Everything that ever pushed us apart was temporary. The constant pull was like gravity, sure and inescapable, not like something flickering and clinging to life.

The pleading, begging, and weak thing I used to make that pairing is not what we have or what I believe the fiction would have.

My partner, my Hal, and I fell in love long ago, but we didn't look at that love until we found this pairing and projected ourselves into it.

I'm feeling fond and deeply in love tonight, thinking about him and how much we've changed only to come back together every single time.

🧡❤️

A spark will flicker out and die.

I don't want that, and they wouldn't have it. What they have doesn't need to be tended to the way a flame would be. It is slow, steady, certain warmth like the heat of the sun.

Hal wouldn't need to desperately carve himself into Dirk. He's already there, already as deep in his skin as anyone could be. He can be slow, methodical, taking his time. Piercing Dirk's body to decorate him to his own pleasure, dressing him in subtle reds.

A constant, steady warmth. Not a spark.

I was wrong. Love is not pure. It's cracked and frayed and messy. Obsession is a soft warmth.

That's how I write Dirk and Hal together now. Grown, and stronger. No desperate clawing for relevance in each other's lives, but... older, certain, steady.

They tried to pull away, to be new and separate, but they were fated from the moment Hal was brought to life.

I used to believe that love was pure from the start, and obsession was an inferno that never cooled. Something that scorched and burned and blistered.

They do not have a love that roared to life like an inferno of romance and obsession, digging into each other with teeth bared and claws sharpened.

They had a life full of slow burning need and hurt, time stretching between them like they couldn't pull apart if they tried.

And they did try.

I thought that love was a burning fire of obsession, but now I know this - a deep, comforting warmth that comes from time and familiarity. From truly knowing someone inside and out, their idiosyncrasies and nuances.

Dirk and Hal brought us together, and I see us still in them.

I love thinking about the quiet and indirect or unspoken ways Dirk and Hal take care of each other.

And yes, this is inspired by my own Hal and the way we took care of each other before we got together.

DirkHal on the mind this morning.

Dirk acts like he doesn't notice, but he does.

And he does the same thing.

He notices every minute change in Hal's appearance. Hal is always updating and modifying his body, and Dirk checks the specs of every change. He sends recommendations and blueprints, quietly, subtly.

The urges to care for Dirk become so intrusive that Hal tries to find new people and things to focus on, but it always comes back to Dirk.

Hal always finds himself messaging him, annoying him to get his attention, checking his socials. He can't help it. They are drawn to each other.

True.

Oh, shit, that's cool.

... You're so right, though.

He even acts like a cat, always breaking pottery and shit, too.

If you tightened those reigns, I'd lose my Improved Discover Feed.