With the harness holding Rorschach's wings to his back and one of Dan's coats over the top the effect was…odd.

'Well, you don't look like you have wings,' said Dan apologetically, as Rorschach surveyed his hunchbacked reflection.

'Will do,' said Rorschach. 'Good disguise.'

Dan helped him take the harness off, pausing to smooth some of the feathers it had ruffled. 'Shall I preen them again?' he asked. There was a very long pause before Rorschach nodded.

Rorschach was even more tense than the day before if that was possible, and Dan was starting to feel nervous as well. Bad enough worrying that Rorschach might punch him, but he'd seen how far those wings had thrown the punching bag.

'Calm down,' he said, as much to himself as to Rorschach. 'This wasn't so bad yesterday, was it?'

'Felt bad afterwards,' Rorschach muttered, and Dan wondered what exactly that meant. He was fairly sure asking was a bad idea.

'It's no different from patching each other up after fights,' he answered instead. 'You've patched me up often enough. Just taking care of each other.'

Rorschach actually relaxed a little at that, and Dan took it as enough of an answer. But after a while Rorschach spoke. 'Are partners again?'

Why are you asking me? thought Dan. You're the one that stopped turning up for patrols. 'I hope so,' he said.

Once Dan had finished with Rorschach's wings he was expecting him to go to bed, or train. Instead he trailed Dan back to the basement, silently watching while he searched out the jetpack plans. He'd just found them and was looking for a pen to scribble some notes when Rorschach spoke.

'Daniel?' When Dan looked up he was toying with the edge of his mask. 'Will be travelling together to your farm. Awkward to do in costume.'

That got Dan's attention entirely. He had assumed they would travel in costume, at night, and accepted the awkwardness as a necessity. Back when they'd started out he'd waited eagerly for his partner to trust him with his identity, but he had long ago accepted it would never happen. Rorschach simply wasn't capable of that level of trust. So why now?

'Awkward, yeah,' he said, hating himself for not saying you don't have to or we can manage. But he'd wanted to see Rorschach's face for more than a decade, was it so wrong to not discourage him from showing it?

Rorschach slid his fingers under the mask and ducked his head. Dan could hear him take a breath from across the room. Then, with the resolute quickness of someone tearing off a plaster, he tugged off the mask. The ginger hair wasn't a surprise, it matched the stubble he revealed every time he ate, and Dan had seen his back and arms often enough to expect the freckles no matter how little they fitted his image. The surprise was the sad, blank eyes when he was expecting them to be sharp and fierce. Rorschach turned a dull look on him, daring him to judge what he was seeing.

'Pleased to meet you,' said Dan, holding out his hand and feeling silly. 'What do I call you?'

'Still Rorschach,' said Rorschach, taking his hand. 'Walter in public. Walter Kovacs.'

'Is that your real name?' asked Dan as they both broke away from the handshake. Rorschach shook his head.

'Real name is Rorschach.'

Dan understood that in a way, knew that he felt different when he was Nite Owl. More powerful. There had been mornings when he wished he didn't have to take the costume off and lose that certainty of purpose, but he knew that impulse was unhealthy. Rorschach was living proof of that. As if in echo of Dan's thoughts, Rorschach tugged the mask back on as soon as Dan turned away.