It stung a little, to have Dick shake him off and step past him so he could have another go at Jason. At least it was just verbal, this time. "I didn't want to keep it from you." Tim's voice was soft when he said it. He didn't blame Jason for asking him not to tell, and he certainly wasn't going to betray his boyfriend's trust. But of course it bothered him to lie to someone as important to him as Dick.
By now Tim knew Jason well enough to be able to tell that the pain he felt wasn't just physical. The youngest of the three caught the escrima Dick was gesturing with and clenched his jaw. He knew the risk he was taking, that Dick might strike at him out of a reflex without really meaning to. Tim didn't care. He needed to calm both of them down. "Shut up and let me talk." Now he was speaking to both of them, and he stepped forward to try to get between them again.
"Dick, I've forgiven Jason for the things that he's done to me in the past, but I also know it's unfair to ask you to do that if you're not ready." After all, Dick had been there after each time Jason had nearly killed him, had seen Tim have to recover in the hospital repeatedly. That can really mess with a person. "And Jason was worried about you thinking it was disgusting because we were adopted by the same man. He and I weren't raised together, we've never seen each other that way." Certainly there would be plenty of people that judged them anyway, but Tim just... didn't want to believe that Dick was that sort of person.
"You mean so much to both of us. More than you even know, Dick, I--" Tim paused for a second, then glanced back over towards Jason. "Just tell me why you're angry."
“Like what? I didn’t say you’re doing anything—,” he started to retort, before Jason shoved the escrima aside and Tim caught it in his hand. He let Tim hold onto the weapon below his own grip, a clear sign of trust. No amount of his most basic of reflexes would make him strike out against Tim.
His brows drew together as his mouth shut and Tim spoke, though his gaze remained on Jason, not out of defence or suspicion, but because there was that telltale quiver of Jason’s mouth. It wasn’t until Tim shared Jason’s fear that Dick was turning his gaze to Tim, brows knitting closer together in a something akin to confusion.
All those days returning to Tim’s side after Jason aired his grievances and suddenly his actions were in question. He was speechless for a beat as he looked to Jason then back to Tim again.
“I—had no idea.” Sure, yes, he had tossed in the odd tease about Tim hiding love bites, but that hasn’t been all it was. There was more bruising than that, and Dick had been worried for Tim. Then to see Jason run Tim down and shove him against a wall triggered an emotion that went beyond thinking—fear.
Putting how he felt into words was a challenge when his mind still struggled to tamp down the bitter jealousy that was starting to rise up his throat. As rare as it was for him to feel it, he hated it, clenched his jaw against it and gently tugged his escrima out of Tim’s hand. He sheathed the weapon away into its holster at the small of his back
“I wouldn’t judge you for it.” That he even had to explain it hurt. His anger sizzled out and the heat in his voice was replaced by something quiet, raw like a fresh wound. “I’m—glad you’ve worked things out. I wish either of you would’ve just told me and I would’ve stayed somewhere else. You wouldn’t need to sneak around behind my back.”
"Didn't do-?!?" He frowned, the expression 1 part hurt and 2 parts incredulous. He sputtered, mind rapidly firing to try and piece his thoughts into something that could be vocalized, but the sudden whiplash of the situation combined with the voltage that had been pumped into his system left him off kilter and exposed.
Tim saved him from having to speak right that very second and he huffed out a grateful sound as he used the time to haul himself up off his knees. There was a fine tremble that ran through his body that had nothing to do with having Tim melt in his arms after a long chase...but honestly, that wasn't a bad thing. Not now.
Not after...
His gaze flicked to Tim and the lenses hid his eyes by not the guilty line of his lips. Because yes, the brother thing had been a concern....but it wasn't the only one. It wasn't even the most pressing. He just hadn't put voice to his most basic fear because he knew that Tim would have tried to make him feel better about it. And he didn't deserve to feel better about it. Not really.
Yet it bubbled in his belly and he scrubbed at his face with his hands before it finally spilled out.
"You fucking saw us macking on a rooftop and your first thought was to electrocute me, 'Wing. How the fuck is that 'not judging'? We had lunch together! We traded food, bad mouthed B, laughed even! And still, the first thing you do when you see me pinning Red is to get me off of him with force?" He huffed, running his hands through his curls before slumping back against the wall he'd had Tim pinned up against.
"I know I'm a monster, I just didn't think that you saw me as one, too. Jesus..."
Emotions rose, and so did the stakes. For a moment, though, Tim was able to perceive Dick's hurt. Jason was hurting, too, and that's what made this so dangerous. Tim didn't want to see them fight, wanted to soothe the wounds they had all inadvertently torn into each other. "Dick.." His own voice was soft, a little more vulnerable, as he reached up with a gloved hand for the man he had admired for most of his life. He wasn't sure what to say, emotions were never one of his strengths, but there had to be something. Something that could fix things.
Unfortunately, all of that was drown out by Jason losing control at the exact same moment. His own anger clawed at his chest, burning harshly up the back of his throat. They weren't listening to him. Dick pushing him out of the way, Jason trying to start shit when it was finally cooling off. His hands clenched at his sides, sharp blue eyes more icy than usual. At first he had been a little angry at Dick for overreacting, but now he was well and truly pissed off at both of them.
Not to mention Jason calling himself a monster made him want to scream, because it wasn't true. Tim told him that repeatedly, tried to get it through his head that the pit had a lot to do with their earlier interactions and they were past that now, but Jason didn't appear to accept that as an answer. It was a work in progress, but at the moment felt like nothing other than another example of people not listening to him.
Did either of them even care that Tim was standing right there? The more heated it got, the less it seemed to even be about him at all. Just airing grievances at each other. His teeth ground together in his mouth and his hand reached for his grapple.
"I didn't know what the hell you two were--," heated words overlapped, tripped past each other, amped up voices layering fuzzily when Tim's quiet utterance of his name wound around his chest and reeled him back. Dick tore his eyes off Jason and turned to Tim instead, brows drawing all over again at the quiet turmoil he saw threading through that face and body. He saw that hand lifting to reach out for him, but a curse slid out under his breath as Jason continued, and he whipped back around, taking a step toward where his other brother had practically crumbled against the wall.
"I don't, Jason, and you know it. Everything that we did earlier this week is still real." He was trying his best to stay level, to be patient, but irritation clearly underlined his tone, especially when he glanced back at Tim and saw him reaching for the grapple.
"Don't," he warned, gloved hand reaching out to push Tim's hand back down instead.
"Look." A sigh wove through the word. "I interrupted, okay? I'm sorry. I reacted before I figured out what was going on and I shouldn't have. I got--" He swallowed hard before continuing. "Scared." Both hands floated up to his sides, palms open and vulnerable.
"I know it's in the past but I couldn't get the thought of Tim bleeding out outta my head and I just reacted." That wasn't the whole story, but the whole story would never see the light of day, especially not now that something good was happening between them. "So I'll let you two get back to it now, alright?"
It all came down to compartmentalization. It was the one skill that Jason had never been particularly good at as Robin. No matter how much Bruce drilled it into him, it just didn't come natural to him to divide his thoughts into simple, easy to digest sections. He couldn't put Robin in a box while he was at school just as he couldn't put school in a box when he was Robin.
Tim could cut the part of him that was half crazed and manipulated to hell and back and put it in a locked box in the back of a mental closet...but that wasn't a skill that Jason had. Especially because he'd lived it. He had those memories stained over his mind in big splashes of bright colors. He remembered that rage, still battled with it on bad days, but he also remembered that the Pit had never made him do anything.
Everything that he'd done, he'd done it on his own. He'd had shitty intel and the Pit had stripped him of nearly all filter between impulse and action...but he'd meant the things that he'd done. And then, years later, to find himself enjoying the rush of chasing after Tim and taking? Even when it was so willingly offered, there was just enough remnants there to make him hate himself just a little when he stopped to think about it.
Normally, he'd be able to rationalize the guilt away. Roll over to wrap Tim in his arms, pillow his head against the other man's sternum while clever fingers trailed in his hair to bring him back from that dark edge. The steady, heavy ba-bam of Tim's heartbeat under his ear was better than a metronome to ease him out of that primal headspace that the chase put him in and back into his own skin.
To be yanked back with pain and panic? He was spiraling. Hard. He hadn't been trying to intentionally start a fight, but between the flash of anger and the sudden protective wall between him and his prey had jump started the guilt into a rolling boil in his chest. Tim's jaw tightened in what he recognized as anger and Jason...flinched back. It was subtle, just a half step back from the other two, but it was there.
"Tim-" His voice cracked and he cleared his throat to stop himself from doing something stupid. "Fuck, just...please don't leave. Don't. Just...give me a minute, okay?"
Dick's words fed the guilt in his chest and he nodded, lips tight as he turned his head to look away from his brother and his boyfriend.
Dick bat Tim's hand away from his grapple and the younger of the two glared, but didn't reach for it again. The violent chill in his eyes warmed momentarily, when he admitted to being afraid. He hadn't thought Dick was afraid of anything. He was one of the most amazing people Tim had ever met, accomplished so much with and without Bruce, that it gave him pause.
But his irritation burst right back into the picture at the idea that Dick could walk away from this and he and Jason would shrug it off and fuck there on the roof like it hadn't happened. Turns out the whole thing had been a bit of a mood killer. Shocking. "We won't be getting back to anything." There's an almost laugh to his tone, but there's no joy or amusement to be found in it. Just incredulousness. Did Dick really believe he was that heartless?
People didn't tend to flinch away from Tim. He wasn't physically imposing, especially not to people capable of snapping him in half. Perhaps that's what made him dangerous, though, that so many of his best blows had nothing to do with muscle mass. Still, while his anger was akin to a volcano--silently bubbling under the surface for far longer than anyone would ever realize, until the pressure was too much and it was released--he wasn't especially cruel, either.
So when Jason spoke, his eyes immediately hit the floor and his own chest tightened. How the hell had this turned into such a mess? It had all gotten out of hand so fast, and nothing he said seemed to help fix what was wrong. Leaving would be the fastest way away from all of the overwhelming feelings, but that was wrong of him, too. "I'm not going to leave." Tim finally said to the two of them, fighting the urge to wrap his arms around himself for some sort of comfort.
His gaze flicked back upwards, right to where Dick was standing. "But if you are... Go back to the Nest? I'm still going to want to talk to you." About this. About everything. He'd hurt Dick without meaning to, and the thought of the two of them parting on bad terms without knowing how long it would last had panic wrapping around his heart in a firm grip. It took him right back to his first days of Red Robin, when he was completely, utterly alone. Tim never wanted to go back to that place again.
Dick didn’t miss a single beat of it: the way Jason crumbled into himself, the way Tim’s irritation flared with his words, the way guilt pulled both his brothers beneath a wave when he impulsively said what he said. It wasn’t about who’s fault it was, or if it was Jason or the pit, if it had been too early and timing forced Jason’s hand, whether Tim had wanted to step up, or whether it was what Bruce needed to survive his own grief over losing a son.
All Dick knew was he didn’t want to see his two baby brothers hurting. He just wanted to make it better. Leaving was always the easiest thing to do. Sometimes, it was the right thing to do, but right now? Now, as hard as this was, as pissed as he was at Jason for lashing his emotions out and at Tim for threatening retreat, he knew that he did this, and he couldn’t just run away.
“I’ll be okay,” he replied to Tim, gaze raw as he met those wary blue eyes. He knew that Tim wanted to fix it as much as he did, and he didn’t even know half the story. Dick just needed some time to straighten out the tangles of his own emotions and he would be fine. He would be fine.
“Jason…” he started, voice level now. “Why don’t you go with Tim back to the nest?” Jason’s words contained so much disorientated pain that had to do with so much more than Dick’s escrima blow. He took a step toward Jason. “It’s pretty late already. Call it a night. I have something to wrap up then I’ll go find you, alright?” He looked back at Tim, knew that Tim wouldn’t want him leaving on a note like this. Then, he looked at Jason again, knew that there was a lot he still needed to say, to explain, including a proper apology, but he couldn’t blame Jason if now was not the right time.
“I’ll meet you both back at the nest in an hour or so. Promise.”
This wasn't how this night was supposed to go. None of this was how it was supposed to go. He'd wanted a chase, a catch...some making out on a rooftop. Maybe throw Tim over his shoulder and take him to the nearest safehouse...maybe not. Maybe take him there after, so he could peel them both out of their uniforms and take his time to put his boyfriend back together.
Time to put himself back together.
The timing, the places, the intensity, all of that changed with each of their romps, but the routine of it was always the same. Tim would run, Jason would chase...and when he caught his prize, he'd take him apart as he wanted. And afterwards, they'd put each other back together.
So to have that routine so suddenly disrupted was jarring in the worst possible way. Add in the fact that Dick could look at him and think that he could be capable of actually taking advantage of someone like that and, well, his nerves were a little shot. But even as off kilter and wrong footed as he was, Tim moved to wrap his arms around himself and Jason stepped forward to lightly rest a gloved hand at the small of the younger boy's back. Because seeing Tim hurting was a physical pain to him.
Because as jarring as it was for Jason, it had to be just as jarring for Tim.
"Hey...Breathe for me, baby bird. I'm right here. Dickhead isn't going anywhere. Come on. Let's...let's all go back to the Nest. I'll make some hot cocoa and we can, you know, talk or some shit." The last was aimed more at Dick than at Tim, but the anger in his eyes was already starting to fade.
He could deal with his self-hatred later. After he'd taken care of Tim. As long as Tim didn't call him for it, anyway.
"Come on, Dick. We both know you weren't doing shit, anyway." A play for bravado, but it fell about a mile short. He's fine.
It has taken a lot of time for Tim to ease into the way Jason wants to take care of him. Having been neglected for the majority of his childhood, it was difficult to trust it at first. Tim shouldn't need anyone to look after him--he's stronger than that, more than capable and completely self-sufficient. But these days he was getting better a being able to accept something that he craved to his very core.
So he pressed back against the hand that settled against him, closed his eyes and took a slow breath to calm the tidal wave of emotions that threatened to spill over. Jason knew as well as anyone how much Tim hated feeling like he'd lost control of a situation. Some oxygen would certainly help.
When his eyes opened again, he turn his head to give Jason a small, obedient nod. "All right. Let's go." They could handle this like adults. It wasn't going to be easy for them--they all shared a mentor that very much avoided any kind of emotional vulnerability whenever possible--but they were capable as long as they had the capacity.
Tim took one step away, then paused and looked back at Dick again. His eyebrows furrowed, lips in a thin line. "I'm serious, N. You'd better join us when you're done with whatever it is you need to do. Don't leave me there worrying about you." It wasn't meant in any playful sort of way, nor was he pleading. Honestly, the words probably came off as a bit of a threat. More than Tim ever had towards Dick, anyway. That wasn't usually the nature of their relationship. Clearly, though, he was concerned that the eldest brother was going to take off. His abandonment issues always did manage to pop up in the most interesting of situations.
He looked back at Jason, grabbed for his grapple gun, and shot it at the next building over. Just like that, he was retreating back to the Nest. The only place in the world that gave him comfort now that Damian was always at the Manor.
Good fucking job, he had really done it now. One single look at either of his brothers and he could tell just how much effort it was taking for either of them to hold it together. Jason’s taunt fell so short, and Tim’s plea came off more as a threat. It was like the relationships they had built over their whole adult lives of knowing each other was suddenly shaken.
He refused to believe it. Refused to let it be, and the way both Jason and Tim asked him to return to the nest, as strange as their ways were, heartened him.
His breath sifted out in a sigh, and he nodded.
“Just gonna—get us something to go with the hot cocoa. Alright? I won’t be more than ten minutes behind you guys.” Tim was already off and Dick managed a pinched smile beneath the domino before watching Jason take off too.
He just needed a moment to breathe and collect himself, to make sure he didn’t show up again acting on anger and assumptions, to replay the exchange and gather his apologies as he picked up a collection of finger food for all of them. He didn’t have an appetite, but he needed the excuse because as Jason had already called out, he didn’t have anything urgent to do, anyway. He was only overstaying his visit to spend some time with family. Leave it to him to fuck it up like this.
When he stepped into the Nest, the sight that greeted him stopped him in his tracks. All at once, he felt he was intruding by witnessing an intimate moment reserved for two lovers, yet what he saw also filled his heart with so much warmth he could burst with it. For a long, long time, he doubted whether Tim and Jason would be able to peacefully exist in the same room together. The push and pull between them had taken up a lot of Dick’s time and caused him so much heartache. Now, to finally see his two closest brothers entwined together on the couch felt bittersweet. He caught himself thinking it and silently admonished himself for it. He should be happy. He needed to just be happy for them.
Wordlessly, he approached the coffee table and set the paper bag on it, and eased the tension on his mouth into a small smile.
“Don’t mind me. Just gonna get changed, alright? Be right back.” And he disappeared into the closet where he’d stashed a go bag.
He wanted to argue. Wanted to call Dick out on not actually needing to get anything and that the older man just needed to come back to the Nest with them instead of after them. Abandonment issues ran strong between all three of them, after all, and Jason could already see the tension that was running in Tim's shoulders.
He almost reached out...but then Tim was agreeing and grappling off and Jason huffed a little as he shot Dick one last look before following his lover's smaller frame.
Back at the Nest, he'd changed quickly, forgoing a shower since he hadn't actually patrolled that night. The chase had worked up a sweat, but he knew that Tim liked to shower as soon as he got home. He itched to follow, to reassure himself that Tim was fine
(that he hadn't hurt him. hadn't bitten too hard or thrown him too hard against the wall. that he wasn't hiding an injury from the chase. that he wasn't scared of him after)
but he made himself move over to the little kitchenette to start the promised hot chocolate. They'd probably be more comfortable up in the actual apartment, but Jason didn't trust Dick not to say 'Well, they said the Nest and they're not here, so I guess I can just leave!' or something equally stupid and Bruce coded. He ended up bringing the three oversized mugs over to the little hang out spot that had probably been a place for Robin to invite his friends. While he was up and moving around, he grabbed the first aid kit as well.
There was no blood, but Jason wasn't entirely sure he could face the scar he'd left on Tim's throat or the bruises that colored it. He usually loved seeing his claim on the younger man, stroking it as they cuddled to watch tv or read....but his head wasn't in the best place and if Tim would let him, he'd bandage that slender throat. Just for the night. Just to give himself time to figure himself out without having a complete break down.
It was not unlike Tim to be quiet, especially with so many thoughts swirling around in that big brain of his. He'd taken a shower (Jason was indeed well aware it was a requirement as soon as he got out of costume) and then changed into loose, comfortable pajamas. They made him look younger, and without the protective armor adding to his frame, he looked a little more slight, too.
The slightly shiny scar on his neck was old. While many might have expected a perfect thin line where Jason had slashed his blade, it was instead marred in the center by getting shot through the throat. There were a lot of injuries that happened while he was Robin, none of them stood out more than the others to him. More importantly, he wasn't injured at all at the moment. Still, despite his lack of skill in emotional connection, he knew why Jason had gotten the kit and sat without complaint as his neck was wrapped.
His head lifted when Dick made an appearance, and the ball of ache in his chest unwound just a little. Tim took a long drink of the cocoa his boyfriend had handed to him and sank into the comfortable couch cushions. He also had no appetite, but that was hardly unusual for him.
There was a lot to say. He had no idea how he was going to say any of it. None of them had a ton of help learning how to handle situations like this during their formative teen years. He had done a lot of work on himself, tried really hard to better himself as a person so he could just go out there and be normal, but it was draining. Made him wonder if maybe that was why Bruce had stopped bothering as he'd gotten older.
But Tim Drake was not Bruce Wayne.
So while something in him was pleading to retreat, find somewhere on his own to process and block the rest of the world out, he stayed seated there on the couch with Jason and waited for Dick to be done changing.
The bandage around Tim’s neck didn’t go unnoticed. Though his eyes had lingered on it, he decided not to comment on it yet. As tense as the moment felt, Tim didn’t seem hurt, so he pushed aside his curiosity and focused on getting changed so he could return to the comfortable sofas as quickly as possible.
Though he also preferred to take a shower after patrol, he felt he had kept his brothers waiting for long enough. So he rinsed off his face and ran a hand through his hair, let out a slow, steadying breath and pulled on a t-shirt and a pair of loose sweats. He also had a small smile on when he returned, and decided to fold himself onto the rug in front of the coffee table, facing where Tim and Jason were snuggled together on the sofa. There was a beat where he just looked at them, his inquisitive gaze sweeping across Jason and Tim’s expressions.
He looked down at the untouched paper bag and pulled out a small assortment of snacks, including decadent chocolate chip cookies. There was already a mug of hot chocolate set out for him, sitting there still steaming on the table. He figured they’d been watching the time, predicting when to pour to keep it still warm when he arrived.
How sweet.
“Thought chocolate should go with chocolate,” he said, sighing after he sipped the hot chocolate, his nerves tensing through his shoulders before he let them drop. He caused this. He needed to own up and fix this, and no amount of sweets was going to make it better. So he steeled his gaze and started talking.
“I’m sorry. Tonight’s on me. I reacted without thinking. I just…assumed.” He paused, looked between his brothers. Finally, vulnerability creeped into his eyes, drawing his brows together. “I…guess it’s just been building all week. I had all these theories about what you were getting up to, Tim, and when I saw you on him, Jason, I got—scared. Mad.”
It hurt to admit. His eyes casted down to the mug of hot chocolate, and he said his next word softly. What did it matter anymore? They deserved to know.
Tim wasn't actually hurt, but the bite he'd given that scar was going to bruise and while he normally would have admired that bruise as it formed, the sudden drop from his brother's fear made that bruise an unwelcome thing. In the morning he'd be able to kiss it and help Tim make sure that his concealer was perfectly in place before the younger man went into the office, but tonight he needed to be reminded that he wasn't just violence. So he hid away his marks with gentle fingers, leaning forward to lightly kiss at Tim's shoulder.
He was still tucked in close around Tim's smaller frame when Dick finally joined them. He didn't look up, kept his face hidden in the crook of Tim's shoulder as the eldest moved around the space. He tracked the sounds of Dick cleaning up and only when he could hear the soft footfalls of bare feet heading in their direction did he look up. He made a face at the immediate apology and Tim would be able to feel the line of tension that lanced up through him, but he didn't pull away.
"Stop. It-..it wasn't on you. It was a bitch move and way too fucking judgmental," he said, pointing a finger at their older brother to emphasis his point. "But it never would have happened if I had just let Tim tell you. So...it's on both of us." He sighed, letting a little bit of his hurt show on his face since he was safely tucked behind Tim so the younger couldn't see it without twisting. "I just..I need you to know that I'm not- I don't always-"
(I don't always hurt him. I'm not that kind of monster)
He shook his head and waved off the rest, the words not coming. Instead, he finally reached forward to pluck a small package of mint chocolates from the bag. He'd used to love the little candies when he'd been a kid and the fact that Dick had bought them made his stomach do a barrel roll. He wrapped his arms around Tim's torso so that he could open the bag without having to relinquish his hold on the smaller man. Two of the candies were dropped into his cocoa and he focused on stirring the melting sugar into the drink instead of the word 'jealous'.
Tim shifted when he heard Jason call what Dick did a bitch move, but he bit back his demand that they not fight when he decided they would both take ownership. He only spoke when Jason cut himself off. "We play chase and capture because it's what I like. I had to talk him into it. He's usually very sweet to me." The youngest of the three admitted, eyes soft.
Then Dick admitted he was jealous. The word reverberated around in his skull, narrowing his world as he tried to process the very idea of it. It didn't really make sense at first. But Dick--he could have have been jealous of Tim because he wouldn't have been so rough with Jason--he was jealous of Jason. The idea that the two people he admired most nearly fought because they both wanted him stole the breath from his lungs. He was just Tim. Dorky, short, pain in the ass Tim. Dick was drop dead gorgeous, his mentor, and his idol. Jason was incredibly handsome, passionate, and took better care of him than anyone he'd ever been with. How was any of this possible?
"Are you jealous because you have feelings for me, Dick?" Tim finally blurted out, and the heat that immediately appeared on his cheeks had nothing to do with the mug he was gripping far too tightly. He could only hope that asking wouldn't upset Jason. But he needed to know. If that was what was causing everything. They only way he could repair things was if he knew the entire truth. And Tim did struggle to let new information go when all he wanted to do was dissect it to see how he could have missed it. It was the detective in him.
“I know, I know that.” Dick replied as Jason started defending himself with no bite in his words, only an apologetic understanding, which he turned to Tim as the younger continued explaining. It was difficult to keep the envy off his expression as he listened, but he did it, did his best to steady the sour squeeze around his heart, now knowing the intimate details of what he’d interrupted.
It made sense. They all had a thing with danger, with their addiction to adrenaline and that sixth sense for trouble. They liked playing with fire, and who wouldn’t want to lean into that twisted desire every once in a while, when they were all birds of prey? It was so easy to imagine how it would feel to pin someone like Tim into a corner, to take apart someone so put together. He could also understand the thrill of running, the powerful, relentless heat that was Jason. Not to mention, he loved nothing more than being close with his brothers and to experience Jason’s loyalty when he snarled at the rest of the world, to have Tim let him behind that impenetrable shield.
“I get it, trust me, I do. I know that Jason’s—”
He started to reply, but then his words were cut off and he was left staring at Tim, who called him out so hard that he felt like a deer in headlights. As if his own admission hadn’t been enough, he now had the beam of a flashlight pointed directly at him.
Silence stretched out between them. Dick’s own mug was frozen mid-air where he was leaning back on his other hand. Slowly, he cleared his throat and straightened, lowering his drink to the coffee table. His gaze was a little apprehensive as it drifted to Jason.
“...yeah.” The word felt like treason in his mouth, like betrayal, but both admitting and not admitting to it would be betrayal. Wasn’t it obvious, he wanted to ask? Why else would he insist on staying with Tim for a whole fucking week in this cesspit of a city he wanted to get away from? Why else would he have lost a grip on himself so badly that he had hurt Jason?
“It’s okay. Seriously. I’m only saying it to explain why I acted like that earlier. I’m sorry, it made me overprotective.” The smile that softened his expression was small, a little sad, but genuine. He leaned forward and spoke to both of them, brown eyes warm as he looked at two of his most important people cuddled together. “I mean it. It doesn’t matter, all I want is for you two to be happy together. That would make me happy.”
He frowned a little at Tim's casual acceptance of all responsibility. It wasn't true, after all. Tim hadn't had to talk him into anything other than just accepting that he could enjoy something like that without letting himself get too lost in it. They ran because they both enjoyed it, not because just Tim did. Jason just had more issues about it.
He shifted a little, opening his mouth to tell Tim just that...and then the conversation was pushing past and he was a little blindsided by Tim calling out Dick. And Dick admitting the jealousy? He blinked, brow arching as he tried to follow along, some of his mental upheaval from earlier easing in favor of his confusion.
"Wha-Wait. Are you fucking telling me that you electrocuted me because you like Tim?" He sputtered a little, but it wasn't an angry sound or even an irritated sound. "What the fuck, Richard? Did you ever stop to think to maybe just ask him out for some coffee? You hit my kidney, you asshole. I'm gunna piss pink for a week."
He pulled back the arm that had been loosely holding Tim around the waist, rubbing at the bruise he could already feel forming before he stretched out to grab his minty drink. He sipped at it, completely unbothered by the fact that he'd literally just suggested that Dick ask his boyfriend out for coffee.
"Mm. Fuck you for being able to find these, by the way. I haven't seen them in forever."
"Jason!" Tim snapped as his cheeks burned, unsure if he was more annoyed by the pink piss comment or that he'd drop things on Dick so casually like he'd have let any person off the street sniff around Tim. Not that he was against the idea of going on a date with Dick, just that he at the very least hoped Jason wanted him to be selective on who he said yes to.
When the arm around him retreated, he set down his hot chocolate and eased himself up from the couch. There was almost an electricity to the ice blue of his eyes as they gazed up at Dick, and he approached slowly like one might a wounded bird. "I've had feelings for you ever since I was just a little kid. I wouldn't abandon Jason for anyone, but maybe you could... share?" His long, dark eyelashes fluttered at the thought. This was absolutely not a time to dwell on what a turn on the idea was, even if he was technically still just a horny teenager.
There were already plans forming in his head. Tim was ever the strategist, and it wouldn't be hard to make the whole thing work if he played his cards right. Jason absolutely used to have a crush on Dick, might even still--who didn't, after all? If he could ease the two of them together the right way, they might be able to genuinely fall for each other. Which would end the stupid fights (though probably not the bickering, that was never going to end) and Tim could have two people he deeply cared for, that also cared for him, and he each other. The three of them understood each other in a way no one else could. It made sense.
He stopped in front of Dick and held out a hand to him. "I won't be angry if you don't want to, but... would it really hurt to try?"
It was whiplash—this whole, entire thing. Dick had been stunned into silence before. He’d been shocked, thrown off-balance, taken hits that knocked the wind out of him but none of it really compared to this. Not the part where Jason called him out for kidney damage (hah—he’s seen Jason take bullets quieter than this), not the casual suggestion of coffee, and not even the fact that Tim had feelings.
The part that knocked him over was the suggestion of sharing, the way Tim fluttered his lashes at it, that sent Dick’s mind reeling with a sudden flood of possibilities, like it could really just work. He stared at that outstretched hand and toyed with the idea of actually believing that it wouldn’t hurt to try.
“I sort of imagined something like this a hundred times but I told myself it could never happen.” His voice came out a little hoarse, maybe a little too honest as he looked from Tim’s hand to Jason, who casually sipped his hot cocoa on the couch, then back to Tim’s eyes. Slowly, he took Tim’s hand, stared at their joined fingers for a beat too long.
“You two…have always had a way of turning my world upside down.” He looked at Jason again. “Jay? I—don’t wanna screw things up for either of you, I meant what I said.” But the hope was clear in his eyes, in the warm, molten chocolate hue. Yes, he heard how easily Jason suggested that Dick take Tim out on a date, but even still, he wanted assurance. The idea of sharing a lover was a foreign one to Dick, but it didn’t feel wrong when he imagined that it would be with Jason, someone both he and Tim trusted with their whole lives.
“We can both see Tim sometimes. I'd never try to take him away from you, we’ll work it out.” Because there was no way Jason also wanted him too…right?
He would have been scandalized to know how casual Tim honestly thought he was being, but he wasn't a mind reader and that snap of his name only earned a short lived smirk and a shrug of one shoulder. He opened his mouth to defend himself, but then Tim was sliding off his lap and Jason sucked in a soft breath as he watched the two most important people in his life come together.
Something pinged in his chest, but it wasn't jealousy. 'Compersion' wasn't a word he'd had in his vocabulary until he'd spent time in the League, but it was an emotion he'd always been familiar with. Even before, when he'd been scrambling to survive on his own on the streets, he'd never begrudged others in his situation a hot meal or a safe place to stay. Staring down at pictures of Tim as Robin had hurt because Bruce had replaced him so easily, but it was Talia who'd coaxed that hurt into jealousy. And now, watching Dick reach up to take Tim's hand...he smiled around his mug of cocoa.
"He's loved you even before I did, Goldie. Fuck, look at his face. He's fucking radiant right now. Why the hell would I have a problem seeing him so happy?" He arched a brow, giving Dick a look that very much said 'don't be stupid'. "Just because he loves you doesn't mean he likes me any less. That isn't how emotions work. I thought you were supposed to be the 'well adjusted' one?"
It was true, too. Tim's smile was enough to brighten the room around them, making the moment seem a lot less angsty and drab. It felt right, to get to hold Dick's hand like this. He decided to help himself to Dick's lap, settling in and perching on his legs as though he had a right to be there. Wasn't rude or rough about it, just confident in what he was doing. After all, if he didn't have the right to, who did?
Jason spoke again. It would have been easy to look past what he said about loving Dick, but Tim had always been one to pick up on the smallest detail and hold onto it with the jaws of a bulldog. There was a chance this could make the whole thing a lot easier, and at the very least it was time to plant the seed of an idea. He looked positively sly as he leaned in to stage whisper to Dick with his hand cupped by his own lips. "We could share him, too. If you want."
Tim gave his boyfriend a conspiratory look over his shoulder, then quieted his voice so that he was actually whispering when he turned back to Dick's ear. He was acting like a bit of a minx, but it was fun. "I bet if you kissed me, and then I asked him to join us, he would. He likes you too, Dick. I can tell." The two of them were lucky Tim was both smart and cunning enough to try to pull them off, honestly. They'd both be lost without him. This was totally selfless and not at all because he wanted to be squished between the two hottest men on the planet. Tim was a saint.
Dick’s eyes narrowed only slightly at Jason’s tone, at the no duh cadence of words as if it were so obvious, but before he was able to formulate any sort of response, Tim slid into his lap and short-circuited his thoughts. His eyes widened at it, but Tim did look positively radiant, positively pleased as he stage whispered what Dick thought was a downright mastermind move.
To share Jason? How that made him feel became obvious on his face, his warm gaze tracing over Jason’s form on the couch, the barely-there parting of his lips giving way to a breath sighed out with a little quiver at the end, as if he was being allowed to imagine and to have what he didn’t even know he wanted. How could Tim tell? How did Tim know he’d feel this way as soon as the suggestion was put into his head? He wasn’t blind—he could see that Jason was hot as hell, and the past hour he spent knowing that Tim and Jason were together had put all sorts of images into his head. Tim’s words stroked fire into them and flared them alive like a dream he perhaps never allowed himself to truly have.
Maybe this was a dream—in which case Dick should let himself fully play it out. Tim’s whisper sent a shudder down his spine, one that his lapful of that warm, soft, sexy body would be able to feel. There really was nothing to do but go with Tim’s plan. He couldn’t resist it if he tried, and besides, Tim’s plans were ninety-nine percent correct all of the time, anyway.
So his arms wrapped around Tim’s waist to pull him closer and a barely-there hum of a groan pooled in the back of his throat as he sought out his baby bird’s mouth.
“Like…this?”
Warm words against Tim’s soft lips before he sealed them together with a hand splaying broad at Tim’s back.
His breath caught in his throat when Tim's lithe frame settled so confidently on Dick's lap, Jason's mug keeping the sound quiet even as his eyes traced the unbelievably sexy sight in front of him. They fit together just as easy as breathing and Jason's gaze turned a little hungry as he watched Dick's hands settled over narrow hips.
Dick's big, gentle hands, so strong and skillful. Blue tips flashing just as much as that cocky grin....
He scalded his tongue on the overly large gulp of cocoa and he focused on the little pain to keep himself from giving himself away. His body had always been slower to react that most and for once that was a benefit as Tim leaned in for that stage whisper against Dick's ear, but even the sudden break of the previous mood did very little to stop the blush that spread over his cheeks at that suggestion.
"Timbers..." He'd meant it to be gentle reproach, a quiet plea to not make Dick uncomfortable by suggestion something like that....but then Dick's eyes darkened and the words were forgotten as he shivered under that look. He was going to make their little mastermind pay for this. Later. When he wasn't watching his own personal wet dreams kiss just out of arm's reach of him.
Someone in the room whined, low and needy...and it just might have been Jason.
Tim knew what he was doing. Being with Jason had helped wash away his shyness, gave him opportunities to be sexy without it being a mask he put on for an undercover disguise. Anytime he'd been bold, he was rewarded for it. But Jason could never have known it would lead to something like this--Tim seducing Dick and pulling his boyfriend into the mix, too. And here he was, getting another reward. It emboldened him.
A sweet sound of his own left him when their lips met, pleased and eager. That brief meeting of the lips was quickly deepened, because even Tim could get a little greedy now and then. He curled their tongues together slowly, white hot sparks of pleasure vibrating beneath his skin at the sensation. He'd spent plenty of nights imagining what it would feel like to kiss Dick. Nothing he imagined could have held a candle to the real thing. Instead of sating the simmering passion inside of Tim, it seemed to ignite it entirely.
Then he heard the whine. It would be a terrible thing to neglect Jason, wouldn't it? Tim pressed a few breathless kisses to Dick's lips before he finally leaned back. His eyes opened slowly, heated gaze locked onto where his boyfriend was sitting. They'd agreed to share Tim. They'd agreed to share Jason. Still, there was one more little thing...
"Jay, come here." His smile was positively coquettish, his voice sweet like honey. "Don't you think we should show Dickie how grateful we are for all of the love he gives us?" Then came a pout, just as playful as the glint in his gaze. "If you keep acting like that, he might think you don't want him as badly as I do. We both know that's not true." Sure, maybe there would be some retribution for his scheming later. Tim was absolutely not worried about that.
Dick had thought about kissing Tim more times than he was proud of—and too many of those times were more inappropriate than not. It’d be in the chaos, where his mind would layer on images. Sometimes, it’d be during the quiet stretches, after a long night when the road between Bludhaven and Gotham went on for far too long. Other times, he’d catch a look, hear a sharp, brilliant observation, feel the brush of fingers as they passed gear between them and wonder. Want. But it was the kind of want he buried deep and never dared act on. Tim was too important, too young, too smart for him—and then, somehow, he was here, kissing Dick like it wasn’t the first time he had imagined it either.
That first press of lips was sweet, but it deepened fast. Tim made a quiet, eager sound, pleased and hungry and the heat of it sparked down Dick’s spine. Tim’s tongue curled greedy and deliberate and sure against his, like he knew exactly what he was doing and Dick could only respond the same way. He kissed like he fought and like he loved—all in. Steady. Giving. He let Tim take his time, met him with groundedness, but gave back with the kind of care that he had always shown Tim.
He might’ve stayed locked in that moment longer even, letting it stretch out until it turned molten between them, but then a whine came from behind them, low and wanting, from a voice he knew in his bones.
Jason.
The sound of it only lit something deeper before he felt Tim pull back just enough with a few last lingering kisses. Dick nearly chased him. His fingers splayed at Tim’s jaw, keeping contact there and he turned too to catch Jason’s gaze. The weight of it hit just as hard. Dick wanted him, too. He’d felt it before, sure, but now it landed real and full-bodied and undeniable, flaring to life with the smooth, coy words falling like silk from Tim’s kiss-swollen lips. Dick looked back at Tim, at the little mastermind he was, all kissed raw like that, eyes darkly sparkling with mischief and heat like that.
Slowly, his gaze slid back to Jason, the chocolate of his eyes dark and molten and sweet like their hot cocoa. Jason was all coiled tension and quiet hunger. And Dick wanted that all.
“You gonna keep him waiting, Jay?” he said, voice rough with the heat pooling in his gut, rough with the swoop of a dive, of leaping off a skyscraper right into the unknown.
It wasn't him that had made that sound. It couldn't have been. His voice didn't do things like that. It had to have been Tim. Beautiful, devastating Tim with his sharp eyes and coy grin, foxlike and devious even as Dick's fingers curled around that sharp jaw. Kiss reddened lips pulled into an exaggerated pout, invitation dripping from his words and Jason gripped his mug tighter as someone in the room let out a soft, shuddering breath of air.
Not him, of course. It was too soft, too needy, too desperate of a sound to have ever come from him. Dick, maybe? Dick, with his warm honey eyes and hungry expression. Dick, with one arm wrapped around Tim's slim body to keep the younger man securely in place, even while the other still held his boyfriend's face. Tim's voice had been playful and flirty, but Dick's ran across his ears like sex and promise and Jason couldn't even try to deny the way his stomach was fluttering like a living thing.
They were a sight, the two of them. Two marble beauties made flesh to haunt his dreams, their bodies fitting together in a way that was sinfully perfect. There was no room over there for him. His bulk was cumbersome compared to their sleek perfection. His scars would be ugly, the worst kind of shock distraction from a moment that was as beautiful as this. He would spoil them, the picture they made....
But then Dick stopped questioning and just told and his body moved without his conscious thought. The mug was hastily set aside, the coffee table pushed a little out of place as he crossed the small space between them on his knees instead of taking the time to stand up properly first. And that sound? That bitten off groan?
That had come from him and he couldn't even try to deny it as he closed off the space against Tim's back, bowing his head to bury his face against his boyfriend's slender neck.
"You-" he cut himself off, clearing his throat a little before trying again. "You two are so fucking pretty, you know that? 's not fair."
His boyfriend's immediate obedience to Dick's command was no surprise at all to Tim, and fortunately for Jason, he was smart enough to understand why his own demand hadn't received the same immediacy of a response. There was no question that Tim wanted him, but the second Robin would want to be absolutely sure about Dick before he risked genuine vulnerability. It was easy enough to simply be generous and let go of it despite his distaste for his instructions being ignored. This time.
Especially when that strong, warm body pressed against his back. Tim's pretty eyelashes fluttered at the sensation of being trapped between two huge, muscular bodies. They dwarfed him a little, almost made him look delicate in comparison despite how hard he worked on his own build. A fact that should have irritated him far more than it did.
Instead, his mind was on how the two of them had fought earlier. Over him. They could start again at any minute, couldn't they? Even though they'd just admitted to wanting each other, too? Didn't that make it Tim's job to satisfy them both to the best of his abilities? Otherwise, it could be dangerous--a highly capable fighter on either side of him trying to get at the other. His thoughts weren't necessarily reflecting the reality of the situation, but holy shit was he getting off on the idea. Which might have said a little bit about his mental state, but eh. There were worse vices.
With how close he'd fit himself onto Dick's lap, there was little doubt he'd be able to feel the way Tim's cock hardened against him. He didn't try to hide it or shy away from it. Let Dick see exactly what even this much was doing to him.
The youngest's slender fingers reached back to grab for Jason's hand, guiding it to press against Dick's side. Encouraging touch felt important, establishing it as something he wanted. Tim wasn't the most naturally dominant but had sharpened leadership skills. If he needed to take charge he was capable of doing so in subtle ways. Especially if he closed his eyes and slipped into his Red Robin persona. That gave him real confidence.
It took a fair amount to break him out of his need to be in control, anyway. Few people were brave enough to try to wrestle it away from him.
His reddened lips pressed a feather-light kiss right where the collar of Dick's shirt met his neck and Tim smiled against the skin there. Then he hummed in response to Jason's words, an acknowledgement and an agreement in one. They were surely a sight, the three of them. "I want the two of you to absolutely ruin me." His cheeks flushed a little darker as he pushed himself to voice the thoughts spinning through his mind. "But we don't have to do anything tonight, if you two don't want to..." And the trap was set.
His voice had been low, and he hadn’t meant it as a command—not exactly, but Jason—fuck—Jason obeyed it, practically scrambled across the room in something that was not quite submission, but something deeper. It hit Dick like a wave that of course Jason would answer that way. Of course he would come to them as soon as Dick cracked that door open. If that… then what?
There was the ache of wonder that pooled behind his ribs, but the thought dissolved as Jason reached them and that broad frame, solid, steady, draped over Tim like armour. His breath caught, lips parting in a low groan as he felt Tim pressed tighter into him in an instant, hips flush so Dick felt the shape of him, hard and wanting, Jason’s weight behind his own. The sound Jason made, needy and hot, filled him with a rush so visceral it was almost dizzying.
They looked obscene, the two of them, he didn’t even know where to start, but Tim, the genius he was, solved it for him, catching Jason’s hand and pressing both their palms to his side like he belonged to the two of them now. It made Dick shiver, caught between the press of that warm palm and the soft heat of Tim’s mouth at his neck. Those words were like a strike of a match, igniting all that gasoline already pooled everywhere around them. Dick felt it burn up every shred of resistance inside him, every scrap of hesitation.
"Fuck," he whispered, his own eyes shutting for a second as his hand slid around Tim and Jason to find the base of Jason’s spine. His eyes opened slow, thick with haze as his other hand slid to Jason’s jaw, fingers gentle to coax him to look up.
"Jay," he murmured, voice heated, thick. "Tim just told us what he wants." His thumb brushed gently across Jason’s cheek. "What about you? What do you want?"
His breath caught on the next words, thoughts stuck on what that could mean, what it could be like to ruin Tim..
"Think we should show him what it looks like when we play nice?" His voice dropped further, low and careful as he leaned close to Jason's mouth. He felt the way the movement made Tim arch, pressing forward against him, back against Jason. He slid his hand into Jason's hair, cradling the back of his head as finally, he pulled Jason toward his mouth in an open mouthed taste that left Dick needing more. His next words pressed against Jason's lips.
Consent was important. Probably the most important to Jason, in all honesty. It was why he occasionally dropped so hard after a chase scene with Tim because he had consent and Tim wouldn't hesitate to break his nose to get out of a hold....but they didn't exactly talk about that consent in the moment. With Tim pressed against a wall, Jason's gloved fingers in his mouth to keep his sounds to a minimum as Jason fucked him hard enough to leave brick scrapes on unprotected body parts, there wasn't a whole lot of time for communication.
But even so, it wasn't just the consent issue that caused him to jerk into motion. It was simply Dick. He loved his boyfriend, but he'd loved his brother from almost the word 'go'. Even in the beginning, when Dick couldn't stand him, he'd watched the former Robin every chance he could. Learned from him, well before Dick started to actually train him. Dick could tell him to go lay down in front of Joker and expose his belly to the madman and there was a non-zero chance that Jason would listen.
Tim's touch to pull his hand forward earned a sharp inhale of breath, but then his palm was curving around the warmth of Dick's side and Jason buried his face in against the younger man's neck as he shivered. "Fuck, Princess...the filth that comes out of that pretty little mouth..." His voice was ragged and low, just for Tim as he pressed himself in closer so that his boyfriend could feel the heaviness of his body. Which did mean that Tim would be able to feel the little jerk that ran through him when Dick's hand slid around his back. He looked up, lower lip caught between his teeth, his eyes focusing on the eldest of them before he was being kissed.
The world around them fell away. There was nothing but Tim and Dick and hands and lips and...he whined when Dick pulled away, his teeth clicking on nothing as he threatened to bite that plush lower lip.
So it seemed Jason and Dick could get along, judging by the way that they kissed. Tim didn't really get to watch, being trapped between the two, but it didn't take his genius intellect to figure out what they were up to. He let his eyes flutter shut and focused on the huskiness of their voices as they spoke. It took every ounce of self control that he had not to squirm between their two bodies impatiently, but logic told him there was no need to rush. The satisfaction would be greater if they didn't, actually.
It was already warm, being trapped between two bodies. But Jason's question set fire to the very blood that ran through his veins, because Tim knew exactly why he asked. Their shared little secret of just how much he liked getting rimmed, to the point that he'd meticulously wash himself when he knew they were likely to get intimate. Just on the chance that Jason might be in the mood to indulge him. And tonight was no exception to that. Tim's fingers trembled where they gripped at Dick's t-shirt. "I was extremely thorough. Why? Were you thinking about eating me out?" There was faux innocence to his tone, like there wasn't a wicked smirk curled onto his lips.
"Maybe Dick will let me blow him while you do..." Tim gave Dick a sweet little nuzzle against the skin he had been kissing then pulled back so he could look up into the first Robin's eyes. "...if I promised to be good and swallow?" He'd never quite mastered the puppy dog eyes that Dick had a talent for, but there was genuine hope shining through regardless. "But we can't neglect Jay. Do you think you'd be able to go more than once, Dickie? You'll probably need to fuck him for him to be really satisfied. Otherwise it would be really selfish of me to insist you come in my mouth." Tim made a show of sulking at the idea of being denied, only just fighting off the urge to smile again. If he weren't so busy pulling the strings he'd pat himself on the back for doing such a good job of it.
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By now Tim knew Jason well enough to be able to tell that the pain he felt wasn't just physical. The youngest of the three caught the escrima Dick was gesturing with and clenched his jaw. He knew the risk he was taking, that Dick might strike at him out of a reflex without really meaning to. Tim didn't care. He needed to calm both of them down. "Shut up and let me talk." Now he was speaking to both of them, and he stepped forward to try to get between them again.
"Dick, I've forgiven Jason for the things that he's done to me in the past, but I also know it's unfair to ask you to do that if you're not ready." After all, Dick had been there after each time Jason had nearly killed him, had seen Tim have to recover in the hospital repeatedly. That can really mess with a person. "And Jason was worried about you thinking it was disgusting because we were adopted by the same man. He and I weren't raised together, we've never seen each other that way." Certainly there would be plenty of people that judged them anyway, but Tim just... didn't want to believe that Dick was that sort of person.
"You mean so much to both of us. More than you even know, Dick, I--" Tim paused for a second, then glanced back over towards Jason. "Just tell me why you're angry."
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His brows drew together as his mouth shut and Tim spoke, though his gaze remained on Jason, not out of defence or suspicion, but because there was that telltale quiver of Jason’s mouth. It wasn’t until Tim shared Jason’s fear that Dick was turning his gaze to Tim, brows knitting closer together in a something akin to confusion.
All those days returning to Tim’s side after Jason aired his grievances and suddenly his actions were in question. He was speechless for a beat as he looked to Jason then back to Tim again.
“I—had no idea.” Sure, yes, he had tossed in the odd tease about Tim hiding love bites, but that hasn’t been all it was. There was more bruising than that, and Dick had been worried for Tim. Then to see Jason run Tim down and shove him against a wall triggered an emotion that went beyond thinking—fear.
Putting how he felt into words was a challenge when his mind still struggled to tamp down the bitter jealousy that was starting to rise up his throat. As rare as it was for him to feel it, he hated it, clenched his jaw against it and gently tugged his escrima out of Tim’s hand. He sheathed the weapon away into its holster at the small of his back
“I wouldn’t judge you for it.” That he even had to explain it hurt. His anger sizzled out and the heat in his voice was replaced by something quiet, raw like a fresh wound. “I’m—glad you’ve worked things out. I wish either of you would’ve just told me and I would’ve stayed somewhere else. You wouldn’t need to sneak around behind my back.”
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Tim saved him from having to speak right that very second and he huffed out a grateful sound as he used the time to haul himself up off his knees. There was a fine tremble that ran through his body that had nothing to do with having Tim melt in his arms after a long chase...but honestly, that wasn't a bad thing. Not now.
Not after...
His gaze flicked to Tim and the lenses hid his eyes by not the guilty line of his lips. Because yes, the brother thing had been a concern....but it wasn't the only one. It wasn't even the most pressing. He just hadn't put voice to his most basic fear because he knew that Tim would have tried to make him feel better about it. And he didn't deserve to feel better about it. Not really.
Yet it bubbled in his belly and he scrubbed at his face with his hands before it finally spilled out.
"You fucking saw us macking on a rooftop and your first thought was to electrocute me, 'Wing. How the fuck is that 'not judging'? We had lunch together! We traded food, bad mouthed B, laughed even! And still, the first thing you do when you see me pinning Red is to get me off of him with force?" He huffed, running his hands through his curls before slumping back against the wall he'd had Tim pinned up against.
"I know I'm a monster, I just didn't think that you saw me as one, too. Jesus..."
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Unfortunately, all of that was drown out by Jason losing control at the exact same moment. His own anger clawed at his chest, burning harshly up the back of his throat. They weren't listening to him. Dick pushing him out of the way, Jason trying to start shit when it was finally cooling off. His hands clenched at his sides, sharp blue eyes more icy than usual. At first he had been a little angry at Dick for overreacting, but now he was well and truly pissed off at both of them.
Not to mention Jason calling himself a monster made him want to scream, because it wasn't true. Tim told him that repeatedly, tried to get it through his head that the pit had a lot to do with their earlier interactions and they were past that now, but Jason didn't appear to accept that as an answer. It was a work in progress, but at the moment felt like nothing other than another example of people not listening to him.
Did either of them even care that Tim was standing right there? The more heated it got, the less it seemed to even be about him at all. Just airing grievances at each other. His teeth ground together in his mouth and his hand reached for his grapple.
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"I don't, Jason, and you know it. Everything that we did earlier this week is still real." He was trying his best to stay level, to be patient, but irritation clearly underlined his tone, especially when he glanced back at Tim and saw him reaching for the grapple.
"Don't," he warned, gloved hand reaching out to push Tim's hand back down instead.
"Look." A sigh wove through the word. "I interrupted, okay? I'm sorry. I reacted before I figured out what was going on and I shouldn't have. I got--" He swallowed hard before continuing. "Scared." Both hands floated up to his sides, palms open and vulnerable.
"I know it's in the past but I couldn't get the thought of Tim bleeding out outta my head and I just reacted." That wasn't the whole story, but the whole story would never see the light of day, especially not now that something good was happening between them. "So I'll let you two get back to it now, alright?"
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Tim could cut the part of him that was half crazed and manipulated to hell and back and put it in a locked box in the back of a mental closet...but that wasn't a skill that Jason had. Especially because he'd lived it. He had those memories stained over his mind in big splashes of bright colors. He remembered that rage, still battled with it on bad days, but he also remembered that the Pit had never made him do anything.
Everything that he'd done, he'd done it on his own. He'd had shitty intel and the Pit had stripped him of nearly all filter between impulse and action...but he'd meant the things that he'd done. And then, years later, to find himself enjoying the rush of chasing after Tim and taking? Even when it was so willingly offered, there was just enough remnants there to make him hate himself just a little when he stopped to think about it.
Normally, he'd be able to rationalize the guilt away. Roll over to wrap Tim in his arms, pillow his head against the other man's sternum while clever fingers trailed in his hair to bring him back from that dark edge. The steady, heavy ba-bam of Tim's heartbeat under his ear was better than a metronome to ease him out of that primal headspace that the chase put him in and back into his own skin.
To be yanked back with pain and panic? He was spiraling. Hard. He hadn't been trying to intentionally start a fight, but between the flash of anger and the sudden protective wall between him and his prey had jump started the guilt into a rolling boil in his chest. Tim's jaw tightened in what he recognized as anger and Jason...flinched back. It was subtle, just a half step back from the other two, but it was there.
"Tim-" His voice cracked and he cleared his throat to stop himself from doing something stupid. "Fuck, just...please don't leave. Don't. Just...give me a minute, okay?"
Dick's words fed the guilt in his chest and he nodded, lips tight as he turned his head to look away from his brother and his boyfriend.
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But his irritation burst right back into the picture at the idea that Dick could walk away from this and he and Jason would shrug it off and fuck there on the roof like it hadn't happened. Turns out the whole thing had been a bit of a mood killer. Shocking. "We won't be getting back to anything." There's an almost laugh to his tone, but there's no joy or amusement to be found in it. Just incredulousness. Did Dick really believe he was that heartless?
People didn't tend to flinch away from Tim. He wasn't physically imposing, especially not to people capable of snapping him in half. Perhaps that's what made him dangerous, though, that so many of his best blows had nothing to do with muscle mass. Still, while his anger was akin to a volcano--silently bubbling under the surface for far longer than anyone would ever realize, until the pressure was too much and it was released--he wasn't especially cruel, either.
So when Jason spoke, his eyes immediately hit the floor and his own chest tightened. How the hell had this turned into such a mess? It had all gotten out of hand so fast, and nothing he said seemed to help fix what was wrong. Leaving would be the fastest way away from all of the overwhelming feelings, but that was wrong of him, too. "I'm not going to leave." Tim finally said to the two of them, fighting the urge to wrap his arms around himself for some sort of comfort.
His gaze flicked back upwards, right to where Dick was standing. "But if you are... Go back to the Nest? I'm still going to want to talk to you." About this. About everything. He'd hurt Dick without meaning to, and the thought of the two of them parting on bad terms without knowing how long it would last had panic wrapping around his heart in a firm grip. It took him right back to his first days of Red Robin, when he was completely, utterly alone. Tim never wanted to go back to that place again.
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All Dick knew was he didn’t want to see his two baby brothers hurting. He just wanted to make it better. Leaving was always the easiest thing to do. Sometimes, it was the right thing to do, but right now? Now, as hard as this was, as pissed as he was at Jason for lashing his emotions out and at Tim for threatening retreat, he knew that he did this, and he couldn’t just run away.
“I’ll be okay,” he replied to Tim, gaze raw as he met those wary blue eyes. He knew that Tim wanted to fix it as much as he did, and he didn’t even know half the story. Dick just needed some time to straighten out the tangles of his own emotions and he would be fine. He would be fine.
“Jason…” he started, voice level now. “Why don’t you go with Tim back to the nest?” Jason’s words contained so much disorientated pain that had to do with so much more than Dick’s escrima blow. He took a step toward Jason. “It’s pretty late already. Call it a night. I have something to wrap up then I’ll go find you, alright?” He looked back at Tim, knew that Tim wouldn’t want him leaving on a note like this. Then, he looked at Jason again, knew that there was a lot he still needed to say, to explain, including a proper apology, but he couldn’t blame Jason if now was not the right time.
“I’ll meet you both back at the nest in an hour or so. Promise.”
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Time to put himself back together.
The timing, the places, the intensity, all of that changed with each of their romps, but the routine of it was always the same. Tim would run, Jason would chase...and when he caught his prize, he'd take him apart as he wanted. And afterwards, they'd put each other back together.
So to have that routine so suddenly disrupted was jarring in the worst possible way. Add in the fact that Dick could look at him and think that he could be capable of actually taking advantage of someone like that and, well, his nerves were a little shot. But even as off kilter and wrong footed as he was, Tim moved to wrap his arms around himself and Jason stepped forward to lightly rest a gloved hand at the small of the younger boy's back. Because seeing Tim hurting was a physical pain to him.
Because as jarring as it was for Jason, it had to be just as jarring for Tim.
"Hey...Breathe for me, baby bird. I'm right here. Dickhead isn't going anywhere. Come on. Let's...let's all go back to the Nest. I'll make some hot cocoa and we can, you know, talk or some shit." The last was aimed more at Dick than at Tim, but the anger in his eyes was already starting to fade.
He could deal with his self-hatred later. After he'd taken care of Tim. As long as Tim didn't call him for it, anyway.
"Come on, Dick. We both know you weren't doing shit, anyway." A play for bravado, but it fell about a mile short. He's fine.
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So he pressed back against the hand that settled against him, closed his eyes and took a slow breath to calm the tidal wave of emotions that threatened to spill over. Jason knew as well as anyone how much Tim hated feeling like he'd lost control of a situation. Some oxygen would certainly help.
When his eyes opened again, he turn his head to give Jason a small, obedient nod. "All right. Let's go." They could handle this like adults. It wasn't going to be easy for them--they all shared a mentor that very much avoided any kind of emotional vulnerability whenever possible--but they were capable as long as they had the capacity.
Tim took one step away, then paused and looked back at Dick again. His eyebrows furrowed, lips in a thin line. "I'm serious, N. You'd better join us when you're done with whatever it is you need to do. Don't leave me there worrying about you." It wasn't meant in any playful sort of way, nor was he pleading. Honestly, the words probably came off as a bit of a threat. More than Tim ever had towards Dick, anyway. That wasn't usually the nature of their relationship. Clearly, though, he was concerned that the eldest brother was going to take off. His abandonment issues always did manage to pop up in the most interesting of situations.
He looked back at Jason, grabbed for his grapple gun, and shot it at the next building over. Just like that, he was retreating back to the Nest. The only place in the world that gave him comfort now that Damian was always at the Manor.
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He refused to believe it. Refused to let it be, and the way both Jason and Tim asked him to return to the nest, as strange as their ways were, heartened him.
His breath sifted out in a sigh, and he nodded.
“Just gonna—get us something to go with the hot cocoa. Alright? I won’t be more than ten minutes behind you guys.” Tim was already off and Dick managed a pinched smile beneath the domino before watching Jason take off too.
He just needed a moment to breathe and collect himself, to make sure he didn’t show up again acting on anger and assumptions, to replay the exchange and gather his apologies as he picked up a collection of finger food for all of them. He didn’t have an appetite, but he needed the excuse because as Jason had already called out, he didn’t have anything urgent to do, anyway. He was only overstaying his visit to spend some time with family. Leave it to him to fuck it up like this.
When he stepped into the Nest, the sight that greeted him stopped him in his tracks. All at once, he felt he was intruding by witnessing an intimate moment reserved for two lovers, yet what he saw also filled his heart with so much warmth he could burst with it. For a long, long time, he doubted whether Tim and Jason would be able to peacefully exist in the same room together. The push and pull between them had taken up a lot of Dick’s time and caused him so much heartache. Now, to finally see his two closest brothers entwined together on the couch felt bittersweet. He caught himself thinking it and silently admonished himself for it. He should be happy. He needed to just be happy for them.
Wordlessly, he approached the coffee table and set the paper bag on it, and eased the tension on his mouth into a small smile.
“Don’t mind me. Just gonna get changed, alright? Be right back.” And he disappeared into the closet where he’d stashed a go bag.
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He almost reached out...but then Tim was agreeing and grappling off and Jason huffed a little as he shot Dick one last look before following his lover's smaller frame.
Back at the Nest, he'd changed quickly, forgoing a shower since he hadn't actually patrolled that night. The chase had worked up a sweat, but he knew that Tim liked to shower as soon as he got home. He itched to follow, to reassure himself that Tim was fine
(that he hadn't hurt him. hadn't bitten too hard or thrown him too hard against the wall. that he wasn't hiding an injury from the chase. that he wasn't scared of him after)
but he made himself move over to the little kitchenette to start the promised hot chocolate. They'd probably be more comfortable up in the actual apartment, but Jason didn't trust Dick not to say 'Well, they said the Nest and they're not here, so I guess I can just leave!' or something equally stupid and Bruce coded. He ended up bringing the three oversized mugs over to the little hang out spot that had probably been a place for Robin to invite his friends. While he was up and moving around, he grabbed the first aid kit as well.
There was no blood, but Jason wasn't entirely sure he could face the scar he'd left on Tim's throat or the bruises that colored it. He usually loved seeing his claim on the younger man, stroking it as they cuddled to watch tv or read....but his head wasn't in the best place and if Tim would let him, he'd bandage that slender throat. Just for the night. Just to give himself time to figure himself out without having a complete break down.
A partial one was bad enough.
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The slightly shiny scar on his neck was old. While many might have expected a perfect thin line where Jason had slashed his blade, it was instead marred in the center by getting shot through the throat. There were a lot of injuries that happened while he was Robin, none of them stood out more than the others to him. More importantly, he wasn't injured at all at the moment. Still, despite his lack of skill in emotional connection, he knew why Jason had gotten the kit and sat without complaint as his neck was wrapped.
His head lifted when Dick made an appearance, and the ball of ache in his chest unwound just a little. Tim took a long drink of the cocoa his boyfriend had handed to him and sank into the comfortable couch cushions. He also had no appetite, but that was hardly unusual for him.
There was a lot to say. He had no idea how he was going to say any of it. None of them had a ton of help learning how to handle situations like this during their formative teen years. He had done a lot of work on himself, tried really hard to better himself as a person so he could just go out there and be normal, but it was draining. Made him wonder if maybe that was why Bruce had stopped bothering as he'd gotten older.
But Tim Drake was not Bruce Wayne.
So while something in him was pleading to retreat, find somewhere on his own to process and block the rest of the world out, he stayed seated there on the couch with Jason and waited for Dick to be done changing.
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Though he also preferred to take a shower after patrol, he felt he had kept his brothers waiting for long enough. So he rinsed off his face and ran a hand through his hair, let out a slow, steadying breath and pulled on a t-shirt and a pair of loose sweats. He also had a small smile on when he returned, and decided to fold himself onto the rug in front of the coffee table, facing where Tim and Jason were snuggled together on the sofa. There was a beat where he just looked at them, his inquisitive gaze sweeping across Jason and Tim’s expressions.
He looked down at the untouched paper bag and pulled out a small assortment of snacks, including decadent chocolate chip cookies. There was already a mug of hot chocolate set out for him, sitting there still steaming on the table. He figured they’d been watching the time, predicting when to pour to keep it still warm when he arrived.
How sweet.
“Thought chocolate should go with chocolate,” he said, sighing after he sipped the hot chocolate, his nerves tensing through his shoulders before he let them drop. He caused this. He needed to own up and fix this, and no amount of sweets was going to make it better. So he steeled his gaze and started talking.
“I’m sorry. Tonight’s on me. I reacted without thinking. I just…assumed.” He paused, looked between his brothers. Finally, vulnerability creeped into his eyes, drawing his brows together. “I…guess it’s just been building all week. I had all these theories about what you were getting up to, Tim, and when I saw you on him, Jason, I got—scared. Mad.”
It hurt to admit. His eyes casted down to the mug of hot chocolate, and he said his next word softly. What did it matter anymore? They deserved to know.
“Jealous. I fucked up.”
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He was still tucked in close around Tim's smaller frame when Dick finally joined them. He didn't look up, kept his face hidden in the crook of Tim's shoulder as the eldest moved around the space. He tracked the sounds of Dick cleaning up and only when he could hear the soft footfalls of bare feet heading in their direction did he look up. He made a face at the immediate apology and Tim would be able to feel the line of tension that lanced up through him, but he didn't pull away.
"Stop. It-..it wasn't on you. It was a bitch move and way too fucking judgmental," he said, pointing a finger at their older brother to emphasis his point. "But it never would have happened if I had just let Tim tell you. So...it's on both of us." He sighed, letting a little bit of his hurt show on his face since he was safely tucked behind Tim so the younger couldn't see it without twisting. "I just..I need you to know that I'm not- I don't always-"
(I don't always hurt him. I'm not that kind of monster)
He shook his head and waved off the rest, the words not coming. Instead, he finally reached forward to pluck a small package of mint chocolates from the bag. He'd used to love the little candies when he'd been a kid and the fact that Dick had bought them made his stomach do a barrel roll. He wrapped his arms around Tim's torso so that he could open the bag without having to relinquish his hold on the smaller man. Two of the candies were dropped into his cocoa and he focused on stirring the melting sugar into the drink instead of the word 'jealous'.
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Then Dick admitted he was jealous. The word reverberated around in his skull, narrowing his world as he tried to process the very idea of it. It didn't really make sense at first. But Dick--he could have have been jealous of Tim because he wouldn't have been so rough with Jason--he was jealous of Jason. The idea that the two people he admired most nearly fought because they both wanted him stole the breath from his lungs. He was just Tim. Dorky, short, pain in the ass Tim. Dick was drop dead gorgeous, his mentor, and his idol. Jason was incredibly handsome, passionate, and took better care of him than anyone he'd ever been with. How was any of this possible?
"Are you jealous because you have feelings for me, Dick?" Tim finally blurted out, and the heat that immediately appeared on his cheeks had nothing to do with the mug he was gripping far too tightly. He could only hope that asking wouldn't upset Jason. But he needed to know. If that was what was causing everything. They only way he could repair things was if he knew the entire truth. And Tim did struggle to let new information go when all he wanted to do was dissect it to see how he could have missed it. It was the detective in him.
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It made sense. They all had a thing with danger, with their addiction to adrenaline and that sixth sense for trouble. They liked playing with fire, and who wouldn’t want to lean into that twisted desire every once in a while, when they were all birds of prey? It was so easy to imagine how it would feel to pin someone like Tim into a corner, to take apart someone so put together. He could also understand the thrill of running, the powerful, relentless heat that was Jason. Not to mention, he loved nothing more than being close with his brothers and to experience Jason’s loyalty when he snarled at the rest of the world, to have Tim let him behind that impenetrable shield.
“I get it, trust me, I do. I know that Jason’s—”
He started to reply, but then his words were cut off and he was left staring at Tim, who called him out so hard that he felt like a deer in headlights. As if his own admission hadn’t been enough, he now had the beam of a flashlight pointed directly at him.
Silence stretched out between them. Dick’s own mug was frozen mid-air where he was leaning back on his other hand. Slowly, he cleared his throat and straightened, lowering his drink to the coffee table. His gaze was a little apprehensive as it drifted to Jason.
“...yeah.” The word felt like treason in his mouth, like betrayal, but both admitting and not admitting to it would be betrayal. Wasn’t it obvious, he wanted to ask? Why else would he insist on staying with Tim for a whole fucking week in this cesspit of a city he wanted to get away from? Why else would he have lost a grip on himself so badly that he had hurt Jason?
“It’s okay. Seriously. I’m only saying it to explain why I acted like that earlier. I’m sorry, it made me overprotective.” The smile that softened his expression was small, a little sad, but genuine. He leaned forward and spoke to both of them, brown eyes warm as he looked at two of his most important people cuddled together. “I mean it. It doesn’t matter, all I want is for you two to be happy together. That would make me happy.”
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He shifted a little, opening his mouth to tell Tim just that...and then the conversation was pushing past and he was a little blindsided by Tim calling out Dick. And Dick admitting the jealousy? He blinked, brow arching as he tried to follow along, some of his mental upheaval from earlier easing in favor of his confusion.
"Wha-Wait. Are you fucking telling me that you electrocuted me because you like Tim?" He sputtered a little, but it wasn't an angry sound or even an irritated sound. "What the fuck, Richard? Did you ever stop to think to maybe just ask him out for some coffee? You hit my kidney, you asshole. I'm gunna piss pink for a week."
He pulled back the arm that had been loosely holding Tim around the waist, rubbing at the bruise he could already feel forming before he stretched out to grab his minty drink. He sipped at it, completely unbothered by the fact that he'd literally just suggested that Dick ask his boyfriend out for coffee.
"Mm. Fuck you for being able to find these, by the way. I haven't seen them in forever."
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When the arm around him retreated, he set down his hot chocolate and eased himself up from the couch. There was almost an electricity to the ice blue of his eyes as they gazed up at Dick, and he approached slowly like one might a wounded bird. "I've had feelings for you ever since I was just a little kid. I wouldn't abandon Jason for anyone, but maybe you could... share?" His long, dark eyelashes fluttered at the thought. This was absolutely not a time to dwell on what a turn on the idea was, even if he was technically still just a horny teenager.
There were already plans forming in his head. Tim was ever the strategist, and it wouldn't be hard to make the whole thing work if he played his cards right. Jason absolutely used to have a crush on Dick, might even still--who didn't, after all? If he could ease the two of them together the right way, they might be able to genuinely fall for each other. Which would end the stupid fights (though probably not the bickering, that was never going to end) and Tim could have two people he deeply cared for, that also cared for him, and he each other. The three of them understood each other in a way no one else could. It made sense.
He stopped in front of Dick and held out a hand to him. "I won't be angry if you don't want to, but... would it really hurt to try?"
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The part that knocked him over was the suggestion of sharing, the way Tim fluttered his lashes at it, that sent Dick’s mind reeling with a sudden flood of possibilities, like it could really just work. He stared at that outstretched hand and toyed with the idea of actually believing that it wouldn’t hurt to try.
“I sort of imagined something like this a hundred times but I told myself it could never happen.” His voice came out a little hoarse, maybe a little too honest as he looked from Tim’s hand to Jason, who casually sipped his hot cocoa on the couch, then back to Tim’s eyes. Slowly, he took Tim’s hand, stared at their joined fingers for a beat too long.
“You two…have always had a way of turning my world upside down.” He looked at Jason again. “Jay? I—don’t wanna screw things up for either of you, I meant what I said.” But the hope was clear in his eyes, in the warm, molten chocolate hue. Yes, he heard how easily Jason suggested that Dick take Tim out on a date, but even still, he wanted assurance. The idea of sharing a lover was a foreign one to Dick, but it didn’t feel wrong when he imagined that it would be with Jason, someone both he and Tim trusted with their whole lives.
“We can both see Tim sometimes. I'd never try to take him away from you, we’ll work it out.” Because there was no way Jason also wanted him too…right?
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Something pinged in his chest, but it wasn't jealousy. 'Compersion' wasn't a word he'd had in his vocabulary until he'd spent time in the League, but it was an emotion he'd always been familiar with. Even before, when he'd been scrambling to survive on his own on the streets, he'd never begrudged others in his situation a hot meal or a safe place to stay. Staring down at pictures of Tim as Robin had hurt because Bruce had replaced him so easily, but it was Talia who'd coaxed that hurt into jealousy. And now, watching Dick reach up to take Tim's hand...he smiled around his mug of cocoa.
"He's loved you even before I did, Goldie. Fuck, look at his face. He's fucking radiant right now. Why the hell would I have a problem seeing him so happy?" He arched a brow, giving Dick a look that very much said 'don't be stupid'. "Just because he loves you doesn't mean he likes me any less. That isn't how emotions work. I thought you were supposed to be the 'well adjusted' one?"
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Jason spoke again. It would have been easy to look past what he said about loving Dick, but Tim had always been one to pick up on the smallest detail and hold onto it with the jaws of a bulldog. There was a chance this could make the whole thing a lot easier, and at the very least it was time to plant the seed of an idea. He looked positively sly as he leaned in to stage whisper to Dick with his hand cupped by his own lips. "We could share him, too. If you want."
Tim gave his boyfriend a conspiratory look over his shoulder, then quieted his voice so that he was actually whispering when he turned back to Dick's ear. He was acting like a bit of a minx, but it was fun. "I bet if you kissed me, and then I asked him to join us, he would. He likes you too, Dick. I can tell." The two of them were lucky Tim was both smart and cunning enough to try to pull them off, honestly. They'd both be lost without him. This was totally selfless and not at all because he wanted to be squished between the two hottest men on the planet. Tim was a saint.
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To share Jason? How that made him feel became obvious on his face, his warm gaze tracing over Jason’s form on the couch, the barely-there parting of his lips giving way to a breath sighed out with a little quiver at the end, as if he was being allowed to imagine and to have what he didn’t even know he wanted. How could Tim tell? How did Tim know he’d feel this way as soon as the suggestion was put into his head? He wasn’t blind—he could see that Jason was hot as hell, and the past hour he spent knowing that Tim and Jason were together had put all sorts of images into his head. Tim’s words stroked fire into them and flared them alive like a dream he perhaps never allowed himself to truly have.
Maybe this was a dream—in which case Dick should let himself fully play it out. Tim’s whisper sent a shudder down his spine, one that his lapful of that warm, soft, sexy body would be able to feel. There really was nothing to do but go with Tim’s plan. He couldn’t resist it if he tried, and besides, Tim’s plans were ninety-nine percent correct all of the time, anyway.
So his arms wrapped around Tim’s waist to pull him closer and a barely-there hum of a groan pooled in the back of his throat as he sought out his baby bird’s mouth.
“Like…this?”
Warm words against Tim’s soft lips before he sealed them together with a hand splaying broad at Tim’s back.
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Dick's big, gentle hands, so strong and skillful. Blue tips flashing just as much as that cocky grin....
He scalded his tongue on the overly large gulp of cocoa and he focused on the little pain to keep himself from giving himself away. His body had always been slower to react that most and for once that was a benefit as Tim leaned in for that stage whisper against Dick's ear, but even the sudden break of the previous mood did very little to stop the blush that spread over his cheeks at that suggestion.
"Timbers..." He'd meant it to be gentle reproach, a quiet plea to not make Dick uncomfortable by suggestion something like that....but then Dick's eyes darkened and the words were forgotten as he shivered under that look. He was going to make their little mastermind pay for this. Later. When he wasn't watching his own personal wet dreams kiss just out of arm's reach of him.
Someone in the room whined, low and needy...and it just might have been Jason.
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A sweet sound of his own left him when their lips met, pleased and eager. That brief meeting of the lips was quickly deepened, because even Tim could get a little greedy now and then. He curled their tongues together slowly, white hot sparks of pleasure vibrating beneath his skin at the sensation. He'd spent plenty of nights imagining what it would feel like to kiss Dick. Nothing he imagined could have held a candle to the real thing. Instead of sating the simmering passion inside of Tim, it seemed to ignite it entirely.
Then he heard the whine. It would be a terrible thing to neglect Jason, wouldn't it? Tim pressed a few breathless kisses to Dick's lips before he finally leaned back. His eyes opened slowly, heated gaze locked onto where his boyfriend was sitting. They'd agreed to share Tim. They'd agreed to share Jason. Still, there was one more little thing...
"Jay, come here." His smile was positively coquettish, his voice sweet like honey. "Don't you think we should show Dickie how grateful we are for all of the love he gives us?" Then came a pout, just as playful as the glint in his gaze. "If you keep acting like that, he might think you don't want him as badly as I do. We both know that's not true." Sure, maybe there would be some retribution for his scheming later. Tim was absolutely not worried about that.
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That first press of lips was sweet, but it deepened fast. Tim made a quiet, eager sound, pleased and hungry and the heat of it sparked down Dick’s spine. Tim’s tongue curled greedy and deliberate and sure against his, like he knew exactly what he was doing and Dick could only respond the same way. He kissed like he fought and like he loved—all in. Steady. Giving. He let Tim take his time, met him with groundedness, but gave back with the kind of care that he had always shown Tim.
He might’ve stayed locked in that moment longer even, letting it stretch out until it turned molten between them, but then a whine came from behind them, low and wanting, from a voice he knew in his bones.
Jason.
The sound of it only lit something deeper before he felt Tim pull back just enough with a few last lingering kisses. Dick nearly chased him. His fingers splayed at Tim’s jaw, keeping contact there and he turned too to catch Jason’s gaze. The weight of it hit just as hard. Dick wanted him, too. He’d felt it before, sure, but now it landed real and full-bodied and undeniable, flaring to life with the smooth, coy words falling like silk from Tim’s kiss-swollen lips. Dick looked back at Tim, at the little mastermind he was, all kissed raw like that, eyes darkly sparkling with mischief and heat like that.
Slowly, his gaze slid back to Jason, the chocolate of his eyes dark and molten and sweet like their hot cocoa. Jason was all coiled tension and quiet hunger. And Dick wanted that all.
“You gonna keep him waiting, Jay?” he said, voice rough with the heat pooling in his gut, rough with the swoop of a dive, of leaping off a skyscraper right into the unknown.
“Come show me.”
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Not him, of course. It was too soft, too needy, too desperate of a sound to have ever come from him. Dick, maybe? Dick, with his warm honey eyes and hungry expression. Dick, with one arm wrapped around Tim's slim body to keep the younger man securely in place, even while the other still held his boyfriend's face. Tim's voice had been playful and flirty, but Dick's ran across his ears like sex and promise and Jason couldn't even try to deny the way his stomach was fluttering like a living thing.
They were a sight, the two of them. Two marble beauties made flesh to haunt his dreams, their bodies fitting together in a way that was sinfully perfect. There was no room over there for him. His bulk was cumbersome compared to their sleek perfection. His scars would be ugly, the worst kind of shock distraction from a moment that was as beautiful as this. He would spoil them, the picture they made....
But then Dick stopped questioning and just told and his body moved without his conscious thought. The mug was hastily set aside, the coffee table pushed a little out of place as he crossed the small space between them on his knees instead of taking the time to stand up properly first. And that sound? That bitten off groan?
That had come from him and he couldn't even try to deny it as he closed off the space against Tim's back, bowing his head to bury his face against his boyfriend's slender neck.
"You-" he cut himself off, clearing his throat a little before trying again. "You two are so fucking pretty, you know that? 's not fair."
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Especially when that strong, warm body pressed against his back. Tim's pretty eyelashes fluttered at the sensation of being trapped between two huge, muscular bodies. They dwarfed him a little, almost made him look delicate in comparison despite how hard he worked on his own build. A fact that should have irritated him far more than it did.
Instead, his mind was on how the two of them had fought earlier. Over him. They could start again at any minute, couldn't they? Even though they'd just admitted to wanting each other, too? Didn't that make it Tim's job to satisfy them both to the best of his abilities? Otherwise, it could be dangerous--a highly capable fighter on either side of him trying to get at the other. His thoughts weren't necessarily reflecting the reality of the situation, but holy shit was he getting off on the idea. Which might have said a little bit about his mental state, but eh. There were worse vices.
With how close he'd fit himself onto Dick's lap, there was little doubt he'd be able to feel the way Tim's cock hardened against him. He didn't try to hide it or shy away from it. Let Dick see exactly what even this much was doing to him.
The youngest's slender fingers reached back to grab for Jason's hand, guiding it to press against Dick's side. Encouraging touch felt important, establishing it as something he wanted. Tim wasn't the most naturally dominant but had sharpened leadership skills. If he needed to take charge he was capable of doing so in subtle ways. Especially if he closed his eyes and slipped into his Red Robin persona. That gave him real confidence.
It took a fair amount to break him out of his need to be in control, anyway. Few people were brave enough to try to wrestle it away from him.
His reddened lips pressed a feather-light kiss right where the collar of Dick's shirt met his neck and Tim smiled against the skin there. Then he hummed in response to Jason's words, an acknowledgement and an agreement in one. They were surely a sight, the three of them. "I want the two of you to absolutely ruin me." His cheeks flushed a little darker as he pushed himself to voice the thoughts spinning through his mind. "But we don't have to do anything tonight, if you two don't want to..." And the trap was set.
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There was the ache of wonder that pooled behind his ribs, but the thought dissolved as Jason reached them and that broad frame, solid, steady, draped over Tim like armour. His breath caught, lips parting in a low groan as he felt Tim pressed tighter into him in an instant, hips flush so Dick felt the shape of him, hard and wanting, Jason’s weight behind his own. The sound Jason made, needy and hot, filled him with a rush so visceral it was almost dizzying.
They looked obscene, the two of them, he didn’t even know where to start, but Tim, the genius he was, solved it for him, catching Jason’s hand and pressing both their palms to his side like he belonged to the two of them now. It made Dick shiver, caught between the press of that warm palm and the soft heat of Tim’s mouth at his neck. Those words were like a strike of a match, igniting all that gasoline already pooled everywhere around them. Dick felt it burn up every shred of resistance inside him, every scrap of hesitation.
"Fuck," he whispered, his own eyes shutting for a second as his hand slid around Tim and Jason to find the base of Jason’s spine. His eyes opened slow, thick with haze as his other hand slid to Jason’s jaw, fingers gentle to coax him to look up.
"Jay," he murmured, voice heated, thick. "Tim just told us what he wants." His thumb brushed gently across Jason’s cheek. "What about you? What do you want?"
His breath caught on the next words, thoughts stuck on what that could mean, what it could be like to ruin Tim..
"Think we should show him what it looks like when we play nice?" His voice dropped further, low and careful as he leaned close to Jason's mouth. He felt the way the movement made Tim arch, pressing forward against him, back against Jason. He slid his hand into Jason's hair, cradling the back of his head as finally, he pulled Jason toward his mouth in an open mouthed taste that left Dick needing more. His next words pressed against Jason's lips.
"You wanna be good for us, Little wing?"
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But even so, it wasn't just the consent issue that caused him to jerk into motion. It was simply Dick. He loved his boyfriend, but he'd loved his brother from almost the word 'go'. Even in the beginning, when Dick couldn't stand him, he'd watched the former Robin every chance he could. Learned from him, well before Dick started to actually train him. Dick could tell him to go lay down in front of Joker and expose his belly to the madman and there was a non-zero chance that Jason would listen.
Tim's touch to pull his hand forward earned a sharp inhale of breath, but then his palm was curving around the warmth of Dick's side and Jason buried his face in against the younger man's neck as he shivered. "Fuck, Princess...the filth that comes out of that pretty little mouth..." His voice was ragged and low, just for Tim as he pressed himself in closer so that his boyfriend could feel the heaviness of his body. Which did mean that Tim would be able to feel the little jerk that ran through him when Dick's hand slid around his back. He looked up, lower lip caught between his teeth, his eyes focusing on the eldest of them before he was being kissed.
The world around them fell away. There was nothing but Tim and Dick and hands and lips and...he whined when Dick pulled away, his teeth clicking on nothing as he threatened to bite that plush lower lip.
"Baby, just how thorough was that shower, hmm?"
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It was already warm, being trapped between two bodies. But Jason's question set fire to the very blood that ran through his veins, because Tim knew exactly why he asked. Their shared little secret of just how much he liked getting rimmed, to the point that he'd meticulously wash himself when he knew they were likely to get intimate. Just on the chance that Jason might be in the mood to indulge him. And tonight was no exception to that. Tim's fingers trembled where they gripped at Dick's t-shirt. "I was extremely thorough. Why? Were you thinking about eating me out?" There was faux innocence to his tone, like there wasn't a wicked smirk curled onto his lips.
"Maybe Dick will let me blow him while you do..." Tim gave Dick a sweet little nuzzle against the skin he had been kissing then pulled back so he could look up into the first Robin's eyes. "...if I promised to be good and swallow?" He'd never quite mastered the puppy dog eyes that Dick had a talent for, but there was genuine hope shining through regardless. "But we can't neglect Jay. Do you think you'd be able to go more than once, Dickie? You'll probably need to fuck him for him to be really satisfied. Otherwise it would be really selfish of me to insist you come in my mouth." Tim made a show of sulking at the idea of being denied, only just fighting off the urge to smile again. If he weren't so busy pulling the strings he'd pat himself on the back for doing such a good job of it.