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Birds and Bees	By : defying3reason Category: DC Verse Comics > Batman Views: 2564 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I do not own Batman, or any aspect of the broader DC Universe, and I make no money from my fanfiction

Chapter List
- 22
- 23
- 24
Chapter Twenty Three
"I don't think you're going to be able to wear your prosthetic for at least a week. You really screwed up what was left of your real arm when you ripped it out."
"I was using what little bit of my willpower I'd regained to not kill you," Roy snapped.
Dick regarded him with a cool stare, then poked the inflamed flesh with his pointer finger. Roy let out a cry of pain and almost fell off the medical cot. "I'll let everyone know you won't be available for team ups for at least a week."
"Oh fuck…that really hurt you jack ass!"
"Cry me a river." He pointedly reached for the mug of tea Alfred had fetched him after seeing the bruises on his neck.
They were in the Batcave tending to injuries. Roy had already been looked at by a few experts up at the Watchtower, and received a clean bill of mental health. Jade's mind control serum had been powerful initially, but resisting it once substantially weakened its overall effects, it seemed. Dr. Mid-Nite had said something about an emotionally powerful shock doing the trick, and Roy and Dick had both been visibly uncomfortable since then.
Irey had gone up to the Watchtower too, needing more medical care than they could administer in the Batcave, but it had also been a quick fix. They'd left her waiting for her uncle to come and get her (and Roy had been incredibly anxious to be gone before Barry showed up). Damian's cut had been taken care of long before they got back to the Cave. Alfred informed them that Damian and Lian were taking a walk together.
Dick was glad that Roy had left them to it, though a little surprised. He'd really thought they were going to be in for it when Roy saw Lian running around in a superhero costume (even a poorly assembled one). Still though, it was good that he was letting Lian and Damian talk.
Plus they needed to talk.
Dick handed Roy an icepack and then sat down next to him on the cot. "I'm sorry I poked it. I just wanted to make sure you were taking it seriously."
Roy slapped the icepack over his swollen arm stub and let out a relieved sigh. "It's okay. Sorry I, uh, tried to kill you."
"Hey, that part wasn't your fault."
Roy turned to look at him, an angry, defensive scowl on his face. "And how was any of that mess my fault?"
"Oh please. I told you that letting Cheshire have visits was a bad idea. And you didn't listen to me!"
"Well why do you care anyway? I thought you were done with me."
It was probably a terrible idea to have anything like this conversation now, while they were both exhausted, emotionally spent, and freaked out. Dick knew he needed to say some pretty important things, but he reconsidered how pressing they were. He could take some time to cool off, then show up in a few days when they were recovered (and Roy didn't have Lian's premature costumed debut nagging at him), and they could have a calm, collected chat. And maybe Dick would even know what he wanted to say by then.
And yet, knowing that, Dick still couldn't keep his mouth shut. "You're the one that gave me the 'move to Kansas or else' ultimatum."
"That wasn't what I said."
"How was that not what you said? You said you weren't leaving Kansas and that the relationship was pointless if I didn't move in with you," Dick snapped. Then he hunched over and put his head in his hands. "And so help me god, I've been considering it."
"What, really?" Roy asked, sounding bewildered.
"I really don't want to lose you." He sounded even more pathetic than he already felt because of his injured throat.
"I don't want to lose you either," Roy said. "Hell, that was what snapped me out of Jade's command. If she hadn't turned me against you, I'd probably still be her puppet. Dick? Will you look at me, please?"
"If I look at you right now I'm going to move to Kansas and I really don't want to."
He had a life he loved in New York, and besides that, he just didn't want to make himself that vulnerable to another human being. It never seemed to work out (Roy had just dumped him over one bad conversation, after all), and with his issues he liked the freedom of being able to leave for his own place and pretend he was a secure, independent man who didn't need to cling to other people to feel a sense of self-worth.
Roy leaned over and touched Dick's cheek, and after a few minutes of soft caresses he was able to coax him into sitting up and looking at him. "I don't want you to move to Kansas if it's just going to make you miserable. I don't even like it there. I did think that having you with me would make it more bearable though."
"You like New York," Dick breathed.
Roy nodded. "I do. But…look, you remember how often I used to move Lian around when she was little. It was awful, and it was starting to screw her up. Kids need structure, you know? And I didn't really get it, and I put my needs first, and I was hurting her. Dick…she's doing so good in Keystone. She loves her school, she's got lots of friends, and we've lived in the same house for months now. That's never happened before. I want to give her this. I owe her so much more than that. Does that…do you get it yet?"
"Then can we keep doing long distance? Because I will abuse the hell out of my Watchtower teleportation privileges if that's what it takes. I'm not above that, and neither are you."
Roy laughed, and pulled Dick close for a tender kiss. "I'm sorry I was such a stubborn ass the other night. I can stick out the long distance for a little longer."
"Oh thank god."
"Someone's getting awfully clingy all of a sudden."
"Just shut up and kiss me before I poke your arm stub again."

Meanwhile, Damian was in an unfamiliar and decidedly uncomfortable situation. He'd suggested taking Lian for a walk through the grounds, figuring she'd enjoy the scenic beauty and also thinking it was a good idea to give Dick and Roy some time alone together. From everything he'd gathered, Roy wasn't comfortable with Lian suiting up yet (though to be fair, no one aside from Lian herself seemed comfortable with it).
Dick was a highly diplomatic person. Damian had watched Dick guilt, prod, or manipulate Bruce into doing as he wished (though Nightwing was never able to achieve the same results with Batman), and he himself had felt the effects of Dick's meta human-level social abilities. There was no denying Dick had a soothing effect on Harper. Given enough time alone with his boyfriend, Roy shouldn't feel the need to punish his daughter for essentially being concerned about him.
That had been Damian's goal, but he hadn't given thought to what the walk itself would entail. Now he found himself in the intimidating situation of being alone with the young teen and trying to make conversation with her.
Admittedly, Lian didn't seem the least bit phased by the task. After chattering about how well Irey was recovering from multiple arrow wounds and expressing some friendly jealously over her speed-healing, she started discussing school and how she was looking forward to her upcoming English class. She told Damian about all of the books she'd read for summer reading (owing to his horrible experience at her grandfather's house, he refrained from expressing his opinion of Siddhartha), and then she asked him how his home schooling was going.
"Oh, I've finished. I've begun online classes for an associate's degree."
For some reason, Lian found that news troubling. "So you're…never going to go to school? Not even for college?"
"I don't see any reason to. I'm much better at instructing myself than any educator I've met, and doing the work at home allows me more time to focus on crime fighting."
"I guess but…don't you ever do anything fun? Like just for yourself, not because it's good for you?"
Damian looked at her blankly. "What's the purpose of doing an activity with no benefit?"
"For psychological health," Lian returned.
Damian considered that. "I don't think I need a hobby though. I fight crime, I exercise, and I read. Those things satisfy me."
"I dunno Dami. I worry about you sometimes. You're a really lonely kid."
"I'm not lonely just because I often spend my time alone. I'm a solitary person. The quality of the company I keep is more important than the quantity."
Lian smiled at him. "I suppose that's a compliment for me then, since you've let me into your little circle. That makes it, what…me, Dick, and your dad?"
Damian frowned. "I suppose that is a rather small circle." He wouldn't have included his father, since he rarely confided things of a personal nature to the man.
They were slowly making their way back towards the house, but every time they got near enough to head inside Lian saw something that she wanted to admire, lengthening their walk. Damian wondered if she had something else she wanted to talk to him about, or if she was just avoiding the inevitable confrontation with her father. It didn't occur to him that she was simply enjoying his company.
Finally, she sat down on a garden bench and took a bracing breath. "Alright, we should probably talk about that thing my mom said."
"If you feel we must." He was curious to see what Lian had made of it, though he'd have rather discussed it in a less personal manner, such as an e-mail. Frankly, he wondered if having partial parental approval had hurt his chances with the girl, as he'd come to understand that most young people found parental disapproval of their chosen mates titillating.
"Do you find it as weird as I do that Mom…likes you?"
"I did find that a touch unusual, yes. She seemed disappointed when we told her we weren't dating, and where I'm so much older than you-"
"Yeah, well her priorities are in the wrong places. Mom's a little fucked up, I guess. I dunno. I didn't get to know her that well or anything, since apparently she was locked up or wanted by multiple countries for heinous crimes for most of my childhood."
"I can sympathize. My mother is also a shining disappointment."
Lian looked up at him, sadness and some curiosity in her lovely green eyes. "I don't really know a whole lot about your mom. Is she…is it really anything like this? It's just, I mean, it's not that I want you to have a weird ass broken family like mine but…I don't know anyone else who's gone through this kind of stuff."
"You mean having your mother fixate on your father to such a degree that not only does she not hear the words 'not interested', but she uniquely violates him bodily through dangerous experimentation? Lian, that's how I was born."
"Has she ever tried to kill you?"
"I don't think she ever put all her effort into it, but she's made some halfhearted attempts in order to show her displeasure with my life choices." He went over the time she'd had his spine removed so she could wire him and have his movements controlled remotely, and then handed the controls to a supervillain with a vendetta against Dick.
"Wow, I'm sorry. This is terrible, really, it's just…"
Damian sat down next to her on the bench and took her hand. "I understand."
He truly did, and she smiled warmly in appreciation.
The next two years couldn't pass soon enough.

"And then, and then Lian was like 'we're here for my dad you-' oh wait, I'm not gonna tell you exactly what she said, but trust me, it was really tough and scary. And then her mom said something evil and super villainy, and Damian had the perfect witty rejoinder, and then we were all like-"
"Irey, I'm glad you had a good time with your friends, but can you please calm down?" Linda asked.
"Sorry Mom." Irey sat down at the kitchen table and folded her hands, trying to look like a patient, dutiful daughter. Meanwhile, her legs were vibrating with barely contained energy to the point that they were blurry from frantic movement.
Linda sighed, and turned back to the salad she was tossing. "So does this mean that you're going to start doing team-ups with the other kids?"
"I dunno," Irey said, frowning thoughtfully. "Mr. Harper had kittens when he saw Lian wearing spandex. I guess he doesn't want her suiting up until she's sixteen. But she's the youngest one of us. By the time she's sixteen I'll be eighteen, and Damian'll be in his twenties. It won't really be the Teen Titans if our leader's an adult."
"Couldn't one of you girls be the leader?"
Irey snorted at that. "Damian's Robin, Mom. Obviously he's the leader. You just don't get it."
"No, I suppose I don't. I do understand why Roy doesn't want his daughter throwing herself in harm's way when she's young and untrained-"
"She's not untrained! Besides, I started fighting crime as Impulse when I was eight."
"And you've got the strongest connection to the speed force on record aside from Uncle Barry, and you've always had your older, experienced relatives looking out for you. The Arrow Family is spread out across the country sweetie. It's not exactly the same support system we've got here. Besides that, Roy's already lost her once. Just…don't pressure them about it. If Roy lets her take on the costume a little earlier than he expected, that will be wonderful for you, but I'm sure it'll be hell for him."
"I know, I know. I hope he does change his mind though. Lian's my best friend. I really want her to be on my first superhero team. Besides, she speaks Damian. We're gonna need her."
"Sweetheart, would you mind setting the-"
"Finished," Irey said. Linda turned around and counted the place settings.
"We need two more. Iris and Barry are coming over tonight."
"Oh, okay." Irey put a table setting in Jai's usual place, set one up in the spot next to it, then went and got an extra chair from the garage. When she finished she gazed sadly at Jai's usual seat. She didn't realize how transparent she was being until her mother came up behind her and squeezed her shoulder.
"Piper went and saw him today while your father and I thought we were keeping an eye on Lian."
Irey still felt a bit bad about sneaking out of the house, but her parents had only scolded her mildly for it. Irey had spun the story so that it sounded like she had been instrumental in saving Lian's father from her psycho mother, as opposed to a role that could be more accurately summarized with the word pin cushion.
"How's Jai doing?" Irey asked.
"Piper wasn't exactly sure. I guess Jai finally shut down on him too. I don't know what we're…anyway, I think we should all go visit him tomorrow. Maybe you could spend a little time alone with him."
"I'd like that," Irey said, trying to smile for her mother's sake. Whereas she did want to see her twin, she also didn't want to have her fears that they'd grown apart too much for her to reach him confirmed. She was afraid of looking at Jai and not seeing her brother, but a stranger in pain that she couldn't help.
"Hey Mom…do you mind if I run over and see if Lian's back from Gotham yet? I wanna talk to her for a bit before dinner. Y'know, if that's okay."
"That's fine sweetie. Try to be back in a half hour."
"Kay. Thanks Mom." Irey gave her a hug, then took off for the Harpers'.

Roy and Lian kept finding excuses not to talk about the costume. First they busied themselves with their Bats, and then Irey needed some heart to heart time to talk about her brother, and then it just wasn't pressing. They fell into their routine again.
Well, something like their routine. Roy gave their security system an upgrade and he started sleeping with his prosthetic and a bow by his bed for when Jade inevitably broke herself out of jail, and he revoked Lian's right to walk to school when it started back up again.
Lian freaked out about it, but as she was entering high school she was finally attending the same school as Irey and Jai, and Irey had just gotten her license (Jai's hospitalization had gotten in the way of that). Irey wanted to give her friend rides, and even though Roy didn't like it he couldn't articulate an argument against it. Irey was a superhero, after all, and he did trust the girl.
Weeks went by, and they still hadn't brought it up, something Roy found encouraging. Maybe it would be a non-issue. Maybe Lian had only suited up because he was in danger, and she didn't plan on doing it again until she was sixteen (they'd had a talk about it when he'd gotten her a new bow shortly after her resurrection; he realized she wanted to train and follow in her family's footsteps, but he wasn't comfortable with her inviting that kind of danger until she was older, and they'd negotiated from eighteen to sixteen).
Then he came back from the grocery store one sunny afternoon and found a strange car parked in the driveway. Upon closer inspection it turned out to be a rental, and he felt his stomach churn.
Somehow, he just knew before he walked through the door that Ollie had invited himself over for an extended stay.
Sure enough, he found his former mentor sitting on the living room sofa eating pizza (without a plate) while Lian lounged on the floor with her own greasy nightmare, discussing his ill-informed liberal politics while she listened with interest.
Roy had been planning on making them chicken alfredo for supper, with steamed broccoli for a side dish.
"Hey Ollie." He just managed to stop himself from following the greeting with 'what the hell are you doing here?'
"Hey kiddo," Ollie answered. He sat back and propped his feet on the coffee table, and a gob of cheese fell off the pizza and landed on the couch as he did so.
Cringing, Roy brought the groceries into the kitchen. There were three suitcases sitting by the table.
Deciding to be the bigger man about it, Roy put away the ingredients for the supper he'd planned along with the other groceries and then went into the living room with a few plates and helped himself to some of the pizza. He politely listened as Ollie updated him on how Hal, Connor, and Mia were all doing (Connor had just moved in with his new girlfriend, apparently, something Roy had thought he'd never live to see) before he finally asked how long Ollie was planning on staying.
"Not really sure. You don't mind, do you? Because I can get a hotel if you want."
"That's just stupid!" Lian said. "C'mon Grandpa, we've got lots of space here. Daddy, you don't want Grandpa Ollie to get a hotel, do you?"
Oh how desperately did he want Grandpa Ollie to take his shit out of the house and get a hotel. "Of course not Peanut. I was just wondering how long you'd be using the guest bedroom."
"Why? You planning on hiding someone else in there?" Ollie asked with a laugh. "Naw, I suppose not. Any guests would just wind up in your bed with you, wouldn't they?"
Lian burst into giggles, and Roy scowled at him. "My guest usually does if he's going to spend the night, yeah."
And despite his best efforts, he was unable to get a clear answer out of Ollie about the duration of his visit.

Roy reminded himself several times as the week progressed that he cared about Oliver Queen. A lot actually. He'd been really upset, devastated even, when Ollie had died, and thrilled to have him resurrected. They'd had a lot of issues, yeah, but they'd worked past them.
He liked Ollie. Really he did. Loved the guy like family.
The first full day of his visit, he took Lian out shopping and she came back with a pierced nose.
"She's fourteen Ollie!"
"You've got tattoos up both arms, er, well you did when you had both arms. Don't be such a hypocrite Roy. I think it looks cute."
"I didn't get my tattoos until I was an adult. This is different."
"Relax Daddy. Facial piercings aren't that big a deal anymore."
Roy pulled her aside and made it very clear that he didn't want her getting anymore facial piercings until she was older.
So the next day, she and Grandpa Ollie went out and she got her belly button pierced instead. "It's not on my face," Lian said smugly.
Then came the new tablet that Roy was supposed to buy her at the end of the year if she got good grades, and the video game system that was already sitting in his bedroom closet where it was supposed to stay until it could be her big Christmas present. Roy watched helplessly, trying to keep a lid on his temper, as his former mentor undermined him as a parent left and right, while also using his fortune to buy Lian every treat she even hinted at wanting.
By the end of the week he was fantasizing about using Ollie for target practice.

Dick stayed away for the first week of Ollie's visit. It wasn't that he disliked Ollie, he explained, so much as he disliked being used in a passive aggressive battle between Ollie and Roy, which inevitably happened with any bystander when the two of them were together, and Dick wasn't in a position to benefit from it the way Lian was. Roy couldn't say he blamed him, but he also wasn't willing to make any excursions up to New York considering Ollie was putting holes in his baby girl.
So after a week Dick cracked and he swung by Keystone even though Ollie was still there.
A very frazzled looking Roy Harper let him into the house. He didn't even say anything, and his left eye was twitching.
Dick frowned. "That bad?"
"He wants to buy her a car. She was talking about the one Iris and Barry got Irey for her sixteenth birthday, and now he wants to get her a friggin' Prius."
"Uh…she's fourteen."
"Good, someone else gets my objection then? That's friggin' peachy. Come on in here and explain why a fourteen year old doesn't need a car." He all but dragged Dick into the living room, and Dick re-evaluated his decision to stay with Roy.
When they got in there, Ollie and Lian were off the subject of cars and onto the subject of horses. Dick feared for a moment that Roy was going to have a breakdown.
"Ollie…where would you even keep a horse in Keystone City?" Dick asked, hoping he sounded polite.
"Well there's gotta be a stable around here somewhere, right?"
"No," Roy said, even though Dick was fairly sure he actually had no idea.
"I think there's a bit more of an active equestrian community in Coast City. Why don't you stable a horse out there and Lian can ride it when she visits you?" Dick asked.
"That's not such a bad thought," Ollie said. "What do you think Princess?"
"I guess," Lian said with a pout.
Roy mouthed 'thank you' at Dick and squeezed his knee.
"But I really wanted a pet. Could I get a dog instead?"
Without a word Roy got up and went upstairs. For a moment Dick was torn between following after him or dissuading Ollie from buying Lian an animal without her father's permission. He settled on running after Roy, hoping against hope that Ollie and Lian wouldn't leave for the animal shelter while they were gone.
He found Roy in his bedroom, face down on the mattress with a pillow over his head. Dick sat down on the bed next to him, plucked the pillow away, and carded his fingers through Roy's hair. "I'm really sorry Roy. Roy? Are you crying?"
"No." Roy's voice was muffled by the mattress, but it was also trembling. "Maybe. Shut up."
"Oh Roy…"
"I try so damn hard to be a good father, and then he comes in and shits all over me and everything I'm trying to do for her and…and…he won't leave. I don't know what the hell is wrong with him, but he talked about being here for Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving Dick! Like, still here in two months Thanksgiving!"
"You usually do spend holidays together. Maybe he just meant that?"
Roy pushed himself off the mattress and then collapsed into Dick's arms. "God I hope so, because otherwise I'm going to be wanted for murder and Lian loves him so she might not forgive me. Connor will probably understand though. Wait…Connor."
"Will definitely have something to say if you murder his father," Dick said in a warning tone, even though he knew (well, he hoped) Roy was joking.
"No, I bet that's why he's here!" Roy shouted in sudden epiphany. "He's hiding from Connor! Remember last month when the kids and I went to his place for dinner? Damian kicked up that shit about how Connor was raised by a cult and not a bunch of gentle, loving Buddhists like we'd always thought."
"That's right," Dick said. "Damian was really upset about that. I think you guys traumatized him a little with your dysfunction."
"Eh, I'm sure our dysfunction rolled right off of his dysfunction's back. Anyway, I'll bet you anything Connor and Ollie still aren't back to normal over that, and he's probably hit a wall with the poor kid. I'm guessing that's why he's hiding here. Oh man, I gotta talk to Connor. It is his fucking turn. I'm done."
"Roy…" Dick said in a warning tone. "Why don't you try having a little compassion for your adoptive brother? I'm sure this isn't easy for him-"
"He should have compassion for me! I've been living with Ollie for over a week. The last time I lived with the guy I turned to drugs, Dick. Really, Connor should be worried about what he's doing to me."
"You turned to drugs when Ollie abandoned you," Dick snapped.
Roy narrowed his eyes. "I turned to heroin when Ollie abandoned me. I was smoking pot and taking acid and shrooms before that."
"And drinking pretty heavily…why did I used to make out with you again? Your mouth always tasted like a sleazy bar."
Roy grabbed Dick's head and pulled him close for a passionate, crushing kiss. He sucked his tongue into his mouth, drawing an indecent moan out of Dick as his eyes slid shut. He lightly bit Dick's lower lip before breaking the kiss and then grinned like the arrogant shit he was when he pulled away. "That's why you used to, and still, make out with me. Because I rock at it."
"Be that as it may, I'm glad you no longer taste like an ash tray that someone poured stale beer into."
Roy nuzzled against him. "Me too." He placed a few messy kisses on Dick's neck, while his hand skimmed under Dick's shirt.
"Your daughter and primary father figure are probably waiting for us to go back downstairs."
"I think Lian's got enough experience with us to know that once we're within sight of a bed we're not coming back until we've gotten off. C'mon Dick, I haven't seen you since, uhm, anyway it's been awhile and I've been having a miserable week."
Dick tilted his face up and indulged in a warm, lingering kiss. He pulled back just enough to speak, but their noses were still touching. "I know…and I'm sorry. But…the last time we really talked…Roy, we almost broke up. I still feel a little weird about it."
"Me too," Roy agreed. He sighed, and finally pulled away a little, keeping his hand to himself. "I'm sorry I dumped you. That ultimatum was pretty selfish. I just…I didn't expect you to say no."
"Really?" Dick asked, a bit surprised.
"Well yeah. I mean, otherwise I wouldn't have brought it up. I thought you were gonna…Dick, I'd really like to live with you. And I thought we were there."
If it weren't for the kids, they probably would be.
Dick frowned. He scooched over a little bit so he could reach over and squeeze Roy's hand. "There's something else. What is it Roy?"
"I…I guess I was just thrown off because, you know, when other people have offered you that kind of, of thing…the settled life, the responsibility, you went a little further down the path than you're willing to go with me."
Dick definitely didn't like where that was going. His first instinct was to get defensive, but he made an effort to hear what Roy was really saying. "When you say settled life…do you mean when I was engaged to Babs?"
"And Kory," Roy reminded him. He smirked bitterly. "You tried to marry both of your other red heads."
"Is that what you want?" Dick asked.
"I dunno. I mean kind of, but not really. I just…I mean, okay, you and me, we're boyfriends and we love each other, but we're also guy friends. We hang out even when we're not dating and it's, well it's different. I get it. When I'm with you it's really different from when I've dated girls."
Dick nodded. Sometimes they played with the gender roles that went with traditional relationships, but that was pretty rare. And in the absence of those gender roles, their dynamic did fall into a typical guy friendship when they weren't doing anything overtly romantic. He'd noticed that even back when they were teenagers.
"I just can't help but wonder if I'm as important to you as Babs and Kory, that's all," Roy said in a quiet, broken voice.
Dick didn't answer right away. He gave Roy a moment to compose himself after uttering possibly the most vulnerable thing he'd ever said to Dick in the many years they'd known each other, and Dick considered his answer. His knee-jerk reaction was to assure Roy that he was just as important as Babs and Kory, if not more so, but he owed Roy an honest answer. And he could only give him one if he was going to be honest with himself.
And if he was totally honest…even if he had married Kory, they'd probably be divorced by now. He cared for her, he always would…but in the long run they didn't work together. They had passion and affection, but that deeper connection was missing. Kory didn't share the same dreams he did. When they imagined their lives together, they imagined very different things.
But Babs…honestly, his heart ached for her so much that even if she did want a completely different life from him, he'd have followed her anyway. She just wouldn't have him. She was perfectly happy with Dinah, and he'd been spending the better part of the last ten years trying to let her go and heal his heart from that disappointment.
If she'd actually married him, he had no doubt in his mind that they'd still be together, and he probably would have contented himself with a good friendship with Roy.
Dick looked at Roy, the way he was hunched over on the bed, brow creased with worry, clearly at the end of his rope and laying himself bare, hoping he'd made the right choice in resuming a relationship that had suddenly become so complicated after months of smooth sailing. Dick loved him, he was sure of that. But did he love him the way Roy deserved?
In essence, would he fight to spend the rest of his life with this man?
Before he got a chance to answer, there was a knock on the bedroom door. "Daddy? Uncle Dick? Do you guys still have your pants on?"
Dick rolled his eyes and Roy let out an exasperated snort. "Yes our pants are on!"
"Good." Ollie banged the door open and they both walked in. "Your kid's hungry so I'm taking us all out for dinner. Now what's a good restaurant around here, and don't give me some faceless corporate chain. I want real food made by real people, not some over farmed genetically altered produce dripping in salmonella harvested by exploited laborers and coated in preservatives and poisons."
"Uh…there's an Indian place downtown that's pretty good," Roy said weakly.
"We were actually in the middle of-" Dick started, but he was cut off.
"Great. Get your shoes and your coats then. I already said I'm paying, and I'll even drive too. C'mon kiddos, let's move it. This girl's starving to death and so's her grandpa."
Ollie all but chased them out of the house, and as he sat in the backseat of Ollie's rental, staring longingly at the back of his boyfriend's head as Roy tried to navigate Ollie to a parking garage, Dick was second guessing his earlier advice about not murdering the emerald archer. If Roy was right, Connor Hawke might not even miss him.
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Birds and Bees