Rising Robin

Chapter XIII: Day Off

Dick sat in his bedroom, configuring his new cell phone. He had begun to get the hang of the way the cell phone worked. He had heard of people getting cell phones with touch screens when he was down below in Old Gotham. He never really thought much of them. While down there, he heard about loads of things. Pop culture didn't exactly avoid the area. Everyone was still caught up with things. People would steal newspapers from up above & share the ongoing news with the kids.

Dick set the phone down & took a deep breath. He wondered what he'd do for the rest of the day. He wanted to avoid Bruce, for one. He didn't want to look at him. He felt a little bit guilty for beating him so hard. He also kind of liked hitting him. It had been a while since he let off some steam. It felt especially good to hit Bruce, though.

But the way they fought, it half felt like Bruce wasn't putting in 100%. Sure, he might have been holding back for Dick, since he's still younger than Bruce. But through Bruce's moves & technique, he clearly had training. Really good training. It made Dick question Bruce. CEO of a billion dollar company...with fighting skills. It was just odd.

Dick sat up from his bed & walked over to a door that led to a conjoining master bathroom. Dick walked inside & removed the tank top that he worked out in. He stood in front of the mirror over the sink. It was a large mirror that stretched across an entire wall of the bathroom. From the mirror Dick had a clear view of the large white porcelain bathtub next to a frameless shower.

Dick stared at himself for a few minutes in the mirror. "I don't recognize myself," he mumbled to himself. "I've definitely changed. Every now & then I have the feeling I've totally lost my mind. It's a great feeling, though."

Dick turned away from the mirror & stripped his jogger pants off. He stepped into the shower and began running the water. He let the hot water stream down his head, down his body and onto the shower floor. The air grew thick with hot steam, fogging up the glass door. Dick felt his skin slightly burn in the hot water. Dick didn't care. He didn't mind, as long as the water made it hard to tell he was crying.

Dick shut the water off after a while & stepped out of the shower. He began to dry his body off with a clean white towel. He wrapped the towel around his hip & stepped out of the bathroom, feeling the cold air rush into the steam filled bathroom.

As he walked towards his dresser to get a new change of clothes, there was a knock at the door. Dick sighed softly. "Come in," he said carelessly, focusing on what clothes he was about to put on. As he pulled out a pair of boxer briefs from one drawer, he hear someone at the door clear their throat. Dick turned, expecting Bruce or Alfred to be at the door. Instead, standing at Dick's bedroom door, where he was wet & naked in a towel, was a girl with red hair & blue eyes. She looked like Dick's age. She was wearing glasses & a private school uniform. She was carrying an over-the-shoulder bookbag. She had a hand over her eyes, as though she had already seen too much. "Shit, I'm sorry!" she called.

Dick felt his face grow warm in embarrassment. He rushed to slid the boxer briefs on under the towel & rushed to find another pair of pants. He found a pair of basketball shorts & slid those on. "Okay, um, I'm decent," Dick said awkwardly as he tossed the towel onto his bed. He immediately didn't like his decision & grabbed it, tossing it into the bathroom & shutting the door.

The girl uncovered her eyes, but didn't move from the spot she stood at by the door. "Sorry, I didn't realize this was your bedroom. If I did, I would've waited downstairs."

"No, it's my fault," Dick admitted. "I just assumed you were the butler. I usually don't have people come up to my room, so I got comfortable."

The redhead smiled shyly. "Oh, well, Mr. Wayne sent me up here, but if people don't normally come up here, maybe I should go back down & wait," she said, almost sounding disappointed.