Yeah, well… what can I say. I wrote this in the middle of the night and I had this huge headache so, it probably sucks. I couldn't think of a good title or summery either. Basically, Mari's date get's invited over for dinner and Richard decides to have a little chat with him. ;) Please be nice when you review. Anyways enjoy.
Richard Grayson sighed, crossing his arms across his chest and sinking further into the couch he was sitting on, a pout on his lips and a crease on his forehead, looking more like a five year old then a man in his late thirties.
One single, undisturbed thought ran thru his mind… unbelievable. Simply unbelievable. In front of him, his wife Kori ran back and forth setting the table, and making sure the food she was cooking didn't burn.
Finally, she stopped and glanced in his direction. "Richard, you have not moved from your position for over an hour. Please, is there something wrong?" she asked. Richard meanwhile was, in two words, losing it.
"Is… something… wrong?" he repeated slowly, turning to look at Kori incredulously. "Yes there's something wrong! Star," he said, using his old nickname for her. "You invited the enemy over for dinner!"
He was still in shock about that. After everything they'd been thru, all the criminals they had fought together since they were teenagers, she invited this… this creature into their home.
Kori shook her head in disbelief. "Richard, be reasonable. He is not the enemy." she repeated for what must have been the hundredth time that evening. "He's Mari's date!"
Richard winched the second the word was out. "Date." he thought, in a mixture of disbelief and nausea. "Mari…date… Mari's date." He shook his head, unable to comprehend it. To him, his daughter's name and the… the 'd' word should never be used in the same sentence.
"Kori please." he groaned, rubbing his forehead. "Just hearing that word is giving me a headache." Kori rolled her eyes. "Well, you better get ready. Jacob shall arrive any moment now."
Richard grit his teeth. "Right, the enemy will be here soon." he mumbled. That's what he'd always called them. Not 'the boy.' Never by their names. They were always just 'the enemy.'
Kori sighed, looking toward the ceiling in exasperation. "Well, would you at least try to look as though you are happy for our daughter?" she asked. In response he forced a smile that looked exactly like the one he had on his face when he took Kitten to her prom years ago.
She shook her head. "Richard…" "Kori she's just a kid!" Richard finally yelled, throwing his hands in the air. "No, scratch that, she's just a baby!" "Richard, she's 16!" Kori yelled back.
"Exactly! Just sixteen! She's still little, she's still way too young for this!" he insisted. "Strange. If I recall correctly, we were sixteen when we first met." Kori pointed out. "Yeah, well… that was different." Richard mumbled.
Kori opened her mouth to protest, but at the same moment the doorbell rang and the sound of footsteps was heard coming down. Mari Grayson stepped into the room, tying her black hair back so that it was out of her green eyes.
"I'll get it!" she called, running off to answer the door. Richard and Kori followed her a few steps behind. Mari opened the door and grinned when she saw the blond haired boy standing nervously there.
"Oh, hey Jacob. Please come in." she said, stepping back. Jacob walked in and smiled. "Thanks Mari. You look great." he complemented, reaching out and taking her hand. It took every bit of self-control Richard had not to strangle the boy then and there.
"Aww!" Kori whispered in glee. "Do you not find this simply adorable Richard?" Richard rolled his eyes. "Adorable. Not quiet the word I was thinking." he replied.
Kori glanced at the clock hanging on the wall and remembered the food she'd left cooking. "Mari, dear. Help me with dinner." she said, walking toward the kitchen, Mari following.
When they were gone, the room suddenly became deathly silent, Richard pacing back and forth while Jacob stood there uncomfortably. At last, it was Jacob who broke the silence. "It's great to finally meet you, sir. Mari has told me so much about…"
"Cut the small talk, kid." Richard said coldly, looking at Jacob as though he was some filthy intruder before pulling out a single chair and placing it in front of the boy. "Sit." he said.
It wasn't a offer, it was an order, and Jacob sat without protest, beginning to grow worried. Richard meanwhile walked around the chair, saying nothing, and somehow his silence made Jacob even more fearful.
"Listen Jake," Richard started. "It's Jacob sir." Jacob interrupted, only to be shot down by a glare. He gulped. "B…but Jake's fine too." he said quickly.
"Hmm." Was the only response he got. "Jacob. Let me make one thing clear to you." Richard stopped pacing and stood directly in front of the unfortunate boy, towering over him. "I hate you." he continued. "If it was up to me, you would never have made it to the front door."
"I…" Jacob started but was cut off. "However, for some reason beyond my understanding, my daughter seems to have taken a… temporary liking to you. So, for as long as your near her, there will be some rules you have to follow."
Jacob nodded eagerly, glad for an opportunity to impress his date's father. "Number one: You don't touch her. Meaning that if you ever hold her hand again, I hope for your sake it's the hand you don't write with."
"Number two: Spacing. Whenever your with her, there's a certain amount of space that needs to be between you two. Outside, you have to have enough space that a truck can drive between you. If it can't, then your too close! Inside you must be at arm's length, at least!"
Jacob opened his mouth to protest but Richard continued, ignoring him. "Number three: She must always be back by ten o'clock. A minute later, and you're the one who'll suffer. And all date's must be in public areas with at least three responsible adults present."
"Sir." Jacob interrupted. "Look, I admire your protectiveness for your daughter, but don't you think this is taking it a bit far?" he asked. Richard looked up sharply with a glare that cut straight thru the boy like knives.
"Let's move on to another subject." Richard said suddenly. "How old are you?" Jacob frowned. "Sixteen." "And who do you live with?" Richard pressed on. Now Jacob was even more confused. "My family. There's my Mom and my Dad." "Any siblings?" "Um, no."
"That's nice." Richard said, not really paying much attention. "What about your criminal history?" he said suddenly. Jacob's eyes widened. "My… what!?" he screamed. "Your criminal history." Richard repeated. "I… I don't have a criminal history!" Jacob shouted back. "Oh really?" Richard insisted. "Then what, might I ask is this?"
Richard pulled a folder out and handed it to a bewildered Jacob. "What do you have to say to that, liar?!" Jacob looked over the folder, then looked up. "A speeding ticket? Your picking on me because I got one lousy speeding ticket?"
Richard shrugged. "What's the matter? Can't be bothered to slow down for other people?" "That wasn't what happened! I was just…" "What you were was reckless and irresponsible!" "But I wasn't!"
"Not to mention, the fact that your also violent." "Violent!?" Jacob exploded, stunned. "Okay, now you've lost it! I'm not violent! I've never hurt anyone in my entire life!" "Strange. You didn't hesitate to hurt Kyle." Richard stated calmly. "Who?"
Richard pulled out another file. "Kyle Johnson. Remember him?" Jacob looked thru that file and shook his head in disbelief. "Dude, that was in the first grade!" "Oh? Perhaps you can tell me what happened?" Richard shot back.
"I barely even remember it! We were playing and I tripped and accidentally pushed him! He scraped his knee, he wasn't even mad or hurt, the teacher totally overreacted!" "Uh huh." Richard replied.
"On top of all that, you're not exactly the sharpest knife in the drawer." he added. Jacob's mouth fell open. "Are you calling me dumb?!" "Dumb, stupid, unintelligent. Take your pick." "I'm a straight A student for crying out loud!"
Richard rolled his eyes. "You probably cheat off everyone around you. All I know is that from what I've seen today, you're not exactly very smart." "You just meet me! How would you know!?" Jacob barked back.
Richard's eyes suddenly hardened and he leaned in, his voice threatening. "Because if you had half a mind, you wouldn't have come here without anything to defend yourself with." Jacob gulped and sunk in his seat.
At that moment, Kori walked in and Richard smiled, acting calm. "Dinner is prepared." Kori said. "Great." Richard said, as he and Jacob walked to the dining room.
If Jacob thought that he would get a break over dinner, he was sadly mistaken. Every time Mari and Kori weren't looking, Richard would shoot him a hate filled glare. Not only that, but he kept playing with his knife, looking at it thoughtfully.
Needless to say, he was relived when dinner finally ended. "Okay, well, thanks for the dinner Mrs. Grayson. It was great!" Jacob said, trying to play it cool. "So, Mari. Want to go see a movie?" he asked.
Mari nodded happily and left to get her purse while Kori went to clear the dishes. Jacob couldn't believe his bad luck. As though getting left alone with the dad wasn't bad enough the first time!
Richard walked over and glowered at him. "Listen, kid." he hissed, voice low and dangerous, making Jacob cower. "My daughter is very important to me. Her happiness and her safety are both very important to me, and if you endanger either, I'll see to it that you have the type of life people only know in nightmares. Clear?"
Jacob nodded quickly. "Crystal clear." he whimpered. "Good." Richard replied. "Because if you break her heart, I'll break every bone in your body. Hurt her… and you'll never be seen or heard from again."
"Oh, and don't think you can get away with anything." he added, a smug expression on his face. "I'll always know what your up to. Even if you don't think I'm there, even if I really aren't there, I'll always know."
At that moment, Mari walked into the room. "Okay, I'm going now. Bye dad!" she said, hugging her father. Over her shoulder, Jacob saw Richard glare at him, though the glare was replaced by a smile when Mari pulled back.
After they were gone, Kori turned to look at Richard, suspicion in her green eyes. "Richard?" "Yeah?" he replied. "Why was Jacob so frightened of you?" Richard thought for a while before shrugging.
"I had a little… chat with him." Kori raised an eyebrow, clearly displeased. "Richard, don't scare the boy. Mari really likes him." she said at last. Richard nodded. "Don't worry, I wasn't that hard on him." he insisted. By the look on her face, Kori clearly didn't believe him, but she let the matter drop.
As soon as she left, Richard paced the living room, growing more and more frantic. What had he done!? Had he really just let the enemy walk out with his daughter!? A thousand thoughts crossed his mind, and he began to convince himself that something horrible was happening to Mari.
Before he could finish any of these morbid thoughts, a voice pulled him out of his thoughts. "Hey, Mr. Grayson?"
Richard turned to find a girl standing in the living room. She was about Mari's age, with green hair and violet eyes. He recognized her instantly, she was Desiree, Garfield and Rachel's daughter and Mari's close friend.
"Oh, hello Desiree. What are you doing here?" he asked. "Nothing. My mom just wanted me to give you these letters. They got into our mail by accident." "Thanks." Richard replied, taking it.
Desiree turned to leave when a sudden thought hit Richard. "Hey Desiree!" She stopped and turned around. "You can change into different animals right?" he asked, though he already knew the answer.
Desiree frowned, but nodded. "Yeah. Why?" Richard looked from the girl, to the door, then back to the girl, a smile building on his face as a sinister idea built in his mind. He'd keep an eye on Mari, even if he wasn't there.
"How would you like to make fifty quick bucks?"
Yeah, I know. The ending didn't make much sense. Basically, he's going to get Desiree to spy on Mari and Jacob. Bad ending, I know, but I did warn you. Anyways, please review. (=