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Never let it be said that Dick was always the practical one of the two. Between him and Roy, Dick was generally more serious, but generally was not a rule and even if it was Dick always seemed to break any rules enforced on him.
Roy wanted to be upset as rain pelted on him and soaked into his suit, but not only would he definitely have done something like pulling Dick out into a storm, Dick also had the cutest fucking smile as he hopped out onto the roof and fuck. Roy could not get mad at that. He barely ever saw that soft genuine smile on Dick’s face as it was and it felt even more rare as time went on. So he could deal with what felt like torrential rain as long as Dick got his moment of bliss.
It was dark out, it was the middle of the night after all, but it was still pretty warm. Summer and all that. Warm rain was at least more pleasant than the cold alternative.
“And you call me grumpy,” Dick’s voice rang out. Dick’s smile turned shit-eating as he looked at Roy. Roy rolled his eyes and crossed his arms, (oh god he was already soaked,) trying his best to look upset.
“You dragged me out into a rainstorm-” thunder abruptly interrupted him. Dick muffled a laugh with his hand as Roy cleared his throat. “Thunderstorm,” he corrected, “and you expect me to not be grumpy?”
“Yes, actually.” Dick took a couple strides forward to grab Roy’s hands. “You always tell me to chill out. Isn’t that what I’m doing?”
“I didn’t mean literally!” Roy sputtered. Dick giggled and holy shit that was cute.
“It’s not even cold. It’s the middle of July.” Dick leaned up and kissed Roy’s nose before smirking again. “What? The California boy can’t handle a little rain?”
“Hey, I can handle rain,” Roy pulled his hands away from Dick’s to place one hand on Dick’s hip. “Just because I don’t wanna get soaked doesn’t mean I can’t handle it.”
“Mmm I don’t know. That sounds fake to me.” Dick placed a hand over Roy’s. “Just admit that rain is too much for you.”
“Are you trying to goad me into staying out in the rain with you?” Roy wrinkled his nose as if personally offended. As if Dick actually needed to goad him. Dick smiled and blinked up innocently at Roy. Thunder rumbled again before lightning struck in the distance behind Dick. Dick looked like he was glowing for the brief moment the sky lit up.
“I mean… maybe.” Dick wrapped his other arm around Roy’s neck. “Is it not working?” Dick’s lips curved down into a pout. Okay, that was unfair. So unfair. Roy shook his head and leaned down enough to capture Dick’s lips in a chaste kiss. Rain drops dripping down their faces and almost surrounding their lips.
“No,” Roy mumbled against Dick’s lips before kissing him again. “No, the goading isn’t working because it doesn’t need to work.” Roy grinned suddenly not minding the way his suit clung to his body from being soaked. Dick smiled back, a gleeful expression that was so real it normally would’ve been hidden behind a hand.
“Good.” Dick spun out of Roy’s arms, perfectly timed with another clap of thunder. Honestly, Roy sometimes wondered if Dick had control over the sky. There was no way that a normal human just so happened to be perfectly framed in whatever weather they were experiencing. Dick’s head lifted toward the sky, letting it be pelted by rain. Tension seemed to wash off of him as the warm water flowed down and off of him. Roy felt like a spectator as Dick hummed happily.
Being partners with Nightwing wasn’t always easy, as much as Dick said they were equals they were very much not , but it was worth it. Because Roy was the one seeing Dick giddily enjoy a thunderstorm instead of doing whatever he theoretically ‘should’ be doing. Roy was the one that got to witness Nightwing’s humanity.
Dick spun on the balls of his feet to look back over at Roy.
“You just gonna stand there all night?” Dick held out a hand towards Roy. “C’mon, we can find a better rooftop than this.”
“You’re the one that took us out onto this one.” Roy grabbed onto Dick’s hand to which Dick immediately pulled him along.
“Yeah, and?” Dick shook his head and pulled again. Goddamn, he always forgot how deceptively strong Dick was. Like yeah Dick was in a league of his own in terms of fighting skill but also Dick had a surprising amount of strength stored in that 5’5 body. He wasn’t even built for strength- “You’re zoning out a lot tonight, Red Arrow.”
“No idea what you’re talking about, ‘Wing.” Roy focused on the ground as he ran along and jumped across roofs with Dick. Dick may never fall without purpose but Roy was not a bird and rain wasn’t exactly helping his footing.
“Here,” Dick said as he grabbed onto the ledge of a rooftop and pulled himself up. Roy pulled himself up after, not surprised to find that they were on the tallest building close by. Roy wrapped his arms around Dick’s waist.
“Did you literally drag us multiple blocks away just to be a couple stories higher?” Roy scoffed before placing his chin on Dick’s shoulder.
“Yes? No?” Dick held out his hand to catch drops of the pouring rain, lightning illuminating the sky once more. “You already agreed to be out here with me, you can deal with my need to be close to the sky.” Yes, he could. He could deal with a lot of things in regards to Dick.
“As long as you don’t go jumping off any rooftops. I won’t be able to catch you like Kor or Don.” Or Superman. Dick had given any hero that could fly a scare at least once, but Clark definitely suffered the most heart attacks from Dick’s apparent lack of fear of gravity.
“I won’t, promise.” Dick dropped his hands, letting the water collected in his hands splash on the ground. “You catch me where it counts, anyways.” Dick smiled softly again, tone warm with affection. Roy felt his face heat up, immediately catching the underlying message of what Dick was saying. Roy grabbed Dick’s now unoccupied hand. He held it up to Dick’s chest, squeezing it tightly.
“Always, Rob. Always.” Even when he should focus on himself, but hey. That was neither here nor there. He knew Dick had his back too, so it wasn’t that big a deal if Roy prioritized Dick. At least that’s what he’d tell himself.
Dick didn’t say anything in response, only moving his head to kiss Roy once more. For a man so good with words, Dick was very weird about when he would use them. Not that it particularly bothered Roy. Dick was as much a man of action as he was a one of words.
“Thank you,” Dick said abruptly. He fully relaxed into Roy’s hold, pressing most of his body weight against him. “For humoring this, I mean.” Dick looked up at the sky and smiled gently as lightning flashed across the sky.
“You’ve done far weirder things for me.” Roy squeezed Dick’s waist and snorted as he recalled the places Dick had followed him with little to no explanation given.
“Maybe, but this still means a lot.” Dick didn’t elaborate. Still, Roy got the gist of what Dick meant. Dick nearly always had an edge of playfulness to him, but it wasn’t often that it got to be indulged in. Robin got to be lighthearted until the mission got too serious or the team needed leading. Nightwing could joke around as long as it had a purpose.
Dick may have lost sight of who he was beyond the roles he had to fill, but Roy never would. He had seen Dick’s heart laid out and had so carefully imprinted it into his own.
Despite the fact that his suit felt like an uncomfortable second skin and the fact that the warm rain still chilled his bones, he would gladly stay the whole night on the rooftop with Dick in his arms. Well, it wouldn’t be a complaint-less night, but it would be a happy one.
Roy looked over from Dick’s face to the storm clouds above them.
A happy night, indeed.