There was one thing Dick was sure of by the time they had arrived at the mall. Wally could talk; seriously, he could chat up a storm. The redhead hadn't been lying before when he said he could talk enough for the two of them. Richard was actually impressed. Wally cut the engine and looked over to his new companion with a semi-curious look.

"So what exactly are we here for?" They unbuckled their seatbelts, stepped out of the car and looked toward the huge building that was the Gotham Shopping Center. It was quite an impressive building if you asked Wally; nothing like this existed where he was from.

"Just running a few errands for Babs, picking up some things-supplies and stuff." He met the redhead's gaze.

"Oh, wow, so you can speak more than a few words at a time." He joked and cracked a grin.

"Sorry, I'm kind of shy around new people I guess." The brunet lied, not wanting to tell Wally the real reason.

"It's fine dude; I'll grow on ya in no time." He walked up to Richard and extended his hand. "We never officially introduced ourselves. I'm Wally West."

Dick took the offered hand. "Richard Grayson." A small smile grew on his face. "Shall we? I don't want to take up your entire day." He reluctantly let go of the older boy's hand and started making his way toward the building.

"Eh, it's fine. I've got nothing better to do at all. I was actually glad to do this for your cousin." Wally said as he started to follow.

"Babs mentioned you were new to Gotham?" Richards blue eyes glanced over his shoulder. He smiled a bit at the awe struck look on Wally's face as he looked around the shopping center. The city was nothing like Wally imagined; no building was under 3 stories high and everything looked so…new. He had been told that Gotham was a dark and seedy place with crime happening on every corner, which was true for the poorer outskirts. The upper part though was a bustling, sparkling metropolis, not unlike, well, Metropolis.

"Yeah I used to live in Iowa with my parents, then Kansas with my uncle till I finished high school." The redhead said, looking down at his small companion.

"What brought you here?" The brunet asked absentmindedly as Wally fell in step with him.

"Well you see my dad was a real dick, I mean really real dick he would-"

Dick paused for a second, Wally not noticing and kept walking and talking, and came a resolution. He has never failed at anything before and he won't fail this mission his only friends had entrusted to him. Richard Grayson was going to turn on the charm and seduce Wally West because he didn't fail!

-oOo-

Richard was failing horribly. Every time he tried to turn on his so called "charm" it only made the redhead laugh or pat him on the head and call him cute; completely embarrassing really.

When they tried on clothes Dick tried that whole "turn redressing into a modeling display". You know, like in the movies! He couldn't hold Wally's attention. Green eyes kept shifting to passing by skirts. Dick gave up, Wally was straight-or he just wasn't what he was looking for.

Shoulders slumped they both headed to the food court to get some chow. It didn't help that Wally and Dick had, for all that the brunet could tell, nothing in common. Dick was a mathlete, chess pro and all around nerd while Wally…wasn't.

He wasn't sure at this point if this was a mission failure or success. The redhead held no interest in Dick, that would be his own fault though, and he was flirting with girls-ogling them even.

He sat at a metal table in the mall's food court, a plate holding his favorite sushi roll in front of him. On the other side of the table sat Wally and 3 whoppers, two large fries, chicken fries and a large shake.

"You're seriously going to eat all that?" Dick asked cautiously.

"Mmmmhm!" He grinned and licked his lips as he stared down at his try of Burger King grub. He glanced over to his companion's plate and scrunched up his nose. "What is that?" He eyed it suspiciously.

"It's uh, sushi. Dragon Roll. You've never heard of sushi?" Dick said in amazement.

"I've heard of it, never seen it before. Nothing like that where I come from. Well there was a sushi place I was going to eat at for the first time back in central but someone came out puking and I high tailed it out of there." He frowned and looked at Dick a bit concerned.

"Don't worry; I've eaten here tons of times. No food poisoning yet." He said, half chuckling at Wally's expression. He picked up his chop sticks and without much effort put a piece of the sushi in his mouth.

"Dude! You know how to use those!" Green eyes widened comically as Wally shouted in slight astonishment. Dick found his antics very amusing and really cute.

"Yup, wanna try a piece?" Richard held out a piece for Wally to grab half way out over the table. He was surprised however when said red head leaned over the table and took the sushi with his mouth. Dick blushed and retracted his hand as if it had been too close to fire. Chewing thoughtfully with his hand on his chin, eyes gazing into space, Dick's reaction went unnoticed but the red head.

"That was not bad, not bad at all." Wally beamed.

"Glad you, uh, like it." Dick stuttered. "There's an even better sushi place near my house if you want to go sometime."

"I am so down!" Wally fist pumped into the air. As Dick returned to eating with the etiquette that Alfred had hammered into him for high society life, Wally unwrapped his burger and tore into it like an animal. Dick wasn't sure if he was even chewing him food or just taking big bites and swallowing. He had even paused in his own eating to observe the gross yet entrancing creature in front of him.

The way this boy was eating you'd think he sparsely ate, if at all. "Hey dude, something wrong?" Wally inquired with his mouth still full.

"Uh yeah, no," Dick looked away from the sight and returned his eating. The red head swallowed the food in his mouth.

"You know, I don't know why I'm surprised that you eat like that."

The brunet paused. "Like what?"

Wally tapped his chin, he grinned at the slightly confused look he was getting. "Like, all high society!" He flailed his arms. "You took your blazer off, elbows off the table, hand under your food to make sure nothing falls. I bet you drink tea with your pinky up!" He laughed.

"I can't help it; it's how I was taught!" Dick said half frustrated. Blue eyes looked away, cheeks tinted red. Truth be told, if Dick was really comfortable with you he'd eat like a pig too-case in point, last night at the dinner.

"Hey, hey! I didn't mean anything by it. I just thought it was kinda funny." He grinned. The brunet could swear he'd never blushed this much in his life.

Dick huffed before going back to his food and Wally back to his. They sat in silence, enjoying the bustle of the mall as well as Wally's obnoxious eating sounds.

"So-" Dick started when he finished his sushi which was surprisingly after Wally, who was leaning back in his chair and patting his stomach, had finished all his food. "Are you like, dating Artemis? I heard Babs mention something about that."

"I'm still not sure about that girl. I mean I think she's cute, hot even! But she comes off as such a-"

"Grouch?"

"Yeah! Also I just got here and I don't think I'm ready for anything serious. I'm not a hit it and quit it type of guy so I think I'm just gonna wait and see how things play out." Well that explained a lot. Now he has something to report back to Artemis. "So quick question." Wally said suddenly. "Have we gotten everything we need?" He pointed to the bags that Dick had acquired throughout their mall journey. He was really hoping he would be reimbursed…this place wasn't cheap.

"Oh, yeah I guess. Unless there was something you wanted to do?"

"Well actually yeah I do. I wanna hit up the arcade I saw on the fifth floor. It looked glorious!"

"Dude, I'm so down. I love this arcade!" Finally a connection.

The boys made their way, and by made their way I meant sprint, to the arcade. Once inside of the dimly lit room, which was covered wall to wall with screen, and games, they ran over to the coin machine. Both Wally and Dick deposited a five dollar bill and were rewarded with handfuls of quarters. They paused and glanced at each other before both exclaiming "Call of Duty!" and rushed over to the empty screen where they spent the better part of two hours being the loudest customers.

The sun was setting when Dick arrived at the Gordon residence. He unbuckled his seatbelt about to take his leave when Wally stopped him. "Hey dude!" Dick paused halfway out the door.

"Yeah?"

"It was really fun hanging out with you and we should totally do it again soon!" He took Dick's hand and pulled it over in front of him. Said teen looked at him curiously as the redhead grabbed a sharpie from his cup holder and scribbled on Dick's skin. When he released Dicks hand the brunet left the car and closed the door letting Wally know it was okay to speed off.

For a minute Dick stood there dumbstruck as he looked at the seven digits that Wally had written on his palm. The red head had given him his number and he couldn't be more elated. He walked up to the front door of Bab's house about to ring the bell but stopped when the door swung open to reveal his "cousin" who yanked him inside and slammed the door.

"So, how'd it go? Huh?" She looked at him excitedly.

He closed his palm that very second, hiding his hand behind his back.

"It went uh, well…I guess. He's not gay though…He just doesn't want anything serious or a one night stand right now since he just got into town. That's what he told me anyway."

Barbara held her chin for a second, looking at Dick suspiciously causing him to squirm and fidget under her gaze. "Okay!" She chirped. "I'll let Arty know. They're going out tonight on a date so I'll tell her to expect no changes." She started walking down the hall and deeper into the house leaving Dick at the front door looking down at the tiles; dejected look on his face. "One less thing to worry about, right?" She didn't look back. He stoned his face and followed.

-oOo-

Wally found himself at a pizzeria located a few blocks from his apartment with Artemis. She sat across from him, slowly sipping her coke looking as if this was the last thing she wanted to be doing. "Something wrong, Beautiful?" He asked before stuffing a slice of pepperoni into his mouth.

Artemis frowned slightly. "No." She lied. The in fact was something wrong. She had gotten a text earlier from Babs saying that Wally wasn't exactly looking for, well, anything at the moment making the blond feel like she was wasting her time. "How was your day with Dick by the way?" She said, knowing it would distract him.

"I actually had a lot of fun! That little dude is so not how I imagined. You know, all prim and proper, 'better than thou' types. I'd really like to hang with him again." Wally beamed. Artemis arched an eyebrow at the look Wally was wearing.

He seemed to…glow…when he described his day. When he described Dick.