Wonder Boy (Robin Love Story)

IX

"Harder."

I grunt,  starting to pant as I do what he says.

"Come on, Rose. Harder!" Dick yells but I can see he is having difficulty standing still.

"Oh for Hera's sake, Dick, I can't!"

"Yes, you can," he looked straight into my eyes and spoke firmly, "think about something that makes you angry and punch!"

So I took a deep breath and started up again. But this time, I thought of my parents and their murders, I thought about my brother, how he was lifelessly laying on that cold floor, I thought about every feeling and anger I kept bottled up for the past fourteen years and I punched that bag like it was all my problems jumbled together. I finally packed one last punch which sent Dick skidding a meter or so back.

"That was good," he smiled before he noticed my frown, "you ok?"

I thought for a bit before answering, taking a seat on the floor against the cold, stone wall, patting the empty spot beside me lightly.

"Yeah, I just-" I started of, not knowing how to explain my 'hero thing' to him, "I'm thinking of doing something crazy. Something I know would benefit me and especially others but it could be," i paused, trying to find the right word to describe the situation without him thinking I'm in danger, "hard, you know what I mean?"

Dick smiled and handed me a water bottle packed with ice. He then tucked a single strand of loose hair behind my ear.

"Then do it."

"But what if-"

"Rose," he cut off, "sometimes you have to ignore the warnings in your head and just do what you want to do. No questions asked."

He paused for a second, looking at me with a funny expression plastered on his face.

"Remember how I told you I lived in a circus?" I nodded, "one day, I was so terrified, I wanted to miss my first day onstage. I sat in the corner, refusing to talk until my mother came in with peanut butter cookies - those are my favourites - and said; 'Dick, you'll never know if you can fly unless you take the risk of falling.' From then on, I always took a chance, especially while performing."

"She sounds amazing." I tell him, placing my hand softly on his shoulder. He smiled up at me sadly and squeezed my resting hand.

"She had eyes like yours, you know, I always found them to be a beautiful type of grey."

And before anything else could be said, Alfred strolled in, formally inviting us to attend his hard-made dinner. With a laugh, Dick and I went down to the dining room with out pointer fingers discreetly intertwined.

<><><>

"I just feel so whelmed right now." Robin says, laying his head against the tree.

"What's 'whelmed'?" I laughed, making a face in his direction, wishing I could see under the mask. I've just been spending so much time with Dick, I decided to change up my friends every once in a while. Being friends with the son of a millionaire can get overloading sometimes, but it's not like being friends with a side hero helps.

"It's a word," he laughs, "I think I made it up but like in between underwhelmed and overwhelmed, i think it means I'm fine?"

"I like it." I confirm, taking in his confident aura, his charming laugh and how his eyes crinkle slightly at the edges, almost making his domino mask slip off. "How did you come up with it?"

He bit the inside of his cheek in concentration, Dick does that as well; every time he's thinking about something he doesn't exactly remember and he's finding the right words, he bites the inside of his cheek and blurts out the story in one breath. Something I find adorable.