A/N: So this is the first in my three part lighthearted break I mentioned back in Whispers. This first part is Perfect, second part will be Because, and the final part will be Chasing Robins (which, btw, I am totally excited for) and then after all of that will be my most awesomest smut fic ever =D and that's all only with this pairing *double grin* In any case, enjoy!
Perfect
"Hey Dick, bet you I can make this look like a heart." A twelve-year-old Wally West announced from the swing next to his dark haired best friend as he picked up a chunk of wood from the playground's mulch.
"Uh huh." Dick looked thoroughly uninterested as he swung slowly back and forth, head back and eyes closed as his breath curled carelessly into the chilly November air.
"Hmph, you'll see." Wally fumbled around in his hoodie pocket for the pocketknife his uncle had given him the previous Christmas, determined to get some kind of impressed reaction out of the younger boy.
Dick seemed unconcerned by the quiet whittling and muttered curses that came from his left side for the next half hour as he continued to enjoy his Saturday afternoon, humming a Savage Garden tune under his breath. Wally, for the amount of time Dick had known him, was always doing random things to get a reaction out of people, so his odd inclination to carve a heart did nothing to faze.
"Aha!" Wally suddenly exclaimed, jolting Dick out of his zoning. Looking at his insane friend from beneath half-frozen eyelashes, Dick was tempted to snort at the proud expression Wally wore as he held his makeshift heart out before him. The heart was rough at best, too lumpy in places and uneven in others, but to Wally's credit it did distantly resemble a heart…if you cocked your head and squinted.
"Um, Wally?" Dick started to break the news gently when Wally cut him off.
"Shut up!" Wally huffed, hiding both the wooden heart and his pocketknife in his hoodie pocket before jumping off his swing and grabbing Dick's hand. "It's perfect and you know it. Now let's go ice-skating!" The ever-exuberant redhead started bounding away, maroon scarf trailing behind him and whipping Dick in the face as he got dragged along.
As Dick allowed himself to be led to the frozen lake, he realized that only Wally would feel like staying outside for a long period of time in below freezing weather with only a hoodie and scarf on. He was just special like that.
"Don't you even wear gloves?" Dick questioned incredulously as the iced over lake loomed closer.
"Nah, that's why I've got you." Wally grinned back at him, uncovered hand never letting go of Dick's. If anyone had questioned him, Dick would have adamantly stuck to his conviction that his pinkened cheeks were due solely to the cold weather.
Five Years Later
"You utter bastard!" Dick stormed down the street, unmindful of the scandalized looks he was receiving and unconcerned that he was, apparently, determined to stomp back to Gotham rather than get a ride like any sensible person would.
"Dick, I didn't mean it! I honestly don't know what came over me!" Wally, at least, was trying to avoid as many bodily collisions as he could while chasing after his raging mad boyfriend. "Dick, just-would you stop for one second and let me explain!" Wally finally caught hold of the younger teen's wrist and jerked the two to a stop.
"What the hell is there to explain?" Dick whirled around, blue eyes flashing dangerously and mouth set in a hard line that Wally did not like at all. "I think you made it perfectly clear back there how little our relationship matters to you." He wrenched his sleeve back from the momentarily stunned redhead before continuing down the sidewalk. "And really, I should have seen this coming. When we first got together I was like, he can't be serious about this, right? I mean, it's Wally for god's sake. But then you gave me that damn sincere look of yours and I fell for it like an idiot. I'll bet this was all just a huge game for you meant for a few kicks and laughs once it was over." Dick was ranting on to himself as Wally, exasperatedly, pursued him down the crowded street.
"You know that was never my intention! Would you stop being so hot headed and use that common sense of yours for once?" Damn, speed walking like a normal human being was tiring.
"Oh, don't you dare tell me to use common sense." Dick stopped short and turned so abruptly that his and Wally's chests slammed together before Wally could stop with a pained grunt. "If you had a single ounce of common sense you wouldn't have done what you did back there, because you would have known that this would happen and you would have known better. But you didn't, did you? And now here we are!" Dick threw his arms to the side, nearly smacking a passing woman in the head. Wally sent the woman an apologetic smile before turning back to his boyfriend with a sigh.
"Look, I know that what I did back there was a dick move, but I didn't mean to hurt you and I'm sorry." Wally tried to apologize but only seemed to reignite Dick's anger.
"Didn't mean to hurt me? How the hell could pretending that we're nothing but friends in front of your friends not hurt me?" Dick demanded, voice raising to the point that passerby were giving the two a very wide berth.
"Dick, things are different here in Central. People aren't as accepting as-" Wally tried really hard to explain, but Dick didn't give him the chance as he turned around, once again, and kept on walking.
"Master Richard?"
"Go away Alfred. I am not in the mood right now." Dick didn't even look up as he hurled another birdarang at the dartboard on his wall, a picture of Wally taped to the center and already punctured with half a dozen weapons.
"I can tell." Alfred said dryly. "However, I do fear for Wallace's future well-being should he continue to refuse to leave. Master Bruce has gotten that look in his eyes that usually indicates someone about to get maimed."
"Good. Let Bruce have at that no good son of a-" Dick cut himself off as Alfred gave a pointed cough.
"I really think you should at least go down there and tell him to leave. Then you will be free to sulk for as long as you like." Alfred held Dick's bedroom door open as the teen grudgingly hauled himself to his feet and trudged out.
Approaching the second floor landing, Dick could see Bruce closing the front door and turning around with a small box in hand. Curiosity peaking through his still simmering anger, Dick made his way down the stairs as Bruce silently scrutinized the box.
"He finally left, but said to give this to you." Bruce glanced up as Dick walked towards him, lifting the box up for Dick to take.
Wordlessly, Dick accepted the simply built wooden box and slowly flipped it over in his hands a few times. It wasn't heavy, but not quite light, and Dick had no clue what the heck Wally would have put in it, much less what he himself was expected to do with it. Glancing up to see Bruce leaning against the banister with his arms crossed and curiosity lighting his eyes, Dick opened the box to find an inscription roughly carved onto the inside of the lid.
It may be imperfect, but it's always been yours.
Nestled in the otherwise empty box was the badly carved wooden heart, too lumpy in places and uneven in others, that Wally had carved years ago on that cold November day.
Feeling his own heart stutter through its next few beats, Dick stood there feeling dumb with shock. Sure, Wally hadn't ever been shy with his affectionate words and gestures, but this? Giving Dick his heart was so…vulnerable, and so, so incredibly sweet and heartfelt and-and-
"Are you going to stand there all night or go after him?" Bruce's knowing smile broke the spell surrounding Dick, and before he knew it he'd set the box containing Wally's heart carefully on the entrance table before tearing out of the manor, hoping to anyone up there that the speedster had decided to walk rather than run.
Just outside the manor grounds, Wally's slumped form was walking slowly along, shoulders hunched and sneakered feet moodily scuffing at the ground. Dick was running so fast that his mind had no time to even think of stopping before he crashed headfirst into his boyfriend.
With muffled grunts and groans, the two teens went tumbling to the thankfully soft grass in a mess of tangled limbs and flailing arms. After a final roll due to Dick's inertia, he found himself sprawled over Wally's chest as his body gasped for breath after his mad dash to catch up to the redhead.
Wally, for his part, was pretty sure some part of him was bruised, but with Dick's warm body pressed tightly against his with lips desperately attached to his own, he couldn't really find it in himself to care. Finally, once his lungs felt like they were on fire due to lack of oxygen, Dick pulled back to allow a shell-shocked Wally to catch up.
"Jesus Christ Dick, what the hell was-"
"Shut up." Dick silenced him with another breath stealing kiss, pressing their bodies impossibly closer before whispering directly into Wally's ear, "It's perfect and you know it."