Richard Grayson hated birthdays.
Now that he was a born again twentysomething he hated them that much more, but he had always hated them since he was a kid.
Being a child of the circus he'd never really stuck in one place and his friends were the other performers as well as a few other circus kids like himself, so he really didn't make friends until Bruce took him in. When the Titans had tried to celebrate he'd always feigned interest, but inside his stomach churned with each passing smile.
Now as he turned sixty four in mind but twenty four in body, he was again pretending to be excited for a birthday party he wanted no part of.
Jason Tolne, his lover for the past two years, was throwing him a surprise birthday party and doing a horrible job of keeping it to himself. Not that Dick minded of course.
Currently the party seemed to be the least of Jason's problems as Dick watched him run in from outside, breathless and looking quite shocked.
"Problems?"
Jason jumped, clearly startled though he had been staring right at Dick when he came in.
"Oh, hi. It's…no. I went to bring something to Roy and he was…I…his…Lian's mom was there."
Dick grinned, trying not to seem too happy that Jason had seen Roy with Chesire, but also that it might mean his friend was moving on from his mooning over Roy's own lover. He knew Roy was in love with Jason, obviously and it irked him to no end though he never said anything.
"Oh Chesire? I didn't think they still spoke."
Jason blushed and looked down, "And more than that."
Dick laughed a bit. "Well, I'm sure that was a surprise."
Jason sighed. "I guess. I sort of ran off. I'm sure it seemed pretty lame."
Dick came over and threw his arms around Jason, leaning in and kissing him softly at first, then demanding, leading Jason back into the kitchen counter.
His lover grabbed on to him tightly, growling and rubbing against him with a whine. Dick licked his mouth and pulled back, grinning. "Miss me, Robin?"
Jason smiled, his pupils dilated and his breath coming in gasps. "Always."
Dick pulled on his shirt and lead Jason up the stairs, and then proceeded to stake his claim.
Roy Harper spent the remainder of the week kicking himself for not taking Chesire up on her offer, especially when Dick Grayson called him and said, "I hear you had a surprise visit the other day."
He sighed. "He, uh, told you about that?"
He was glad he hadn't used the videophone and only the speaker, because for sure his feelings would show all over his face when Dick answered, "We don't keep secrets from each other. You know that."
"Uh, yeah I guess I do. So?"
"Did you…?"
Roy tried to make his voice sound as lecherous as possible. "What do you think, Robbie? Who wouldn't want to play with that kitty again?"
Dick laughed and Roy sat back on his couch, closing his eyes.
"I thought so. Anyway, he's not here now, something with Terry I think but I was wondering how the party planning is going?"
Roy smiled, throwing a hand over his face. "Of course you know."
"That boy is the worst secret keeper in history…besides you, of course."
Roy's smile faded. "Robbie."
"We're old men, Roy. But we're not stupid."
Leaning over and switching on the video screen Roy could see the sadness in Dick's eyes.
"I want you to be happy Roy, but this is…"
"I know, Rob. I told him you don't like birthdays."
"That's not what I'm talking about."
Roy sighed. "It's not going anywhere, Dick besides my own head."
Dick nodded. "Keep it that way."
Roy swallowed. "So you better be pretty good at faking surprise next week, he's been planning this thing for a month now."
The warm smile made Roy's stomach tighten. "I will be. Bye Speedy."
"Bye Birdie."
The screen went black and Roy fell back on the couch, closing his eyes.
He really was a sad old man.