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Tweak says, "Dag, yo."

Richie Trashmouth Tozier (trashmouthloser) wrote in snapthread,
@ 2019-11-21 16:23:00

Entry tags:

dick grayson, richie tozier

Who: Dick-squared
What: Richie is a man on a mission.
Where: Through the doors.
When: November 21st

As promised, Richie had picked up Dick and they’d headed over to the Doom Doors — possible list of questions in Dick’s possession, and an already unwrapped twinkie in Richie’s. Well, and a mental list of things he needed. And his credit card, which he hoped like hell would work wherever they ended up because he was good for it, in terms of money, so long as they ended up in modern-day America.

It’d taken some time. To find a door that looked reasonable. A lot of opening and closing and being absolutely scared shitless of dark caverns and space, underwater and a really notable one that looked a little bit like it was pulled from the illustrations of a book on Dante’s Inferno.

But they found something. It looked about the same in terms of season, and might very well have been a place that was Chicago adjacent and Richie felt pretty good with it. So they walked through, and to his immense delight, the scenery stayed the same as what was advertised.

“Thanks for coming with,” Richie said, feeling a bit more at ease when he was actually in the street, all the traffic felt very normal, and the drivers all seemed human. Even still, it was probably best to have his guard up, at least a little.

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ohboywonder
2019-11-29 10:34 pm UTC (link)

Lasting connections weren't the easiest to form. Not really. Most people in normal circumstances kept their guard up, built walls around their hearts to protect themselves, because no one wanted to get hurt by said connection or from losing it. When you added in things like life experience, be it running from a psycho clown or being the Dark Knight's sidekick it really messed with a person. You could form bonds with people that were deep and seemingly iron clad, but you could also run for the hills whenever anyone outside of those circumstances tried to get close to you. For whatever reason, the friendship between Richie and Dick worked, and it stuck. They had shared traits, shared experiences, even if they were drastically different on the surface.

"Ain't that the truth," he said with a shake of his head. No, the past could be a real bitch of a clinger in that respect and Dick still felt even now, years later, like he was trying to shed the Robin mantle from his name, even if he'd come to terms with it and was proud of having had it.

With Barbara, things were complicated but also really easy. They weren't from the same world, but they were still Dick and Babs, they had this chance to take together and Dick didn't want to miss it waiting around to find out if they were going to be sent back home or not. "Yeah, we are," he said. "I mean, it feels like we are. It's great. Babs is the most amazing person I've ever met. So freaking smart it's insane."

He followed Richie over to a ring display case and looked inside. "Engraving's good. It's personal. And it's something for the two of you. No one else sees it, but you know it's there."

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trashmouthloser
2019-11-30 04:12 am UTC (link)

It was a good thing, really. Richie was healing -- maybe a lot of people in town were, but for the most part he was more concerned with himself and those he considered his own -- and it felt kind of big and important that he'd made friends in people who weren't just Eddie and Stan. Dick and Bill were good people, and Richie was fucking glad he'd allowed himself to have them.

"I hope things work out how you both want them to," Richie said quietly, no trace of humor to his words. Because it felt like Dick should know -- probably did know -- how big of a thing a second chance was. He knew he did -- he thrived on it daily. Knew he wouldn't be the same person he was today, right now, standing in this store like an absolute sap, if Eddie hadn't also arrived in Starklandia.

Richie, honestly, wasn't sure he'd still be alive at all if Eddie hadn't shown up. Dramatic, maybe, but true.

"Smart," he said, fingers tapping restlessly on the glass -- he was a little surprised that they hadn't been accosted by anyone yet trying to sell them the priciest thing in the store. "I've never had an opinion on diamonds before," he said, bewildered. "Are they tacky? Is one nice? Am I the world's worst gay? I don't think he'd like the risk of getting it caught on something or it falling out. Maybe these tension set ones."

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ohboywonder
2019-11-30 05:26 pm UTC (link)

It was really kind of (definitely) refreshing to be making friends who had absolutely nothing to do with Gotham, nothing to do with Batman or crime fighting or the Teen Titans or anything regarding where he came from. Dick felt like he could dive into those relationships with a fresh start. At the same time, living with Barbara, developing and nurturing that relationship kept him grounded in his roots, where he'd come from and there was a familiarity he did find he needed (which was what kept him from leaving that place for good). It was a good balance, and one he hoped he could keep.

"Thank you," he said, sincerely, because he sure as hell hoped it worked out too. Dick and Barbara had a pretty lengthy, complicated history but in the midst of all that, when he got down to the core of it, love was really the only thing that mattered and he had a hell of a lot of it for her.

"Whoa, whoa," he said. "Take a breath. You're not a bad gay. You're a good gay. It's good you're putting so much thought into it but try not to let it overwhelm you. I think you're probably right about the getting it caught on anything issue. So a band is probably your best bet. Just look, let your eyes wander and see which fits the visual you have of putting it on his finger."

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trashmouthloser
2019-12-05 03:20 am UTC (link)

Dick didn't need to thank him, not for that. Richie got it, was all. And he wasn't always so self focused where he didn't want happiness for other people. Hell, he wanted that a lot of the time and not just only in his little circle of seven (even if there were currently only three of them around).

He took a deep breath when Dick told him to, but it burst out of him a second later and Richie really did need to get his shit together. He couldn't keep up with himself and his nerves some days and it really was a bad look to go around having fits of panic and throwing up every time things for a little rough. So he took another breath and then calmed himself slightly -- not completely, because it probably wasn't possible. But enough to focus up a bit. "Okay. Okay," he said slow, and pushed his glasses up his nose a bit when he went back to looking at the rings.

He could do this. Ideally, he'd have a little more time, a bit more in terms of viewing options, but he considered himself lucky he'd ended up here and not in some hellscape so -- he wasn't going to push his luck. Bands. Something with some flare but not too much.

Enough looking, and he'd narrowed it down pretty significantly, asking the salesperson, who had finally come to accost them, to show them to him up close. "Do you even really need to propose when you spend half your time bitching about who gets whose last name?" He wondered. Of course he still was going to, but it wasn't going to be much of a surprise, all things considered.

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ohboywonder
2019-12-05 07:29 pm UTC (link)

Dick really felt for Richie. He seemed so pent up and nervous and panicky and edgy all the time. That was sometimes just the way people were and even Dick could get like that every now and then. But most of the time he just sort of let things roll off him like water off a duck's back. He kind of had to attribute that to his years as Robin, which he could do now that he'd come to appreciate that time rather than resent it. There wasn't time to ever really panic about anything. He just dove into whatever it was and dealt with it. He still stressed, but he hid it under a visage of witty jabs and clever tactics.

That said, he did have a minor freak out when he was trying to pick out a ring for Barbara. He totally got it.

"Trying to put your two last names together is a mouthful, but that might be a meeting in the middle situation," he said. "But yeah, man. You gotta do it. It'll be ridiculously special for both of you even if it's something that feels kind of expected by now. You'll have that moment that's just for the two of you." He leaned in to squint at the bands because the sales person was doing that thing -- that thing where they had the big doe eyes, pod person expression where they expect you to say/do something before they self-destruct. "Try picking one up and holding it in your hand. See if it feels right; like something you'd want to give him." He opted not to say it was the only thing Eddie was ever gonna wear for the rest of his life because he thought that might put more pressure on Richie to figure this out and he wasn't about to do that to him.

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trashmouthloser
2019-12-05 07:46 pm UTC (link)

Dick was a saint. Like, a real one. Richie was so glad he'd picked him to come and help, because he'd be utterly lost without the guy and he was pretty sure there was no one better for the job. Zero offense to Stanley, his brother from another mother, mind. They'd just be two nervous wrecks together right now. That would definitely have been a thing.

And this sales person was here for a good, good dollar. Which Richie could appreciate, but not when it came to picking out something that really mattered to him.

He still pointed at the three he really zoned in on, and each one was settled in front of him on the counter. Richie picked each up, considering the weight (of the rings and the situation), and turned them around wonderingly in his hands. "He said he wants my name," he said after a beat. "It sounds cooler." That wasn't really why, but Eddie's trauma wasn't his own, he couldn't just bring it up to other people.

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ohboywonder
2019-12-16 10:04 pm UTC (link)

Though he wasn't applying for sainthood, Dick was definitely honored that Richie wanted him to be there with him to help pick out something that was so important. It didn't actually matter what sort of ring it was; whether it was bedazzled in diamond studs or just a plain band. From what Dick knew about Eddie he didn't think he'd be overly concerned about karats or anything like that. It was the meaning behind the ring and what it symbolized that really mattered and he was really humbled that Richie felt comfortable enough around him to want him there. He wasn't going to blather on about it or draw attention to that; they both kinda knew.

"Well, it does sound cool," he said. "I'm gonna have to see if I can find a place through the doors that'll make some embroidered hand towels for your house that says the Toziers. If you think I'm kidding wait til you open your wedding present." Dick watched as Richie weighed his options quite literally in his hand. He knew full well it was entirely possible to think too much about this but he also didn't want Richie to have any regrets about what he ended up buying so it was best to go through all the rings and see what he thought was best. "What do you think, man?"

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trashmouthloser
2019-12-17 02:35 am UTC (link)

Even for someone who talked constantly, there were always just some things that needn't be said out loud. This was kind of one of those things -- just a solid sort of friendship that had happened and was and the how and why of it was like -- who needed to bring it up?

"God," Richie said, laughing at the idea of embroidered hand towels (or hand towels at all -- come on, he'd been a bachelor for the entirety of his life, and he wasn't fooling anyone - he'd never had a hand towel.) "You know, it means more if you do it yourself. Everyone likes a hand-made embroidered towel." The fuck was he on about?

He considered the rings for a moment, discarded one back onto the glass countertop and then examined the other two. "Okay," he said after a beat. "This one. I think this is it." It had a stone, but it was small and set inside the ring instead of on top. Richie sort of thought the tension setting was meaningful, but wasn't good enough at saying genuine things to really figure out why. It just kinda reminded him of Eddie. "I just need it engraved and then -- yeah." He paused, a little surprised. "Wow. Holy shit, this is happening."

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ohboywonder
2019-12-17 07:33 pm UTC (link)

Dick was grateful for their friendship. He hadn't had a lot of that back home, not really. It was nice to have someone in his life he could just be around and know they were friends. He'd have Richie's back, and he knew it would be returned. Loyalty, friendship, someone who wasn't tainted by Gotham's clusterfuck of darkness. Richie had his own fair share of issues and there'd been some sort of killer clown involved. They were both kind of messes but it worked. Yeah. He liked this.

"You're gonna regret making that suggestion," Dick said with a little smirk. God, if he tried to embroider something he'd probably end up sewing it to himself or something. Maybe Barbara could do it. "It'll probably just be a cloth with something drawn on it in sharpie."

Getting down to business, he could tell that Richie was on the cusp of a decision. "Hey, look at you go," he said, and gave him a pat on the back. "You did it. Now you can breathe again. The next part is all about you and Eddie. That should be easier, right? Just telling him how you feel."

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trashmouthloser
2019-12-18 09:23 pm UTC (link)

"I regret no suggestion I have ever made since the beginning of time," Richie corrected -- and it was Very Not True, but in this moment he was sticking to his guns, standing by the point he made. Not just because it would be hilarious, but mostly because, yeah, it'd be hilarious.

Richie'd always liked a good inside joke, too. So if he was ever awarded a hand towel with his last name written on it, he'd think it was fucking hilarious and Eddie most likely would not. Even better.

Richie all but slammed his credit card on the counter and then told the woman behind it what size he needed and what he wanted engraved into the inside of the ring, begged it all to be done on a rush job because he, like, really needed it today. They could go somewhere else while they waited - Richie had to get his cover story sweaters still, after all. "He knows," Richie said, of telling Eddie how he felt. At least, he assumed he knew. They'd talked about it a little. This whole thing. Maybe he needed something more grand. More well spoken. Richie didn't really know. He'd figure it out.

"That was rough," he said after a beat. "Let me buy you lunch."

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ohboywonder
2019-12-20 02:59 pm UTC (link)

Dick had to laugh at that, though he did actually hope it was true that Richie lived without regrets. What a wonderful concept that would be. But rather than be serious about that, he just laughed because yeah, it'd be funny.

Having a bit of an inside joke with Richie, well, that'd be great too. They were already friends, had some weird bond where Dick was an older brother even though he was considerably younger and it just worked. Throw in some really awful hand towels and that pretty much solidified their friendship or life.

It was definitely going to happen, now.

A sincere smile spread across his lips when Richie said that Eddie knew. Well, sure. Of course he did. It was probably one of those things, where even if they didn't say enough, they did actually say everything. Dick got that. He knew what it was like. He and Babs had a bit of an understanding like that, too.

"You're buying? Well shit, I'm getting cheese fries." He did that hair ruffle thing he'd started when Richie was a kid only it was a lot more comical these days since Dick kind of had to have go-go-Gadget arms to do it now that he was really fucking tall. "Good work today, man. It's all gonna turn out great."

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trashmouthloser
2019-12-25 09:50 pm UTC (link)

It all was going to turn out great. Richie, now that he'd chosen, put money down and really dug into the idea was excited as much as he was nervous and he believed only good things were in his future. Or hoped it, anyway.

"Cheese fries. Wow, livin' big there, Dick." The hair ruffling was -- funny actually. Richie went a little pink over it but then ended up laughing anyway because god, they must have looked a sight - this young dude mussing up Richie's hair like he was the kid in the equation.

Well. He sort of was. But only by matters of circumstance. That was a thing. And not something Richie'd soon forget. "I'll spring for a burger too, if you're into it."

(end? yes?)

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