Fic: Silent Sincerity; Tim Drake/Jaime Reyes; NC-17
Title: Silent Sincerity
Series: Story Three in After the Dust Settles
Author: Aravis Tarkheena
Pairing: Tim Drake/Jaime Reyes
Warnings: Sex, angst, AU
Rating: NC-17
Disclaimer: Not mine, everyone is legal
Word Count: ~5,000
Author's Notes: Another long one. D: Ok here we go: Written for Porn Fest prompt:Blue Beetle, Jaime Reyes/Tim Drake, "What are you waiting for?". Also written for my dcu_freeforall table #7 sincere.
Takes place in the Dust Universe. About six weeks after After the Game. This story will not make any sense if you haven't read the rest of the series.
Index Post
Silent Sincerity
The message was on Jaime’s voice mail when he woke up that morning. It was all he could do not to throw his cell phone against the bedroom wall when he heard it. He had to stop half way through the recording, so he could take a deep breath, and manfully resist the urge.
Jaime counted to ten, and played the message again.
“Hey this is Tim, I’m calling for Legolas and Gimli. I just wanted you guys to know that I’ve located Gandulf, and he’s safe and sound. I’ll be back at the Shire tomorrow sometime around four in the afternoon. Talk you then.” Tim’s voice was cheerful, and there was an edge of teasing laughter to it that made Jaime’s vision go red. He went a little dizzy around the eyes, and had to brace himself against his bedpost.
He glanced over at the small aquarium that rested on a table in the corner of his bedroom. Legolas and Gimli had their accommodations seriously downgraded when they moved in with Jaime. Their large hamster mansion was sitting empty in Tim’s vacant apartment in Gotham City. Jaime hadn’t been able to justify taking up a large chuck of his room for a giant hamster cage. He liked to think they didn’t care, but he was pretty sure they both glared at him sometimes when his back was turned.
Jaime walked over to the aquarium, and tapped on the glass. Some of the shavings rustled around as Legolas clambered out of them, and waddled over to where Jaime had his face a few inches from the glass. They regarded each other silently for a few long moments, before Jaime sighed and reached for the hamster feed.
“Your dad’s an asshole,” he said to Leg conversationally as he lifted the lid of the tank, and peered inside.
Legolas’ whiskers whirred around in what Jaime took to be agreement. His little black eyes gazed up into Jaime’s with innocent expectancy. Jaime sighed, and dropped a handful of the small brown pellets into the bowl. Legolas twitched his ears at Jaime in thanks, and made his way over to the food bowl with a newly awakened Gimli in his wake.
Gimli didn’t like Jaime. At best he ignored Jaime, at worst he bit him. Whenever Jaime had to clean their cage, Milagro had to grab Gimli, because he tried to maul Jaime at every available opportunity. Legolas was more even tempered, but even he was looking a little droopy and put out lately.
Jaime had told Tim that the hamsters wouldn’t be happy with him, but Tim hadn’t listened. Sometimes it felt like Tim never listened to him.
“It’ll just be for a week or so,” Tim had said to him, nodding to a pile of food and hamster gear stacked up in the corner by the door, “until I get back.”
“But I’m too young to be a single mother of two hamsters,” Jaime protested, trying to come up with a more legitimate excuse to keep Tim from leaving.
Tim had given him a small, tired smile. “You’re a wonderful hamster mother. I have nothing but confidence in your ability to thrive in the face of adversity,” Tim assured him. “My brother and I are sure this lead is good. I should be back in no time.”
Jaime had pursed his lips. Tim had been quiet and distant for a number of weeks, before Jaime confronted him about it. He had thought the sudden change in Tim’s attitude toward him had something to do with the sex. His guess had been completely wrong, as it turned out.
Tim had confided in him that both he and Batman, Tim’s brother, thought that the other Batman, the first Batman, was still alive. They had both been working on trying to find him. It was why Tim had been so busy and distant over the past several weeks. He didn’t want to say anything to Jaime until he had a concrete lead. Apparently he hadn’t wanted to worry Jaime.
Jaime had been worried, though, if not for the correct reasons. He was even more worried then, when Tim proposed to go off and search for his missing, and not at all dead, mentor/adoptive father/whatever.
“I’m not crazy about you going off alone. I think I should go with you,” Jaime had insisted, trying hard to look determined and reliable.
“And leave our children all alone?” Tim asked, pretending to be horrified at the idea.
“I’m serious, Tim,” Jaime said, crossing his arms over his chest.
“I know you are,” Tim said with a sigh. “I half wish you were coming too, but we have no idea what it is we’re up against here. I have no idea how your scarab will react, or even if it will, in these new environments. I just can’t risk taking you Jaime.”
Jaime felt himself go hot all over. He could feel the flush on his face and his neck. He hated being helpless. His feelings for Tim were so mixed sometimes. He knew Tim could take care of himself. He knew how well trained Tim was, he had seen Tim in action more times than he could count but he still couldn’t seem to move past the base instinct that urged him to take care of Tim.
Jaime was well aware that he was worse than useless without the scarab but he hated having it pointed out. Especially by one of the people he would give anything to protect.
Tim had been training him to fight without the scarab’s help, but every swollen knuckle and bruised limb made it glaringly obvious that he was a beginner. Tim’s bratty little brother could wipe the floor with Jaime. Not that Tim ever let him.
“Besides,” Tim’s voice cut into Jaime’s pity party. “I have no idea how long, exactly, I’ll be gone and you still have a few more weeks of school left.”
Tim had quietly graduated in the top percentile of his class. He didn’t start at University for several more months, and was currently at odds.
Jaime, on the other hand, had three more weeks of school left, and his mother had signed him up for SAT prep courses over the summer. They had cost a pile of money, and she would kill him if he skipped out to go off with his boyfriend looking for a dead guy. Tim would be off dimension hopping to find him next.
Jaime had grimaced, and Tim gave him a sympathetic look.
“I know you’re worried but I’ll be fine. I’ll get back as soon as I can,” Tim assured him, and pulled Jaime into a hug. Jaime hugged him back, and Tim had pressed a soft kiss to Jaime’s temple. “Besides, you’ll have Leg and Gim to keep you company. I promise they’re very entertaining.”
That conversation had happened nearly a month ago. Jaime had finished school, started his prep class, and Legolas and Gimli had gone through almost all the food Tim had left for them. Jaime had gotten no word on Tim from anyone, aside from a few curt emails from Oracle telling him there was no news.
Now, out of the blue, almost three weeks late, Tim calls Jaime’s cell phone. Without any hint of where he had been, or even if he was alright. To top it all off, he had left a message for his damn hamsters and not Jaime.
Jaime glared across the room at the fuzzy little creatures in question. Gimli glared back at him, his cheek pouches stuffed full of pellets. Legolas just ignored him.
Jaime briefly entertained the idea of releasing them into the wild to fend for themselves. Then he rejected it. It wasn’t their fault their dad was an asshole and their hamster mother sucked.
“Just because Mama and Papa are fighting, doesn’t mean we don’t love you,” he reassured the hamsters.
The only response from the aquarium was the rustling of pine shavings as they buried themselves back into their little nest.
Jaime sighed, and started digging around the mess in his room for a clean pair of jeans. It was going to be one of those days. He knew it.
Jaime spent most of the day completely distracted. It felt like his heart was beating too fast in his chest, and he couldn’t focus on a single thing. It wasn’t that his mind wandered, it was more that his mind was just blank with anticipation. Thinking was a struggling, and applying himself was impossible.
He had gone over to his father’s garage that morning, intent on helping him. His dad had sent him home a half an hour after he got there, complaining that Jaime would destroy the place if he stayed a minute longer.
So Jaime had left. He spent the rest of the day starting, and abandoning projects. His underwear was still sitting, soaking wet, in the machine. His notebooks and study guides were open and scattered across his bed. There was a half-eaten sandwich sitting on the counter sitting on the kitchen counter, all that was left of an abandoned attempt at lunch, when Jaime left for Gotham.
He and the hamsters reached Tim’s apartment shortly before four in the afternoon. Jaime landed discreetly in an alley a few blocks from Tim’s building. He unsuited and walked the few blocks to Tim’s place with the hamsters in hand.
Mrs. Saint Claire’s door was firmly shut when Jaime walked past it, and he couldn’t help but be grateful. She was nice old woman, but Jaime so wasn’t in the mood to talk to old ladies. Swear words were far too close to the surface right now to risk it. The last thing he needed was for her to hit him with her purse on top of all his other problems.
Jaime juggled the hamsters’ tank as he keyed open the look to Tim’s apartment. He three of them stumbled inside just as Tim stepped out of the bathroom, toweling his hair dry.
Tim stopped mid-stride, completely naked, dripping wet and looking unfairly hot.
Jaime was suddenly very aware of his ratty jeans, oil stained t-shirt, and the fact that he hadn’t combed his hair that morning. He was also very aware of the fact that he should be mad at Tim, but suddenly he really wasn’t.
Jaime wasn’t sure if he should blame relief, emotional exhaustion or Tim’s hotness, but the fact that he wasn’t worked up into a rage annoyed him. Now that he didn’t want to shout or curse at Tim anymore, he wasn’t quite sure what to say.
He was pretty sure it all had much more to do with his hormones than Jaime would have liked.
Legolas and Gimli didn’t seem to be experiencing any of Jaime’s difficulties. They were running madly around their cage, squeaking so loudly and excitedly that they distracted Tim.
Tim smiled at the tank in Jaime’s hands, and walked across the room, still naked, to the three of them. He scooped Legolas and Gimli out of the tank, and kissed them both. He held them close to his bare chest, and whispered all the sweet reassurances to them that Jaime had been wanting to hear for the past three weeks.
Jaime gritted his teeth.
“Did Mommy take good care of you while I was gone?” Tim asked them, looking up into Jaime’s face, his eyes glinting with mischief as he spoke.
Jaime set the tank down on Tim’s counter top. He put his hands on his hips, and lifted an eyebrow at Tim.
“Mommy is seriously considering divorce,” Jaime informed Tim in a sharp voice.
Tim’s smile widened and he deposited Legolas and Gimli, still squirming with delight, into their hamster house. Legolas immediately ran for his wheel, Gimli for the food bowl, and Tim moved towards Jaime.
Tim titled his head to the side as he took Jaime in, still smiling.
It struck Jaime then, with a jolt, that he hadn’t ever seen Tim smile like that before. Not in real life, and never when Tim’s eyes weren’t covered with a mask.
Tim had always been so serious, ever since Jaime had known him. He had tried hard not to let it show, but Jaime had seen that sadness and grief up close. There was so much violence and pain behind it, that Jaime didn’t think he would ever forget it. Jaime had tasted those tears, and held those shaking shoulders. He was very aware of all the things that Tim would never let him see.
Tim’s smiles always seemed to be tinged with sadness, like he knew the happiness he felt in that moment would fade, and he would go back to that endless grief he couldn’t ever seem to escape.
Jaime knew Tim hadn’t always been that way. He had seen pictures, heard stories from the other Titans, and even watched video footage of Tim when he was younger. So much about Tim had been different then. His smiles had been wider, his laughter had been more free and he had teased. He teased Superboy and Kid Flash and Wonder Girl.
Just like he was teasing Jaime now.
Tim’s eyes were gentle, and full of affection. His mouth looked soft, and his skin looked flushed and pink. His arms were stiff, as if he was holding himself firmly back from something.
“How pissed are you exactly?” Tim asked him evenly.
“I can’t tell,” Jaime admitted.
“You can’t tell?” Tim asked, and the faint tinge of laughter was back in his voice.
“You’re here. You’re naked. You’re smiling and you’re teasing me. You’ve got me completely wrong footed, to be honest. All I can think about is kissing you,” Jaime explained, trying hard to look at anything but Tim’s gently curved mouth.
Jaime was getting hard. He could feel the want pooling low in his belly, and his dick get heavy with arousal.
“Then what are you waiting for?” Tim asked, the gentle curve turning into a sharp, knowing smirk.
Jaime was across the room, and pulling Tim into his arms before his brain quiet registered what he was doing. Tim’s skin was warm and damp, and his mouth was slick and smiling under his. Tim’s long arms wrapped around him, and pulled Jaime flush against his bare body.
Jaime suddenly wished very badly that he was naked too. He could feel Tim’s body so perfectly against his own, all hard muscle and strong limbs. Jaime felt his erection twitch in his jeans.
Tim’s mouth was trailing across Jaime’s jaw, nipping gently at the scruff Jaime hadn’t bothered to shave off that morning. Jaime lifted a hand and tangled it in Tim’s hair. It had gotten longer while he was gone, much longer. It hung down nearly to his neck, and fell over his eyes.
“Damn I missed you,” Jaime whispered into Tim’s hair. “Why did you have to leave?”
“Losing two parents is tragic, losing three would be irresponsible,” Tim joked, and paused to feel Jaime’s hand dipped to grasp his butt.
“Leaving your boyfriend wondering what happened to you for three weeks is irresponsible,” Jaime pointed out.
“Ah, I know,” Tim gasped when Jaime used his grip to pull Tim’s hips flush to his own. “There was no way to reach you where I was. I would have if it were even remotely possible, I promise.”
Jaime stopped for a moment and looked into Tim’s face. “You found him, though?” Jaime asked, realizing he hadn’t yet. He just assumed from Tim’s demeanor that everything had turned out alright.
“I did. He’s with my brothers at the house,” Tim told him.
“Shouldn’t you be there with them?” Jaime furrowed his brows and asked. Even as he did his arms tightened unconsciously around Tim.
Tim smiled at him again, but it was the sad smile again.
“I can’t be there right now. Not with any of them. All I want is to be with you, Jaime,” Tim told him, and kissed Jaime softly on the mouth. “You’re the only thing that makes sense, right now,” he whispered against Jaime’s mouth. “I don’t think I’ll ever be able to explain to you how much that means to me.”
Jaime wasn’t sure he wanted Tim to try. He could feel the emotion coming off of Tim in waves. Relief, fear and worry warred with desire and affection and love, each one of them buffeting Jaime as Tim spoke. Jaime felt breathless, and his heart was pounding with something that had nothing to do with the kissing they had been doing.
Tim wasn’t the kind of guy who said ‘I love you’. Jaime had known that going into this. However, Jaime was pretty sure that this was the closest Tim would ever get to saying it.
“You don’t have to explain, Tim. I-I--,” but Jaime couldn’t speak anymore. His mouth was dry and his throat was tight and all he could see were the sad blue depths of Tim’s eyes. He spoke unconsciously, after that. “I do understand. I’m the mother of your hamsters after all.”
Tim laughed then. It wasn’t the quiet laugh that Jaime was accustomed to. It was loud, and it was free, and Jaime could feel it all along Tim’s body.
Jaime grinned at Tim, and backed them towards Tim’s bed. Jaime hit the mattress with Tim still laughing and squirming under him. Their kisses got wet and messy because neither of them could seem to stop smiling. Jaime basked in Tim’s laugher and kisses.
Tim’s hands were running up and down Jaime’s back, caressing and petting and scratching along his ribs. Jaime gasped into the kiss they were sharing, and Tim’s eyes took on that mischievous glint again. He tugged off Jaime’s shirt, and twisted under him until he could press hot wet kisses to Jaime’s chest.
Jaime forgot all about laughing when Tim’s mouth pressed down over his nipple. He swore softly in Spanish, and felt his hands clench in the rumpled coverlet. He could still feel Tim’s smile against his chest when Tim’s teeth closed over his nipple, and bit down gently. A hot, electric jolt shot straight through Jaime’s entire body, and made his erection twitch.
He lifted a hand to tangle in the long hair at the base of Tim’s neck. Tim’s mouth moved all over his chest, nipping, licking and kissing, until all Jaime could do was cry out and shake.
He pulled Tim off of him, feeling dizzy with want, and Tim was still smiling when Jaime blinked his eyes open. The smile had taken on a sort of predatory gleam, however and Jaime had to shiver again.
“You’re going to make me come,” he told Tim breathlessly, as he pulled Tim back up onto the bed. Jamie was braced on the bed with his arms, his legs still resting on the floor. Tim sat on the bed, bracketed between Jaime’s arms.
“Mmm, that was the idea,” Tim said lightly, trailing his fingers along Jaime’s jaw.
“Don’t get me wrong, I fully support this idea. You always have the best ones, by the way,” Jaime felt it necessary to add. “It’s just that I’d like to get out of my pants first.”
“Mmmm, that is also an excellent idea,” Tim remarked contemplatively. “Then you can come on me. I like it when you come on me.”
Jaime liked it too. He liked it a lot. He might go so far as to say it was one of his favorite things.
Tim reached for the fly of Jaime’s jeans. They wrestled Jaime out of his pants, and back onto the bed next to Tim. Jaime took the shift in position to press his attack. He grabbed Tim by the wrists, and rolled over on top of him. Tim smiled and let him.
Jaime looked at Tim’s smiling face, and felt himself go numb all over. He was paralyzed; hardly even daring to breathe as he looked down at Tim sprawled out on the bed under him.
Arousal had flushed Tim’s skin a deep pink. It made the scars stand out a sickly white against the high color. They roped his body like restraints, binding him to the life that he had chosen. Bright purple and sickly green bruises were scattered around his chest and limbs, the tender skin around them thick with blood. They all glinted with the water from Tim’s shower, and the sweat the broke out across Tim’s body, seeming to empathize and highlight all of Tim’s vulnerabilities.
Much of the time, mostly when they were in uniform, Tim seemed larger than life to Jaime. There was no gang he couldn’t dismantle, or villain he couldn’t out think. There was nothing in the world he hadn’t done, or didn’t know how to handle. On the streets, he was the Robin that had intimidated Jaime, made him feel inadequate and stupid. He was the person that drove Jaime to be much better than he was.
Here though, in his bed, panting for Jaime, his eyes alight with passion, he was a completely different. Here he was a person who breathed, who bleed, who laughed and cried, and kissed Jaime so sweetly he thought he might break open from the inside out. He was the person Jaime called out for in his sleep. He was the person Jaime wanted to be a man for, and that meant something. It meant a lot.
Here he was Timothy Jackson Drake.
Here he belonged to Jaime.
Tim’s chest rose and fell as he breathed, and his mouth was slightly parted in a smile. His eyes were lazy and there was still that hint of mischief that always seemed to be just below the surface when they made love, as if Tim could never take something completely seriously while both of them were naked.
Jaime liked that.
He liked it when all the traces of sadness that hung over Tim like a fog vanished, and all that was left was Tim. Tim, unaltered and undiluted, not fettered by pain and responsibility and obligation.
Just Tim.
Jaime’s Tim.
Jaime kissed him again then, softly, gently. Tim’s smile melted under his mouth, and he kissed Jaime back with what felt like every ounce of his being. Tim’s hands were light and tender on Jaime’s body, as he caressed every inch of Jaime’s skin he could reach.
Small nipping kisses played out across Jaime’s neck and jaw. Jaime sighed happily as Tim wrapped himself around Jaime. Tim’s arms and legs felt cool against Jaime’s back but Tim’s erection was hot and hard as it pressed between their abdomens. Tim groaned when Jaime shifted, bringing their cocks together and rubbing them against each other.
Jaime wrapped his arms around Tim, and rolled them both over, taking Tim with him. He sat up, with Tim on his lap. Tim shifted into a more comfortable position, and immediately attached his mouth to Jaime’s ear lobe. Jaime shivered, and tightened his arms around Tim.
He wanted to say things to Tim. He wanted to tell Tim how good he felt. He wanted to tell Tim that he never wanted this to stop. He wanted to tell Tim that Jaime thought he was beautiful. He wanted to tell Tim that he was pretty sure that he loved him, and he probably would until the day he died. But it all sounded so stupid and girly. So all Jaime did was swear softly in Spanish, and thrust his hips against Tim’s.
Tim moaned against Jaime’s ear when Jaime slid a sweat slick hand down his back, and between his cleft. He rubbed gently at Tim’s hole with the pad of his middle finger, and Tim went rigid in his arms. Tim let out a hot puff of air before he pressed his face into Jaime’s neck.
“I thought you were going to come on me,” Tim said a little breathlessly.
“I’m starting to rethink the location,” Jaime informed him.
Tim groaned, and then pushed away from Jaime. He leaned, back, his legs still wrapped around Jaime’s waist. He was bent back, almost double, by the time he reached the box on his dresser that held the lube. His muscles were taunt and straining, and Jaime could see the sharp jut of his ribs. Tim’s erection was red and dark where it lay back against Tim’s pale belly. Tim moved with ease that spoke volumes about his flexibility, and came back up, lube in hand, looking none the worse for wear.
It made Jaime’s erection pulse as he dripped precome.
“I think that made my quads hurt,” Jaime told him.
Tim smirked, and dropped his strong hand to Jaime’s thigh. He massaged Jaime with fingers and thumbs, and Jaime couldn’t help but groan.
“I’d be happy to give you a massage. After all, you’re so kind enough to help me out when I’m feeling particularly… tight,” Tim said with a certain smug suggestiveness.
“You’re going to kill me,” Jaime groaned, thinking back to the various massages he had given Tim over the past five months.
“Not just yet. I still need you,” Tim assured him. He took Jaime’s right hand, and smeared his fingers with the lube, before he tossed the bottle onto the bed behind them.
He hitched himself back up into Jaime’s lap, and pressed a kiss to the corner of Jaime’s mouth, watching him with intent blue eyes all the while.
Jaime took the hint.
Tim writhed and panted in his lap while Jaime stretched him. Tim’s fingers were tangled in Jaime’s hair, and they tightened almost painfully as Jaime worked. Each gasping breath ghosted across Jaime’s sensitive ear, and he could feel Tim’s body getting slicker with sweat by the moment.
Every involuntary thrust of Tim’s hips pressed their erections together, making them both moan. Jaime was so hard, so desperate he was dizzy from it all. His moans turned more into whining groans than anything else the more they moved together.
He toppled Tim back onto the bed, pressing him hard down into the mattress. Jaime meant to tell Tim that he couldn’t wait anymore. He meant to reassure Tim, to promise he would go slow and be careful. He meant to tell him so many things but when he opened his mouth to speak, nothing came out because he was kissing Tim again, hard and desperate.
He hooked one of Tim’s legs with his arm. and hiked it up over one of his shoulders. He spread Tim open wide for him. Tim’s hips were resting on Jaime’s thighs. His body was arched so only his shoulders and upper back rested against the bed. Tim’s head was thrown back, half of his face pressed into the bed, and his eyes were shut tight. His hands clutched the coverlet above his head with white knuckled fists.
Jaime felt his erection twitch as he dripped, and he looked down at Tim. Jaime swallowed hard around his dry mouth, and took his erection in his hand. He slicked it with what was left of the lube, and his own come before he guided it into Tim.
Jaime was practically frantic by the time he pushed inside, but he made himself go slow. Tim was gasping and moving under him, and Jaime had to grab him by the hips to hold him still so Jaime could press all the way inside.
It seemed like no matter how well Jaime stretched Tim, he was always so tight. It was almost like there was a cock ring around the base of Jaime’s erection, and he could only be grateful. He was so close, and Tim felt so perfect around him.
Tim groaned, and spread his legs even wider, pulling Jaime in as far as he could. They stayed like that for a few long moments as they both adjusted to the sensations. Jaime was tense, and wound so tight he thought he might break. Tim was shivering slightly, and he was biting at his swollen mouth.
“You need to move,” Tim said evenly, not opening his eyes. His voice had a tinge of desperation to it that sent a thrill down Jaime’s spine. “You need to move now.”
So Jaime moved.
He held Tim tight by the hips, and thrust into him. They moved almost frantically together, clutching each other as they moaned and gasped and begged.
When Tim came it was with a choked off cry. He arched off the bed, and pressed Jaime deeply into him. Tim shuddered and gasped, and tightened around Jaime, shivering in his arms and panting him name.
The soft, breathless sound of Tim’s words drove Jaime over the edge. All he could do was hold tightly onto Tim as he came. Every twitch of his swollen erection, every pulse of his semen made the nerve endings in Jaime’s body come alive with shocking intensity.
They fell back onto the bed, Jaime with a groan, and Tim with sigh. Jaime pulled out as gently as he could as Tim curled himself around Jaime’s side, pillowing his head on Jaime’s shoulder.
They lay that way for a few long moments, catching their breaths and holding each other.
“So now what?” Jaime asked Tim. He didn’t elaborate, but Tim knew what Jaime was talking about.
“Mmmm, nothing really. Just because Batman is back doesn’t mean what I want has changed. I’m not going back. I’m tired of uncertainties and that’s all Batman is for me anymore,” Tim told him, seriously. “I’ll always be his Robin but I don’t think I could ever be his son. Maybe I could have been, if things had worked out differently, but they didn’t and I’m not so there’s no point in dwelling.”
Jaime pressed a soft kiss to Tim’s temple and pulled him close.
“You can be certain of me,” Jaime told him and he meant it, sincerely.
Tim tilted his head back and smiled at Jaime. His eyes were fond and held only the smallest trace of sadness in them.
“I know Jaime,” Tim said simply. “I know.”
NEXT STORY IN DUST!
Series: Story Three in After the Dust Settles
Author: Aravis Tarkheena
Pairing: Tim Drake/Jaime Reyes
Warnings: Sex, angst, AU
Rating: NC-17
Disclaimer: Not mine, everyone is legal
Word Count: ~5,000
Author's Notes: Another long one. D: Ok here we go: Written for Porn Fest prompt:Blue Beetle, Jaime Reyes/Tim Drake, "What are you waiting for?". Also written for my dcu_freeforall table #7 sincere.
Takes place in the Dust Universe. About six weeks after After the Game. This story will not make any sense if you haven't read the rest of the series.
Index Post
Silent Sincerity
The message was on Jaime’s voice mail when he woke up that morning. It was all he could do not to throw his cell phone against the bedroom wall when he heard it. He had to stop half way through the recording, so he could take a deep breath, and manfully resist the urge.
Jaime counted to ten, and played the message again.
“Hey this is Tim, I’m calling for Legolas and Gimli. I just wanted you guys to know that I’ve located Gandulf, and he’s safe and sound. I’ll be back at the Shire tomorrow sometime around four in the afternoon. Talk you then.” Tim’s voice was cheerful, and there was an edge of teasing laughter to it that made Jaime’s vision go red. He went a little dizzy around the eyes, and had to brace himself against his bedpost.
He glanced over at the small aquarium that rested on a table in the corner of his bedroom. Legolas and Gimli had their accommodations seriously downgraded when they moved in with Jaime. Their large hamster mansion was sitting empty in Tim’s vacant apartment in Gotham City. Jaime hadn’t been able to justify taking up a large chuck of his room for a giant hamster cage. He liked to think they didn’t care, but he was pretty sure they both glared at him sometimes when his back was turned.
Jaime walked over to the aquarium, and tapped on the glass. Some of the shavings rustled around as Legolas clambered out of them, and waddled over to where Jaime had his face a few inches from the glass. They regarded each other silently for a few long moments, before Jaime sighed and reached for the hamster feed.
“Your dad’s an asshole,” he said to Leg conversationally as he lifted the lid of the tank, and peered inside.
Legolas’ whiskers whirred around in what Jaime took to be agreement. His little black eyes gazed up into Jaime’s with innocent expectancy. Jaime sighed, and dropped a handful of the small brown pellets into the bowl. Legolas twitched his ears at Jaime in thanks, and made his way over to the food bowl with a newly awakened Gimli in his wake.
Gimli didn’t like Jaime. At best he ignored Jaime, at worst he bit him. Whenever Jaime had to clean their cage, Milagro had to grab Gimli, because he tried to maul Jaime at every available opportunity. Legolas was more even tempered, but even he was looking a little droopy and put out lately.
Jaime had told Tim that the hamsters wouldn’t be happy with him, but Tim hadn’t listened. Sometimes it felt like Tim never listened to him.
“It’ll just be for a week or so,” Tim had said to him, nodding to a pile of food and hamster gear stacked up in the corner by the door, “until I get back.”
“But I’m too young to be a single mother of two hamsters,” Jaime protested, trying to come up with a more legitimate excuse to keep Tim from leaving.
Tim had given him a small, tired smile. “You’re a wonderful hamster mother. I have nothing but confidence in your ability to thrive in the face of adversity,” Tim assured him. “My brother and I are sure this lead is good. I should be back in no time.”
Jaime had pursed his lips. Tim had been quiet and distant for a number of weeks, before Jaime confronted him about it. He had thought the sudden change in Tim’s attitude toward him had something to do with the sex. His guess had been completely wrong, as it turned out.
Tim had confided in him that both he and Batman, Tim’s brother, thought that the other Batman, the first Batman, was still alive. They had both been working on trying to find him. It was why Tim had been so busy and distant over the past several weeks. He didn’t want to say anything to Jaime until he had a concrete lead. Apparently he hadn’t wanted to worry Jaime.
Jaime had been worried, though, if not for the correct reasons. He was even more worried then, when Tim proposed to go off and search for his missing, and not at all dead, mentor/adoptive father/whatever.
“I’m not crazy about you going off alone. I think I should go with you,” Jaime had insisted, trying hard to look determined and reliable.
“And leave our children all alone?” Tim asked, pretending to be horrified at the idea.
“I’m serious, Tim,” Jaime said, crossing his arms over his chest.
“I know you are,” Tim said with a sigh. “I half wish you were coming too, but we have no idea what it is we’re up against here. I have no idea how your scarab will react, or even if it will, in these new environments. I just can’t risk taking you Jaime.”
Jaime felt himself go hot all over. He could feel the flush on his face and his neck. He hated being helpless. His feelings for Tim were so mixed sometimes. He knew Tim could take care of himself. He knew how well trained Tim was, he had seen Tim in action more times than he could count but he still couldn’t seem to move past the base instinct that urged him to take care of Tim.
Jaime was well aware that he was worse than useless without the scarab but he hated having it pointed out. Especially by one of the people he would give anything to protect.
Tim had been training him to fight without the scarab’s help, but every swollen knuckle and bruised limb made it glaringly obvious that he was a beginner. Tim’s bratty little brother could wipe the floor with Jaime. Not that Tim ever let him.
“Besides,” Tim’s voice cut into Jaime’s pity party. “I have no idea how long, exactly, I’ll be gone and you still have a few more weeks of school left.”
Tim had quietly graduated in the top percentile of his class. He didn’t start at University for several more months, and was currently at odds.
Jaime, on the other hand, had three more weeks of school left, and his mother had signed him up for SAT prep courses over the summer. They had cost a pile of money, and she would kill him if he skipped out to go off with his boyfriend looking for a dead guy. Tim would be off dimension hopping to find him next.
Jaime had grimaced, and Tim gave him a sympathetic look.
“I know you’re worried but I’ll be fine. I’ll get back as soon as I can,” Tim assured him, and pulled Jaime into a hug. Jaime hugged him back, and Tim had pressed a soft kiss to Jaime’s temple. “Besides, you’ll have Leg and Gim to keep you company. I promise they’re very entertaining.”
That conversation had happened nearly a month ago. Jaime had finished school, started his prep class, and Legolas and Gimli had gone through almost all the food Tim had left for them. Jaime had gotten no word on Tim from anyone, aside from a few curt emails from Oracle telling him there was no news.
Now, out of the blue, almost three weeks late, Tim calls Jaime’s cell phone. Without any hint of where he had been, or even if he was alright. To top it all off, he had left a message for his damn hamsters and not Jaime.
Jaime glared across the room at the fuzzy little creatures in question. Gimli glared back at him, his cheek pouches stuffed full of pellets. Legolas just ignored him.
Jaime briefly entertained the idea of releasing them into the wild to fend for themselves. Then he rejected it. It wasn’t their fault their dad was an asshole and their hamster mother sucked.
“Just because Mama and Papa are fighting, doesn’t mean we don’t love you,” he reassured the hamsters.
The only response from the aquarium was the rustling of pine shavings as they buried themselves back into their little nest.
Jaime sighed, and started digging around the mess in his room for a clean pair of jeans. It was going to be one of those days. He knew it.
Jaime spent most of the day completely distracted. It felt like his heart was beating too fast in his chest, and he couldn’t focus on a single thing. It wasn’t that his mind wandered, it was more that his mind was just blank with anticipation. Thinking was a struggling, and applying himself was impossible.
He had gone over to his father’s garage that morning, intent on helping him. His dad had sent him home a half an hour after he got there, complaining that Jaime would destroy the place if he stayed a minute longer.
So Jaime had left. He spent the rest of the day starting, and abandoning projects. His underwear was still sitting, soaking wet, in the machine. His notebooks and study guides were open and scattered across his bed. There was a half-eaten sandwich sitting on the counter sitting on the kitchen counter, all that was left of an abandoned attempt at lunch, when Jaime left for Gotham.
He and the hamsters reached Tim’s apartment shortly before four in the afternoon. Jaime landed discreetly in an alley a few blocks from Tim’s building. He unsuited and walked the few blocks to Tim’s place with the hamsters in hand.
Mrs. Saint Claire’s door was firmly shut when Jaime walked past it, and he couldn’t help but be grateful. She was nice old woman, but Jaime so wasn’t in the mood to talk to old ladies. Swear words were far too close to the surface right now to risk it. The last thing he needed was for her to hit him with her purse on top of all his other problems.
Jaime juggled the hamsters’ tank as he keyed open the look to Tim’s apartment. He three of them stumbled inside just as Tim stepped out of the bathroom, toweling his hair dry.
Tim stopped mid-stride, completely naked, dripping wet and looking unfairly hot.
Jaime was suddenly very aware of his ratty jeans, oil stained t-shirt, and the fact that he hadn’t combed his hair that morning. He was also very aware of the fact that he should be mad at Tim, but suddenly he really wasn’t.
Jaime wasn’t sure if he should blame relief, emotional exhaustion or Tim’s hotness, but the fact that he wasn’t worked up into a rage annoyed him. Now that he didn’t want to shout or curse at Tim anymore, he wasn’t quite sure what to say.
He was pretty sure it all had much more to do with his hormones than Jaime would have liked.
Legolas and Gimli didn’t seem to be experiencing any of Jaime’s difficulties. They were running madly around their cage, squeaking so loudly and excitedly that they distracted Tim.
Tim smiled at the tank in Jaime’s hands, and walked across the room, still naked, to the three of them. He scooped Legolas and Gimli out of the tank, and kissed them both. He held them close to his bare chest, and whispered all the sweet reassurances to them that Jaime had been wanting to hear for the past three weeks.
Jaime gritted his teeth.
“Did Mommy take good care of you while I was gone?” Tim asked them, looking up into Jaime’s face, his eyes glinting with mischief as he spoke.
Jaime set the tank down on Tim’s counter top. He put his hands on his hips, and lifted an eyebrow at Tim.
“Mommy is seriously considering divorce,” Jaime informed Tim in a sharp voice.
Tim’s smile widened and he deposited Legolas and Gimli, still squirming with delight, into their hamster house. Legolas immediately ran for his wheel, Gimli for the food bowl, and Tim moved towards Jaime.
Tim titled his head to the side as he took Jaime in, still smiling.
It struck Jaime then, with a jolt, that he hadn’t ever seen Tim smile like that before. Not in real life, and never when Tim’s eyes weren’t covered with a mask.
Tim had always been so serious, ever since Jaime had known him. He had tried hard not to let it show, but Jaime had seen that sadness and grief up close. There was so much violence and pain behind it, that Jaime didn’t think he would ever forget it. Jaime had tasted those tears, and held those shaking shoulders. He was very aware of all the things that Tim would never let him see.
Tim’s smiles always seemed to be tinged with sadness, like he knew the happiness he felt in that moment would fade, and he would go back to that endless grief he couldn’t ever seem to escape.
Jaime knew Tim hadn’t always been that way. He had seen pictures, heard stories from the other Titans, and even watched video footage of Tim when he was younger. So much about Tim had been different then. His smiles had been wider, his laughter had been more free and he had teased. He teased Superboy and Kid Flash and Wonder Girl.
Just like he was teasing Jaime now.
Tim’s eyes were gentle, and full of affection. His mouth looked soft, and his skin looked flushed and pink. His arms were stiff, as if he was holding himself firmly back from something.
“How pissed are you exactly?” Tim asked him evenly.
“I can’t tell,” Jaime admitted.
“You can’t tell?” Tim asked, and the faint tinge of laughter was back in his voice.
“You’re here. You’re naked. You’re smiling and you’re teasing me. You’ve got me completely wrong footed, to be honest. All I can think about is kissing you,” Jaime explained, trying hard to look at anything but Tim’s gently curved mouth.
Jaime was getting hard. He could feel the want pooling low in his belly, and his dick get heavy with arousal.
“Then what are you waiting for?” Tim asked, the gentle curve turning into a sharp, knowing smirk.
Jaime was across the room, and pulling Tim into his arms before his brain quiet registered what he was doing. Tim’s skin was warm and damp, and his mouth was slick and smiling under his. Tim’s long arms wrapped around him, and pulled Jaime flush against his bare body.
Jaime suddenly wished very badly that he was naked too. He could feel Tim’s body so perfectly against his own, all hard muscle and strong limbs. Jaime felt his erection twitch in his jeans.
Tim’s mouth was trailing across Jaime’s jaw, nipping gently at the scruff Jaime hadn’t bothered to shave off that morning. Jaime lifted a hand and tangled it in Tim’s hair. It had gotten longer while he was gone, much longer. It hung down nearly to his neck, and fell over his eyes.
“Damn I missed you,” Jaime whispered into Tim’s hair. “Why did you have to leave?”
“Losing two parents is tragic, losing three would be irresponsible,” Tim joked, and paused to feel Jaime’s hand dipped to grasp his butt.
“Leaving your boyfriend wondering what happened to you for three weeks is irresponsible,” Jaime pointed out.
“Ah, I know,” Tim gasped when Jaime used his grip to pull Tim’s hips flush to his own. “There was no way to reach you where I was. I would have if it were even remotely possible, I promise.”
Jaime stopped for a moment and looked into Tim’s face. “You found him, though?” Jaime asked, realizing he hadn’t yet. He just assumed from Tim’s demeanor that everything had turned out alright.
“I did. He’s with my brothers at the house,” Tim told him.
“Shouldn’t you be there with them?” Jaime furrowed his brows and asked. Even as he did his arms tightened unconsciously around Tim.
Tim smiled at him again, but it was the sad smile again.
“I can’t be there right now. Not with any of them. All I want is to be with you, Jaime,” Tim told him, and kissed Jaime softly on the mouth. “You’re the only thing that makes sense, right now,” he whispered against Jaime’s mouth. “I don’t think I’ll ever be able to explain to you how much that means to me.”
Jaime wasn’t sure he wanted Tim to try. He could feel the emotion coming off of Tim in waves. Relief, fear and worry warred with desire and affection and love, each one of them buffeting Jaime as Tim spoke. Jaime felt breathless, and his heart was pounding with something that had nothing to do with the kissing they had been doing.
Tim wasn’t the kind of guy who said ‘I love you’. Jaime had known that going into this. However, Jaime was pretty sure that this was the closest Tim would ever get to saying it.
“You don’t have to explain, Tim. I-I--,” but Jaime couldn’t speak anymore. His mouth was dry and his throat was tight and all he could see were the sad blue depths of Tim’s eyes. He spoke unconsciously, after that. “I do understand. I’m the mother of your hamsters after all.”
Tim laughed then. It wasn’t the quiet laugh that Jaime was accustomed to. It was loud, and it was free, and Jaime could feel it all along Tim’s body.
Jaime grinned at Tim, and backed them towards Tim’s bed. Jaime hit the mattress with Tim still laughing and squirming under him. Their kisses got wet and messy because neither of them could seem to stop smiling. Jaime basked in Tim’s laugher and kisses.
Tim’s hands were running up and down Jaime’s back, caressing and petting and scratching along his ribs. Jaime gasped into the kiss they were sharing, and Tim’s eyes took on that mischievous glint again. He tugged off Jaime’s shirt, and twisted under him until he could press hot wet kisses to Jaime’s chest.
Jaime forgot all about laughing when Tim’s mouth pressed down over his nipple. He swore softly in Spanish, and felt his hands clench in the rumpled coverlet. He could still feel Tim’s smile against his chest when Tim’s teeth closed over his nipple, and bit down gently. A hot, electric jolt shot straight through Jaime’s entire body, and made his erection twitch.
He lifted a hand to tangle in the long hair at the base of Tim’s neck. Tim’s mouth moved all over his chest, nipping, licking and kissing, until all Jaime could do was cry out and shake.
He pulled Tim off of him, feeling dizzy with want, and Tim was still smiling when Jaime blinked his eyes open. The smile had taken on a sort of predatory gleam, however and Jaime had to shiver again.
“You’re going to make me come,” he told Tim breathlessly, as he pulled Tim back up onto the bed. Jamie was braced on the bed with his arms, his legs still resting on the floor. Tim sat on the bed, bracketed between Jaime’s arms.
“Mmm, that was the idea,” Tim said lightly, trailing his fingers along Jaime’s jaw.
“Don’t get me wrong, I fully support this idea. You always have the best ones, by the way,” Jaime felt it necessary to add. “It’s just that I’d like to get out of my pants first.”
“Mmmm, that is also an excellent idea,” Tim remarked contemplatively. “Then you can come on me. I like it when you come on me.”
Jaime liked it too. He liked it a lot. He might go so far as to say it was one of his favorite things.
Tim reached for the fly of Jaime’s jeans. They wrestled Jaime out of his pants, and back onto the bed next to Tim. Jaime took the shift in position to press his attack. He grabbed Tim by the wrists, and rolled over on top of him. Tim smiled and let him.
Jaime looked at Tim’s smiling face, and felt himself go numb all over. He was paralyzed; hardly even daring to breathe as he looked down at Tim sprawled out on the bed under him.
Arousal had flushed Tim’s skin a deep pink. It made the scars stand out a sickly white against the high color. They roped his body like restraints, binding him to the life that he had chosen. Bright purple and sickly green bruises were scattered around his chest and limbs, the tender skin around them thick with blood. They all glinted with the water from Tim’s shower, and the sweat the broke out across Tim’s body, seeming to empathize and highlight all of Tim’s vulnerabilities.
Much of the time, mostly when they were in uniform, Tim seemed larger than life to Jaime. There was no gang he couldn’t dismantle, or villain he couldn’t out think. There was nothing in the world he hadn’t done, or didn’t know how to handle. On the streets, he was the Robin that had intimidated Jaime, made him feel inadequate and stupid. He was the person that drove Jaime to be much better than he was.
Here though, in his bed, panting for Jaime, his eyes alight with passion, he was a completely different. Here he was a person who breathed, who bleed, who laughed and cried, and kissed Jaime so sweetly he thought he might break open from the inside out. He was the person Jaime called out for in his sleep. He was the person Jaime wanted to be a man for, and that meant something. It meant a lot.
Here he was Timothy Jackson Drake.
Here he belonged to Jaime.
Tim’s chest rose and fell as he breathed, and his mouth was slightly parted in a smile. His eyes were lazy and there was still that hint of mischief that always seemed to be just below the surface when they made love, as if Tim could never take something completely seriously while both of them were naked.
Jaime liked that.
He liked it when all the traces of sadness that hung over Tim like a fog vanished, and all that was left was Tim. Tim, unaltered and undiluted, not fettered by pain and responsibility and obligation.
Just Tim.
Jaime’s Tim.
Jaime kissed him again then, softly, gently. Tim’s smile melted under his mouth, and he kissed Jaime back with what felt like every ounce of his being. Tim’s hands were light and tender on Jaime’s body, as he caressed every inch of Jaime’s skin he could reach.
Small nipping kisses played out across Jaime’s neck and jaw. Jaime sighed happily as Tim wrapped himself around Jaime. Tim’s arms and legs felt cool against Jaime’s back but Tim’s erection was hot and hard as it pressed between their abdomens. Tim groaned when Jaime shifted, bringing their cocks together and rubbing them against each other.
Jaime wrapped his arms around Tim, and rolled them both over, taking Tim with him. He sat up, with Tim on his lap. Tim shifted into a more comfortable position, and immediately attached his mouth to Jaime’s ear lobe. Jaime shivered, and tightened his arms around Tim.
He wanted to say things to Tim. He wanted to tell Tim how good he felt. He wanted to tell Tim that he never wanted this to stop. He wanted to tell Tim that Jaime thought he was beautiful. He wanted to tell Tim that he was pretty sure that he loved him, and he probably would until the day he died. But it all sounded so stupid and girly. So all Jaime did was swear softly in Spanish, and thrust his hips against Tim’s.
Tim moaned against Jaime’s ear when Jaime slid a sweat slick hand down his back, and between his cleft. He rubbed gently at Tim’s hole with the pad of his middle finger, and Tim went rigid in his arms. Tim let out a hot puff of air before he pressed his face into Jaime’s neck.
“I thought you were going to come on me,” Tim said a little breathlessly.
“I’m starting to rethink the location,” Jaime informed him.
Tim groaned, and then pushed away from Jaime. He leaned, back, his legs still wrapped around Jaime’s waist. He was bent back, almost double, by the time he reached the box on his dresser that held the lube. His muscles were taunt and straining, and Jaime could see the sharp jut of his ribs. Tim’s erection was red and dark where it lay back against Tim’s pale belly. Tim moved with ease that spoke volumes about his flexibility, and came back up, lube in hand, looking none the worse for wear.
It made Jaime’s erection pulse as he dripped precome.
“I think that made my quads hurt,” Jaime told him.
Tim smirked, and dropped his strong hand to Jaime’s thigh. He massaged Jaime with fingers and thumbs, and Jaime couldn’t help but groan.
“I’d be happy to give you a massage. After all, you’re so kind enough to help me out when I’m feeling particularly… tight,” Tim said with a certain smug suggestiveness.
“You’re going to kill me,” Jaime groaned, thinking back to the various massages he had given Tim over the past five months.
“Not just yet. I still need you,” Tim assured him. He took Jaime’s right hand, and smeared his fingers with the lube, before he tossed the bottle onto the bed behind them.
He hitched himself back up into Jaime’s lap, and pressed a kiss to the corner of Jaime’s mouth, watching him with intent blue eyes all the while.
Jaime took the hint.
Tim writhed and panted in his lap while Jaime stretched him. Tim’s fingers were tangled in Jaime’s hair, and they tightened almost painfully as Jaime worked. Each gasping breath ghosted across Jaime’s sensitive ear, and he could feel Tim’s body getting slicker with sweat by the moment.
Every involuntary thrust of Tim’s hips pressed their erections together, making them both moan. Jaime was so hard, so desperate he was dizzy from it all. His moans turned more into whining groans than anything else the more they moved together.
He toppled Tim back onto the bed, pressing him hard down into the mattress. Jaime meant to tell Tim that he couldn’t wait anymore. He meant to reassure Tim, to promise he would go slow and be careful. He meant to tell him so many things but when he opened his mouth to speak, nothing came out because he was kissing Tim again, hard and desperate.
He hooked one of Tim’s legs with his arm. and hiked it up over one of his shoulders. He spread Tim open wide for him. Tim’s hips were resting on Jaime’s thighs. His body was arched so only his shoulders and upper back rested against the bed. Tim’s head was thrown back, half of his face pressed into the bed, and his eyes were shut tight. His hands clutched the coverlet above his head with white knuckled fists.
Jaime felt his erection twitch as he dripped, and he looked down at Tim. Jaime swallowed hard around his dry mouth, and took his erection in his hand. He slicked it with what was left of the lube, and his own come before he guided it into Tim.
Jaime was practically frantic by the time he pushed inside, but he made himself go slow. Tim was gasping and moving under him, and Jaime had to grab him by the hips to hold him still so Jaime could press all the way inside.
It seemed like no matter how well Jaime stretched Tim, he was always so tight. It was almost like there was a cock ring around the base of Jaime’s erection, and he could only be grateful. He was so close, and Tim felt so perfect around him.
Tim groaned, and spread his legs even wider, pulling Jaime in as far as he could. They stayed like that for a few long moments as they both adjusted to the sensations. Jaime was tense, and wound so tight he thought he might break. Tim was shivering slightly, and he was biting at his swollen mouth.
“You need to move,” Tim said evenly, not opening his eyes. His voice had a tinge of desperation to it that sent a thrill down Jaime’s spine. “You need to move now.”
So Jaime moved.
He held Tim tight by the hips, and thrust into him. They moved almost frantically together, clutching each other as they moaned and gasped and begged.
When Tim came it was with a choked off cry. He arched off the bed, and pressed Jaime deeply into him. Tim shuddered and gasped, and tightened around Jaime, shivering in his arms and panting him name.
The soft, breathless sound of Tim’s words drove Jaime over the edge. All he could do was hold tightly onto Tim as he came. Every twitch of his swollen erection, every pulse of his semen made the nerve endings in Jaime’s body come alive with shocking intensity.
They fell back onto the bed, Jaime with a groan, and Tim with sigh. Jaime pulled out as gently as he could as Tim curled himself around Jaime’s side, pillowing his head on Jaime’s shoulder.
They lay that way for a few long moments, catching their breaths and holding each other.
“So now what?” Jaime asked Tim. He didn’t elaborate, but Tim knew what Jaime was talking about.
“Mmmm, nothing really. Just because Batman is back doesn’t mean what I want has changed. I’m not going back. I’m tired of uncertainties and that’s all Batman is for me anymore,” Tim told him, seriously. “I’ll always be his Robin but I don’t think I could ever be his son. Maybe I could have been, if things had worked out differently, but they didn’t and I’m not so there’s no point in dwelling.”
Jaime pressed a soft kiss to Tim’s temple and pulled him close.
“You can be certain of me,” Jaime told him and he meant it, sincerely.
Tim tilted his head back and smiled at Jaime. His eyes were fond and held only the smallest trace of sadness in them.
“I know Jaime,” Tim said simply. “I know.”
NEXT STORY IN DUST!