Falling for Grayson : birdflash

Ch13: Toshi

Back at the cave, Conner was playing fetch with Wolf.

"How was the beach?"

"Good," Dick replied, "Nice and sunny, water was freezing though. Hopefully the team can make it next time."

"For sure."

It would be fun for the rest of the team to be there, though I wondered if Dick would spend as much time as he did with the sunscreen. I was unsure if that would even prove anything. He'd probably spend the same amount of time. Dick was a caring friend, there's a good chance I was reading too deeply into his actions.

We head back to our rooms to get changed. The corridor was made of exposed rock with metal doors to the rooms on the righthand side. Dick's room was next to mine, though still several yards away. I pressed the four digit code to my room, the door slid open.

The rooms themselves were made of metal with a thin layer of safely sealed lead for added privacy from those with wandering x-ray eyes. The metal was covered with a ferrous clay plaster, giving the room a warm, welcoming feeling rather than a cold, sterile one.

The far side wall had artificial micro-LED windows on either side of the bed that made it appear as if the room faced the ocean. At the foot of the bed was a slate grey couch and a live edge coffee table. Anchored to the wall across from the couch was la pièce de résistance: a 75 inch flat screen TV. This was of course for reviewing missions from the drone footage. But it was also, of course, for movies.

I grabbed a towel and dashed to the shower. After freeing myself from sand and salt, I dried off and changed into comfy, cozy sweatpants and my black hoodie with the Batman symbol across the chest. I bought it at a mall in Central City this past winter to annoy Dick. I remember him rolling his eyes at me. By next weekend he was lounging about in a bright red hoodie bearing the Flash's symbol in retaliation.

I strolled over to Dick's room in my Batman slippers. I gave the door a knock. "Come in," Dick yelled from behind the door. I pressed the green button beside the keypad for the door to slide open—the room locks were connected to the room lights, meaning doors only locked when the lights were off. Dick was wearing sweatpants, though shirtless and was drying his hair.

"So, what do you wanna do before dinner?" Dick asked.

"Mario Kart?"

"I could go for a few wins before dinner," he said casually.

"Well get a shirt on."

"I will, I mean I'd be too distracting for you if I didn't. I'd win every race without even trying."

I grabbed a cushion from the couch and threw it at him. "Pleeeaase, I'd win no matter what you did."

Dick picked up the cushion and walked over to me. He shoved the cushion into my hands. "Is that a challenge?" he asked.

"You sure I was the one with the ego?"

"It's not ego if it's true."

"Play fair and square," I said, shoving the cushion back into Dick's hands, "Whoever wins the most games by dinner has the other one cover his next two dinner shifts."

"Deal."

Dick put on a grey t-shirt, then slipped on his Flash hoodie. He looked cute in red. I turned on the TV and got the game set up. Dick picked Toad, as usual, and I picked Yoshi, as usual.

* * *

Through M'gann's telepathy, we heard, Dinner will be ready in 10 minutes! So far the score was 5-4, with bird boy in the lead...

"Looks like you're gonna have to cover my dinner shifts, KF!"

"There's still time!"

We put on Water Park. I narrowly beat the Boy Wonder. A tick of annoyance crossed his face.

"One more race—we can't leave this at a tie," I declared. My tone then turned solemn, "I have faced no challenge greater than this."

"What about that time you were kidnapped by Queen Bee? You were gone for weeks and we found you in the Bialya desert half-dead."

"I have faced no challenge greater than this," I repeated.

We picked the random map generator to decide the fate of the world. The almighty algorithm demanded we fight in the DK Jungle. Dick let out a melodramatic groan, while I gave a maniacal evil villain laugh, muhahahahahaha! DK Jungle was my favourite track.

The game was over before it even began. Dick had no chance of defeating me. In an attempt to sabotage me in the final lap, Dick rolled over onto my lap. His arms were partially covering my controller while he tried shoving me by pushing his feet against the arm of the couch. The saboteur's attempt was nothing short of abysmal. I crossed the finish line with ease.

"Don't mess with the speedster," I said, looking down at the defeated bird in my lap.

"I literally beat you in five other games."

"One short of victory."

Dick let out an exasperated sigh. He turned and faced the TV, watching the victorious Yoshi drive effortlessly around the track. The boy closed his eyes and seemed to rest. My hand hovered above his head, wanting to stroke his hair. I had often done so for Artemis. She found it comforting.

Yet my desire to show this affection to the boy who makes my heart melt only stayed as that, a desire. I couldn't do it. Dick was too perceptive, he'd start wondering about feelings that were still very much new to me. I wouldn't know how to handle it if he found out. I shifted my hand back to the arm of the couch.

Dinner's ready, M'gann's voice echoed in my head.

__

Author:

Wally got lucky there, but he didn't get lucky (¬‿¬)

Some major feelings though ✧˖°

Q: Favourite multiplayer video game?