Title: An Immaterial Fire Fandom: DCU (Outsiders) Summary: It is not precisely fair -- the word is "two-timing," and she learned it, as she learned so many words, from Dick's lips. But she calls Roy, knowing that. Pairing: Kory/Dick/Roy Rating: Adult. Note: Thanks to Jack for beta services, without which this would have been less smutty. Written for Ny in  JBBS 2005. It used to be that making love gave Dick a few minutes' respite from the weight of responsibility, but "used to be" is as valuable as "should be." Now the relief in his eyes hardly lasts a moment. It's not the same look in his eyes, either. Perhaps it's something that's changed in her, but the way other men look at her has not changed. Just Dick. Kory knows who she is inclined to blame -- and who everyone else blames. Dick isn't a child anymore; his guilt and pain have a great deal to do with himself. The truth of abusive fathers/not fathers is not one that one escapes -- she knows that perhaps better than he does -- but it is something one can grow past. Willful slavery is a hideous thing. She cannot break him of his subjugation. Dick's very conscience wears a black cape. And now -- it has been too long, and they have both moved too far away from each other. She cannot give him proper solace. He smiles, and it fades. He goes away again, making little promises to himself. She calls Roy. It is not precisely fair -- the word is "two-timing," and she learned it, as she learned so many words, from Dick's lips. But she calls Roy, knowing that. "What's up, Kory?" he asks, and he sounds tired. "I was wondering if you were busy on Friday night." A boy's proposition. Humans limit themselves, and she is ever aware of the boundaries, even when she ignores them. Roy doesn't answer immediately. "Busy? Me?" Kory smiles and tries to make him hear it. "I was looking for company." "Oh," he says, and then, "oh. Um. Company, huh?" "Yes." Roy breathes in quickly, and it reminds her of how he felt, one of the few times that they were intimate. The look of wonder, of fascination on his face, and then the flash of triumph, as if she had been a treasure he discovered and won. "Company," he says, and the triumph is back. "Sure. We can do that." "I look forward to it," Kory says, and she means it. "Eight-thirty, my place." Another boy-phrase, but now Roy is talking to her, and he should be listening properly. "Eight-thirty. Right. Yes. Great. Yeah. See you then." "Until then," Kory says, and hangs up. She calls Dick next. He answers on the second ring. "Hello, Kory." "Hello, Dick," she says, though the formalities sound strange between them. "When can I see you again?" She can hear him wince in the pause. "I really can't get --" "Dick," she interrupts him, speaking as firmly as she can. "Please do not misinterpret me. You are a dear friend -- but I have no interest in romance." He lets out his breath slowly, his relief as palpable as Roy's elation had been moments before. "Neither do I. Not that I don't love you, just --" The urgency in his declaration makes her heart ache for him. All of these rules choke him. He should love joyfully. "I understand. I only wanted to -- to see you again." "I --" He sighs. "We can do that. If you want to. When?" "Are you free on Friday?" "I'll have to patrol -- but -- yes." Kory smiles -- quietly. "Perhaps at nine?" Dick clears his throat. "Nine. All right." "I'll see you then." "Yes. Okay. Bye." He hangs up. On Friday, Roy is five minutes late. She meets him at the door wearing a bathrobe. His t-shirt is tight and red, and his pants are almost as form-fitting as his uniform. It is a long moment before he looks up from her breasts to her face. The look in his eyes is a little glazed, but he knows her well enough to see her. "Hey." "Hello," she says, and tugs him inside before she kisses him. "Thanks for inviting me over," he says, and he's staring at her breasts again. It's a reaction she's accustomed to, though not from him, anymore. He reaches out and stops his hand before he touches her. "I thought you and Dick were kind of --" She kisses him and he puts his arms around her. When they come up for air, she says, "Dick will be here in twenty minutes." Roy chokes. "What?" Kory kisses him again. "I can't give him everything he needs." "Uh," Roy says, and this time, he puts his hand on her breast. "Well. That's. He wanted me to come over?" "He doesn't know yet," Kory says, and pushes him against the door to kiss him again. He makes a small noise of protest, then a softer one of pleasure. "You're throwing Dick a surprise orgy." Roy shakes his head, blinks twice, and says, "Okay, I guess, but --" Kory pulls his t-shirt up. "You don't have to stay." Roy raises his eyebrows at her. "Maybe he won't want me here." She smiles. "You used to kiss him." "No I --" Roy blushes. "It was just dumb kid stuff. Playing. Games. Dumb kid games. He told you about that, huh." In her memory, she can see Dick sitting on their bed -- when it was their bed -- with his hair long and loose, listening to her thousand questions and answering all but one. The simpler ones had been about their comrades, about kissing Donna in the dark and the times when he and Roy would pleasure each other, blushing -- as Roy is blushing now. The hardest question is still unanswered, and Dick is not that open to her anymore. "He told me a lot of things," she says. "I didn't think he even remembered that stuff by the time you came," Roy says, "I mean, it was just a game. We never -- meant it. Not really." "He needs more play in his life," Kory says. "More games. More things he doesn't have to mean." "It was a kid game," Roy says stubbornly. "Perhaps, but it did not hurt you. And you, at least, are your own man." She leans in to kiss him again, but he is laughing. "God, Kory, how the hell do you figure that?" She runs her fingers through his regrettably short hair. "You wear your own colors. Your own uniform. You work in your own city, with your own team. You are not Green Arrow." "Jesus, I hope not." Roy shakes his head. "But -- maybe you're right. Maybe I'm not just his damn sidekick anymore." "I hope you're not." Kory kisses him again. "But wait," Roy says, pushing her away. "What does this have to do with -- oh -- wait, no." He nuzzles her breasts. "I still don't get how this is gonna help." She sighs, half from the warmth of his lips, and half because he may be right. "It can hardly hurt." Roy looks up at her, one eyebrow still lifted. "Maybe. Anyway. Um. Can we make out for a while? I mean, 'til the guest of honor gets here?" She leads him to the nearest couch -- close enough to see the door, still -- and lets him kiss her. The way he touches her is perfectly Roy, focused and beautifully aimed. His mouth is strange with the consonants and glides of Navajo, underneath the louder English. His hands are on her breasts again, caressing them until she sighs with the warm pleasure of it. There is a knock on the door. Five minutes early. Roy lets her go in an instant as if he's guilty of some trespass rather than invited. Kory pulls her robe shut and goes to open the door. Dick has his motorcycle helmet under his arm and his jacket unfastened. He looks windblown and a bit worried. The worry does not fade when he smiles up at her. "Hi, Kory." Then he glances past her -- must he always be so aware of his surroundings? -- and sees Roy. His smile fades. Roy gets up, holding a pillow over his lap, and waves. "Hey, 'mano." Dick gives Kory a cold look. "I thought -- no. Dammit." He turns to go. She catches his arm and holds him long enough for Roy to touch his other shoulder. "Wait, Dick." "You don't seem to need me around." Roy shakes his head. "Don't -- look, we were waiting for you." Dick shakes his head. "Sure you were." Kory squeezes Dick's arm. "We were. Please. It won't be the same if you go." "It might be better," Dick says, but now he's really looking at Roy. "No," Kory says. "It would be empty." "Soulless," Roy says. "Just sex. Not that there's anything wrong with that." Kory can see Dick twitch and repress a smile. He says, "No, you wouldn't think so." "It'd be better sex if you were here," Roy says, and he puts his arm around Dick's waist. "C'mon, shortpants. You gotta remember I owe you one."  "One what?" Roy smirks. "Didn't I fall asleep on you that last time?" Dick blinks at him, but something in his stance relaxes. There's something in his expression that Kory can't trigger alone. "You were such an asshole," Dick says, and punches him in the shoulder. "It was --" He's not grinning, but he looks less like Batman. Less like Nightwing. More like Robin. It was so easy to love Robin. "I was going to forgive you. Someday." Dick comes in and shuts the door. Kory lets Roy touch him next. If she wants them to play, then they need a little space. "Sure," Roy says, and he takes Dick's helmet and sets it down. "But you know -- I kinda hoped you wouldn't." "I didn't really have a choice then, did I?" "I wasn't gonna follow through," Roy says, and he tousles Dick's hair. "It woulda been kinda gay." Dick snorts. "You know --" "It would've!" Roy insists. "The only way it's not super-gay to give somebody a blowjob is if they owe you one next, or if there's a girl there." He looks at Kory, and she smiles. "Perhaps," she suggests, "it wouldn't be so bad if someone convinced you to do it." "Not somebody-in-general," Dick says, and she hasn't seen him wink like that since they were engaged. "Just a girl. Because if it's a guy --" "Totally gay," Roy finishes for him, then kisses him. "These are irrational rules," Kory says. "Was it that important?" They're too busy kissing to answer her. Dick has his arm around Roy's waist and Roy is tangling his fingers in Dick's hair. They push at each other, leaning one way, then the other, until Dick breaks the kiss and gasps for breath. "Hey, Speedy," he says, his voice hoarse. "That was pretty damn --" "Happy," Roy says. "Very happy." Dick shakes his head. "I can't believe I believed those stupid rules." "The blowjobs were your idea." "Yeah." Dick smiles. "I remember that." "I want to see if I've lost my touch," Roy says and unbuttons Dick's pants. "Hang on," Dick says, and he looks up at Kory. "We can use a bed, these days. We're adults. Besides --" He reaches for Kory and touches her shoulder. "It's not gay, right?" He winks at Roy. "Not tonight," Roy wraps his arm around Kory's waist and they pull her into their hug. Dick kisses her first, sweet and hungry, while Roy nibbles her ear. "I was enjoying watching you," she says when Dick lets her breathe. They grin at her, and she sees them as they were -- awkward boys, wanting to be mature so badly -- and as they are now. She knows them well enough to see the difference. Roy kisses her next while Dick says, "It won't be that much fun to watch, honest. Speedy gives lame-ass blowjobs." Roy laughs against her mouth and breaks the kiss. "If you're gonna be mean, I won't give you one." "Not an option." Dick lets them both go and walks -- no, saunters -- toward the bedroom. "You owe me, boyo." Kory raises an eyebrow at Roy and asks him quietly, "Was this what you expected?" He blinks at her. "Me? I didn't schedule this party. But -- maybe." Dick comes back into the bedroom doorway, shirtless. "Are you messing around with my boytoy, Kory?" He has new scars -- they all do -- but his smile is less shadowed now than it has been in a very long time. She glances at Roy, who's blinking, and looks at Dick again. "Is that what he is?" "No fucking way," Roy says. Dick -- Dick is smirking. She has missed him. "Sure he is. While he owes me one, anyway." "I see." She puts her arm around Roy's waist and puts him over her shoulder, ignoring his spluttering. "Then he should be in bed with you." "That's what I've been saying," Dick says, and she carries Roy into the bedroom and sets him on the bed next to Dick. Roy punches Dick in the shoulder. "You are one kinky bastard." Dick unbuttons Roy's pants. "Oh, I'm not that bad, really." "Maybe." Roy shivers and takes his shirt off. Kory sits next to Roy and he leans on her. "You can blame it on me if it makes you feel better," she suggests. Roy turns enough to push her robe open and bury his face in her cleavage. "Okay," he says, muffled. Dick shakes his head and comes over to kiss Kory. He touches her hair and it makes her scalp tingle, much as her breasts do with Roy's mouth against them. "This is your idea of being friends, huh?" "Yes," Kory says. Dick grins at her for a moment before Roy knocks him over backward and straddles his hips. "Friendship is a many-splendored thing, shortpants." Dick puts his hand on the top of Roy's head, crude, obvious, and -- they are still beaming at each other. "Friendship with benefits." "You're totally going to hold me to it, aren't you." Dick raises an eyebrow at him. "You brought it up." "Yeah. But that was when I thought you were leaving." Roy rocks against him until they both gasp. Kory laughs at the tension between them. "I thought you were more responsible than that, Roy." He turns and grabs for her, but Dick arches at the right moment to throw him off balance, and he ends up on the bed between her and Dick. "Sorry, Kory. You got the wrong guy." Roy reaches for her breast again. She pins his hand down. "That's a shame." Dick pushes Roy's other hand away from his groin and kisses Kory again. He is hungrier, now, and he grins at her when he breaks the kiss off. "Maybe we should throw him out." "Your boytoy?" Kory says, grinning back. This expression is more like the lover she remembers fondly, the man she might have married -- in part because that man could have given her this look while a dear friend writhed between them and waited to be kissed. "Not yet," she says. "I want to see his allegedly poor oral sex skills." Roy tries to pull his hand free. "That's so unfair." Dick laughs. "Aw, Kory, you want to see me suffer?" Kory glances at Roy. "I suppose I could take the punishment myself." Roy pushes their hands away and sits up, frowning. "Oh, come on. Nobody ever said I was bad at giving head, especially not women." "Never?" Dick asks. "Nope. Not once." "Then let's see it," Kory says. The light of battle glints in Roy's eyes. "Who's first?" Dick raises an eyebrow at him. "What kind of a stupid question is that, Mr. No Really, I'll Do You In Five Minutes, Hang On While I Rest My Eyes?" "Hold a grudge much?" "Not a lot," Dick says, and shimmies out of his clothing with the lithe grace that makes him Dick. Kory runs her hand down his body and he smiles. "Damn," Roy says quietly, and after a moment, he remembers to take his own pants off. "I kinda forgot." "Forgot what?" Dick asks. "Why we did this in the first place." Roy settles on his knees and squeezes Dick's thigh. "Damn." "Why is that?" "You could talk me into damn near anything, dressed like that." Roy leans in and licks him, slowly, languorously, with no sign of the distaste he'd pretended, and even less sign of clumsiness. Dick groans. "God, I missed this." "Yeah," Roy says. "I -- yeah, dammit." Dick shivers and reaches for Kory, pulling her down to lie next to him so that he can suck her nipples. It makes the view slightly less immediate, but it contributes to the warm heat at the base of her spine. "Jesus, Roy," Dick says against her chest. Kory runs her fingers through Dick's hair. "More." Roy chuckles and says, "Got it," and begins to suck in earnest. Dick says, "You'll kill me -- god, your mouth -- Kory --" He gasps a little. "Let me --" He slides his hand between her legs and grins at her. "Sit on my face." Roy snorts and says, "Real classy." Dick shudders. "You try to think while somebody's doing that." "Maybe later." Kory moves to straddle Dick's mouth and lean back against the headboard of the bed. He hums against her and makes her shiver. Roy looks up and meets her eyes long enough to wink at her before he hollows his cheeks. She feels as much as hears Dick's response. He pushes a finger inside her and licks her harder, using the pattern that has always made her moan. "That's perfect," she says, and between breaths she remembers to drag her fingernails up Dick's chest and pinch at his nipple. His hips buck a little and he makes another choked noise against her. The quick brushes of his tongue grow harder, faster, and she knows even though the rush of pleasure how close he must be to orgasm, if he is goading her on this way. She groans, watching Roy and feeling Dick whimper, and lets the combination send her over the edge into climax. Dick squeezes her thigh with his free hand and hums -- groans -- against her. His shivers change, and Roy coughs a little, then -- focuses. Dick's teasing about his prowess was patently misplaced. Roy's lips are hardly damp when he sits up. The same cannot be said of Dick's mouth. Kory moves to sit beside him, and he is grinning. "God. I -- that was --" Kory kisses him. "I missed you." Roy wipes his mouth on the back of his hand. "You gotta call me on my debts more often." "What, for a lousy blowjob?" Dick raises an eyebrow. "I think you need practice." "Yeah, I probably do." Roy punches him in the shoulder, and Kory wonders whether the gesture is always courtship behavior or whether it straddles some more complicated definition of friendship. "We could arrange something," Dick says, and he reaches for Roy. They kiss exuberantly -- exactly as they should. Kory puts her arms around them and says in Roy's ear, "I could give you a demonstration, too." Roy shivers and turns to kiss her. He tastes salty and sharp with sex. "We could do that, sure." "You've come a long way," Dick says as Roy lies back. "Back in the day, you wouldn't have been cool enough to enjoy it." "Oh, fuck you," Roy says, and lies down. The scars on his chest are frightening, still, even though they are the marks of past damage and not new damage. Dick kisses him. "Maybe not tonight." "Not just now, at least," Kory says, and runs her fingers over Roy's thigh. He feels as cool and smooth as human males generally do under her hands, and he responds as gratifyingly. His groan may have something more to do with Dick kissing him than with her touch, just now, but it is a sweet sound nevertheless. The way he tastes is another familiar sensation, sharp and salty. She hears one of them gasp, and Roy says, "Oh, Kory," and strokes her hair. The gentleness he uses speaks of the maturity she accused him of earlier. If she did not love him already, he could win her with this appreciative charm. He is not as impulsive as the boy he once was. "That's a little inconvenient, isn't it?" Dick says, and he strokes Kory's side, then reaches under her to touch her breast. "If you were on your back, instead --" Kory lets Roy go and he sighs. "Couldn't you have thought of this sooner?" Dick swats him on the ass. More courtship behavior, or perhaps team bonding behavior. "Delayed gratification is good for you." "I'll give you delayed gratification," Roy says, scowling. "You already did, remember?" Dick kisses him again, then breaks away to say, "Anyway, Kory, lie down so we can multitask." "Multitask," she says, and lies back. "What a strange word for making love." "Keep your Bat-buzzwords in Gotham," Roy says, and he's stroking Kory's hair again. It makes her scalp tingle. "Um --" Kory raises an eyebrow at him. "The invitation is still open," she says, and he gives her a crooked grin and straddles her face. "God, you feel good," he says, and she would tell him how flattering he is, but it is easier to show him how much she appreciates him than to say it. The feeling of Dick's mouth on her breast is enough to make her shiver. He knows her too well, too beautifully. There is almost enough nostalgia to make her strong enough to be weak. It would be so easy to want him to stay. Roy's fingers tighten in her hair and she sucks him a little harder while she has the focus. Dick is distracting, as ever. He knows exactly how hard to bite her. He has always been good at precision, and this arena is no exception. He makes her moan, muffled though it is, and Roy echoes her. Roy is shivering, now, and the taste of him is stronger. He is close to orgasm, and it encourages her to grab the curve of his hip and pull him into her mouth, faster, harder. He moans again.  Dick laughs against her bosom. It tingles, both the sound and the knowledge that here, in this moment, she can make him happy and safe. Roy's whimper and his ragged thrust into her mouth reminds her -- no, it is not her alone. She cannot give Dick everything he needs, alone, but this is right. His tongue feels perfect. She can hardly breathe with the pleasure of it, and it is all she can do to mimic the movements. Roy pushes into her mouth a little and says, "Kory -- I --" She squeezes his hip and he groans, shuddering with the force of his orgasm. Dick makes a noise against her breast and wets his fingers with his mouth. He presses a finger inside her, and she tips her hips up, goading him for the next, for a harder stroke. She gasps for air, feeling the heat building in her body. Roy says, "Damn," and strokes her hair, then moves down the bed to nuzzle her other breast. The warmth of their mouths combines and makes her muscles tense. Dick bites her again and she orgasms. A rush of heat that could be a starbolt flashes down her spine and she cries out, wanting to say their names, but neither first, both together -- "X'hal," she says, and she can hear Roy chuckle. Once is not enough, but the touch is insufficient. She catches Roy's hand and pushes it down to her groin -- and he takes direction well. The rub of his fingers in just the right place, one pressed against Dick's fingers inside her, the other just where she needs it most, brings another rush of heat, quick and bright, and when he bites, there is another. It is enough, and it is not a time to be greedy. She pushes Roy's mouth away from her breast, over his "Aww." Dick smiles at her -- not the grin of earlier, but he kisses her and says, "You are beautiful." Roy laughs. "It's going around." "Speaking of going," Dick says, and Kory feels colder, even though they are still beside her. "Man, already?" Roy tousles Dick's hair. Dick ducks away from him and gets off the bed. "I've been here too long as it is." Kory stands up and embraces him. "When will you be back?" "Back here?" He's tense, already. It does not suit him. "I don't know." Roy gets up, too, and puts his arms around both of them. "I don't know if I'm invited, either, but you need downtime, 'mano." Kory thinks of carrying them back to bed and kissing them until they both fall asleep, and then she knows that she has grown in the same kinds of ways that they have, because she does not do it. "You're both welcome." "Hm," Dick says, and he is a little less tense, now. "Maybe some other time." "I'm gonna hold you to that," Roy says, and kisses him. "We both will," Kory says. "Well, in that case I guess I'll just have to deal with it," Dick says, and he kisses her, too, before he pulls away to dress. "This was a pretty good idea," Roy says, and reaches for his own pants. Kory smiles. "Thank you. Perhaps Tuesday would work." "Tuesday?" Dick says, and he thinks for a moment in the middle of tugging on his second boot. "Okay. Maybe for dinner." "Not just dinner," Roy says. "Well, right," Dick says. "Dinner would be pleasant," Kory says. "And after Lian's bedtime," Roy adds. Dick nods. "That will work." "Tuesday it is," Roy says, and he punches Dick in the shoulder again. "See you around." "Yeah," Dick says, and kisses him again. Then he gives Kory a hug and kisses her -- and perhaps he thinks he says, "Thank you," too softly for Roy to hear. She squeezes him. "Goodnight, Dick." Watching him go is melancholy, and all the moreso because Roy is already dressed, too. "Well, that went pretty well," he says. "Yes," she says. "Thank you for your help." "Help?" He laughs and shakes his head. "It wasn't like it was hard work." "It wouldn't have worked without you," she says, and kisses him. He puts his arms around her. "Keep that up and I'll wish I could stay." "You could, if you wanted." "Not tonight. I've got my own princess waiting for me," he says, and pulls away, winking at her to soften the rejection. She smiles and feels both lonely and proud of him. He must go, and she must let him. Being mature has its drawbacks. "Of course. Goodnight, Roy." "'night, Kory. See you Tuesday." "Absolutely."
	Email the author DCU Story Index