Title: You'll be older too Fandom: DCU (Silver Age) Summary by Vassilissa: Bruce has to say "I love you" in a song. Dick responds in verse. Rating: All ages Rationale: For Betty's Badfic Challenge. Notes: In my version of comicstime, Dick still has the scrapbook from his years with the Titans that justifies his familiarity with the songs in question. In modern canon, of course, Bruce was born just about when his artists of choice became popular. The poetry mentioned is by J. Lennon and P. McCartney. For the last three days, Bruce has been humming the Marseillaise at odd intervals. When he starts humming as Batman while they're sitting on a roof, though, that's the utter limit, and Dick puts a hand on his shoulder. "Look, everyone gets a song in their head sometimes, but could you stop? I keep getting flashbacks to that time you made me dress up as Marie Antoinette." Batman smiles faintly. "That wasn't at all my intention. It wasn't even what I had in my head." "What, is the Quebeçois anthem 'Dieu sauve La Reine' to the same tune or something?" "I was thinking of something rather more à les Anglais, to be honest," Batman says, gently enough to be Bruce. There's a gunshot in the alley below. End of discussion, beginning of fistfight. They get the thugs -- Croc's guys, but not Croc, who's skipped town again -- all wrapped up. Then Batman starts singing again while they're heading to the wastewater treatment plant to look for more Croc clues. This time Dick interrupts him with the next lines, sung in his best Liverpudlian accent. "I've never thought it was particularly true," Bruce says when they get to the Batmobile. Dick wrinkles his nose. "What, 'There's nothing you can do that can't be done, there's nothing you can sing that can't be sung'?" It gets him a stern Bat-look. "Ignoring the tautologies. I meant the main premise." "Huh," Dick says. "Well -- it gets us out on the streets every night, right?" "Love and a great deal of money," Bruce says drily. Dick laughs. "That too. But that's more like --" he sings the line "can't buy me love -- or -- something." "Hm." Bruce has gone blank, like it really takes that much focus for him to drive. "But -- I was, you know, wondering --" Dick says, faltering. "Yes?" "I mean, it's okay now, because, well -- everything, but --" he taps his fingers on his bare knee. "You know. 'When I get older, losing my hair -- many years from now --'" "Dick," Bruce interrupts him, covering his fidgeting hand with his gauntleted palm. "Sixty-four is a long way away." "Yeah," Dick says, grinning at him. "I was gonna say thirty-four, but you're not losing your hair." He adds, after a pause, "...yet." Bruce laughs. "And yet you believe in the all-sufficient power of love." Dick twists his wrist and weaves their fingers together. "Well -- yeah. It's gotten me this far." Bruce squeezes his hand. "I suppose that's sufficient reason."
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