"I like your ugly sweater," Tim said as he walked past Dick who was wearing a rather nice Christmas sweater.
Dick's brows scrunched up, and he turned his slightly foggy golden eyes down to his sweater. "I was unaware that this was considered ugly," he mumbled, pulling at the bottom of his sweater.
A sick feeling rose in Dick's chest. He'd asked Bruce to buy this for him when they'd gone shopping not knowing this type of thing was considered ugly. He'd liked it because of the stripe of tiny reindeer in the middle of the pattern, but apparently he still had a lot to learn about fashion.
—
It was nearly dinner time when someone next mentioned Dick's sweater again, almost giving the hyperactive ex talon enough time to completely forget the comment Tim had made that morning.
"Nice ugly sweater," Bruce said from across the table, feeling proud of himself for giving a compliment... well at least until Dick's eyes filled with tears and he looked over to Alfred and mumbled a quick, "I'm not hungry, may I be excused?"
Alfred nodded, and Dick ran up to his room.
—
Hot tears poured down Dick's cheeks as he tugged the sweater off and slid to the floor. "I don't understand," he sobbed quietly, his emotions easily getting the better of him. No one had ever made comments like that on his clothes before.
Dick drew his knees up to his chest and buried his face in them, trying to calm his ragged breathing.
A knock from the door startled Dick, and he hugged his legs tighter.
"Dickie?" Jason said, opening the door a crack.
Dick let out another sob when he heard the concern in his boyfriend's voice.
Jason stepped into the room, seeing Dick crying on the floor, his sweater sitting in the bed.
"Hey," Jason said gently, plopping himself down next to his boyfriend. "What's wrong?"
"W-why does e-everyone h-hate my sweater?" Dick sobbed, burying his face in Jason's chest.
Jason rubbed gentle circles on his boyfriend's back, waiting until he started to calm down. "Nobody hates your sweater bud," he assured.
"B-but... but they kept calling it ugly," Dick mumbled.
Jason's hand on Dick's back paused. "You... you thought... Oh Dickie... that's just what people call Christmas sweaters sometimes," he said.
"But... but it's not ugly," Dick said, lifting his head to look Jason in the eye, his lip trembling slightly.
"Your right. It's not ugly, in fact it looked very good on you," Jason said.
"People are weird," Dick said, burying his face in Jason's chest again.
Jason chuckled. "Yes they are," he said, placing a kiss on the top of Dick's head.
Dick hummed, snuggling closer to Jason to steal some of his warmth.
"You're shivering bluebird," Jason said after a few minutes. "Let's get your sweater back on."
Dick didn't respond, his breaths growing deeper as he fell asleep in Jason's arms.