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turnupswritessometimes · 6 years

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Double Dare You - Birdflash Oneshot

Title: Double Dare You

Word Count: 3790

Description: So it continued, daring each other to do silly, ineffectual things. Usually, it was only to make the other person look foolish. It continued, popping up time and time again for a few weeks until- “I dare you to kiss me.” Robin was sat on the end of Wally’s unmade bed, watching him through his sunglasses. There wasn’t the usual curl of a smile on his mouth that gave Wally a clue to how he was feeling. They had just been hanging out, drinking fizzy drinks and chatting about nonsense. It had come out of nowhere. He wasn’t even sure he had heard him right. He spun lazily on his desk chair, propping his foot on the bed. "What?" "It's not gay if it's a dare, right?"

Available on A03 under the same name.

Wally had tried to be discreet about it. He had nudged his fingers against Dick – Nightwing’s – wrist as everyone had started to filter back to their rooms. With another mission a success, all that was on most of the team’s mind was to shower off and sleep for the next thirty-six hours. Whilst that was also on Wally’s mind, there was something more pressing. He’d been waiting to address it since Dick’s return and had hoped Dick would have the courage to do it first.

He hadn’t. So Wally had had to be the adult, because he couldn’t sit up at night and think about it anymore.

Dick stopped at the touch, turning to Wally without a word. Looking at him with those bright blue eyes. Wally had forgotten just how intense those eyes were.

“Can we talk?” Wally asked. He tried to make it sound casual.

“Sure.”

Robin – the new Robin – was waiting for Nightwing expectantly. He watched Wally with eyes as sharp as his predecessor’s. Wally swallowed under that stare.

“Uh, somewhere private?”

“I’ll catch up with you,” Dick had smiled at the new Robin, and followed Wally without a question why. Even though he was tired and sweaty and had a streak of blood down his temple, he followed Wally to his room instead. He even nudged the door shut behind them. “What’s up, KF?”

Wally’s heart hitched. Five years. It had been five years since he last heard Dick Grayson call him ‘KF’ and he loved it.

“It’s about,” Wally ran a hand through hair was already standing on end (because super-speed will do that to your hair) and mustered up the last dregs of his courage. “It’s about the dares.”

They had started simple. They started on a slow day at Mount Justice, in the team’s early days. He hadn’t even known Robin’s real name or identity.

“Hey, KF, come here,” Robin had beckoned to him, slinging an arm around his shoulders. He dropped his voice, his gaze never leaving Superboy standing on the other side of the kitchen and glaring out of the window. Back in those days, Connor glared even more than he did now. “I dare you to work nikhedonia into a conversation with Connor.”

Wally remembered smirking at Robin.

“Does it have to be used correctly?” he asked.

“Where’s the fun in that?”

Robin had been smirking too, his sunglasses glinting in the florescent lights of the kitchen.

So Wally had cracked his knuckles and slid into the kitchen stalls.

Connor had been suspicious from the start.

“What were you two whispering about?” he had asked.

“About how into you Robin is,” Wally had replied without missing a beat.

There had been a split second where Connor had paused, then barked a half-laugh. He had still been struggling with jokes, but he had been barely a month old, so it was understandable.

“Do you know when the next mission will be?” Connor tapped on the top of a glass, all nervous energy.

“Hopefully no time soon,” Wally hummed. “Still, it’s a chance to travel, isn’t it? I’d love to go to nikhedonia.”

Connor had stared at him.

“You can’t go to nikhedonia,” he said. “It’s not a place.”

“How do you know?”

“Because it’s not. Look it up.”

Wally had raised a sceptical eyebrow, knowing full well he was wrong but determined not to admit it. He was Kid Flash after all, he was cool and confident and knew everything.

Then his gaze had slid over to where Robin was standing, arms crossed and a crooked grin on his face, and he winked. Robin’s grin had straightened out. Kid Flash couldn’t have been sure, because of those stupid sunglasses, but he was sure Robin had glanced away.

He had gotten his revenge two days later.

“I dare you to scream ‘cowabunga’ at the top of your voice, before anyone else attacks,” Wally said through the comms on their next mission. He actually had no idea where Robin was; he was always tucked into some crevice or corner, waiting and watching. It gave him a thrill of pride, Wally knew, to be so well-hidden.

It was time to ruin that pride.

Robin had done it – leaping out at the criminal gang from somewhere above the rest of the team. Most of the ‘cowabunga’ was lost as he fell, his cape flying out behind him. He looked and sounded ridiculous. It was a good thing the rest of the team were more focused than he was, because Wally spent the whole fight doubled up with laughter.

So it continued, daring each other to do silly, ineffectual things. Usually, it was only to make the other person look foolish. It continued, popping up time and time again for a few weeks until-

“I dare you to kiss me.”

Robin was sat on the end of Wally’s unmade bed, watching him through his sunglasses. There wasn’t the usual curl of a smile on his mouth that gave Wally a clue to how he was feeling. They had just been hanging out, drinking fizzy drinks and chatting about nonsense. It had come out of nowhere. He wasn’t even sure he had heard him right. He spun lazily on his desk chair, propping his foot on the bed.

"What?"

"It's not gay if it's a dare, right?" Robin’s voice was even, partly challenging.

"Pretty certain it's still gay,” Wally tried to keep his voice light but it felt like his heart had grabbed a lung in either hand and ran with them.

Robin paused. He bit his lip for a moment.

"Does that bother you?"

"One of my teammates is a white martian instead of a green martian and I'm well enough versed in fucking Mars' politics to understand why she didn't tell us," Wally said. "No, it doesn't bother me."

"You're stalling," Robin's fingers tapped against his coke can.

Wally didn't not want to kiss Robin. Robin was his best friend and he didn't want to risk ruining that by kissing him. What if he messed something up? There were too many factors for kissing. Missing, open-mouthed, closed-mouth, breath, teeth, noses, the list went on and on. Besides, Robin was a year and a bit younger than him, and it felt like much more of a gap than it was. Maybe because he was always so tiny. He lived up to his super hero name.

Why was he saying this, anyway? Wally had his ‘what’s kissing like?’ questions answered by a game of ‘spin the bottle,’ – hadn’t Robin done the same? Did they not play ‘spin the bottle’ in Gotham City? This was something for a crush, not a best friend, to deal with.

Unless Robin’s crush was Wally.

Which just made everything awkward. Because Robin was still thirteen and Wally was fifteen and that was why he had never even let himself think about it. He had driven his thoughts as far away from the thoughts as he could. He knew it was silly – it was only two years – but he remembered being thirteen. Thirteen was practically a baby compared to fifteen.

But a dare was a dare.

“Get up then,” he said in a very normal voice considering his knees were trembling as he pushed himself off of his chair.

Robin did. He stared at Wally impassively through the dark sunglasses, masking any expression on his face.

Wally took a breath and put a hand on Robin's cheek, his fingers just grazing the skin. He still had peach fuzz instead of facial hair - not that Wally could brag that about facial hair – but at least he wasn’t all over fuzz.

Were his palms sweaty?

He swallowed – Robin had been right, he had been stalling – the thought annoyed him so much that he lurched forward. Suddenly they were kissing.

It lasted two seconds tops, as chaste as a cartoon kiss.

But it had happened.

And Wally hadn’t been able to stop thinking about it.

He especially thought about the way he could feel the tops of Robin’s fingers on his chest, just below his collarbone, as though he was going to kiss him again – when the alarm sounded through the base.

They were on a mission, without the chance to even look at each other after it.

Wally had thought – he had hoped that Robin would have forgotten about it. Or at least would have moved on with the dares – they had done that one now, he could pick something else. Wally certainly did. He picked something childish and meaningless that he could barely remember now.

But Robin hadn’t let it go. He had bided his time of course, waited until it was just the two of them in the training room. The smell of sweat was almost acrid in the air and Wally’s muscles had been screaming at him to stop.

“Hey – Wally,” Robin was hanging upside down from one of the bars, swaying slightly. Because that was Robin, and that was what Robin did. He was wearing his domino mask – he always did when they trained, because it was too hard to keep the sunglasses on. “I have another dare for you.”

“I don’t think I want to know.”

“That’s not fair. You got to dare me again.”

“You’re the one who started it!” the weight Wally had been holding dropped to the floor with the thud. It rolled away.

Robin wasn’t impressed. He just quirked a thin eyebrow, with that shit-eating smirk on his face. “Did I?”

Wally had rolled his eyes, running a hand through sweaty hair and letting his brain jump ahead of him to the shower. Shower and home and try to push Robin and Robin’s mouth to the back of his mind.

“I’m done with them, okay? I’m tired, Robin.”

“If you quit now then you’re a chicken,” he was really swaying now, his hands cradling his head and his eyes sparkling. He watched Wally intently, knowing he had him cornered. He couldn’t say no now.

He couldn’t be a chicken.

“What is it?” he asked through gritted teeth, staring at the training room door.

“It’s just a simple kiss.”

“You can’t use the same dare twice!” Wally turned to find Robin swinging like a monkey, laughing to himself.

“Oh, sorry, I didn’t know I was talking to the dare rulebook. Anyway – it’s not the same – this time I’m daring you to do that kiss from Spiderman.”

“I’m gross right now – you’re gross right now – do you really want me to kiss you when I’m all sweaty?”

It was an excuse, and not a good one. An excuse to himself more than Robin, because the idea had made his stomach leap excitedly. He wanted to kiss Robin. He would love to give into that whim. Robin raised that one eyebrow and, very softly, started making chicken sounds at Wally. He was infuriating, like a spoilt brat. He was so incredibly infuriating that Wally stalked across the training room, right up to him.

Robin was still making the chicken noises when Wally grabbed his cheeks and pressed their lips together. The sound died in Robin’s throat suddenly. Suddenly, he was frozen on the perch, his hands finding Wally’s shoulders to balance himself on.

It wasn’t a long kiss. Wally didn’t let himself linger. He pulled away and gave Robin as much of a frown as he could manage.

“Happy now?”

Robin’s cheeks were bright red. As bright red as a Robin’s chest, Wally remembered thinking.

“Very,” the smile was back. Not a smirk, exactly, a contented, happy smile. His eyes were sparkling as he looked at Wally.

Wally had wanted to kiss him again. To pepper him in kisses. He wanted to kiss him so badly that his throat felt tight at the thought of it. His thumbs twitched on Robin’s face, his eyes taking in as many details as he could.

Robin was going to kiss him again, his eyes were half-closed, and he was leaning forwards slightly. His lips were grazing Wally’s when he stepped away. He closed his eyes but he could still see Robin’s face there.

“Wally?”

“I stink,” he said. It was a bad excuse, but it was all he had. “I’m going to shower.”

He threw a towel around his damp shoulders, and walked out the room. The hairs on the back of his neck were on end – he could feel Robin watching him as he retreated. It was all he could do not to look back. He could sense Robin’s curiosity – Robin’s annoyance, that Wally was ducking out of it again. That he wasn’t facing this – this – whatever it was.

Two dares, he told himself, shutting the shower door behind him. It was just two dares. Two kisses. They shouldn’t mean anything. In a game of truth or dare, a kiss didn’t mean anything. He let the shower pound against his face. It ran so hard that it felt as though it was peeling his skin off. It didn’t take away the feeling of Robin’s lips. Soft lips.

They did mean something. They meant something to Robin. Otherwise he wouldn’t be asking. He certainly wouldn’t ask again. And they meant something to Wally too. It made his mind spark and his heart race. He loved those kisses, he treasured them.

Maybe he was being ridiculous about the age, he thought, reaching for the shower gel. Maybe it wasn’t a big deal. They were both superheroes. Wally felt a lot older than fifteen and Robin didn’t act like a regular thirteen year old. He acted almost like an adult, when he was planning missions or talking to Batman.

Maybe it wasn’t a big deal. Maybe Wally could make it work.

He let himself indulge in that fantasy. Of going back out and saying ‘I dare you to date me, Robin.’

But that was the problem. Wally froze. Because Robin would probably shrug and say ‘sure, Wally,’ as though it was no big deal, but his face would be crimson.

He would call him Wally. Wally would call him Robin.

He didn’t even know the boy’s name.

Okay, it was because of Batman – because Robin had a secret identity to protect – but Wally didn’t know anything about him. It wasn’t fair. Robin new everything about him.

It couldn’t work. He wouldn’t be able to do it – to be with Robin and even know his real name.

Wally sighed, the water cascading in a wall from his hair.

The dares would have to stay dares.

And now, in the present, Wally had asked him about it. They had continued, of course they had, the dares. Wally had tried to subvert them, to kiss Robin’s cheeks instead of his mouth. To keep the kisses as brief as possible.

Dick took a long breath now, his chest rising slowly. That boy had filled out and Wally could hardly handle it. Robin - tiny Robin - looked like something out of a comic book.

"You said you wanted to stop. So I stopped."

"Yeah, I said I wanted them to stop, because I didn't even know your real name," he felt the lump in the back of his throat again and pushed it down. He wasn't an emotional teenager anymore. Well, he was, but he almost wasn't. "You knew everything about my civilian identity, Dick. I knew nothing about yours."

"They were Batman's rules." How could he be so calm about this? He must have seen something in Wally's face because he stepped forward, his hand slightly raised as though he was going to touch him. "I wanted to tell you, Wally. I wanted to tell you everything. But I was thirteen and I had just lost my parents and the thought of messing up with Batman - the thought of losing him too - I couldn't take it."

"So, you made it a game."

"Are you telling me you would have kissed me otherwise?" Dick tilted his chin upwards, looking, just for a moment, exactly like that sarcastic thirteen year old.

"No - you were thirteen, I was fifteen-" "I'm seventeen. You're nineteen."

"It's different now - it's all about relative experiences and percentages-"

"So, what? I'm old enough for you now?"

"That's not - I'm not - it - I'm not saying that."

"What are you saying, Wally? You just said you didn't want to kiss me."

"No, I said I wouldn't have kissed you unless it was a dare,” Wally held up a finger, stepping closer to Dick without even realising it.

"Would you kiss me now?" Dick stepped forward too. Suddenly they were close – almost toe to toe.

Wally missed the beat. Dick was so good at throwing him off of his rhythm. One moment it was easy to banter back, to argue back and the next he was at a loss for words. And Dick knew that, because he smirked and closed the remaining gap between them, so that their chests were almost touching. He was as tall as Wally now, even, as much as Wally hated to admit it, a little taller.

"I dare you to kiss me, Wally West."

Wally's face erupted with heat.

"No," he said and his heart flipped in protest at his own words.

"But it's a dare."

"Dick," Wally swallowed, but it still left his throat dry and his cheeks burning. "No."

"I double dare you."

"Stop being childish."

"Stop stalling."

It was like the trigger on a gun, those words. It made Wally clench his jaw and take a moment to glare at Nightwing right in his stupid mask, before he leant forward and pressed his lips against Dick's. It was messier than the those times, his aim was off and he had to kiss again, one hand on Dick's shoulder to align himself. It wasn't as chaste as the those times either, his mouth was open and so was Dick's. They were all warm breath and wet mouths. He let himself take his time, his mouth finding a rhythm against Dick’s mouth.

"You went all out for a dare, Wally West," Nightwing murmured. Their eyes were half open, looking at each other from under their eyelashes.

"Shut up, Dick," their mouths were so close that they were basically kissing at every word. "We're going to have a long talk about this tomorrow."

Dick chuckled, his hands cupping Wally's waist and pulling them closer together. It didn’t feel like there was any air between them.

"What's 'this?'" he asked.

"Us."

He kept kissing Dick, pressing toned chests against each other. He pushed all the worries he used to have aside, because at least he knew Nightwing’s real name now and that was all that mattered.

Dick bit down on Wally’s lip, his fingers digging into Wally’s hips. A sigh escaped his lips without him realising, his fingers curling into the hair at the nape of Dick’s neck. It made Dick pause, smirk slightly, and then slip his tongue into Wally’s mouth, running his tongue against the other’s.

Their noses were bumping against each other’s, but Wally could hardly focus on that when Dick’s tongue was against his. When Dick was pushing him back so that his legs nudged against the bed.

Wally pulled away slightly, letting his open mouth trail across Dick’s jaw, until he found the hem of his suit. He settled his mouth there, feeling Dick’s pulse underneath his lips. He bit down gently, revelling the in the small sound that came from the back of Dick’s throat.

Dick’s fingers traced up Wally’s back, right next to his spine, so that it send tingles up to the base of his neck. He shivered, and Dick took the opportunity to pummel Dick’s cheeks with kisses, making him grin. He worked his way across Wally’s cheekbones and over to the bridge of his nose, where he paused.

“I’m going to kiss every one of your freckles, Wally West,” he murmured, a hand sliding up to Wally’s cheek, pushing his goggles off effortlessly.

“We’ll be here all night,” Wally sat back on the bed, fishing Dick’s fingers out of his hair so that he could intertwine their fingers. He was smiling up at him, his heart racing but he was feeling so comfortable – so right.

“Then let’s be here all night,” Dick’s smirk returned. The same smirk he had as a thirteen year old, the same sparkle in his eyes as then. He stepped forward, settling onto Wally’s lap as though he belonged there. Just another perch for Robin to claim. “The problem is, KF,” Dick was cradling his face, his thumbs brushing Wally’s cheekbones. “You overthink things.”

“One of us needs to,” Wally replied. He was letting his fingers trail up and down Dick’s hips, exploring the shape of his body.

“I overthink everything all the time on missions” Dick paused so that he could give Wally a tantalising kiss, his tongue just peeking through his lips. “You’re the one who goes rushing in ahead without thinking about it. Then you turn around and tell me that we need to have a talk because we’re both attracted to each other.”

“Who ever said I was attracted to you, Dick Grayson?” it felt good to use his real name. “I-“

“Mmm – you kissed me.”

“You dared me to,” Wally’s eyes were on Dick’s mouth. It was just out of reach.

“You were never going to otherwise.”

“You really threw me one, you know,” Wally could barely hear his own voice. He placed a hand on Dick’s cheek, amazed that he could still cradle it. Amazed that Dick leant into his touch as though it was the most natural thing in the world.

“Because you didn’t know you were into boys?” Dick said it carefully, almost vulnerable, letting his mouth trail back and forth against Wally’s constellation of freckles.

“I knew I was bi by then. I knew I liked you, but I didn’t know anything about you. You were more like an idea.”

“That’s the point of a superhero identity,” Dick sighed, his breath ruffling Wally’s hair. “We’re going round and round in circles. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you, okay? I’m sorry I took it to far – but if you knew you liked me I don’t see the problem. Lead with your heart instead of your brain, Wally. You’re better that way.”

“You know what? I dare you to shut up right now.” Wally said.

“Are you daring me to shut up and kiss you?” Dick pressed his forehead against Wally’s, his hands still cradling his face.

“Oh,” Wally couldn’t help the chuckle. He pulled Dick further onto his lap. “I’m doubling daring you to shut up and kiss every one of my freckles.”

#birdflash #young justice #dc #dc comics #nightwing #kid flash #robin #dick grayson #wally west #turnupswrites #dick grayson x wally west #dick grayson/wally west #kid flash x nightwing #kid flash/nightwing

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