Falling for Grayson : birdflash

Ch23: Give

With the chaos from dinner finally over, Dick and I went for a stroll in the gardens. We walked down to the pond with the large willow tree.

There was a low fog across the garden, making the grass a bit slippery. The air started to cool. I dashed back to Dick's room and grabbed our hoodies. I lingered for a moment. I looked down at Dick's hoodie in my hands.

It was an old, blue hoodie. I remembered Dick wearing it the time we took M'gann's spaceship on a midnight escapade. We played a raging war of ping-pong a mile high in the sky. I had a clear advantage, of course, but over the first hour, Dick's skills improved greatly. I think refining his skills and getting into a flow state mattered more to Dick than trying to win individual matches.

We'd got so lost in our time together that before we turned around we had made it all the way to the Bahamas. We were tempted to wait till sunrise and go swimming, but we needed to make our way back. The low humming of the ship, the faint blue and red glow from the buttons and dials, the mile-high games of ping-pong—it was a surreal memory. I brought the hoodie to my nose and took in a slow inhale. It was as if I were nestled in his arms again.

I couldn't linger much longer, Dick would begin to question the decision of sending a speedster to retrieve the hoodies. I dashed back to where Dick was waiting. As I began slowing down, I slipped and drifted several feet across the grass. Dick walked over, I handed him his hoodie from the ground.

"Here."

Dick chuckled. "Thanks, Wally." The Boy Wonder took the hoodie then extended his hand. I grabbed it and he pulled me up. "You remember when we first spent time by the pond?" Dick asked.

"You mean when you pushed me in?"

"Yeah."

"What about it?"

"Why'd you let me do it? You could've ran across the water and stayed dry."

"I guess I wanted to make you laugh. And besides, trying to give you a soaking hug was funny. I don't know why you even tried running from me."

"It was futile, wasn't it?"

I wrapped my arm around Dick's shoulder. "Yeah, it was. Maybe this time I'll be the one to toss you in, but then I'd successfully run away."

Dick leaned into my chest. "You might be able to run away, but if you do that I'll poor an ice-cold bucket of water on you while you sleep."

"Hmmmm... perhaps I shall reassess my pushing-you-into-the-pond plan."

"Sounds like a wise reassessment."

It was quiet for a few minutes. Dick seemed to be lost in thought. I had nothing really on my mind. I returned to wandering the surreal memory of midnight ping-pong and the soft blue and red glow on his face. And then I too was lost in thought.

* * *

We reached the edge of the Wayne estate, where the manicured gardens ended and the natural chaos of tall maple trees and evergreens began. The forest was unusually quiet. The birds seemed to be on vacation.

Dick climbed over a fallen pine tree then swung around an adolescent maple as if it were a lamp post. "So," the Boy Wonder said, "looks like I saved your life at dinner... how're ya gonna pay me back?"

"What? You didn't do it out of the kindness of your heart?"

"Nope."

"Ha, okay fine. What is it that you want, bird boy?"

Dick stood in front of me and looked up, his deep blue eyes catching the golden light from the sunset. "What is it that you want to give?"

The line between banter and flirting had seemed to blur. It was a tentative dance, forward enough to suggest feelings, but not so forward that we couldn't backpedal. Maybe our connection was something more, or maybe it was only my heart's desire to see more than what was really there.

Not knowing where the line was, and whether we crossed it, I held on to amorphous words, not wanting to mould them into something more solid, like the words I want to kiss you. "There's something I want to give you, Dick Grayson, one day soon. But maybe I won't, I'm not sure."

Dick kept my gaze. "Okay, Wally," he replied, his voice soft. "I look forward to whatever this thing is, so be sure, okay?"

"Would you like anything I give you?"

"As long as it's not some joke."

"So no food from the fridge or Batman merchandise?"

Dick punched my shoulder. "Exactly."

We continued walking through the forest. "Has Bruce told you anything about this big mission yet?"

"Only that it'll start in the Bialya desert. Depending on how that goes, we may end up somewhere else entirely."

"And what about school?"

"Bruce is arranging for our exams to come early and for us to finish any projects before we leave. He'll probably phone your parents next week."

"Ugh. Why is it that we have to do all this school work before we leave?"

"Would you rather be in summer school?"

"Fair point."

Dick gave a small smile. He looked adorable, and I couldn't help but adore him. I was happy my bitterness from the week dissolved into something sweet. Besides nearly dying, today turned out to be a great day.

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Author:

I might need to take a bit of a break from writing/posting.

Thanks for reading the story so far and for your comments and stars. I enjoy reading your comments and I hope you're enjoying the story :)