Rowan nodded a little bit, holding Damian as close as possible. "Alright." he kissed Damian's cheek, taking a slightly shaky breath. "I just…I don't think there's anything you can do. But…thank you." he whispered, hugging Damian as tightly as possible.
Damian pressed a kiss of his own into Rowan’s cheek, holding onto him tightly for a couple more heartbeats. “I know I’ve said it a hundred times in the last minute, but I don’t want you to die,” Damian whispered, then added in attempt for a small smile, “Bailey wouldn’t want you dead either. You’re the first boyfriend that he approves of.” Damian’s hand snaked over to find Rowan’s and he squeezed his hand gently, but didn’t let go quite yet.
Rowan let out a soft, half-strangled laugh at that, burying his face in Damian's hair and closing his eyes. "I'm sorry." he said softly, clinging to Damian like a lost little child. "I-I didn't mean…I…" his voice was soft and a little choked.
Damian hugged him tighter, and silently promised to both himself and Rowan that he’d never leave this male’s side. “Don’t apologize,” He whispered softly, reaching one hand to stroke Rowan’s hair while the other stayed tightly wrapped around the larger male. “You don’t have to apologize. Everything’s gonna be okay one day,” He murmured softly, hugging onto Rowan even tighter. Damian didn’t know when that ‘one day’ would be, but he knew it would come. Damian would make sure of it.
Rowan held tightly to Damian, taking a deep breath. "I-I just…I…I've hurt so many people." He whispered. "And I just…I can't…" Weak. You're weak. Weepy and angry over just a paltry amount of death. The Reaper snarled. Rowan shuddered.
Damian’s heart broke for this man with him. “Hey, hey, it’s gonna be okay,” Damian cooed softly, “What’s done is done, but that doesn’t matter. What matters is what you do from here,” Damian murmured as he held onto Rowan tightly, “You’re always going to have a future, you’ll always have the ability to change. And I promise you it will be okay no matter what happens.”
Rowan leaned against Damian, and shook his head a little bit. He couldn't change. Even if he wanted to, the Reaper wouldn't stop just because Rowan had asked nicely. The only way this would ever, ever stop, was if he died. If he died, it would end this cycle. He took a deep breath, and just nodded a little, holding onto Damian.
Damian moved to press a gentle kiss against Rowan’s lips, vowing to himself he’d make all this better for the both of them. Damian didn’t know Rowan’s motives for attacking the city like he did, and he didn’t know how he could help change Rowan unless he knew why he did the things he did. But Damian did know that Rowan regretted what he did, it was clear from this moment. So Damian would work even harder -if that was possible- to prevent Rowan from killing civilians.
Rowan kissed him back, holding Damian close and wishing he could just stay like this forever. Without the Reaper, without worrying he was going to accidentally kill the man in his arms. He just wanted…he just wanted to be normal. Or dead. Either one would make sure no one else was in any danger anymore.
“Want me to drive the rest of the way home?” Damian whispered softly, not quite removing his lips from Rowan’s, favoring to murmur against them. He didn’t want to have any space between them after this, he wanted to be close as possible to Rowan, for as long as he was allowed.
Rowan shook his head a little, pressing his lips to Damian's again for a moment, before pulling away again, mouth still brushing against Damian's as he spoke. "No. I can do it." he said softly, eyes closed and his forehead leaning against Damian's. He wished that neither of them had to. That they could just…be at Damian's house already, and sit down on the couch and cuddle or something.
Damian kissed him back softly, and still not moving even as Rowan pulled away. He didn’t want to let go, even though he knew he had to pull away eventually. But he didn’t move away an inch, instead one of his hands found Rowan and intertwined their fingers before he drew back an inch—no further, waiting for a sign to know Rowan was okay before he would decide to pull away entirely.
Rowan took a deep breath, and nodded. "We should…get to your place. Then we can talk some more, okay?" He said with a small smile. He ran a hand through Damian's hair gently. He sighed.
“Alright,” Damian whispered softly, then made himself pull away and settle back in his seat—though his hand still hadn’t let go of Rowan’s. Heck, Damian didn’t feel like letting go until they got home and could wrap themselves with each other, but he still knew Rowan needed to drive at some point.
Rowan took a deep breath, and drove to Damian's place, parking in the driveway. "Here we are." He said softly. He opened his door and got out, coming around to open Damian's door for him.
Damian slid out of the car with a tiny smile and then quickly wrapped one arm around Rowan so they could walk side by side on the way in. He led Rowan up the stairs to the second floor to his apartment, number 203. As soon as Damian unlocked and opened the door, Bailey was waiting at the door for them. “Hey Bailey,” Damian said with a small smile, and the dog was already pawing at their shoes for some attention.
Rowan wrapped his arm around Damian as well, after locking the car, and walked with the other male to the apartment. He closed his eyes for a moment, then summoned up a smile, reaching down to pet Bailey. "Hey, pooch." He greeted.
Bailey licked Rowan’s hand a couple of times before Damian chuckled and picked the old beagle up and closing the apartment door behind them. “We can go sit on the couch if you want, or the bed…” Damian told Rowan softly with a small smile. He wouldn’t care where they ended up, as long as they were together somewhere in this apartment.
Rowan shrugged a little. "It's…it's your choice." He replied softly. "I don't have a preference." He kissed Damian's cheek gently, his silver eyes flicking around the room for a moment, before settling on Damian again.
Damian smiled a little before setting Bailey down and grabbing Rowan’s hand to tug him to his room. It was a bit messy, but Damian’s Frost outfit was neatly tucked beneath the bed and that was really all that mattered. Damian didn’t care if Rowan saw every underwear and clothing piece he had, as long as the other male didn’t see the Frost suit. Damian tugged Rowan to his bed, which was unmade and, if one looked closely enough, had bit of dried blood of the pillow and in some spot on the sheets. Damian didn’t pay it much attention, however, as he slid into the bed and patted the bed next to him in invitation for some much-needed snuggles.
Rowan sat down beside Damian, leaning against him a little bit. "Thank you." He said softly. "I'm sorry that I'm…so messed up." He closed his eyes for a moment, and pressed a kiss to Damian's cheek.
Damian wrapped an arm around Rowan tightly and held him as close as possible. “You aren’t messed up. Not to me,” Damian told him softly, “To me your the strongest, most wonderful man in the world.” Damian gave Rowan a returning kiss on the cheek, a small smile on his face. He wanted to stay with Rowan, he wanted Rowan to stay with him. They could snuggle in bed eating ice cream out of the tub for all Damian cared, as long as Rowan stayed.
"I-I'm not, though." Rowan replied softly. "I'm…very messed up. I kill people, I…" He swallowed hard, shaking his head quickly. I'm possessed by the Reaper… "I'm not…I'm not a good person, Damian. I'm not."
Damian shifted to wrap both of his arms around Rowan to hug him tightly. “You’ve always been good to me,” Damian mumbled softly, even though technically it was a lie. It didn’t feel like a lie though, not when it rolled off his lips. “Do you want to… I dunno… talk about it? About why you kill people?” Damian whispered gently, tightening his grip around Rowan.
Rowan shook his head quickly. "No. I…I can't, Damian." he replied, going stiff in Damian's arms. He couldn't talk about the Reaper. He had, once. A therapist. She had been a very kind woman. He had told her about the Reaper, and…then the Reaper killed her for knowing. So no, Rowan couldn't tell Damian, or the other male would die, and it would be all Rowan's fault.