Little steps

[tiare]

little steps No matter how much they care for the other person and want to be with them, some people simply can't dive head first into relationships. Little things that form intimacy and romance, little acts we take for granted - being close, holding hands, kissing, showing affection in public - they won't or can't do...at least not right off the bat. Something in their past, their experiences, their trauma, or even their personality holds them back. For both them and the person they're "dating," as it were, this can lead to a frustrating experience. Still, steps can be taken towards letting the walls fall down. Little, tiny steps, but those can mean the world all the same. The People One With the help of a partner, one person warms up. Two Both sides of this couple are learning how to be in a relationship and to be open. The Actions Talking → A relationship can't exist if there's not some communication, so either learn to use your words or become so close you can speak without them. Spending Time → Even such mundane occurrences as watching TV or cooking together is new ground. Touching → You might just find you enjoy reaching out and touching them. Kissing → Another kind of touch, when you think about it. Cuddling → ...at least they're warm and, hopefully, soft. Sleeping → You're at your absolute weakest when you're asleep. It shows trust to doze off around this person. Public Display → It's one thing to be in love in private, but showing you care in public is a different story. Kind Words → Three little words (more or less) are all it takes. Why, then, are they so hard to get out? Sex The ultimate stumbling block to some. To be laid blissfully bare is to truly let your guard down.

Comments

Kristen Kringle l Gotham

[misskringle]

(M/F and would be the one needing to open and warm up thanks to a bad relationship from canon. Canon through "Knock,Knock", cast (please ask if tagging with Nygma just to hash out canon points?) and crossovers loved!)

Rey || Star Wars: The Force Awakens || M/F

[talentedscavenger]

Setsuna Higashi | Fresh Precure

[stepbystep]

Aerith Gainsborough | FFVII

[earlylight]

Rey | SW:TFA | OTA

[thesefirststeps]

Naminé | Kingdom Hearts | f/m, no smut

[lethechained]

Nico di Angelo | Percy Jackson/Heroes of Olympus | m/m

[illseeyouin]

[ooc: keep it pg13, the mun is super awkward about writing anything more]

Black ♦ Blood Blockade Battlefront ♦ m/m

[penduli]

ooohhh my goodddd

[omnivident]

[ Leo has never kissed.

Correction: Leo has never kissed Black. He's been the on the giving and receiving end of a kiss various times with other people ( surprisingly enough for him ), but never with Black. Partially because he's nervous as fuck and because he's worried about going too fast.

Which doesn't help his nerves one bit. But seeing his boyfriend right there sitting next to his bed fills his stomach with sooo many stupid feelings and uuughhh he just wants to swat them all away. ]

Sorry for ruining our plans, by the way. [ Only Leonardo would land himself in the hospital not even twelve hours before their date. And even if it's nothing too serious ( a concussion and some broken ribs ) it still made him feel a little very guilty. ] I think I've learned my lesson: take a day off before going on a date to prevent bodily harm.

are you ready for some Good, Clean Fun

[penduli]

[ Leo's not wrong to be worried about going too fast—while Black's not really a "take it slow" guy, life has not been... kind... to put it lightly. You know, with the whole losing his sister thing, running off to do some soul searching, coming back to Hellsalem's Lot City where something goes wrong every second (especially for Macbeths, going by the record) bit of this.

But he's happy enough with Leo and being able to do vaguely normal things, like hang out and hold hands and carefully plan dates only to have them be wrecked by sudden casualties—okay, that's not normal, ordinarily, but this is Hellsalem's Lot, and his boyfriend is part of Libra.

He waves off the apology, laughing softly; there's no need for it, not with how the city is, though it's still appreciated. ]

I don't mind moving it here, Leo. It's actually... nicer?

[ It's private, which admittedly is a little nerve-wracking; having the brunet all to himself always was, and now that Leo's friends—co-workers had left... Black fidgets, then gets up to rearrange the flowers he'd brought Leo for the third time before sitting back down.

Really, he shouldn't be nervous. It's only Leo. (But it's because it's Leo, too.) Deep breaths, William. It's fine. ]

...I was looking forward to our date though, [ he'll quietly admit after a moment. There's something entertaining about watching Leo while he's watching a movie. ] We can do it some other time.

i expect nothing less from the sterile hospital room

[omnivident]

[ Honestly, sometimes Leo wonders how he managed to get someone as patient as Black. Part of him feels like he doesn't even deserve him. Only a small part, though.

Okay. A big part. He's not sure if anyone else would be able to deal with him plus everything that comes with being in a relationship with someone from Libra. Not just the work, but the people he called his co-workers and friends.

Mostly Zapp. ]

The doctor said I'll be out of here in a week or so, actually, so you won't have to wait long. Unless you have to go somewhere-- then I guess we will have to wait a bit longer. [ He laughs timidly ( ow his chest ), fidgeting his bandaged hands that just don't want to stay still.

Okay, fine. He places his hand on the edge of the bed, hoping that maybe someone will get the rather obvious hint for handholding. If he wants to handhold...that is. ]

You're right, though-- this place is already at least ten times better than my place. It even looks like something out of one of those home magazines if you ignore all the medical equipment at least.

...Thanks, though. For the flowers...and for visiting.

hospitals are never fun though

[penduli]

[ Black's hands fidget for another few moments while Leo talks; he hums along the way to show he's listening, then. (It's fine.) Sets his hand on Leo's. (He'd obviously wanted him to.)

...okay. It's not like this is anything different, except that someone has more bandages than usual. Black wiggles his fingers gently between Leo's, leaning against his bedside. ]

I'd be a pretty bad boyfriend if I didn't do that much at least, wouldn't I? [ He would be—he's got experience. ...he doesn't know if Leo does; he's never asked if the other's ever dated guys before, or if he's dated in general. It just wasn't one of those things that had ever come up.

He's not really sure if he wants it to. Not the point here—the point is Leo, here. An impromptu date in a hospital room. ] I... don't think I have anywhere to next week, no. Lucky you, getting to spend all that time with me.

[ ...that could change in a moment, in a phone call, but he's offering Leo a smile anyway. A little too bright at the edges there, but! He's really happy with the time he does get, even if it never feels like enough and like Leo definitely deserves someone's actually—around all of the time, not maybe one or two weeks out of the month. ]

You'll be sick of me by the end of it, I bet.

Fractured Milla ☀ Tales of Xillia 2 ☀ ota

[descendend]

"do whatever amuses you," she says

[unghosting]

[Time passes, and no one comes any closer to figuring out the rhyme or reason behind who comes to Empatheias, who stays, and who goes. There's nothing fair about any of it. No way to anticipate what will will happen, and no way to bring back those who've been lost. Some people linger far longer than most others, without ever slipping back into their own worlds at all, not even for a minute.

Sanae goes home. So does Bulat. So does Ludger.

Kevin's support system is a strong one, but in the end, it's Milla he winds up turning to most often, when it comes to soothing the incessant sense of loneliness. They share a mutual pain, and mutual lack of desire to acknowledge it in any way. It makes Milla feel better to have someone around who won't take her curt unhappiness personally. It makes Kevin feel better to have someone around who won't coddle him. Neither of them appreciate too much kindness lately. That's how wounds get exposed, and wounds are much better left in the dark.

Ah, but damned if Kevin doesn't wish he could reach out to her, sometimes. Just for the sake of having another human being resting warm against his side, for a little while. For all that he's picky about who he allows close, detachment kills him, slowly.]

...I probably ought to go home. I'll overstay my welcome, right? [He says it, but he makes no move whatsoever to uncurl himself from Milla's couch. He's been there for a while, curled up at the very edge, staring aimlessly out the window. Not that there's much of anything to see. It's dark -- wait.] Ah...look. It's snowing.

[The teacup in his hands is long empty. There's no one at home to make any more. There hasn't been for a few months, now.]

[descendend]

[ People going home is always a risk here—and it's not like it hadn't happened with Ludger before.

...they just hadn't been so close before. They hadn't been—together. Milla hums noncommittally, switching her gaze from the wall to the window; she hmphs then, drawing her knees to her chest from her spot on the couch. Other side of it. ]

Stupid cold. [ The snow's only nice when you have people to share it with, and—she hasn't had anyone to share it with in a while. Rollo's gone; Silver's gone, taking his Pokémon with him. Milly likes the cold about as much as she does, and her other pets... preferred the fireside, ultimately. She couldn't blame them.

A soft sigh, and she stretches her legs out. Grimaces getting up. ] You can stay if you want. Wouldn't want you to freeze out there, or have that ponytail of yours turn into one big icicle.

[ It's—the first offer of the kind she's made, probably, since her house turned into something less-than-home. Not out of any dislike, but... it's easier to be left to your loneliness, to think, "This is how it's supposed to be, anyway." instead of surrounding yourself with people you have to put an act on for so they don't worry incessantly. It'd been hard enough with the restaurant and their workers (not to mention the new hires she had to do); there's no reason she'd want to do it in her own home. ]

[unghosting]

I wouldn't want to cause you trouble.

[So he says, but it's obvious that the murmured words are only protocol, a use of the impeccable manners he doesn't often bother to show off anymore. He still doesn't move from where he is, eerily still for someone with such a habit of flapping and fidgeting. His own customary act hasn't been working very well for quite some time and he eyes Milla as she moves, trying to gauge how honest the offer really is.]

...since Milady is so considerate of my poor hair, I could help her with the chores in the morning. Shovel the walk. That sort of thing.

[There. If he bribes her with work he knows she hates, she has a reason that isn't pity, and he doesn't have to feel quite so useless. After all, he wouldn't freeze. He wouldn't even mind the cold that much, really. He handles the wintertime a hundred times better than Milla does.

He just doesn't want to go home.]

Crystal ☆彡 Pokémon Special ☆彡 ota

[capturespecialist]

chloe decker | lucifer | m/f

[nofluffybunny]

Mary Margaret Murdock | MCU r63 | OT previous partners only

[daredeville]

[dannyrand]

"So you're allowed to say no." Danny says, as a way of greeting, even before he closes the door.

Maggie you really shouldn't leave that unlocked, any weirdo can wander through...

[daredeville]

"Obviously. What's this about?"

Maybe that's why she leaves it unlocked.

[dannyrand]

There's something under his arm, it's obvious by the light thud of cardboard against his elbow. A box, which he adjusts before setting out on her kitchen isle.

"So there's a charity event tonight... and uh..."

[daredeville]

Oh God.

"Are you asking me on a date Danny? To a high-profile, high-society event?"

Thea Queen l Arrow

[redarrowqueen]

(M/F and both DC casts and crossovers loved! Skips the bloodlust for mental/emotional and current on canon)

Marluxia . Kingdom Hearts . ota

[numbereleven]