𝐂𝐈𝐑𝐂𝐔𝐒 𝐁𝐎𝐘 ━ peter parker

ⅲ. "give me your shoes"

◦

ㅤㅤㅤHOW HE'D GOTTEN  himself into this situation, Dick didn't know. 

One moment he was sitting back against the leather interior of Mercedes's newest sporting model, the next he was sitting in the vents of the new Wayne Tower and staring down through the metal grating at the lead-lined floor, still as a mouse and cursing his super-stupid friends for not shutting up. Every time his phone vibrated in his pocket he winced, knowing the rattling of the metal around him was just as loud and audible to those who weren't inside it. 

They hadn't cared about his epic escape from the clutches of an evil fashion corporation (well, no one except Connor but Superboy cared about everything) and now - although he was too scared to move to reach for the device to silence it - he was pretty sure Roy and Wally were having a battle of non-existent wits. When he got the time, Dick was going to make a new groupchat with only the girls of his team.

The 'men' were all idiots. He needed culture.

Looking at his watch and squinting through the half-light, Dick concluded that there was a half-hour before the grand opening of the new Washington office. The receptionist preparing the front desk for the event had told him that 'Mister Wayne' was in a board meeting with some foundation sponsors but Dick had gone there to surprise the tricky man and found nothing but angry, tired businessmen and women at their wit's end because Brucie Wayne had charmed his way from the room before it'd even started. 

So now Dick was stuck hiding in the ventilation systems of Bruce's office, waiting for the man to come and collect the real copies of the ledgers he'd left unsigned so he could jump down and throttle him for giving Alfred even more reasons to lecture them. Besides, it would be a nice surprise for the big guy! He loved when Dick visited him in the office; a not-so-rare occurrence whenever the teen was on break and bored.

And Dick Grayson got bored a lot.

Another buzz from his pocket and he gritted his teeth,  frustrated, risking a grab for the phone. Just as his nails slid across the glass screen, elbows slamming into the sides of the cramped crawlspace as he twisted round, he heard a click. Lightning quick - though Wally would beg to differ - Dick spun back around, eyes wide, to watch the door slide open with a twist of the handle. Soft hair brushed against the metallic ceiling, gathering static as he leaned forward to peer carefully through the narrow slits below:

A surprise rally from above. That's what he wanted to do - get the drop on Bruce, if only to hear the man congratulate his stealth. Dick grinned to himself; he'd never see it coming. Or hear it coming, for that matter. 

"Dick, come out and say hello to our guests," came the ever-familiar voice, dark and rich. Expensive footsteps echoed through the  sizeable room until a tall, handsome head of dark hair came to a stop next to the desk, directly below him. Dick blinked. 

"What?" He whispered and could almost hear the man roll his eyes. 

"Get out of the ceiling," Bruce replied sharply, looking over his shoulder to check for company. He cast the classic playboy grin towards whoever was approaching and waved meekly. "Shouldn't be a second. Feel free to, er, touch whatever you want. Except the walls - I don't want to pay someone to repaint them."

"I wasn't aware you were having visitors," Dick snapped, grunting as he shifted the loose grate off to one side. His fingers latched onto the side of the vent as he gently lowered himself down, swinging to a perfect stop in front of Bruce. The man sighed and folded his arms, watching with warm eyes as Dick slotted the vent cover back in place. "How'd you know I was up there?"