Wally West {Flash} (buzzes) wrote in thedisplaced, @ 2018-01-30 19:46:00 |
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“Lost City of Atlantis, huh? Well, I found it! Finders keepers, hey Rob?” Wally announced as he exited off the boat, walking along the boarding pier toward dry land and grinning cheekily at his best friend who was right beside him. He was happy to get off the boat and was excited when he read the brochure. Unfortunately, Garth didn’t appear to welcome them to the city like Wally had hoped for but he knew all too well that he couldn’t have everything. “Do you want to come exploring with me?” Wally asked as they got further away from the boat. “Or do you want to make sure your family are settled in first?” The speedster didn’t want to steal Dick away from his family if that’s what he wanted to do. As much as they said he was an honorary Bat, Wally still felt like an outsider sometimes and hated the idea that he was intruding. It was kind of the same feeling when he thought of talking to Iris and Barry. Technically they were on their honeymoon so interrupting that was a barrel of awkward. Bart was cool, though. So if Dick didn’t want to explore with him, he’d go find his cousin. Laughing at Wally's antics, Dick shook his head slightly, the city’s title was always a source of amusement to him. It wasn't lost in his world, it was just hidden from surface dwellers. “Great! Now we can stop looking for it and relax.” Relax. He wondered if he was actually capable of doing that anymore. After the Crime Syndicate, dying, “dying” and being with Spyral, he wasn't so sure he could. “They're big enough to look out for themselves, Damian will message me if he requires my attention.” Dick smiled as he mimicked his little brother’s way of speaking. “Besides I don't know if they’ll want to explore or not, Jason might get lost in the Library on purpose.” Reaching across, he took hold of Wally's hand, “no running off without me, okay?” Relax - that was kind of a foreign concept to a vigilante. But Wally was willing to give it a try. Hopefully unwind even just a little bit. Wally snorted in laughter when Dick mimicked Damian. He liked the kid but damn was he intense at times. The speedster nodded his head in agreement with everything else Dick had to say. “Well, at least if Jason is in the Library we can’t lose him. But I’m sure Alfred will drag him out to eat like he used to at the manor.” The light static buzz tingled his hand pleasantly as Dick took hold of it. Their relationship was evolving. It had been since their trip to New York. Wally shifted his fingers to thread between Dick’s and his grin softened to a warm smile as their eyes met. “Promise.” “That’s true, he’ll be safe with his books,” Dick worried about all his siblings, though he tried not to let them know. If Jay was hidden away in the library for too long, he knew Alfred would be able to get the younger Robin out. The static made him smile and when Wally laced their fingers together the buzzing grew the tiniest bit. “Good,” he returned the smile with a fond one of his own and tugged lightly on the speedster’s arm. “So where to first? Beach? Underwater?” The vigilante honestly didn’t mind where they started their tour, he was just glad to have solid ground under his feet again for a change. He was used to the motion of the ship, never having been one to suffer from seasickness, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t glad to be on land again. As he was tugged, Wally bumped his shoulder against Dick’s lightly. He too never suffered from seasickness but his balance had been thrown slightly by being on the boat for so long. He continued to move with a gentle sway even though the ground wasn’t moving beneath his feet, shoulder continuing to bump Dick’s every third or fourth step. “The beach actually sounds ideal.” Wally veered them toward the path that forked off the main road and lead to the beach if the sign was any indication. “I know I should be sick of water by now but it just feels right going to the beach when the weather’s like this. Right?” It seemed a few of the other ship dwellers had a similar idea but Wally paid them no attention, the person he wanted to explore the island with was right beside him. “In a way, I’m kind of glad Garth’s not here. I don’t think he’d like to see his city so… commercialised and full of tourists.” Of course, Wally missed their teammates. He hadn’t seen them in seven years. But he wasn’t expecting any of them to drop in any time soon. He stopped walking when they found a semi-secluded bit of beach that no one else had claimed yet. Letting go of Dick’s hand, he swung the small bag he had off his shoulder and pulled out a towel he borrowed off the ship to lay on the sand, inviting Dick to sit when it was all spread out. Sitting down, Wally fished into the bag again and pulled out two protein bars and offered one to Dick. “I’d like to try some of the places to eat in the market later. Would you like to come with?” Wally asked casually, leaning back on his elbows against the towel. “My treat?” Wally’s rolling gait made Dick smile a little, seemed as if he wasn’t the only one to have adjusted to the ship’s movements, though his balance was a little better than the Speedster’s. “Beach it is then,” the vigilante let Wally lead him in the direction of the shore, looking around at all the other passengers who had likewise decided to escape for the day. “Right, definitely beach weather.” He hadn’t been to the beach in a while, in fact he’d almost developed an aversion to sand after his time stranded in the desert with the meta-hearted baby. The change of pace should be welcome, and he would try his hardest to relax, but there was still that part of his mind that wouldn’t switch off. He was definitely more like Bruce than he wanted to be at times. “He definitely wouldn’t understand what was happening, though I’m not sure how alike the two cities are. Garth might not even make the connection between the two. I mean, the merpeople here might have tails and such, like the ones in Peter Pan. His kind don’t.” Dick shrugged, scratching the side of his neck, “I miss him.” As Wally patted the towel beside him, Dick took the free spot and stretched out, leaning back on his elbows and looking out at the waves. “I’m good thanks,” he said in response to the offered protein bar. They weren’t his favourite snack, besides Wally’s metabolism needed them more so having the spare might be useful. “Sure, that sounds good.” Dick smiled, adjusting his sunglasses slightly. Wally nodded as Dick brought up some very good points in relation to the city and how their friend might have interpreted it. He glanced away with a soft sigh before looking back. “I miss him too. All of them.” Giving Dick another purposeful bump and what he thought to be an uplifting smile, Wally tried to see the positive. “I still believe they’ll turn up eventually. Then we can lecture them on punctuality.” Shrugging, Wally put the rejected protein bar back in the bag and tore open the packaging on his own, munching on it in comfortable silence for a moment. His eyes watched Dick as his friend’s eyes were trained on the waves. There was no doubt in the speedster’s mind that his fellow Titan was thinking of something. Plotting and planning. Wally wasn’t sure whether that was a good thing or not. Some people probably wouldn’t think it was healthy but then those people probably didn’t understand Dick like Wally did. Wally knew that his best friend needed to have a plan. That he had the need to keep everyone safe. The speedster felt the same need, such was the curse of being a hero. He smiled when Dick agreed to go with him to try some of the places to eat. Sometimes he wondered if he annoyed others with his eating habits but Dick had never complained to his face about it and any teasing was in jest. “You know I meant it as a date, right?” Green eyes watched, waiting for a reaction. Wondering if Dick was too preoccupied with his other thoughts that he was just agreeing to anything. “Lectures never went down well with our team from what I can remember.” Dick grinned, letting his mind go back to when they’d just formed the Titans. Teen Titans in those days. He’d been out from under Batman’s wing for the first time, not long after the Joker had got a lucky shot off and terrified Bruce enough to fire him from being Robin. “Though I suppose we can give it a try, they might listen.” To say there was a lot on his mind was an understatement. He was torn between wanting to take the vacation at face value and being suspicious as hell about the situation. Something at the back of his mind wouldn’t let him fall to the boat’s charms and he’d felt on edge for the past few days. So much so that he stayed out on patrol far longer than his designated shift. “Yeah... wait, what? Do I have to dress up nice?” Dick turned his attention back to Wally, a little smile on his lips as he used humor to cover the sudden butterflies in his stomach. They hadn’t been on an actual date yet, even though they’d figured out what they felt for each other over New Years, the opportunity hadn’t presented itself before they found themselves on the ship. A little amused huff of air escaped the speedster at the true statement Dick just made. His own mind going back to the early days of the Titans. Dick was just a kid and Wally, being a little older, didn’t think a kid was fit to be a leader. There were a few teething problems with the team at first but at the end of the day Dick had proved Wally wrong. Wally would follow Dick to the ends of the Earth if that was what Dick wanted to do. More amusement, and a bit of relief, appeared on Wally’s face at the way Dick flustered slightly. Wally had known Dick for way too long to not realise the humour was a cover. Shifting his hand over on the towel, Wally’s fingers latched onto Dick’s. “Completely up to you. I think you look nice in everything.” He paused for a single beat before there was a cheeky curl upward of his lips. “Out of everything too.” In his own mind, Wally was cheering that Dick agreed to a proper date with him. But it also brought about his own questions. Was Dick expecting something fancy and elaborate that dressing up was required? Or would he be okay with getting burgers and having a picnic somewhere outside the rush of the city? “I was thinking maybe getting some food take away and finding a quiet spot to ourselves and have a picnic.” Wally confessed, deciding it was better to lay it all out for Dick to decide. “Unless you want to go to a restaurant. I read that there were some places under the water.” The hand taking hold of his made him glance down and he wiggled his fingers slightly against Wally’s, grateful for the steadying touch. He didn’t know what he was nervous for, this was Wally, he wasn’t likely to take him somewhere with a million different knives and forks laid out next to the plates. (He hoped). The compliment earned the red head a bashful smile, before the follow up had him snorting with laughter. “Should have known you couldn’t keep it clean for long.” Watching his boyfriend from behind dark lenses, he wondered what was running through his head as Wally went quiet for a moment. He honestly wouldn’t mind where they went, so long as the food was good it didn’t matter, because the company was all he really cared about. “A picnic sounds perfect.” Dick smiled and gave Wally’s hand a little squeeze. “I’m not too sure about eating underwater, or growing gills.” His free hand drifted to his neck, rubbing it absently as he thought about where the gills would come in if they took that concoction to make them appear. It didn’t sound all that appealing, especially not when he had a rebreather he could use if he wanted to look at the submerged city that badly. It was good to hear Dick laugh and relax more. Wally didn’t want Dick to assume that his expectations of him had changed just because they were giving the whole relationship thing a go. However, Wally’s own mind wondered if Dick’s expectations of him had changed so perhaps the laughter could be taken as a reassurance to both of them. “I was just implying that I like you without clothes.” Wally’s voice took on a playfully innocent tone, keeping the banter going because that was normal for them to do so. “If your mind took a turn for the dirty, then that’s on you, gorgeous.” The little hand squeeze spoke volumes, telling him that a picnic was exactly the right answer for a date. “Agreed on the gills,” Wally nodded, the idea of it just didn’t feel appealing at all. He could handle the eating underwater and traveling in bubbles or whatever. It was just the gills that was putting him off it. “Okay, picnic date it is.” |