Re: Grayson and Raleigh
"I appreciate the vote of confidence, but I'm a little rusty in that department. Thankfully, I have friends who exercise a little more influence in that area." He raised his glass to Lucius Fox, who raised his own back to Dick. Lucius glanced at Lizzy and then nodded at Dick with an expression of approval. Sly old bat.
Dick blinked. That was weird on a few levels.
"Bruce thinks I'm sort sort of natural leader, so he's asked me to..."
Grayson paused, when he realized what he said. He still expected Bruce to show up any minute. He still couldn't think of him as gone, even at his own funeral. His voice shaken, Dick cleared his throat and tried to correct himself. "He thought. Bruce thought I... I'm sorry, Liz." His composure was failing. It was time to head to the cave again. Hard work always seemed to distract him from thinking about this stuff.
He remembered his high school years. The death of his parents was still fresh and the wound still rough, but they were also simpler times, and it was easy to see the silver lining with a man who treated him like a son at his back. Dick downed the water quickly.
"It really is nice to see you again. I do want to explore our options." He offered a polite kiss on the cheek, then stepped back, placing his glass on a display table with a floral arrangement. "Call me. I'll tell my people to expect a call from you, yes?" He smiled again, then without further delay marched off down the hall and toward the one thing that let him escape the thoughts that threatened to crush him.