Kori hummed a soft tune to herself as she swirled her paintbrush within the jar of water placed on the table beside her. The purple paint slowly disintegrated and dissolved within the clear water, making it turn a lighter shade. She continued with tapping her paintbrush against the edge of the jar to discard excess water.

She lifted the paintbrush and dipped it into a small drop of red paint. Once she had a fair amount upon the brush she carefully lifted it towards her in progress canvas.
Silence echoed around her for a moment. She inhaled deeply. She had to be precise and careful about the next part. The bits in which she was painting were small and needed attention as they were drawn with intricate detail.

Just as Kori was about to touch the canvas with her brush, a loud boom of music sounded.
Kori gasped and practically fell off of her stool. She sighed as the loudness of the music caused her canvas to vibrate. She would never be able to concentrate with that
noise blaring.

She grabbed a piece of tissue and rubbed the remainder of paint off of the paintbrush. She closed the box which contained all of her paint pots and placed it upon the table beside her jar of water.

Kori stood up and brushed herself down. She rolled her eyes and sighed as she realised that she would always have to deal with Dick being an annoying neighbour unless she chose to move away from the apartment block...

A knock at the door was what brought her out of her reverie. She raised an eyebrow and waited a moment before wandering towards the door. She wondered who on Earth it could be. For a moment she considered it would be an inebriated fool needing to use her bathroom or something.

Kori groaned and opened the door, not really wanting to deal with anyone. She narrowed her eyes at the man who was leaning against the door frame, cooly.

She exhaled noisily and crossed her arms over her chest, "Wonderful... As if you playing loud music was not enough to irritate me." She complained, eyeing him carefully.
Dick smiled and chuckled nervously. He rubbed the back of his neck and Kori could sense he was beginning to show her his true colours. She stepped closer to him, still holding her questioning stare.

He visibly gulped and Kori noticed his cheeks turned a light shade of pink.

"Sorry... I uh... Guess I'm not in the adult zone yet." Dick stuttered.

Kori shuffled on the sport and sighed. She didn't mean to sound rude but she was getting tired of just standing there. Dick cleared his throat, apparently preparing himself to speak again,

"Look... I don't want to be enemies, Kori... As a matter of fact, I want to be as far away from that as possible. Honestly... I came over to ask if you maybe wanted to join the party?" He explained.

Kori stared at him for a moment. Her mouth hung open slightly as she was truly shocked by his offer. It was the most non annoying thing her neighbour had done so far. Kori's cheeks tinted pink as she came to realise that she had not yet replied to him.

"Oh... I... I do not think I should..." Kori trailed off, rubbing her arm. She wasn't sure if she should go because she knew a certain guy in her life might have a problem with her becoming close friends with her neighbour. She was conflicted because her irritation and dislike for Dick was slowly melting away and she really did want to get to know him better.

"Please? I think you'll have a lot of fun and sides, you can invite some of your friends too if you want..." Dick informed her.

Kori tilted her head from side to side as she considered his offer further. She looked up and her emerald eyes melded with his crystal blue eyes. Her decision was slowly becoming clearer to her.

"C'monnnn. You know you want tooooo." Dick chuckled.

Kori raised her delicate fingertips to her lips and giggled softly. She sighed and gave into a smirk, "I suppose attending for a short while would not hurt." She admitted.

Dick grinned, "Awesome! C'mon..." Dick urged but Kori stopped short,

"I cannot go into a party dressed in the tank top and sweat pants..." She informed him,

"Then change. I'll wait here for you," Dick vowed, giving her a soft smile. Kori eyed him carefully. She had to admit she liked the way he was acting now but she was torn between which personality was truly his. He was quite the mystery.

Kori nodded and headed back inside of her own apartment. While she was considering what to wear, she texted Rachel and Garfield about the event happening next door and told them to come too.

They were on their way when Kori had picked out a simple grey skater dress with casual black flats. She glanced over her appearance once she had changed and agreed with herself that she looked alright.

Kori had actually expected Dick to have gone back to the party but she was proved wrong as she opened her door.

He was still standing with his back against the wall, whistling a small tune while he waited. Dick turned his head to look at her and the familiar lopsided grin appeared once again.

"Hey again," He greeted, letting his eyes rake over her form, tastefully.

"Greetings," Kori replied, "I believe I am ready now,"

"Well I'd say so. You look really great..." Dick stated, feeling a blush creep across his cheeks. Kori giggled and felt herself relax a little more.

Dick gently touched the small of her back to urge her into continuing towards his apartment.

Kori immediately sucked in a breath as the overwhelming scent of alcohol and sweating young adults filled her nostrils. She had never been much of a 'party girl' but she believed in at least trying to like such events.

The realisation of only knowing Dick out of all of the people in his apartment, hit her as he gently pushed her towards the kitchen.

Kori had not known Dick very long but at that moment, she felt it necessary to remain close to him. She leaned against him and felt her cheeks heat up as she could feel his strong torso.

She looked up at him and was not surprised to receive a lopsided grin in return. Kori couldn't help but stare into his deep blue eyes. She really could sense a lovely person within him and she wanted to get to know that version of him.

"Let's get you a drink." Dick yelled, earning a nod from Kori. He gently took her hand within his own and led her into the kitchen. She blushed from the sudden contact but understood that he simply didn't want her to get lost in the crowd.

Once they had made it to the kitchen, Dick released her hand and rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.

"Sorry about that." He apologised,

"It is quite alright. It would hardly be a party if there were next to no people." Kori replied, giving him a soft smile.
He returned the smile and pointed to his array of assorted drinks, "Alcoholic or soft drink?" He offered, using his hand to signal the drinks in a similar way to a magicians assistant. Kori giggled.

"Soft drink, please." She answered,

"Not a fan of alcohol?" Dick wondered, reaching for a can of soda and a clear glass. He emptied the soda into the glass and passed it to Kori.

"I rarely drink it. I believe in the philosophy of not letting the beverage run my life. For instance, I do not believe in becoming inebriated to simply enjoy myself at various events." Kori returned.

Dick smiled.

"What?" Kori giggled,

"Nothing; it's just... That's probably the smartest thing I've ever heard." He replied.

Kori grinned and bowed her head slightly, signalling her thanks for the compliment.

Suddenly, two figures practically fell into the kitchen. Kori smirked as she recognised them immediately,

"Friends!" Kori squeaked, jumping off the stool she was sat upon. Rachel and Garfield turned to her with apparent smiles of relief.

"That was like a maze." Rachel groaned, leaning against the counter.

"Seriously! Dude, how many people do you know!?" Garfield scoffed, turning to Dick.

Kori shook her head at the two of them; they were always so very forward with how they felt of what they thought.

"Apologies, Richard..." Kori breathed, eyeing her friends. Dick chuckled,

"No worries!" He returned. He smiled at Garfield and shrugged, "Apparently, I know a lot of people."

"Damn straight you do, man!" Garfield laughed. Kori allowed herself to smile
absentmindedly."Richard Grayson, these are my two best friends, Garfield Logan and Rachel Roth." Kori introduced,

"Nice to meet you guys," Dick greeted, flashing them both a friendly smile. The two of them nodded to him,

"You too," Rachel stated, grabbing a soda can for herself. Kori mentally sighed; they were too comfortable sometimes.

"Hey, I want you guys to meet my good friends. C'mon." Dick informed them. He headed out the kitchen door and grabbed Kori's hand once again in order to lead her to his desired destination.

She took the time to consider how soft his touch was. Kori was aware that nothing beyond friendship was in the cards for them but she could still think about it.

Dick halted before a group of people who were around the same age as them.

"Hey man! I haven't seen you since the beginning of the party! I thought you died!" a red headed male exclaimed.

Dick chuckled, "Hey guys. I want you to meet my neighbour, Kori Anders and her two friends, Rachel Roth and Garfield Logan." He shouted.

The group of people all smiled in a friendly manner, murmured forms of greetings and waved.

"And here we have, Wally West, Jenny Ashbrook, Vic Stone and Karen Beecher." Dick said, pointing to them accordingly. Kori favoured all of them with a bright smile.

Wally was either a very enthusiastic guy or he was way past being 'tipsy'. His eyes were a shockingly bright shade of green with a contrast of bright red messily spiked hair. He seemed like the type of happy-go-lucky guy that everyone was happy to have in their life.

Jenny stood beside him. She had bright pink hair with what Kori could only assume were matching pink contact lenses. Her overall appearance was electrifying to say the least. Wally's arm was around her waist so she could only assume that they were a couple. By the expression on Jenny's face, Kori knew she was correct about her assumption. The two of them reminded Kori of Rachel and Garfield. Rachel and Jenny could probably talk endlessly about their idiotic boyfriends. Kori smirked at that thought.

Kori looked further and her eyes rested on another guy. Victor or as Dick had shortened it; Vic. He was big and broad yet he seemed like the most harmless guy you could ever meet. He had dark skin and dark cobalt eyes.

Karen leaned on a table beside Vic. Kori didn't need to ask if they were a couple. Their body language and attitude towards each other proved they were an item indeed. Karen had jet black hair with dark skin and chocolate brown eyes with a hint of green within them. She seemed to be loud and expressive in her movements. Kori smiled. She had a feeling she would get along well with Karen.

After about half an hour of speaking to the newfound group of friends, Kori felt slightly lightheaded. She gulped and gripped a seat nearby to steady herself.
She was too hot and she knew that she would probably pass out if she didn't get fresh air soon.

Kori gently touched her head and staggered away from the group who were emerged in all sorts of conversations.

Dick noticed Kori wandering away and became concerned for her. She looked unwell so he followed closely behind her to make sure nothing bad happened to her.
Kori reached the small balcony area of Dick's apartment and pushed open the double doors. She closed her eyes and deeply inhaled the cool fresh air of the night. She softly smiled at the light breeze against her flushed face. She sighed.

"Are you okay, Kori?" Dick asked, causing her to jump slightly and open her eyes immediately. She turned a little to see him close the double doors before joining her on the small balcony.

Kori gave him a smile, "I am..." She nodded, "I simply do not attend parties very often so I am not used to the closeness..."

"You felt lightheaded?" Dick checked,
"I am feeling the okay now that I have had the fresh air..." Kori replied,

"I don't imagine you to be the party type of 21 year old if I'm completely honest."

"What gives me away?"

"I don't know... It's not in a bad way or anything. It's kinda like you know what you want... Like you're determined and serious..."

"And boring."

Dick smiled, "I didn't say that. Sides, you don't seem very boring at all."

Kori mirrored his grin, "Well, thank you... I sometimes must be very serious especially when it comes to matters involving my boyfriend," She admitted, rolling her eyes.
Dick felt his heart drop a little at one specific word, "Boyfriend?" He asked, hoping he had heard her wrong.

Kori stared at the moon and nodded slowly, "His name is Xavier... He is far from childish but sometimes he can become paranoid and fearful with certain things so I must be serious in order to reassure him..." She explained,

"Ah... I see..." Dick said, quietly. He had truly hoped that Kori would be single. He had desperately wanted to get to know her with hopes of... more with her. It sounded crazy in his head; he had only known Kori for a week and a half but he felt like there was something about her that he couldn't quite put into words.

"I am confused..." Kori admitted after a moment of silence passed,

"About what?" Dick wondered,

"Well... You are so nice now... Tell me, why have you been trying to irritate me so much since I moved in next door?" Kori blurted, curiosity getting the better of her.

Dick blushed and became rather sheepish. Kori smirked as he rubbed the back of his neck and chuckled nervously, "Uh... Honestly, I wanted to get to know you since the day you moved in and I did want to be normal and stuff but Wally told me that you would only notice me... If I was a terrible neighbour..."

Although Kori had a boyfriend, she couldn't deny the butterflies that she felt within her stomach. She felt flattered at the truth behind his antics.

"That is silly." Kori giggled, "I believed you to be very nice on the first day that we met and besides, of course I noticed you! You are my neighbour after all..."

Dick grinned and perked up a little at her words. He considered other things that they could talk about and he suddenly thought of something that he had been meaning to ask her about, "So... I noticed your work uniform the other morning... Which coffee shop do you work at?" He asked, politely,

Kori brushed a stray piece of red hair behind her ear, "Do you know JaVaVu down the street?" Kori queried,

"Yeah! I love it there!"

"I have never seen you in there..."

"I know. My assistant usually runs in for me."

Kori raised an eyebrow and smirked, "Your assistant?"

"Yeah... Heh... Well, I work at Wayne Enterprises and I can get really busy so an assistant was hired for me..."

"You are only 22 years old... May I ask how you acquired such skills to work at such a large company?"

"Well... My father is Bruce Wayne... So, y'know..."

"I see... I did not know that Bruce Wayne had children..."

"There's three of us. All boys and Bruce adopted us so..."

"You are adopted?"

"Yup. He adopted me when I was nine years old after I... Uh... I lost my parents..."

Kori felt a pang of hurt for him. Sure, she had never got along well with her parents but she would still be devastated if they were dead; it prevents any problems from ever getting fixed.

She hesitantly reached a hand out and touched his arm. He glanced at her with a small smile.

"You have my condolences..." Kori told him,

"Thanks..." He inhaled and shook his head to relieve his head of that memory, "Maybe I can tell you more about that depressing day another time."

Dick smiled and shrugged the weight of it that he had always carried, off. Kori smiled but it was half intended to let Dick know that she was here for him.

"So, what is your family like?" Dick quizzed.

Kori shifted a little but sighed, "I do not get along with my Father or Mother very much... At all, actually... So, I saved enough money from working at JaVaVu and moved out."

Dick nodded to show that he was listening and that he understood what she was saying. He smirked, "Well... You're definitely better than the last tenant." He informed her,

"Oh?" Kori prompted him to continue. She blushed a light pink as he leaned in closer to her. He was so close that she could make out the darker and lighter flecks of blue within his perfect eyes.

"Yeah..." He whispered, pausing for apparent dramatic effect, "She was a psycho and owned like a hundred cats..."

Kori burst out laughing at what he had told her. Dick smiled and stared at her while she giggled. He was pretty sure that he had just found his new favourite sound...