Summary: "If you are going to live like a civilian, Dick, you should try to get to know some." Bruce is pushing Dick to socialize with a certain girl. Is he trying to set them up or is there something more to it? Post-series.
Young Justice
"For As Long As You Can"
—The Encounter—
ONE
"Dick, you've known her since you were nine," Bruce Wayne exasperated. He had taken the trouble of putting together this grandiose party just so his difficult son, Dick Grayson, could actually socialize with people other than his teammates.
"Yeah, but that doesn't mean I know anything about her," Dick retorted, trying to dismiss the whole idea.
"Yes, she does like people to respect her privacy," Bruce admitted, "but that's also the best thing about her."
Dick looked skeptical, but decided to take the bait anyway. "What do you mean?"
"It means she doesn't ask questions." Bruce sighed. "Come on, let's go talk to her."
Dick massaged his temples. "Please do not tell me you are trying to set us up."
Bruce smiled. "You mean you aren't past the cooties phase?"
"Bruce!" Dick flushed. "I just don't want to date a Goth girl!"
"Now you are just being petty and stereotypical." Dick still looked unamused. "Look, I'm not trying to marry you off or anything. I just think if you are going to live like a civilian, Dick, you should try to get to know some."
So, there was no way out of this.
"Miss Neve?" Bruce said as he approached the young woman, alerting her to his presence plus one. She was a pretty girl. She had long black hair which was pinned up this evening, but had tendrils of wavy curls drifting about the pale skin of her neck and chest. Due to the evening's formality, she was wearing a sleeveless dark blue gown with a sash draped across her waist at an angle.
She turned and looked at the suave businessman before her with her smokey blue-green eyes. "Yes?" she asked with a shy but polite smile.
"I hear we should be congratulating you on your newest accomplishment." She blinked a few times trying to register what he meant. "That was quite some award you received. You are definitely a talented pianist."
"Oh, thank you, Sir," she responded a bit awkwardly, as if she wasn't used to or comfortable with praise from an important man like Bruce Wayne. "I didn't know you paid any attention to the music world." She shifted the focus to him, obviously trying to brush off any more compliments.
"Please, you don't have to call me Sir. It makes me feel old," he replied in amusement.
She gave a light chuckle. "You certainly aren't old, Mister Wayne. In return, I would like you to call me Tina. I quite prefer my first name to my last."
"Very well, Miss Tina. To answer your question, I do keep a tab on many aspects going on in the world. Call it, a hobby. I was surprised when I saw that you won that award. I listened to the piece you played. It was quite complex. Where did you find it?"
Tina glanced to the side once again. "Actually, I wrote it," she confessed.
"You certainly are a gifted young lady," Bruce gave her a warm smile. "We should definitely have you over to play sometime. I know Dick and myself would appreciate some fine music."
Her eyes widened in horror at the thought of a personal performance, where people would talk with her afterwards and ask her questions. She hated questions. Her past was not something she liked to look back on.
Bruce seemed not to notice. "Dick, I'll leave you to make the arrangements. I have more mingling to get to." Bruce Wayne then effortlessly left the conversation in the hands of his adoptive son in hope something would come of this.
Tina crossed her arms and looked unamused. "Grayson, is it just me or are we getting set up?" She gave a bit of a huff.
Dick turned and watched Bruce walking away. "No, I don't think so. At least I hope not."
"Oh, so I'm not exactly your type?" Offense simmered in her voice.
At her insulted tone, Dick tensed and quickly jerked his head back to her. He expected her to be waiting to clobber him for his serious blunder.
"Relax, I'm just teasing you," she told him in humor and playfully hit his arm. He visibly did just that. "Well, if it makes you feel better, I'm not interested in dating a kind of person like you either."
Dick raised a brow to her very interesting choice of wording. Then, he opened his big mouth and blundered again. "Why? Are you gay or something?"
"Wow, you're just hitting all the points today," she told him, amused at his hideous conversation manners. She chuckled briefly before sobering down and then answered his question. "No, I'm not a lesbian. I just. . ." She looked away for a long moment, and Dick wondered if she would finish her statement.
After a deep breath in and out, she continued, "I just haven't found anyone I liked enough." She spoke fast as she tensed and wouldn't look him quite in the eye. Dick, being the detective he was, could tell from her mannerisms that she wasn't being completely truthful. She was also extremely uncomfortable talking about it.
Deciding he had enough fumbles already, Dick rightly chose to not ask her about it. Instead, he tried to change the subject. "So, what does your last name mean? It's French, right?"
Tina completely recovered and looked at him almost unbelieving. "You've known me for ten years and you finally decided you wanted to know about my surname? Really?"
Dick shrugged, trying to seem nonchalant. "I'm just trying to make conversation."
"In that case, you seriously need to work on your small talk." She chuckled for a moment, relaxed and amused now. "But, since you made such an effort," she rolled her eyes, "I'll tell you. It isn't French. It's Italian, and it means 'snow'."
"Oh, okay," he replied awkwardly while rubbing the back of his neck with his right hand. It was a bad habit that Bruce continually told him to quit. However, despite how much he tried to suppress it, it came out whenever Dick was uncomfortable or at a loss for words. He could give fearless commands to a dozen meta-gene equipped heroes, but he couldn't talk to a girl a couple years older than him. What was wrong with this picture? One thing; Dick hated being a member of society.
"There is no way of getting out of it, is there?" She sighed and Dick wondered for a moment what in the world she was talking about. "I guess I have to play for you guys. Man, I hate playing for people I know." She seemed very annoyed.
Dick once more looked at her while quirking a brow. "Do you really hate playing the piano that much?"
"No, it isn't that." She waved her hand a bit in dismissal. "The piano and I are good friends. I come from a very musical family, believe it or not. My," she paused a moment as her eyes grew hazy as if recalling a distant memory, "my father wasn't someone who always made the right decisions, but I remember he had the most beautiful voice." She gave a sad smile, "He used to sing to me every night. I loved him a lot and. . . and I miss him. I miss him a lot."
"Your parents died when you were pretty young, right?"
"Yeah, I was five." She shrugged as if it suddenly meant nothing to her. "They were in a plane crash coming back from an international medical convention in Germany."
"That's right," Dick replied and not awkwardly. He couldn't believe he was finally having a decent, mostly relaxed conversation with this young woman. But, he reasoned, they now had something in common. "They were top notch surgeons. Will you go into the medical field like they did?"
"No, I don't think so." She shook her head briefly. "I'm not really interested in spending the rest of my life going to school for something I have no passion for," she professed.
"Then what do you plan on doing?" he asked her. He knew exactly what it was like to be pressured into something he really didn't want to do. Take for instance, being in a social setting with rich snobs.
"I have enough inheritance to live off of if I wanted, but I think I am going to take on the odds and go into music." She suddenly had a spark in her eyes. It was one Dick hadn't remembered ever seeing before. There was excitement and eagerness as if she was one who couldn't live without music. It made her look. . . different. More alive he supposed. "I know it isn't what most people expect, but it is what I want to do with the rest of my life." Dick raised his eyebrow at her remark. "You know the Yoru's, right?"
"Yes. They own many hotel chains around the world. What about them?"
"Yeah, well they took me in when I was orphaned," she explained. "They had certain expectations for what I was going to do with my life and my money. They wanted me to marry their son, Chris, when I was old enough and bring my inheritance into the family business. They didn't count on the fact that he has always been like a brother to me. So, they are basically bringing me to all of these parties to marry me off and get me out of their hair." She rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. "My goodness, some people! They are trying to get Chris off their backs, too, now that he told them he doesn't want to go into the family business like they wanted."
"So, your adoptive parents were really strict. I know exactly what that is like," Dick sighed.
"Perhaps," she evaded. Dick knew from that statement of hers, she didn't want to talk about it anymore. It was fine by him, too. Like Bruce had said, the best thing about her was that she didn't ask questions. So, he might as well return the favor.
Cutting through any more small talk, he cut right to the chase. "Um, so how about you coming over next weekend? We have a top notch piano. I don't quite remember the brand, but I can assure you it will be grand."
"Yes, because I just wanted to bring my own," she rolled her eyes again. "Okay, all kidding aside, next weekend won't work. I already have been dragged into some prearranged plans. Call it, involuntarily volunteered."
Dick arched a brow. "What do you mean?"
Tina sighed. "Well, next Saturday is my twenty-first birthday. So, my friends have decided to take me out."
"So, hitting the town?"
A secretive smile crept across her lips. "Perhaps."
"Hmm, I don't think I can make any definite plans after that. I don't know what my schedule will entail." I really hope Bruce won't make any more last minute social gatherings. . .
"So, I see you're a pretty busy boy."
He smiled this time. "Perhaps."
She picked up two glasses of a fizzy non-alcoholic drink from a nearby refreshment table. "Well then, to the non-absolutes." She clinked her glass with his and they toasted to that.
Dick wasn't completely sure what was behind those jade eyes, but he could tell there were many secrets. And if there was one thing he liked, it was unraveling mysteries.
—Fin—
A/N: Well, this is my first attempt at a Young Justice fanfic. I have plenty~ of Teen Titans fics, but I thought I would try this. This is mainly going to center around the 'Bat Clan', but there will be a few surprises thrown in ;)
Signed,
Her Sappiness