The forbidden fruit is the sweetest.

[meme_maid]

Most societies have certain mores that are unspoken rules; humanity itself even has such conventions, grilled subconsciously into our minds for our own safety. Don't go out alone at night. Avoid getting wet when it's cold. Don't pick fights with those stronger than you...okay, some of us missed the boat on the last one, but the point still stands. Society's rules tend to be more variable, though they apply to most aspects of life - including sex. In fact, bending the rules on what's considered acceptable in romance and sexual encounters can lead to anything from ostracization to death, depending on the time and culture. So, play it close to the chest if you're going to do a big, big, big t a b o o. Is it worth the risk? - Comment with your character and preferences. Be sure to include what you want and what you DON'T WANT. Blank comments are fine; info is even better! - Reply to others. - Be fun and respect others, as this will deal with some heavy topics and potentially triggering material s. A G E ( DIFFERENCE ) - light of my life, fire of my loins. you're supposed to stick to those your own age, but you can't resist. I N C E S T - you're of the same blood, yet something draws you together. you'll keep your secret thicker than water. C H E A T I N G - when you were young, they should have taught you to not take things that belong to other people. I N ( PUBLIC ) - to involve unsuspecting others in your sex is insidious, but you can't resist it. S U P E R F L U O U S - some conservative societies view sex outside procreational purposes as taboo. that means anal, oral, and toys are all no-go. F I X A T I O N - you're nearly obsessed with one part of your partner - breasts, ass, lips...whatever the case may be, you always focus on that. D E V I A N C Y ( IN SUBURBIA ) - there are some things that should be sacred. the home should be one of those. should. S I Z E - pick on someone your own size. couples with large size difference, be it height or weight, can be looked down upon; don't let that get you down. P H O B I A - unfortunately, in some societies, being with someone of the same gender is a taboo, no matter how much progress the modern world has made. F E T I S H - some just can't get off without their fetish, and the varieties run the gamut: feet, crossdressing, autoerotic asphyxiation, foodplay, bondage...it goes on and on. U N E X P E C T E D ( DOMINATION/SUBMISSION ) - the masculine must be dominant. the feminine must be submissive. what if you're dominant in life, though, and just want to be submissive in the bedroom. V I O L E N T - more than mere lover's spats, what goes on between you two is dangerous. if people knew, they'd be horrified. still, you can't stop. F O R B I D D E N ( LOVE ) - your relationship may be taboo, but there's genuine love in your copulation. this isn't merely a thrill. L O O S E - monogamy isn't what you're after. no matter how looked down upon it is, you're going to have fun while you can. S T U D E N T / T E A C H E R - what goes on between the sheets is not an appropriate subject matter to teach. there's so much to lose; is it a smart game to play? A U T H O R I T Y - perhaps they're the boss, the president, the king, but you, you're a lowly peon. are they using their powers over you or is this something you both want? I N T E R S P E C I E S - kind finds kind, and don't you be a traitor by being with one of them. B E S T I A L I T Y - one of the most primal taboos. will you go into that moral wilderness? S O C I A L ( CLASS ) - the rich. the poor. it's like they're in two different worlds. what will the uppercrust say if they saw their golden child with a tramp? C E L I B A C Y - you are supposed to keep your chastity, but things are never that easy. S T O C K H O L M - prisoners should never fall for their guards. D U T I E S - whether it be saving the world or being the world's best bodyguard, your sworn quest and purpose keeps you from enjoying the sins of the flesh - especially with your charges. I N N O C E N C E - one of you is much more worldly, and to ruin the "innocence" of the other feels unclean. F E R T I L E - you aren't supposed to find mothers or fathers sexually alluring. however, there's something so enticing about fertility...perhaps even pregnancy. C O R R U P T I O N - society expects you to treat your partner well, not try to destroy them through sexual degradation. N O N C O N S E N S U A L - consent is rightfully important to a healthy sexual relationship. to break that trust is taboo.

Comments

[misternight]

[ he draws in another long, slow breath, lets his head loll slowly back against the backrest of the chair. the touch of hard fangs in his neck is too familiar by now, almost relaxing but for the heat and the svelte closeness of dick’s body. and beside this, the indolent heat that commingles with the rising netted tension in his gut, there’s a singular visceral memory that recurs again and again whenever dick’s adventures finally lead him home: the first time dick did this, smaller and thinner and starving, his arms around bruce’s neck and his whole body desperate, from his fingertips to his outstretched toes.

to this day bruce doesn’t know what he was thinking when he turned the boy, doesn’t know what he expected. in his infinite foresight he didn’t see this: the man that boy grew into, loose-limbed and joyous and irritable. the way the feel of his mouth on bruce’s skin must have changed somehow, from sweet and starved to roguish and needful, over the course of these years and decades. he’s uncannily sensual, sprawled in bruce’s lap like it’s a director’s chair with his name printed on the back, and all bruce can think sometimes is how he could’ve put a stop to it, if he’d wanted to. if he could have only seen.

but seeing is its own choice too. and he doesn’t have to let his hands rove over the small of dick’s back, a mockery of a soothing gesture; he doesn’t have to reel the boy in closer, doesn’t have to smirk. the fact that he does all these things is a testament to how he doesn’t know what he wants, only knows that he can have it for the asking. ]

[flybybirdie]

[ there's no room for a newly orphaned child in an established caravan, too young to work and too broken by the loss of his family. no one could take him, and dick had spent too long huddled in the burnt out carcass of Haly's circus, cold and starving, until he'd been offered a hand. it was the first kind thing he'd seen since he'd lost everyone. it was his first impression of Bruce Wayne.

to this day, the sight of bruce's outstretched hand makes his heart twist in his chest. he'll never regret bruce turning him, no matter how much bruce had initially bemoaned the fact, not if it means he can spend the rest of his life at bruce's side.

dick draws back after--after a while. he'd lost track of time. the wounds are closing, and dick helps them along with a few more licks, cleaning the skin of any remaining traces of blood. ]

Mmm...Bruce.

[ he's boneless and languid, relaxed for the moment before he wriggles until he can comfortably drape his arms over Bruce's shoulders. ]

Thank you for the meal.

[misternight]

[ his smirk levels out a little as dick nuzzles in closer. outwardly he doesn’t show any signs of physical duress, other than maybe a lingering flush like a kiss where dick’s teeth had pressed in; but when his arm sweeps back down around dick’s hips it’s lazy, his body sluggish from its loss, soon enough to be recovered. he’s not like dick, after all, has maybe a tenth of his capacity for suffering. ]

You’re welcome.

[ like a real son he taught manners to. ]

[flybybirdie]

[ He presses a kiss to Bruce's cheek before he allows himself to overthink the motion and chicken out. ]

You okay? I didn't take too much, did I?

[ Dick's always been careful, too careful sometimes, and he's never worried about this with his other partners. It's different with Bruce, though. He still feels young and inexperienced and Bruce's blood is like a drug he can't get enough of. ]

[misternight]

[ he’s outwardly still ambivalent as dick’s mouth presses to his cheek. they’ve been at this for awhile now. ]

Little late to worry, don’t you think? [ he says matter-of-factly. ] It’s fine.

[flybybirdie]

You have to stop me.

[ Dick has nightmares sometimes, when he's particularly hungry, that he'll end up drunk on Bruce's blood and lose himself. That he'll wake to have killed Bruce. ]

[misternight]

It’s fine, [ bruce repeats.

he knows dick’s idea of a worst-case scenario, how the unthinkable for him ends in desolation. bruce’s own vision of dick’s surrender to his addiction is much worse, more cutting; it involves the fever in dick’s hunger spreading, to his hands and skin and everywhere, a weakness whose only cure is touch.

he lets himself be distracted, pushing a stray dark hair out of dick’s face. ]

It’s good to see you. [ even if it does have its costs. ]

[flybybirdie]

[ When Bruce initiated the touch, Dick can be fearless, leaning heavily into Bruce's hand and turning his face to brush his lips across Bruce's palm. They're licked clean, Dick not willing to waste even a drop of Bruce's blood. ]

S'good to see you too. When was the last time you ate?

[misternight]

Not for awhile. [ not that it matters. bruce doesn’t need to feed the way dick does, nor nearly as often. ] But the opportunity will present itself soon enough.

[flybybirdie]

[ There's a moment when dick is indescribably jealous, but he swallows it down. He has no right to be, after all. It isn't as though he only feeds from Bruce, though he never takes much from anyone else, and both of them sleep with plenty of other people.

(What he'd give for Bruce to sleep with him...)

So all he can do is huff and play with the edge of Bruce's collar as he asks: ]

From who you're gonna go see?

[misternight]

[ finally bruce's mouth slants hard into a smirk, rakish. it makes him look younger, the face he presents at parties and audiences, ready with words that drip with honey or cut like knives. ]

I think you'll like him, Dick.

[flybybirdie]

I thought you didn't want me to meet him?

[ Now he's properly jealous. Jealous and curious. Bruce doesn't often have that sort of expression when he's talking about other people in the privacy of his home, when there's no one but dick and Alfred around, no reason for Bruce to pretend to be anyone but who he is. ]

Who's this mystery guy?

[misternight]

Someone you’ll recognize. And like I said before ... he’ll like you. Which is exactly why I’d rather you didn’t meet him.

[ there’s a flicker of wry dismay in his smirk, and then he draws his hand back, rubs it over his jaw. an idle gesture, mostly a distraction from everywhere else they’re touching. ]

Pack for cold weather.

[flybybirdie]

[ That's almost sweet. Confusing, but sweet. How is Dick going to recognize someone he's never met? ]

Okay... How cold are we talking about here?

[ He doesn't want to think about cold when he's all warm and comfy where he's sprawled out across Bruce's lap. ]

[misternight]

Very cold.

[ his face settles into something a little more neutral. ]

Your room is ready.

[ it’s been ready for some time, honestly. he’s always prepared for dick’s comings and goings, more so the latter than the former. and the comment sounds like a dismissal, but his hand doesn’t move from where it’s draped over the small of dick’s back beneath his shirt, fingers ghosting over dimples and muscle and skin. ]

[flybybirdie]

[ He lets out a soft breath. ]

Can't I stay with you? Your bed is bigger. And, y'know. Fluffier.

[ A blatant lie--none of their beds are particularly soft; it's not good for their backs. And they have the same mattress, though it's true Bruce's is bigger. ]

[misternight]

[ he has to bite back a retort that might cut before it comes out of his mouth. dick is an adult now, not just in body but in mind; he’s seen his ward fight expertly, solve problems readily, enter and exit relationships with grace and care. wanting to share his bed isn’t just the guileless demand of a newly orphaned child, and bruce has to remember that, that and a hundred other truths that make their conversations lately stilted and laden with pitfalls. ]

You’ll be staying with me in Rotterdam. The executive suite is a single. [ the implication is left only a moment to breathe. ] Until then, you should probably take advantage of Alfred’s hard work.

[flybybirdie]

That's not a no.

[ But it might as well be one. Dick sighs, shoulders slumping a bit. At this point, he can't even tell if Bruce is being deliberately obtuse or if he really just doesn't get it.

At least Dick hasn't been kicked out of the room yet. ]

You're one to talk. Alfred made these [ He flaps a hand at the plate of tarts. ] for you, and you've barely eaten.

[misternight]

[ he strokes an idle hand back down dick’s back, maybe comforting, maybe an accident. ]

I’ll eat later.

[flybybirdie]

You never do.

[ It's petulant, to be sure, but he sinks into the embrace nonetheless, allowing himself to be soothed, calmed by Bruce's touch. ]

You don't take care of yourself.

[misternight]

The things that constitute me taking care of myself are very different from the things that constitute you taking care of yourself.

[ dick is a lot of things, yes, his care and survival more complex than a human’s—but bruce is a few more things than even that. ]

[flybybirdie]

[ That makes Dick scowl, reaching down to pinch Bruce's arm in a show of daring he wouldn't always allow himself to. ]

You know what I mean. Eat your food before I end up feeding it to you.

[ Oops. That-- That's a bit too telling, and he swallows once, hard, before adding on: ]

In the form of crumbs all over your clothes.

[misternight]

[ sometimes everything the boy says feels like a test, and bruce always comes right up against the edge of failure. ]

You’re welcome to try it.

[flybybirdie]

Are you seriously challenging me to get crumbs everywhere?

[ Dick stretches across Bruce's front, not bothering to put distance between them as he reaches for another tart. He takes a large bite out of it, chewing and swallowing before speaking. ]

You just want Alfred to yell at me. [ He picks a crumb off his shirt and sucks it off his thumb. ] Don't think I don't see through you.

[misternight]

[ he doesn't react outwardly to the press of dick's lean chest against his shirtfront, doesn't blink when he dusts crumbs from his collar. ]

Well, good to know somebody in this house still has a chance of making you behave.