Chapter Text
There was a chill running through the breeze and Dick closed his eyes, listening to the sound of the wind moving through the branches. There weren’t many leaves still clinging to the branches of the trees, but there were enough that Dick was able to hear the quiet whisper on the wind that the trees helped him hear. There was a snow coming, and soon. Dick already had a decent supply of food, but it would probably be best if he went out and gathered a bit more before the storm hit.
Dick had a cabin in the middle of the forest outside the kingdom. There were no settlements for miles around Dick, and the only time he ever really saw other people was when a messenger came to deliver and collect letters from Dick. It wasn’t the lifestyle he’d dreamed of when he was a child, but Dick had come to appreciate it.
He went out to his small garden and collected the vegetables that had ripened there before going out to search for berries on the bushes in the surrounding woods. Dick had taken down a buck a few days ago so he had plenty of fresh meat and a deer hide to make a few blankets and clothes from if it got too cold. As Dick approached the river, he heard a loud growling and froze. This area wasn’t prone to many large animals. Dick had seen an angry fox before, but that didn’t compare to what Dick saw in front of him.
Dick had seen wolf pelts, he’d even seen a stuffed wolf before, but none of them had been this large or dark. The wolf in front of him was black as night, gold eyes angry. Dick stepped back and held his hands up in a placating gesture, hoping the wolf might understand he meant no harm. As he stared at the wolf, he saw that the wolf’s side and back leg were bleeding, angry red contrasting with the black fur, dripping on the leaves. As much as Dick was afraid of this animal, it was probably in pain, and that’s why it was here in front of him instead of running away.
Dick backed away until he was out of sight of the wolf and the creature was no longer growling at him. When he was a safe distance away, he turned around and went back to his cabin to begin preparing his night’s meal. He went to the storehouse near his cabin and looked at the meat that he had hanging to dry. The wolf likely wouldn’t be able to hunt his own food if it was cold out, and he could probably smell the meat Dick had on his property. Dick gathered some of it and went back out to where the wolf had been.
The wolf had come a little closer to the cabin, blood trailing behind him, and he greeted Dick by growling yet again. Dick set the meat down on the ground and backed away again.
“I thought I would bring you some food so I wouldn’t have to worry about you breaking into my supply.” Dick told him.
The wolf stared at him as it stepped forward and began eating the food, eyes flicking up to Dick every couple of seconds to see if he was still there. He wasn’t growling anymore, which was reassuring. The wolf’s relative state of calm allowed Dick to get a better glance at the injury on his side. Dick didn’t know what had done it, but he hoped it wasn’t in his woods.
The wolf finished and licked his chops, he and Dick stared at each other for a long moment. “Do you want me to-”
The wolf unleashed a loud growl and Dick stepped back. Alright then. That answered that question. Dick walked away and when he was a little closer to his cabin, he cleared away some of the leaves and built a small fire for the wolf in case he wanted somewhere warm to rest for the night. Dick could feel the burn of eyes on him the entire time he built the small fire, so he hoped the wolf might want to take advantage. The wind was starting to whip around and the sky was starting to cloud over. It was only a few hours away from sunset, and the cold would only get worse.
When he was done, Dick brushed his hands off and went back inside to make start his dinner. Cutting the vegetables was quick, mindless work that allowed Dick’s mind to wander. What was a wolf doing in these woods? Wolves weren’t native in this part of the kingdom, they tended to stay closer to the mountains where people respected them instead of hunting them. Dick also wondered why the wolf was so dark. He’d heard tales of wolves that were as large as horses, and this wolf reminded Dick of those tales, but none of them mentioned a wolf as dark as night.
Dick put all the ingredients in the pot and lit the candles and lanterns in the cabin, filling it up with a warm light. He could hear the wind outside, rattling his windowpanes. Dick peeked outside the window and saw the wolf curled up by the fire, the wind ruffling his dark fur. Dick grabbed a little more meat and filled a bowl with water, stepping outside. The wind immediately swirled around Dick, making him shiver.
He stepped down to the fire and the wolf growled at him for just a moment before settling back down. “I figured you might want some food and water,” Dick said as he set the meat and the bowl on the ground a little ways from the fire. “Maybe tomorrow if you’re willing I can take a look at those wounds on your side and clean them so they don’t get infected.”
The wolf growled halfheartedly and Dick took it as a victory. He looked at the wolf for a long moment, curled up on the ground, leg splayed out in the dirt and leaves behind him. He felt bad for this wolf, left outside on this cold night.
“You can come in if you want,” Dick offered. The wolf snuffled at him and didn’t move. That was Dick’s answer. “Alright then.”
Dick went back up to the porch and closed his eyes, listening to the wind to see if it had any words for him. It repeated the message that snow was coming soon, but the ground was still too warm and the air not chilly enough yet. How long? Dick wondered, breath coming out slowly and mixing with the breeze around him.
The wind swirled through his hair and Dick felt a chill wander down his spine, causing him to shiver. He would never really be used to how the wind communicated messages to him sometimes. Within a day then. Dick opened his eyes and made eye contact with the wolf. Dick shook off the feeling that the wolf was judging him and went back inside.
As Dick closed his door behind him and locked it up for the night, he realized that the wolf had sort of understood him.
Dick ate his dinner in relative quiet and read one of the books that Tim had sent along with the messenger. It was interesting, and Dick enjoyed reading Tim’s comments in the margins. Dick would send Tim letters and only get brief responses. It was only through Tim’s notes in books that Dick was really able to understand what Tim was up to and to see how he was doing. Sometimes Tim would circle a passage and write a comment that said this is how I feel today with a date attached to it. Sometimes Dick would get small details in the following pages, sometimes he wouldn’t.
Dick’s life was far more boring than Tim’s was. Dick’s letters to Tim often spanned days, a few lines belonging to each day since not much happened to Dick on a daily basis. Dick wrote a few lines about the wolf he saw near his cabin and the snow that was coming. Tim was the only one that liked hearing about Dick’s ability to communicate with the wind. Dick still remembered the tears that came to his eyes when he’d received his first book from Tim. Scrawled in the space between chapters, Tim had written: There was a terrible storm today, I wish you had been here to tell us it was coming.
Dick set his book aside and turned the lanterns off, the flickering fire in the hearth the only sound in the cabin aside from Dick’s soft breathing. Dick set an extra fur on top of his bed to combat the chill and settled down for the night, golden eyes and snow flurries dancing in his vision.
The next morning Dick woke up and shivered. The fur he’d draped over his body had slipped down, leaving Dick’s arms and shoulders vulnerable to the cold. Dick got out of bed and dressed quickly into some of his warmer clothing; a few soft leathers and a fur cloak draped over his shoulders. Dick added wood to the fire in the hearth and started boiling water in the kettle for some tea to warm himself. Dick looked out his window and saw the wolf curled up around the dying fire outside.
Dick prepared some tea, sipping at it as he gathered salve, bandages, and a bowl. He brought them outside along with the still warm kettle. The wolf looked up at Dick as he approached, but didn’t do anything. Dick set his things down and the wind whipped around them.
Dick looked up at the sky and frowned. The wolf looked up too then looked back at Dick, head tipping to the side. “The wind blew all the leaves off the trees last night,” Dick commented as he went and grabbed some logs to throw onto the fire. He made quick work of getting the fire started again and then sat down.
“I’m going to patch up your leg,” Dick said as he poured the water into the bowl, watching the way the steam rose into the air. Dick’s own breath was causing small clouds to form in front of him and Dick knew that it would snow that night. The cold ground beneath him told him the snow was going to stick too. Dick wiped gently at the wolf’s injuries, the wolf’s leg twitched and he growled occasionally, but he allowed Dick to patch him up. As Dick got a closer look at the injury, he was able to see that there was an even amount of space between the gashes on the wolf’s side, and that his leg, while not broken, had some muscular damage that wouldn’t allow him to run.
Dick finished bandaging the wolf and he stood up, gathering his things in his arms. “I’m going to go get you some more food,” Dick said. “Then I have to collect some wood. I’m guessing you’ll be here?” The wolf snuffled. “Good,” Dick said as he turned and went inside, setting the supplies near the door and grabbing rope to carry the wood, along with some meat.
Dick collected wood and some food in the area around his cabin. He wondered how much it would snow and for how long. If the storm was bad, it would prevent the messenger, who was due in a few days, from reaching him. Not that Dick wasn’t going to be able to make the time pass, but he relied on the small visits to feel sane. The small deliveries of paper, books, ink, messages, and sometimes some food from the palace, were the only thing he really looked forward to. It was his only communication to the outside world. The storm the wind was promising wasn’t something Dick was looking forward to.
Dick returned to his cabin a few hours later, wood strapped to his back, and foraged food in his pack. He topped off the wolf’s fire and piled the wood up in the covered area next to his cabin, putting some in the sheltered box so it wouldn’t get wet, and then carrying some inside.
The sun set and Dick stood on the porch, listening to the wind so he’d know when the snow would come. The wind blew hard against his cheeks, reddening them with its severity and Dick sighed, breath a cloud of white in front of him. Dick nodded and opened his eyes, stepping down to where the wolf was resting.
“It’s going to snow in about an hour,” Dick said. “And it’s going to be quite the storm. You might want to come inside so you can keep warm and heal well, and so I don’t have to keep up two fires.”
The wolf stared at him for a long moment before exhaling slowly, something that sounded too much like a sigh for Dick to think this wolf didn’t understand him. The wolf hauled itself up and limped over to Dick’s cabin while Dick put out the fire. He followed the wolf up, ready to assist in case the wolf needed help, but the wolf carried himself up the stairs and when Dick opened the door, the wolf limped over to the fire and plopped himself down on the ground with a loud whumpf.
Dick shed some of his outer layers and set them aside before preparing himself dinner. When Dick put the pot over the fire, the wolf watched him as he stirred the ingredients while he added them. Soon, Dick had a nice, hearty stew and the scent of it was filling up the cabin. Dick sat down with a book while the stew cooked. Right as Dick was getting into his reading, the wolf nudged Dick’s leg with his snout.
“What?” Dick asked. “Are you hungry? I can get you some food.”
The wolf snuffled and shook his head.
“I can get you some water?” Dick offered.
The wolf snuffled again and pulled himself up, nosing at Dick’s book. Dick looked back and forth between the wolf and the book for a few moments. Not only did the wolf know how to communicate with him, but the wolf wanted Dick to read to him.
“Alright,” Dick said slowly as he brought his book back up and started reading aloud. Reading out loud reminded Dick of when Tim was small and the two of them would read late at night when neither of them could sleep. There was a new child now, Damian, and Dick hadn’t known about him until after he’d left. Dick read the story, taking breaks occasionally to stir the stew. When the stew was done, Dick went to get the wolf more meat from the storehouse, but the wolf snorted and gestured to the pot with his snout.
“You want stew,” Dick asked. “I’m not sure if that’s a good idea.”
The wolf growled and Dick rolled his eyes. “Fine,” he said. “I’ll get you some stew, but you’re letting me change your bandages after dinner.”
The wolf sighed and Dick took that as a victory, filling a bowl with stew and setting it down in front of the wolf, who lapped it up. Dick couldn’t help but stare as the wolf ate slowly instead of gobbling the whole thing up in less than a minute like the hunting dogs Dick had seen. The wolf stopped eating and fixed Dick with a wry glare and Dick stopped staring, focusing on his own bowl. He’d never been in such odd company before.
When they had both finished, Dick got up and washed the bowls, putting water in the kettle and bringing it over to the fire. He peeked out the window and looked at the soft cottony snowflakes dancing down from the sky before sitting down next to the wolf.
“It’s snowing,” he said, running his fingers through the soft pelt on the floor in front of the hearth. “As much as it can be cold and harmful, snow is always so beautiful out here,” Dick commented. He set his hands in his lap and looked at the fire. The kettle started making noise and Dick pulled it off the fire, preparing tea for himself and even making a healing tea to wash the wolf’s wounds. Dick rewrapped the bandages but didn’t move from where he was on the floor.
“I wonder if it says how lonely I am that I’ve befriended you,” Dick commented as he played with a string on his pants. The wolf nudged his hand and Dick looked into the wolf’s golden eyes before he ran a cautious hand through the wolf’s fur. The wolf relaxed next to Dick and they sat like that for a little while, Dick running his hand through the wolf’s soft fur while the fire crackled in front of them.
Dick grabbed the book and started reading aloud again, petting the wolf and enjoying the warmth and companionship until he fell asleep.
Dick woke up the next morning to the cool chill of the air in his cabin and the sound of wind blowing around his cabin. He sat up and shivered, he couldn’t believe he’d fallen asleep on the floor. Dick rubbed his eyes and then opened them, tensing when he saw the figure next to him.
The wolf was gone, and in its place was a man. He was nude, muscled form stretched across the pelt on the floor, fast asleep. Dick’s eyes swept up and down his body a few times, the naked form in front of him was beautiful. Dick got a glimpse of the face on the pelt and it too was as handsome as the body it belonged to. Oh no. Dick thought to himself. He saw the bandages from earlier on the floor next to the stranger and then Dick’s eyes saw the gashes on his side and leg and he realized this stranger must have been the wolf.
The stranger must have felt like something was off because he opened his eyes, a bright shade of blue green rimmed with gold, and he looked quizzically at the pelt, then at Dick before he jumped up and pressed himself back against the wall.
“What are you?” Dick asked. He was tempted to reach for the knife he had hanging on a hook near the door, but the stranger was looking at Dick like he would attack him at any moment if he moved.
“I think you know what I am,” the stranger replied, inching along the wall towards the door to the storehouse, even though it wouldn’t provide a way out.
“Then explain yourself,” Dick said. “What happened to you?”
“I was attacked,” the stranger said. “I was too injured to turn back until sometime last night apparently.”
“So you’re a shapeshifter,” Dick said.
“Yes.”
They stared at each other for a few long moments. “You can’t go outside,” Dick said. “You’re still to injured and you have no food or clothes. You’re going to have to explain more, but it’s not safe to leave right now. This storm is going to last for a few days.”
The stranger looked out the window where the snow was blowing past at an alarming rate. He wrapped his arms around himself and rubbed them before looking back to Dick. “Fine, I’ll stay. Do you have any clothes?”
Dick did his best to keep his eyes above the stranger’s waist and not at the trail of hair leading downwards. He pointed to the chest of drawers next to his bed and the stranger looked at him for a few moments before turning to the chest of drawers and searching for clothes. Dick stoked the fire and got it going again, warming up the cabin a bit. He went the store room and got some cheese, cured meat, and bread for them to have as a nice breakfast. Dick also put the kettle over the hearth so he could make them both some tea.
The stranger came back wearing Dick’s clothes. They didn’t fit him perfectly, but they worked for now. The stranger wrapped himself in one of Dick’s fur cloaks and they both sat down at the low table Dick had placed in front of the fire.
“I’m Jason Todd,” the stranger said as he took some bread.
“Dick Grayson,” Dick replied as he started eating his bread and cheese. They ate in silence for a few minutes before Dick had to ask. “What happened to you?”
“I was chased out of my village,” Jason said. “Someone got me with a pitchfork and that’s how I injured my side.”
“I’m so sorry,” Dick said.
“Don’t apologize,” Jason said. “You’re not the one that did this to me. I actually have to thank you for helping me. I wasn’t sure if I’d make it with the injuries I had.”
“Of course,” Dick said. “You didn’t attack me so I thought it was only fair.”
“What are you doing all the way out here alone?” Jason asked him.
The kettle started hissing and Dick got up and took it off the heat, making them each a mug of tea. He was glad for the distraction. Dick didn’t like to talk about why he was here. Dick set the cups on the table and got a cloak.
“I’ll be right back,” he said as he pulled his boots on and stepped outside. As the door shut behind him, Dick cursed himself for running away from his problems and let the cold wind swirl around him. There was already a coating of snow on everything. Some was piling onto Dick’s porch and blowing around him, flakes settling in his hair and on his cloak.
Dick closed his eyes and reached a hand out, letting the wind and snowflakes move through his fingers. This wind was sharper and Dick didn’t want to spend very long outside, letting it wrap around him. He closed his fingers when he saw how far the wind was coming from and how long this storm was going to stay. Dick went and grabbed some wood and then stepped back inside the cabin, securing the door behind him in case an angry gust tried to push it open.
Jason came forward and took the wood, setting it down on the pile next to the fire.
“You have snow in your hair,” Jason commented.
“It’ll melt,” Dick replied as he pulled his boots off and set them next to the door. “You might be stuck here for a few days, the storm isn’t going to let up for at least a day.”
“How do you know that?” Jason asked as Dick sat down next to him again, pulling the cloak around his shoulders and sipping at his tea.
“I can speak to the wind,” Dick said. “Would you like some honey in your tea?”
“No,” Jason said holding a hand out. He looked at Dick for a long moment. “So that’s what you were always doing, when you’d stop and the wind would just,” Jason gestured with his hand. “You were talking to the wind.”
“Yeah,” Dick said as he looked at his tea like it would give him all the answers.
“Is that why you’re here?” Jason asked him.
Dick kept staring at his tea. “Yes.”
“I’m sorry,” Jason said. “I know what it’s like.”
“You can stay here as long as you want,” Dick said, looking up and into Jason’s eyes. They were so beautiful, the way the gold rimmed the blue green, they was unlike anything Dick had ever seen before.
Jason looked a little surprised but he nodded. “Thank you,” he said. “I can, uh, pull my own weight when I’m done healing.”
“It’s just,” Dick looked down at the table and then up at Jason’s face, that beautiful face. How could someone send it away? Dick had asked the same question about himself. “I know what it’s like to be sent away for being different. I think it’ll be good for both of us to not be alone, especially now that winter is here.”
“Yeah,” Jason nodded. “Did your family send you here?”
“Yes,” Dick sighed. “They send me supplies every few weeks,” Dick said. “But I’m not allowed to go back home because if anyone found out I wasn’t normal, the whole family would be ruined. I can have them send you some clothes when the next messenger comes with supplies.”
“At least they still care enough about you to make sure you have supplies,” Jason said. “Mine kicked me out and I just kind of roamed around. Now I’m here.”
“Do you want me to read to you again?” Dick asked. There wasn’t much else they could really do with the snowstorm outside.
Jason smiled. “Yeah, that sounds nice.”
That was how the two of them spent the day, passing the book back and forth, reading to each other, curled up close to the warmth of the fire. When the sun set, Dick and Jason made dinner together, eating it in front of the fire.
“It’s been so long since I’ve had something this nice,” Jason said as he ate his dinner.
“It’s been the same way for me,” Dick said. “It’s been years since someone’s stayed with me for more than a day. Sometimes my father or brother will visit, but only for a few hours before they go back to Gotham.” Bruce and Tim visited less and less now that Tim was getting older and Bruce was gearing up to pass on his legacy. Dick was supposed to get everything, but after they’d sent him away, they avoided talking about it.
Bruce’s visits were always awkward. Dick would show Bruce the cabin and they’d talk about what Dick was up to without talking about Dick’s magic. Dick would talk about books he’d read, Bruce would tell Dick about interesting people he’d met. Then they’d share tea or a silent meal and Bruce would leave with a stiff nod, and Dick would fall asleep with tears in his eyes.
“Are you okay?” Jason asked.
Dick realized he’d gone silent and he nodded. “Yeah,” he said. “I’m fine. I was just thinking.”
“About your family?” Jason asked.
“Yeah,” Dick took a deep breath. “It’s hard,” Dick admitted. “Because I miss them, but they sent me away.”
“I know,” Jason said. He scooted next to Dick and pressed their sides against each other. It was the first real human contact Dick had felt in weeks and it was incredible. Jason was warm and firm against him, and he made something inside Dick flush with warmth. Dick rested a head on Jason’s shoulder and closed his eyes.
“This is the first time I’ve done something like this in a long time,” Dick said.
“You were petting me last night,” Jason said with a grin.
Dick laughed, and then sighed, nuzzling Jason’s shoulder. “You know what I mean.”
“I know,” Jason replied as he draped an arm over Dick’s shoulders. Dick remembered hugging Tim when he came to visit, and how wonderful it felt. Being in contact with Jason was completely different. Hugging Tim made the pain of being sent away from home hurt a little less. It was placating. Jason’s arm over his shoulder and the contact between their sides felt like a hole inside him was finally being filled. Dick didn’t know he needed this contact until Jason had touched him.
Dick reached up and pulled at Jason’s shoulder, trying to bring the other male closer. Jason pulled Dick onto his lap and wrapped his arms around Dick, warm and solid. Dick pressed his forehead to Jason’s temple and rested his hands on Jason’s chest.
“How long has it been since you’ve touched someone?” Jason asked, turning his head so he could look into Dick’s eyes.
There was so little space between them, Dick could only look at parts of Jason’s face, his eyes, his nose, his cheekbones, and finally his lips, parted as they waited for Dick to respond.
“Months,” Dick said. “But I don’t think I’ve ever touched someone like this.”
“Dick,” Jason’s eyes widened and Dick watched his pupils dilate just slightly. Jason shook his head and brought a hand up to stroke Dick’s cheek. Dick leaned into it and a soft sigh escaped when Jason’s thumb stroked his skin. “Do you want me to keep touching you?”
Dick bit his lip and nodded, “I don’t want you to stop,” he admitted.
Jason leaned in and kissed him then. Dick had never been kissed before, but now he saw why he’d heard so many people rave about it. Kissing Jason was like feeling the first warm breeze after a long winter. It filled Dick with warmth and hope. Jason’s tongue swiped along Dick’s bottom lip and Dick gasped. Jason’s tongue slid into his mouth when it opened and Dick melted against him, heat between his legs.
Jason brought a hand down and touched Dick’s erection and Dick moaned, seeing sparks. He’d never felt pleasure like this before.
“Jason,” he whispered as he pressed against the other male, he could feel Jason’s hardness against his own as his hips pressed down. Jason growled, low and deep in his chest and Dick felt it vibrating through his fingers.
“Do you want more of that?” Jason asked as he lifted his own hips up and pushed his pants down, revealing his hard length.
“Yes,” Dick said. “Please.”
“Alright,” Jason said. He pushed Dick’s pants down and wrapped his hand around both of their lengths, pressing his mouth against Dick’s again as he moved his hand up and down. Dick had a hard time keeping the kiss contained, unable to hold in the moans Jason was drawing out of him.
It didn’t take long before Dick felt something building up inside him, ready to burst. Dick clutched tightly at Jason’s arms as it built and then exploded, a white hot wave of pleasure rushing through him, shaking him down to the very core and exploding out of him. Dick came over Jason’s hand and their stomachs.
Jason came shortly after with a low groan and he moved his hand to make the pleasure last as long as he possibly could. Dick slumped against Jason while he recovered from the mind blowing sensation. Jason grabbed one of the clean bandages and wiped them off, tossing it aside.
“I’ve never felt something like that before in my life,” Dick admitted, burying his face in Jason’s shoulder.
“I’ve done it with my own hand,” Jason said. “But never with someone else. I didn’t know it could feel so amazing.”
“Neither did I,” Dick said as he kissed Jason’s jaw.
Jason stood, holding Dick in his arms, kicking off his pants as he straightened up. He carried them over to the bed and took his clothes off. Dick did the same and he climbed under the blankets, holding them up for Jason.
“That was amazing,” Dick said as Jason got comfortable next to him, the blankets warm over them.
“I can’t believe no one’s ever touched you like that,” Jason said. “You’re so beautiful, Dick, you deserve someone touching you like that every day.”
Dick felt heat rushing up his chest and cheeks. “No one has ever touched me like that or talked to me like this,” Dick said. “I’m glad I found you.”
I’m glad I don’t have to be alone again.