Good Luck Charms is an original soulmate prompt I wrote in June 2016.
GOOD LUCK CHARMS
(Wally West x Dick Grayson)
If you asked Richard Grayson why he thought the tattoos on the palm of his right hand were good luck charms, he wouldn't be able to explain why.
He'd look at them, tilting his head with a lock of black hair falling over his face as he did the process. He thought the more intensely he stared at them, the better luck he'd get. Of course, with the dim lighting of the circus changing rooms, it made them hard to see. Not to mention having to block out the muffled, blasting music from the arena outside to focus on them better.
He always performed best when he looked at his tattoos, he figured. They brought him the best luck he could possibly get out in the ring. In a way, they seemed to protect him. Of course, reflecting back on this, Richard Grayson knew this was simply a pseudo-effect, but the thought of him being a child and getting joy out of his innocence made the older Grayson smile just a bit more.
It was a few weeks after Dick's eighth birthday when he was looking at his tattoos once again behind the circus curtains, trying to achieve the best of luck he could get. The shape of his tattoos were of that of a bird and a lightning bolt, and both were black. He liked to think the tattoos represented him, that they were destiny, as out in the ring he flew- he was apart of The Flying Graysons, after all- and the lightning bolt represented how quick and precise he did his tricks.
Of course, time eventually came to get out into the ring. He joined his parents, and the audience applauded at their entrance. They began the show, doing their regular opening tricks with the other circus members before finally doing what they were knowing for- flying. As Dick went to help grab his parents who were swinging to the other side of the tent, the cable they were hanging from snapped.
He heard his mother yell his name as they fell to their death.
From that day on, Dick called himself an idiot. What an idiot he was to believe his tattoos were special. What an idiot he was to think they brought good luck. They were meaningless, stupid shapes on his hand, and had nothing spiritual or magical about them.
Bruce Wayne took the young boy into his arms. He trained him, and gave him the support his parents left behind with their lives. Dick knew he'd never see Bruce as his dad- more like a mentor, really- but regardless, he forgot about his tattoos. The nightmares he'd have every night when he fell asleep slowly ceased, and before he knew it, he felt normal again. He felt like he was going to be okay. Dick, The Flying Grayson, was a boy of the past. He was Robin now, and his job was to protect the city of Gotham- not entertain it.
A few months after he turned nine, he walked into the kitchen one morning to find Alfred pouring a cup of coffee that wasn't for Bruce.
"You don't need coffee, Barry." Bruce mumbled as he sipped his own.
"That's besides the point, Bruce." Barry Allen argued and smirked, then his smile dropped. "Come on! You know the boys would get along great."
"They're heroes, we aren't setting them up for play-dates." Bruce mumbled.
Barry was the first to notice Dick was inside the kitchen. "Ah! There he is!" he got up quicker than Dick could register. "Hey Richard! It's been awhile since I've seen you! You've gotten taller, wow! Do you wanna make a new friend?"
Dick took a few seconds to catch up. Even though he's talked to Barry a few times, he was still getting used to the speedster's vocal pace. "What do you mean? What friend?" he finally asked.
"I have a nephew who's a hero just like you- well, not just like you, but you know what I mean. I think you guys would get along really well. Does Bruce even let you have friends?" Barry asked. Bruce glared at him.
Dick shrugged, "I mean, I've never had a real friend before. Bruce lets me talk to people at school, but no one is ever allowed to come over."
"Let the boy make friends, Bruce!" Barry scolded.
"Having one speedster in the house is enough." Bruce mumbled.
Alfred let out a laugh, "And so is one brooding bat, Master Wayne."
Barry laughed too, and Dick couldn't help but chuckling.
"I don't have to bring him here, I can just take Richard with me." Barry offered. "Come on, Wally really needs some friends too."
Bruce sighed, "Fine. But I'm coming with. Dick, tell him your name is Robin, though. And wear sun glasses. I don't trust an eleven year old to keep your identity a secret."
Dick nodded, quickly eating his breakfast, getting dressed and heading out with Bruce and Barry.
x
Dick and Wally shook hands when first meeting.
"Robin."
"Wally. Or, you can call me Wall-man."
Dick rolled his eyes behind his sunglasses.
"But in the hero world, I'm Kid Flash. KF for short."
"Robin. I'm Robin in the hero world. Rob for short." Dick teased.
"So, like, do you have any superpowers?" Wally asked.
"No. Just a really awe-always human." Dick replied.
"Awe-always?"
"Instead of awesome, I'm awe-always. Because I'm awesome all of the time, and not just some of the time." Dick explained.
Wally snorted. "You're a dork."
Dick rolled his eyes once again. "So, you have the same powers as your uncle?"
Wally nodded quickly, his orange hair flying as he did. "Yeah! Wanna see!"
"Duh."
Wally took off running, and Dick watched his streak as he did. He had to admit, it was pretty cool. Within seconds, Wally returned.
"Huh. I guess you're awe-always, too." Dick observed.
"Heck yeah I am! Do you want a piggy back ride? It's really cool, I promise."
Dick was really intrigued by the idea. He looked over to his left, where Barry and Bruce were talking some distance away.
He nodded. "Sure."
Wally let him climb onto his back, and he took off running.
x
"Wally is really cool!" Dick exclaimed once he and Bruce were driving back to the manor, "He's really nice and funny. Can I be his friend, Bruce? Please?"
Bruce was silent for a few moments. "I suppose so, Dick." he finally said.
Dick just smiled.
Dick woke up the next morning with the sun landing on his face. He groaned, covering it with a blanket before finally getting up to get breakfast before school. He noticed as he was getting changed that something was wrong with his hand.
He squinted, and soon realized the little bird on his palm was blue, and the lightning bolt was red. "Huh." he said, making note to ask Bruce about it at the table.
Once he got there, it was the first thing he mentioned. He walked up to his mentor. "Hey, remember those black symbols I had on my hand? They're red and blue now." he mentioned, showing Bruce.
He'd never seen Bruce look nauseous before. But Bruce looked like he was ready to rid of every bit of breakfast that sat in his stomach.
"Hmm… I'm not sure." he lied. Dick could pick it up right away. Bruce almost seemed nervous, which was odd, because Bruce never got nervous, ever.
He immediately got up, whispered something to Alfred, and they both exited the room and began to whisper to each other.
Dick tried to listen in on the conversation, but ultimately couldn't make out the words.
Bruce left the room, and Dick quickly made his way to the kitchen so he wouldn't suspect eavesdropping.
"Come on," he said, "let's get you to school."
Dick knew better than to bring up the subject again.
x
"Hey, what happened to your hand?" Thomas, the boy sitting next to him whispered as they were listening to a guest-speaker talk in their classroom.
"Oh, this?" Dick showed him the blue and red tattoos, "I'm not sure, honestly. I'll have to look it up when I get home."
Thomas studied it. It then hit him. "Hey guys! Dick has a girlfriend!" he whispered as loudly as he could without the adults in the front hearing him.
The other students couldn't hear him though, and Dick sat there confused.
"What?" Barbara whispered right back.
"Dick! He has a girlfriend! Look at his hand!"
"What does that have to with me having a girlfriend?" Dick asked, not wanting to admit he didn't have a girlfriend to try and seem cool. The other students looked at his tattoos and giggled.
"Dick has a girlfriend." they quietly teased.
"I don't get it!" Dick admitted.
At that moment, the bell rang, and the kids left for lunch. They got their food and sat down. "So, what's her name?" Thomas teased.
"I don't understand what you're talking about."
"Bruce never explained it to you?" Barbara asked.
"Explained what?"
"You didn't know?" Barbara asked. "When you meet your soulmate- basically, your girlfriend or boyfriend- wherever they touch you, that tattoo wherever they first touched you turns a different color. If you touch them, your tattoo turns a different color."
"Meaning both you and your girlfriend touched each other!" Thomas continued to tease.
"It looks like they shook hands." Barbara said, grabbing Dick's palm. "See? Both of their right hands touched each other."
Dick was then the one to feel sick as realization hit him.
Needless to say, he ended up going home early that day.
Was keeping a secret like this from Wally okay?
Did Wally already know?
Those were his two thoughts that occurred to him when he saw Wally for the second time.
Well, if Wally did know, he sure didn't act like it.
He decided to ignore the entire thing- there wasn't anything wrong with being friends, and besides, they were only kids. Too young to be soulmates.
His sixteenth birthday. Dick promised to himself, I'll tell him on his sixteenth birthday.
Dick was foolish to think that Wally would wait that long. He was a speedster, after all. The April before Wally's sixteenth birthday, he had already approached Dick, confessing in tears how much he was hopelessly in love with him and how he knew Dick probably wasn't gay, and overall being a big cry baby.
Dick rolled his eyes, "Shut up, you dork. We're soulmates."
He grabbed Wally's head and pulled him into a kiss.
Needless to say, from that day on, Wally West stopped being such a big baby.
Huh. Come to think of it, maybe those tattoos really were good luck charms.
