"…and he was really sweet, ya know? It's nice to know not all big shots like that are jerks. Gives me faith for Gotham again."
"And what do I do then? Run around in spandex for fun?"
"I hope those aren't spandex! One, that would be very weird, and two, I've seen the bullets shoot your way! But that's not the point, you're breaking the law to give people hope. People shouldn't need to break laws to find good; I'm just happy that's not really the case for all of Gotham."
Robin tilted his head to the side by half an inch, which Barbara had quickly picked up meant he was keying into some signal Batman was putting off. The Dark Knight and the Commissioner stood to the side of the spotlight, discussion the latest crime that had to be dealt with, while the Commissioner's daughter and the world's first underage hero talked amiably about school across the roof.
"So how was your school then? Did you survive eight hours as your normal boring self?" She teased him lightly.
He grinned. "I met someone too. They seemed to actually like my normal boring self." He responded evenly.
Her smile softened from its joking manner. "That's all you can ask for in someone, I guess." She shrugged, and he chuckled softly as they fell into an easy silence. They listen to Jim Gordon's urgent tone and Batman's soft growl like background chatter for a moment.
"I'm sorry I can't tell you everything, Babs." Robin said suddenly, giving her a funny look. "You are someone who'd like me for my boring traits too, I hope. God knows I sure like you for yours." He said honestly, finishing it up with a flashing, coy smile.
Her mind reeled at that statement for a moment. It was the first time he'd ever apologized for being a hero, for not telling her who he was. So many firsts in such a short time, it made her head spin.
But her head was spinning for another reason as well.
He liked her for her boring traits.
Didn't she just say that was all you could ask for in someone?
"Don't apologize." She finally decided. "One of these days I'm going to have a mask of my own, and I sure as hell am not going to apologize for keeping things close to the chest." She shrugged.
He seemed surprised by that, and smiled a bit. "You forget that unless you're trained by him," He thrust his thumb over his shoulder to point at his mentor. "You're not going to be able to slip much past me, you know that right?"
"I'm working on that." Barbara tried to say it cryptically, but by his raised eyebrow she knew she hadn't fooled him one bit. She shrugged it off and switched tactics. "You know, I like this guy I met because he reminds me a lot of you." She admitted, and it worked: he looked momentarily thrown and alarmed. Sufficiently distracted in her opinion.
"What!? How?" He said, looking baffled and slightly suspicious.
She shrugged noncommittally, getting a kick at how uncomfortable he looked at this. It wasn't often she could turn the tables like this. "I don't know… just in the way he smiled. I know I've never seen your eyes, but I'm fairly certain you have the same eyes too. You both give the impression of being able to pull off a killer puppy dog look."
While he held almost too still for a brief second, he quickly shook it off and grinned manically at her.
"Puppy dog look…? I have no idea what you mean, I'm sure." He sniffed in feigned arrogance, and she laughed.
"Yeah, right! Don't think for a second you're fooling anyone here! Don't think I don't know that how you get Batman to do anything your way." She scolded him lightly.
"Shhh!" He mockingly hushed her. "This is trade secrets here!" He stage whispered.
She leaned in, mock whispering back, "Don't think those baby blues of yours will work on me bird boy!"
"Never said I had blue eyes," He shot right back, a big grin on his face.
She sniffed imperiously. "Then prove me wrong, I dare you."
He opened his mouth to respond with the ever-present witty comeback, but instead his head tilted a little bit again.
"Chicken." She said quickly, before he even had a chance to say he had to go.
He gave her a stern look, but she could practically feel the amused mirth coming off of him. "This isn't over Gordon." He said in mock seriousness.
"Whatever you say, officer bird brains." She responded in equally mock seriousness.
They shared a brief look in which neither broke their "stern" looks, until he whipped around and jumped off the roof, his cackling laughter echoing back through the darkness.
