(no subject)
Title: Lackadaisy Years
Word Count: 3,419
Summary: This prompt. Robin rushes Kid Flash into sex and there are, of course, consequences.
A/N: There are probably some trigger warnings to be heeded here, with the focus and mentions of pressured/forced sex. This piece gave me a lot of trouble, but in the end I finished it.
-
Wally half expects Dick to light up a cigarette afterwards. Like, seriously, that’s how unreal the whole thing is to him.
Instead Dick is walking across his room completely naked to browse his bookshelf. Wally doesn’t have to keep looking to know that he’s looking for that chemistry book Wally came over in the first place to get.
“I know it’s here somewhere,” Dick’s muttering and there’s just something completely uncouth about the whole experience that’s got Wally shivering. Or maybe he’s vibrating with anxiety.
“Dude,” he says, then doesn’t know where to go from there. So he slides out of bed too, starts putting his clothes back on. “Dude, you’re thirteen.”
Dick pauses in going over the book titles to shoot Wally the most withering eyebrow quirk he’s ever seen. “Uh, yeah?”
There’s really no point in going over age issues and how much of a minor he is. Dick doesn’t care, he made that much clear before he pulled a condom and lube out of the bottom of his pajama drawer.
“Right,” Wally says, already on tying up his shoelaces. “So, that was your first time?” He leaves off the instinctual ‘too’ because, in all honesty, he’s doubting that so much there’s little point in even asking. And as unfortunate as that alone may be, Wally doesn’t want to drag himself in the crossfire of ungodly revelations. The weight of Dick’s hand still lingers on the flat of his chest, too practiced, just like how he ripped open the condom with his teeth and fitted it onto Wally with just three fingers. “I mean, going all the way?”
Dick laughs, not unkindly, and he settles on his haunches as he starts searching the lower shelves. “What, because I’m the youngest? It’s not like the world’s any more conservative and sheltered than when you were thirteen.”
Even though Dick is smiling at him, something explosive is building up in Wally. He’s got half a mind to fling Dick away and into a wall just to show him he can, that he has power too. But the logic in him stops such an action, the thought that it’s not the same - it’s not the same persuasive power, juggernauts of reason and sharp grips and bony fingers and pursed lips.
“I - I gotta go, Dick. Dinner and stuff, you know.” He stutters to get away instead.
-
Dick corners him as Robin, voice low. “Are you avoiding me?”
Wally shifts from one foot to another, trying to calm his heartbeat. The heat of Dick so close has never made him antsy before, and it bothers him that something like sex should change that. They’re guys, it’s a trivial thing for them, right?
“No,” he replies solidly, half a grin in place. “Just busy, Boy Wonder.”
There’s a flash of something across Dick’s face, something not even the mask can hide, and then he’s jabbing a finger into Wally’s chest and it burns. “Don’t tell me you were just in it to - to get your cock wet - I - what, wasn’t good enough?”
The scorn is abundant and scathing enough to rip any lesser meta apart. Wally likes to think he’s worth more than that. ‘Fuck you’ he kind of wants to say, but that’s just a downward spiral of wordplay and hurtful puns waiting to happen. “No,” he shoots back, hissed, immediately. “What in the world is wrong with you, if that’s the first thing you think up?” This desperate anger Dick’s emanating in waves is juvenile and clumsy, so unlike him and it’s such a childlike reaction that Wally’s stomach is churning with disgust at himself. At them. They’re such children, both of them.
Dick’s still glaring as he draws into his cape draped around him like a shadow and makes an indiscernible noise in his throat. “Well sorry, I just don’t understand what your problem is.”
Wally scoffs in the most condescending way he knows how to drive Dick off, not because he’s mad at Dick or trying to save the younger boy from corruption by pushing him away or anything noble like that. Wally’s just not too sure what his problem is either, and it’s a little funny, if he tilts his perception just right.
Dick shakes his head and stalks off back to his post and Wally watches him go, remembers that retreating figure naked and strutting to the bookshelf across the room. His insides flash cold before he shakes it off and gets back to work as well.
-
Uncle Barry stuffs rolled up tissue up his nose as Wally sits cross-legged on the desk in the office. Just a typical day, another attempt at running through solids gone wrong.
“Hey,” Barry breaks the silence amiably, “so I’ve been noticing that you’re moping? That makes focusing on vibrating through walls harder, just saying.”
Wally bristles a little. “I’m not moping! I’m totally focused!”
His uncle pins him with this horribly adult and knowing glance that renders him unable to deny the undeniable. “Right. So really, what’s wrong?” He asks, “girls? Guys? Homework? Young Justice? Your Aunt Iris inviting you over for dinner when we both know she seriously can’t cook - not that you should tell her I said that, because I’m joking, right? Right.”
Wally only weakly laughs at his uncle’s joking manner, more preoccupied with how he really doesn’t want to admit that he’s been dating a thirteen year old and, more importantly, that they’ve had sex. He really doesn’t want to tell anyone ever that they had sex, because it’s not just that Dick’s young - it’s, like, he’s young too. He, seriously, didn’t think this would happen till maybe junior prom next year, closer to seventeen, maybe.
“Wally?” Barry’s tone shifts a little and it’s more strict and grown up. Wally’s waited too long to say anything, is acting too off, and now his choices of keeping silent or making something up are going out the window.
“It’s guys,” he admits. “Robin. Sex.”
“Oh, well that’s easy. Isn’t he practically twelve? And Batman’s kid? Leave him alone.” His tone sneaks into something more warning and just the slight bit patronizing. As if Wally runs around molesting people or something.
This time Wally bristles a lot, and his resentment inspires sarcasm. “Oh excuse me, it’s not me who needs to be told to leave someone alone - but I’ll make sure to keep that in mind next time I get pushed down somewhere and told to shut up and relax!”
As soon as that’s out his mouth Wally knows he’s messed up. That sounds worse, way worse, than what happened. And Uncle Barry’s eyes have a weird shine to them as his hands fall to his sides.
“Why don’t you,” he says incredibly quietly as he gives Wally a once over that is somehow both disapproving and worried, “start at the very beginning.”
-
“So,” Dick says so casually that Wally knows something is up. “Apparently my father had a long conversation with yours.”
“The Flash is my uncle and mentor, not my father,” Wally corrects snappily, though there’s dread sinking his heart impossible leagues deep in his rib cage. “And don’t you dare say that he ‘might as well be’ again.”
Dick holds up his hands defensively as he offers a wary smile. “Yeah, I - I know that, Wally. I was, it was sort meant to be joking?” Wally shows no signs of amusement even though he probably should, if he wants to get past this with any semblance of grace.
Dick sighs at his lack of reaction. “Look, what’s up? Because Bruce was giving me the third degree on our relationship after they talked.”
Wally is suddenly aware that he is trying his hardest not to look guilty, which bothers him. He’s not guilty of anything, they had consensual sex. And yes, there’s been some tension since then, but all relationships get out of the honeymoon period at some point. All he’s guilty of is venting a little to maybe the wrong person and now Uncle Barry has taken it all out of context and out of hand. This can be fixed with a few careful words, easy. “Uh, so what’d you say to Bats?”
Dick snorts, “That we were completely fine until recently, but it’s nothing too serious to work out, what else?”
And it’s that kind of flippancy that’s half of why Wally’s freaking out. What the heck, that was his virginity, who is Dick to just wheedle and push and tease him into giving it up and then dismiss that kind of sacrifice? “What is wrong with you?” Wally asks, horrified. “I can’t even believe this.”
Dick’s eyes widen first in alarm and then narrow with anger. “Me? How about you, with these fits coming out of nowhere? Are you overly hormonal all of a sudden or something? I’m not the one with the problem here - ”
This has devolved into some sort of yelling spat: as Dick’s voice rises in volume, Wally ups his own ante too. “Sorry, but it was kind of a big deal for me - ”
“What are you even talking about?” Dick shoots back angrily.
Out the corner of his eye Wally sees M’gann floating around the corner and peeking worriedly into the living room with Superboy. That means any second here Kaldur or maybe even Artemis will come break this up, and that’s a problem because yelling at Dick? Right now it feels good even if he’s not making any sense, like at least he’s not just bouncing these thoughts around in his head and driving himself insane.
“How do you not even understand - ” Wally shouts, but then Bruce is sweeping down the hall, passing M’gann and Superboy without a second glance, with Uncle Barry at his side, both looking grave, and that shuts him up. Kaldur arrives right behind them, Artemis too, but they both stand to the side and watch the situation, carefully uninvolved.
“Dick,” Bruce says. “We need to have a talk.”
“The four of us,” Barry clarifies, pinning a specific look on Wally that makes him squirm. “In private.”
-
“Barry has informed me that the two of you have had sex.” Bruce states bluntly. While Wally feels his face turn hot with embarrassment and shame, Dick stares back at his guardian unfazed, stubborn and challenging, even.
“Well, yeah. We’ve been going out for a while, you see.”
Bruce takes no heed of the playful lilt of Dick’s barb, only looks at the two of them with something very close to clinical examination, as if he’s gauging what he can make of this. He then sighs and shoots Barry what could possibly be interpreted as an apologetic glance. “I would have to say this is partially my fault.”
Barry, on the other hand, looks annoyed. “Would you say it’s the playboy antics or the fact that you live and raise a kid in Gotham?”
The traces of apology are no longer anywhere to be seen in Bruce’s expression; he’s back to business. “Insults and the blame game aside, the fact is there’s a problem here now and it needs to be addressed.”
Dick, Wally has observed over the years, has always had some sort of issue with authority figures, in that he respects them but then doesn’t blink at the prospect of undermining them at the very same time. “Wait a second,” he interjects heatedly. “I really can’t help but notice that you’re talking about us like we’re not even here!”
Bruce shakes his head once, “That’s not it Dick - ” Barry, meanwhile, crosses his arms and jumps right in.
“Kid,” he says, and Wally shrinks a little more into his corner of the couch at the tone in his uncle’s voice. It’s as harsh as it’s uncalled for. “Wally told me exactly how it happened. Don’t think you have a right to be insulted.”
Dick looks confused again. “How it happened?” He looks across the couch at Wally slumped against the couch arm. “How what happened? What did you tell him?”
“That we had sex and now I’m just being a huge wimp about it, okay?” Wally snaps. “Look, okay? Can we all just drop it already?”
Dick’s back is completely straight as he looks intently at Wally, like he’s trying to see into his thoughts and dissect the problem. “I don’t understand, it was just sex - ”
Bruce holds up a hand to stop him. “Exactly. Dick, growing up in Gotham may have caused you to mature quickly for your age. While I don’t condone you running around having sex - ”
“It’s not,” Dick grumbles, “like I’m a slut, having sex with every person I come across. We know each other, it was safe. Safer than the time I had to crossdress as a prostitute for that one mission, your orders, so it’s not like you have any right to - ”
Bruce’s posture shifts so he is towering rather than standing, making his cape billow ominously, and Dick falls silent. “If you are done interrupting me, I’ll finish.”
Dick says nothing. Bruce presses on. “I’m not trying to break up your relationship. I’m trying to save you from doing it yourself.”
Wally sees Dick glance at him worriedly, but Wally doesn’t return the eye contact. He stares at his hands and picks viciously at a hangnail on his left thumb instead.
“You can’t expect everyone to be as hardened and life weary as you,” Bruce sums up. “Not everyone is at the same level as you, Dick. Some kids your age worry the most about getting good grades. And not everyone has had sex by the time they’re thirteen.”
Dick’s expression clearly says he is floundering in confusion. “But,” he says, voice less confident, smaller under the scrutiny of the Dark Knight. “But Wally’s a kid hero too. And he’s fifteen.”
“That was my first time, you know.” Wally suddenly says, quietly, because it summarizes all that’s been bursting at the edges of his thoughts since the first time Dick suggested having sex: how in the world did he get so far behind, how was it that his first time was one of Dick’s numerous others, and how come he wasn’t even entirely sure he wanted to have his first time yet? “And - well. You kind of made it suck.”
Dick whips around to stare at him again, like he’s foreign, like there was never a single time that Wally hesitated before answering ambiguously with ‘maybe next time’ or ‘I don’t know’. “How?” He asks incredulously, “I asked and you said yes. We didn’t do anything creepy or kinky and…and you said it was okay!”
Wally licks his lips and tries to spell it out best he can, something difficult when the right words keep eluding him. “I, yeah, I said okay after you pestered me about it for, like, forever. I got tired of saying no, really.” Dick squints as he thinks back on it, frown deepening, like it’s so far away, so inconsequential. It unnerves him and makes him feel like he’s doing something wrong, like he wasn’t this clear before they had sex so has no right to go back and clarify the subtext. Wally tapers off with a shrug. This really isn’t what he wants to be doing, how he wants to deal with his emotional turmoil, but here they are.
Uncle Barry tries to reassure him with a strong hand clasping onto his shoulder. It’s not helping, so Wally just shrugs again, this time to dislodge his uncle’s hand, and just chews on his lip.
Barry’s initial agitation has transformed into something less sharp and dangerous towards Dick, and his words are weary more than anything else. “You have to listen when someone says no.”
Dick doesn’t acknowledge his words but hears him regardless, turns completely towards Wally, whole body, open and inviting, ready to listen now. “Okay, fine, you were a virgin. But if you didn’t want to have sex, I mean, it wasn’t a big deal. You should have just said - ”
“What,” Wally spits out. “I should have just said no?”
Dick falls into another troubled silence, one that Wally shares because, god, what is he even doing now, it’s not that he blames Dick, that’s not it at all.
Bruce’s next words are gentle but precise. “You can't ignore other people's feelings. If someone says no - if Wally doesn’t want to have sex and says no once - you should respect that and stop asking and pressuring him.”
Dick spins back around to Bruce, mouth agape. “Look, I didn’t rape him!”
“And no one said you did,” Barry says. “But pushing someone into sex isn’t okay either.”
Dick shakes his head a little, at a lost, and his temper flares in his frustration. “Right. I guess I’ll just never look at or touch Wally ever again. Cutting all contact should solve this fine.”
Bruce eyes him carefully. “Dick, this is serious.”
“And I got that!” Dick replies. “Totally, loud and clear and understood to the point of being overstood. I messed up. Sorry.” His outburst subsides as he side glances at Wally and repeats, softer, sadder, very heartfelt, “sorry. Really.”
And that, of all things, is what makes Wally want to cry. He wants to be fine, he wants for this to be as inconsequential to him as it already is for Dick and just let it melt away into nothing. “Okay,” he says thickly, swallowing back the threat of tears. “Yeah, no, ‘s cool.”
-
Currently he is sitting in his room on his bed, staring at his wall of souvenirs. Wally’s really just sorting out his thoughts over what’s just gone down. The more he thinks about it, the more he doesn’t think Dick is to blame. The kid’s thirteen. He’s ridiculously mature and yet thinks sex is just something you do to commemorate a three month anniversary; somewhere in there that’s ironic, that’s potentially hilarious.
(Ha ha, Wally thinks bitingly, so potentially hilarious.)
There are more talks to be had in the future, Wally’s sure, his uncle and Bruce aren’t going to just let them off the hook. There will also probably be plenty of bugged rooms and lots of supervision any time they are less than four feet near each other.
Wally’s not even too sure that will even be necessary, though. He doesn’t know where he and Dick stand right now.
“Hey,” Wally hears from behind him. He turns around to Dick standing there looking more awkward than Wally’s ever seen him.
“Hey,” Wally returns. “You know I’m not mad at you, right?”
Dick stands there and stares for three seconds more, then he’s crawling onto the bed, sitting next to Wally, gently bumping shoulders with him as he draws his legs up to his chest. “Really? Because I’m mad at you.”
That throws Wally for a second, but as he opens his mouth to ask ‘what the hell’ Dick bumps their knees together as well. “I didn’t know you, I don’t know, really meant no. Like, tell me to shut up and that you’re a virgin and that I’m being a selfish, pompous little ass. Seriously.”
“Okay,” Wally says. “Well right now you’re definitely being selfish. Is that a good start?”
Dick blinks in surprise, then deflates and nods sullenly, wilting into a heavy lean against Wally. “Right. This isn't about me. I’m protégé to the World’s Greatest Detective. I should be able to pick up on the basics of ‘no means no’, especially when you’re full out saying it.”
Wally laughs to lighten the mood, all while pulling away from Dick to stand up. He wants away from the familiar closeness, the heat of Dick’s body still too…something. He’s not yet sure how he feels about them touching. Like it’s risky, he decides, like it overloads his senses and he just wants some space. “You just didn’t realize. Or maybe I could have been clearer. I don’t know, let’s not talk about it.”
Dick shifts to kneel on the mattress, hands fists on top of the sheets. “No, I want to fix this - to make sure we’re okay. You’re okay.” He pauses and his demeanor changes from indignant to worried. “Are you okay?”
This question is one that Wally has already asked himself. And he really is, just, a work-in-progress right now.
“We’re fine,” he reassures Dick. And if he just starts by thinking it, Wally can work himself back up to fine.
Word Count: 3,419
Summary: This prompt. Robin rushes Kid Flash into sex and there are, of course, consequences.
A/N: There are probably some trigger warnings to be heeded here, with the focus and mentions of pressured/forced sex. This piece gave me a lot of trouble, but in the end I finished it.
-
Wally half expects Dick to light up a cigarette afterwards. Like, seriously, that’s how unreal the whole thing is to him.
Instead Dick is walking across his room completely naked to browse his bookshelf. Wally doesn’t have to keep looking to know that he’s looking for that chemistry book Wally came over in the first place to get.
“I know it’s here somewhere,” Dick’s muttering and there’s just something completely uncouth about the whole experience that’s got Wally shivering. Or maybe he’s vibrating with anxiety.
“Dude,” he says, then doesn’t know where to go from there. So he slides out of bed too, starts putting his clothes back on. “Dude, you’re thirteen.”
Dick pauses in going over the book titles to shoot Wally the most withering eyebrow quirk he’s ever seen. “Uh, yeah?”
There’s really no point in going over age issues and how much of a minor he is. Dick doesn’t care, he made that much clear before he pulled a condom and lube out of the bottom of his pajama drawer.
“Right,” Wally says, already on tying up his shoelaces. “So, that was your first time?” He leaves off the instinctual ‘too’ because, in all honesty, he’s doubting that so much there’s little point in even asking. And as unfortunate as that alone may be, Wally doesn’t want to drag himself in the crossfire of ungodly revelations. The weight of Dick’s hand still lingers on the flat of his chest, too practiced, just like how he ripped open the condom with his teeth and fitted it onto Wally with just three fingers. “I mean, going all the way?”
Dick laughs, not unkindly, and he settles on his haunches as he starts searching the lower shelves. “What, because I’m the youngest? It’s not like the world’s any more conservative and sheltered than when you were thirteen.”
Even though Dick is smiling at him, something explosive is building up in Wally. He’s got half a mind to fling Dick away and into a wall just to show him he can, that he has power too. But the logic in him stops such an action, the thought that it’s not the same - it’s not the same persuasive power, juggernauts of reason and sharp grips and bony fingers and pursed lips.
“I - I gotta go, Dick. Dinner and stuff, you know.” He stutters to get away instead.
-
Dick corners him as Robin, voice low. “Are you avoiding me?”
Wally shifts from one foot to another, trying to calm his heartbeat. The heat of Dick so close has never made him antsy before, and it bothers him that something like sex should change that. They’re guys, it’s a trivial thing for them, right?
“No,” he replies solidly, half a grin in place. “Just busy, Boy Wonder.”
There’s a flash of something across Dick’s face, something not even the mask can hide, and then he’s jabbing a finger into Wally’s chest and it burns. “Don’t tell me you were just in it to - to get your cock wet - I - what, wasn’t good enough?”
The scorn is abundant and scathing enough to rip any lesser meta apart. Wally likes to think he’s worth more than that. ‘Fuck you’ he kind of wants to say, but that’s just a downward spiral of wordplay and hurtful puns waiting to happen. “No,” he shoots back, hissed, immediately. “What in the world is wrong with you, if that’s the first thing you think up?” This desperate anger Dick’s emanating in waves is juvenile and clumsy, so unlike him and it’s such a childlike reaction that Wally’s stomach is churning with disgust at himself. At them. They’re such children, both of them.
Dick’s still glaring as he draws into his cape draped around him like a shadow and makes an indiscernible noise in his throat. “Well sorry, I just don’t understand what your problem is.”
Wally scoffs in the most condescending way he knows how to drive Dick off, not because he’s mad at Dick or trying to save the younger boy from corruption by pushing him away or anything noble like that. Wally’s just not too sure what his problem is either, and it’s a little funny, if he tilts his perception just right.
Dick shakes his head and stalks off back to his post and Wally watches him go, remembers that retreating figure naked and strutting to the bookshelf across the room. His insides flash cold before he shakes it off and gets back to work as well.
-
Uncle Barry stuffs rolled up tissue up his nose as Wally sits cross-legged on the desk in the office. Just a typical day, another attempt at running through solids gone wrong.
“Hey,” Barry breaks the silence amiably, “so I’ve been noticing that you’re moping? That makes focusing on vibrating through walls harder, just saying.”
Wally bristles a little. “I’m not moping! I’m totally focused!”
His uncle pins him with this horribly adult and knowing glance that renders him unable to deny the undeniable. “Right. So really, what’s wrong?” He asks, “girls? Guys? Homework? Young Justice? Your Aunt Iris inviting you over for dinner when we both know she seriously can’t cook - not that you should tell her I said that, because I’m joking, right? Right.”
Wally only weakly laughs at his uncle’s joking manner, more preoccupied with how he really doesn’t want to admit that he’s been dating a thirteen year old and, more importantly, that they’ve had sex. He really doesn’t want to tell anyone ever that they had sex, because it’s not just that Dick’s young - it’s, like, he’s young too. He, seriously, didn’t think this would happen till maybe junior prom next year, closer to seventeen, maybe.
“Wally?” Barry’s tone shifts a little and it’s more strict and grown up. Wally’s waited too long to say anything, is acting too off, and now his choices of keeping silent or making something up are going out the window.
“It’s guys,” he admits. “Robin. Sex.”
“Oh, well that’s easy. Isn’t he practically twelve? And Batman’s kid? Leave him alone.” His tone sneaks into something more warning and just the slight bit patronizing. As if Wally runs around molesting people or something.
This time Wally bristles a lot, and his resentment inspires sarcasm. “Oh excuse me, it’s not me who needs to be told to leave someone alone - but I’ll make sure to keep that in mind next time I get pushed down somewhere and told to shut up and relax!”
As soon as that’s out his mouth Wally knows he’s messed up. That sounds worse, way worse, than what happened. And Uncle Barry’s eyes have a weird shine to them as his hands fall to his sides.
“Why don’t you,” he says incredibly quietly as he gives Wally a once over that is somehow both disapproving and worried, “start at the very beginning.”
-
“So,” Dick says so casually that Wally knows something is up. “Apparently my father had a long conversation with yours.”
“The Flash is my uncle and mentor, not my father,” Wally corrects snappily, though there’s dread sinking his heart impossible leagues deep in his rib cage. “And don’t you dare say that he ‘might as well be’ again.”
Dick holds up his hands defensively as he offers a wary smile. “Yeah, I - I know that, Wally. I was, it was sort meant to be joking?” Wally shows no signs of amusement even though he probably should, if he wants to get past this with any semblance of grace.
Dick sighs at his lack of reaction. “Look, what’s up? Because Bruce was giving me the third degree on our relationship after they talked.”
Wally is suddenly aware that he is trying his hardest not to look guilty, which bothers him. He’s not guilty of anything, they had consensual sex. And yes, there’s been some tension since then, but all relationships get out of the honeymoon period at some point. All he’s guilty of is venting a little to maybe the wrong person and now Uncle Barry has taken it all out of context and out of hand. This can be fixed with a few careful words, easy. “Uh, so what’d you say to Bats?”
Dick snorts, “That we were completely fine until recently, but it’s nothing too serious to work out, what else?”
And it’s that kind of flippancy that’s half of why Wally’s freaking out. What the heck, that was his virginity, who is Dick to just wheedle and push and tease him into giving it up and then dismiss that kind of sacrifice? “What is wrong with you?” Wally asks, horrified. “I can’t even believe this.”
Dick’s eyes widen first in alarm and then narrow with anger. “Me? How about you, with these fits coming out of nowhere? Are you overly hormonal all of a sudden or something? I’m not the one with the problem here - ”
This has devolved into some sort of yelling spat: as Dick’s voice rises in volume, Wally ups his own ante too. “Sorry, but it was kind of a big deal for me - ”
“What are you even talking about?” Dick shoots back angrily.
Out the corner of his eye Wally sees M’gann floating around the corner and peeking worriedly into the living room with Superboy. That means any second here Kaldur or maybe even Artemis will come break this up, and that’s a problem because yelling at Dick? Right now it feels good even if he’s not making any sense, like at least he’s not just bouncing these thoughts around in his head and driving himself insane.
“How do you not even understand - ” Wally shouts, but then Bruce is sweeping down the hall, passing M’gann and Superboy without a second glance, with Uncle Barry at his side, both looking grave, and that shuts him up. Kaldur arrives right behind them, Artemis too, but they both stand to the side and watch the situation, carefully uninvolved.
“Dick,” Bruce says. “We need to have a talk.”
“The four of us,” Barry clarifies, pinning a specific look on Wally that makes him squirm. “In private.”
-
“Barry has informed me that the two of you have had sex.” Bruce states bluntly. While Wally feels his face turn hot with embarrassment and shame, Dick stares back at his guardian unfazed, stubborn and challenging, even.
“Well, yeah. We’ve been going out for a while, you see.”
Bruce takes no heed of the playful lilt of Dick’s barb, only looks at the two of them with something very close to clinical examination, as if he’s gauging what he can make of this. He then sighs and shoots Barry what could possibly be interpreted as an apologetic glance. “I would have to say this is partially my fault.”
Barry, on the other hand, looks annoyed. “Would you say it’s the playboy antics or the fact that you live and raise a kid in Gotham?”
The traces of apology are no longer anywhere to be seen in Bruce’s expression; he’s back to business. “Insults and the blame game aside, the fact is there’s a problem here now and it needs to be addressed.”
Dick, Wally has observed over the years, has always had some sort of issue with authority figures, in that he respects them but then doesn’t blink at the prospect of undermining them at the very same time. “Wait a second,” he interjects heatedly. “I really can’t help but notice that you’re talking about us like we’re not even here!”
Bruce shakes his head once, “That’s not it Dick - ” Barry, meanwhile, crosses his arms and jumps right in.
“Kid,” he says, and Wally shrinks a little more into his corner of the couch at the tone in his uncle’s voice. It’s as harsh as it’s uncalled for. “Wally told me exactly how it happened. Don’t think you have a right to be insulted.”
Dick looks confused again. “How it happened?” He looks across the couch at Wally slumped against the couch arm. “How what happened? What did you tell him?”
“That we had sex and now I’m just being a huge wimp about it, okay?” Wally snaps. “Look, okay? Can we all just drop it already?”
Dick’s back is completely straight as he looks intently at Wally, like he’s trying to see into his thoughts and dissect the problem. “I don’t understand, it was just sex - ”
Bruce holds up a hand to stop him. “Exactly. Dick, growing up in Gotham may have caused you to mature quickly for your age. While I don’t condone you running around having sex - ”
“It’s not,” Dick grumbles, “like I’m a slut, having sex with every person I come across. We know each other, it was safe. Safer than the time I had to crossdress as a prostitute for that one mission, your orders, so it’s not like you have any right to - ”
Bruce’s posture shifts so he is towering rather than standing, making his cape billow ominously, and Dick falls silent. “If you are done interrupting me, I’ll finish.”
Dick says nothing. Bruce presses on. “I’m not trying to break up your relationship. I’m trying to save you from doing it yourself.”
Wally sees Dick glance at him worriedly, but Wally doesn’t return the eye contact. He stares at his hands and picks viciously at a hangnail on his left thumb instead.
“You can’t expect everyone to be as hardened and life weary as you,” Bruce sums up. “Not everyone is at the same level as you, Dick. Some kids your age worry the most about getting good grades. And not everyone has had sex by the time they’re thirteen.”
Dick’s expression clearly says he is floundering in confusion. “But,” he says, voice less confident, smaller under the scrutiny of the Dark Knight. “But Wally’s a kid hero too. And he’s fifteen.”
“That was my first time, you know.” Wally suddenly says, quietly, because it summarizes all that’s been bursting at the edges of his thoughts since the first time Dick suggested having sex: how in the world did he get so far behind, how was it that his first time was one of Dick’s numerous others, and how come he wasn’t even entirely sure he wanted to have his first time yet? “And - well. You kind of made it suck.”
Dick whips around to stare at him again, like he’s foreign, like there was never a single time that Wally hesitated before answering ambiguously with ‘maybe next time’ or ‘I don’t know’. “How?” He asks incredulously, “I asked and you said yes. We didn’t do anything creepy or kinky and…and you said it was okay!”
Wally licks his lips and tries to spell it out best he can, something difficult when the right words keep eluding him. “I, yeah, I said okay after you pestered me about it for, like, forever. I got tired of saying no, really.” Dick squints as he thinks back on it, frown deepening, like it’s so far away, so inconsequential. It unnerves him and makes him feel like he’s doing something wrong, like he wasn’t this clear before they had sex so has no right to go back and clarify the subtext. Wally tapers off with a shrug. This really isn’t what he wants to be doing, how he wants to deal with his emotional turmoil, but here they are.
Uncle Barry tries to reassure him with a strong hand clasping onto his shoulder. It’s not helping, so Wally just shrugs again, this time to dislodge his uncle’s hand, and just chews on his lip.
Barry’s initial agitation has transformed into something less sharp and dangerous towards Dick, and his words are weary more than anything else. “You have to listen when someone says no.”
Dick doesn’t acknowledge his words but hears him regardless, turns completely towards Wally, whole body, open and inviting, ready to listen now. “Okay, fine, you were a virgin. But if you didn’t want to have sex, I mean, it wasn’t a big deal. You should have just said - ”
“What,” Wally spits out. “I should have just said no?”
Dick falls into another troubled silence, one that Wally shares because, god, what is he even doing now, it’s not that he blames Dick, that’s not it at all.
Bruce’s next words are gentle but precise. “You can't ignore other people's feelings. If someone says no - if Wally doesn’t want to have sex and says no once - you should respect that and stop asking and pressuring him.”
Dick spins back around to Bruce, mouth agape. “Look, I didn’t rape him!”
“And no one said you did,” Barry says. “But pushing someone into sex isn’t okay either.”
Dick shakes his head a little, at a lost, and his temper flares in his frustration. “Right. I guess I’ll just never look at or touch Wally ever again. Cutting all contact should solve this fine.”
Bruce eyes him carefully. “Dick, this is serious.”
“And I got that!” Dick replies. “Totally, loud and clear and understood to the point of being overstood. I messed up. Sorry.” His outburst subsides as he side glances at Wally and repeats, softer, sadder, very heartfelt, “sorry. Really.”
And that, of all things, is what makes Wally want to cry. He wants to be fine, he wants for this to be as inconsequential to him as it already is for Dick and just let it melt away into nothing. “Okay,” he says thickly, swallowing back the threat of tears. “Yeah, no, ‘s cool.”
-
Currently he is sitting in his room on his bed, staring at his wall of souvenirs. Wally’s really just sorting out his thoughts over what’s just gone down. The more he thinks about it, the more he doesn’t think Dick is to blame. The kid’s thirteen. He’s ridiculously mature and yet thinks sex is just something you do to commemorate a three month anniversary; somewhere in there that’s ironic, that’s potentially hilarious.
(Ha ha, Wally thinks bitingly, so potentially hilarious.)
There are more talks to be had in the future, Wally’s sure, his uncle and Bruce aren’t going to just let them off the hook. There will also probably be plenty of bugged rooms and lots of supervision any time they are less than four feet near each other.
Wally’s not even too sure that will even be necessary, though. He doesn’t know where he and Dick stand right now.
“Hey,” Wally hears from behind him. He turns around to Dick standing there looking more awkward than Wally’s ever seen him.
“Hey,” Wally returns. “You know I’m not mad at you, right?”
Dick stands there and stares for three seconds more, then he’s crawling onto the bed, sitting next to Wally, gently bumping shoulders with him as he draws his legs up to his chest. “Really? Because I’m mad at you.”
That throws Wally for a second, but as he opens his mouth to ask ‘what the hell’ Dick bumps their knees together as well. “I didn’t know you, I don’t know, really meant no. Like, tell me to shut up and that you’re a virgin and that I’m being a selfish, pompous little ass. Seriously.”
“Okay,” Wally says. “Well right now you’re definitely being selfish. Is that a good start?”
Dick blinks in surprise, then deflates and nods sullenly, wilting into a heavy lean against Wally. “Right. This isn't about me. I’m protégé to the World’s Greatest Detective. I should be able to pick up on the basics of ‘no means no’, especially when you’re full out saying it.”
Wally laughs to lighten the mood, all while pulling away from Dick to stand up. He wants away from the familiar closeness, the heat of Dick’s body still too…something. He’s not yet sure how he feels about them touching. Like it’s risky, he decides, like it overloads his senses and he just wants some space. “You just didn’t realize. Or maybe I could have been clearer. I don’t know, let’s not talk about it.”
Dick shifts to kneel on the mattress, hands fists on top of the sheets. “No, I want to fix this - to make sure we’re okay. You’re okay.” He pauses and his demeanor changes from indignant to worried. “Are you okay?”
This question is one that Wally has already asked himself. And he really is, just, a work-in-progress right now.
“We’re fine,” he reassures Dick. And if he just starts by thinking it, Wally can work himself back up to fine.