Falling for Grayson : birdflash

Ch19: Bitter

I rolled off him and collapsed onto my back, looking up at the faint stars above the city lights. "So... how was your date with Rose?"

"Good," Dick said, getting up. He leaned over and extended his hand. I grabbed it, he pulled me up. "She's a really good climber. Not as good as me... but definitely better than you," he teased.

I was less in a mood for banter than I was for knowing how he really felt about Rose. We started walking towards the nearest apartment building to scale. "So... besides the climbing, is she someone you think you'd wanna see again?"

Dick paused. He looked at me the way he does after moments where I make him smile, it was a look that followed admiration, it was a sad look, as if disappointed.

"Yeah... I think so," he said. "She was very outgoing, there weren't any awkward silences."

I didn't know what to say. An awkward silence commenced.

"Like that?" I said.

Dick chuckled, "Yeah... like that."

We reached the apartment building. I ran up the side while Robin used his grappling gun.

Above the city lights, Robin's raven hair in the glimmer of moonlight shined faintly. He appeared almost ghostly in his swift movements across the buildings as well as in how the light reflected off his complexion. The Dick of the beach and the Robin of the rooftops seemed to be two different people entirely, yet both of whom I was falling for.

Scanning the streets from the rooftops made it easier to patrol multiple areas at once. The added bonus was that jumping down from the sky made bad guys more scared, or at least surprised. They'd always say, Where the hell did you come from?!, and Dick would purposefully reply with something cheesy and nonsensical like, The depths of your worst nightmare, despite appearing from above. I was unsure how scary we were after the initial shock—a scrawny speedster and a pint-sized Batman. But we'd always get the job done.

The rooftops were also more private than walking on the streets. We could talk about anything without thinking we had to be stoic or professional at all times. I pressed on with my questions.

"When do you think you'll see her again?"

"Not sure, maybe next weekend," Dick replied.

"And you definitely like her?"

"Why do I feel like I'm being interrogated?"

"Well, do you?" I pushed.

"I don't know... too early to say."

Dick's uncertainty annoyed me. "You said you were feeling lonely before, so this solves your problem."

"Walls, it's not that simple."

"Sure it is. An outgoing gymnast who's also good at climbing. Someone active, friendly, and funny. Not to mention how pretty she is."

"Maybe you should go out with her if you're so keen," Dick snapped.

"I don't wanna go out with her," I muttered. "I'm just saying that if you're planning to see her next weekend that you could at least say you like her." Just say to my face that you do, so I can be done imagining we could be together.

"Fine! I like her! Happy now?"

"Yeah... whatever..."

Down below we heard a woman's voice yelling for help. We immediately scouted the area and managed to pin-point her location after her second yell for help. We jumped between the buildings, then Dick used his grappling gun to shoot a line across the street.

On the other side in the alley, there were three men cornering the woman. The man nearest her was holding a knife in his right hand, another with a baseball bat, while the last was leaning against the wall smoking a cigarette.

Dick jumped to a better vantage point. He threw a batarang, disarming the man with the knife, then jumped down. I made my way down as well.

"Where the hell did you come from?!" The man yelled.

"Let's just get this over with," Robin muttered.

The large man threw a right-hook at him. Robin dodged the punch with ease, grabbed the man's arm, and used his forward momentum to bring him to the ground. Robin sprayed a mild sedative from the wrist of his glove to keep the man incapacitated for about 15 minutes, plenty of time to knock down the others.

I dashed to the baseball bat man before he even realized that Robin wasn't alone. "Can I borrow this?" I asked, grabbing the bat.

"Uh—"

"Great, thanks!" I ripped the bat out of his hands. I swept his left leg with the bat, then used the handle to bonk his forehead—enough to stun him before using magnetic cuffs on him and sticking the metal disk to the wall. The man flew across, bonking his head against the wall as his wrists struck the disk.

I dashed to the drooling knife guy and cuffed him the same. Robin ran towards the last man to take him down, but not before the woman tased his sorry butt to the ground.

"I suppose you were right," she said, standing over the soiled man, "I am stunning."

"You have the knack for cheesy hero lines," I said.

"Thanks," she replied, "but seriously, thank you."

"No problem, ma'am."

"—and thank you, Robin."

I looked back at Robin who gave a firm nod at the woman. I radioed the nearest police car to sort out the mess. "You alright to wait here a moment to give the police a statement? We'll escort you to the bus stop or your next destination after if you need."

"I'll stay," she said, "but I'll be alright getting home."

* * *

The rest of the night consisted of breaking up three fights, one grand-theft auto, and one stolen purse. It also consisted of an annoyed bird and a bitter speedster.

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Author:

Things just got complicated. Dick's planning on seeing this girl again next weekend, and Wally's really not happy about it...

Q: What's an activity you've done with friends that is not your everyday activity? E.g. pottery making class, paintballing, sky-diving (?!)