Dick Grayson, Golden Boy
It pissed Dick off when Jason called him “Golden Boy,” but he understood why he said it.
Dick Grayson had been the first- the first son, the first Robin, the first failure, and the first success. He was the prodigal son, the runaway who returned to his place at Bruce’s side. It was a position earned with blood—a terrible privilege. He couldn't stay away, he'd tried, he was the only one that could temper Bruce's fire.
Dick drew lines in the sand- screamed in Bruce’s face, called him out on his failings, demanded better of him- then he took the man’s punches “for not knowing his place.” There was never an apology (not that Dick would accept it). He wiped the blood off his face, and when someone asked what happened, he said he slipped up, and some random mugger got in a lucky shot. He wasn’t sure who he was protecting when he said it. He still rushes to Bruce's side when called.
He recognizes bits of Bruce eating away at his soul. He tries desperately to stay Mary and John’s son, tries to keep the light alive in his soul. Robin is magic. He feels the darkness creeping in at the edges of his mind. He’s Nightwing; he’s not in Gotham, not in Bruce’s shadow, but he’s never been more of a Bat. He isolates himself and pushes people away. He’s too controlling, too morally rigid. The fearless leader become tyrant.
He fails each of the Robins in new and increasingly horrifying ways, but always for the same reason: he puts the mission first. Bruce is proud of him for it; somehow, that approval hurts him more than any punch ever did. It keeps him up at night, Tim’s face when he left (forced away by Dick’s actions), Damian’s pride at becoming Robin (he was only ten), Jason’s eyes filled with resentment and deep sadness (he had been right all along).
He hates Bruce when he sees him in the mirror. He hates Bruce when he hears him in his own voice. Bruce Wayne was the worst person on Earth, but Dick Grayson was his favorite son. So what did that make him?
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(a continuation of this piece)
"i was surprised that you were late today."
jing yuan says halfway through lunch. he speaks over the rim of his teacup. his lips are curled in an easy, gentle smile. his shoulders are relaxed, posture slack as he leans against his own bent leg.
he's barely touched his meal.
(you have a full bowl as well.)
"i got caught up with work." a lie. a blatant one. you're never late for lunches, and you always let jing yuan know if you even have an inkling of being a few minutes past your appointed time. you're careful about it. meticulous.
your visit to blade has made you careless. dulled you with a grief that is eating you alive.
jing yuan hums thoughtfully. you hope he won't press this. he's-- he's an unusually calm character when he wants to be. you're his lover-- dutifully, horribly reliable and loyal. he has no reason to doubt you.
(except, you'd spent the first half of the day in the shackling prison with its beau acratic hoops and horrors, all to see yingxing. to be heartbroken all over again.)
you thought it would bring you some closure. in retrospect, this was more wishful thinking. all its left you with is an hot, branding ache in your chest. a wound ripped open anew. it had already scarred over, albeit imperfectly healed.
(jing yuan never minded this. he could tell he carried things with you, he'd both told and shown you this. and truthfully, how could you not? being undying does not lend itself to happiness. it lends itself to an accumulation of sin that cannot be undone. cannot be lessened.)
"dear?" jing yuan asks, voice mirthful and sweet. "are you with me?"
"yes." you force yourself present. you hope your eyes aren't too puffy. "i am distracted. what did you say?"
"i asked you what kept you at work." jing yuan asks, so easy. so kind. "if lady fu is working you to hard, i am happy to arrange a few days off for you. is a vacation in order?"
"no, it's alright." you rush, stumble over your words. "i should've planned better is all. how is your lunch?"
jing yuan rests his chin on his palm, "i'm not very hungry today. i apologize, dearest."
"you don't need to apologize. it happens." you assure him. "i'll make you a meal tomorrow. just let me know what you're in the mood for."
"you spoil me."
"i simply treat you well." you tell him. you're grateful you're able to. that the general lets you close enough to cook for him and feed him morsels and lounge on his personal terrace in the artificial sun each day during noontime.
"you do." jing yuan says softly. reverent. he gets like this sometimes. moony and a little dumb about it. so genuine and earnest it breaks you.
(it makes your lie feel that much more sour.)
jing yuan opens his mouth to say more, but promptly redirects as yanqing arrives, swords floating around his back. he and the general talk, carouse for a moment. yanqing has had yet another day of sparring. that's good. that's nice.
(yingxing doesn't remember you. only you are burdened with this memory. will this feeling eat you alive? it's-- it feels worse than it did when you were younger. more naive. when things fell apart and you were burdened with standing by and watching the world you loved so much, with the people you loved so much fall apart. even jing yuan was away, making a name for himself. proving his worth.)
(you alone bear this.)
your chest aches.
jing yuan is at your side. you hadn't noticed him approach you so directly.
"dearest, walk with me?" jing yuan asks and offers you a hand to help you stand. yanqing is already tucking into his meal, waving goodbye.
the terrace is wide, and high above the rest of the luofu's structure. it's lush with plants. vining fruits, plump and ready to be picked curl along its railing. flowers bloom wide and bright.
(you wish you could focus on the beauty of it. how kind a place this is. how fortunate you are to have made it this far.)
"you're distracted today." jing yuan says, guiding you to a bench. his hand lays warm and firm on your shoulder. "are you sure the divination commission is giving you trouble?"
(no, the mutual past lover you both share is layers below you in the shackling prison. radiating an energy that feels astral and unholy. the kindness purged from him. yingxing really is dead, isn't he?)
"no, i promise." you give him a half-truth and a smile that you hope isn't as withered as you fear it is.
jing yuan looks pleasantly neutral. perhaps, if you were some foreign diplomatic or tourist you'd be charmed by such expression. the arbiter general of the luofu is known to be ruthless in battle with a lovely personal disposition. perhaps you'd see this moment as a reflection of that rumor.
you know, however, that in this moment jing yuan is frustrated. he will not treat you with the same firmness that he does his retainer or his subordinates, but you know the feeling is, perhaps, the same.
jing yuan doesn't like when you withhold information. he has always vocally appreciated your candor, with a sweet honesty that's disarming as it comes from a man who speaks in half-truths so frequently.
and now, you lie to him. your jaw is locked and your eyes still feel scratchy and swollen from your tears.
jing yuan begins to speak and you cut him off. grab his hand with a squeeze and pull yourself into his side.
"do you remember when you broke the first blade that yingxing made for you?" you ask.
jing yuan goes still for a moment. just a second of hesitation but you catch it. the feeling melts away as he laughs, tinged with melancholy. "i do. he was furious with me. and you had to collect new ore off-ship for a month for him to craft a replacement."
"i did." you whine with a laugh. "it was miserable. 'roid mining is awful. i was cleaning astradust from under my fingernails for weeks when i got back."
"but, you came back with the ore regardless."
"yes, and i never did again. no matter how much yingxing tried to bribe me."
"you were too busy entertaining the young lady fu to be his errand boy. i remember well."
"i probably could've made the time." you tell him. he knows this already. "i just didn't want to be away. i would've missed you both too much."
"is that why you so graciously eat with me each day?"
"i do that because i love you." you squeeze his hand. "and i enjoy your company. and want to be near you."
(you want to hold him until the last moment, however that takes shape.)
jing yuan hums. he fits you so your cheek presses against his collarbone, and his chin rests on the top of your hand. his arms wrap around your middle, squeezing and rubbing his thumbs over you. he holds you tightly to him.
"the feeling is mutual." jing yuan tells you, soft in a hushed voice only you get to hear.
you bear your weight into him. he catches you easily. holds you until yanqing calls for you both to stop being so 'gross' and to 'rate his form' on a new maneuveur he's been practicing.
jing yuan leads you once more, never fully pulling away from you. a hand on your waist, a palm over the small of your back. he puts you in his lap the moment yanqing excuses himself to flit about.
"you need to get back to the divination commission soon, don't you?" jing yuan asks, probing.
"i took the day off."
"you did, now?" jing yuan has already seen through you. this you know.
"yes." you tell him.
(you want to tell him more. you want to scream and beat the ground. perhaps you willl, later, in the privacy of your shared home.)
for now, you satiate the ache with the truth.
"i saw blade earlier. that's why i was late."
jing yuan squeezes you. it almost hurts as he curls over you.
"and?" jing yuan asks. there's a weakness in his voice that you seldom hear. "are you satisfied?"
"hardly." you tell him, turning his arms to wrap your legs around his waist. to drag him closer until your chest to chest and can hear the steady heartbeat thumping under his sternum. "i don't think i ever will be. i miss him too much. he's just gone."
"i know."
"it's awful, isn't it?"
"it simply is." jing yuan says. this is his way-- the way he has kept himself from being eaten alive by mara. you cannot be cannibalized by the thriving rot if you simply choose to let go of the awful, terrible things that would cleave another person in two. he look at the objective rationality of each situation-- this is why he is the longest-lived general. this is why he is a brilliant strategist, and a soft, grounding lover.
because, he reminds you that yingxing is dead, and any fondness you carry for the man known as blade is misplaced.
"do you not miss him?"
"of course." jing yuan kisses your temple. holds you tightly lest you plunge into the ground or float into the sky. "that does not change things though, does it?"
hope is a twisted thing, you think. in this instance, it's better to kill it. whatever mission yingxing-- no, blade has set out to complete should not concern you. there are greater crises. worse ills.
kinder realities that lay in front of you. at your feet. in your arms.
you nose into jing yuan's jaw. each shuddering breath he gives you, you savor. there's no use clinging, is there? but that doesn't mean you won't enjoy each moment you have with him. you'll be at his side until the divinations carve that that will no longer be possible. you will reminisce, however painful-- but aeons, you must refuse to let your past burden you.
so, you hold jing yuan like a lover does. cup his cheeks and kiss him until he's groaning against your lips, grinding you in his lap. he nips at your lips with a laugh as he pulls you flush to him. closer, closer, closer--
you will hold this in your cupped palms, as long as fate allows. perhaps, you both have earned that much.
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