-- you're so alive

@prvncesstamaran

HE just notices her, and well – he’s already annoyed. “you resemble a pathetic butterfly when you float above the ground like that,” damian tells her with a glare. 

‘ i hardly find butterflies pathetic. ’ though of course, it doesn’t shock her when damian slings such cold speech in her direction. he is a master of separating himself from others, drawing lines in the sand as it were. 

Jess isn’t sure how it’s possible, but her cheeks warm further. She bites her lip, but it proves futile in trying to keep her smile at bay. “I like kissing you too.” She responds, exhausted still despite the nerves that spark in her stomach as she considers her next words. Would it imply too much? Be too sudden? Should she just – just go for it? “Would you like to stay here? Tonight, I mean. Until morning. I - I can make breakfast?”

kori shifts, face pressed into jessica’s neck. there, she can feel her heartbeat. there, she can almost here it rattling through her bones. it’s pleasant, if not a bit erratic. she swallows hard as jessica’s pulse stutters, feels the weight of whatever is coming. a question. a pause so long kori almost asks if she’s okay. ‘ oh--yes. yes. ’ kori withdraws, preses her forehead against jessica’s once again. 

Jess doesn’t give herself time to be anxious this time around. She won’t let the worries that plague her every other moment of the day invade this moment. Because, at least for right now, all she wants to focus on is Kori and the way her lips feel against hers when Jess finally closes the gap between them. It’s a soft kiss, gentle despite all of it’s weight, and Jess is struck once more with the realization that she has no idea what she’s doing here or what Kori is taking from this, but – she doesn’t care. Kori’s lips are warm and Jess kisses a little harder, brings a hand to cup Kori’s cheek. 

it’s peace, the moments that kori’s lips touch jess’. a sort of gentle calm washing over her in waves. she pulls jess a fraction closer, kisses a hint harder. and then pulls back, rests her forehead against jessica’s for a moment and just exists basking in the warmth of their combined energies. everyone is safe. everyone is accounted for. and she can let her guard down for a few moments with a beautiful woman. with jessica. ‘ i very much like kissing you. ’

Jess is almost sure she’s stopped breathing. In and out, Cruz. In and out. When she exhales it’s shaky, but she’s not as nervous as she was the last time Kori was this close to her. She’s just – overwhelmed. For the first time in hours, however, it’s not a bad feeling. It’s an overwhelming warmth instead, at each place they’re meeting. “Kori – ” She tugs at her bottom lip, brown eyes drifting to the other woman’s lips that are so close now. “Can I – is it okay?” 

kori is, admittedly, no stranger to physical intimacy. but it’s astounding sometimes how the simpler of such acts give her more to feel. there is warmth everywhere--accelerated, focused, at the points where they touch--and she wants more. lips part, chapped. ‘ yes. please. ’

Jess can’t put a name to it exactly, but she knows, if nothing else, that it’s been a long time since a single, simple touch to her cheek felt so – safe. Maybe it’s the stress of the last two days, the ache in her bones that her suit couldn’t save her from, or maybe it’s just the utter relief at seeing Kori still so very vibrant and alive before her that leaves Jess bold enough to gently press her lips to Kori’s open palm. Even as her face burns warm she says, “I’m glad. That you’re okay. That you came here. Really.”

the touch of jess’s soft lips on her palm, combined with the burning heat of her tanned cheeks, is the kick-starter kori needs to move. to pull herself closer, one hand pressed against jess’ hip, the other cupping her cheek, still. forehead resting against forehead, nose to nose. a moment of intimacy, of relief. of safety. ‘ i am very relieved that you are safe. ’

She’s still a little jumpy, but her nerves are almost immediately soothed when Jess sees Kori’s familiar radiance. The nickname is a welcome bonus, washing over her like a comforting blanket and bringing a small smile to her face. “Kori.” Jess breathes out, gives a careful nod, “I’m – okay. A little sore and, uhm, a little all over. But okay. Are you – how are you?”

kori strives to be a soft glow rather than a blinding heat, but intense relief catches her off-guard and she reaches out to press a hand to jessica’s cheek. thumb swiping across the space just under her eyes, inspecting, carefully assessing injuries. comfort settles in her chest. jess is safe. it’s fine. 

‘ i’m fine, jess. i promise. ’

‘ hello, moon shine. ’ reassured that the titans and teen titans, dick and damian and the lot, were safe, kori ventured her way to find jessica. shoulders taught, lips turned down just slightly in apprehension, she descended. ‘ are you alright? ’

Jess’ breath hitches in her throat and she feels a million little butterflies in her stomach that are threatening to ruin this for her. She’s nervous, nervous enough that if she doesn’t focus on slowing her breathing and let the gentle ministrations of Kori’s fingers on her cheek ground her then she may very well have fled this already. As it is, Jess perseveres and exhales slowly. “Okay.” She all but whispers, leaning in slightly and marveling at the brightness of Kori’s eyes this close, “Okay. I’d like that right about now.” 

x’hal, she is so beautiful. kori’s breath catches in her throat and she lets her fingers stroke along jess’ cheek one more time. it has been a while since she has kissed anyone, too. but she wants to. she wants to so badly. and she leans in, hand sliding down to jess’ neck and twisting her fingers into the hair at the nape of her neck, gentle, a tether. ‘ okay. ’ and she leans in, pressing her lips against jess’ and reveling in the warmth of her. 

REALLY, IT’S NOT TOO SURPRISING— it’s not very often that he pulls on the ol’ blue long johns now that jaime is carrying the torch and while once upon a time, he had definitely been a member of the justice league ( no matter how everyone tries to brush off the jli ), ted was never on the level of green lantern or green arrow. ( maybe it had something to do with his chosen color scheme– superman had a pretty good handle on blue after all. ) he tries to breathe normally ( and not like the skirmish definitely had him rethinking that burger he had for lunch and how he’d been skipping gym time ) and shakes his head, “yeah– yeah, no problem.” he exhales harshly before lifting a hand to gesture at himself, “beetle– blue beetle. sometimes.” ( like when the kid had finals. ) 

‘ are you... ’ kori lowers her voice, considers her next question carefully. figuring out wording was not ever her strong suit. ‘ are you our current beetle’s predecessor? ’ that seemed to be the correct question, at least at face value. it wasn’t insulting as far as she could tell. or at least she hoped not. ‘ it is a pleasure to meet you, mister beetle. thank you again for your assistance. i greatly appreciate it. ’

there was a time when getting approached by a bona fide sultry spacebabe ( bone-ified, you get it? ) all business–like would’ve had hal … planning, james bond style. he’d quizzed the lantern power ring on his physical sexual compatibility with lesser goddesses on alien planets. before. now? hal’s all jokes. ( he’s always been a joke. )

“ greetings, your highness. ” a hint of a wry grin at the title—he’s never been too good at formalities or hierarchies. “ am i in trouble? ”

the title fits oddly at best. princess--a moniker used more often by closer friends--rubs at the edges of who she is. your highness just plain chafes. kori pushes the idea aside, tilts her head towards him with a hint of grin on full lips. 

‘ should you be? ’

@prvncesstamaran

dick sits on the couch, flush with the warm, long line of kori’s side.  both a little worse for the wear after a fight, dick passes her the bottle of wine that he’s been drinking straight from.  it’s a polite purchase made from the liquor store that dick had been thrown through the window of.  they’ve earned their indulgences in spades tonight, as far as dick is concerned.  thank god for merlot, honestly.   

“ what a night, huh, star ?? ” he asks, stretching out gingerly. 

kori takes the bottle from his hand, warm brush of skin along skin, and lazily rolls her head forward to take a sip of wine. her body--and she can only imagine dick’s, respectively--is a song of aches and pains. of broken skin and bone chilling cold. she drinks the wine a little faster, hoping it will warm her up. 

‘ what a night. ’ she concedes. 

It’s harder some days than others, to paste a smile on his face and play at being cheerful and normal. Some days the smell of cooking meat makes him nauseous and nobody listens, some days he wakes up and he just can’t stop thinking about everyone that he doesn’t have anymore. It’s days like today where he tries to surround himself with the people that he likes best, that remind him why he does what he does. 

“I can come back if you’re busy,” He shrugs, is grateful for once that he has fur rather than skin, that doesn’t betray him. “Just wanted someone to hang out with.” 

this time, she does look up, sparing a glance for the boy with a heart of gold that has grown up too fast. (they’ve all grown up too fast, it’s part of the job description.) spares him a glance and... stops, backtracks to set aside the laundry-load of paperwork in front of her in favor of paying him some attention. the children she’s helped train do not need human-colored flesh for her to know what their thoughts are. it’s part of her job description. 

‘ no, please. you are welcome to stay and sit. ’

Jess doesn’t really know how she’s ended up here. She’s not good at the whole friends thing, hasn’t been for awhile. And Kori is – well, she’s intense. Not in a bad way, really. Sometimes it’s just difficult for Jess to keep up so when Kori does things like this – her hand warm on Jessica’s quickly coloring cheek – it might, sort of short circuit Jess’ brain. “I…” Her eyes are blown wide, biting her bottom lip as she considers, “It’s been a long time since I’ve kissed anyone.” She finally admits, a slight hitch of her breath. But goodness if Jess doesn’t want to, really. She doesn’t know why, isn’t exactly sure how this whole thing goes for Kori, normally. But Jess is willing to try here so hey. That’s something. “Is - is that okay?”

perhaps flighty was the wrong word. insecure is the most striking option in that moment, and it fits so beautifully on jess’s face that kori almost loses her breath. nevermind the fact that she’s already touching her skin, the number of things that the tamaranean royalty would give to kiss that look off her face was staggering. x’hal. she leans in a little more, lets her thumb trace intent patterns over the lantern’s cheekbone. inhales. exhales. ‘ of course it’s okay, moon-shine. ’

“GOD – i know all of you heroes are idiots but you’d think you all could just remember i’m a doctor. it’s doctor isley.” she tucks a strand of hair behind her ear before tilting her head to look at starfire. “can’t i just be outside?” ivy wasn’t actually doing anything sinister – she just was tending to a few bushes along the sidewalk where someone had clearly stepped all over it. 

‘ i remember. but you lost the right to that title when you acted in disregard for life. along with the right to respect. ’ kori has no time for silly games, especially not with women as treacherous as pamela islely. she licks her lips. ‘ you? no. ’

now this is someone that kori has no washy-wishy feelings on at all. and while perhaps she toes a grey line the same as her compatriots, or even her enemies, poison ivy has decidedly placed herself on the opposing side of the preservation of life, and kori... for all her personal struggles with murder, cannot side with that. perhaps this is why she floats above the scene for just a fraction, head cocked to the side.