I took one final glance in the mirror as I spruced up my blonde locks and checked to make sure lipstick was not on my teeth. My hands adjusted "the girls" that were being pleasantly boosted by a Victoria's Secret bra underneath my sleeveless, blue dress shirt. I turned around to look at my rear end in the skinny jeans that I picked out to wear this evening and nodded approval to myself at the tanned heels that completed the ensemble. My intercom buzzed as I grabbed my clutch and ran over to it, pressing the button to speak.
"Hey, I'll be down in a minute." I spoke into it as I gathered up my keys and began to lock the door behind me. I realized at that moment I'd forgotten to grab my stupid glasses and fumbled with the keys to quickly dash inside and grab them. I was to be Linda Danvers tonight, not Kara Zor-El. I supposed I had better clue Dick into that as well, I thought. I headed out the front door to meet my date at the apartment building's lobby area. I smiled as I saw Dick Grayson standing there clad in a long sleeved dress shirt and grey dress slacks. Seemed he got his sense of dress attire from the Bat, I thought.
"Well don't you look dashing," I remarked as I approached him. He ran a hand through his slightly long, ebony locks with a sheepish grin. I was sure I noticed a bit of red flushing his cheeks as well. Dick Grayson was modest, who knew.
"Thank you, though I don't think anyone could even begin to hold a candle to you," he said as I laughed and gave him a playful slap in the arm like we were in middle school.
"You're too sweet," I said as I hooked my arm within his, watching as his body stiffened for a moment.
"So where are we headed?" I asked as we walked out the lobby doors to the bustling streets of downtown Metropolis.
"Well, I wasn't entirely familiar with restaurants in Metropolis but I did some research and made a reservation at this place I thought looked really nice. Hope you like Korean food," he said as I made a 'pssh" sound with my lips before answering.
"Um, who doesn't?" I lied. Truth was, I've never had Korean food. In fact, I am more of a pizza and pasta kind of gal. Give me ALL the carbs. Seriously, wouldn't you eat any and all the carbs you could if your genetic makeup made it so you didn't gain pounds? I rest my case. That being said, I thought it was sweet that he took the time to research and not only find a place in my town, but also make a reservation ahead of time.
"Perfect, it's about a mile and a half down the road; did you want me to call a cab?" he said as he looked down at my feet clad in those three-inch heels. I smirked as I made a muscle with one of my exposed arms.
"Girl of Steel, remember? That' includes my feet," I said as I winked at him. Dick grinned widely at my comment and rubbed the back of his neck.
"You're something else entirely, Kara," he said, making me remember that the alter-ego needed to be established.
"Oh, that reminds me. In civvies, I am Linda Danvers. My cousin…is Clark Kent," I said, giving him another wink. He laughed, raising a hand to idly poke at the glasses on my face.
"I was wondering what the deal was with the glasses. Figured it might have just been a fashion statement," he said and I rolled my eyes. He had no idea how much I actually loathed these things. It still astonished me that just a pair of glasses and a different demeanor had managed to disguise Clark all these years.
"Oh please, you can blame Clark for that one. He started the glasses trend. Poor eyesight runs in the family I guess," I said, as we both shared a laugh, approaching the very, very Korean restaurant. I looked over at Dick who seemed to be practically solvating in anticipation. Meanwhile, I wondered if they offered chicken fingers on their menu. Wait, would they actually be chicken though, I thought.
We entered the restaurant and Dick gave his name to the host. I felt like I had been transported to South Korea as we were lead to a table near the back of the restaurant. One thing I did take notice of as we passed tables was that there wasn't any silverware. Well this should be interesting, I thought. Dick held my chair out for me to sit down and helped me scoot in as my eyes immediately began to survey the menu. I pretended to know what I was looking at when in reality I could have ordered squid brains and have no idea that I had done on account of the names of everything in that menu. I idly peered over the top of my menu to watch Dick as his eyes narrowed in concentration.
"See anything you like?" he asked, glancing up at me and I snapped the menu shut, placing it atop the table in front of me. I hadn't actually picked out anything.
"Yup!" I lied, leaning back in my chair with my arms folded over my chest. The waitress approached our table to ask if we were ready to order. I looked over at Dick, waiting for him to speak his order but, unfortunately, being the perfect gentleman that he is, he motioned for me to order first.
"I'll have…whatever…he is having," I said with a smile. Dick cleared his throat and leaned forward.
"Do you like…blood sausage?" he asked as my nose wrinkled in disgust, grabbing for my menu again.
"Um…I will not, be having what he is having um…" Quick, quick look at the pictures, I thought to myself. Dick smiled to himself as he looked up to the waitress.
"She'll have the Galbi and I will have the Soondae," he said, handing both our menus back to the waitress as she idly bowed her head to us. She then asked if we wanted any drinks. Dick looked over at me again.
"Did you want wine or anything, Linda?" he asked and my eyebrows rose to the sky, shaking my head.
"Oh no water is fine for me, thank you," I said as he ordered the same since apparently, I wasn't drinking. Once the waitress left I cocked my head at him.
"You can have drinks, Dick. I just don't even bother to drink alcohol anymore because I could take out an entire liquor store and still not feel a buzz," I laughed, not that I hadn't tried before…trust me, I had. Dick laughed a little himself as he sat back in his chair, kneading his fingers into the corner of the wooden table.
"I guess I didn't really think about that given your…well, you know," he quickly corrected himself. I smiled at him, leaning forward before pressing both my forearms onto the table.
"It's okay, why would you think about that?" I asked as a bit of an awkward silence fell upon us.
"You know, there's apparently this bar in Metropolis that actually serves aliens. I've never been, but I have been very curious. Apparently, they have the means to guarantee any alien a proper buzz." I looked at him, seeing if this would peek his interest.
"Really? I'd actually be able to witness your first drunken experience?" he said, his smile growing wider, apparently at the mere thought of this.
"Play your cards right tonight, Grayson, and I'll take us there," I said with a smile. I had always been curious about this place. Now was as good a time as any to test their claim. I hadn't been on a date in years and had completely forgotten about the bar's existence until the topic of alcohol arose.
Our food came and I was relieved to notice that he ordered me beef; thank anything that is Holy. I continued to embarrass myself, as I never had gotten the hang of eating with chopsticks. Dick tried to give me a quick lesson, but it turned out to be quite a messy experience. I opted to eat with my fingers since this place seriously did not have forks, not even in the back. I still think they hid them somewhere and just all laughed at how idiotic I looked trying to use the sticks as they "claimed" they didn't have forks. After we finished and rose from our seats, I looked across the table at Dick with a smile.
"Shall we see what kind of drunk I am?" I asked, grabbing my clutch from the table and moving towards the door as Dick threw down some cash for the bill. He came up beside me and held the door open.
"I sincerely hope you're not a mean drunk. Not sure if I could explain how things spontaneously caught on fire or froze." I laughed, surprised that the Boy Wonder had some jokes hidden up his sleeve.
We walked for about half a mile down the road until we came to a very seedy looking alleyway at a corner of an intersection. This intersection was the only way that I knew it was the right alley. Dick looked around a bit uneasily.
"Are you sure this is the right way?" he asked me as I started to walk down the alley.
"It is a bar that serves aliens, Dick. It is meant to be hidden. Don't worry; I'll protect you if someone tries to mug us." I smiled at him over my shoulder and he shook his head at me, following. We approached a metal slab that had a small slit in the door and I gave it a knock. The slit disappeared and two bright yellow eyes peered through it. I spoke a few words in Kryptonian and a few moments later, the door opened to pulsating techno music. I stepped in, looking over my shoulder at Dick who still seemed very hesitant. I couldn't blame him; he was certainly going to be the minority here. The same yellow-eyed alien put a hand up to stop us.
"Kryptonian, what is he?" I looked over at Dick and then back at the alien bouncer.
"Human, but he is with me." The alien nodded waving us in. This place was outright bizarre. I had never seen so many different species of aliens under one roof before. Some were in their alien form and others either were shifted to look human or were half-and-half. I looked over at Dick, nudging him with my elbow.
"Doing okay?" I asked him and he looked over at me with a smile.
"Yeah, this is just pretty wild," he said, both of us having to raise our voices to hear over the bass of the music. Dick then motioned towards the bar and we both approached it. The bartender, who had six arms, looked at us both as he flipped bottles and shakers, making use of every single hand he had.
"What species?" he asked. I was thrown off guard as I pointed to myself and then Dick.
"Kryptonian and…human." The bartender nodded and a few minutes later, he slammed two tumblers down, one in front of either of us.
"Scotch and the strongest concoction I got. You're going to need it, Kryptonian," he said with a laugh as I arched an eyebrow to the drink that honestly looked just like Mountain Dew. Dick and I both picked up our drinks and held them up, ready to toast.
"To you finally being able to get a buzz," Dick said with a sly smile. I laughed and cleared my throat.
"I'll drink to that, and here's hoping it actually works," I said as we clunked our glasses together. Dick took a good sip of his Scotch while I tossed back all of my drink. The bartender's mouth fell open as he saw me consume all of the contents. Dick noticed this and eyed me warily.
"Um, Linda, remember that's not human made liquor…," he said as I started to feel a little…I don't know, fuzzy? My lips even felt a little numb, I felt…well, amazing. A huge grin spread across my face as I stumbled backward a little. Dick immediately stepped forward to grab my forearm and I laughed as I slammed my drink on the bar top.
"Keep these coming, good sir!" I said as Dick eyed me with a look of concern. I leaned forward and used my hand to circle around his expression.
"None of this. I'm fine." Dick laughed as he grabbed our next round of drinks and motioned with his head towards a table.
"Maybe we should sit down for the rest of this escapade," he said as I nodded in agreement, plopping myself into the booth.
"So tell me how much do you hate Bruce?" I asked rather suddenly. It caught Dick off guard as he laughed, swigging down the rest of his drink before moving onto the next one.
"I don't hate him per say…I mean he was practically my father. He can just be a little overbearing," he said, playing with the rim of his glass as my arm flew into the air and then my hand slapped down to the table, which made Dick laugh again.
"Oh my god, right?! He's all, 'I don't trust you because you so desperately want me to,' or, 'The dog doesn't even like her,' or, 'Women just fall at my feet because I've got a bajillion dollars.' Well, he never said that last one, but you know he thinks it!" I said, all the while imitating Bruce's gravely deep voice. Dick stared on at me a little dumbfounded and I realized maybe I'd spoken out of turn or that I'd spoken a little too excitedly. Okay, note to self: alcohol equates to loose lips, I thought and decided that talking was not my best option. Dick adjusted in his seat as if he were about to respond to my stammers and I leaped from my chair, grabbing Dick's arm.
"This is my favorite song of all time!" I said, and it actually wasn't. I was honestly not all that sure what the song even was. Some dancier version of 'Fear The Reaper' maybe? I just needed an excuse to avoid talking. I watched Dick's eyes grow wide as I drug him out onto the dance floor.
"I'm not really much of a dancer," he started to say, but soon realized any attempts at avoiding it were futile, especially when dealing with a woman with super strength. I started to bee bop around to the music as I watched Dick remain almost motionless, as if he truly had no clue what to do, and at one point, he just stood there watching me. The song soon melted into a much slower rhythm as I sauntered up to Dick, wrapping my arms around his neck. I said I sauntered, but it was more of a tripping sort of glide and my arms wrapped around Dick's neck were about all that was holding me up now. He laughed at me as he wrapped one of my arms across his shoulders and wrapped one of his own arms about my waist.
"Let's get you home, light weight," he said as we shuffled our way out the front door. A puff of air escaped from my torso that I now know to be what humans describe as a 'burp'. I would have been embarrassed if I were cognitive enough at the time to realize I had done it, but Dick did nothing but laugh at me. Once we approached my apartment building, I spun around on my heel and placed a hand on my hips.
"I had a wonderful time. I'd really like to see you again," Dick said to me with a sheepish grin. I smiled, leaning forward to kiss him without as much as a hint of hesitation. Dick's eyebrows shot up as he kissed me back. When I pulled away, I idly started to tap my lips with my fingers. Fortunately, my drunken stupor would account for this odd behavior in Dick's eyes. The reality was, I had been checking for that same tingly feeling I had gotten when Bruce 'fake kissed' me, only to realize it wasn't there. I removed my keys from my clutch and glanced upward before looking back at him seeing if he got the hint.
"Do you…want to come up?" Dick looked like he had just been slapped in the face as his hands went up like a pair of catcher's mitts.
"Oh no, I mean-, not that I wouldn't want to or that I-I mean, I definitely find you attractive enough, it's just that-," he said as he laughed nervously and rubbed the back of his neck. I stared on at him, witnessing this inward battle with himself as my eyes went in and out of consciousness.
"I wouldn't feel right given your current…state. I will definitely take a rain check though," he said and I placed a hand over my heart before giving his shoulder a shove. A shove that was a little harder than I intended.
"Aww, you are so sweet, Richard Grayson," I said and he smiled as he absently rubbed his shoulder.
"Goodnight Kara," he said and leaned in to give my cheek a kiss. I smiled back at him before letting myself into my apartment building. Once I entered my apartment and locked the door behind me, my body collapsed onto my living room couch with a groan. I was out cold.