&. I DON'T INTEND TO LOSE.

Ind. Priv. Sel. DCTV Multi-Muse featuring muses from Arrow, Flash, Supergirl, & Legends of Tomorrow. Penned by Lest. 20. Est. 06/10/17

[honorhaunted]

CURTIS.

absentmindedly curtis has started lightly brushing his fingers up and down the other mans back while he waits for him to actually wake up enough to answer him. he doesn’t even realize he’s doing it, and the corners of his mouth twitch upwards into a small smile as rene buries his head into his chest. once again his breathing gets cut off abruptly at being called ‘babe’, and his stomach feels like it’s been infested with butterflies. even though he went to bed late, curtis doesn’t have any trouble waking up. he’s certain if he could form words at the moment he’d probably be babbling like an idiot, but thankfully for him he couldn’t quite figure out what to say at all. his hand pauses and he stops rubbing renes back, and he’s debating on if he called him ‘babe’ because he was half asleep and didn’t quite realize who he was with.

suddenly the warmth of the shorter man is gone, and curtis is painfully aware of the fact that he doesn’t actually have a shirt on. he moves his legs off the side of the bed, feet hitting the ground with soft padding noises as he gets up and moves to grab something to wear. his head jerks upwards for a moment and he nods, moving into his bathroom so he can grab the spare toothbrush he keeps for emergencies ( such emergencies being things like he’s sick and is going to need a new one, not whatever this is. ) within minutes he’s stepping out of the bathroom and tossing it to rene, not thinking about the fact that maybe he shouldn’t toss things to someone with an extreme hangover, but oh well. “here you go, one spare toothbrush. i’ve also got some extra strength tylenol if you need any?”

     it’s impossible to entirely ignore the situation. this isn’t rene’s apartment, which means he definitely stayed the night with one curtis holt. he hopes the team never finds out about this. glare plastered onto his face, he looks over his shoulder at the alarm clock. he’s so late for work. his phone is still in his pocket; he can feel the weight of it and how curtis got through the whole night without getting stabbed by rene’s phone, wallet, or keys, he’ll never know. he sighs, looking over just in time to see the toothbrush leave curtis’ hands — his own hands move as swiftly as possible, though he fumbles with the toothbrush in the air for a minute before he manages to catch it completely. he’s lucky, really. were their roles reversed, rene wouldn’t have had a spare toothbrush. whatever. it isn’t like he owes anything to curtis now.

     he yawns, eyebrows knitting together as he continues to just sit there. drunk rene might have been fine with this, but hungover rene is most definitely pissed at himself. embarrassed that he got himself into this mess. “—got a shirt?” he asks abruptly, making his first attempt at eye contact with curtis. “or do i gotta go home and be even later to work than i already am?” lance must already be pissed at him, or otherwise worried he’s disappeared or gotten himself kidnapped by a crime lord again. probably pissed. rene may be irresponsible, but up until today, he’s been great at actually showing up for work and doing his job. he’s dedicated to what he does. especially now, where his being good at something brings him closer to getting his daughter back. “—and yeah. i could use some tylenol. this headache’s a bitch.”

[honorhaunted]

“ whatever you want from me. consider it done. i want oliver queen to suffer. “

     her support is unnecessary. for five years, he has been hyperfocused on revenge. his plan is foolproof and he will succeed in destroying oliver queen and yet sara lance working with him is, perhaps, the best way to do so. oliver has such a soft spot for people and she’s certainly one of those people he cares about. adrian knows what her death did to the man. “good. i like that. i think we’re going to have a very special partnership.” / @leagueremade

[turtlejustice]

-James Baldwin

[honorhaunted]

CURTIS.

whilst the sober version of rene might be embarrassed, or even annoyed with him, he would also be able to walk without almost falling over. in fact, he’s probably lucky he didn’t pass out on the sidewalk trying to walk to curtis’ apartment. of course it was just easier for him to carry the shorter man instead of constantly trying to make sure he didn’t fall over. glasses are taken off and placed on the nightstand, and he reaches over to turn off the light, lying on his back. his eyes are closed when rene responds, already almost halfway to sleep, but they immediately open so he can peer at him through the dark. he’s almost too tired to comprehend that rene just called him babe, but after a minute in which he is very confused, he rests his head back on the pillow and lets himself drift off.

curtis has always been known to move when he sleeps. always. if he’s sleeping alone he’ll eventually migrate to take over the middle of the bed as he sleeps, and it wasn’t a rare occurrence for paul to wake up with curtis wrapped around him like an octopus with only four legs. therefore it isn’t too surprising that when his alarm actually goes off, there’s someone curled up into him. actually no, it’s still extremely surprising. his free arm stretches to turn off the alarm, chin still resting on rene’s head as he groggily takes in his surroundings. he lifts his head to yawn, looking down to see the shorter man, who’s clearly quite comfortable using him as a pillow. his other arm is wrapped around him, trapped by rene’s weight on it. using his free hand he gently nudges his shoulder, not wanting to startle him awake. now he knew how paul felt being trapped by him. “hey, rene? you awake? we should probably get up soon. it’s actually starting to get pretty late.”

     intense sunlight puts a pressure on his eyelids that can’t be fought off. loud, abrasive noise magnifies the pounding in his head. rene is fully aware of the movement in bed; he can feel curtis reaching for the alarm clock, though it takes being tapped on the shoulder to fully realize that he isn’t alone. were he any less affected by the migraine the previous night has given to him as a gift, as if a fuck you from himself, he might have pulled away. instead, he buries his head into the man’s chest. ( man’s chest, he makes a note. that’s a first. ) the warmth does nothing to clear his head; memories of the night before are a blur. though he’ll swear never to drink so much again, it’s impossible to say with any certainty. a groan — he recognizes that voice. that’s definitely curtis. why is he in bed with curtis? “god, babe, my head’s killin’ me. five more minutes, okay?”

     it doesn’t register that he has, once again, called his teammate babe. even if he had, just once is an accident. the one from last night doesn’t count. although he knows full well that he’s lying with curtis holt of all people, the arm he has draped over the other man moves to wrap around him securely. part of him doesn’t want to let go. rene’s heart is pounding, breaths deep as he attempts to wake himself up and though he doesn’t want to admit to being comfortable, he hasn’t felt this safe since he lost laura. it’s the first time he’s gone a moment without blaming himself for the world being shit. reluctantly, he finally moves, forcing himself upright and tossing his legs over the side of the bed. he’d rather stare at the wall than face curtis and admit this is all real. huff of breath — “hey man, you got a spare toothbrush?”

[honorhaunted]

     “you here to check up on me?” he doesn’t mind. this is still the closest to freedom that he’s had since may. staying at hive isn’t ideal, but he also can’t roam the streets of the city he loves without being recognized. it’s easy enough to blend in when he has to, but getting arrested for a third time isn’t something he’s looking to do. “lookin’ tired over there, director. not getting enough sleep? must be hard to do your job and raise your boy.” / @heckcdup’s lyla michaels

[honorhaunted]

     she’s fiesty. he can’t blame her for the attitude she’s giving him. after all, just a few short months ago he did almost kill her and everyone she loves. his time with argus hasn’t made him perfect, but he isn’t quite as psychotic as he was. still very equipped to kill. it’s one of the few skills argus has continued to cultivate. “you can relax, i’m not here to fight you.” it isn’t even that oliver asked him for a favor — most of why he’s doing this is selfish. being the green arrow means not being on the suicide squad. it means having to take fewer orders from people he doesn’t respect or care about. “your brother asked for me personally. you understand that, don’t you?” / @ownhcros’ jessica queen

[honorhaunted]

     adrian wears sorrow quite well, even if it is almost entirely fake. as gently as possible, he lifts a hand to the back of her shoulder, leaning his head against her temple in an attempt to offer some comfort. three years of friendship certainly should earn him a place by her side during her time of grief. “i’m sorry about billy.” no ‘detective malone’ today. no, this isn’t a professional call. this is personal. in an ideal world, he wouldn’t have had to hurt felicity to get to oliver and yet in an ideal world, oliver would have never killed adrian’s father. “is there anything i can do for you?” / @smoakiism

[honorhaunted]

JOE WEST.

rubbing a hand over his face, joe honestly can’t remember the last time he slept, but it was probably sometime before barry had been found. he had been exhausted as his son went through surgery, and maybe only got in a catnap once they said barry was going to be okay. even then it was in a chair next to his bedside, as there was no way he was leaving him alone after everything that had happened. this was honestly the first time he let himself leave barrys side, and even so he had promised cisco to vibe and get him if he was needed, or if anything at all went wrong. he’d still be by his side if he didn’t trust cisco and caitlin so much, enough to get vibed over to star city and try and find out where oliver had been.

joe nodded slowly, jaw clenching as he thought. part of him didn’t want to believe that oliver had beaten barry up, not because he trusted him, but because he didn’t want that to be something that had happened to barry. “honestly do you think that oliver — that he might do something like this?” hearing that quentin would talk to him  got him to relax slightly. “yes, please. there is still the possibility that he’ll lie to you but i’d feel a lot better. you know i wouldn’t be asking this if i wasn’t sure.” he already planned on assigning a ccpd officer or two to keep an eye on barry around the clock, but that needed to wait until he was healed just a bit more. it would be a bit suspicious if it got out that barry went from being on deaths doorstep to having completely healed in less than a week. “if we hadn’t found him — he was almost dead. definitely wouldn’t have made it through the night. i just — don’t know what else to do.”

     stomach tightens from nerves. quentin would give anything to be able to confidently say oliver is not at fault. it’s easy to say that oliver has become the kind of person who would never hurt someone he cared so much about and yet quentin’s still far too familiar with the man’s past. it takes a lot of damage to one’s psyche to do what oliver does and that’s on top of how screwed up he was back in the day. ( who cheats on their girlfriend with her sister? ) a deep breath. talking to oliver is something he can definitely do, but making the man who is technically his boss angry can’t be a good idea. “five years ago, definitely. today?” a pause as he considers it. “i can’t promise he wouldn’t, but i’d like to believe he’s better than that.” if he didn’t believe oliver had become better than that, he wouldn’t be able to work so closely with the man.

     and he knows, perhaps better than anyone, that oliver is quite the liar. good enough at it to fool a polygraph. to fool detectives. too fool laurel, at least for a little while. if oliver truly did assault barry and leave him to die, the odds of him admitting it aren’t very high. “i’ll keep you updated, joe.” he understands why he’s being asked to do this. he knows what it’s like to have kids, to do anything to protect them. quentin has nearly killed oliver before for what he’d done to laurel and sara. maybe if he had back then, joe’s son wouldn’t have nearly died just now. “we’re gonna get to the bottom of this, alright? i promise, we’ll find out who hurt barry.” if barry himself could spent fifteen years searching for his mother’s killer, there’s no reason they couldn’t dedicate as much time as necessary to solving this. he reaches out, rests his hand on joe’s forearm. “hey, don’t do that to yourself. barry’s gonna be fine, he’s a strong kid. you can always come to me for help. i’ve got your back.”

[honorhaunted]

CURTIS.

the words cause him to pause for a moment and it takes everything in him not to laugh. mostly because he’s sure rene will still try and punch him, and that will end with one or both of them falling on the floor. “and you remembered my address, that you heard once, months ago, when you forgot your own??” he had to smile somewhat at that logic as they moved, curtis leading him towards his bedroom. it wasn’t like he was just gonna let him sleep on the couch, plus the bed was more than large enough for the two of them combined. his breathing hitches for a second at the soft pressure of fingers against his skin, and it feels as if every nerve is hypersensitive to the rene’s touch. maybe he should have grabbed a shirt when he was woken up, but he was so out of it it never even crossed his mind. he’s pulled back to reality at his words, sighing to himself. why he even assumed for a second that rene would stay hydrated was beyond anyone’s guess. they’re almost to his room when curtis shakes his head, and just picks rene up in a sort of bridal style carry, because it’s the easiest way to carry him right now, and carries him down the hallway. shoving his door fully open with his foot, he lays rene down on one half of the bed, pulling the covers up over him. “there. now you can crash.” he smiles softly at him before climbing into his own side of the bed. he isn’t sure if rene’s even awake still, or if he can hear him, but he still whispers. “goodnight, rene.”

     there’s an ocean inside his head with waves crashing against his skull. balance is a foreign concept and it’s nearly impossible to keep his eyes open. his attempt at finding a retort to curtis’ words fails; yes, he remembered the taller man’s address and not his own. it’s only because he lived in the house he and laura shared for too long. now that he’s moved to be closer to team arrow — to be in a smaller space that makes him feel somehow less alone — he’d just gotten confused. they say being drunk lessens your cognitive ability. the delay in thinking process stretches longer than necessary and ends abruptly as he’s properly picked up and walked through a door as if a bride on her wedding day. the sober version of him might be embarrassed. “—the hell?” confusion fades in favor of settling down as he’s tucked into a bed that most certainly isn’t his own. eyes close immediately, a light hum prefacing slowed breathing as he turns over on his stomach. one hand reaches out for curtis’ arm and he lets out another hum, momentary upward twitch in his lips though it doesn’t last. “night, babe.”

[turtlejustice]

Who is in control?

[channelrat]

Life as a Tumblr Text Post: Adrian Chase aka the best damn villain we’ve ever had

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Keep reading

[honorhaunted]

CURTIS.

once he’s assured himself that no one’s hurt it’s actually really obvious just how inebriated rene is. breath catches in his throat for a minute, hidden by just the fact that the other is far too drunk to notice it, and he positions his arm so that he can support him better, ready to catch him should he suddenly tip forwards. “i’m hoping you mean crash in a figurative sense and not in a literal one, although, honestly, with how drunk you seem it wouldn’t surprise me if both of those happened. and how do you even know where i live? not that i’m annoyed or anything i just     didn’t think you knew.” passing through the living room, curtis still had to wonder why rene came to his house. what was wrong that he couldn’t go back to his own place?? “what     what do you mean, can’t go back to your place? did something happen to your apartment?” it still didn’t answer why he was here of all places, but it was an answer. “have you had anything to drink tonight? other than alcohol i mean, have you had any water tonight? because if you haven’t you’re gonna be hating yourself in the morning.”

deep inhale and he attempts to brace himself. body weight presses against the man holding him, ankles feel close to jello and rene suddenly isn’t sure how much longer he can remain standing. “it’s a figure of speech, moron.” maybe he’d be nicer if he wasn’t so wasted. maybe. “blondie mentioned it a few months back. does it really matter? we’re supposed to be friends, ya know.” it’s obvious curtis knows; otherwise, rene wouldn’t have been invited in. if this counts as being invited in. he kind of stumbled his way into the apartment. “my apartment’s fine, i just can’t remember my address.” as the words leave his lips, he doesn’t have the cognitive ability to see how ridiculous it is. the fact that he saw his apartment and walked right past it will certainly be something to regret in the morning when he’s thinking clearly. fingers uncurl from fist, palm coming to rest gently against curtis’ skin just above the hem of his pants. “i had water at lunch.” because that’s enough water for the day, of course. “that counts, right?”

[honorhaunted]

CURTIS.

a sharp ( and extremely loud ) rapping of knuckles on wood is what jerks curtis from a very sound sleep. it takes him a moment to shove his glasses onto his face, eyes scanning his brightly lit phone screen for the time ( and also to see if he’d gotten any urgent calls from any of team arrow ). brows furrow as he makes his way to the door, barely an inch from stubbing his toe when he actually reaches the light switch. he is utterly exhausted, and alright, maybe that’s partially his fault for staying up so late to work on his t-spheres, but he also wasn’t expecting anyone at his door at two am either. curtis unlocks the door and pulls it open, surprise ( and concern ) on his face at the sight of rene there. his first thought is that somethings being attacked, or one of the team is hurt or missing and that’s why he’s being woken up at this hour, until he sees how unsteady the other man is. “hey, rene… are     you alright? here come on in before you     fall over or something.” he reaches out to gently grab a hold of the shorter mans arm, hoping to steady him.

knuckles move to hit wood once more, contact failing as the door moves. he barely stops himself from slamming his fist into curtis’ side, instead grabbing the wall beside him. briefly, he debates rattling off some serious sarcasm to insinuate he’s totally fine, but it’s already far too late for that to work. he’s clearly inebriated, words come out like mush and there’s no way he’d ever show up out of nowhere like this sober. it isn’t that he’s against having friends, but he isn’t exactly the social type. outgoing and extroverted? sure! but he isn’t good at the healthy communication & being around part. drunk is nearly the only way he opens up unless by force. “i need a place to crash.” as if that wasn’t obvious already. against his own will, he leans into the taller man, one arm moving to wrap around curtis’ waist naturally, feet dragging behind him. “can’t really go home right now. so i guess that means you’re stuck with me for the night.”

[honorhaunted]

steps are sloppy, coordination entirely askew. rene begins to tip backwards, arms flailing before he manages to catch himself on the doorframe beside him. though vision is slightly blurred, he knows it’s the door he’s looking for — there’s an identifying scratch just under the peephole that’s been there forever, as far as he’s aware. with one hand, he pushes himself back upright, taking the other to knock perhaps a bit loudly on the door. oh well — it’s only two in the morning. “hey, man! it’s me. open up.” words project enough that he’s sure the neighbors can hear. another knock. “come on, curtis. i know you ain’t sleepin’ in there, man.” / @ownhcros’ curtis holt

[honorhaunted]

ELIZABETH MARTIN.

@honorhaunted | for ray

the ticking of a clock and lab lights in the dead of night set a tense scene, lizzie feeling more and more frustrated with every idea ray shoots down in favor of one of his own. “sometimes you’re so infuriating!” the exclamation comes mid-way into an all-nighter at lord’s lab, her and ray working on a new prototype for mr. lord’s next tech launch. she should be at the dorm and studying this weekend instead of working overtime to get this done– especially when they both seem to be clashing so much. 

truth be told, she was only a head intern and didn’t really have a place to make such a statement, but she was tired and well, it had come out. besides, intern or not, their boss would have both their heads if the last tweaks to get the device to work weren’t figured out by monday. after all she had been assigned to help him with this project so it would be completed on time. “i’m sorry. that was out of line. i’m going to get coffee from the break room. do you want some?” though, perhaps a break is what they both needed.

ray remembers what it’s like to be an intern, to be as young as she is. it’s true that she’s full of ideas — and brilliant ones at that. what she lacks is experience. every idea, no matter how great can and should be improved upon. it isn’t like he’s trying to be rude or dismissive of her ideas, though he can understand why she might feel that way. frustration is something every young scientist faces at some point and as natural as it is for her to feel it, ray can’t help but feel personally attacked.

sure, if he’d slept any in the last two days he might be more emotionally equipped to handle the outlash, but he noticeably recoils, stammering for a moment, unable to respond before she apologizes. swallowing the lump in his throat, ray nods and attempts to regain his composure. “uh, yeah, i — i’ll go with you, actually.” the words leave his lips before he can think about them, though he immediately feels a sense of discomfort. they’ve spent so much time together today already, maybe what they need is a few minutes apart to clear their heads. “—or not. i can go later. you probably... it’s really late. don’t you have school to worry about? you can just — just go home. get some rest. i’ll be fine here.”

[honorhaunted]

MIRROR REFLECTION.

PLOTTED STARTER ▌✖ ¦ @honorvowed

             REPLICATED ! ! the stories have been proven true in all accounts of doppleganger theology. first barry & & caitlin & & cisco — tales that made scientist’s head spin until he could see straight through linear equations & & multiverse theories ( he just needed to talk it through & & think a proverbial hole through his skull ). after all the things he’s been through ? it’s not really MUCH of a surprise. but it’s one thing to hear about it & & another to experience it entirely — center of experiment GONE RIGHT, sensation of being torn from reality & & floating outside frame that’s defined his life for the better part of thirty-five years. he doesn’t know much about this maxwell lorde but the similarities are pretty much what he decides to FOCUS on — nice to know he would’ve been this EMPIRICAL ADVENTURER in almost any world. the other ray ( ray 2 ? reverse ray ? what do they call him ? ) mimics exact behaviors & & patterns of thinking so that each time they end up saying the same thing or suggesting the same thing, he almost laughs his head off. ( like having danny around again ) except with a bit of sting for brothers lost. 

            giddy curiosity unable to be hidden as he peeks over shoulder very familiar to his own ( mirror reflection, it’s just so fascinating ! ). ❝ so, how far along are you in the schematics ? ❞

excitement has yet to wear off; it’s impossible to count the number of times ray has said he’d be able to think twice as well with help from another ray palmer. it has yet to be seen whether he’s going to be more or less efficient with another version of himself present — as if one of them doesn’t drink enough coffee and lose enough sleep for the both of them. in the end, maybe ray’s just lucky to have full access to the labs at lord tech. getting to a place where he was his boss’ second in command was a long road, though definitely worthwhile. he can’t imagine a life where he doesn’t work in a lab for someone he respects. this life is what he enjoys, although it’s easy to wonder, given this other ray’s apparent affinity for pushing the envelope in the scientific world, if he’s meant for more. if he’d be somehow happier not tied down to one lab, or one project for a lengthy amount of time. he shakes the thought off in favor of grinning and letting himself enjoy this moment. it isn’t like his counterpart is from the future, but having a version of himself around who has already built the atom suit is definitely cool.

“pretty far. we’ve already built the first prototype.” though not nearly as impressive as the suit he’s sure other ray is used to, he speaks with a certain level of pride. a lot of blood, sweat, and tears have been poured into this. “it... kind of exploded. i’m trying to go back and, you know... make something that isn’t a really expensive, human-sized bomb.”

[honorhaunted]

JOE WEST.

oliver queen had never been a person that he thought he could trust. even before he was lost at sea, before he became the vigilante he was now, joe disapproved of the kid. how the arrow got his information from people didn’t make him trust oliver any more, but even so he never thought he’d hurt his son. Until he found Barry, barely breathing and lying, beaten half to death, in the streets. “honestly?” joe sighed, “no, i don’t have proof, and i’m not sure why he’d attack barry the way he did, but listen quentin. there’s nothing to show that he defended himself, at all, like he just let himself get beat half to death, and he won’t tell us who attacked him but every time someone even mentions olivers name, he just about jumps out of his skin.” joe knew this wasn’t anywhere near the kind of proof he’d need, but he had no idea where else to go. “just, answer this for me. two nights ago, where was oliver?” he had cisco and caitlin trying to find anything that could id the attacker, but right now he was following his gut, and his gut told him quentin wouldn’t know where he was.

confusion strikes further. oliver is screwed up; anyone in their right mind knows that. but he hasn’t been a mindless killer in quite some time. and, knowing oliver the way he does, if killing barry had been the intention, barry would certainly be dead. still, he’s a cop at his core. the evidence provided certainly does suggest that oliver is the assailant. oliver, or his doppleganger, but the chances of his doppleganger tracking down and harming barry — just barry — aren’t very high. he lets out a breath; he doesn’t like this. “i thought oliver was with william. i know he wasn’t with his team. but you know, i — i don’t keep tabs on him as much as i used to.”

it’s funny; a few short years ago, quentin would have loved an opportunity to put oliver behind bars. “you know, oliver is trying not to really do the whole....” voice lowers to a whisper, though they’re alone anyway. “green arrow thing anymore. he’s workin’ real hard to take care of his son and i can’t imagine he’d throw that away like this.” which, of course, isn’t him claiming oliver is innocent. only in rare cases has oliver not been guilty of accusations brought against him. ( in reality, quentin can’t place a finger on even one. ) “you want me to talk to him? oliver can be a stubborn bastard, but he knows me. i might get somethin’ outta ‘im.”