Hellloo! Happy Holidays everyone! Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own anything DC related or Disney.
Ch. 6 Hide 'N Seek
Of course the bat family ended up buying the picture that was deemed by all 'ridiculous.' Each family member had a prideful smile when presented with the photo, as opposed to others in line who saw said picture and shook their heads in disapproval, and kids who laughed unabashedly. And thus, the bat family was back in their semi-relaxed state in which all anger was forgotten and nobody wanted to kill one another… for the moment, anyway.
"So…" Steph began, rifling in her bag for the map. She remembered pushing it down to the bottom so it wouldn't get wet from the ride. After pushing aside her camera, random doodling designs, her emergency tampons, and the two lollipops she kept when it was a particularly hesh day, she finally felt the map and pulled it out with a triumphant cry. She didn't notice that the boys were looking at her with varying stages of amusement, except for Damian because he was, well, Damian. She fumblingly spread it out with both hands and beamed. "Where to next boys?"
Dick was the first to speak up. "Let Tim pick the ride. It's the least we can do after we destroyed his ice cream."
Tim was touched that Dick was trying to make reparations for an incident that Tim, now that he had time to reflect, admittedly overreacted over. Shifting his feet, he tried to hide his embarrassment. "How about Space Mountain? Combined with the velocity and height, I believe it will assist me in trying to dry off," Tim said, looking down at his soaked clothes.
"Alright! Let us continue forthwith on our quest!" Stephanie exclaimed, waving the now closed map dramatically.
The boys looked at her, and this time she did take notice.
"What?" she asked, her arms crossed. She honestly looked confused at their unenthusiastic reaction, her eyebrows scrunched together and her head cocked to the side. "What'd I say?"
"Must we bring her along?" Damian asked pointedly to Dick.
Not wanting to jeopardize the calm mood they had somehow found themselves in, Dick just shook his head. "Let's just… let's just go." He turned around and started walking.
As they all started to walk away without any explanation Steph yelled, "Hey!" She walked faster to catch up to them. Flipping her hair aside, she glared. She accusingly pointed at them, sweeping her finger to each one so that they knew her statement applied to all. "Don't judge me." The only reply was a round of blank stares. Satisfied, she faced straight ahead and resumed walking, whistling a merry tune that suspiciously sounded like the one that was played in Splash Mountain.
While walking, they passed a vending cart, which caused Damian to stop dead in his tracks. The cart might as well have been glowing and streaming angelic music in his ears. Damian saw that the rest of them kept walking on, oblivious to him stopping. He rolled his eyes and decided he didn't feel like an encore performance of earlier. He called out, "Just so you imbecilic idiots don't overreact and search for me as if I were a lost child, I am giving you prior warning now that I'm going to go consume the substance known as cotton candy."
Dick stopped short and looked back. And in a rare occurrence that should be recorded in the bat family archives, everyone else followed suit. Dick considered Damian and allowed, "Okay," but quickly followed with, "But only one. Those things have way too much sugar."
Steph ran a hand through her hair and winced. "Whoops."
Dick raised an eyebrow at her. "What?"
Damian sent her his batglare that read, 'Brown, don't you fucking dare if you want to continue your puny, insignificant existence.'
At a great risk to her life, Steph shifted her gaze to the floor and confessed, "Well, I kind of, might have, just a bit, um, already let him have…" She fake coughed, "Three."
Dick's eyes went wide and he went into batparent mode, taking up his duties as being the eldest. "Whoa, that is WAY too much! Stephanie, you were supposed to be responsible!" He continued to rant at Steph until she was a puddle of remorse. When finished, he turned to Damian and said in his most authoritative tone, "No more cotton candy for today."
At this, Damian scowled and sent an even more potent batglare toward Stephanie. She recovered from her puddle state and now ignored him while taking up her whistling again.
"Uh, Dick? Is it okay for us to have cotton candy?" Tim asked, pointing to him and Steph, a delicious thought entering his mind. Jason just stood by and nursed his cigarette while all the drama unfolded, his eyes darting in every direction, scouting out anyone who didn't possess enough brain cells to leave him the hell alone.
Dick shrugged and let the shackles of responsibility subside for now. He smiled at Tim. "Sure, go ahead."
...
A Robin conducting Sweet Revenge…
Tim smiled wickedly as he took a bite out of his fluffy pink cotton candy in front of Damian.
Damian's scowl deepened, if it was possible.
"Mmmm. Isn't this the best, Steph?" Tim asked innocently, taking yet another bite out of the cotton candy. Looking at Damian's expression, Tim thought that Jason might be on to something, because it's turning out that revenge definitely is sweet.
Steph grinned at Tim. "Yup." Then she realized he said that just to troll Damian. "Um, I mean," she backtracked, failing to find a different response.
"Save it, Brown," was Damian's biting reply.
"That's a lot of people headed our way," Dick observed, pointing to the crowd that was approaching.
An opportunity has just presented itself. Now's my chance to escape, Damian thought, the crowd passing by them.
"Don't. Even. Think. About. It." Dick said, reaching out to grab Damian's wrist, not even deigning to look at him.
So with his genius ability at improvisation, Damian grabbed the kid next to him and, using his honed ninja reflexes, switched them, leaving the kid in Dick's reach.
Damian's plan was a success. Dick didn't even notice that he wasn't pulling Damian. All he saw from the corner of his eye was black hair, and that was enough for him, although he didn't fail to notice how much the kid was struggling to get loose. Again, that was nothing that Damian wouldn't be doing.
"Damian, quit struggling. I said I wasn't going to let you out of my sight and that's exactly what I'm doing," Dick said, frustrated.
"My name's not Damian! Let go of me you damn pedo!" said a little kid, whose voice was definitely not Damian's.
Dick froze. He slowly turned and stared down at the boy in his grip that was supposed to be the surly, arrogant, devious, dangerous kid that he knew. Instead it was a boy about the same age with a grey t-shirt and jeans. Oh, and the boy was scared as all hell Dick released his wrist as if it was the Joker's mutated cat. His face warmed. "I am so sorry!"
The kid yelled, "Mom! Mom!" and ran to a woman who had the expression of an Amazonian going to hunt. She turned her laser eyes on Dick and if she had Cyclops's power, he'd be nothing but ash in a pair of shoes right now. She stomped over to him and opened his mouth to apologize, to explain, but she slapped him in the face before he had a chance to. "You make me sick! People like you should be castrated and sent to an isolated island like a fucking leper!"
Dick rubbed his cheek and exclaimed, "I thought he was my kid! Sorry!"
She paused, considered, and looked him up and down. "Then I feel sorry for whoever you sleep with that you could think that a random boy at Disneyland could be your child." She pulled her son along and walked away.
"Well, aren't you popular," Jason remarked, dropping his cigarette and stomping it out with his boot.
Dick glared. "Are you really the right person to mock me about being 'popular'? Or should I call some Disney characters over and get their opinion?"
Jason smirked. "At least I didn't get slapped by a woman, accused of being a predator, or get implied that I was a man whore, all in one confrontation. Though admittedly, that last one was pretty accurate for you."
Dick wanted to pull his hair out. "I am going to kill Damian."
"What's wrong Dick?" Tim asked, returning from the cotton candy cart. He noticed that looked stressed out.
Dick sighed and gritted out, "I lost Damian." Closing his eyes, he ground out, "Again."
Hearing this, Stephanie and Tim laughed, which surprised Dick. His eyes snapped opened and he raised an incredulous brow. "How can that possibly be funny?"
Tim couldn't wipe the smile off his face. "Sorry, Dick. But… again?" he said in between laughs.
Steph giggled along with him. "World's best babysitter everyone," she said, holding her hand out as if he was on display.
"Lost his little brother twice in one day within a ten hour period," Jason added, and slowly clapped. "I'm going to get you a trophy. You know the cheap ones that say, 'Father of the Year'? I'll get you one that reads, 'Big Brother of the Year.' You can put it next to Damian's missing child report that we'll no doubt be forced to fill out soon."
Dick narrowed his eyes. "Shut. Up. Now come on and help me find him."
"Fine." Stephanie grabbed Tim by the wrist. Since she wasn't particularly fond of her last encounter of trying to find Damian, she decided that a change in partners was in order. "I call Tim!" Childishly, she stuck out her tongue at Jason when she passed by him.
Jason rolled his eyes, and then glanced at Dick. "You know, you should really put that kid in one of those," he said, nodding his head toward a woman who was holding what appeared to be a yellow monkey backpack leash that held her toddler. The toddler was running in vain to get away from the harness that restricted his movements to five feet.
Dick rubbed his chin in contemplation. "Hmm." As amusing as the thought was, he eventually dismissed the idea on the grounds that Damian had a higher IQ than the average ten year old, or forty year old, for that matter.
He turned to Jason with dread. "Well come on Jay, I guess it's just you and me," Dick said, not enthusiastic about the situation at all. It was bad enough that Damian was missing, but to have to put up with Jason while doing it? Not his idea of the happiest place on earth at all.
"Nope, count again. It's just you," Jason said, sauntering away.
Dick's stressed brain stalled. "What? Where do you think you're going?!"
"I'm going to do something far more important." Jason turned his head sideways and smirked. "I'm going to go find a way to sneak in beer." Not awaiting Dick's response, he disappeared in the crowd a moment later.
"Great. That's just great," Dick said, rolling his eyes. "Now I'm going to have to watch out for him too."
...
Meanwhile, Two Robins Sitting In a Tree… or an amusement park ride…
Tim sighed. "Are we really going to look for him?"
"Peesh, What do you mean are? We already did," Steph said cheerfully.
He eyed her. "We did?" She nodded her head in affirmation. Tim's brow lifted. "When?"
Stephanie smiled at him. "Why, right now. See?" She turned away from Tim, breathed deep, brought a hand to her mouth, and yelled, "DAMIAN!" She paused and looked around, only spotting people who gave her weird looks, nothing new there. "Nope, not here." She turned back to Tim and shrugged. "Oh well, we tried."
Tim smirked. "Yes, I see you tried to the best of your ability." She beamed until he added, "In that case, would you mind letting go of my wrist?"
Steph looked down and discovered that she did indeed still grasp a hold of his wrist. She didn't even notice. "Oh," she said, then, "Oh! Sorry," while letting go and blushing. She tucked a strand of blonde hair behind an ear.
Tim rubbed the wrist that Steph held a moment ago, finding it still warm. "So, now what?" Tim asked, still walking beside her.
Steph fidgeted. "Um, well you said you wanted to ride Space Mountain. We can do that." When he didn't respond she added, "If you still want to, I mean."
"You mean ride it without them?" Tim asked, slightly thrilled at the prospect. It'd be nice to see the rest get left out of something for a change.
"Yup," she said smiling, popping the 'p'.
"Ha. Okay," Tim said, smiling back at her.
...
Meanwhile, the Demon Brat was getting his next fix…
Idiots. Idiots were everywhere he looked. Didn't they realize that his needs exceeded theirs? Yet another one blocked his path. "Move. Out of my way." When none proceeded to follow his command he yelled, "I said MOVE!" while pushing kids out the way to get to the front of the line. He jostled elbows and inflicted minor bruises, but he finally reached his goal.
He slammed a twenty on the cart. "Cotton Candy. Now. No excuses."
"Hey! That kid cut in line at the Dumbo ride!" a twelve year old girl accused.
"And he just cut in the cotton candy stand!" a kid behind Damian added.
Damian snapped his head around, glaring at them. Have they not learned yet? He raised his chin up and looked at them disdainfully. "So?"
All the kids cried out, "Get him!" before going on a suicide mission: tackling Damian.
The Disneyland employee, who was about twenty-five, just stared as the kids fought. On an average day he might get to see a few arguments over line placement, but they never got serious enough to develop into a full out brawl. This, however, was quality entertainment that could not be bought. Some may think that he should be more concerned with a situation like this, but he had been dealing with spoiled children all day in the heat, with no break coming soon, so he just sat back and watched. He grabbed his soda and began to slowly drink, only to spit it out as the kid who was accused of cutting in line beat up every single kid who attacked him.
There must have been at least twenty kids who went after him, and he was throwing them all aside like they were nothing. Now, he didn't actually hurt the kids. They just never got a chance to lay a hand on the boy. He was like a ninja, evading a coming attack when little fists would fly his way and jumping over legs that were meant to trip him. He sidestepped them all and used their gravity against them until they all piled on each other in a weird sort of body pyramid. The boy, who kept getting challenged, finished when the rest of the kids simply ran away crying to their guardians. It was not natural.
"Now, how about that cotton candy?" Damian demanded, striding up to the trembling employee.
The employee got a closer look at him and realized he wasn't even breathing laboriously. There wasn't a scratch on him either.
"Uh, yeah sure…" the employee said, reaching a shaking hand out to grab a cotton candy while using his other hand to try to subtly click the security button.
Damian, using his honed reflexes, snatched the guy's wrist. Damian smiled, turning the wrist up. He traced a vein along the employee's arm. "No security or I snap your wrist." From any other ten year old, the employee would've dismissed the threat as a joke, but not with this kid. There was no mistaking that this kid had the ability, and worse, the willingness, to carry it out without hesitation. Just so the man knew Damian meant business, as if it wasn't clear enough already, he turned the wrist to an unnatural angle, not enough to snap, but enough to get the employee to let out a squeak.
The employee looked upon the demon wearing a boys' skin, because that is what this creature surely is, a demon.
His breath came out in a pant. "Shit! OK! Okay! Let go! Here!" The employee shoved as many cotton candies that he could hold with one hand and passed them to him. "Take as many as you want!"
The employee cried out when Damian let go of his wrist. Damian walked away with four cotton candies, rolling his eyes at the pathetic employee. "Crybaby."
...
Meanwhile, a Robin on a scavenger hunt…
"Beer. Gotta find beer," Jason mumbled, sweeping his eyes over everyone and everything. He desperately needed one after the day he was having. Between being forced to be surrounded by the so-called bat family and the Disney characters who didn't know when to quit while they're behind, he's had just about enough. It was time to take a break, to get a drink that would numb his head for a while so he wouldn't be tempted to go on a murder spree in one of the main tourist attractions in California.
His eyes zeroed in on a person dressed as Mickey's dog Pluto or, more precisely, the six pack of beer that was dangling from his paw/hand. The dog was pushing open a door that read 'Employee's Only.'
A smile slowly formed on Jason's face. "Bingo." Did he care for the sign that clearly stated that the door wasn't used for civilians? Not even the smallest bit. It would take all his collective years of training to accomplish the mission set before him.
He gave a subtle perusal of the surrounding area and found no other employees about to approach the door. Casually walking like he had every right to be anywhere near the door, he turned the knob and found it unlocked. Shrugging, he crept inside on silent toes along the hallway until he noticed a door ajar. He shifted his body so that he wouldn't be seen, but kept one eye through the crack to witness what was happening. Pluto was surrounded by many other characters in a sort of lounge. His 'head' was set aside on the couch while he held up the beer with a sly grin. "Confiscated this from teens. They were trying to hide it in their soda bottles. Like that was original."
"Kids. You'd think they'd get more creative," one of the employees replied, shaking her head and taking one of the beers.
"Oh well. No matter how poorly thought out it was for them, we should really be thanking the kids. They snuck in beer for us," Pluto said, grabbing one and chugging it down in large gulps.
"Should you really be drinking on the job?" a princess asked. Based on the blonde wig and blue dress, Jason guessed it was Cinderella.
"Hey princess, my shift's over," Pluto said before giving a belch, finishing the beer in one last swallow.
"Gross," another girl employee, dressed as Snow White, remarked.
Cinderella giggled and turned to the girl next to her. "Well Belle, are you sure this guy isn't prince charming?"
Jason's eyes widened. He didn't recognize her in civilian clothing. She had ditched the wig and instead had short brown hair and was in a skirt that showed off her long legs. But what he noticed most of all was the rose she delicately held in her hand. She was staring at it with an expression filled with warmth. She wore a shy, secret smile when she whispered, "No." There was a spark in her eye that could not be overlooked.
Jason smirked. Belle. Somehow his mission just got a lot simpler.
...
Meanwhile two robins hear chatter...
"We were so lucky that the line was so short!" Steph said as she took the first seat in front. The cart that would hold the guests seated two horizontally and ten vertically, all lined up to the rails of the roller coaster that would take them on one of the best rides in the park, in Steph's opinion: Space Mountain.
"Yeah, I think everyone went to go eat lunch or something." Tim said, practically jumping in his seat as he settled in next to her. Since this ride didn't involve any water, he was more excited to be in the front of the cart with no chance of getting soaked.
People were filling up the seats behind them and both Tim and Stephanie were caught by a particularly amusing conversation happening between the other occupants.
Steph covered her hand over her mouth and laughed. "Are you hearing this?" she said, eyes twinkling as she glanced at Tim.
Tim was smiling unabashedly and shaking his head. "The ones sitting behind us? They certainly need to have better sources for accuracy," he whispered conspiringly in her ear, his breath tickling under her earlobe.
They continued to hear the conversation behind them. "Batman doesn't have kids! He's Batman!" a man said, passionate and resolute in his claim.
"Oh yeah? So why does he have a kid sidekick, huh?" a woman's voice rebuffed, not to be swayed by the man's opinion.
"Everyone who's anyone knows that Robin is an android! No little kid who is human could ever do half the shit that that kid does," the man replied with a scoff.
"So wait. Superman has kids. You know, Supergirl and Superboy?" the woman replied.
"No, no, no. Supergirl is Superman's daughter, and Superboy is obviously her boyfriend. God Betty, get this superhero stuff straight. It's not that hard," the man informed her in a superior tone, secure in his knowledge of all things superhero.
Tim and Stephanie laughed even harder.
"You don't know how badly I want to correct them," Tim whispered.
Steph nodded while trying to hold back any remaining giggles. "Yeah, I know. Oh well." She lowered her voice to whisper, "They don't call them secret ID's for no reason," and playfully winked at him.
The handrail descended in their laps and Tim clenched it tightly, anticipation rising.
The cart lurched forward and with Steph's yell of "Whoohoo!" the ride began.
...
Meanwhile, a Robin was Playing Hide and Seek…
Dick was searching frantically for the demon child. Anywhere he could think to look, up, down, left, right, and he was nowhere to be found. He was now walking in circles and anxiety was starting to take its toll until a voice called out, "Why hello handsome, are you lost?"
Dick did what he always did whenever any female called him handsome no matter how young or old. He smiled his award winning smile that could rival any politician's. This woman turned out to be young, no older than twenty-eight, and she had red hair, which, may it be noted, is his favorite type on women. There is nothing sexier than red heads. Anyway, she had on a typical white polo shirt with a Mickey Mouse logo on her right and an employee ID looped around her neck. She also had a clipboard, more likely to give off the appearance of professionalism than of any useful application.
"Um... not really…" he started, until he realized that this woman may be useful. He increased the wattage of his smile. "Actually, I'm looking for someone. Maybe you've seen him." He looked her up and down and decided to go for it. "And for the record, you're not that bad looking yourself." He gave a wink for added effect and was rewarded with her giving a girlish giggle and a slight blush in return.
"Oh, well I…" she tucked a stray red curl behind her ear, and gave a tentative smile. "What do you need help with?"
"Oh, right." Dick straightened and held up a hand to his chest. "Well, he's about this tall. Has black hair, and blue eyes." He dropped his hand and narrowed his eyes, thinking. "Probably has cotton candy with him, and he's ten"-
"Wait." As he was talking the employee's smile dampened with each word he said until a frown replaced it entirely. "You have a kid?" she asked, trying and failing to mask the disappointment she felt from her voice.
He blinked until what she asked fully sank in. "Huh? Oh god no! My little brother. I meant I'm looking for my little brother," Dick stated, feeling like someone walked over his grave with just the thought that the little psycho could be in any biological way related to him, no offense to Bruce.
"Oh!" she said, perking up again. "Well in that case, so many kids have passed by… I don't think I would have noticed him…" She smiled, already attaching herself to his arm like a barnacle. "But how about I help you look? Hmm?" She fluttered her eyelashes and gazed up at him with what she considered a seductive expression, but what was really a parody of a Disney princess. It seemed like someone had been taking lessons from some of the employees who were impersonators.
"That'd be great! So gorgeous, you have a name?" said, flirting for all he was worth. He deserved it. It had been a rough day for him.
"Name's Mindy. And yours?" Mindy inquired, planning to lure him to one of the hotspots where all the imperators go to make out with guests or other employees she was told about, until someone ruined the mood when they shouted, "I WILL STAB YOUR EYES OUT AND RIP OUT EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YOUR FINGERS IF YOU EVER DARE TO LAY YOUR PEASANT HANDS ON ME!"
Catching both Dick's and Mindy's attention, they turned their heads, only to see that it was a ten year old threatening Goofy with extreme bodily harm. Dick internally groaned. Of course it would be Damian. Of course.
He turned to Mindy with a rueful look. "Guess I found my brother."
"That's your brother?" Mindy asked, blinking in disbelief.
Dick held in a sigh. "Unfortunately." He returned to his smile, albeit a forced one. "Look. Mindy, it was a pleasure meeting you. But I'm afraid that now we have to part ways. I have to go before my"-monster demonic hell spawn spoiled brat- "darling little brother gets himself into…"
"DIEEE! Pedophile!" Damian snarled, teeth bared, and a wild look in his eyes. He was fully immersed in his demon side, but it seemed that he had the restraint to not kill anyone, always a plus in Dick's book.
Damian then lunged at the poor employee impersonating Goofy. It appeared that Damian was trying to stab him with a cotton candy stick, to what end, had no clue. What he did know was that Damian wasn't ever going to have access to cotton candy again as long as he lived.
"Trouble," finished, wincing as Goofy struggled to get the cotton candy overdosed child off of him. "I gotta go," he said, giving an apologetic look to Mindy before dashing off to save the beloved cartoon character.
Goofy was still struggling on the ground, none of his customary laughs present as he was trying to dislodge the demon from atop his person. He cried out, "All I did was offer you a hug!" Damian's only response to that was to bite the hand that was trying to push his head away. Goofy then let a surprisingly in-character high pitched yell of "Ahh-ah-uhh-whooo-heee," while shaking his hand to get the rabid child to let go, which only resulted in said hand hurting even more.
Damian finally spat the hand out of his mouth, blood on his lips, which meant that Damian had caused enough damage that the blood leaked through Goofy's glove. Damian ripped the mask off, revealing an employee completely and utterly terrified of the child. Damian curled his hand into a fist, raised it up high to make sure the employee would see it coming. The employee wasn't able to turn away and avoid it, and like the heaviest hammer, Damian's fist was brought down on Goofy's face. Goofy gave another yell, this one not in character, but an honest exclamation of pure agonizing pain. "AND THAT'S THE LAST ONE YOU'LL EVER OFFER!" Damian replied with evil glee.
It was at that point that Dick was able to butt in. He gave an awkward chuckle and said, "Kids, huh?" while prying Damian off, his grip unyielding. Like hell he was going to let him out of his sight again for even a second. "They just love Disney characters." He tossed Damian onto his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. The kid started to pound on his shoulders in protest, making noises only wild animals would make. Dick didn't even wince.
Tired of this whole trip, he sighed. Looking down at Goofy he tried to look as contrite as he felt. "I am so sorry, Mr. Goofy."
Goofy was holding his nose protectively with both hands, blood spurting out like a geyser. "He broke my nose!" he wheezed. "I impersonate Pinocchio tomorrow! You think I can do that with a broken nose?!"
Tears running down his cheeks, he exclaimed, "You better exercise that kid or I swear to Walt Disney that I'll shackle him to the 'It's A Small World' ride and never let him off it!"
Seeing that there was nothing Dick could really say to that, he turned around and left, Damian still hauled over his shoulder.
"DAMNIT GRAYSON! RELEASE ME AT ONCE! I'LL DESTROY HIM! I'LL KILL HIM! I"LL MAKE SURE THAT HIS EXISTENCE IS ONLY FILLED WITH THE PAIN OF A THOUSAND SUNS!" Damian demanded, trying to escape from Dick's grasp.
"Aaand this is exactly why I said you couldn't have any more sugar." Dick said cheerfully, feeling anything but. With his free hand he took out his cell and called Tim.
...
Meanwhile, the two robins were getting with the season…
The ride came to a stop and the railing lifted. With a shy smile, Tim jumped up and offered Steph a hand to get out. She smiled back and accepted it. They were but a foot apart, oblivious to the surrounding people also getting out. Tim was near beaming, as much as Tim could ever beam. The ride was everything he could've hoped for, and he suspected the experience was even more enjoyable with the thrill experiencing something the others hadn't. The fact that Steph was the one to push him to action was not lost on him. His hand still grasped hers from lifting her out and he didn't feel like letting go yet. Tim's uplifting mood was cut short, however, by his cell ringing with the "Inspector Gadget" theme song. He reluctantly let go of her hand and checked to see who it was. His smile deflated and he froze. "Aw, crap."
Steph rocked back on her heels, and asked, "What is it?" still laughing from the leftover adrenaline from the ride.
Panicking, Tim replied, "It's Dick! What do I say?" Peering around he continued, "He'll definitely hear the screaming. Then he'll know we were on the ride, and then he'll be mad at us, then…"
Rolling her eyes, Steph snatched the phone from his shaking grasp.
"Has anyone ever told you that you worry too much?" She pressed a button and Dick's voice came on. "Dick, we're busy. What'd ya want?!" she said into the phone, belligerent, hand on her hip in defiance.
"I found him. And it seems like he's been taking lessons from Jason." There was a pause before he said, "Wait. Why is there screaming? Are… Are you guys on a ride?!"
Steph grimaced and brought out one of her lollipop wrappers from her bag and crunched it right where the speaker was for the phone. "What?! Can't hear-" More rubbing of the wrapper. -"Bad connection! I'll call you in bit! Byeee." Smiling in triumph, she hung up and returned the cell to Tim, who stared at her, dumbfounded. She laughed. "See? Everything's fine. Oh, and he found Dami."
Tim then did something he did not calculate nor anticipate, an impulse that he surprisingly found he could not ignore in that moment; not with how Steph showed him a spot of enjoyment on an otherwise trying day, not with her easy, if ridiculous ways of handling situations, and not with how she's smiling at him now, mirth in her eyes as she always seem to have. So vibrant. And she filled him with that vibrancy, if only for a while, and suddenly, he found that he needed that.
All these thoughts were spinning in his quick mind for a span of two seconds before he brought his hands up to cup her face and leaned in, a brush of his lips against hers.
Steph reacted as she does with everything, dramatically and memorable. She pulled him closer and buried a hand in his hair. Tim jumped a bit, but settled into the pace she set. If the two love birds noticed that they drew a crowd in a place that was G-rated in opposition to their non-G-rated actions, they did not care, nor did they stop.
That is, until a certain ex-robin/vigilante/anti-hero/the one most excluded at family meetings witnessed the spectacle and put in his two cents. "Damn Swan Queen, didn't know you had it in you! Though I suppose it is mating season…"
Steph and Tim broke apart as if dynamite was attached to their lips.
A/N: And aw yeah we're leaving it there, Thanks beta!
p.s. A review would be nice too!