milliways_bar | (no subject)

Entry tags:

dick grayson,
x-23

(no subject)

The eleven year old boy entering the bar is bright eyed and alert, sporting a smile that touches his eyes in a deeper way than has really been seen in some months.

(Although maybe he'll never get all the brightness back, but doesn't everyone lose that at some point?)

He even stays on ground level, but he does pop restlessly onto the balls of his feet looking for someone he might know (and one person in particular) on his way to the bar. There, he perches on a barstool to order his drink.

It's a smoothie, in keeping with his new stricter dietary regime.

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X taps him on the shoulder on her way up into the rafters.

It's like an invitation?

Oh.

Okay, if she's going to invite him...

Dick grabs his drink and follows her up, landing beside her and tapping his shoulder into hers as he settles into a crouch.

"Guess what?"

X leans back, just for a second.

Then, awkwardly --

"I am bad at guessing."

Just so he knows up front.

Oh, that's okay. He grins at her instead.

"I saved Batman's life."

X does not look startled, just nudges her shoulder against Dick's. Twice.

It's like saying 'good job'.

Then she pauses, head tilting very slightly.

"You will do it again?"

"Yeah, probably."

He smiles down at the rafters below them, looking for anyone listening, before he adds: "because I'm his partner now."

X does not smile back, but it is close.

(She is also keeping an ear out for anyone who might be within listening range.)

Just to check --

"It is what you want?"

It's not much of a question, given everything, but still.

Dick grins wider, almost laughing at her.

"Now you sound like Alfred," he says, slightly chiding, in the same tone someone might use to say 'you sound like my Mom.'

But he understands the question.

"Yeah. It was my idea. I made the costume, picked the name, everything. But we're doing it together."

X does not make a face.

Really.

"Good."

Beat.

"It is easier. To be something. When it is yours."

Sometimes it is important to state the obvious.

"I will be allowed to see it? The costume."

She's curious.

"Um."

Yeah, he kind of wants her to see it, but that's complicated because he can't really bring it here, can he? And he's not sure Bruce will be happy about inviting her back to the cave, even if she is Bruce's girlfriend in another world.

"You kind of already have. It's like the one I wore in the circus."

X understands. It is why she asked.

Speaking of family --

"Oh."

Her voice is only a little quiet.

Beat.

"It will be good for mobility."

"Yeah."

Dick understands that it's sad, that he's lost that. But he's thinking more about how important it is that he's honouring his parents by doing this.

"Better than all that heavy armour, anyway."

"Dodging is helpful."

They can both agree on that.

(Not that X has to worry as much. Still.)

"Camouflage will not be important?"

"Because of the yellow?"

Dick shrugs his shoulders, unconcerned. "Not if I work on stealth so no one's got a reason to look at me."

X does not grin.

"You have been able to reach the chandelier unnoticed?"

"Yeah," Dick replies, satisfied. "Any of 'em. And I can follow a suspect for ten blocks without him even noticing."

X considers this.

"You always catch them? Within ten blocks."

Good job, Dick.

He beams under the approval.

"No, sometimes we're just following them to see where they'll lead us. Then you don't want to catch them, and you definitely don't want them to see you."

"And when you have gathered your intel?"

She's curious.

"When we know who the big boss is, then we know whose head to beat in."

Dick's job is awesome, in case X can't tell. "Get proof for the courts and tie 'em up for the cops. B -" He can't say Batman when he's not in costume anymore. It sounds weird. And he can't talk about Bruce when he means Batman. - "he usually scares 'em enough that they'll confess to anything."

X does not smile, but it is close.

"It is better when that is anything they have done."

Not that anyone here needs reminded.

(Jokes are weird.)

Jokes are weird, but Dick personally thinks they are funnier when delivered in X (or Bruce) deadpan. He shoots her a sideways grin.

"That's usually the best outcome, yeah."

X nudges his shoulder gently.

"You still want to train? Here."

Beat.

"When there is time."

"Are you kidding?"

Of course he does!

Dick adds, hurriedly: "It's even more important now we're partners. Everything I learn training with you might save his life in the future."

X looks pleased.

Then --

"Now is good? To practice."

Beat.

"If you have been working on tracking."

A few months ago Dick might be worried about tracking someone he knows is as good as X.

Now, he smirks.

"Give you a minute head start."

"Two minutes," X says.

"You are getting better."

Then she's up and moving for the door.

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