Archive of Our Own ^beta

Jason had been at the manor a month before he met Dick.  And boy, how he met Dick.

They were sitting down to breakfast when the door to the breakfast room opened and the prettiest guy Jason had ever seen walked in.

“Hi, Bruce!”

Jason stopped staring at him just long enough to look over at Bruce and catch the strangest look on Bruce’s face.  It was pure adoration and a fearsome hunger.

“Dick!” Bruce said, a little too loud.  “What brings you home?”

Dick shrugged lightly and threw himself down into the chair at the foot of the table.  “Oh, you know. Titans things were getting a little…you know.” He turned those startlingly blue eyes to Jason.  “You must be Jason. Bruce has told me about you.”

“Oh,” was all Jason could say.  He honestly hadn’t heard that much about Dick, except that he was the first Robin, and that he apparently could do no wrong in Bruce’s eyes.  But what he was doing now, Jason had no idea.

Dick smiled warmly at him, but finally turned his attention back to Bruce.  There was something between them Jason couldn’t quite put his finger on, but it wasn’t strictly familial, he knew that.

Bruce excused himself and Dick after breakfast, leaving Jason to do his homework alone.  That was fine. He’d done it before when Bruce had to go in to Wayne Enterprises, but this felt different.  This time, it felt like he was being shut out from something important. So he did what Alfred would most disapprove of, and snuck upstairs to eavesdrop on them.

“Have you run out of money?” Bruce asked.

“I’m low, but I’ll get by,” Dick said.

“What do you need?  New clothes? Another bike?”

Dick laughed.  “Can’t I just come back to see you without needing anything?”

“You rarely do.”

“Now you’re being churlish.”

“I’m sorry,” Bruce said.  There was silence, then Dick moaned.  “I’ve missed you.”

“I’ve missed you, too, Daddy,” Dick said.

Jason’s eyes went wide.  He peeked through the keyhole, trying to catch a glimpse of what they were doing.  He shifted, closed one eye, and suddenly saw Bruce bend Dick backwards over his desk.  He sprang up, hit his head on the door handle, and swore. There was the sound of movement from inside the office.  Before Jason could make his escape, the door opened.

“Jason?  You OK?”

Thank god it wasn’t Bruce.

“Nothing!  I’m mean, yeah!  I’m fine.” His face was hot.

“You wanna come in?” Dick asked.

“No!” Jason squeaked.  “I mean, ahem, no, I’m fine.  I was just…getting something.”

He could feel Dick’s grin without looking at him and he flushed harder.  There were some things about Bruce he didn’t need to know, and this felt like the biggest one.

He heard Dick’s footsteps behind him before he felt the hand on his shoulder, and he closed his eyes.  He was in so much trouble.

“Hey,” Dick said, looking down at him.  “Look, I’m sorry if you heard something you didn’t want to, but it’s OK.  Bruce and I just have a…thing.”

Jason nodded rapidly, eager to be away from this conversation.  “Yep, got it.”

Dick chuckled.  “Listen, you finish your homework, and I’ll train with you later, yeah?  I’ll teach you how to use the parallel bars.”

“Sounds great,” Jason said stiffly.

“Awesome,” Dick said.  “Now, scoot!”

Jason didn’t need to be told twice.  He practically marched away from Dick, not relaxing until he was back down in the family room with his textbooks.  Alfred was in there, setting out a tray of drinks and snacks for Jason.

“And what have we learned, Master Jason?” he asked.

Jason looked up at him, his face pale.  “Don’t eavesdrop when Dick’s home?”

“Not quite the lesson I was going for, but we’ll get there.”

“So…is Bruce, like, a sugar daddy?” Jason asked.

Alfred stiffened.  “Ah. He and Master Dick have a unique relationship.”

“OK.  That’s… OK.”  Jason pondered that for a moment.  “Bruce seemed happy. I guess that’s cool.”

Alfred nodded.  “Sometimes, that’s all we can wish for in this world.”

Jason looked up at him and nodded.  Satisfied, and calm once again, Jason went back to his homework, vowing to himself never to listen in when Dick dropped by again.  Just in case.