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The door opens and Dick peeks at the man coming in. The door is shut and the keys are tossed with a clatter onto the dresser. With a soft growl of frustration, Slade tugs his tie loose and rolls his neck til it pops. Dragging a hand down his face, he takes a deep breath before letting it out slowly.
“It went that bad, huh?” Dick asks from the table across the studio, his feet kicked up while he watches out the window and reads the paper. The drapes flutter with the warm breeze coming through the cracked balcony door.
Slade gives him a mild look and Dick smiles for him.
“I thought you were good at everything, Slade,” Dick teases, going back to his paper, “Diplomacy isn’t your strong suit, I guess?”
Rolling his eyes, Slade shrugs off his suit jacket, tossing it unceremoniously onto the bed for now. He’ll iron it later. Right now he’s too frustrated to care. There’s no smell of blood or gunpowder on him.
“Securing a replacement for the dignitary before I finish my job- we’re not doing this again. I’m not a diplomat, and this is not my business.”
He steps up to the dresser and dips his fingers in the little dish of water before he presses against his lower lid to slide the prosthetic eye out of the socket, setting it in the dish of clean water and grabbing his eye patch.
“In fact, this is your fault, if I should be frank.”
“I’d rather you didn’t,” Dick peeks at him, trying to squash down that smile. “Besides, you’d have felt guilty if you didn’t go through with this. Sitting over your coffee in the morning thinking about the crumbling infrastructure while the morning news covers his death.”
“Something that wouldn’t be my concern,” Slade gruffs, unbuttoning his shirt as they talk.
“But think of the women and children-”
“Grayson,” Slade starts, crossing the room to lean over the paper Dick is reading, his finger jabbing the newspaper, “if you really have this much investment in this man becoming the dignitary before I kill the old one, then why don’t you do all those poor women and children a favor, and you talk him into it.”
“I-”
“While keeping a solid and believed cover, at all times, and not tipping him off to the fact that he’s being persuaded into stepping up into the position before the last is even dead because I’m going to kill him.”
Dick stares up at Slade from his chair, blinking a little owlishly. He winces a little, looking back down at his paper.
Slade stands still for a moment before stepping away, “That’s what I thought.”
After a few minutes of the sound of Slade disrobing, Dick staring at the page but not really reading, he turns to look over his shoulder, lips pursed, “Do you really blame me for this whole fiasco?”
“Yes.”
“Oh, come on, Slade, you know that it wouldn’t have been right to risk someone else stepping up- someone worse.”
“And it wasn’t right of you to step in on my job like some altruistic snot nosed brat, either. But here we are.”
Dick stands up from the table, folding the newspaper as he does before crossing the little apartment to approach Slade slowly. Slade allows it, and Dick sets a hand on his hip, sliding up behind him to pepper a few kisses across his now bare shoulders.
“I’m sorry that I made your job more difficult, but… I was doing what I thought would be better for the good of the whole. For them, and for you. I know you’re frustrated, but I know you know the truth of it, too, Slade.”
Slade’s shoulders relax a little at a time at the gentle affections. He won’t admit it out loud, and Dick knows that well enough by now, but he is right. The jobs that don’t end with peace for the people keep Slade up at night thinking about what he might have been able to do differently. A job is a job, but by his hand, he condemns innocent people from one horror to another. Sometimes, it’s a hard pill to swallow.
All the same though, the idea that if he’d done things the way he’d initially been asked, and agreed, he would have been saddled with the guilt of the hell he brought on the people of this country isn’t easy either. Facing down his own vulnerabilities and the dead eye reactions he has to his own line of work, knowing others know how he works on such a deeply personal level, makes him defensive and sharp. It’s what will keep him and his secrets and his heart guarded from worse.
Thinking of Dick as worse, as something sharp that will see his weakness, and come in quick with a knife…
Some things are hard to unlearn.
“I’m going to shower. Pick up dinner for us.” Slade turns and reaches to hold the side of Dick’s face so he can press a kiss against his temple, hard.
Dick snickers and melts a little before batting those long lashes, “Whatever you say, sir.”
This is how things go between them, or has, since they’ve invested themselves in this mission. This isn’t the first time Slade’s taken a job that took a while, but it’s the first time he’s had someone muscle in on his work and convince his client to change the contract.
Even if he knows Dick was right in his assessment of the power imbalances and risk of someone worse stepping into power, Slade has trouble not feeling his toes have been stomped on. He’s a prideful man, especially when he is working. He’s worked and proven himself for decades to be the name he is, with deadly efficiency, and to have Nightwing scold him for not thinking of the people, in front of a client, is more than a little annoying. He’s right, but Slade’s still grumpy about it.
The shower is nice, and the food is good, especially for take out.
With little boxes of food set aside and a couple pairs of chopsticks still sticking out of rice, Slade eases himself back with a sigh, running his hands through his still damp hair, shaking it loose and making sure it’s not tangled.
Dick’s eyes run up and down his body, his pecs, the hard muscles of his stomach, the bulge of his arms. Slade arches his eyebrow and watches Dick as well.
“If you’re still that hungry, there’s a whole ‘nother box of chicken, Dick.”
Dick snorts, shaking his head a little, “Not hungry for dinner. Dessert sounds nice though.”
Huffing a laugh of his own, Slade puts his arms down from stretching himself out after his long day and good meal and cocks his head to the side, “Are you going to be straightforward about it, yet, or just continue to beat around the bush?”
Showing his teeth a little Dick closes up his rice container, licking sauce off his chopsticks before setting those aside too. He doesn’t speak up immediately, but he does look Slade over again, lips pursed in something that could definitely be considered a pout.
Slade’s own scarred lips pull in a smirk, “Jason never has trouble asking for what he wants.”
Dick jolts and he puts a hand down on the table, “Alright, that’s not fair! You don’t need to be comparing the two of us-”
Slade shrugs, and the motion alone cuts Dick off. He grinds his teeth a little, and then leans in a little, “You go to sleep tonight and I’m gonna fuck your hot cunt.”
The single stormy eye half closes as he leans in a little to match Dick, “Is that so?”
“I’m gonna fuck my cum into you and then eat you out til you’re chanting my name in your dreams.” Dick keeps his gaze level and his shoulders square. He’s going to do it. There’s a flicker of doubt behind his eyes, in the microexpressions of his face, and Slade can see it, but he attributes it more to his nervousness than anything else.
Slade eases a little, looking him over with that hooded gaze before he shows a little teeth in a grin, “Whatever you say, Dick.”
The tension eases after that, and the two of them go back to the rest of the evening. Leftovers gets packed up and put in the fridge, and Slade relaxes in bed with the television on while Dick sits at the table and does some reading on his laptop. He seems very focused. Slade catches himself watching Dick more than the television.
When he’s good and ready, Slade gets up and putters around a little getting things ready for the next morning. Everything gets put into its proper place, he irons his jacket and hangs it up. When all is said and done, he turns the television off and climbs into bed. The lamp on Dick’s side of the bed stays on so he can still get around the little apartment with relative ease. When Slade wants, he sleeps like a rock.
Dick listens intently, and watches with such a keen eye, until he can hear the change in Slade’s breathing, in the way his chest rises and falls in his sleep. He knows he can sleep hard when he wants, but he knows he can sleep light enough that a too loud breath wakes him. Dick heaves a sigh to test it, but he doesn’t stir and his breathing doesn’t change.
They’ve talked about this before, and Dick had honestly been shocked that Slade was willing to indulge him. He just hasn’t worked up the courage to take things in this direction despite having permission hand over fist to do so.
Shutting his laptop quietly, Dick creeps across the apartment and around the bed to Slade’s side before leaning over him a little, listening to him breathe, close enough to feel his warm breath.
He moves his hands under the edge of the blanket to feel over his chest, feel the way he breathes while he sleeps, and pull the covers back enough that he can feel over the rest of his body. The way his ribs rise and fall, the hard muscle, the faint and few scars.
Slade is dead asleep.
Dick smiles, leaning in to press a few kisses to his collarbone and the top of his chest, feeling the neat scruff of his chin tickle his skin. He’s so goddamn handsome- it’s enough to take Dick’s breath away.
Climbing up onto the bed, Dick eases Slade onto his back, and all he gets for his effort is a soft hum and a shift, but not nearly enough to make him worry Slade might wake. His hair is still down, and it splays out wild around him on the pillow. Dick traces a finger along the line of his jaw, and the pulse in his throat, feeling the beat of his heart in his chest. He could take in all the little things for hours, but he did say he was hungry for dessert.
Shifting his body around, Dick hooks his fingers in the sides of Slade’s pants and underwear to pull them down off his ass and down his legs, taking just a moment to marvel at his thick muscled thighs and the fact his ass still has some plushness to it. He really is a beautiful man, and Dick’s lucky to be able to catch his eye.
He tosses his pants off the side of the bed unceremoniously before he runs his hands over Slade’s thighs, the pale fuzz, and up along his hips and stomach. His cock stirs just being able to shamelessly run his hands over as much of this man as he wants. Dick leans down and peppers kisses across his chest and stomach, farther still until he comes to the tidy white curls that frame his pretty plush cunt.
Fingers drag along his lips and Dick shivers to feel he’s hot and just a little wet. He wonders how into this kind of thing Slade must be for him to be wet before Dick’s even done much. Is he really sensitive enough a few roaming hands has him hot? He wonders if he’s having a good dream. He hopes so.
He pushes Slade’s legs apart and settles himself down to lean in and lap at his pussy, warm him up even more, and get a taste that’ll leave him buzzing for a while. Slade doesn’t stir much, so he settles in to enjoy prepping him. Along the outer lips, suckling at the labia, farther up to flick his tongue along his fat clit and the warm metal of the piercing in Slade’s hood. The more Dick works his mouth, his tongue delving deeper, the more pliant he gets. He’s slick and dripping by the time Dick is satisfied, licking his own lips and smiling with satisfaction.
Better safe than sorry, he leans over Slade’s sleeping form and pulls out the bottom of lube from the bedside table. He hikes off his own pants, leaving him just as bare, and already hard, cock beading with pre. Ruddy and twitching, Dick breathes a few sighs to get himself under control. He wants to enjoy this, and what an embarrassment it’d be if he got two thrusts in before coming.
Pouring a generous amount of lube onto his fingers and Slade’s cunt, he shifts his legs enough to pull them up over his hips, trying not to jostle him too much as he works two fingers in and out of his hot hole, spreading the lube as deep as his fingers can reach, in along his soft walls. The sound is enough to make Dick groan a soft sound, thighs shaking with anticipation.
Licking his lips again, Dick cleans his fingers off and makes sure they’re in a comfortable position before he wraps a hand around his own cock and rubs it along Slade’s plump lips, rubbing the head of it against his engorged clit with a shiver, smearing shiny precum over his ruddy clit before he uses a thumb to pull his lips open a little to see the way his dick sinks in, and goes for it, nice and easy.
There’s nothing like it, honestly, and he wish he weren’t so damn sentimental sometimes, but Slade really is a good fuck. Dick’s eyes roll back as he pushes deeper, angling himself so that when he’s fully seated hip to hip, he can set his hands on either side of Slade’s ribs and watch his face while he fucks him. At first it’s a slow roll of the hips, to gauge just how deeply Slade is asleep, but it doesn’t take long before Dick is getting into it, canting his hips hard enough to jostle the man under him in his sleep.
And still, he doesn’t wake up. A quiet part of Dick thinks he might be fucking with him, awake and pretending, but he just closes his eyes and enjoys the feeling instead. He pants hot, trying to keep himself quiet, as if that might wake him when he’s fucking him.
Dick has to stop multiple times to hold himself back so he doesn’t spill too soon. He has the stamina to fuck for hours, but Slade feels so good, so tight around him, that he just can’t help himself. The heat pooling in his gut is enough to make him groan and shudder at the slick sounds and just how hot Slade is. He’s sopping wet, and that only makes Dick’s cock ache more.
When he slows his grinding, pushing his hair back off his forehead, he reaches down to rub his thumb over Slade’s clit, and the piercing in his hood, watching how the smear of lube and pre makes the metal shine, and his clit twitch eagerly. Even asleep his body is ready and willing and hungry.
Slade stirs just a bit, a scrunch of the face and a little hum and the threat of Slade waking in the middle of this has Dick freezing just long enough that he can be sure Slade’s really asleep, before he’s fucking him in earnest, holding his hips so that he jostles less, grinding his cock as deep as he can as he breathes hard. The rush of nearly being caught in the act burns through him like fire.
Sweat beads down his back at the mix of trying to stay quiet, trying to keep his movements measured, trying to keep himself restrained enough. It’s a heady cocktail strong enough to drive him up a wall.
It doesn’t take long after the threat of Slade waking before Dick’s gripping Slade’s hip hard with one hand, and fist tight in the sheets and coming hard and deep, filling him with warmth. Dick grits his teeth and rolls his hips as he comes, slow and deep as he fucks his cum deep into Slade’s cunt, shaking as he stifles himself.
When his muscles finally loosen, he breathes hard a few times before he reaches to push his hair off his forehead and slowly and carefully ease Slade’s legs off his hips and pull out of him. He hadn’t felt him orgasm, but there’s definitely time for that.
Pulling out of him drags a rivulet of thick cum, dripping onto the sheet under his ass. Dick’s cock hangs limp and spent as he uses his thumbs to pull his lips apart gently to marvel at the look of his work, and his cum seeping out of Slade’s pussy.
Lowering himself down onto the bed again, Dick doesn’t waste any time, or anymore of his own seed, and buries his face in eagerly, tongue fucking him. He’s no stranger to swallowing down a load of cum, but eating it right out of a used hole is really his favorite. Dick’s eyes flutter closed as he spends time just lavishing Slade’s hole with love, from bottom to top, as deep as he can reach with his tongue, and swallowing down every drop.
Only after he’s sure enough he’s gotten it all, or as much as he’s going to get, he focuses instead on getting Slade off. A thumb on his clit for now, he works to see if he can get Slade breathing hard again, like he’d been when Dick was rutting his cock against his clit. Eyes flutter a little more and he wants to rut against the sheets. Even flagged, the fire in his belly is stoked so hot. He can feel Slade’s cunt fluttering around his tongue, against his mouth, and he can hear the way his breath hitches a little more.
He alternates, flicking his tongue quickly against his clit while he fucks two fingers into his sloppy hole. Dick might have cleaned a good portion of his own cum out of him, but Slade’s slick, and having eaten him out, he’s dripping, and the sound of it makes Dick’s knees weak.
That hard breathing- practically panting- comes alongside Slade’s hips bucking little circles against Dick’s face. Drool drips down his own chin.
When Slade comes, Dick savors the feeling of him tight around three of his fingers, the way his clit twitches against Dick’s tongue, and how tight his thighs get around his head. He licks gently and slowly until he can feel the waves of Slade’s orgasm slow to an occasional heavy twitch.
A hand in his hair eases him up, pupils wide, he smiles as Slade’s tired face watches him between his legs. He gives him a small smile before Dick is licking his lips and climbing up the length of his body. Between being woken, and the rush of feel good hormones that always make Slade sleepy, he won’t be awake for long, but he draws Dick closer nonetheless, the tacky drying mess between his legs forgotten in sake of deep kisses.
Dick melts into it, just like he melts into everything with Slade, kissing him back til he starts to doze off again, stroking his silver white hair off his forehead with the back of his fingers. He presses a few kisses to the corner of his mouth and jaw before he sits up to reach around and grab the little package of wet cloths and takes time to gently clean the both of them up.
When he’s done, Dick pulls the blanket up and around their shoulders.
Slade’s voice is soft and creaky under the covers, “Get your fill, boy?”
He can’t help the snicker as he leans in to press a kiss to Slade’s lips, something the man returns, even without looking.
Dick only hums in response, and Slade opens his eye to peek at him, brow arched.
“Didn’t stand up to your expectations?” Slade muses.
Blinking a little, Dick settles, pressing his forehead to Slade’s, “No, it was great. I was just thinking, is all.”
“Dangerous thing to be doing.”
Dick reaches and pushes at his arm gently, earning him a crooked smirk from Slade.
“Is this… alright?”
Slade moves to drape his arm over Dick’s chest, voice rumbling, “Is what alright, Dick?”
Reaching, his hand is hesitant before he cards fingers through Slade’s hair, “Us engaging like this while we’re working.”
Brow pinching minutely, Slade glances at him, “Explain.”
“We’re working. You’re focused. Is us being romantic and… domestic even alright to be doing right now?”
He doesn’t sit up, because really, Slade would rather be getting more sleep, but he knows realistically Dick needs his support right now, even if that kind of thing is still difficult sometimes.
“Why wouldn’t it be alright? We’re partners.” A pause, then, “Romantic partners.”
“We’re dating,” Dick says, where it’s clear Slade has trouble saying it.
“Yes, we are. Are you against the two of us engaging while on a job?”
“No!” Dick shifts, “No, no. That’s not what I mean. I mean… your job is important. The work you do is important. You’re always laser focused on the task at hand. I didn’t know if you… I didn’t know if it was alright of me to want to be romantic and soft with you while you’re…”
Slade sighs deeply, something twisting in his chest as he wraps his arm around Dick a little tighter. The words don’t come immediately. But, it’s clear in the way he speaks up, he’s trying.
“If I’ve been unfair to you, it wasn’t intentional. It’s not something I’m used to. On a job or not, my experience in the last few decades has been quick hard sex with no attachments or feelings past self fulfilling lust.”
Dick listens, carding fingers through Slade’s hair still.
“If you’d rather I was more romantic, it’s not out of my depths. I’m rusty, but not incapable.”
“And that’d be alright?” Dick asks, voice quiet. “It wouldn’t be… selfish of me? To want that?”
Slade shakes his head, turning his head to pull Dick in for a kiss, less lustful and more charged with a deep seated urge to be together. Slade does what he does, and Dick understands that. But Slade really is making strives in his own ways to be something capable of love, despite how he sees himself. It won’t happen overnight, but the honest acknowledgement and attempt are worth it for Dick.
The way he relaxes into Slade’s arms and into the bed they share, tells Slade that, for now, he’s placated some of his fears. But if he’s going to keep Dick close, physically and emotionally, and himself from regressing back to his own lonely isolation, he’s going to have to try harder.
They both deserve it.
As they settle in, Dick hums gently, “I think I know how to deal with your little problem.”
“My problem?” Slade grumbles, squinting at him.
“The dignitary!” Dick smiles, a grin from ear to ear.
Slade reaches up and puts his entire hand on Dick’s face to push him away, “I’m sleeping. Don’t start.”
All Dick can do is laugh as he settles in to wrap his arms around Slade under the covers, burying his face into his hair and breathing him in.
When Slade is very nearly asleep again, Dick whispers, “Bringing up Jason really was a low blow, old man.”
A soft little groan and Slade huffs, “If you don’t go to sleep…”