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The world was changing, or so Dick was told. The reality, though, was that he wasn't around for whatever the world used to be before these "changes." Dick didn't need to figure out how to adapt to a world of superheroes. To him there was never a Gotham without it's Batman, never a time before criminals took their exaggerated gimmicks and tried to bait out a fight from a mask-clad vigilante.
Dick's world changed once, back when his parents died. He was just a kid but needed to confront the fact that the systems of supposed "justice" were corrupt and failing him. He knew his parents' killer, but he couldn't go to the police. Zucco owned the police. Zucco owned most of the goddamn city. Dick went from believing in the goodness of the world to seeing how rotten the planet was in one terrible night. But the world didn't change that night, it had always been corrupt and dangerous and deceitful. The only thing that changed that night was Dick, who learned how justice was never freely given. Justice needed to be demanded even after it was clearly owed. So Dick learned how to fight for justice both for himself and for others, especially those who couldn't fight on their own behalves.
Ever since he joined the fight he heard the same line a thousand times over: "The world is changing." Was Batman fighting off rogues, or was he attracting them to Gotham? Did the justice league act solely as the planet's protectors, or were they an unchecked militia who were allowed to have too much power? Were metahumans still deserving of human rights? What about aliens who decided to settle on Earth? A thousand different controversial questions -most of which were obviously dumb and not worth debating at all, in Dick's opinion- were repeated a hundred different ways while society tried to adapt to the changing world.
The older heroes were no better, really. Crimes kept being committed, threats kept growing more and more powerful, and heroes had to keep adapting to the "changing" world. The world wasn't changing, though, it was just growing up.
Dick was growing up, too. He and the world weren't changing, they were just moving forward. Together. That's something that the other younger heroes Dick has met seemed to understand better than their mentors.
Apparently, a group of young sidekicks joining together to form their own team of heroes was something else that was "changing" about the world, but Dick didn't see why Bruce was so worried about the fact they were all "so young." For as long as Dick has been a vigilante, he's known there were child heroes who were strong and capable in their own rights. And funny. And clever. Pretty handsome, too.
…Bruce hadn't found it funny when Dick pointed that out.
The Teen Titans formed anyway, though, and they were a godsend. Dick loved being a member of the dynamic duo, he loved the whole partnership and team that he and Bruce found in being Batman and Robin, it's just… sometimes he hated it. He hated putting on the mask and not knowing if that day he would be a partner or a subordinate. He hated not knowing if he was working on a case or just a training exercise. He hated when Batman focused on Dick being the boy wonder. Working with the other teens gave Dick a moment of fresh air whenever working with Bruce felt too suffocating.
Plus, it was pretty fun. Dick couldn't lie, it was nice to have allies in the field who all understood their roles to each other. They were all teammates. They were all friends. It was really nice to have friends with their own masks, other kids who understood some of the shit Dick was dealing with, but that didn't mean they couldn't be really annoying sometimes.
"Come on, Rob!" Speedy nearly whined as he slouched further into the couch.
"We are not doing a joint training with the two of us, Batman, and Green Arrow," Dick repeated firmly.
"But we could kick their asses in a spar," Speedy said in a sing-song, making it sound as enticing as possible.
"Wouldn't it be you and Green Arrow fighting against Robin and Batman?" Kid Flash piped up around a mouthful of chips.
"That's what the old guys would think," Speedy with a smirk. He sent Dick a conspiratorial wink and tacked on, "They'd never see us coming, wouldn't stand a chance."
And that… did sound like fun. Showing up to spar against Speedy and Green Arrow with Batman, only to turn the tides on the Justice League members and team up with Speedy to fight Batman and Green Arrow instead. With enough planning, enough utilization of the element of surprise, they could probably get away with it. Only winning a spar wasn't actually what Speedy was trying to plan right now.
"You're not coming to the Batcave, Speedy" Dick said flatly.
"You just don't want to admit you're lying about the dinosaur," Speedy grumbled as he crossed his arms over his chest.
"You could always train with me and Flash one day!" Kid Flash offered with a wide grin.
"It's not about the training," Dick tried to explain.
"Hitting the treadmill doesn't count as training, sparing counts as training," Speedy said with a disgusted expression on his face. Dick was about to disagree, about to point out that a decent portion of their jobs involved cardio endurance and a training session or two on a treadmill was probably something Speedy should invest more time in, the archer sent an exasperated look towards Dick and insisted, "Dude, seriously. I'm your best friend and I deserve to see that dinosaur."
"Whoa," Kid Flash cried out and faster than Dick could blink the speedster had dropped his bag of chips and was standing in front of Speedy, pointing an accusing finger at his chest.
"You're not Robin's best friend," KF declared. Then, after a whoosh sent wind through the room once more, Kid Flash was standing at Dick's side, an arm slung confidently over his shoulder as the speeder proudly declared, "I'm Robin's best friend. Isn't that right, Rob?"
Dick shoved KF's arm off of him and dutifully informed the guy, "You can't go to the Batcave either."
"You didn't deny it!" Kid Flash let out a whoop and pulled Dick back into a side embrace while he looked at Speedy and declared, "I'm his best friend!"
"You're so full of shit," Speedy scoffed. He took a pillow from the couch and sent it flying towards Kid Flash, who obviously was quick to dodge out of it's path. Only, instead of rushing away on his own, he scooped Dick up in a bridal-style carry and took them both out of the pillow's flight path.
"Put me down!" Dick insisted, swatting Kid Flash on the shoulder.
KF kept his grip tight, though, ignoring Dick's squirming in his arms as he told gasped at Speedy, "You tried to kill him!"
"I was aiming for you," Speedy sneered back.
Kid Flash shook his head in mock shame. He (finally) let Dick drop out of his arms, if only to send a pitying look towards Dick and say, "That wasn't very best-friend-behavior of him."
"Robin, tell him I'm your best friend," Speedy ordered. He said it almost lazily, like he expected the order to be carried out without protest.
"No, tell him that I'm your best friend," Kid Flash argued for Robin's attention. Then, in effort to convince Dick to take his side, he reminded his friend, "We started this team together, me and you."
"I'm a founding member!" Speedy exclaimed.
"Nah-uh," Kid Flash protested, "We just say that so you don't feel left out."
"Whoa!" Dick couldn't help but exclaim in shock. Kid Flash was teasing, obviously, but Dick was still caught off-guard by the comment.
Roy also seemed to be shocked at the words. He stared at Kid Flash for a moment before shooting to his feet and threatening, "I'm gonna kick your ass!"
"Not if you can't catch me!" KF cried out, already zooming about the room, baiting for Speedy's attention with dramatic poses struck or blowing raspberries in different locations.
"Come on, Robin," Speedy called out after he caught Robin trying to duck away from the crossfire of flying couch cushions, "Help your best friend out!"
"Yeah, Rob," KF called when he paused behind the couch before zooming back across the room and ducking behind a plant to finish his sentence with a smirk, "Help me out."
"What is going on here?" A new voice exclaimed before Dick had the chance to answer.
The three boys turned to see Wonder Girl standing at the entrance to the room. Pillows and cushions were scattered throughout the floor, and Speedy was still frozen in place with one raised above his head to throw. Kid Flash grinned sheepishly from behind the houseplant and Dick really hoped his domino mask didn't hide the exhaustion behind his eyes when Wonder Girl looked to him for an answer.
Dick didn't end up saying anything though, not before Speedy dropped the cushion he was holding back onto the couch and saying, "KF started it. He couldn't handle learning that I'm Robin's best friend."
"I'm Robin's-" KF started to protest.
Dick cut him off by loudly declaring, "You're both my best friends."
Instead of this resolving the situation, wrapping it all up in a neat little bow, Speedy smirked at Kid Flash and snickered, "He only included you so you don't feel left out."
"You mean you'd feel left out!" KF argued back.
A pillow soared across the room again. Wind rushed and lightning cackled. Before the scene could escalate too much again, Dick took his chance to grab Wonder Girl's arm and pull them both out of the room.
"We should at least tell them to move to a training area," She hissed, pulling her arm out of Dick's grasp.
Dick just shook his head, "They want me to suggest that so they can demand to be taken to the training grounds in the Batcave."
"Oh," Wonder Girl nodded. She looked like she didn't really understand, but also like she didn't care to get any more involved than necessary. Still, after a moment's consideration, she tilted her head and asked, "Is there really a dinosaur?"
Dick let out a sigh, "Yes."
Wonder Girl smiled and started to ask, "Can I see-"
Dick groaned and stomped off down the hallway, ignoring the way Wonder Girl was laughing at his less-than-graceful retreat.
The Teen Titans were a breath of fresh air when Dick needed a break from Bruce, but the dynamic duo would always be there for Dick when he needed a break from the Teen Titans.
Dick couldn't deny that this team was composed of his best friends, he just didn't want to be made to rank them either. Hopefully the joking argument between Speedy and Kid Flash would be forgotten soon enough.
It was not forgotten. It was not forgotten at all.
Kid Flash brought it up again first. He and Dick were gonna be field partners on a mission, so the speedster let out a cheer and exclaimed, "The two best friends! We got this!"
Then, when that mission fell apart beneath the Teen Titans and Robin was field partners with Speedy the next time they tried to take down the trafficking ring, the archer made it a point to say, "This time we'll be unstoppable. Robin's teamed up with his best friend after all."
They didn't win that time, either. It was a little embarrassing, actually. But, third time's the charm. Robin and Wonder Girl were field partners and the whole operation was a success. Not only did they dismantle the trafficking ring, Robin didn't need to hear any arguments over who his best friend was. He didn't even need to hear the words "best friend."
…Until Wonder Girl made a joke that apparently missions are only successful if Robin isn't being distracted by trying to choose a best friend. At that point, Dick had to accept that he wouldn't be able to escape this joke. Might as well lean into it.
Suddenly, the stupid best friend joke became a lot more fun. It was still obviously ridiculous but Dick understood that humor could be an important -nay, an essential- aspect in the life of any crime fighter. This was an easy joke to play into. Dick was a performer, he was born into the circus, he loved hamming it up and prodding the others to fight for the title of his best friend.
"Oh, golly," Dick sighed as he dramatically, "If only I had a best friend who could grab me an ice cold water."
He didn't even get the chance to start batting his eyelashes before Kid Flash had zipped over with a bottle of water from the fridge in the other room. He thrust it into Dick's hand and very loudly declared, "In your face, bow-brain!"
"A good friend gives you what you ask for," Speedy said with a nod. Then, he pulled out one of Dick's favorite snack bars out from behind his back and tossed it over to Dick with a wink, declaring, "A best friend gives you what you didn't know you needed."
Sure enough, as soon as Dick caught the bar he threw his head back and let out a groan of relief. He thought he was out of those snacks, and as soon as he hit the showers after team training he realized he wouldn't been able to fight his stomach's growling much longer. Turns out, he didn't even need to wait for his hair to dry, just walk into the team's common area and tease Speedy and Kid Flash into refueling him.
"You rock," Dick smiled while he opened the wrapper to the snack bar.
"Hear that, Kid?" Speedy asked with a wriggle to his eyebrows. He leaned closer to Kid Flash and repeated Dick's words, "I rock."
A hand in a red glove pressed firmly against Dick's chest and pushed him backwards to allow Kid Flash to step cleanly between Dick and Speedy. The hand remained, almost possessive as it kept Dick in place, while Kid Flash glared at Speedy and insisted, "He will be mine."
"And this is all platonic," Dick heard Wonder Girl grumbling not-quite under her breath across the room.
"Jealous?" Speedy perked up, his attention locked on to Wonder Girl now.
"In your dreams," She shot back, but the two of their eyes locked in a way that was charged, not dismissive. The gaze hardly lasted more than a moment before she was asking Speedy, "You got any more of those snacks?"
"For you?" Speedy smirked, "Always."
"A real best friend would've kept that stash as being just for you," Kid Flash said to Dick as they both watched Speedy toss another bar over to Wonder Girl. He kept his voice soft, not trying to call the attention of Speedy and Wonder Girl out of their newly formed bubble of soft laughter.
"Kid Flash?" Dick's voice matched the soft tone.
"Yeah?" KF looked back at Dick and sent an easy grin his way.
"You can let go of me now."
"Oh!" Kid Flash's gaze snapped down to where his hand was still pressed against Dick's chest. Dick watched as a rosy color spread across the speedster's cheeks before he remembered to actually snatch his hand away and mutter out a flustered apology, "Right! Sorry, man."
"Hey," Speedy spoke up from where he was now standing next to Wonder Girl, leaning easily into her space while he called out the tease, "KF better not be earning bonus points for flirting with you over there."
Kid Flash made a punched-out, sputtering sound, while Wonder Girl let out a full laugh and smacked Speedy in the shoulder. Dick, however, crossed his arms and sent a smirk Speedy's way while saying, "I feel like best friend wouldn't be afraid to flirt with me."
In for a penny, in for a pound, or however that saying went. Dick had already had fun leaning into the whole best friend competition, they would all probably get a good laugh out of leaning into the flicker of homoerotic undertones that the joke brought with it.
"I didn't say I was scared," Speedy pointed out, "Just that you shouldn't be settling for flirts from Mr. Minute-Man over there."
"If all your insults are speed-based you should change your name, asshole," KF complained.
Speedy didn't even acknowledge it, just kept smirking and talking to Dick from across the room, "He'll run right by you, baby, but I never miss my targets."
Dick let out a snort and dutifully informed his friend, "That is not half the line you think it is."
"I've definitely seen him miss before," KF insisted, surprisingly passionately, towards Dick.
"Bullshit!" Speedy suddenly stood up straight and demanded, "When?"
Moments like these, laughing and teasing as the team, made Dick almost forget how annoying his friends could get when they got wrapped up in a joke sometimes.
A couch pillow flew by Dick's head to whack the empty wall behind where Kid Flash used to be standing.
Almost, Dick could almost forget how annoying his friends could be.
The best friend competition remained a joke, and the boys all cracked themselves up over leaning into the flirtier side of things every now and again.
Real best friends hold hands.
Real best friends cuddle up on the couch.
Real best friends conserve water by sharing a stall in the locker room showers.
…That last one didn't really happen. Dick smacked Speedy pretty hard upside the head when the archer made the joke. Speedy practically hollered in his laughter, but Kid Flash's laugh seemed to get stuck in his throat as he coughed for several moments before catching his breath to give a light chuckle of his own and call Speedy dumb.
"Are you good, man?" Dick had asked cautiously.
KF just squeaked out "Yep!" before rushing to his own shower stall with super speed.
"You're gonna slip, dumbass!" Speedy called from across the wet floor. After a moment without an answer, he shot Dick a questioning look and asked, "Is he okay?"
"It would have been pretty loud if he fell," Dick pointed out.
"I didn't fall, assholes, I'm fine!"
Dick smiled softly at the distant voice and turned to Speedy to echo the status report, "He's fine."
"Hey, I didn't cross a line, did I?" Speedy asked as he and Dick made their way into respective shower stalls at not super speed, "I know sometimes my jokes can get-"
"No, dude, don't be dumb," Dick cut him off, "It was funny," He acknowledged before adding his own tease, "I hope my rejection didn't break your heart too badly."
"I'm not worried about my heart, Rob," Speedy joked back, "I'm worried about the planet."
"I save the world by fighting crime," Dick said.
"Well," Speedy slipped back into the joking flirty persona easily since he had Dick's confirmation he wasn't crossing any lines, "if you ever want to try out environmental conservation, you know where I shower."
"Whoop!"
Kid Flash did end up slipping on the wet floor, probably tried to speed through his shower too fast or something.
Or something.
The thing was, Dick wasn't dumb. The three of them all joked around with the flirty bit, but Kid Flash seemed to be the only one who would actually get flustered speechless at any time during the joke. Mostly, when Dick would drop his own flirty retort every now or again, but sometimes when Speedy would make a particularly raunchy dig. He would blush deep or make a quick exit or, apparently, eat shit in the locker room showers.
He never seemed to react that way when Speedy was working his charm on Wonder Girl, only with Dick. Only when the flirting was between two boys.
Dick knew not everyone was all that… accepting… of relationships between two people of the same gender. He just never really expected Kid Flash to have that mindset. Dick never mentioned his suspicions to Speedy, or even question Kid Flash about it, because no matter how tense or awkward or nervous the jokes seemed to make KF he never tried to shut it down. He never called it gross, never started spewing hateful words. It seemed like even if he was uncomfortable with the idea of guys flirting with each other, he was doing his best to grow into a more accepting mindset. Most days, he never even blinked and simply fell into the easy joke flirting between friends.
No, Dick never mentioned anything, but he was proud of Kid Flash for putting in the work to grow out homophobic impulses. Dick, himself, was a proud ally. Love is love, and all that. He was happy to keep the jokingly flirty banter going between them if it helped KF get more used to the idea of guys being able to flirt with each other.
It was just a joke for all of them anyway.
It really was just a joke between all of them, for the whole team at this point, really. It was good for rapport and morale. Everyone found it easy to laugh at the battle for the title of being Robin's best friend. Everyone had a blast laughing when the competition between the guys took on a flirtier edge. Everyone knew it didn't really mean anything. They were all straight.
They were all straight.
All three of them.
Straight.
Only…
Kid Flash let out a low whistle one day while he, Dick, and Speedy were doing recon on a warehouse being used as the base of operations for a drug ring. They were observing guard rotations, trying to build a schedule, and all got a healthy dose of jokes from other teammates before they left reminding them to ensure the "Battle of the Bromances" didn't interfere with the mission. Not that any of them would let it.
"Speedy, second floor, third window from the left," Kid Flash said.
"What are we looking at?" Speedy asked. Dick adjusted his binoculars, too, turning to also look where KF had instructed. He saw a large man in the window, standing guard with a gun, but there wasn't anything particularly remarkable about the sight. The place was crawling with armed goons. The only real difference between this goon and the rest was that his shirt buttons were unclasped and revealed a very hairy chest. Maybe KF was observing that there would be a warmer temperature difference inside the warehouse, but then why signal that to Speedy in particular?
As Dick tried to put together the pieces, Speedy seemed to immediately lock in on whatever Kid Flash wanted him to see. Before KF could answer the earlier question, Speedy let out an almost breathless, "Oh, damn."
"What do you see?" Dick asked. He hated not having the full picture. He double hated when his teammates were able to figure something out more quickly than he was able to.
"A delicious piece of eye candy," Speedy answered easily.
Kid Flash chuckled. Dick did a double-take. He put down his binoculars to throw a questioning glance at the archer, but Speedy was fixed in his position staring at the hairy dude in the window. Dude. Man. The question fell from his lips before Dick could stop it, "Are you serious?"
"Oh yeah," Speedy spoke without looking away still, "Good eye KF. Hey, new plan: We wait until that beefcake is on door duty and I'll flirt our way inside."
"I thought you only flirted with your best friend," KF teased.
"I play-flirt with my friends," Speedy explained, "But that is a man I want to do some very unfriendly things with."
"Gross," KF said. For a moment, Dick was worried that this would be when he revealed his homophobic attitudes. It didn't make sense, though. If KF thought it was gross, why point the guy out to Speedy? How did he know to point that guy out to Speedy? Was it just because he was shirtless? Oblivious to Dick's split second spiral of confusion, KF finished speaking, "That guy is like 30. And also a drug dealer."
Oh. Not homophobic, then.
"I'm still allowed to look," Speedy said with a shrug. And look he did. He looked at a man. A man he was attracted to.
Apparently, Speedy wasn't as straight as Dick and Kid Flash were. What Dick didn't know was how KF (who, apparently, wasn't actually on self-growth journey into being an ally and was just flat out clumsy enough to fall in a shower) seemed to know about this before Dick did.
"How'd you know?" Dick had cornered KF in the hallway after the mission that day. Speedy was already gone, probably pestering Wonder Girl or picking another fight with Green Arrow or something. It was good he wasn't around, though, it gave Dick the perfect opportunity to question Kid Flash.
Kid Flash, who blinked in confusion and asked with a small tilt to his head, "What?"
"When you pointed Mr. Eye-Candy out to Speedy," Dick clarified, "How'd you know to do that?"
KF snorted before offering a sarcastic response, "You mean the guy who looked like a perfectly handcrafted example of Speedy's type? Gee, I wonder."
"His type?"
"Dark hair, dangerous," Kid Flash began listing with a smirk, "Sometimes I don't know if Speedy wants his crushes to kiss him or to kill him."
"Are you for real?"
"Dude, are you for real?" KF flipped the question back onto Dick with a light chuckle, "How did you see that guy and not immediately think Speedy would want to oogle him?"
"Because he's a guy!" Dick insisted, exasperated, probably yelling a little too loud.
Kid Flash flinched back. He stared at Dick for a beat too long before asking, "Is that a problem?"
Now it was Dick's turn to blink backwards, "What? No!"
"Because if it's a problem, you need to get yourself in check, man."
"It's not a problem!"
"It better not be," Kid Flash seemed to be a little angry at Dick for even implying it could be, "Because we all spend so much time flirting that-"
"It's not a problem!" Dick insisted again, "I just didn't know!"
Kid Flash processed Dick's interruption. His face grew more confused with each passing second until he locked eyes with Dick in sheer disbelief and asked, "You didn't know?"
"No!" Dick exclaimed, "Like you said, we all flirt all the time. But we're all just friends, I thought we were messing around! I didn't know he… that he actually…"
"That he's bi?" KF filled in the blanks before commenting, "Dude, he's pretty open about it."
"How did you find out?"
"I dunno," KF pouted, "We just talk about things like this, I guess. He's never hidden it."
"He hasn't talked about it with me," Dick pointed out. He tried not to be offended. He really tried not to be offended. If Speedy didn't want to talk about boys with him, then that was his choice. But he talked with Kid Flash? Dick's two best friends, conspiring and keeping secrets behind his back.
"He's asked you to shower with him," Wally accused.
"As a joke!"
"Yeah, but-!" Kid Flash cut himself off. Dick watched him pause to take a deep breath before a defeated half-smile crossed his features. He gave Dick a shrug and offered, "Listen, dude, this might be a conversation you should be having with him."
"Yeah," Dick agreed, his mind still slightly reeling, "Yeah, probably. Sorry. Thanks."
He gave Kid Flash a pat on the shoulder, a 'thank you' and a 'you're right' all at once.
"A-Anytime man," KF stuttered out, letting Dick walk away.
He had to talk to Roy.
Speedy being bisexual didn't change anything. Obviously, it didn't. Nothing had changed. Speedy has always been bisexual, the only difference now is Dick knew about it.
And he knew about Roy's type.
Dark hair.
Dangerous.
Dick seemed to fit the bill.
Nothing changed. Speedy and KF still bickered over the title of Dick's best friend, they both still dabbled in flirting with Dick to try and "woo" him. Speedy still flirted with Wonder Girl. But, also, he kept flirting with Dick. And it was a joke. It was a joke, right?
Probably.
Unless it wasn't. Unless Speedy did mean those flirty comments.
Dick had dark hair. Dick was dangerous. Dick needed to talk to Speedy.
This conversation was gonna suck.
The breaking point was when Speedy batted his eyes at Dick while the team was headed out for the night to ask, "What, no kiss goodnight for your best friend?"
"That'd be me, right?" KF piped up.
"Actually, Speedy, can you hang back for a second?" Dick asked, ignoring them both, "I need to talk to you."
"Oh, uh, yeah, man," Speedy confirmed, "What's up?"
"Ooh, Speedy's in trouble," Kid Flash teased in a sing-song voice. But he clapped Dick on the shoulder and gave him a reassuring squeeze, a silent message of you got this, before he sauntered off out of the building.
Dick waited until the rest of the team had surely departed, waving goodbye to Wonder Girl as she was the last to leave. Only when he was sure they were the only two left, he turned to look at Speedy. Speedy looked curious, almost skeptical, as he asked, "You good?"
Dick let out a sigh. There was no easy way to start this conversation. Best to just rip the bandage off.
"Kid Flash told me you were bisexual."
Speedy didn't look surprised, shocked, or offended to hear that. Instead, he just grew a little more confused and asked, "Yeah?"
"Yeah," Dick echoed, "So… You are?"
"Yeah," Speedy confirmed with a light laugh, "You knew this, man. Are you okay?"
"I didn't."
"What?"
"I didn't know," Dick repeated.
"Oh," Speedy took on a shocked expression and blinked a few times, "Oh, uh… Sorry?"
"Don't apologize!" Dick exclaimed.
"I gotta be honest, dude," Speedy chuckled to himself, "I'm not really sure what you're looking for from me here."
Dick took a deep breath. He was Robin. He could handle an uncomfortable conversation if it meant preserving one of his most important friendships.
"I just think we need to get on the same page," Dick said carefully.
"Okay?"
"Look, it's just… And you're one of my best friends, right?" Dick was normally so good at his words but right now he was floundering.
"KF left the building, Rob," Speedy teased, "You can admit I outrank him."
"You're one of my best friends," Dick repeated, "And our friendship is really important to me."
"Right," Speedy agreed, he was growing a little less teasing and a little more tense, "Same here."
"Yeah, but it's… It's gotta actually be the same, you know?"
Speedy looked confused. Damn. Dick was gonna need to be direct about all of this. He averted his gaze and hoped the lack of eye contact would make this whole embarrassing situation easier.
"Look, man. Really, I'm flattered but…" Dick paused to ground himself with another deep breath, "We really are just friends. And I love you. As a friend! Our friendship is so important to me, but we're just friends and that's all we're gonna be. I'm straight, and even if I wasn't, we're colleagues. We can't let any of this drama come between the team. The flirting was fun as a joke but if there are feelings involved… If there are… Uh…"
When Dick cast a cautious glance back over to Speedy his words began to trail off. Speedy wasn't standing there and looking embarrassed and heartbroken. No, he was standing with his arms crossed, an unimpressed look on his face that twitched in effort to hide his desire to burst into laughter.
Shit.
Dick may have -possibly, slightly- misread the situation. Just a bit.
"You done?" Speedy asked, smile still twitching at the corner of his mouth.
"Yup," Dick let out a resigned sigh.
"My turn?" Speedy stopped trying to fight the smirk that crawled onto his lips.
"Yup," Dick repeated, bracing himself as best as he could.
"Wow," Speedy said.
"Uh-huh."
"Wow," He dragged out the word this time.
"I deserve this."
"Wow," Speedy said one last time, "So just because I'm bi, suddenly I'm into everyone?"
"I'm an asshole."
"An asshole?" Roy let out a low whistle, "We are colleagues, don't you know that? I mean, this is basically harassment at the workplace."
"I didn't mean-"
"What did you mean?" Speedy was really hamming it up, clutching his chest as if scandalized, "My own best friend, against my very identity. I've never felt so unsupported."
"Are you done yet?"
"I think I have a few more minutes left in me, actually," Speedy answered with a smirk, but dropped the dramatic persona he was wearing.
"Dude, I am so sorry," Dick insisted.
Speedy let out a laugh, hard and almost wheezing. He took a few minutes to recover before he asked, "Seriously, Rob. Like, I love you, man, but you are not my type."
Wait-
That was a lie, right? That had to be a lie. Dark hair. Dangerous. That's what KF said. Dick had dark hair. Dick was plenty dangerous.
"What do you mean I'm not your type?"
Speedy sent him a flat expression and dryly informed, "Oh, you do not get to be insulted over that."
"But I am!"
"Excuse me?"
"Your type!" Dick clarified, "I am your type! Dark hair and dangerous!"
Speedy let out another hard laugh.
"Don't pretend it's not true, KF told me!" Dick yelled.
"Dude, you're built like a twig," Speedy said between bouts of laughter, "You do not look dangerous."
"I'm dangerous!"
"Well, let's hit the mats then, bird-brain," Speedy declared.
"We just finished training," Dick reminded him.
"Yeah but as soon as I'm done laughing at you, I'll want to kick your ass," Speedy called over his shoulder, "It's best to get it all out of my system now."
"When I win will you admit I'm your type?" Dick called as he chased after his friend, "Speedy, when I win will you admit I'm your type?"
Dick did win.
Speedy did not admit that Dick was his type. Asshole. Dick was plenty dangerous. Too much muscle mass on a guy looked awkward and out of place anyway. Speedy was dumb. He had shit taste.
Of course, it wasn't a forgotten conversation. In fact, the idea of Dick not being Speedy's type became mentioned almost as often as the "Battle of the Bromances" was. Kid Flash was the first to fuse the two jokes together.
"You can't be Robin's best friend," KF argued at Speedy one day, "He's not even your type! What kind of best friend is that?"
"You saying he's yours?" Speedy shot back.
"Knock it off, both of you," Dick laughed while he did his best to get them to focus on the training exercise they were supposed to complete.
Dick was grateful for the chance to be on a team of young heroes. Maybe there wasn't a precedent for it before, but he was glad to be making one. Young crime fighters deserved a community of their own, with their own inside jokes, and their own place to express themselves. Maybe the next generation of young heroes would keep joining this team, or maybe they'd eventually start branching out to make their own. Things were always changing, after all. Or, at least, that's what Dick was always being told.
"Hey, Kid Flash. What if we were each other's best friend instead of trying to be Robin's?"
…Wait a minute.
"Does that mean I get to be the top spot on your speed dial?"
Robin rushed over to his two idiotic best friends. They were annoying, infuriating, but he wouldn't give either of them up for the world. He wouldn't give any of this up for the world. Being a Teen Titan was one of the best things to have ever happened to Dick. And sure, he was still growing up like all his friends were, but he knew for a fact that one thing that could never change was how they all belonged here.
They'd be Titans forever.