The news had come as a surprise to pretty much nobody. Batman´s history with Catwoman went back a long way, as long as Bruce´s history with Selina. They had all, at some point or another, known what had been or still was going on between them, both in and out of costume. If anything, it should have happened a long time ago. The only real surprising thing about the whole engagement announcement was the fact Selina had accepted the proposal. Then again, he shouldn't have been fazed by it.
He wondered what Bruce would look like when he congratulated him. Alfred had given them the news instead of Bruce himself, and Dick wondered if it had been done deliberately to put off their reactions. Was that a sign that Bruce expected them to throw a fit or disagree with the choice he´d made? Damian probably would, though not the rest of them.
Dick, in particular, had no intention of throwing a fit and claiming Bruce as his own. It didn´t work that way, and they both knew it.
"Still determined to await Master Bruce´s return?"
Alfred´s soft voice made him tear his gaze away from the biggest window in Bruce´s studio. He turned the chair around and smiled. "Of course. After dropping that bomb I can´t go away without congratulating him in person."
Alfred´s lips just about twitched. He walked into the studio and placed the tray he´d been carrying on top of the big lacquered table. "I suppose it is a 'bomb' indeed, Master Dick. I cannot say I am surprised by the announcement. However, I cannot say it is something I can easily put aside either."
Dick´s smile widened. He picked up one of the little sandwiches on the tray, nibbled at a corner. "What did you say when he told you? Did you act a bit surprised? Smiled? Gave him your blessing?"
"Nothing of the sort. I merely told him to be careful this time around. If he happens to have another son, I would wish to know before he reaches Master Damian´s age. I believe having a baby in the manor would be quite a nice change for the family."
Dick´s mouth dropped. He waited for Alfred to tell him he was joking, but the butler´s expression remained impassive, a tiny bit pleased if that.
"Where would we be without you?" he said as laughter spilled from his lips and took the better of him.
"Sometimes, Master Dick, I do wonder about that myself." And this time Alfred´s voice was tinged with amusement.
Dick laughed harder, then threw Alfred a sparkling look before he went back to nibbling on his sandwich. Before he could respond to that though, he heard the front door open, then close. Bruce´s voice rang a second later.
"Alfred?"
"If you would excuse me, Master Dick," Alfred said, and bent slightly at the waist before walking out of the room. There were murmurs outside as Alfred greeted Bruce, then softer conversation. Dick finished his sandwich and had picked up another when Bruce walked into the studio.
"Spending the night?" he said as a way of greeting. He closed the door behind him, removed his coat, hung it on the back of a chair.
Dick gave him a small smile. "I promised Damian we´d take a morning jog tomorrow. Going back to Bludhaven would make it somewhat difficult to be here on time."
"You should go to bed then. It´s late already."
"Oh, I know, but I didn't want to go to bed until I´d seen you."
Bruce tensed, his expression turned even more neutral than usual. Dick almost rolled his eyes at the unnecessary Batman display.
"Are you worried I´m going to throw a jealousy fit or start crying over your engagement?" he asked, and his voice came softer than he´d thought, though no less amused.
Bruce let out a minuscule sigh before walking to the chair where Dick was sitting. They stared at each other for a few seconds before Dick´s lips curved. He stood, and Bruce took the chair while he sat on the desk, flattening palms on top of the shiny surface.
"Does it bother you?" Bruce asked after they´d finished staring at each other for what felt like an eternity.
Dick tilted his head to the side. "What would you do if I said it did?"
Bruce didn't answer. Dick hadn´t really expected him to.
The silence stretched out for a few more minutes.
"I´m happy for you," Dick said finally. He reached out to take Bruce´s tie between his hands, touched the smooth and silky material and tugged gently. Bruce moved, and Dick moved as well.
"I saw it coming from miles away, and it´s no surprise to me," Dick went on. They were closer now, but it wasn't enough. Dick tugged a bit more on the tie, and Bruce complied. It wasn't until he could feel the other man´s breath against his face that he decided they were close enough.
"But?" Bruce said. He lifted a hand, laid it atop one of Dick´s thighs.
Dick let out a short laugh. He tilted his head, closing the distance a bit more. "I ask again. What would you do if I had many 'buts' for you?"
Bruce pulled back with a slight frown on his face. He searched Dick´s calm and amused expression. Apparently, he didn't find what he wanted because his frown deepened.
Dick snorted, tugged on the tie once again. They closed the minimal distance, and their lips met. Bruce´s breath hitched, his body tensed. For the first few seconds, it was only Dick´s lips moving against his, but soon his own mouth moved, responded. The hand on Dick´s thigh tightened, the other went up to cup one of his cheeks. There were many things Bruce prided himself in, and control was certainly at the top of the list. With Dick, however, control was not something he could boast about.
"I assume you would have as many objections to my decision as I´ve had to your own engagements, Dick. Both of them," he answered when they broke apart. He kissed him again after taking a deep breath, the hand on his thigh moving upwards. This kiss was more insistent, rougher, a silent protest to what he´d just said. A silent protest to what he would have liked to say those two times. Of course, Bruce hadn't said anything, because he and Dick did not work that way. They hadn't back then, and didn´t now.
Dick biting on his lower lip pulled him away from his thoughts. Dick had done that before, Bruce thought with faint amusement. He´d done it to get his attention back before, was doing the same now.
"Yes, Dick?" Bruce mused.
"So nice of you to play it as cool as always when this is our last night together."
"I was not aware it was the last."
"I was not aware you´d forgotten our rules." Dick´s voice was tinged with amusement as he said it. He slid across the table a couple inches and spread his legs wider. He tugged on the tie one more, and Bruce rose, slid between his legs. Their lips met, and Dick´s tongue pushed between his lips seconds later with the practiced and utterly sultry ease he knew quite well.
Bruce hummed a response as the kiss deepened. His hands settled on the younger man´s waist.
Dick however, was having none of it.
"Rules," he gasped out as he pulled back. Their eyes met, two different shades of blue flashing in the dim lit room. Bruce downed another hum, leaned in to run his tongue across Dick´s neck, making him moan, hands fisting in Bruce´s expensive shirt.
"Rules," Dick tried again. He closed his eyes, his fingers starting to work on Bruce´s shirt buttons. "Our rules say we are not going to get… ah, together if the other is not available."
That was the rule, true, but they´d broken it several times over the years. At first, they both kept their word with each other: no calls, no visits that would end with them naked and rolling over Bruce´s bed for a whole afternoon or night. However, their romantic lives were more complicated than that, and soon the rule had turned more into a no sex between them if either of them was in a relationship, with the exceptions of angry or lonely sex rule.
Bruce´s own fingers started working on Dick´s shirts as he remembered the many occasions in which Dick had stormed into the mansion after a really serious fight with his girlfriends, or nights when he´d dropped by straight from patrolling in Bludhaven, missing Bruce more than the woman he´d been dating at the time.
It wasn't like Bruce could hold it against him. After all, some other nights here and there he would come home from a gala, a business meeting, a failed date, Dick would be on the mansion and all he´d do was jerk his head in his bedroom´s direction before Dick fell into step behind him. They didn't really talk about any of those visits the following day, or the following week. They´d also settled a rule for that.
Don´t let it complicate or put their lives on hold. They were adults, they could deal with a little uncomplicated sex.
Then again and despite what it looked like, it wasn't just sex between them.
Dick let out a moan when Bruce bit down on his neck. He stopped fiddling with the buttons on Bruce´s shirt and pushed it impatiently down his shoulders. Bruce allowed him to do it as he sucked on his neck, moving to another spot only after leaving a deep mark on the golden skin.
"I find myself in the need to remind you that there has never been a last time, Dick, and certainly not when you were the one who got engaged," Bruce murmured, taking the shirt off Dick´s shoulders. He started unzipping his pants right away. "Nor have we had this conversation before. Is this your way of telling me something? Punishing me, even, for what I did?"
Dick let out a soft snort. His fingers tangled in Bruce´s short hair, and he pulled. A second later, they were back to staring at each other´s eyes.
"I´m not that childish, Bruce," he said, running his other hand down the other man´s chest with a feather-like touch.
"Then why would you put it that way? 'The last time'?"
Dick smiled, hooked his fingers under Bruce´s waistband. "I´m younger than you, haven´t had it as rough as you because you took me in. I like dating other people, it is easy for me to make friends and have dates. I´ve fallen in love before several times. I´ve had a fuller life. I´m not Batman."
Bruce tensed, and he didn't know if it was because of the fingers now touching him over his underwear, or that little speech. He took a deep breath, let it out slow. "Your point?"
"Batman and Bruce Wayne have not had the best life." Whether it was because he couldn't, or because Bruce wouldn't allow himself to have it went unsaid. "How many times can you say you´ve truly fallen in love? Let yourself love someone? Selina is in that little list of people you love. If you, dark and brooding playboy extraordinaire that you are, took the big step and proposed to her, I am not going to stand in your way. It is a chance for you to be happy. To be happy with her. I am not going to let you throw that away for occasional yet wondrous sex with me."
Bruce had gone still. His hands had frozen on Dick´s body, but the latter´s hand were still moving, caressing his skin, his underwear, a small yet honest smile on his lips.
"Can´t say I´m making the wrong choice, can you?" Dick asked.
Bruce wanted to say he was. He wanted to tell Dick there were many wrong things with what he´d just said. How many times had he truly fallen in love? Yes, Selina was on the tiny list, but also…
Could Bruce be happy with her? Yes, a small part of him was hoping for that, hoping he´d let himself try. But he could also try to be happy with…
"Why are you doing this?" were the only words that came out.
Dick´s gaze softened. His smile widened, then he leaned in for another kiss. He kept it soft and chaste, and sighed when he pulled back. "Are you really going to make me say it, Bruce? I´d rather not. I´d hate to break that rule again," he said, tilting his head forward, eyes glinting.
Bruce´s back straightened. His hands tightened, he tilted his chin forward in a silent challenge. He wanted to hear it. He needed to hear the words that he was so sure matched the ones in his own head.
Dick rolled his eyes. Skillfully, he undid Bruce´s fly, pushed the pants down, followed by his underwear a couple of seconds later with one hand.
"I love you," he whispered, pressing his lips to Bruce´s chin. His fingers wrapped around his cock, and he started pumping slowly from the tip down to the base. "I love you, and I want you to have this chance and try to enjoy it for as long as you can. I love you, I want you to give her a chance in your life, and this time for good. I love you, and I want you to be free of me."
Bruce had closed his eyes. His breathing had quickened, and he´d leaned his forehead against his shoulder. He still stood rock still, but not for the reason he´d like to think.
"I love you, and I´m going to miss you, Bruce. Let´s have this last night to ourselves, let´s enjoy it as much as we can, shall we? Starting tomorrow you´re a taken man, and we will both stick to it this time."
Bruce didn´t answer, didn´t move except for his hands tightening, his jaw working both at Dick´s words and the hand that was now moving over his length faster, fingers pressing more firmly.
"You broke the rule, one too many times," he gritted out after a strained silence on his part.
Dick´s laughed rumbled against his cheek. "I´m sure you did in your head too, Bruce."
And he had. Almost as many times as Dick had out loud, in a much shorter space of time.
"You´re a handful," he complained.
Dick pulled his hand back to place it on Bruce´s shoulder. He gave a hard push, and when Bruce hit the chair, he wasted no time slipping down from the table and kneeling between his legs. "Not as much as you," he answered with a small smirk.
Don´t tell me you love me.