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Dick had to step back and blink at the absolutely wild murder board he’d walked into find at Tim’s apartment. Said loveable gremlin of his heart had his long hair pulled up into a bun at the back of his head, showing off the soft shaved growth of the undercut. Tim was wearing an old sweatshirt of Dick’s, bare legs and feet emerging from the oversized garment at mid thigh. His face was flushed and excited as he gestured at all the red string covering the board, explaining something at such a fast pace that only a speedster could probably follow.
“What? Tim–” Dick tried to interject, to make his boyfriend pause, but Tim turned and bright blue eyes captivated Dick into silence once more. It’d been a few weeks but Dick still easily became starstruck over having Tim’s confidences and attention in the new and exciting way of an actual relationship.
“Don’t you see Dick?” Tim bounced up in front of him, standing on his toes to be eye level and body vibrating as he’d clearly cracked open some sort of case. Dick just hadn’t been able to coherently follow what case. “It’s the perfect solution. Literally everyone wins!”
Dick stared at the plush lips as Tim’s tongue darted out to wet them slightly. He needed to grab a quick hit of that sweet mouth and then maybe he could focus, could offer the advice and encouragement Tim was clearly seeking from him.
Now that Tim was within arm range, Dick snatched the front of the sweatshirt and hauled his boyfriend in close for a kiss. The charming combination of sweet cocoa and bitter coffee exploded across Dick’s tongue as he licked inside Tim’s mouth, his nose filled with the scent of the coconut shampoo they’d started sharing, and his body felt so right under Dick’s hands.
Tim yelped into the kiss as Dick slid his hands under the sweatshirt and found warm bare skin against his own cold hands. Tim must have showered and pulled the sweatshirt directly on since as Dick’s hands continued to wander, he couldn’t find a hint of any other clothing.
Muscles began relaxing as Dick’s hands warmed and roamed all the bare skin, and Tim let out a soft, pleased groan into the kiss. The bed was only a few steps behind them and Dick couldn’t help but give a little tug so they tumbled backwards. His back hit the bed with a bounce as Tim’s lithe form landed over him. The kiss broke with the movement but Dick was already reaching up to pull Tim back down, when Tim’s hands moved and snatched his wrists first.
Dick let him pin his wrists over his head as Tim’s bright smile captivated him again. Then just as Dick began to buck upwards, show Tim what he wanted, Tim’s grin turned to laughter.
“I didn’t think you’d like the idea this much Dick! Does this mean you’ll help me?” Tim leaned over so they were face to face while he kept Dick lightly pinned to the bed.
“Help?” Dick asked hopelessly. He was already torn between agreeing blindly to get Tim’s attention back on him and the thought of Tim’s harebrained schemes and troubles of the past. Dick knew better than anyone what kind of chaos could be reaped from an untethered Tim on a mission.
“Yes, you know, think of date ideas, gifts, situations to make it feel organic but control every aspect… That sort of thing.”
Warning alarms rang in Dick’s head, but then Tim’s hips shifted and he brushed just right against Dick for a zip of pleasure to race along his body. “Hmm, yeah,” Dick moaned softly, pushing up for more of the perfect contact.
“Thanks ,Dick,” Tim whispered against his neck as he placed soft distracting kisses. “I knew I could count on you.”
Dick was distracted for the rest of the afternoon and well into the evening by Tim’s clever hands and mouth so by the time he finally rolled back out of the bed, he didn’t even think about the murder board in the corner.
It was several days later when the memory struck him again as he went over his case notes and began pinning them to the wall, creating his own theory board. He never did exactly figure out what Tim had been working on and knew he probably should circle back.
But the case he was working was time sensitive and Tim hadn’t yet asked him for any help so it was probably fine. He hoped.
“What’s up with your little boy toy?” Jason grumbled as he pulled off his helmet. Dick had asked him over to look at some details, hoping for a new angle in the case.
“I didn’t ask him for help, this seems more your territory,” Dick answered easily. He wasn’t going to show his confusion, Jason always acted prickly but everyone knew he loved being asked to help on cases.
Jason’s eyebrows arched and he shot Dick a disbelieving look. “No shit, I meant the weird thing he’s doing playing cupid. I thought you would have reeled that in by now.”
Dick froze. He rewound. He played it back in slow motion. Oh dear god no. “Oh dear god no…”
A smirk overtook Jason’s face, his teal green eyes crinkling in delight. “Oh yes. And do you know who his dear victims are this time?”
“Oh my god, I’m so sorry Jason. Did he..?”
“I would be returning your sugar daddy to you in a body bag for trying,” Jason cut him off, dismissively waving his hand. “No, I‘m not the victim.”
Dick ignored the choice of words and tugged harder on the memory of the board he’d seen at Tim’s place that day, but all he could remember was the skin at the back of Tim’s neck, the way his legs had peeked out under the sweatshirt, the strands of hair that had escaped his the bun–
“Dick, really?” Jason’s exasperated voice pulled him back to the present moment. “Are you that bad?”
“I don’t know what you mean,” Dick sniffed and looked away. “I remember maybe it was some members of the current Titan’s roster?”
“Conner and Bernard,” Jason replied tonelessly.
Dick paused in thought again, reeling through the roster in his mind. “That’s Oliver’s son and …”
“How are you so bad at this?” Jason gaped, eyebrows climbing into his hairline. “Honestly, aren't you the mentor to like 90% of the younger heroes?”
Dick flushed. He was, he’d just been distracted lately.
Jason seemingly took pity. “Conner Kent, you know Superboy? Tim’s best friend?”
Nodding rapidly, Dick began piecing the puzzle that had appeared behind Tim that day into place. “Yes, Tim’s best friend, that makes sense and a blonde was there… but short hair, so not Steph–”
“Bernard Dowd, Tim’s civilian friend,” Jason supplied.
Dick’s nose immediately scrunched as he realized exactly why he’d blocked it from his thoughts. “Oh the ex.”
Jason grinned, delighted, and tilted his head. “Pretty sure Superboy is an ex too,” he sang out, tapping his chin and looking up innocently.
Dick smacked him. “Are you calling my sweet innocent boyfriend a slut?”
“Takes one to know one– wait– that’s not what I meant!” Jason’s hands waved quickly in front of his body but the damage was done.
“Oh both my little brothers are –”
“Hey!” Jason cut him off by slapping a hand over Dick’s mouth. “You’re the role model here so– Oh my god, Dick, don’t lick me!” Jason pulled his hand back and wiped it over his jeans.
“Okay, okay,” Dick held up his hands in surrender before Jason could retaliate again. “We all have a past, but let’s focus on the present. Tim is setting up his friends. Namely a Gotham civilian with a Metropolis metahuman.”
“A metahuman who is half Luther at that.” Jason leaned into Dick’s space as they sounded it out together.
“Meaning that he’s probably trying to set up connections between them, bringing more eyes on Gotham, and that’ll piss off the Bat–” Dick recounted.
Jason grinned wolfishly, teeth flashing in mirth. “Oh maybe this is an okay idea–”
“Stop it,” Dick interjected before they could derail. “We need to figure out Tim’s plans and curb the enthusiasm quickly before it gets out of hand.”
“We?” Jason laughed devilishly. “Oh there is no ‘we’ here." He patted Dick consolingly on the back as he straightened up. “I have no interest. In fact now that I really think about it, the chaos from this adventure will be a lot of fun to see. I’ve done my good deed by piecing it together for you. It’s your problem now.”
Dick scrubbed his hands down his face, exasperated, but couldn’t really think of any argument to convince Jason it was his problem too. Unless– “You know if he’s successful at this he’d probably turn to you next.”
“Nice try Dickface,” Jason looked unimpressed and unthreatened. “Timbo and I have a deal though.”
Dick’s eyebrows shot up. This was news to him. “What kind of deal?”
“That’s on a need to know basis and you don’t need to know,” Jason parried easily.
Sighing, Dick decided that was enough for the evening. He still needed Jason’s help on the current case he was working and then he could go break into Tim’s place and figure out what his boyfriend was up to.
“Dick’s onto you.”
Tim rolled his eyes even though Jason couldn’t see him through the phone. “Dick said he’d help. He’s not ‘on to me’, he’s in on it.”
Jason’s laugh sounded particularly tinny due to the phone speaker combining with the mechanized helmet voice distorter. “Yeah okay Timbo. Don’t forget our deal.”
Smile growing as Tim pinned another note to the board in front of him, he easily replied. “Of course not, Jason.”
It was well past midnight when Dick finally found the time to slip into Tim’s apartment. Tim hadn’t answered his phone so that could mean he was still out working or that he’d fallen asleep inside. Either way Dick knew to be stealthy as he crept into the bedroom where the board had been set up.
Sure enough there were two separate large photos in the middle of the board. One obviously a glamor headshot of Superboy and the other a grainy blow up photo from some recent ID badge of Bernard’s. Dick didn’t care enough to know that Bernard was an EMT working for a private company that had legitimate sponsors and a record that showed the man was tardy regularly but performed well enough to receive an Exceeds on his performance review and–
Dick shook it off and refocused on the board in front of him. Tim had strings of connections and locations between them including a picture of himself connecting them. Scanning through the notes Dick took stock of the basic plan– Tim using himself as bait to make the two interact.
Missing from the board though was the motive. Why was Tim (beyond the incomprehensible desire to control every aspect of everything) trying to set these two up? How did it benefit Tim and… Dick noticed another picture under a piece of pinned notebook paper that listed Bernard’s food allergies… What did it have to do with Dick? Because there was a picture of Dick, a recent picture at that, pulled from a camera feed where he was smiling down at Tim.
It must have been shortly after they’d started hooking up on the regular, Dick noticed his bangs were longer in the shot and he’d gotten them trimmed up a few weeks ago. He looked happy in the shot, happy to have Tim Dick knew. Dick’s fingers caressed the image that only showed the back of Tim’s head but his own smile in full shot.
The door opened and Dick jerked his hand back, spinning around to face Tim. Tim was freshly changed and showered from his little mini cave below, and obviously unsurprised by Dick’s presence.
“Hey, I was just thinking about you,” Tim smiled as he approached, already reaching out to catch Dick.
Dick gave into the greeting kiss easily as Tim’s hands cupped his face and his fingers slid back to tangle with Dick’s hair.
The kiss broke slightly but Dick didn’t pull back as he murmured against Tim’s lips, “Thinking about me before or after you saw me breaking in on your camera feed?”
Tim’s eyes danced happily across Dick’s face as if soaking in every detail. “Why not both?”
Chuckling, warmth spreading through his body, Dick closed the gap of space between them and sealed their lips back together. Tim’s hands on his hips guided Dick backwards and once more he felt the bed hit the back of his knees.
He easily fell backwards, pulling Tim on top of him and losing himself in the touch and slide of skin, board forgotten once more.
Dick woke first the next morning, and trudged towards the kitchen and coffee pot, not bothering with clothes. Tim had a system set where all Dick (or whoever woke first) had to do was press a button for a fresh pot to brew.
Tim stumbled out of the bedroom a few moments later, bleary eyed and still naked. Dick’s gaze focused on the puffy lips and red marks along Tim’s neck and chest. There were a few empty spots still, a few more areas that Dick could work his teeth into to claim Tim’s body, to show the world that his babybird was off limits to them.
His own skin heated as Dick’s mouth watered. He plastered himself to Tim’s bareback like a turtle shell as soon as the younger man approached. Tim ignored Dick’s contact for a moment as he fixed two mugs of coffee, prying one of Dick’s hands loose from his bare skin and pushing a cup into it.
Dick inhaled deeply at the nape of Tim’s neck before pulling back and sipping on his coffee. As the caffeine and sugar began coursing through him, his brain woke and moved away from the tantalizing feeling of Tim’s skin to jump back to the board.
Focus found and interest renewed, he turned and strolled back to the room to finish his examination of the board, Tim loosely trailing behind.
“Okay, what is this Babybird?” Dick looked over the information trying to absorb the details.
“A simple 15-30 step plan to have Kon fall for Bern,” Tim supplied easily.
“Alright,” Dick nodded, accepting the insanity, “but why?”
“For time control and optimization, of course,” Tim also began reviewing the board, straightening the strings and pins as he went.
“Time control?” Dick prompted Tim to continue.
“Uh huh,” Tim agreed distractedly as he continued to review the details. “I needed more time with you of course and found that my friends were the biggest time waste. If I optimized how I spent time with them though, then I would have more time available for us. Bernard being a civilian friend vs all my other friends in the know was the biggest issue of course.”
“Of course,” Dick agreed dazedly, already concerned with the statements and direction.
“So I needed a way for Bern to be in the same group as my hero friends, and particularly my best friend, so therefore if Conner and Bernard become a ConBern couple, I can have more free time.”
“Right,” Dick mumbled, eyes wide at Tim. “Makes perfect sense.”
“I know! Jason thinks I’m crazy, but I knew you’d get it and–”
“No,” Dick interrupted, waving his hands as his previous sarcasm had clearly been misinterpreted. "No, there is so much wrong here Tim, I–”
Tim’s face turned to him, crestfallen, and Dick nearly crumpled. He persevered though because there was a problem that he had to make clear. “Tim, I love spending time with you,” Dick started, trying to think of the right words to use.
“But?” Tim’s bottom lip quivered, catching Dick’s attention.
He shook himself before he could get too distracted though. “Tim, you don’t need to sacrifice any of your time with your friends for me. Time with friends isn’t a waste.”
“I want to spend more time with you though,” Tim’s voice was edged with something soft and it sunk into Dick’s bones, warming him.
“Anytime I can spend with you is perfect,” Dick assured, wrapping around Tim once more, gaining as much skin to skin contact as possible. “But I don’t need you ruining Conner’s life for me.”
Tim stiffened, “What?”
Internally Dick panicked at the slip, externally he huffed a soft laugh and squeezed Tim with his full body. “Their lives, I mean, obviously. They can find their own way. Plus did you happen to think how much Luthor would question why a Gotham civilian caught his son’s attention? Or what Bruce would say to a Super hanging around more?”
Distracted (much to Dick’s relief), Tim paused in consideration. “Bruce, yes, I can handle, but Luthor is a good point I hadn’t considered fully. Maybe it’d be better if I suggested–”
“Or,” Dick smoothly interrupted, “We could just let them figure out their own way. You could set Conner up with Jay perhaps if you are worried about your best friend?” Dick pressed a kiss into Tim’s neck, relief filling him that Tim was backing down.
“Jay? Wouldn't that be some intense bro-code violation for Conner?”
Confusion filled Dick. “You are okay with dating your pseudo big brother but you draw a line at your best friend dating a pseudo brother?”
“Jason? I thought you meant Jay, Jon Kent’s ex.”
“I– No, I–Never mind. Jason Todd, I meant set up Jason Todd and Conner Kent.” Dick was fully losing the plot of this conversation and honestly shocking himself by encouraging this behavior but he was committed to the bit.
“Oh,” Tim accepted easily, nodding. “No, Jason is safe. And Jay wouldn’t be good either.”
Ignoring the last bit, Dick focused on the first. “Jason is safe? Why is Jason so safe?”
Dick watched, interestedly, as Tim flushed head to toe, his body heating against Dick’s.
“I–, Um–, Well that is–” Tim stumbled, obviously searching for an explanation and curiosity coursed through Dick. He rarely saw Tim stumble, Tim never missed a beat while lying, and yet here he was flustered and squirming. “He’s got immunity,” Tim finally managed.
“Immunity?” Dick questioned blandly.
“Yup,” Tim nodded, refusing to meet Dick’s eyes. “Immunity.”
Dick squinted at Tim, attempting to suss out the truth. Tim continued to look anywhere else but back at Dick.
“What a minute…” Dick stared at his boyfriend suspiciously. “The only other ‘immunity’ from your schemes was the time I asked you about me during the StephCass incident…”
“No comment!” Tim slipped his hold and dashed towards the closet.
Dick tried grabbing him, but seeing as neither had gotten dressed yet, Tim easily dodged. “No comment!” Tim repeated, now laughing brightly.
Tim’s laughter was one of the most contagious forces on the planet for Dick, so he couldn’t help the happy laugh that came in response as he dashed after his boyfriend before he could hide in the closet.
He had no intention of letting Tim get clothes on before he uncovered all his boyfriend’s secrets.