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As soon as Dick pushed open the door to Noonan’s, the scent of cigarette smoke, alcohol and body odor flooded his nostrils. His nose wrinkled, blue eyes scanning the room for his reason for being there. Get in, get out before this ended in a bar fight. It didn’t take long for him to spot Jason at the bar, he stuck out like a sore thumb. He definitely didn’t match the rugged biker aesthetic everybody else in the place seemed to be trying for. He was too pretty, too well groomed. Making his way over to the bar, he stood behind Jason, reaching over him and plucking the shot glass out of his hand. “Alright, we’re calling it quits.”
Jason turned on the bar stool, swaying as he did so. He could down beer after beer but god knew that whenever Jason started drinking anything harder, it was all over. “Lemme finish.” His speech was slurred slightly. He reached out to try and take the shot glass from Dick. “Already paid for it.”
“Yeah? In that case,” Dick tossed the shot back, slamming it down on the bar when he was finished. He couldn’t help the way his nose wrinkled as the vodka burnt his throat. Dick Grayson was not a vodka man. “All gone. Thanks for the drink, Jay. Now let’s go.”
Gunmetal eyes stared up at him, from the way Jason’s face was twisting it was clear he was trying to form a coherent argument either over Dick drinking his last shot or walking in here and cutting him off. Instead he settled for a pouty sounding, “Asshole.”
Dick chuckled, nodding his head. “Yeah, yeah. You’ve said that a lot. Now c’mon.” He paused for a second, lips scrunching to the side. “Can you stand? Do I need to help you out of here?”
“I got it, Dickie.” Jason waved a dismissive hand, gripping the old wood of the bar to pull himself up. He swayed for a moment when he got to his feet before righting himself. He adjusted his jacket, looking like he was trying to look more put together than he was. It failed. Just as Jason tried to take a step away from his bar stool, his thigh bumped into the stool which didn’t help his non-existence balance at the moment. He almost fell.
Dick sighed, reaching out to steady him and shook his head. “Yeah, definitely got it, Jay.” He mumbled. “Let me help you before you kill yourself.” Wrapping an arm around his waist, he started to lead Jason out of the bar. With just a grumbled reply, Jason fell into step with him, letting Dick guide him around people and bar stools...until they were stopped right before they reached the door. A stereotypical biker built like a brick house stood between them and the door and Dick used the hand that wasn’t wrapped around Jason to rub at the bridge of his nose. “Problem?” He asked.
The man cleared his throat, glared at the two of them. He reeked of alcohol and body odor, everything this stupid bar stood for, and Dick wrinkled his nose. A pudgy finger pointed toward Jason, “He owes me money.” The biker grunted out. “And he ain’t leaving until he pays up.”
Of course. Dick shot Jason a glare, the younger shrugging in response. “Didn’t think I was gonna drink so much.” Was the answer he got. Translated from Jason, it meant he was going to beat the hell out of the guy and leave without paying up. Except now he was drunk and Dick had an aching feeling that Jason may actually lose the fight if he tried anything right now.
“‘Course.” Dick replied, blue eyes going back to the red headed biker in front of them. “How much does he owe you?”
“Bet $200 on a game of pool.”
Reaching back, Dick grabbed his wallet and opened it, pulled out the cash and handed it to the biker. “There. Can we leave now?”
After looking over the two bills, the biker stuffed them into his pocket and nodded. “Yeah, go ahead.” He said, stepping aside for them to leave.
Dick gave him a nod before lugging Jason out the front door, only turning to speak once they were outside. “You owe me, asshole.” He said.
***
Dick helped support Jason while the other fumbled with the key to his ‘nice’ safe house (at least that’s what he called it, Dick honestly didn’t deem it as ‘nice’), “Do you need a hand?”
“Got it golden boy, thanks.” Jason snapped, finally getting the door open. He pushed it open, finally letting go of Dick to step inside (Dick did note that he almost fell in the process).
Following Jason in, Dick shut the door behind them. He watched as Jason stumbled over to the ragged looking couch, plopped down on it and attempted to get his boots off. Except in the process, he almost fell off the couch. Holding back a chuckle, Dick sighed. “Okay, okay. Let me help you before you kill yourself.”
“I can do it!” Jason argued, slamming his heels against the ground like a petulant child, yet that all came to a stop when Dick walked over, crouched in front of him and started working on the laces. Despite the whining and claiming that he could do it, he was more than happy to let Dick take care of it.
Dick carefully set his boots aside, using the arm of the couch to pull himself back to his feet. “Okay. Now drink some water, take some Tylenol and get to bed.” Dick instructed.
“You’re not the boss of me.” Jason grumbled. “No matter how hard you try to be, you’re not, okay?”
Pinching at the bridge of his nose, Dick sighed. “Fine, Jason. Fine. I’m just helping you out. You called me to pick your drunk ass up. Could’ve called Roy or Tim, but you dialed my number. I had plans, I had things to do.” So maybe he didn’t have anything to do. So maybe he just wanted to rub in the fact that he had put his life on pause (even if nothing was going on) to take care of Jason. “I dropped that for you and you’re just being a drunk ass. So you’re home safe, I’m gonna go.”
“...I don’t want you to go.” His voice was quiet.
Dick paused, had to to make sure he heard what he was pretty sure he just heard. Jason was angry and snarky, Jason wasn’t soft and quiet and...needy? He sighed, shrugged off his jacket and tossed it onto a chair. “Yeah, alright. You gonna cooperate with me then?” Jason nodded. “Then get in bed. I’ll get you water and some Tylenol -- and you’re going to take it. Understood?” Another little nod.
He watched as Jason stumbled off to the bedroom, swaying still. He waited until he heard the squeak of the bed, just to be assured that Jason hadn’t fallen on his ass before he went to the kitchen area. He grabbed a water bottle from the fridge, found Tylenol in the bathroom and went to the bedroom. Jason was propped back against the pillows, eyelids heavy as he waited for Dick. “Here,” He offered the Tylenol and bottle of water, watched as Jason downed it before taking the bottle and putting it on the nightstand.
“Alright. You good?” He asked.
Jason chewed on his bottom lip, concrete eyes looking up at Dick. “Stay.” His voice was getting heavy with sleep. And all Dick could do was sigh, gesture for Jason to scoot over so he could climb into bed. He kicked his shoes off before he was fully next to Jason. The awkwardness was there, Dick couldn’t deny it. He couldn’t help but wonder if Jason would regret this in the morning, attempt to beat the hell out of him, and assume Dick welcomed himself.
Jason rolled over onto his side, looking up at Dick. “You weren’t around much before.” He mumbled, his eyes closed. “Before I died. Off with the Titans, being your own person.” Dick swallowed, just nodded. He knew that. Knew he could’ve been a better brother to Jason. Had thought a thousand times that maybe if he was -- maybe Jason wouldn’t have died. “I got it. I still looked up to you though. Not just ‘cause you were my predecessor or anything...but because you...you were my big brother. Always wanted one as a kid.”
Dick felt warm tears stinging the corner of his eyes, blinking them back. He reached out and gently pushed some hair out of Jason’s face. He still didn’t say anything, and decided to wait. “You were shit at it back then, the big brother thing.” There was Jason’s charming honesty. A pause, Jason was clearly struggling to stay awake. “You’re doing alright at it now.”
Dick snorted, nodding. “Yeah, well, I’m trying.” He said softly. “But get some sleep, little wing, alright?” He didn’t have to say anything. Jason had re-positioned himself in the bed, laid his head on Dick’s shoulder and was now snoring.
He couldn’t help but wonder if Jason would remember any of this in the morning, probably not. If he did, he’d deny everything. But it fueled Dick to keep trying, to keep working on being the big brother he should have been before Jason deserved it.
Even if he was a pain in the ass.