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The sky was dark with rain clouds. Dark enough for rain, but not heavy enough for thunder and lightning.
Dick ran his hands against the wooden steps he was sitting on. They were nice, but obviously worn with the amount of times Barry had used his speed to leave the house. Dick could also imagine that Wally’s energy didn’t help.
Alfred, Bruce, and Ms. Iris had arranged for Dick to go to her house. Bruce had been a bit more hesitant, but had eventually agreed. Dick had been over at Ms. Iris’ all day.
He and Wally had spent most of the day hanging out around the house. Wally had excitedly shown Dick his room at his aunts, talking about how he had got the room when he was ten, and how he stayed with Iris and Barry every summer since then.
Dick couldn’t help but smile along with his friend. His happiness was infectious. Especially when Wally was pointing at different jars of sand, talking about where in the world he and Barry had collected them from. He even offered Dick a blue coloured rock that he had reportedly got from a beach in Canada.
Eventually, the two had left Wally’s room. Wally had insisted that the better video game console was in the living room, even if they appeared to be the same.
It had led to Barry joining them, with Ms. Iris sitting with them and cheering on whoever was in first. Dick beat them in nearly every round of Mario Kart they had played. Even with the occasional sabotage attempt from the both of them, he still won more times than lost. Barry had given him a fistbump, while Wally whined at how he must be cheating. Ms. Iris laughed at Barry coming in dead last more than once.
Ms. Iris had eventually had them stop, and have some lunch. Since Wally was practically bouncing off the walls, she had sent the two pre-teens outside the house to “burn some energy”.
When they had come back inside because of the growing storm clouds, only slightly grass-stained, He started to quietly talk to Ms. Iris while she moved around the kitchen. Barry had abandoned the dish he was working on, and had been trying to help Wally get some more of his energy out. By that, it meant there seemed to be two hurricanes going through the house, while Ms. Iris sighed fondly and occasionally yelled not to break anything when it sounded like something fell over.
When a knock sounded from the front door, a solid, confident noise, Barry and Iris both almost imperceptively froze. If Dick was anyone else, he probably wouldn’t have noticed.
Before Ms. Iris had the chance to even step towards it, Barry was already at the front door. Wally wasn’t too far behind.
Ms. Iris practically melted in relief when she heard Wally yell that it was Jay and Joan Garrick. Dick then saw a thunderous expression pass over her face briefly, before it was gone.
It had been obvious why she had that expression when they all came in, Mrs. Garrick happily greeting and hugging Ms. Iris, and handing her a container with tinfoil covering it, and Barry had a guilty look. In fact, he almost looked like a kicked puppy.
Dick had seen that expression before. Mostly when Bruce forgot to cancel one thing to do another, and Alfred scolded him. That was probably what had happened here.
Wally had dragged Mr. Garrick into a speedster related conversation with Barry. Mrs. Garrick had immediately started helping Ms. Iris with the food she was already making, even though Ms. Iris tried to wave her off.
Dick did his best not to laugh too loudly when Mrs. Garrick yelled at Barry to continue with the food he had already started to make, and Barry panickedly sped over.
Meanwhile, Wally was nearly bouncing off the walls still. Less than earlier, but still noticeable. Mr. Garrick was talking animatedly with him.
They all had dinner after that. Dick honestly thought that Ms. Iris and Mrs. Garrick’s cooking was on par with Alfred’s cooking. Barry’s dish was okay. Wally had even said that part outloud, and Barry had fussed up his hair while they all tried to hide their laughter behind forkfuls of food.
After that, Dick had slipped out to the front deck unnoticed.
He was sitting there, watching the rain start. It was a little overwhelming, being in the house.
Dick had spent the last two years with Bruce, with the manor being very…cold. And empty.
The amount of warmth in the Allen household reminded Dick of a home he had lost a while ago. Bruce said it was normal to feel that way, even to cry about it at ten years old. But it was still annoying. Especially when he was happily chatting one second, then had a pit of melancholy in his chest that felt like it was carving itself into his ribs the next.
He pressed his hand harder into the wooden step. Not hard enough to break it, but hard enough to hopefully better ground him. The porch was well loved, but also well taken care of. Dick didn’t think he would even get a splinter if he ran his hand against the boards.
The screen door behind him squeaked open, then slammed shut. Dick did his best to keep his vision forward, trying not to let the pressure behind his eyes build too much.
“Hey dude! The adults are being boring and talking about old people stuff.” Wally plopped down beside him without hesitation, “It looks like it’s gonna rain.”
Dick didn’t currently trust his voice, so he just nodded. He could see in the corner of his eye Wally looking at him. He could imagine the searching look of the twelve year old, trying to find if he’s missing something.
They sat in silence for a minute before Wally started fidgeting. Dick counted.
Wally put his legs out, and nearly slid down a step. He made a surprised noise, then readjusted.
“How’d you not think that was gonna happen?” Dick nudged him with his shoulder.
Wally huffed, “Listen, these steps aren’t as smooth as the Manors! I didn’t think I would slide!”
“But they are carpeted, so even less friction.”
“I… Didn’t think about that.”
They sat for a second, just drinking in the environment.
Dick saw Wally flinch when a raindrop hit him. It then started raining decently hard. The two scrambled back to underneath the roof of the porch.
“Have you ever danced in the rain?” Wally was grinning mischievously at Dick.
Flashes of playing in puddles, ripples reflecting the bright colours of the tents and lights all around popped into Dicks head.
Even more recent memories of Gotham’s neon lights reflecting in puddles, making it so the gothic architecture in the reflection seemed like it was another world. The sheer amount of lights nearly making the puddles glow almost supernaturally.
“Not danced. I’ve played in puddles though. Rain was a concern because it could damage some of the equipment.” The words came out before he could think to stop them.
It felt like he had ruined the happiness that was in the moment. Gosh, him and his stupid brain-
Wally was just looking at him. He was probably a bit upset that Dick had ruined it.
Dick jumped a little when Wally shot to his feet.
“C’mon!” Wally had his hands out for Dick to grab, stupid grin plastered across his face, “Playing in puddles is a lot of fun, but dancing while it’s raining is great! Aunt Iris did say she wanted us to burn energy.”
Dick hesitantly took his hand, and was dragged to his feet with a surprised noise. Before he could question any further, Wally had pulled him down the steps and a little away from the front of the house.
“At least the rain isn’t freezing! It sucks when it’s freezing!” Wally stopped, and turned to Dick, hand still clutching his. Already, rain was dripping from his hair.
Bruce had taught Dick how to force his face to flush red, but he hadn’t taught Dick how to make it go away. That was something he would have to demand when he got home. He could feel how red his face was.
“I don’t really know how to dance like you do.” Wally admitted, and he almost sounded sheepish.
It was Dick’s turn to smile, “I can try and teach you? Even though the rain will probably make it even harder.”
Wally lit up, and nodded enthusiastically.
“Okay, so this is called a ‘square step’, its actually kinda easy.”
Dick was rather glad that Wally was quick to learn, and was quick to laugh when he tripped over himself.
“If you wanted to complicate it a little, you would start rotating while still doing the steps.” As Dick spoke, Wally followed him in the demonstration.
When he inevitably mixed up a step, Wally laughed brightly. Dick admired how Wally didn’t seem to dwell too harshly on the mess up’s in their civilian lives. It was a nice contrast to Bruce, who stressed over everything.
Heck, Dick had picked that up too. The perfectionism, and the stress over any mess up.
Dick couldn’t help but snap back to the moment when Wally spun him, both laughing.
It was nice to just dance. Not to any music they could hear, but to the sound of rain hitting the formerly dry ground. Dick could almost hear his own heartbeat in his ears as well.
Dick teaching Wally a very organized dance turned into clumsy, uncoordinated, but happy dancing. Dick couldn’t help but laugh when he nearly slipped on the wet ground himself.
Wally even took both of Dicks hands, and leaned back to spin both of them around. It ended with them both grinning wildly, and nearly landing on their faces.
Dick couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed when Ms. Iris yelled for them.
“Boys!” She was standing on the porch, towels over her shoulder.
Smart idea, Dick finally clocked just how soaked the two of them were. And Dick hadn’t even brought a change of clothes or anything. He should’ve thought about it before.
But with the overwhelming warmth in his chest, he couldn’t bring himself to regret it.
“Yeah, yeah, we're coming!” Wally yelled back, and he started towards the porch, dragging Dick along.
On the porch, Dick couldn’t help but feel a little bad. They both were sopping wet, with their hair dripping rainwater. Wally at least had clothes there, but Dick didn’t. He was likely going to soak Ms. Iris’ carpets, if not her wooden floors.
Ms. Iris didn’t waste much time in unceremoniously dropping the towels on their heads.
Wally, the menace that he was, shook his head like a dog. Getting drops of water all over Dick and Ms. Iris. Dick used his free hand to try to dry off his hair best he could.
He then felt his face flush again as he froze.
His hand was currently being held by Wally. He was still holding Dick’s hand. He had been holding at least one of Dick’s hands the whole time they were dancing.
It wasn’t like it was a big deal! It was part of dancing, holding hands! Dick didn’t know why his face was turning redder. He could feel it. His face was just being dumb.
Meanwhile, Ms. Iris was giving him this fond look. Like she knew why he was turning red. But she probably thought it was for a different reason. Dumb face, stop being red!
“You okay dude? You are bright red.” Wally was now looking at him, head tilted like some sort of puppy, hand still intertwined with Dick’s.
“Yep. Fine.” Dick’s voice betrayed him, and it came out in a squeak.
“It’s not even that cold! Don’t tell me you already got sick from the rain!” Wally was now worriedly looking between Ms. Iris and Dick, “We have hot cocoa, that’ll probably help!”
Dick however, wanted to sink into the porch.
Ms. Iris just laughed fondly, “C’mon you two. You both are soaked, and need to warm up.”
Wally protested, “It’s not even that cold out!”
Ms. Iris just shook her head while grinning and waved the two inside.
~~~
Dick was sitting on the stone steps of where he was staying, sipping the hot drink between his hands.
He was currently in a beautiful square. Cobbled street, with architecture that reminded him of certain older French buildings. Lantern streetlights lined the square, warmly lighting up the falling snow. It was beautiful, especially against the darkness of the nighttime.
Snow always made the world seem…quieter. In a way. Dick couldn’t explain it too well, but there was a sort of quiet brilliance when it snowed that made things seem less heavy.
He took the final sip of his drink. He grimaced a little. It was a tea that had been recommended to him. He hadn’t disliked it, but it wasn’t as good as some of the other tea’s he’d had in his life. It also didn’t help that the bottom had gritted tea leaves.
Bruce had told him to take a couple of days off, so he had found an isolated little place. He hadn’t wanted to take time off, but he knew that Bruce had been right. Especially since he had lost it a little on his teammates recently. They probably all knew that if Dick lost it on his siblings or younger heroes, he wouldn’t forgive himself as much as he would if losing it on his teammates.
So far, it had been a nice retreat. Only a few things had happened back home, and it hadn’t been anything they couldn’t handle. Jason had called, laughing his ass off, because Steph had glitter bombed Crane. She replaced his fear toxin with glitter devices, and he had tried to use it. Apparently, it had made Crane cry.
Another call was Damian demanding Dick tell Tim that it wasn’t normal to try and clone someone you were supposedly “friends” with. Dick had sighed deeply when Damian had called it “The least straight thing you could do” while Tim yelled in the background. Dami was probably learning from friends at school, Steph and Tim, or Young Justice when he was around them. It definitely sounded like something Steph or Cissie would say.
But other than those two calls, and a few texts from friends checking in and Bart asking if he was okay, it had been rather quiet. Dick had explored the area, and spoke with people who lived there.
The local people had warned Dick that it would probably snow soon, especially since it hadn’t snowed so far. An older lady even had given him a scarf from her shop. Dick had paid for it, despite the woman’s protests.
So there he was, holding a quickly cooling mug, sitting on stone steps, with a crocheted scarf wrapped around his neck.
Dick sighed a little when he felt a quick wind, and then there was an abnormally warm person sitting next to him. Wrapped up for the cold, even though it seemed like he didn’t need to.
“Hey.” Wally’s tone was warm, but still had an undercurrent of worry.
“Hi.” Dick went to take a sip of his mug, before remembering that it was empty.
The redhead shifted in his seat, “How’re you feeling?”
“Less like I’m going to rip someone’s head off.” Dick let the sarcasm drip into his voice.
“Fair enough.” He heard Wally shrug beside him, “Bart has been asking when they can go check on you.”
Dick laughed. A short, quick sound, “Is it because you’re being mean to him?”
“Hey! I haven’t been that mean to him!” Wally made an offended noise.
Dick raised an eyebrow.
“But you can be mean. Over things that you shouldn’t be.”
“Okay, but not recently.” Wally huffed, then sighed, “But yeah. I’m still working on it.”
A quietness fell over the two of them. Dick’s attention fell back to the falling snow. The large flakes were starting to stick, and the resulting snow would probably make the world feel even quieter. Like a blanket of stillness had fallen over it.
“I get why you came here of all places.” Wally admitted quietly, “It’s beautiful.”
Dick just nodded.
The silence lapsed again.
“Uh, there’s warm drinks inside if you want.” Dick waved his hand vaguely towards behind them.
“I might grab one in a minute.” Wally could still feel cold, but it took more. He was lucky in that regard, that he ran freakishly warm in all weather. Dick was almost jealous, especially on the colder missions. One of those missions, from when they were kids, was the reason why Dick had started to install heaters in all the suits he made, or helped make. Mostly because hypothermia was a bitch.
Wally was also the reason why Dick had figured out how to put AC in suits as well, but that wasn’t in as many suits as the heaters were.
Again, they fell into a comfortable silence. Dick may or may not have shifted a tiny bit closer to Wally. If asked, he would use the cold as an excuse.
Wally made a contemplative noise, and Dick looked at him. He had the look he normally had on when he wanted to ask something, but wasn’t sure how it would be received. Dick decided to wait and see if he would ask.
Finally, Wally spoke. Quietly, and unsure.
“Would you like to dance? In the snow?” Wally was nervously fidgeting with a small pebble that had been on the steps.
Dick froze for a second.
The memory of them dancing in the rain as kids popped up in his head. The emotions from that day that made his chest so warm that it almost ached .
But Dick being himself, said something dumb in the moment. It wasn’t even relevant to the current situation.
It came out quieter than he meant for it to, but it was startlingly honest, “I…I don’t like the rain anymore.”
Wally just leaned into him, responding quietly, “I know.”
Silence again fell over them.
“But it’s not rain.” Wally’s gloved hand took his, “It’s snow. Sure, it’s technically frozen rain, but it’s still different.”
Dick made a noise.
Wally was quiet when he next spoke.
“Different enough to make new memories in.”
Dick thought about it for a moment. Sure, he did his best to not let bad memories poison things for him. But the rain was just… He didn’t know.
But Wally was also right. The snow was something else. Something lighter.
“If it gets too much, we can always stop.” And here Wally was, not pushing him, but still offering.
Dick didn’t know when Wally had realized that he now didn’t like rain, but he had never pushed it. Only offering umbrellas and alternate routes. Offering to take over on days that were pouring.
He couldn’t help but feel his chest warm a little. At least the cold hid that his face could be turning redder.
“Alright.” Dick only knew that Wally had heard him when he took the empty mug and set it down.
Just like when they were kids, Wally held out his hands for Dick to take.
And just like when they were kids, Dick took them without hesitation, smiling warmly.
Dick could also admit that Wally, with the snowflakes in his hair and lit up by the lanternlight, looked absolutely gorgeous. The snow somehow almost made his hair seem redder.
Gosh, He really was hopeless.
Especially with how close they were while dancing. Wally had stepped into the centre of the square, and pulled Dick closer. It wasn’t as close as normal for dancing, but still close enough that it made Dick’s head spin.
Hopeless indeed.
Wally just grinned, that bright, stunning way that he always did.
“Maybe we should see if there’s a way to just replace rain with snow.” Wally joked while the two swayed together.
Dick couldn’t help but roll his eyes fondly, “Maybe Freeze and Weather Wizard would try to do that.”
He felt accomplished when Wally laughed.
It turned into a quiet dance. Them swaying together, the only noise being Wally’s breathing, Dick’s heartbeat in his ears, and the occasional laugh when one of them missed a step.
Dick was also sure that it was accidental when Wally would pull him closer. Probably just instinct, because they had been at a little distance when they had started dancing.
Once they got back into a rhythm, they started to quietly talk. About everything and nothing all at once. It was achingly familiar, a conversation format they had so many times.
Dick may have been crazy, but he swore he could feel something else beneath it this time. It was probably his own feelings playing with his head. He did his best to tamp down his own feelings. Again, he thanked his lucky stars that the cold was an excuse for his face to be red.
When Wally dipped him, they both couldn’t help but laugh. Honestly, if Wally’s laugh was any warmer it would probably melt all the snow around them.
Wally’s warm arms remained around Dick’s hips when they rose, and Dick couldn’t bring himself to remove his arms from hanging around his neck. Dick really felt like a lost cause at that moment, even if it would never happen.
After all, Dick was himself.
But they continued swaying, and every time Dick thought that Wally was going to move his arms, he didn’t.
Dick felt a little like he was losing his mind.
“Can..Can I kiss you?” Wally had moved his head a tiny bit closer to Dick’s, almost imperceptively. Dick nearly choked on air.
Wally’s face flushed, and he started to remove his arms, “S=Sorry, I shouldn’t have-”
Dick didn’t let him finish.
He pulled Wally’s lips down to meet his, and they were just as warm as Wally always was. Somehow, it was almost warmer. Dick could feel the warmth deepen in his own chest.
Wally kissed him right back after a second.
It was warm, soft, and sweet, and everything that Dick had always thought it would be, but still better because it was actually happening .
God , was this man warm. It almost made the sharp cold of the snowy night disappear from Dick’s head. Dick had fantasized about this in the past, to an almost embarrassing degree, but actually experiencing it was so much better.
When their lips broke apart, they both had to catch their breath a little. Dick tried not to pant directly in Wally’s face.
Wally pressed his forehead against Dick’s, and nearly whispered, “I’ve been dreaming about doing that for years.”
Dick couldn’t help but laugh, Wally just looked amused. His eyes were so bright.
“Funny, I was about to say the same thing.” Dick just wrapped his arms around Wally’s neck a little tighter. Dick’s face definitely flushed more red when Wally’s arms tightened around his waist in response.
But here Wally was, grinning like an idiot at kissing Dick. That same bright smile that was plastered on his face when he was genuinely happy, and Dick thought that he himself couldn’t possibly be happier.
“So…worth the dance?” Wally winked at him.
Dick grinned right back and shook his head, “Definitely. I think snow may be my new favorite weather type.”
“On top of having an excuse to have warm drinks.”
“True.”
Dick just stood there for a second, drinking in everything. He kissed Wally again, then broke apart.
Wally pouted a little.
“We should probably head inside. It’s supposed to get colder soon, and it’s late.” Dick gave Wally a pointed look.
“Fineeeee,” Wally dragged out the word, “But kissing in the snow is sooo romantic.”
“It is, but not when you can’t feel your lips.” Dick joked.
Wally stuck out his tongue at Dick, “Well, I hope their hot cocoa is good.”
“It’s decent.” Dick shrugged.
Wally then disentangled the two of them, much to Dick’s disappointment, and grabbed Dick’s hand, “I’ll be the judge of that one!”
Dick laughed. Fondly and warmly, feeling the emotions bloom in his chest.
And just like when they were kids, Wally dragged him inside, still grasping his hand. But this time, it was a little tighter, and Dick was consciously holding his right back.