author: nw's chick
disclaimer : they don't belong to me and they don't give me money... and after all i do for them...
note: this is a little vignette for incidentals. so, um, it'll make more sense if you had read that story.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
Tim leaned back on the wall of the break room, letting the exhaustion flow through him. Eight hours into his twelve hour shift, and he was finally getting his first break. Too tired to even move to the lumpy couch, he slid down the wall, hugging his knees to his chest.
He needed to relax. He only had fifteen minutes. He tried to use one of Batman's calming mantras. He tried to remember why he was doing this, think of a patient he had helped. He could only see the face of the junkie who had tried to bite him for `stealing his pants.'
He started to think of his lover. Oh, this was dangerous. Between their schedules, he and Dick had barely seen each other at all in three weeks. He was tired, achy, hungry, and horny. He could feel Dick's hair slip between his fingers. He could hear Dick's deep chuckle. Dick's hands moving down his body, skimming his pants off. Dick's mouth on his cock. Dick's ass surrounding his cock. Dick's ass, period. Dick moaning and groaning face down and beautiful ass up. Dick in handcuffs holding him to the headboard, enticing straps of black leather crisscrossing over his body, covering nothing...
"Hey, Drake! Thinking of anyone I know?"
Tim's head snapped up, catching the eye of Erik Larsen, who was wagging his eyebrows suggestively at him. He groaned silently. Erik was a year ahead of him, and for the past two rotations, they had been in the same department. Tim was beginning to think that wasn't an accident - after all, Erik was good friends with the resident in charge of assignments. Erik was also pretty obviously, if not openly, gay, and he had a habit of watching Tim that made Tim nervous.
The fact that Erik was right now very obviously eying his pants and the somewhat largish bulge was *definitely* making Tim nervous.
Shifting his lab coat and his knees to cover up without discomfort, Tim replied, "Actually, no. Was just thinking about my lover." It couldn't hurt to be a little obvious, here, could it?
"Ah, with our schedules, it's too hard to find enough time to be with the people we love."
Tim snorted. "And when you factor in *both* our schedules..." It *must* have been fatigue that made him say that.
Erik pulled a chair nearby and handed Tim a Zesti Cola. "This is a real relationship-killer time." He was nodding and speaking in a very understanding tone of voice. If he was wearing a sign around his neck reading, `If you decide to dump your boyfriend, or if he dumps you, I officially volunteer to be your rebound man', he couldn't have been more obvious.
Tim was about to respond when there was a knock at the door, and a dark head popped in. "Hey. Tim, is this a bad time?"
Tim practically jumped up. "No! What's up?"
Dick shrugged a shoulder inside. "Have a minute to chat?"
"Sure. C'mon." And Tim lead Dick away, the door swinging open so that Erik got enough of an eyeful to have pleasant a fantasy featuring Tim, himself, and the mystery tall, dark, and impossibly gorgeous guy Tim was practically dragging away.
Tim lead Dick to the exam room in the back that was almost always empty. It was small and the lighting wasn't in the optimal location. Before Dick could explain anything, Tim had closed the door and pinned his lover against it, kissing him until they were both breathless.
Arms clutching at one another, they just held and pressed into one another for a while. Pulling away with a groan, Dick finally worked up the energy to speak. "How much time do you have left?"
Tim sighed, and let go enough to look at his watch. "About ten minutes."
"That's not long enough..." Dick spoke softly into Tim's ear while kissing his neck gently.
"Mmmm, long enough for some stuff..."
Dick sighed, and stopped kissing. "I have to tell you something. It's important..."
"Please. Don't." Tim buried his head in the crook of Dick's neck, soaking in the smell and feel of him. "How long will you be gone?"
Dick crumpled a little knowing he was so obvious. "A week. Maybe a bit longer." He screwed up his courage. "I'm going off planet with the Titans."
Tim sagged against Dick so much that Dick needed to wrap his arms around him to keep him upright. "Oh, no..." Tim knew that one day, something like this would happen, but he had fastidiously worked on not thinking about it.
Dick tightened his hold on Tim, and nuzzled the skin behind his ear. "It'll be all right, I promise."
"You can't promise me that."
"It's not really that much different from what I do every night."
"Right. Only in the void of space. Far from home." Tears were forming in Tim's eyes.
Dick kissed Tim's face softly. "There isn't a power in this whole universe that would prevent me from coming home to you. There are still way too many things... and positions... that we haven't done or tried yet..."
Tim laughed despite himself. "A week."
"Maybe a little bit longer."
"And you promise you will come home?"
"Absolutely. Just like you will promise you won't work yourself into exhaustion worrying about me."
Tim smiled. "You are a very worrying boy."
Dick ran a hand through Tim's hair. "So are you, Timmy."
Tim lifted an eyebrow. "*I* don't jump off rooftops and fight Arkham runaways."
"No. You just work twenty hours a day and then come home and take care of me."
Tim grinned. "Well, we're agreed. We are both unreasonable jackasses. So, we still have five minutes and we won't be seeing each other for a week..." Tim made sure to bring his point home by rubbing himself against Dick's thigh.
"Five minutes... ah... isn't much time...."
"Mmmm, but it's enough time...."
With just a low growl as a warning, Dick went flat to his knees, pulled down Tim's scrubs, and went to work. Tim did all he could to stay upright, clutching the wall until his knees gave out. Dick held him up until he came, then he slumped down to the ground, putting his arms around Dick's neck, nuzzling quietly.
"Oh, maybe the universe can save itself this time." Tim hoped that his whisper was too soft to be heard.
Dick rubbed circles into Tim's back. "This is going to be the longest we've been apart since... I don't really want to go either."
Tim looked into Dick's eyes. "Then don't."
Dick smiled. "Every time I leave the Titans alone, somehow the settings on the holoemitter get changed and the Tower takes on some... interesting shapes. I blame Roy."
Tim smiled at Dick. They just held each other for a minute. Dick left without saying another word, and Tim stayed in the room, alone, composing himself. When he had finished the Meditation on the Fallen Drop twelve times, he got up, readjusted his pants, checked for stains, and finished his shift.
*-*-*-*-*-*
Time could move painfully slowly sometimes. Tim found he dreaded heading home. The commute to the `haven always seemed to fly by, usually because he was speeding, using every bat-trick to shorten the drive, and talking to Dick on the hands-free. Now, the drive seemed to take forever, and when he got home, he wondered why he bothered anyway.
So, he ended up volunteering for extra shifts, working in the library into the wee small hours, and dropping off at Babs' to exhaust himself further by playing with Angel.
Standing in front of the mirror, he tried to count the number of hours he had slept in the last eleven nights - Dick should be back by now, he said a week, maybe more, eleven days was getting too close to being two weeks - but his brain wasn't able to focus long enough to remember. And he had a shift starting in twenty minutes.
He stared into the dull eyes in the mirror, and told himself for the millionth time.... I am not a crybaby, I am not some namby little girl sitting at home waiting while chewing on her nails, I was the boy wonder, I stood next to the Bat, I was trained by Shiva, I am not going to fall apart because my boyfriend is late coming home from saving the universe, I am going to function, I will, I was Robin, I can deal with this....
But that was the problem. As Robin, he knew what sort of things Nightwing faced. He knew all the residents of Arkham, and all the big players from Blackgate. He knew how to fight Bane, or Deathstroke, or even Darkseid, if necessary (run, hide, and call Oracle to get the JLA).
He hated the fact that he had no idea how Dick was.
*-*-*-*-*
Tim was at the counter, filling out charts and fighting to stay awake. He was halfway through a double-shift, and well on his way to breaking the record for the most hours clocking by a student in the hospital's history. He hadn't even heard the phone ring when the nurse tapped him on the shoulder, asking, "Tim? It's a woman named Barbara? She said there was an emergency with Angel and she needs to talk to you?"
He leaped off of the stool and was on the phone in less than a heartbeat, displaying speed he had thought he had left behind with the cape and mask. "Babs! What's wrong?! Does she have a fever, had she been hurt?!"
"Relax, ex-boy wonder. I just needed some advice." Babs' voice was as it always was - lightly mocking. "I need to know how to tell if my daughter is being dangerously over stimulated."
"Huh?"
"Well, she's been crawling all over her dad with so much energy I think she might have a seizure soon."
Tim sank straight to the floor. "Oh, Babs..."
"Don't get hyper. He teleported straight to your apartment, and when you weren't there, he came here. He got ambushed right away. I figured you would want to bug out of your *fourth* extra shift this week and get your cute little butt over here where it could do more good."
"I'm on my way..." Tim was too relieved and exhausted to express his gratitude.
He handed the phone to the nurse, and struggled up. "Um, Sandy, I, uh..."
"Go, Tim. I'll let the res know."
He smiled weakly. "Thanks."
*-*-*-*-*
Tim had never seen anything so beautiful in his life. Angel had her arms wrapped around Dick's neck, and her little legs were wrapped around his chest as best they were able, as she had them on the ground hugging/wrestling. He leaned against the doorframe of the living room, grinning like a fool. Dick's eyes caught his and time literally stood still. Literally.
Babs was watching the two of them with obvious glee. Her boyz were nearly as much a worry as her girl, but they were worth it. They were just so damn cute together....
"Hey." Dick's voice was low and gentle, and it made Tim weak with glee to hear it again.
"Hey. Have a good trip?"
"Not bad."
"Good flight?"
"No peanuts. How's work?"
"Saved some people. Did a lot of paperwork."
Dick leaned his face down to his daughter's wavy black hair. "Hey, chikni, you know what I think? I think Timmy needs a ticklin'. What do you think?"
Angel's darling face turned towards him for the first time, her midnight blue eyes full of mischief. "Timmy!" In the next second, she had launched herself at Tim, making him rue for the trillionth time her acrobatic genes.
She hit him square in the chest, sending him reeling back, thus leaving him unable to defend against her clumsy attempts to tickle him under his arms. She had help a second later, though, as her dad came and tickled his waist and his armpits and anyplace else he could, until they were all on the floor in a heap.
It was a sensory overload to have his lover back like this. He vainly defended himself, letting the automatic response to the hands teasing all along his sides cover him. He started to roll and bend, and in no time at all, he was fighting back, and soon enough, they were mock wrestling. Angel squealed and scooted out of the way, laughing and giggling and generally feeling the joy of having her dad and her Timmy together again.
Soon, they were wrestling for real, as Babs yelled and Angel cheered. Tim was at a definite disadvantage, but he was enjoying all the gratuitous contact too much to stop. They rolled and rolled, hitting the couch and the table and the wall, until Tim was flat on the ground, with Dick fully on top of him. Their eyes were locked together, and it was like there was this *tunnel* between them through which everything was passing. They moved closer together at the same moment, their lips touching, their kiss becoming deeper and more passionate despite the fact that they were both *very* aware of the young eyes (and the curious eyes) watching them.
Angel loved to see her dad and Timmy kissing. Her dad kissed everyone, but when he kissed Timmy he was always happy afterwards. They were just so great, especially together. But no matter how much she liked them kissing, she had a limited attention span. So after a minute, she bumped into her dad, getting their attention. "Hey! You guys are supposed to be wrestling! We have to see who ends up on top!"
Babs actually snorted. "Sweetie, Tim usually ends up on top. But sometimes he lets your dad on top, just to shake things up and keep things interesting."
"That is so true." Tim giggled. Dick started to tickle Tim again, and the wrestling began again, only this time they were both aware of the subtext of their activity. So, it wasn't much of a surprise when Tim ended up on top, pinning Dick to the ground to the sound of Angel's and Babs' cheers.
Dick gave Tim a significant look before sighing loudly, then, with lightning speed, wrapping his legs around Tim's waist and making a side-swiping move, bringing Tim down and holding his lower body between his thighs.
"Just remember sweetie," Dick said to Angel, though his eyes never left Tim's face, "just because you are on top doesn't necessarily mean you are in charge."
Laughter and cheers continued until Angel's bedtime, at which point she declared that because Timmy won the match, he should be the one to put her to bed.
Dick kissed him on the cheek as he carried the tired little girl to the bathroom to get ready for bed. "She just knows you are a pushover now."
They were grinning at each other, and Tim sent up a thousand prayers to a god he'd never really thought about, giving thanks for home and love.
*-*-*-*-*
Erik was glumly stirring his coffee when Stacey dropped her tray down and proceeded to likewise dump all her problems. She was well into her oft-repeated tirade against the evils of people who couldn't grasp the concept of merging when she noticed that Erik wasn't paying attention.
"Hey, what's eating you? Or is it, what *isn't* eating you?" She loved her mischievous puns.
"Hmph. I'm just sulking."
"Oh?"
"Mmm, trim waist and tight buns?"
"Hm, oh, yeah. Tim."
"Yeah, you were convinced the pressures of medical school was going to self-destruct his relationship with the mystery gorgeous man, and you were gonna get to put back together the pieces of his shattered heart. As well as get under those natty scrubs."
"Heh. Well, the old gaydar is WAY off. I overheard him at the nurses' station. His lover? Some chick named Babs. And get this - they have a kid together."
Stacey put down her sandwich with a whoosh of air coming out of her puffed cheeks. "Well! Can't slip in between THAT!"
"Are you on Valium? None of the good ones are straight! At least not any of the *available* good ones!"
"Well, that's the problem, ain't it? The *available* ones."
"Preach it, sister!"
"Shut up."
"Hee!"
"All my hopes and dreams crushed, and you're making fun of me..."
"Oh, poor baby. Well, you'll just have to settle on a different fantasy. Hey have you seen that guy on the transplant floor?"
"Straight."
"What about the nurse on fourth?"
"Involved."
"The receptionist on twelfth?"
"Hairy."
"Oh, if you are going to be picky then...."
Erik tossed a napkin at her, giggling.
"He is hairy though."
"You've looked? You pervert."
"I don't have to look! It pops out of everywhere!"
"You don't like popping?"
"Not hairy popping, no!"
The nervous EMT at the next table finished his lunch in a hurry. He could swear, this hospital got weirder and weirder every time he was here....
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
Dick was sitting on the floor, leaning against the couch when Tim got back from putting Angel to bed. He looked like he'd been through the wringer at least a dozen times, his eyes closed and his head tipped back.
"So, is the li'l monster asleep?" Dick made the effort to open one eye to ask the question.
"Well, she's in bed. And she's promised to *pretend* to sleep. And it only took seven readings of `Curious George Goes to the Circus' to get her to promise that!"
"Well, you're lucky. The last time *I* put her to bed, she was reading books about that stupid cartoon/video game/toy commercial."
"Which one?"
Dick opened his arms and Tim gladly fell into them. "Babs?"
"In her cavern, saving the world, or ordering pizza, or downloading porn, I forget which..." Dick kissed Tim's face, light dancing kisses over his mouth and nose and cheeks and ears...
Tim settled into the lap he loved, rubbing his face into the kisses like a cat.
"I've missed you." Dick's words were so soft Tim barely heard them. Two sets of arms tightened and kisses got harder.
"Mmmm, how long did that take?"
"Oh, I think I had nearly gotten across the street from the hospital..."
"Ah, well, then, that's clearly a sign that you should never leave me again..."
"Hm, wouldn't that make doing your rounds difficult?"
"I'd find a way. Be good therapy, having such a hunk wandering around the hospital."
"Isn't that what you are for?"
"No, I'm for giving the terminal patients blow jobs."
Dick started laughing out loud, which made Tim laugh out loud. Dick buried his face in Tim's neck, and they both just rocked, holding each other, and being happy to be together.
"Oh, we should get off the floor. Maybe. Has Babs set up a room for us?"
Dick shook his head. "We have to go home."
"Home? We're both really, really tired."
"Yeah. Because *one* of us didn't fulfill his promise not to work himself into exhaustion."
"Dick..."
"We have to go home."
"But..."
"We can't fuck each other stupid here. Babs will insist on checking on us every ten minutes. `I didn't know why you were screaming, I had to be sure...'"
Tim sighed with good humor. "You do the worst impression of Babs... And oh, baby, I want to..."
"Good. Let's go." With that, Dick got up, holding his hand out for Tim.
"But, Dick, I'm not sure..."
"You don't have to work in the morning. Or afternoon. Or evening. And I have missed you." Dick pulled Tim up flush against his body. "So much, wanted you so much this past week..."
"Was it horrible? How did things go?" Tim's concerned eyes made Dick feel at home.
"Yes. Fine. Want you, need you, please, let's go home, and I swear to God, I will bring you fully awake and tire you out so you will sleep for days..."
They kissed, deeply, hands roaming and tongues wildly reaching and tasting. Tim was breathless and panting when they broke for air, all the frustrated lust and desire and fear of the past worried week and a half hit Tim like a Mack truck. Wordlessly, he took Dick's hand and lead him to the car.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
Tim was moaning, face down into his pillow, his sweat and Dick's saliva chilling his overheated back as Dick licked and kissed his way down Tim's spine. It drove Tim mad each and every time Dick would give his body such devoted worship. It was all he could do to keep from thrusting to release into the mattress, much less maintaining a conversation.
"So... uh, Toni's... oooh, ok now, right?"
"Mmmmph. Yeah. She was mostly shaken up. Garth did a spell..."
"Ahhh, sounds exciting."
"It was boring."
"Right."
Dick started kissing Tim's ass, so gently and sweetly. "You weren't there, I couldn't talk to you. I couldn't hear your funny little comments, your twisted perspective on things. I tried to imagine what you would say, but I'm not creative enough. I missed you."
"You've said that."
"I did."
"So did I, lover. Ah, that's so good. Oh, yeah, right there..."
Dick moved up, ignoring Tim's squeal of protest. Turning him on his side so they could be face to face, Dick declared in a solemn voice, "I love you. I never guessed how hard it would be to be apart."
Tim soothed him gently with his hands before speaking. "Something we'll have to work on, I guess. We can't be together *every* day for the rest of our lives."
"No." Dick looked very serious as he began running his fingertips down Tim's flank. "As long as we are together for the rest of our lives, I guess a few days here and there won't matter."
Tim was left shell-shocked. Not that he didn't *know* this was for real... not that he wasn't aware that Dick was as serious as he was, but they'd never talked about the future, never *said*...
He swallowed heavily. Sometimes, it just struck him. How lucky he was. "Hard to believe that you and I would ever be getting so emotional about being apart for 11 days..."
"I know! I kept thinking about that, about the early days, when it was still hard, getting used to thinking about you like that..."
"Didn't take you *that* long... in fact, I don't remember it being hard at all!"
"Oh, it was hard. Very hard. Just took awhile to get used to the idea of being hard for you...."
"Gotta love those horrible puns... but yeah, I get what you mean." Tim ran his hands up and down Dick's arms; he loved Dick's arms so much. "Our first time certainly was memorable..."
Dick groaned, and threw his arm over his eyes. "*Please* don't mention that! It was so embarrassing!"
"Was not! It was cute!"
"Premature ejaculation is NOT cute."
"Ah, but you made up for it *so* well... and often. It never happened again. And besides..."
Dick prompted him to continue with a slightly raised eyebrow. Tim shrugged. "It made me feel so... to know that you were so excited, by *me*. I'd never believed... I'd *fantasized*, but I had never believed before that you could be so interested in me. *Physically*. It never occurred to me that it was possible. It took my breath away, knowing you actually wanted *me* that much!"
"Oh, ves'tacha, you have no idea how much I want, need, love you...."
And before Tim could ask, Dick was kissing him, moving his hands and his groin and they were moving together, in their rhythm, the one they had both missed so much.
Falling asleep, much later, Tim made a mental note to ask Dick in the morning what ves'tacha meant.
*-*-*-*-*
end
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