Re: Barbara and Dick
"I've been called far worse," she said with a small grin. It was rare that she could joke about such things, but here? "We can always dream of such things. Or at least to replace those who layabout and do nothing with some who will be good for those whom the King protects." She offered him a tilt of her head as if to say that the ball was in his court. But really, listening to what he said next, it was in hers...
They'd been over this many times before, without ever going this far into the reasons or the discussions. It had been something that she'd long thought to be idle foolishness of a prince who - at first - had wanted her to keep around, then who thought it the game of Courtly Love, but this... the way he spoke, it was different. And all her stubbornness wasn't about to avoid this any longer. Especially when it seemed right, her reasons for leaving Gotham once and for all on the morrow for New York had been to start fresh. But... how could she?
"Your words speak of passions that would beat out from your heart, highness," the words for once weren't teasing. They were muted, as if she were afraid of saying the wrong thing. This had always been such a delicate balance between them... She wet her lips a bit, looking down at her hands and his face. The lights were setting a mood and for this moment, she knew the answer. No Fates, no sight. She wanted to stand with him - as for long as she could at least... She'd been fighting it for long enough, trying to put his best interests and what was 'right' ahead of them. Doing the noble thing. The right thing. "I know you, Richard. You don't just want this moment you want this, all those to come as well."
A soft look crossed her face as she squeezed his hand. He had said as much himself. She looked up at him, with a soft smile on her lips. "You never ask me the question everyone else does," she said seeming to be a nonsequitor. "Not once." Implied yes, but he knew better than to really ask. "You ought ask it now..." There was a hint of a smile on her lips as she said it.