HeyBabySoSad Haha, enjoy the next chapter! Small J Supey is really adorable, I love handling him in this sense. xD Though with the progression in the series, I'll have to tweak him a little in the story. Loko I think it's a bit too early to be mentioning sex. xD;; They do mention it sometime later in the story though. VampirePrinssess I don't think you want as much food as Wally, considering how much he eats. xD Oreo Pie does sound nice though. C: HinaLuvLuvChan That won't be for a while, honestly. There are some points and character development I'd like to get across in the story before it happens. :) LorelaitheHiden Brilliant? I've never gotten a comment like that, actually. xD So thank you! Liesurestars There'll be more of that to come. I just love hearing Dick wrestling in his head when it comes to Wally though. xD vudupins Hehe, me neither. This chapter was pretty fun to write; I like pointing out how much a manwhore Wally can be. xD; Zuzubear I do believe they're a trio though, isn't that right? Eh, who knows. I could just be hallucinating. xD;; CrimsonMoon14 Writing long chapters, to be honest, is incredibly fun. xD The only hard part for me as a writer is that it's incredibly impossible for me to write a oneshot. Can't get myself to condense a story idea for the life of me. Little-kiwi-boi That's really flattering! Thank you so much! C: Grim Lullaby Oh dear goodness, this review's a doozy. xD; It actually just says "science protégé," so I'm wondering how far his knowledge really extends. All I know is, I took Chemistry as a sophomore and proudly passed with a C. …that's a poor way to put it, but it's true. I've never broken anything, and I'm torn between wanting to and never at all because I'm one of those people whines a lot. xD Anatomy isn't one of my strong points (though there's a class for that), so I honestly wouldn't know. And Reeses are amazing. I found an awesome recipe for a Reeses cupcake and wanna make one. Sexy Robin Alert Haha, that's what this arc of the story's going to focus a lot on, sooo yeah. Kazu0 Whoops, that was a typo. Fix'd. :D autumn Really? xD; He's always been sort of a womanizer to me, but he's so charming that he can get away with it. theMagicBehindtheMask Actually the first time I read this you tempted me to read all the comic books and try to go against everything you disagreed with to see how far you'd stick into the story. I'd never do that (intentionally), but the thought was pretty darn interesting. xD r a a i n …I am so unbilingual that it's sad. xD Peace Thank you! Enjoy the next chapter! Charisma B I hope to write more of Roy in the future, honestly. It'll be fun. C': missjinx My apologies. Generally without the review wall I just reply via PM and since you don't have an account, I couldn't. So for those I put a note before the story and forgot all about it. xD;; And…I think I'm just known for putting quirks in writing. C': Giotto's bad driving, Kid Flash's eating habits and Robin's words. …Well, honestly I think they already have their own little quirks. xD Akuno Hikari I take it you read MMWWJE too? Haha, Wally's just far too amazing on his own. Chibi-Roy-Chan Fantasique! Enjoy this chapter! :D Just A Girl With A Keyboard Haha, thanks. So if you're a girl with a keyboard, where's the guy with the monitor? O: ChikaraDesu Updates are gonna be attempted once a week! :) .adagio I like your name, first of all. And then the Dick jokes are gonna be recurring, me thinks. xD xDrEaMeRx4Xeva Haha; enjoy this update! Magnie ClaneGood to know! Enjoy this chapter!
Civvies.
After living with Bruce Wayne for four years, the guy had become irrepressibly predictable.
True, he was a bit stricter and less of a playboy, drawing in and out of Batman to Brucie more and more as Dick got comfortable living in the Wayne Manor. Nothing new. His adopted father actually had a sweet tooth, sometimes eating a bit more than Dick himself—or worse—KF—but worked it off in hours at the gym and taking out baddies. Still, Dick insisted in his head and to Alfred that the Bat was predictable. He combed his hair the same way, pressed the suit tight against biceps only Superman could match, and had the same thing every morning. Dick learned quickly Batman said no to most things, but when there was a bit of pity, Bruce's soft spot allowed him to get away with some things.
Wally wasn't one of them.
Convinced that Dick sometimes knew the Bat's mind better than the night crawler did himself, he was sure there was at least an ounce in Bruce's conscience that would soon say, "When you're ready, you can tell him."
Right now, the plan was never to see Wally again, so long as he was Dick Grayson.
Unfortunately, seeing someone normally involved two parties: the Seeker and the Snitch.
Wednesday was by far one of Dick's satisfactory days, knowing that the weekend was only two days away and the excitement got better as he looked forward to seeing the team. They were predictable: wake up after only a talented hour of sleep, brush teeth, eat, show up all the idiots in his class at school, baked potato day, show up all the morons in gym, then leave.
"Hey." No Wallys involved. At least, that was the plan. Wally apparently was Harry Potter, who now had the snitch semi-trapped as Dick exited the school, Ronny (or, Veronica¸ he thought with a roll of the eyes) on the right and Dani on the other. What was it with girls and squealing?
Oh, and Wally totally had to be the snitch. The golden-yellow color could only do him so much justice.
"Hi," Ronny immediately said, giddy as ever as she extended an arm. "You might not remember me, but I'm—"
"Veronica." Wally flashed a smile but—what was this?
Dick, who had remained silent the entire time while watching Ronny and Dani squeal all over his best friend, who, by the way did not realize Robin was actually him, looked to Wally from head-to-toe, and noted that the redhead's blindingly yellow cast showed proudly in an awkward red sling. A backpack rested over Wally's other shoulder, making him slouch just a little, but what was more surprising was the way Wally greeted them. No longer was there that cheesy, flirty tone, but a certain calmness. There was a charm in Wally's voice, and he didn't have to force it out.
Plus, when were those animated green eyes that dark?
"Hey," Dick said back, remembering to force it up an octave or two and to pretend it hadn't solidified yet. Robin's voice was maybe half an octave lower. Dick Grayson's was having a never-ending battle with puberty.
Oddly enough, the look across Wally's face didn't change. He pulled out three sharpies, lips beaming into a smile that—that Dick had never seen, actually. Even as Robin, where Kid Flash was just being himself, Dick had never seen him look so calm but enthusiastic. "You wanna sign?"
"Sure!" Ronny and Dani bit back matching squirms, and they were all over the boy like muscles to a body builder.
"Here," Dick said hesitantly. Darn Alfred for raising him as a gentleman! He stood closer to Wally, carefully letting him take off the sling and thought, why not? His fingers fumbled with the straps of Wally's backpack when—"Oof!"
"You don't have to carry that," Wally said quickly, eyebrow arched. "That thing weighs a ton."
"I kinda figured that out when it landed on my foot, K—" Oh, no, no! Robin, get back to the little birdy's nest; that was a secret Bruce was gonna kill him for if he let it out so quickly. He did not just jump the aster for almost calling Wally Kid. Dick faked a wince, and it was amazing how despite Wally being the one with a handicap, the older teenager immediately descended to his knees to examine the pain. Really, Wally ran all the way from Central City with this on his back?
"Here, let me—"
"No, it's fine." Seriously? He was going to let a stupid book bag get the better of him? There was a better chance of him batarang-ing Princess Zelda in Twilight Princess! Though hacking the game would be fairly easy—no, no! Not the time, he was getting outdone by a bag!
"Thanks." Wally's voice snapped him out of his frustrated rapture, and he noticed the older teenager now had his slung return over his arm, smile on his face before bidding the girls goodbye. Of course they pouted, but with a giddy squeal they left.
Success! "Why'd you say goodbye to them?"
"Girls crack my style."
"Highly doubt that." Without missing a beat, Dick flashed a grin, a bit of Robin peaking through the cracks of his voice.
"It's 5:34," Wally said, changing the subject entirely as he led through the streets of Gotham without having any idea where to go. Dick would have known; a two year friendship with his best friend occasionally coming into Gotham with his mentor and still the stupid speedster had no clue how to get around. "What were you still doing at the school?"
"Stuff." Dick shrugged. Robotics Club. The less Wally knew about Dick, the easier it would be and less painful if one day, Wally and the gang really did know who he was. Forcing away the tempting idea to bite his lip in frustration, the younger teenager darted his eyes toward the ground. "I do a lot of stuff."
"No wonder." Wally flashed one of his cheeky grins (at least that looked familiar) and craned his neck. With the sling around his shoulder, it didn't look very comfortable. "Bruce Wayne's your dad and stuff, so he probably donates to your school a lot, huh? Looks ten times better than my school."
"I see." Plain and simple. Wally liked to chatter up his company, if only to be polite if he couldn't find anything to be spastic about. Watching said Blab try to play a conversation up with Superboy was highly entertaining since they were talking about a guy who strived for chatter and another who was born as a weapon.
"I've got a friend who goes to your school." No really, genius? "He's kind of OCD."
Him? OCD? Unable to help himself, Dick stood maybe three inches higher with a heavy 3-ton bag digging into his bum and arched an eyebrow, blue orbs flickering with mischief. "Is he a cool guy?"
Certainly that grin Dick knew well, watching as the excitable speedster straightened with an eager demeanor. "He's spectacular. Best friend I've ever had."
If that wasn't a compliment, then the former acrobat had no clue what was. Stunned, he felt his ears turn bright pink in sweet surprise as Wally bounced over cracks in the sidewalk and told stories Dick either was familiar with or knew by heart. "Isn't it lying a bit thick if you say he's the best friend you've ever had? You live all the way in Kansas."
"Eh, we have…regularly scheduled meetings." And so began the cryptic messages that a normal idiot would acknowledge then ignore. Dick supposed that if he was supposed to drive Wally away (um, ouch) then he could do it by freaking the guy out.
"Where?"
"Um. His house."
"Are we going to swing by there?"
"Er, not likely."
"If he goes to my school, then how come you're picking me up instead of him?" In freaking Wally out in the most accurate, detailed questions, Dick forgot that he was supposed to be facing the awkward stage of hormones and pubescence. His voice dived to its comfortable octave, Robin clearly leaking through as he feigned innocence and bit back a smirk as ornate green eyes tried to make sense of what was being asked. God, he loved being the adoptive son to a domineering bad-cop detective.
He didn't expect for Wally to fall quiet, the predominant weirded-out look across his face to switch into a twist of the speedster's lips, and for Wally to actually contemplate the question. "He's kind of…well, he's too flashy to be called shy. But he's really…secretive. Doesn't get to do much, with the Ba—er, with his…job."
"You don't seem too happy about it." Though, ever since their little meeting in the hospital yesterday Dick's mind had been pestering him about the way Wally acted. In the red sling (which Dick struggled to reach over and loosen for the dork), Wally's cast had been signed by all his classmates, along with four prominent other signatures: Kaldur, Megan, Supey, and Kid Flash. He rolled his eyes—Wally would be arrogant enough to sign his own name for the attention.
Even Roy signed his name.
Seeing that yesterday made Dick uncomfortable, both because his somewhat big brother figure popped in without even a hello and that Speedy was comfortable signing his name.
"It's not something you're particularly happy or sad about," Wally started again, apparently not noticing his internal struggle, "it's just kinda…there. Rob may be my best friend like, ever, so I do have a lot of respect for him."
Oh, he better. Dick suppressed the light blush tickling his ears and offered a lopsided smile, hands shoving into his pockets. "Is that the reason why Rob hasn't signed his name on your cast?"
He knew fairly well that it wasn't fair to any of his friends that he couldn't tell his name. Batman had trust issues with problems like that in the past, and not only was he compliant with his adoptive father, but the link was easy: once you figured out who Robin, the Boy Wonder was, figuring out the Wayne-man was the Caped Crusader wasn't hard.
"Like I said, pretty secretive."
"And it doesn't bother you one bit," Dick said with obvious deadpan. He arched an eyebrow, clearly confused while Wally flashed a nervous grin. When Wally couldn't think of a good lie, he scrunched his nose. He was scrunching his nose.
"Not anymore." Wally arched an eyebrow, proving to be ridiculously uncomfortable with being interrogation.
Only a few more questions, Dick thought victoriously, and Wally would never see Dick Grayson ever aga—
"Rob knows just about every single one of my secrets. I trust him with my life as he does his to me, and it used to hurt that he was…forbidden to trust me with some of the details in his life. Since we're good friends and stuff." What? "But you don't have to know everything about someone to understand they won't betray you."
For once in his life, Dick found himself at a loss for words when it came to the infinite Battle of Wits. "That must have been…I mean…"
He stared at his best friend who he'd known for two years—but had he really known him? Yesterday Robin found out for the first time Wally didn't live with his folks. Today, Dick just…was told something Wally hadn't old Robin. Would never tell.
"Anyway," said the speedster, unskillfully fleeting the subject with his head high in the air. "You wanna sign my cripple-cast or what?"
"You're not crippled," Dick mumbled automatically. He took the pen in hand, suddenly feeling a wave of thick guilt as he took a further analysis into their relationship.
Huh. Half the things so far—including that look Wally would give him—were things he'd never seen on Wally when Robin. Sure, Dick did his fair share of confessing—he hadn't even told Batman he was afraid of the dark for a month when being Robin. But really? To criticize his best friend, was Wally honestly this truthful when in civvies? Was that what he thought of Robin? Wally often couldn't be his first priority because, well, they were so many states apart for one, and his partnership with the Bat was incredibly important. However, they could go maybe two months not seeing each other, meet up, and act as if they'd just seen each other the day before.
Wally probably knew Dick inside and out. It was Robin that had to keep the secrets.
"You okay there?" Wally flashed a look of concern, the curvature returning to his Irish red eyebrow and a bit of a playful smirk spreading across his face. "I don't think you're going to hurt me if you sign, Grayson."
Stick to the plan, stick to the plan! Dick offered his own challenging smirk. "How'd you get this, anyway?"
"Accident with the Joker five days ago before I left to go back to Central City." That came out way too casual for Wally to make it up on the spot.
"Really?" Dick asked, exaggerating an eyebrow in the air. He stared at the cast, blue eyes gleaming with false hesitation. "Most people would be traumatized after a battle with the Joker."
"Eh. Have been through worse."
"Do tell." The younger uncapped the sharpie, eyes never leaving the horrid yellow cast, and he held the tip carefully to the surface. God, how many signatures did Kid have on here? There was barely any room left for another!
"Sign under the arm, next to Bob Hopper." Wally cracked an eager grin, twisting his hand upside down to the only visible blank spot.
"You mean 'Roy Harper'?" Dick arched an eyebrow, but it was true. Roy had the handwriting of a blind worm. Psh, apparently just because you live/mooch off a millionaire, they didn't automatically feel obligated to make you learn other things besides Martial Arts.
"Damn, I'm so used to having people mistake it that even I'm getting it wrong." Suddenly there was a short pause in the redhead's voice and he crinkled his nose. "Oh, uh. You don't mind if I cuss, do you? Since you're in middle school and al—"
"I've heard worse things," Dick said, biting back a grin. Just two weeks ago Wally accused Artemis of being a 'Fucking-Reese-Witherspoon-Only-Totally-Not-as-Fine-and-Sexy-and-Ironically-Stole-Your-Name-From-a-Bitchy-Not-Super-Hot-Goddess-That-Was-Probably-a-Damn-Lesbian.' Funny how at that moment his best friend could be his sassy, smartass self yet right now… Honestly, he'd never seen Wally act so polite—gentlemanly and charming. He wondered how long Wally could go without making a snarky comment.
Well. Not long. They'd just made fun of Roy's handwriting for the umpteenth time. That guy was pretty teenthy, if Robin had a say.
"And you're left-handed." Wally wiggled his eyebrows in the ridiculous way he did when trying to be funny or impress a girl. Lame. "So's Rob."
What? Oh, crap. "Ambidextrous."
"What a coincidence," said the redhead with no clear suspicion. A keen smile spread across Wally's face, along with his natural smug as he elbowed Dick so playfully in the arm. "So's he."
"Right. Cool." His voice squeaked maybe another octave, giving him the annoying reminder that getting close to Wally as Dick was by far the worst possible idea in the world.
"Your voice when it squeaks!" Wally cracked up laughing. Immediately Dick burst into a flurry of pink even though he knew himself it was completely fake. Flustered, he opened his mouth to speak before Wally humbly interrupted him. "It's…it's…! It's cute, hehe."
Whoa. There went his blushing ears. Taken aback, bright blue eyes narrowed to the green ones up front, brow arched, and he opened his mouth again to speak. Kid Flash never called him cute, and Wally would never dignify himself by touching words like, 'cute,' 'adorable,' or 'wuvly.'
"Oh," Wally sighed blissfully through heavy pants as he continued to laugh. He wiped a tear from his cheek, casually holding out his cast, and cracked a grin. "Pro-obably don't wanna be called cute, do you, Big Man? God, if Rob could see you now."
"You talk about Rob a lot," Dick said, pride a little wounded. This time, his voice did squeak by accident, cracking as he mentioned him…self.
"Sorry." Quickly the redhead's face turned guilty—that was weird—and he dipped his head with a kind grin on his face. "So, you wanna give me a tour of the place?"
"Do you wanna tell me what you're still doing in the city?" He gestured to the stupid Central City High School pin that got him into the trouble of Wally in the first place, feigning irritation. Wally needed to get off his back like, stat. "You still have school. I still have school. Oh, and it's Wednesday."
"Well, er…I was…"
"In the middle of the school week. Plus, shouldn't you be in the hospital or something? Bombing accidents with Joker don't normally end up with conscious people. Plus, where are you even staying? And, and, who's 'Supey'? Did you totally get a signature from Superman? Does that mean you were in Metropolis too, or was he the one who saved you from Joker? Wait, doesn't that mean—"
"My uncle's still talking to Bruce about something."
Dick looked up, matched with his best friend's own look of whelm and surprise at the barricade of questions. Bruce was talking to Barry about something again? What problems were the JL facing that forensics couldn't figure out? Seriously! Suddenly he noticed the guilt and worry that teemed in those stupid green eyes and held back the urge to slap Wally—then to slap himself for slapping Wally.
"You don't like me very much, do you?" Wally concluded, voice soft. Yes, say yes, say freaking yes!
"I'm a bit of a loner, yes." Dick nodded curtly, trying to keep his face together. However, the worse he tried being Dick without an ounce of Robin, the less he liked the outcome.
"Hm." Suddenly Kid Dork frowned, eyes narrowing, and Dick realized that he'd been straining his neck trying to look at the other boy at eye-level. Wally was still a good head taller than him. "I'll leave you be, then. Maybe go see if my uncle's done talking to the Wayne-man. Ooh, I should see if I can get an autograph, too."
"Autographs are cool."
"I'll see you then?" No, never again! Success!
"Right." To prove his "confession" that he detested an annoying speedster following him around like a lost puppy, he tilted his head to the side but found it very hard to keep a frown. One more look at the freckles on Wally's face and all he wanted to do was burst into snickers going, 'Gotcha! In your face!'
"Bye." Wally took a step back and—and he wasn't grinning, or trying to smile because of a bad-happening. No joke, he was just…faking a smile with the hurt obvious in his eyes. Dick had only seen this once; a year back when Kid was spazzing over some stupid date with a girl at his school, then broke up, leaving Kid in annoying, sobby bits and pieces. Apparently they played ukulele together. He grabbed the backpack from the younger teenager with grace, grunting only little when the weight pressed against his shoulder.
Suddenly twenty pounds lighter, a stunned Dick opened his mouth to speak and managed a weak, "Goodbye."
Um, wow.
Standing like an idiot in the middle of the park, Dick waited until Wally was out of view, probably using his super speed or drowning his sorrows in ice cream, burritos and pizza. His chest ached.
Even two years ago when KF and he first met, being away from the guy was kind of annoying. He remembered bugging Batman all the time on when was the next time they'd see the speedsters (who grumbled something about, 'Damn metas' and rolled his eyes when the fridge had been moderately raided) after just one meeting. Technically this was the second as "Dick Grayson" and "Wally West," but just like then, his chest felt empty.
Seriously? Wally totally had a personality attack just then talking to Dick Grayson. Wally depicted himself as a smartass, flirty babe magnet who loved his job as the Flash's sidekick—partner—and quite frankly was a bit of a manwhore. The Wally Dick'd just seen was a dork.
His cheerful, goofy self, obviously, but when did Wally manage to bite back a snarky comment or keep his patience?
"Then again," Dick announced to no one as he decided to rest on a bench, arms crossed. Having Wally act like that was a nice change. Was it the fact they were both in civvies, or was there an ulterior motive to Wally being sillier than normal? Huh. "Bah. Ice cream time!"
His comm.-link vibrated.
Dick blinded and shoved a hand down his pocket with quaint curiosity before putting it in his ear. "Robin. What's going down?"
"Dude, chill, it's just me." Wally.
It'd been only what—Dick checked his watch, eyebrow arched. Five minutes, tops. "Yes?"
"Flash is in town talking to Bat about something, and then swinging by Wayne Industries for some junk. Figure my best bud and I could hang out till then—what do you say?" I just hung out with you. That'd be what he'd say.
Dick wrinkled his nose, carefully looking around to see if anyone noticed him, then shrugged. "Sure, why not?"
"Where are you? I'll zip by—"
"Meet you in fifteen minutes," he said hurriedly. His shades were back at home, and despite being stupid Wally would get suspicious wondering why Dick and Robin were in the same clothes. "Er, twenty. I'm, uh. Playing Black Ops."
"Black Ops?" Cripes. You could hear Wally bouncing up and down from the other side of the comm.-link. "Dude, you have got to let me play! I so freaking dominate at that game—"
"No!" Think of a lie, think of a lie—"I'm—I'm making out with a girl!"
Silence. "Dude. You, with a girlfriend?"
"It could happen." Dick raised one eyebrow in the air. "Women find me attractive."
"Women find you cute, adorable, and wuvable, Mister Boy Wonder. Oh, don't stop me—you kids just have your fun."
"What's so fun about making out?" Disregarding his statement that women found him attractive (well, they did), he hadn't the slightest idea why testosterone made most guys so stupid and eager for sex. Sure, get kissed by a girl get weak in the knees. Get one on the lips and faint—so not a big deal.
On the other side, Wally burst out laughing just like when the speedster'd called him cute. This time, however, there was less tenderness in the way he spoke; nothing like Dick to Wally. "Oh my god, if I meet up with you and you seriously don't have a limp in your step, then you so don't know the proper way to makeout!"
"What do you mean, the proper way? Whatever!" Dick huffed into the comm.-set, arms folded childishly. "Robin, out. Meet me at Flo's Dining!"
He killed communications with Wally's laughing still fresh in his ears. With a different harrumph, Dick treaded home, keeping in mind to avoid any schoolmates during his tirade. One goodbye to a tepid butler, a pair of shades, and an annoying outfit change later, he—
"Alfred, did you make one of your totally awesome sundaes again?" Dick promptly ruffled his hair in the way only civvies-Robin could handle and stepped idly into the kitchen where the ice cream could be seen.
"Master Wallace seemed to like it last time." A curt smile graced the butler's face as he held the feather duster in one hand and a mop in the other. "Perhaps you should invite him over."
"How'd you know I gave it to Wally? Gah, never mind. Batman would kill me if he knew I was still conspiring with Wally." An exasperated sigh escaped his lips. Robin, decked out in his tinted glasses, North Place jacket, and sweatshirt, pouted, and carefully took hold. "Now I have to—"
"Unspire with him, Master Richard?"
"Oh, you know it. This isn't whelming. Not whelming at all."
Five minutes later found Robin parking the R-Cycle in a dark alleyway between Flo's Dining and the arcade. He looked around, glad the optics were only dark on the exterior of his shades, before showing up in the parking lot. "Oof!"
Then being yanked into the diner by someone who resembled an excitable puppy.
"Dude! Did you know they have ice cream in seventeen different flavors? And burgers —oh my god burgers!" Wally grabbed the first booth he saw, almost super humanly pushing Robin into the seat corresponding to his own. Freckles jumbling together, Wally waved the menu in Robin's face and flipped through, page-by-page. "Ow! Did you just kick me?'
"Slow down, Kid. You're gonna end up freaking out all of the customers and go hyper-speed on everything. Oh, and yeah." Robin cracked a grin and leaned back in his seat. "I totally just kicked you."
"Hmph." Wally smirked, still casually flipping through the menu. A soft groan escaped his throat and he rolled his eyes. "Ugh. You know what sucks about HA Healing? The meds. Instead of lasting four freaking hours, I probably have maybe a good two minutes before I get burning. Horrible. Pain."
"That's one way to keep you from overdosing." Really, hyper accelerated healing was probably the best gift ever invented for Wally considering the guy was more accident prone than a stupid girl driving and texting at the same time.
A sigh of relief threatened to escape his lips, along with something else he couldn't quite touch. Sure, having Kid as he was on the other side of the booth was nice, but clearly there was a lacking level of…intimacy. Camaraderie yes, but having Wally be goofy around him was kind of nice.
"So, any idea what you-know-who and the other you-know-who are up to?" Wally arched an eyebrow, frown spreading across his lips, and a groan of pain escaped his lips.
"You could take your meds again if they've seriously already worn off." Proving his point, Robin reached over the table and unzipped the front compartment. "And nah. Anything involving the JLA in any way the big guy just doesn't tell me. Sometimes gotta figure it out myself—then when that happens, apparently I say something cryptic that helps him solve the mystery."
"Can't. Iris and Barry still won't let me risk taking meds too early." Wally rolled his eyes, batting the capsules away. "And let me guess: after that, Batman takes all the credit for himself?"
"Like always. What's the point in being part of a dynamic duo if only one of you gets the credit?"
"Heroes are stupid. Sidekicks are where it's at."
They sighed dramatically, tossing their heads back as another groan of pain gurgled out of Wally. Just the right time since the waitress just came.
"How long do you think they'll be?" Dick snatched the menu from his best friend, eyes narrowed pointlessly through dark shades and handed them to the waitress. She stared at him, frowning, before flashing Wally a look of pity and batting her eyelashes.
"See you in a bit, beautiful." Wally popped a grin and did that wiggle-thing with his eyebrows. She giggled. Oh God, he was seriously flirting? "Ow! Will you stop kicking me under the table?"
"Answer my question first?" The bright side of Dick and Wally was that Robin didn't need to worry about KF's hormones checking out other girls. No in fact, Wally kept 100% of his attention on Dick. Too bad that wasn't the case. He felt his stomach turn in knots, but quickly pushed the thought away.
"Hmm, depends. Uncle Barry didn't look all too enthusiastic when Batman called him a couple hours ago." Wally shrugged and placed a hand on his jaw. Suddenly he froze and oddly enough his entire demeanor changed. Robin caught his breath, fingers tightening around condiments as he felt his chest pumping again. This wasn't a normal Robin look—this was a Dick look. "Kinda begged him to go see this kid I met, actually."
Robin decided to take out a napkin and draw ketchup tic-tac-toe. "Oh. Really?"
Wait, begged? At that moment a large squirt of ketchup exploded from the tip and landed across the entire table. Wally snorted, grin on his face as people around them looked with hawk eyes, then grabbed a napkin. "Nice going, Boy Wonder. Wait until I tell the Batman that you were at the hands of a vegetable."
"For your information, tomatoes are fruit. And what do you mean begged?" Oh damn, his voice just cracked again. Robin arched an eyebrow—begging, hilariously enough, was not beneath Kid Moron, but normally he would have to be pretty desperate if it was seriously that important.
"The kid I met—remember, Dick Grayson?" An overdramatic sigh fell from Wally's lips, and he leaned back, met with the wall before wiggling his eyebrows to the same waitress. She giggled and he rolled his eyes. "Barry grounded me for sneaking out yesterday after dinner dressed as KF. Basically I'm not allowed to go anywhere unless he approves."
"What about partnership? The Hideout?"
"He'll be meeting us there for the next mission or something, apparently." Wally rolled his eyes and pouted. Suddenly his demeanor changed, downcast, and looked to the smeared ketchup. "So after he finally said yes—ooh, and told me to keep you busy or something—I went around looking for Dick. You're in school with him, right?"
"Can't say I know him personally." Robin's voice dropped, hair tickling the back of his neck. Then again he couldn't say he wasn't familiar with Dick Grayson either.
"God, he's awesome. I mean I normally don't like hanging out with younger kids—other then you, and sometimes you aren't even that bearable—but it was easy to talk to him." Wally picked at his hair, and another Dick-look fell across his features. No way. Wally was being serious.
Heat fluttered in the younger teenager's cheeks, and he hadn't the slightest idea what to say.
"I mean, come on. You know what I mean, right?" Wally arched an eyebrow, somber easily twinkling in his eyes, and leaned forward. "Beating up baddies and all—hanging out with the other guys, then going to school? Either you're the superhero or the kid—you're always trying to keep a secret or two up in your arsenal, and it's damn annoying. Dick was different."
"He didn't realize you were a big idiot right off the bat?" Robin cracked a nervous grin hoping his best friend would remain oblivious.
"Pshh, he probably did. Wouldn't doubt it. You ever find him, don't tell him I thought it was cute how he tried to carry my backpack." Wally grinned. "The thing's like three times his size."
"Not three times his size," Robin chimed automatically. Then again he bit back a groan, soreness pressing against his back for so much pressure. Sure, throwing around his own bodyweight was what an acrobat did for a living. Own weight plus whatever the hell was in Wally's backpack? Not so much.
"Yeah? Well, the more I tried being his friend, the less he seemed to like me. Or he did like me, and was keeping it to himself. Sort of like how Bats still won't let us know who you are, Rob." Wally nodded his head to prove a point. How ironic. "Soo, we parted ways today and I never have to make a big idiot out of myself ever again."
"That's a good thing, right?" Robin grabbed the mustard and began making a smiley face. Ooh, with bat wings!
"Not…really." SPLURRT. "Dude—it didn't work the first time you tried making tic-tac-toe! Seriously, give it up; by the time we're done eating here I'm going to be seeing orange."
"They're defective!" Robin insisted. He frowned crookedly, cheeks flaring. Of all the condiments that the diner had, they had to be stuck with the ones that were attuned to his freaking emotions. "So why isn't it a good thing?"
Why couldn't Wally be upcast? That would have made his life so much easier. "Because talking to him for those few minutes was nice. It made me feel like Wally, and made me forget about having secrets, and we just clicked. I…I loved it. You know, not holding secrets. I could seriously be myself and actually forgot I was Kid Flash, trying to hide things about Wally, or Wally trying to hide things about Kid Flash."
The bottle fell between Robin's hands. With surprise he looked back to the redhead and found Wally with an earnest face. There was truth in what Wally had said. Robin and Kid Flash were pretty much on two opposite ends of the spectrum. He, of course, got the guy who swore vengeance over those that mugged his family and followed in suit. Wally? According to thirteen-year-old Kid Flash to eleven-year-old Robin, KF woke up every day in a dream. They had polar opposite motives for their line of duty.
Ugh.
"Why don't you try to talk to him again?" Batman was going to kill him.
Predictably Wally cocked his head just as the food arrived and blinked in surprise. It was enough under his best friend's scrutiny to squirm (something Robin did not do) but the younger teen pretended not to notice. "Got any advice for me to be his friend?"
"Dick has personal issues over things." He looked up, unfortunate Wally's upcast caused his own downcast, and stared the redhead in the face. Green orbs suddenly sparkled—another freaking Dick look—and Robin felt his stomach churn. Sure, lying to some kid in his class about what he'd done last night? No big deal. Staring his best friend in the face when said friend thought he was talking to someone else? Not so much. "And um. You didn't make fun of his voice, did you?"
To that Wally cracked a sheepish, guilty grin. "Er. It was cute."
"Ye-eah, don't call him cute." It made him flustered. "He's kinda shy. And has trust issues. How'd you meet him, anyway?"
In an instant the look contorted over Wally's face, returning to his usual arrogance as he leaned back with a smug smile. "I totally saved him from a bully."
Only because Dick wasn't allowed to jujitsu their butts into the next century. "Guys like Dick aren't easily impressed. Getting on his good side is pretty easy. Getting on his I'll-Trust-You-with-My-Life side is a little challenging."
Not everyone had a giant bat as their legal guardian.
"And you think this will get him to, you know, like me?"
"I swear, if you start vibrating through the chair, the mustard and ketchup combo is not what we'll have to worry about once that Shelly-girl comes back." Dick jabbed his finger accusingly and sighed in relief when Shelly, the waitress, finally came back with their order.
"Here's your order, babe." She looked at the mess splattered across the table, shooting Robin the most accusatory glare he'd ever seen before smiling angelically to Wally and an annoying, high-pitched giggle just like Ronny and Dani. "Does your brother need a kiddie menu?"
She so did not just go there. Robin rolled his eyes while Wally's attention flipped from Dick to the food. "What brother, beautiful? He's my date."
Which was where Robin almost cracked up laughing. Wally and he, on a date? He looked to his best friend whose half-hearted response earned a sputtering waitress. Green eyes were apparently absorbed in the desert coupons offered. It was only a matter of time before he found—
"Dude! Holy crap, they make banana split brownie pizza!" Wally licked his lips and lowered his voice. "You wanna share? You can lick the wax paper!~ Okay maybe not. I might wanna lick all the crème off."
"What makes you think there's going to be any crème left?"
"It either all goes in my mouth or all over my face. Or your face. Either way I'll roll over happy tonight."
Shelly the Waitress still stood there with red rushing to her face in definitive humiliation. Yup, Robin thought with a smirk. Wally and he were both pretty upcast now. "I just…you…"
"What, beautiful?" Finally the redhead turned her way, grin spread across his face. "So, can you order me that banana split brownie pizza? Extra whipped crème and extra strawberries?"
"And bananas." If this really was how Wally acted on a date, Robin pitied any girl willing to put up with him. "He really likes bananas."
Instead of shrieking and throwing a fit like both boys expected, Shelly's lip curled into a visible pout. Her eyes watered, fists shaking before she sped out the restaurant into the back room. Once gone they erupted into laughter despite all the odd looks they were getting.
"What is up with you, man?" Robin grinned and blissfully sighed, hand on his stomach. "Normally you jump any girl you can get."
"Call it a…change of heart." Wally arched a playful eyebrow and smirked. "Don't get me wrong, dude—normally I'd tease you into the next century, but you managed to cheer me up a bit."
"You've been smiling the whole time."
"Yeah? Well, my kind of 'cheered up' is different from most people's. C'mon, me without my dashing grin?" The speedster puffed his chest out to prove his point, then groaned in pain with an adherent jerk to his broken arm. "Most things don't make me miserable. Bu-ut,I was pretty bummed about Dick before you cheered me up."
"I'll reiterate my point then." Robin cocked an eyebrow before taking pity on the poor waitress, grabbing a napkin to wipe away crusty mustard and ketchup. "Wouldn't that make you want to date a girl?"
He picked up the small container filled with sugar and scooted it toward the middle.
"Surprisingly enough," Wally said as his face twisted with wide eyes, "I think I have my sights set on someone. And it's not Megan."
"Artemis?"
"'Missy? Omigod, you ever mention her on this 'date' again and we're not gonna have another."
"Well then, who?" Robin rolled his eyes. Apparently even after a few weeks together, Kid Horny and the Fucking-Reese-Witherspoon-Only-Totally-Not-as-Fine-and-Sexy-and-Ironically-Stole-Your-Name-From-a-Bitchy-Not-Super-Hot-Goddess-That-Was-Probably-a-Damn-Lesbian still had problems getting along.
"Well, he's a little too young and that kinda freaks me out and—"
"Slow down mean anything to you?"
"Dick."
Um. Robin blinked, eyes following his best friend's blush as it went from his toes to the ridiculously wind-swept hair Wally had no idea how to control. "Excuse me?"
"I…like Dick Grayson, I think." Hurriedly Wally added, "But since he's so young and everything, it's not like I'm going to cross the line. And I need to get to know him. I mean, I'll make it as platonic as possible, and if he doesn't want a relationship, I'll just—omigod, again?"
Needless to say Robin accidently knocked over the sugar.
xxxxx
Two more days with the guy and Wally still couldn't figure out Dick Grayson's sexuality.
Actually it was like Dick's personality had foregone a bit of a change the second time Wally casually strolled into Gotham. He tried best not to look desperate, even formulating a plan if the guy demanded what he was doing there. Rob was in Gotham, so that would have been a good excuse. However he didn't expect for Dick to stumble upon him, looking like the epitome of nervousness, and apologize for his rude behavior.
"I'm," Dick explained with a perfect blush that almost looked rehearsed, "not very good with words."
Speechless, Wally didn't almost hear himself say, "E-Er, no sweat, dude. I'm also a little forward."
Funny. There was that glint again in Dick's vibrant blue eyes, but he continued with a hand extended in the air and a darker blush. "Friends?"
"Friends." Secretly Wally was jumping for joy.
And like promised, the speedster was taking it slow. The more he found out about Grayson (he played Black Ops! Wally was in love!), the more he had to keep from jumping up and down because of that damn hyper accelerated everything. Just what good did it do, anyway? So far the two days were filled with talking, smoothies, iced mochas, sundaes at Flo's Dining, and anything else. The perfect part? Any time Wally had to poof for KF duties, Dick didn't question a thing! So when the kid would had to excuse himself Friday afternoon for stuff with Bruce Wayne, Wally was absolutely accepting and decided not to ask.
'Sides, they could hang out later.
"Hey Beautiful," Wally sighed happily as he collapsed on the couch of Mount Justice, dreamy look on his face. A silly grin rested comfortably against his lips and he ignored the odd looks shared by both Supey and Aqualad as they continued their pool match.
"Wally!" Without another word M'gann squealed and tackled him with a hug before gasping. "Is your arm alright? I didn't do anything to it, did I?"
"It's fine." The speedster hummed with warm delight, which immediately earned a look of surprise. "What? Something in my teeth? C'mon guys, is there really a point me flossing when I'm gonna have a nice greasy burger right after that?"
"Well, not that, but I guess that's true." M'gann nodded in agreement and sat cheerfully on the couch. "How was Earth school? Do you actually get to learn about Earth? Those are a lot of signatures—do you really know that many people?"
"Of course I do," Kid insisted. He flashed a lopsided grin, looking over to Supey, who of course only smiled and the leader that was sternly inspecting him from head-to-toe. "To answer your questions, Kaldur, Flash actually agrees with you. So I'm wearing the sling and guarding any body that we find. Which means that I can't be a human cannonball. Maybe pilot the ship."
"I doubt M'gann would trust you of all people to pilot the ship."
Silence.
"Supey, did you just crack your first joke? Kaldur, get a camera, get a camera!" Wally cracked up easily laughing his head off, hands against his stomach while the rest of their little group rolled their eyes.
"It was kind of cute." M'gann smiled shyly, hovering above couch cushions to join both Kaldur and Superboy near the pool table. "But you are right. I don't think it's a good idea to trust Wally with the Bio-Ship."
Wally stopped laughing and jabbed a thumb to his chest. "Hello? Super speed? Of course I wouldn't need a Bio-Ship! Though, Beautiful, you and me could fly any day."
"A-And he's back." M'gann returned the compliment with a sheepish smile and looked back to Kaldur and Superboy.
"I really wanted the data on the limits of your power," Their leader said gently. He set the cue stick to his right, flashing a curt look of concern followed by a visible frown. "Suppose Batman came by with a mission. While I do not doubt your skills, Kid, aren't you worried that your arm may become a hindrance?"
"Ever see the episode of Tom and Jerry where Jerry rams his cast over Tom's head?" Wally lifted his arm into the air. "No worries. I've got a mean left hook."
"So," Superboy interrupted, brooding blue eyes narrowing calmly to the green ones nearly four feet away from him. "How's your dick?"
To that Wally nearly fell out of the chair while Kaldur's eyes grew so wide that he nearly broke the cue in half. M'gann looked around, oblivious to the male reaction, and thoughtfully put a finger to her noggin. "What's a…dick?"
"Supey! Stop calling him my dick!" Wally regained rationality, struggling to keep laughter down as Kaldur's face grew bright red and M'gann continued to look through all of them with confusion. "Er, I mean. Technically he's a dick, but the Richard-Dick, not the—bah, just stop calling him a dick!"
Supes lowered his gaze but the apparent fascination was still there. M'gann was relentless. "Is Richard a 'dick'?"
"It is best if you never say that word ever again, M'gann." Immediately Kaldur's eyes narrowed threateningly between the other two boys. Superboy shrugged, Kid Flash bit back snickers.
"Is it as bad as entering other people's minds—?"
"It's bad enough that your adorable innocence shall not be tainted by the likes of my…that word." Wally jumped from the seat, sped to the trio and put a reassuring hand to M'gann's shoulder. "Trust me, Gorgeous."
"So…" M'gann's eyebrows furrowed.
"When we are sure you are ready for that talk, we will give it to you." Kaldur cleared his throat and occupied the other shoulder. He flashed an expectant look to Superboy then to Wally.
"'Till then Supey and I will do as that stupid song says and zip our padlocks." Kid patted M'gann's back with much reassurance.
At the mention of the artist, a large grin spread across her face and she floated two feet in the air. "You mean the one by Kes—"
"Padlocks don't have zippers, moron."
"Robbie!" Kid zoomed across the room and met the younger teenager followed by both their mentors. "Boy Wonder—long time no see." Before the rest could get a word in, Wally found himself quickly sidestepped by a grouchy Batman. Ooh, that look was a little too much for the KF to handle.
As Robin managed to give him a high-five, all fun was ruined when Flash plucked him from the rest with a cheerful smile. "We have a mission for you."
xxxxxx
Author's Note:
So, the Kesha reference? The funny thing is, I've got a friend who is actually soft-spoken, super sweet, and absolutely bubbly, but when Kesha's mentioned, she bounces up and down going in her quiet voice, "I love Kesha!" It's funny and really cute. I'm actually a bit annoyed that I've confined them to Mount Justice or school, so I'm glad to be moving them around. Also, one of my reviewers mentioned that although parallel-universes would be interesting, some other readers may not understand what the heck I'm talking about. First off—I wanna keep the personalities vitally from the show for certain reasons. Second—I just really wanna see 13YearOld!Dick meet Damian. Aha.
And third—the review wall? I'm actually pretty used to doing that with another story, and it lets me keep track of anonymous reviews + the people who have PMing disabled (depressing when you can't say thank you for a review. D:) Give it a try the next couple chapters; and if you guys don't like it, I'll just take it down. For the record though: this way you get to hear some of the notes I make and plan whenever writing. :) Last but not least: is there like, any Robinesque Jesse McCartney song out there? xD;;