Life's Canvas

Chapter 5: What a Letter entails

Kori sat quietly, staring evenly into his azure eyes. A slow grin crept onto his features and the young woman's emerald pools narrowed. "Why are you staring at me?" Richard asked curiously. Kori narrowed her eyes further, so they were nothing more than gloriously bottle green slits.

"Why does it matter?" she retorted, her voice implying she was getting at something. What, he had yet to find. There was nothing ordinary about her. He had yet to know her a full twenty-four hours and she had him smiling, laughing, finger painting… and now she was making him feel self-conscious. This, of course, was a rather new feeling for the cool and collected, suave heir to the Bruce Wayne fortune.

"It doesn't, I guess. I'm just… wondering why you're staring at me," he said easily, handling the situation with practiced ease. Kori, however, had not finished.

"Well, if you must know, I'm trying to figure you out. You know I've never met anyone as bottled up as you? Not even Madame Logan!" she exclaimed. Richard coughed.

"Yeah, well I've got my reasons. Just be happy you convinced me to be your 'friend' in the first place. I don't need you going off and trying to understand me," he snapped, sensitive with the subject. Kori took no offence, but rather regarded him with a curiosity that both disturbed and intrigued him. She sighed suddenly.

"When shall we go to the gallery building?" she asked, steering the conversation elsewhere for the time-being.

"Tomorrow at quarter after nine. Will that be ok?" he replied, thankful she'd let him end the topic quickly.

"Alright, that'll be fine. So…" she trailed off, unsure of where to take the conversation next. Richard shifted in his seat.

"So," he repeated, also at loss. Kori suddenly sat taller in her chair and widened her eyes, taking on the expression he was coming to know as her apologetic/imploring look. He waited, and sure enough the young artist began.

"I'm sorry if I've behaved badly today. I don't make the best first impression with people who aren't used to my…" she scrunched up her nose, shrugging. Used to her what? Kori supposed she couldn't answer that very well.

"Forwardness?" Richard supplied, idly swirling the ruby colored wine in his goblet. Kori's cheeks flamed up brilliantly and she shook her head.

"Oh, no, not forwardness. I'm by no means like that…" she squeaked. Richard found her almost endearing, sitting there so completely frazzled by a single word.

"Friendliness, then," he decided, and Kori seemed to take this solution much better.

"I suppose so," she giggled and dropped her gaze. "I'd just like you to know I'm terribly bad with the whole professional thing… I'm really glad you'll just let me be a friend. I can relate better that way," she said earnestly. Richard offered a slight smile.

"Works for me." he said. Kori beamed at him and cut a tiny piece of her chicken and ate it.

"Oh, I'm going to be so spoiled after meals like this, it won't even be funny!" she exclaimed to herself. Richard grinned.

"Yeah, well, got to feed my employees right. And my friends. Got to feed them right too. Alfred does a good job, doesn't he?" he took a bite of his own food and eyed her carefully. Kori nodded furiously.

"Very, very good! It's lovely to hear you call me a friend. It makes me feel happy," she mused. Richard couldn't help himself, and rolled his eyes.

"Sure, but I'm still your boss until this thing is over," he reminded her. Kori's eyes widened.

"Why, of course! But after all this, I should hope we can still be friends. I think I'll very much treasure being your friend," she shrugged. Richard stared at her oddly. Well, there's a new one. He'd never been told someone treasured his friendship before… then again; Raven probably didn't treasure much anything except her buddy angst. And sarcasm. She liked that too.

"Ookk…" he said, brows raised. Kori gave an indignant huff and took another bite of her chicken. Richard took a rather large sip of wine and set the goblet down. Kori stared at the goblet with a critical eye.

"That would be lovely in a still life…" she mused. Richard said nothing. The rain was the only sound for quite some time, drumming rhythmically on the mansion roof. The soft clink of silverware touching against the china dishes added to the melodious tumult of noise. Kori observed the man across from her with curiosity.

Her thoughts were interrupted as Alfred walked in carrying a silver plate with a letter on it. Richard snatched up the letter; his eyes narrowed, and opened up. A rather unhappy grunt made its way out and Kori commenced to look rather puzzled.

"Is something wrong, Richard?" she asked quietly. Richard looked up.

"No. Not really. Just another one of Bruce's big business parties… I'll see if Raven and Gar will come," he muttered. He scanned the letter and a scowl worked onto his face. He allowed a few choice vulgarities to slip and Kori chuckled softly.

"Are you positive nothing's wrong?" she prodded. Richard sighed.

"Gotta bring a date… Which would mean I'm going to have to bring Kitten," he rubbed his temples. Kori burst out into a fit of laughter and Richard eyed her crossly. "That's rude…" he snapped, rather peeved.

"Oh, no, I'm terribly sorry I just- her name is Kitten?" she asked. Richard nodded sullenly. He'd had one little romp through the sheets with the woman and now she deemed herself his official escort… unless…

"Although, I could take Babs. Yeah, that could work!" his mood brightened considerably, and his cocky demeanor returned. A date with the femme fetal couldn't be too bad at all. Kori shrugged.

"I don't know Babs. Or Kitten. So I guess I've got nothing to input," she tilted her head to the side. "When is it?" she asked.

"Next Saturday at eight in the evening," he answered.

"Oh." She said simply. "Will I be able to go to the gallery building during that time?" she asked.

"Yeah. Actually, the party is at the gallery building, but I guess if you're planning on working you could do some stuff with the second floor," he said. She pondered this a moment.

"There's a second floor?" she inquired. Richard nodded. She seemed to find the idea entertaining and was quiet as she finished her meal. Richard wondered if he should have invited her to the party, but he wasn't sure he wanted people to know he had taken to a girl with such a personality as Kori possessed… even if it was only in a friendly manner, she was his polar opposite.

Kori stood from the table and asked if it would be alright if she retired for the evening. Richard had waved her off and Alfred came to clear the table. Dick watched her with his steady gaze as she scurried upstairs, her hair falling into her face as she bounded up the steps.

Was it possible he would actually regret not taking her to the party? As eccentric as she was, he couldn't deny the fact he enjoyed her. In fact, she was the first person in a long time to have made him warm up to them so quickly. He supposed it was just her personality. Richard left the table and wandered up to his room. He flopped back onto his bed, swiping up the cordless phone on the way, and dialed Raven's number.

"Garfield Logan speaking, how can I help 'ya?" a male voice asked. Richard chuckled.

"Hey, Gar. It's Richard… Raven's friend?" he replied. Gar was silent for a moment.

"Oh, yeah! I remember you. You walked Rae down the isle 'cuz her dad's in jail… right?" he asked. Richard rolled his eyes.

"Yeah. Is Rae there?" he asked. Garfield grunted, and Richard heard him hollering for her.

"Hello?" Raven's voice came on the line.

"Hi, Rae. I was just wondering if you and Gar wanted to come to the gallery party. Mr. Wilson is putting it on in honor of 'Mr. Wayne's newest endeavor'" Richard mimicked the strange man's voice. Raven snickered.

"Already got an invite. Seems Mr. Wilson worked for my father a while back; before he got arrested for the cocaine. He figured I'd enjoy it, considering I have Azerath School of Fine Arts and all. I think he just wants something from me. Probably wondering if I've got any connections to help him with his newest backhand deal. The guy's a crook… I just don't trust him," Raven went on a little rant. Dick smirked.

"Take it that means you're not going?" he asked. Raven paused.

"No, actually I am. Gar and I both." She said. Richard grinned.

"Ok. At least there will be a couple of sane people there. I'm going to see if Barbra Gordon will come with me. I really don't wanna have to take Kitten again," he said. Raven snorted on the other line.

"Right. Well, I was going to call you later, but since we're talking… did Miss Anders get there alright?" she asked. Richard gave a bark of laughter.

"Definitely. She's here… no doubt about it," he sighed in amusement. Raven made a soft sound of indignation on the other end of the line.

"I trust you're staying in check?" she asked. Richard grimace.

"Jeez, don't you trust me?" he retorted. He could practically see Raven rolling her eyes.

"No. Is she coming to the gallery party?" Raven asked. Richard hesitated.

"I didn't invite her… I mean… I guess she could come, but I think she was just going to work a little upstairs during that time." He muttered.

"Invite her, Dick. She's doing you a huge favor. And make sure she has a date too. You don't have to be so inconsiderate all the time," Raven growled. Richard sighed again.

"Fine. I'll invite her, but don't count on her coming. It doesn't seem like her sort of thing anyways. She's been walking around the manor barefoot for Pete's sake," he rubbed his forehead.

"Let her decide that. And you could at least try to like her," Raven snapped.

"I never said I didn't like her. In fact, I like her… a lot. She doesn't look at me like other people do. And it's kind of nice." He murmured. Raven grinned slightly on the other end of the line.

"Good. I'll see you next week at the party. Bye," she hung up. Richard arched a brow and shook his head. He tossed the phone onto his night stand and ran a hand through his black hair. He'd have an early night, he decided, and he rolled off of his bed. Richard changed into a pair of black sweats and a baggy tee-shirt and slumped back onto his bed. Kori had been with him a day, and she was confusing him in ways he hadn't known he could be confused.

Author's Note: Ok, I'm sorry. I said I would get this up by Friday and it's Saturday... but hey, this chapter is a little longer than the others and I posted a one-shot. Watcher7, that's a good point... I probably could have waited a bit for Richard to notice Kori was hurt by his comment. I'll keep that in mind in the future. I do have something planned to get the story moving here in a few chapters, though. Thank you all for the reviews... if you can spare another for this chapter, I'd love it! I'll try and get you another chapter next week, ok?

Love, Princess Starfire of Tamaran