Thunderbird (Birdflash soulmate AU; hanahaki)

Sapling

Dick had to admit Wally had some merit when he said that knowing who your soulmate was changed a little about how you looked at them. Robin quickly realized how hyper-aware he was of Kid Flash whenever they were in the same room. Dick also started noticing things about Wally that he never really paid attention to before. Like how Wally would chew on his lips when he was thinking of a hard problem or how Wally ran his hands through his fiery red hair when his was frustrated. The same red as the tips of the bird's wings. But Dick believed that discovering these things were part of being soulmates, but if his and Wally's ideals diverged, it was okay.

A thought struck him. When will he tell Wally? When would it be a good time? Would he just hide it forever? Wally probably wouldn't want that either.

Dick was laying spread eagle on his bed, staring blankly at the ceiling. He had been staring at his soulmark in the mirror just before and had his shirt off. Bruce knocked gently on the door to announce his arrival. The boy turned his head a little to glimpse at Bruce before looking back up to the ceiling of his room. The bed dipped as Bruce sat down. Dick flipped over so his face was buried into the pillow. Bruce eyed Dick's soulmark.

"You've been in a funk and Alfred told me I need to talk to you?" Bruce sounded unsure about himself, making Dick think of that time Barbara called Bruce an 'emotionally constipated idiot'. This elicited a quiet snort from Dick.

The two sat in relative silence for a minute or two until it became clear that Bruce probably wasn't going to start the conversation. Dick sighed, "I know who my soulmate is."

"And?"

"I don't know what to feel about him."

For Bruce's credit, the man didn't freeze or anything about the gender. "Is it someone I know?"

Dick was quiet for a minute or two and Bruce waited patiently. "It's Wally."

"West?"

Dick let out another snort, "You know any other Wallaces, B?"

"No," Bruce chuckled. "Do you want him to be your soulmate?"

Dick flipped over to look at Bruce with a slight frown. "I'm not upset he's my soulmate at all. He's great, I like him a lot. But like, he doesn't care for soulmates so I'm not sure if I should tell him. And also, I don't want him to be forced to think about romantic stuff because of our marks 'cause I'm pretty sure he's straight. Also he and Artemis seem to be getting along. So we're probs just platonic soulmates or something and that's totally asterous. But yeah."

Bruce hummed in thought for a second. "I'm probably not the best person to be asking for advice on this."

Dick laughed, "I know, but I really need to tell someone and I know you won't judge, so...thanks, I guess." Dick sat up to give Bruce a quick hug, and the man awkwardly patted his back in return. Dick snickered at that.

"You're good?"

"Yeah."

"Need anything else?"

"Don't tell Barry or Wally please? I want to make the choice about it myself."

Bruce smiled. "Wasn't planning on it."

"Cool, you're the best, B."

"You ready to go down for dinner?" Bruce got up and started walking towards the door.

"Uh, yeah, just let me get dressed."

~

Dick never really noticed how Wally laughed, his eyes crinkling and the way he shook with his whole body. The boy had the dorkiest sense of humor that Artemis seemed to enjoy poking insults, with no real heat, at. Dick smiled, glad his friends seemed to be getting along. Wally seemed to be looking at Artemis differently lately too. Dick should start putting together a plan to get those two together; he should go talk to Barbara. If Wally liked Artemis, and if she made him happy, then by god, would Dick, as Wally's best friend and soulmate, make sure that Wally was happy.