so their retired allies could come out of the closet to save them. This rambling thought was a welcome distraction from the nearly unbearable agony his injury was subjecting him to, but it wasn't enough to substitute this disturbing reality. Immediately he knew that there was no way he could make it out the door without blacking out again, so with an irritated sigh he turned back to face the room he was so eager to leave. Rorschach may have been relentless, but he wasn't stupid.
To his disgust Daniel was still sitting where he had left him, face in his hands like he had lost all control of himself. Of course, Rorschach mused, that could very well be the case, what with this new unpleasant side that had surfaced overnight. Suddenly an unpleasant tremor traveled its way up his body, forcing him to sit on the bed again before he collapsed. Daniel did not move but merely muttered again. With another painful sigh of irritation Rorschach leaned over and halfheartedly slapped the man, putting enough force for it to sting but not enough to cause any damage. If he really wanted to he could have done some harm, but at this point he was in no mood to exert himself any more than necessary.
"Pull yourself together and stop whimpering like a sullen child. Will need composure if you want me to live." Rorschach could not believe that he was going to give in and stay, but he knew that if he didn't he would not survive. Hopefully whatever possessed his former partner to be so... so wrong had passed, leaving it a bad stain on their already strained relationship.
"Rorschach, I promise it will never happen again." Daniel murmured, looking up from his hands but unable to let his eyes linger on the black and white mask staring at him.
"No. It won't. Next time I will give no warning." There was no humor in his voice, and they both knew that this time, Rorschach would not hold back in his retribution just because Daniel had once been a valuable ally in his never ending campaign to bring the criminal underworld to its knees.
Daniel inhaled shakily and pinched the bridge of his nose, putting his ridiculous goggles on again so he could see better. He wouldn't admit that it also made him feel a little less vulnerable and a little more in control of a situation rapidly spiraling out of control. The fact that Rorschach hadn't left yet or tried to kill him was surprising, but he chalked it up to the vigilante's less than healthy condition and accepted it. It was his responsibility to make up for what he had done by helping the recovery process along while remaining as detached as possible.
How did Rorschach manage to appear so damned calm when his own emotions were in a turmoil? Daniel glanced at the bed and was not surprised to see that Rorschach was still sitting up in it, refusing to give into his exhaustion until he was safely alone. He didn't blame the man; if he had awoken to find the one person he trusted to be... to be doing that to him, he would feel the same way. Or would he?
"Aw, hell." Daniel shook his head in an attempt to clear his mind. It was pointless. The only way he could ever clear his head was when he was either talking with Hollis or working on some worthless attempt to upgrade Archie. Neither was an option for him right now, not when he was being forced to focus on the task at hand. "You need new bandages. I'll... I'll be right back."
Before Rorschach could give a response Daniel left the room. With a sigh of relief that he did not know he had been holding Rorschach settled back against the pillows, lightly touching the bloodstained bandages. He did not mention the fact that the bandages and other medical supplies were right next to the bed where Daniel had first sewed him up, needing a moment to be alone.
Truth be told, a deep down part of him was terrified. Suddenly everything he had thought was true about Daniel had been flipped upside down, and it was all he could do to keep himself still. Repeatedly he reminded himself that as soon as he could make it out of the room he would leave the house entirely, going back to the familiar patterns of the world he completely understood. It may be a grim, desolate world, but it was one he was comfortable with. This was one situation Rorschach did not want to investigate further.
Before too long Daniel was back, looking remarkably more in control of himself than before, and immediately set about to administering another small dose of medicine before Rorschach could even think about asking for it. Neither said a word, and an uncomfortable silence descended between them. Daniel decided that the best thing to do was to just go as quickly as possible and then leave him alone again, since that was what he wanted most right now.
Rorschach let out a small groan of discomfort as the bandages were peeled away from the wound, but the painkillers were taking effect and he settled down again, reverting back to only being tense out of distrust instead of pain. The wound had been reopened in his attempt to leave, but for now they could forgo the stitching if no more trauma was applied. And, since Rorschach had already been traumatized once this night, what else could possibly aggravate the wound any further?
Quickly Daniel redressed the wound and pulled the blankets up again, noticing that Rorschach was shivering again but knowing that there was no way in hell that he could try the body heat trick again. They would both just have to sit the cold out until the power came back on again, no matter how dangerous to Rorschach's suddenly fragile condition that could be.
With a mumbled reassurance that he would be around if anything was needed Daniel left, closing the door behind him. After a few minutes of staring at the door Rorschach allowed himself to settle underneath the blankets, curling up in a ball to will the ever present darkness to claim him. It did not come until hours had passed, and even then he slept fitfully. It was going to be a long night.
Okay, so there you go. Sorry that there's not really much action going on, but I ran through every scenario I could think of (ranging from Rorschach kicking Daniel's ass to the two realizing their total love for each other and taking it a step further) and decided that this, in my eyes, would be the more appropriate response due to Rorschach's current condition and Daniel's somewhat mental instability at the moment.. Argue if you will, but I'm sticking by it, dangit! :)
Anyways, thank you for your support, and I will try to update as soon as I can, but it will be another day or two for me to collect my thoughts and type it out. Being sick sucks. Don't forget to review so I know you want to read more (and if you want to share any thoughts).