that_goldenboy | (no subject)

(no subject)

Who: Jim Kirk and Dick Grayson
When: Sometime after Bruce kicks Dick out of the family.
What: Bruce is adopting again.

Jim was in that awkward place where he was loyal to Dick and wanted to help him in anyway that he could, and at the same time, actually not fighting with Bruce for once (this whole mess with Dick aside) and not really looking to make that any worse. So he generally took the stance of not talking about it, and hanging out with Alfred, the other neutral party in all of this and kind of ignoring Jason. Which was kind of easy, since you know, he didn't do the cape and mask thing.

Only now Bruce was trying to adopt him too and Jim couldn't really ignore that. Couldn't stay silent about it either since Bruce hadn't adopted Dick and had only adopted Jim because the state wouldn't let him stay otherwise. It was adoption or a Starfleet sponsored orphanage.

He was pretty sure the same option didn't exist with Jason. This was just Bruce being an ass or a crazy person or a crazed ass. And since he was also going to be stupid about this, it would be up to Jim to tell Dick. Something he planned to do over lunch with his brother.

Jim ordered an appetizer while he waited for Dick, trying to figure out if the restaurant would bend it's liquor rules by six months for Bruce Wayne's kid.

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Dick's life had sort of been getting into a routine again, and while he was still basically living in a hotel room when he wasn't at Titan's Tower, he had people to rely on and money to support himself with, so things weren't a complete disaster.

Still. There were some days when he still felt like his life had totally fallen out from underneath him and he had no idea what to do, but he was working on it. He was having a good time being Nightwing and leading the Titans, and he had people to fall back on, and one of them was definitely his brother, so when Jim had suggested going out to lunch, he'd immediately said yes.

A mission had meant he was kind of on the late side, but everything had gone smoothly and he wasn't even that much of a mess, so he showed up a little after Jim, smiling apologetically as he slid into the seat across from him.

"Hey, sorry I'm late."

Jim looked up from the liquor menu and smiled a little bit at Dick. He'd just stick to Coke because he knew that Dick wouldn't approve of him drinking in public, the restaurant letting him or not.

"No worries, I ordered the onion rings. So I hope you like them."

"Of course I like onion rings," he said, totally oblivious to why Jim had wanted to see him in particular aside from just wanting to make sure he was taking care of himself. Which he was. Look, no broken bones or visible bruises or cuts at all, which was kind of saying something considering the whole Dick usually gets more reckless when his life sucks thing.

"So, how have you been?"

That was part of wanting to have lunch with him. And it did make Jim feel better that Dick seemed to holding himself together and didn't resemble one of the homeless people roaming the streets.

"Good. The semester ended. Trying to figure out if I'm going back to more."

"You think you're going to?" he asked. If there was anything even closed to being bothered about the idea that he'd dropped out of school already after having only completed one semester, he didn't show it, and honestly? Dick was kind of glad he had made the call he had.

Really though? He wanted Jim to finish it, because at least Dick had Nightwing. Jim still kind of lacked direction, and he wasn't going to find it by dropping out of school to bar crawl and pick up girls full time.

He wasn't really getting anything out of formal education because all he did was bar crawl and pick up girls. So it just seemed like a waste of time and money, and maybe the latter wasn't a problem for their family, wasting his time seemed like a large problem.

"I don't know. I haven't signed up for any classes."

Dick shrugged, trying to be lighthearted about it. "I'm not really in a place where I can tell you about the value of higher education, so. But if you need someone to bounce ideas off of, I still take your calls."

Although let's be serious here, Jim being supportive was probably one of the only things keeping him sane right now, because being totally cut off from everyone was just not how he functioned.

"That did keep me up all night. Wondering if Dick Grayson was too cool for my phonecall anymore," Jim retorted, looking over when the waiter came back with his onion rings. He just ordered a coke and a burger to eat.

He ordered the same, thanking the waiter and waiting for him to leave before saying "Not to be a downer, but shouldn't it kind of be the other way around?"

"If you're asking if Bruce told me not to talk to you, the answer is no. We don't really talk about you in general after I told him he was being a little unreasonable."

"Sorry. I really don't want you to feel like you have to be a go between for us. I'm really fine with not talking to him."

He wasn't, but he was a good liar and what else was he supposed to say? Or do, really, considering Bruce had made it pretty clear he wanted nothing to do with him.

"You're lying," Jim said as their drinks came. He pulled the glass closer to him and sipped at it for a moment.

"I told him he's being an ass because he is. But I'm me, so my opinion about life choices lacks some credibility. And in any case, I'm not your messenger boy."

"I'm not asking you to be." And he was willing to let the topic drop, because he really didn't want to talk about Bruce now, if we were being totally honest.

"Good," Jim sipped his Coke again before sighing quietly. "Though there is something I should tell you now before it hits the papers."

Dick stared at him, really not liking where this was going, and liking that this had apparently maybe been a set up for Jim to break the news versus actually wanting to spend time with him. "What?"

It was a mixture of both. If Jim didn't want to spend time with him, then he probably wouldn't have asked him to lunch. He could have just texted him this or sent an email. And there was really no easy way of saying it, so he decided to get to the chase.

"Bruce is talking about adopting Jason."

There followed several seconds where Dick didn't say anything, because once again, it was kind of like the floor had fallen out from underneath him and he'd had a hole punched through his chest.

"Oh."

He stood up almost without realizing he'd done it, because all he could think of was that he needed to get out of here and get out of here now. "I should go. Sorry, I just realized I should-" He cut himself off, because really, he didn't have a lie to fall back on, and instead pulled out his wallet, handing him some cash.

"Here, thanks for inviting me."

"Keep your money," Jim answered, waving it off. He stood up with Dick, sighing again because there was a reason why he did this in public too. So that Dick wouldn't make a scene or run off because he knew he was going to take this badly.

Maybe he should have gotten Dick drunk.

"Please stay."

Getting him drunk would have meant yelling, or more likely crying, and while part of him really wanted to just break down and sob - because what the fuck, had Bruce ever really given a damn at all or was there just something he was missing that Jason had and he didn't - a bigger part really just wanted to run. Burn some calories, work through the rage and frustration by doing something productive instead of just sitting here, and not run the risk of having a meltdown in a restaurant in front of a bunch of strangers.

But Jim wasn't Bruce, and while he was fighting the urge to just chuck the money on the table and bolt, he stayed, watching him guardedly and pushing back the storm of emotions that threatened to overpower him.

"Why?"

"Because I wanted to have lunch with my brother," Jim answered quietly. "And it's better you heard that from me than reading it in the paper. Even if you won't admit it."

Dick snorted quietly, looking down at the floor instead of at Jim. He knew he was right, but "Your brother is not going to be very good company right now."

"Turns out I'm pretty bad company even on my good days," Jim replied, daring to give him a little smile. "Let's just eat and then you can run off all you want."

He studied him for another couple seconds before slowly sitting back down, now torn between finishing his food as quickly as possible and bolting or making an effort to act normal. "Okay."

Jim wouldn't really judge him for either but he was grateful that Dick stayed. "Thank you," he said quietly.

Dick just shrugged, staring at the table and fiddling idly with his napkin. "Thanks for giving me the head's up."