Rating: T
Characters: Richard Grayson, Zatanna Zatara
Prompt: "Then she's on her back on the blanket with him tugging her zipper down little by little and letting his hands roam the contours of her body. And she's starting to think that boys on motorcycles aren't so bad after all."
Her father told her to never trust boys on motorcycles. Motorcycles are dangerous, hence the boys that ride them are dangerous. It all made sense in her head when she was a little girl. But somehow, she's not so sure of it anymore. Well yeah, being a total Daddy's girl she's going to trust him and everything he says. Okay, not so much trust what he says rather than believe it.
Because she's known Dick Grayson for almost a year now. They have almost all of the same classes together except for a few different electives. But other than that, they're basically glued to each other's side. Ever since Mr. Allen assigned them to the same chemistry project, they've been inseparable. Which isn't really hard to believe when you think about it. They both like the same bands, writers, artists. It's kind of crazy how much they are alike. But that just means they're the perfect pair.
See, Zatanna's father moved to Gotham for work a few years ago. So she changed from a catholic school in New York City to Gotham Academy. Which is a pretty extreme change. And she never even noticed Dick (or maybe he hadn't noticed her) until they'd been in Gotham a whole year. Crazy, right?
Anyway, it's pretty obvious that they're made for each other like perfect fitting puzzle pieces, like it's insane. But they're not the only ones who think so. Wally West, a boy in Zatanna's biology one class, thinks so. He'll do weird Dick Grayson impressions and Zatanna will just laugh at him and roll her eyes. It's a good relationship. Not only him, but Artemis Crock, a girl on Dick's gymnastics team, notices it too. And okay, it's not just two people, others see it too, but there's just too many to name.
Everyone knows who Dick Grayson is. (It's really kind of hard not to.) Being the ward of the billionaire Bruce Wayne kind of means that the world knows you. And yeah, he has that Hollywood golden boy look, but it's not an act. A lot of people think it is for the paparazzi but honestly, that's just him. He could be a total diva for the paparazzi but he's just not like that. That's probably one of Zatanna's favorite things.
And they've been dating for almost six months now, so she knows a lot of things about him. They basically spend every minute together, which her father could stand to be more enthusiastic about. He doesn't hate Dick, not in the least. He's just not too thrilled that his daughter is growing up and dating. Like, that only happened in the movies right? Wrong.
And Zatanna knows this. She knows that it hurts him to watch her grow up. Especially when she's his only daughter. Her mom died a year after she was born. Cancer. Her dad was torn up about it. And he never remarried. So seeing Zatanna, seeing that last sliver of remembrance he has of his wife, grow up, god, it can't be easy. So she tries to help with the pain little by little, like sometimes she won't go over Dick's house when he invites her. And he knows she wants to spend time with her dad anyhow, so it's not like she's blowing him off. He's understanding. That's another thing she loves about him.
Anyway, her father told her never to trust a boy on a motorcycle. So on her and Dick's six month anniversary, he takes her out. He's very punctual about his timing, so right on the dot, he shows up at her door at seven. And she kisses her Dad's cheek and runs out the door in her heels and red semi-tight mid-thigh length dress, and the older man is starting to regret letting her buy a dress that short.
Dick takes her out to dinner at a fancy new restaurant uptown. And she doesn't feel awkward like she used to. She knows that Bruce has a lot of money (meaning Dick does also; he's a trust-fund baby) and isn't so uncomfortable letting him spend it on her. As long as it's in the limits of what she can afford to repay. Like she's not going to let him buy her a new car for her seventeenth birthday next month (even though she knows he's been looking at one for her) because she can't afford a gift to give him that's as nice. Even though he'd settle for a kiss on the cheek in return.
During dinner they chew over the play in production at school, some chemistry work, oh and the idea of setting Wally and Artemis together. Truthfully, Zatanna doesn't see it, but Dick's close to persuading her that it could work. Artemis needs to be lightened up a bit and Wally needs to be a little bit more serious. Perfect match!
"Leave it to you to play Yenta," Zatanna laughs quietly before taking another sip of her champagne. Obviously, she's only seventeen so drinking isn't allowed. But champagne doesn't count. At least not in her book.
"What can I say?" He says charmingly, taking the small leather pamphlet that the waiter left on the table with the check. "I'm good at matchmaking."
Zatanna sees him swipe the check away from her and she immediately holds her hand out. And it's not demanding, or even pleading. It's more like, I can pay, so let me. But he just shakes his head and slides the credit card into the appropriate slot and hands it back to the waiter with his signature Grayson grin.
"Dick, you didn't have to do that," Zatanna sighs, shaking her head playfully at him with a smile on her lips faintly. God, she loves him, but really they could've gone dutch and paid for what they ordered themselves.
Dick shakes his head and smiles. "Zee, this is our six month anniversary. Let me treat you like the princess you are," he says charmingly, taking her right hand and kissing it all fairy-tale like. And it makes her heart beat in her chest louder than she thought possible but somehow, she doesn't mind. The heat rises in her cheeks and she tries to hide it by looking out the window, but of course it doesn't work. And Dick just smiles at her. Because she's beautiful, and it's kind of cute how she doesn't see it. Which gives him every opportunity to show her just how magnificent she really is.
After he pays, she latches onto his arm and walks out with him. It's the end of April so it's warm enough for her to not need a coat. She loves wearing dresses and skirts and just dressing up in general, so it's safe to say that summer and spring are her favorite times of the year. Dick gets his car back from the valet and opens the door for his date on the passenger's side.
"My my, what a gentleman," Zatanna teases, kissing his cheek before sliding into the seat with ease. And they're taking Dick's car rather than Bruce's Lamborgini. It's not that Bruce won't let them-he'd be more than happy to let them borrow it for a little-but Dick likes to be independent. Plus, it'd be obvious that it was a Wayne family member and the paparazzi wouldn't leave them alone all night.
"It's part of my charm," He shrugs, giving her that smile and turning the car on after getting in. He drives for a few blocks and totally just skips the theater which makes Zatanna do a double take. They were going out for dinner and a show, weren't they?
She sort of raises an eyebrow at him. "The theater is that way, Boy Genius." His eyes stay on the road in front of them.
After a little while, they end up at a parking garage at the edge of town. "Okay, Dick, you know I don't like surprises," she says kind of quietly. He knows that. She likes to know what's going on. Surprises just aren't her thing.
"Don't worry," he murmurs, glancing at her and smiling after parking the car. "It's a good surprise."
So she sighs softly and sinks into her seat a little more. "What are we doing here?" She asks, because really it's dark and it's giving her the creeps.
"C'mon," he chuckles, getting out and opening her door for her. He leads her to a spot near the back of the parking space and her breath kind of hitches in her throat. Her father told her to never trust boys with motorcycles. Dick smiles and hands her a helmet that's red. It matches her dress. "The terrain is too rough for the car. This will work better."
She kind of bites her lip and hesitates to put on the helmet. And Dick can see that she's reluctant to join him so he hold his hand out to her. He looks at her with soft eyes. Not demanding eyes, because she knows that he won't make her get on the bike if she doesn't want to. More like hopeful eyes that she will. "Do you trust me?"
And she doesn't even hesitate to say yes because there's no need to think it over. She trusts him with her life. So she takes his hand and his smile grows wider as she puts on the helmet and is holding onto him tightly as he speeds off onto the road.
She doesn't like surprises. Or at least she thinks she doesn't, until they're pulling up on this hill. And she kind of perks up a little, curiosity painted on her features, and looks around through the window. It's a far distance, but there are small blurs of lights on the ground. They kind of make a path.
"W-What," she laughs a little as he's taking off his helmet and she's taking off hers. "What's this?" She looks up at him and is almost paralyzed by the fairy-tale-ness of it all.
"Happy Anniversary," he murmurs, kissing her forward. It's dark out already but the moon is huge tonight so it acts as their light. It's all so picturesque and beautiful that Zatanna almost thinks she's in a dream. He takes her hand and leads her out to the lights. Candles border the path that is showered with rose petals. She almost doesn't want to step on them, it's too beautiful to damage. But she forgets all of that when they get to the end of the walkway.
It's a blanket under this tree that kind of hangs out, making a canopy over it. Candles surround that as well. There's a pile of folded blankets next to it and some comfy pillows around it too. Not only that, but there's a small picnic basket off to the side. Her breath hitches in her throat because it's just so beautiful that she's stunned, totally and completely stunned. "Dick..." She begins to say quietly, turning around to face him.
"Happy Anniversary," He murmurs, smiling down at her.
And she's just so happy that she can't help what she does next. She smiles brighter than he's ever seen and wraps her arms around his neck, pulling herself as close as physically possible to him. And she stands on her tiptoes (he went through a major growth spurt last year and is at least three inches taller than her) and slants her lips over his, kissing him passionately. And he wraps his arms around her waist, literally picking her up off the ground a little. After he pulls away and breaks the kiss, she smiles at him with tears almost rimming her eyes. "I love you."
"I love you," he responds quietly.
Then she's on her back on the blanket with him tugging her zipper down little by little and letting his hands roam the contours of her body. And she's starting to think that boys on motorcycles aren't so bad after all.