The hour was late, snow drifted down to only be melted away by the filth and steam of the streets below. Despite being Gotham, the streets seemed oddly quiet, so when the door to the church opened and finally creaked shut it gave the illusion of noise. The concrete of the orphanage steps had to have been icy at best, but that didn't stop the small ginger from sitting down upon them. The small boy had to have been freezing. His whole frame shivered, his breath making an erratic display before him. He was barely covered, or no more covered then he was when the sun shone brightly through winter clouds. His faded red jacket was held tightly against his upper body, worn down shoes and torn denim doing nothing to hold in any escaping warmth. His usual bandages were even scattered acrossed his face, for looks only of course. The only thing that seemed out of place was the small colorfully wrapped box that was being clutched to his small heaving chest.
A usual sound, a scoff or a tic of sorts, left the young sidekicks mouth at the sight below him. Leave it to Colin to skip out on patrol and freeze to death all in one night.
Robin didn't bother shooting off his grappling hook, deciding instead to simply slide down the fire escape of the adjacent building. Contrary to his ex-partners very loud beliefs one did not have to display extreme theatrics to accomplish ones goals.
It took him merely a few moments to scale down the metal, his feet making a muffled crunch when his boots hit the snow. He rounded the corner, surprised to see hazel eyes staring at the alley he occupied. Another tic left his mouth at the stupid smile that grew on the orphans dirty face. A small part of the newest boy wonder wanted to know exactly what was dirt and what the boy called his freckles, but that was quickly pushed to the back of his mind.
"Robin!" Colin's voice carried despite his whispered tone, and the small boy jumped to his feet. It bounced off the alley walls as the young sidekick made his way out of it's protective shadows. "I knew you would come!"
The black haired boy rolled his eyes behind his mask, sure his annoyance was obvious even without the show.
"Of course I'm here Wilkes, you skipped out on us tonight." Another smile, this time a nervousness mixed with something mischievous. Robin had to admit, it was almost…no.
"Sorry about that, I was kinda busy."
"Tt, busy with what Wilkes?"
This time the smile that crept acrossed the ginger's face was something sweet. A smile that made the young bird's heart pound. A smile that wasn't even comparable to Grayson's. A smile that made Robin grateful for the dim lighting of the alley.
The ginger reached back towards the steps, picking up the small colorful box. He held it protectively to his chest for a moment. One moment that wasn't even the beat of a hummingbirds wings.
"Here." The box was shoved at the young bird. The orphans hands shook, his cheeks flushed. His breathing changed tempo to become possibly even more erratic. He was cold. He was shivering because he was practically freezing, his cheeks flushed from the exertion his body was going through to keep his body temperature from plummeting. The hitched breathing…well, he was cold. A logical answer not worthy of any further explination.
Slowly the bird extended his hands, taking the foiled package, before raising his masked eyes to the other boy. His smile had grown in the few seconds it had took for him to take the box, his face darkened a hue.
"What is it?"
"It's a present."
"Why?" Apparently Robin had said something funny, because Colin laughed. A soft sound that grew in volume until it rang like bells through the boy wonder's very thoughts. His soul perhaps, if he believed in them.
"It's gunna be Christmas soon, and I know how busy you get now that your dad's back and all."
"Christmas isn't for another week Colin."
"Duh, that's why I said soon." The orphan crossed his arms acrossed his chest and cocked his hip out. "We never go anywhere together anymore so I was worried I wouldn't get to see you. I mean, I know with your old man back you wanna spend some time with him, and I totally get that, and I like Nightwing and Batgirl fine, it's just…well, I guess what I'm saying is I miss you D." The boy stopped his ramblings his hazel eyes dropping to the snow covered sidewalk. "I miss you a lot, probably a lot more then I should. But, you're my friend." Here he paused to look up at the boy acrossed from him. The bird who stood and stared. "We are friends…right?"
Colin…missed him. But why? It wasn't like they had been very close in the days that Abuse had joined the efforts to keep Gotham safe. Sure they had normally patrolled together when Grayson wore the cowl, and Colin had even convinced the other boy to go see a movie with him, but they had never been close. Had they? Was his relationship with Colin one of the numerous situations that Grayson had claimed he had missed out on? That he didn't understand.
It took a few moments to process the question after the long stream of words that had left the orphans mouth. Robin glanced at Colin, the slightly taller boy shifting with obvious nerves, then down at the foiled parcel in his hands. Without a word his green gloves carefully pulled tape free until the wrapping paper fell away unscathed to reveal a small box. The top flipped open easily enough. Inside was a knitted creature, a bear shaped creature. It's bottom half, arms, mouth, and ears were black along with matching circles around it's cobalt eyes. It had a white head and upper body with white feet. Four white knitted teeth stuck out of its mouth, jagged compared to the round shapes that made up its body. A dark eyebrow raised behind his mask as he pulled the bear creature out of the box before returning his gaze to Colin.
"It's a Vampric Panda."
"It's knitted."
"Oh…yea." The boy shifted again, tugging his jacket tighter around him. "About that. I'm not really good at knitting, but Sister Mary showed me and a few of the younger boys about a year ago. I know it's for girls and junk, but not a lot of the other boys really like hanging out with me so its something to do and I'm not terrible at it or anything. And I really wanted to get you a present but I didn't have enough money to buy you anything that was good enough, cause, well let's face it, you're rich. Sister Mary said that sometimes gifts that are made are better then the bought ones anyway cause you think about them and you put love in them." The boy turned a dark flushed red. "Not that I put love in it or anything cause I don't like, love you or anything, I like you and that's it.
The boy finally closed his mouth, no better gift had Robin received then this action. The ginger often had this brilliant ability to never know when to shut up, but sometimes it worked for him. Right now Robin wasn't sure if this was one of those times.
There was a long moment of silence between the two young heroes, filled only by the sound of fabric rumpling. Robin's cape softly dancing around his ankles from the frozen wind and Colin's jacket sleeve being tugged on merciless by its owner.
"If you don't like it D it's ok…" The voice that came from the ginger was heartbreaking. Defeated, destroyed, dejected. "You can throw it away or something if you want."
"Why would I do that?" The question hung in the air and a glimmer of hope came acrossed the young orphan. "It's not…appealing, I will say that, but you made it for me and it would be rude to just dispose of it like it was trash."
"So, you like it?"
"I wouldn't go that far Wilkes, but you must have worked hard on it. That, and it is a gift from a…tolerable acquaintance so I shall treasure it no matter how unwelcome the gesture was."
Despite the monotone of the response he received Colin's face lit up. The small ginger threw his arms around the slightly smaller bird and pulled him into a tight hug. An agitated sound escaped the boy wonder, a dark flush spreading to cover his entire face at the embarrassment of it all. His cheek was pressed against Colin's shoulder, has arms trapped on either side of him from the pressure of the embrace. A warmth spread through the sidekicks chest, his heart fluttering in a way that could only be described as uncomfortable.
"Wilkes, you have ten seconds to let go of me before I stab you in the fat." Colin laughed at his threat and let go of him. Immediately the heat in his chest waned, his heart slowed back to its usual beat, and his face cooled against the night air.
"Sorry D, I'm just glad to know you'll keep it."
"Tt, what kind of person do you think I am Wilkes? Now, be outside that juvenile shop you like so much tomorrow at noon."
"Jack's Candy Emporium? Why?"
"You made me something, it would be unacceptable of me to not return the gesture, but since I lack the time to return the favor properly, I will simply buy you something in exchange."
"You don't have to."
"I wouldn't be a very good friend if I didn't show some sort of gratitude."
Robin shot off his grappling hook, pulling on it when it locked on the adjacent roof top, and let the cord go taut to pull him from the snow. An overly theatrical action, but it was the fastest escape route accessible, and Robin needed to be somewhere else at that moment. For he could feel hazel eyes beating down on his frame. He could feel a contagious smile burning behind him.
The winters air didn't seem so cold anymore.
SO MUCH FLUFF TO BE HAD
This is my Christmas present to all of Fanfiction, yea it's like a week early, but I've got some other stuff I need to get done so I figured I'd get er done, and just write it out and post it now just in case I didn't have time. Like how I was gunna write a Thanksgiving fic but that apparently just didn't happen.
Well, I'm pretty happy with this, mostly cause it's probably going to be the only thing that's adorable and not filled with angst that I ever post here. Oh, and BTW, the Vampric Panda is real. It's from my Knitwit Knitting Guide for Beginners and Seasoned Knitters, and it's the most adorable thing I have ever seen. I don't really picture Colin being able to knit, but at the same time I'm not opposed to the idea of him doing it and this was just way to cute to pass up.
As always, read, review, and enjoy!~