Warning: Teeny, Tiny Bit of Language . . .
Dick was staring critically into his rather skimpy wardrobe in his closet. He seldom stayed over at the mountain, and so he didn't keep much here. He had more things to choose from in his closet back at the manor, but none of them would make a better choice. Maybe he should have allowed Alfred to make a few purchases for him. He didn't really know how long he was going to be stuck like this, after all. But giving in to that necessity had felt like giving up on ever regaining his former self, and he really wanted to be Dick Grayson both outside and in.
He turned at the sound of his door opening up. Wally entered with a hand slapped dramatically over his eyes.
"You decent?" The redhead asked Dick; grinning like an imbecile.
Dick couldn't help laughing. He stopped abruptly when M'gann and Artemis both followed KF into his room. He blinked in surprise. He wasn't sure what he was expecting Wally to do, but somehow his recruiting their two female teammates wasn't it. He probably should have expected it, however. It made perfect sense . . . Of course, maybe that was why Wally had surprised him. The guy was his best bro, but logical, he wasn't.
"Um, yeah! I'm decent," he said. "Hey, M'gann . . . Artemis." Dick blushed upon seeing the blonde again.
M'gann smiled warmly at him. "Wally said you guys decided to catch pizza and a movie, but you didn't want to go out wearing . . ." She hesitated, uncomfortable.
Artemis pointed at his outfit with a sneer of disgust on her face. "That," she said without preamble. "And you shouldn't go out anywhere wearing that . . . Like, ever!"
"We came to help," M'gann offered.
Dick blinked and looked back and forth between the three of them. "Um, that's nice of you, but I'm not sure what you can do at this point." He waved a hand at his closet. "I don't really have anything that would fit a girl in my closet, and you are both still much taller and . . . um, taller," he repeated, helplessly, his hands hovering in front of his chest, "than I am."
"Smooth, Dudette," Wally grinned at him. "And they say 'I' have no tact."
Artemis shoved the speedster. "They are right, Kid Mouth; you don't!"
"That's why I am here," M'gann told him. "I can manipulate organic material." At Dick's blank stare, she clarified. "I can change what you're wearing into something else."
Oh, wait! Dick remembered M'gann could do that, but he just didn't think of her ability to manipulate matter while referencing his own clothing. It was always what she could do with herself and the bioship.
"But won't it go away if you aren't concentrating?" he asked.
"No, you can wear it and hang it in your closet. Or if you prefer to get these clothes back, I can change them back after you come back to the mountain." M'gann told him.
"You can make it permanent?" Dick was impressed.
"Of course, silly. It is manipulation; not illusion."
"Wow! Okay," Dick shrugged. He was game. "So, what do I need to do?"
M'gann held her hands out in front of her like she was planning to take a photo. "Just stand there," she said.
The actual manipulation was creepy as hell, and it was all Dick could do not to jump and claw his clothes off of him as the material moved and changed around his body. Something felt like it was confining his chest and his boxers shrank to fit his bottom. The sweatshirt got lighter and smaller, and his jeans unwound from his legs. His tennis shoes shifted around his feet and he felt himself gain another couple of inches in height as his feet were forced onto the toes.
At the end of it, Dick was struck dumb as were Artemis and Wally. M'gann just stood there grinning happily at what she wrought.
"Oh, wow!" Artemis finally gasped. "That's fantastic! You look . . . You look incredible!"
Wally sat down on Dick's bed like his legs gave out on him, his mouth hanging open like a codfish. "I-I'm . . . stunned."
Dick felt a little breezy, however, and stumbled into the bathroom in his new, high-heeled sandals. He gawked at himself in the mirror, hardly believing his eyes. He no longer saw a feminine Dick Grayson, however. He watched his cheeks turn pink. He glanced behind him and saw that his teammates couldn't see him from where he stood. With a shaking hand, he slowly removed his sunglasses.
He gasped as the transformation became complete.
His hair was still tousled, but attractively; framing his face and bringing out his eyes even more than the ridiculously long eyelashes did by themselves. He was wearing a clingy, pastel-pink, halter top with a short, white, sheer blouse over it that stopped at his midriff. The halter was tucked into a matching pastel-pink, pleated skirt that ended mid-thigh. His legs were bare and the strappy sandals were light-tan color.
"M'gann," he yelped, horrified. "No pink! No skirt!"
She stepped into the bathroom and Dick scrambled to grab his sunglasses and shove them onto his face. M'gann just smiled.
*I've seen your face before and you have beautiful eyes. It's a shame you have to hide them, she thought at him.
When did you see my face, Robin gaped at her through their reflections.
A few months ago. You might not remember, she told him through their mind link.
Dick immediately knew what incident she was referring to, and it was true that he didn't remember anyone seeing his face. Had he been hiding his identity for the past few months needlessly? Did everyone know what he looked like and who he was? If so, why didn't Batman tell him about it?
Only Connor and I saw you. We agreed not to mention it. None of the others have seen you, though. Batman suggested we just leave things like they are. He's still very concerned about your identities, and swore us to secrecy.
Dick was silent for a moment as he thought about that. His gaze refocused on what he was wearing, and turned his mind back to immediate, practical matters.
No pink; no skirt, he thought at her.
The material started moving and twisting and reweaving itself around him, and it was all Dick could do not to shudder in revulsion. He didn't want to offend M'gann, but he couldn't wear that ultra-feminine outfit comfortably even in the privacy of his room, let alone in public.
A moment later, Dick was staring at himself in a black, boat-neck, sleeveless dress with a flaring skirt than ended just above his knees. The dress was made up of a huge, floral print; the flowers were pink and white and romantic against the stark black of the background. His sandals had turned into cream-colored pumps with an open-toe. A wide black belt showed off his tiny waist.
"M'gann," he complained. "Seriously? I said, no skirt! And . . ." he added grumpily, "No flowers!"
"It's not a skirt; it's a dress. You look so adorable," she squealed, clapping her hands together with delight. She moved to his other side as Artemis and Wally came to stand beside him. "Doesn't he look adorable?"
"She's right, Dudette," Wally chimed in. "You're looking pretty darn adorable right now."
"Not helping, Wally," Dick snarled at him.
"I wish I could wear that outfit," Artemis said. "It's really cute and you wear it beautifully, Robin."
Dick grimaced, flushing red at Artemis' compliment. "Why couldn't you wear it, Artie?"
"It's too dark for my complexion and the style wouldn't fit my body structure," she explained. "But you totally rock that outfit, and the other one, too."
Dick was plucking at the neck of the dress uncomfortably. "It's not really my taste. Look, M'gann, I really appreciate your help, but I've been happily living out thirteen years of my life as a boy, and suddenly I'm a girl for barely twenty-four hours and you are putting me in pastels and dresses and high heels. It's a bit too much, too fast." He sighed. I'll never get used to wearing girly stuff like this, he thought. Not ever! "And while I'll admit that I'm pretty graceful for a guy, if I have to walk more than ten steps in these heels, I'm going to break my neck!"
M'gann looked a little disappointed. Dick felt bad for her, but there was no way in hell he was setting one foot outside of this room wearing a dress; girl's body or not!
Artemis smirked and caught M'gann's eye in the mirror. "I have just the outfit," she announced. "M'gann, look in my mind, and try that one on her."
"Him, Artemis," Dick scowled. "Try that one on him."
Artemis looked at Dick; smiling sadly. "You ask the impossible, Robin. I can't look at you and remember to say 'him'."
The material started moving again. This time Dick couldn't suppress the shudder the fabric slithering over his arms and legs made him feel. But at least this time he was going to feel dressed rather than half-naked. In less than a minute, Dick was actually smiling at his reflection. This was much better. Still a little dressier than he'd like, but so much better than the two previous choices that he didn't feel like he should complain.
He was wearing a thin, long-sleeved, white shirt with a light-weave, navy-blue cardigan over it. He wore dark-blue, skinny jeans tucked into tall, dark-brown, riding boots.
He met each of his friends' eyes in the mirror. He bit his lip, nervously. He wasn't looking like some kind of frou-frou, runway model anymore, but he definitely looked like a girl. Dick sighed. He supposed it was the best he could hope for . . .
"I'm okay with this," he said, hesitantly. "What do you think? Can I go out in public now without hurting Wally's image?"
M'gann giggled while Artemis slapped Wally in the arm.
"You said that to her? You are such a jerk," Artemis groused at him, rolling her eyes.
Wally flinched, but laughed. "Hey, you saw what she was wearing? You all admitted she needed a makeover."
Dick frowned as he turned around to face Wally. "You, too, Brutus?"
Wally's grin slipped away. "What? What did I do?"
Dick shook his head and walked out of the room, trying to ignore the clickety-clack of the low-heeled boots. He would have preferred hiking boots, but refused to complain anymore. He'd probably end up looking like Cinderella if M'gann tried again. He was satisfied well enough, although he had lost a little bit of the anticipation for the evening with Wally's pronoun slip-up. But then again, he looked like a blessed girl! How could he blame him for forgetting?
Dick pursed his lips, annoyed. The fact was that he couldn't. He couldn't blame or complain to any of them for referring to him as the female he resembled. He needed to go to this movie marathon and get his mind off of his problems. Maybe, if he were really lucky, Batman would be waiting on him by the time he and Wally came back, and he could go to bed tonight and wake up as Dick Grayson again. Then maybe he could write this whole thing up as a bad dream.
* Referencing a scene in "Lab Rat: Running Scared".
REACTIONS? OPINIONS? COMMENTS?
You had to know that M'gann was going to get to play dress-up with Robin at some point. What did you think of the three outfits? Could you imagine them well enough? Based upon Wally's reaction, it would have been fun to have gotten Kaldur and Connor's opinion on the different looks . . . LOL! But Robin absolutely refused to step foot outside of his door in either of the first two. Sorry - I tried my best.
I don't know if the guest that asked about Robin's comment to Wally "You, too, Brutus?" will read this or not, but I will reference it for any of you who do not know it. It comes from Shakespeare's play "Julius Caesar" when Caesar asked his best friend Brutus "You, too, Brute?" (pronounced Broo -teh) when he betrayed him with the rest of the Roman Senate and helped to murder him. When people say it now, it just means "traitor". Robin says it to Wally because he gave in and began referring to Robin as "she" rather than the "he" Robin wanted to be called. He wasn't actually angry at Wally so much as annoyed and a touch disappointed. But hey! Even I was having a hard time keeping the pronouns straight while writing this.
