If there's one (more) thing that is great about Wayne Manor, it's the fact that the bathrooms in this place are freaking amazing and taking a hot bath becomes so relaxing, especially after a sparring session, that you don't even feel like getting out of the tub. Even the towels are so freaking soft, that they almost feel like clouds. Just how rich is Bruce Wayne that even the bathrooms in his house feel like mini-hotels themselves? (actually don't answer that; she knows he's pretty damn rich)
God, Aurelia loves this place, even if it's located in the literal town of gloom.
Even the room she's staying in feels like it's come straight out of a luxury penthouse or something. And bless Alfred for adding the most comfortable pillows on the bed; she's gonna take them with her when she goes back home. (not really; but Bruce Wayne can always buy more, right?)
Aurelia falls back on the bed, wearing the hoodie she stole from Dick's room while he was taking a shower. It's comfortable and the sleeves are long enough that they cover almost the entirety of her fingers. Admittedly, she looks cute in this and Dick doesn't, so it's a win for her.
"Dick Grayson...." Aurelia mumbles under her breath. For a moment, her mind flickers back to that moment during their sparring session earlier. It's weird to even think of Dick like that, even if Donna has teased her multiple times saying that they would make a good couple (even that word weirds her out; Aurelia and Dick, a couple? Nope, never gonna happen)
"Oh, shit, I needed to ask him about..." Aurelia gets out of the bed in a hurry and almost stumbles on the floor. She pushes her hair out of her face and steadies herself before she walks towards the door. Thank god, Dick's room is right in front of hers so she doesn't have to walk that far. It only takes her a few steps to walk up to his room.
"Hey, can I come in?" Aurelia asks in a loud voice as she knocks on the door. "If you haven't gone to sleep or if you aren't busy, that is."
"Yeah come in," Dick answers and she opens the door to enter. He is lying on his bed, staring at the ceiling with a grumpy face.
'Seems like he is back to being Mr. Grumpy,' Aurelia thinks to herself as she walks to his bed and sits near the edge. "I wanted to ask you something, if that's okay."
"Yes, that's -" Dick sits up, cross-legged, as he stares at her. He looks at her weirdly before asking, "Wait. Is that my hoodie you're wearing?"
"Yup, I stole it from your closet earlier. Hope you don't mind; it makes me look cute," She says with a sing song voice. "I'll give it back before I leave."
"Nah, it's fine. Keep it. Looks better on you anyway," Dick replies and she freezes, again. Did he just call her good looking? Or is she looking too deep into it?
"Thanks," Aurelia replies, ignoring the slight warmth she suddenly feels. "So what was I about to ask? Oh yeah. What happened?"
"What do you mean?"
"Why were you so angry today? Did something happen between you and Bruce?"
He let out a derisive laugh as he fiddled with the edge of the blanket. "What didn't happen, should be your question. I don't know why but he is getting on my nerves these days. I mean, he keeps on restricting me from going on patrol and before you came, and he left for that League mission, we had a fight."
"Why would he do that?" Aurelia questions. "I mean, you're a great fighter. You could totally kick ass and I'm sure you've done it."
"It's too dangerous for you to be involved," Dick deepens his voice in a pale imitation of Bruce's voice as he clenches his fists. "I don't know why he trained me to be Robin if he has to treat me like a kid. I know I can fight and beat up the assholes that live in Gotham, but no. I don't get to do that."
Aurelia smiles sardonically as she runs a hand through her bright red hair. She climbs on the bed and sits cross-legged as well, facing Dick. "You and I, I think we have the same problem."
"Oh there's no way we do," Dick says. "Clara is better than him."
"You think she is, Dick, but there are times...." Aurelia pauses and thinks for a second. She has never really talked about this but she has been feeling it for a long time, especially with how slow her training seems to be going and how she's been stuck on that book of familiars and training in the stupidest form of magic she has seen. "Times when I feel like she's purposely stopping me from using the full extent of my abilities. I know I can do more but she's not letting me to do it and instead makes me learn dumb spells and translate old ass spellbooks."
"Exactly!" Dick exclaims. "It's like they just want to keep us treating like kids all the damn time."
"That's true. And sometimes I just feel like what I do is not enough. I'll train my best and I'll try my hardest but it's not good enough for Clara."
"I feel like that almost every week with Bruce. Nothing I do will ever be good enough for him."
"Well I think you're good enough," Aurelia offers him a kind smile. "You're a great guy. At least you're not socially inept like Bruce."
"Socially inept?" Dick scoffs as he playfully shoves her shoulder. But he has a smile on his face which is an improvement from his grumpy mood earlier in the day. "Have you seen him at parties? Women literally throw themselves at him. It's gross."
She laughs as she remembers the random headlines she has seen on the internet, about Bruce Wayne's latest conquests. Bruce Wayne, notorious billionaire playboy, seems fucking hilarious to even think about, considering that Aurelia knows what he does at night (he's Batman for heaven's sake). "We should do this more often."
"You mean spar with each other and then vent out our frustrations against Clara and Bruce?" Dick says with a mildly amused look.
"Sure, totally!" Aurelia says with a bright smile. "Let's call it our very own, slightly violent version of therapy."
"That's funny," Dick says sarcastically, but he has a smile on his face so she's happy. At least she managed to improve his mood, which is a good thing. "You're funny."
"I know I'm funny; you don't need to say it," Aurelia flipped her hair in a dramatic fashion. She smiled at him again as she slowly got off the bed, tugging on the sleeve of the hoodie (Dick's hoodie) to cover her fingers. "I should probably go now and let you sleep."
"Or you could stay?" Dick says, grabbing her hand. She tenses up as the same warm feeling from earlier spreads through her arm. "Only if you want to do, though."
Aurelia stares him at with a slightly weird look. She doesn't understand why he wants her to stay but it's not like she minds it. So she'll stay, even if her stomach is doing some weird gymnastics because Dick is holding her arm. Weird.
"Okay, I'll stay," She replies with a smile. Seeing that, Dick smiles back at her (in relief??)
"But," Aurelia speaks up again, this time with a slight smirk. "You're going to have to entertain me because I get bored very easily."
"Wait, why me?! You're the one who can literally light herself up, and can make fire out of nothing."
"Yeah, but you can do backflips which is freaking awesome."
"But magic -"
"But backflips."
"You...you just want to see me doing backflips all around the room, don't you?"
"Well...yeah. You have to admit, it's fun, isn't it?"
Dick has an exasperated look on his face, but he's already getting off the bed. "Am I just your personal acrobat or what?"
"Well," Aurelia smiles coyly. "You can be...if you know what I mean." She wiggles her eyebrows suggestively and laughs at her own terrible attempt at flirting.
"Oh god, that was terrible, Lia," Dick remarks as he does a handstand, using one hand, on the carpeted floor. "No wonder you don't have a boyfriend."
"Ouch," She places a hand on her heart, pretending to be hurt. (she's dramatic that way). "You offend me, Richard. And here I was thinking that you liked me."
"Not if you flirt that badly," Dick emphasises the last two words as he switches to his other hand. Aurelia snorts as she watches him do his thing. Handstands or backflips look easy when he does them, but Aurelia knows if she tries she'll end up breaking a bone or two, or maybe all of them.
Dick then proceeds to do a backflip. Aurelia claps her hands and laughs gleefully. It's so fun watching him and she loves the way he does it; he's so fluid in his movements (almost like a dancer) and he's just...just perfect. He does a series of backflips all around the room, till he finishes with one that lands him straight on his bed.
"So, now are you going to do it?" Dick asks, panting slightly. He lies on the bed in a sleeping position but he's very much awake as he asks his question. "Your magic?"
"Okay, but you're gonna have to sit up for it." Aurelia tugs on his sleeve and he gets up with the slightest groans, but he sits up straight. "And sit with your back facing me."
"Wait why?"
"Just trust me, okay? I promise it's nothing bad."
"That's not very reassuring, but okay."
Dick turns around and sits cross-legged, facing the wooden and beautifully carved headboard (does everything in Wayne Manor have to be pretty?). Aurelia inches forward before she's directly behind him. She gets on her knees as the mattress sinks slightly because of their combined weight. With a breath, she places her hands on Dick's shoulders and closes her eyes. There is a reason why she likes doing the spell she's about to do and why she's good at it.
"Lumen". Light.
Aurelia feels the rush of magic running through her veins and even before she opens her eyes, she knows the spell has been successfully performed. Dick's gasp of awe is almost inaudible but she catches it with quite ease because, well, she's very close to him. She places her head on his right shoulder as she watches the orbs of white light dance around them. "Told you it's nothing bad, right."
"This is...wow..you're talented...beautiful." Dick's voice is filled with awe as he touches one of the orbs, which breaks into smaller ones. "Aurelia Hall, you...you're pretty fucking special."
"Thank you," Aurelia answers with utmost sincerity. She moves her right hand around and the orbs follow. Dick laughs and she can feel the vibrations of it through his back, due to the fact that she's basically giving him a hug from behind. (Best. Feeling. Ever.)
"You're pretty fucking special too, Dick Grayson."
For the first time since she has been coming to Gotham and staying at Wayne Manor, Aurelia Hall actually doesn't want to leave. In the four days she spent at Wayne Manor with Dick (and Alfred, of course. Who can forget Alfred and his amazing cooking?), she and her fellow sidekick have grown weirdly close. They laughed together, making fun of both Bruce and Clara and the whole League and even did pale imitations of them all. For those four days, they were just two fifteen year olds (soon to be sixteen) being teenagers and not the sidekicks (heroes) they were.
So going back home to Michigan, and not spending time with Dick? Fun (note: Aurelia is being sarcastic here) She already misses him, even though he's a phone call away and she can easily teleport over to Gotham.
Meanwhile, Clara has been silent on their journey home, probably deep in thought about the mission or something. It's kind of unnerving to see her aunt like that but when she's in her thinking mode, Aurelia knows not to disturb her. Even when they're standing in their living room and Aurelia's itching to go to sleep, she doesn't. She just waits for her aunt to say something.
"Uh Clara," Aurelia stares at her aunt with a questioning look. "You've been really quiet. Not that it's weird or anything, but...well,uh...is everything okay?"
Clara doesn't reply, but instead looks at her with a freakishly blank stare. For a moment, Aurelia thinks she's asked something bad (which she hasn't) and her aunt is going to lose it, but the next moment surprises her. Her aunt walks up to her and gives her a hug. The suddenness of it surprises her and she freezes, but soon enough she's hugging Clara back.
"I'm sorry, I should have told you sooner. I thought hiding it would be good, but it's not and I know that now," Clara says in a rush. "Will you ever forgive me?"
"Forgive you for what?" Aurelia feels extremely concerned. Her aunt has never been like this...she has never been this freaked out, at least not in front of her. "Clara what's wrong? What happened? Did the mission go wrong or what?"
"No, the mission was fine," Clara pulls away from the hug, yet her hands still remain on Aurelia's shoulders. Her expression is rather dark and grave as she continues to speak. "You know how all us Leaguers have our own villains? Superman has Lex Luthor, Batman has Joker, Flash has his Rogues? Well, the one villain I have...."
"No way," Aurelia's eyes widen as she staggers back a little. If Clara is referring to that guy...she doesn't even want to think about the guy and the anger she feels because he played a part in killing her parents and he's a fucking psychopath. "Clara, please tell me you are joking."
"I wish," Clara says darkly. "I really fucking wish I was joking, but I'm not. I don't know what to do or say and I don't know how he escaped. But he's back, Aurelia."
"Oh my fucking god," Aurelia curses, clenching her fingers together. "Clara, when the hell...how the hell...?"
"I don't know. He always had a way with words," Clara growls out with an insanely angry expression on her face. "We...we're gonna stop him, starting with a visit to Central County Jail tomorrow and figure out how the fuck did they let Anthony Harmon escape."
'Fuck him. Fuck The Doctor for killing my parents. He may have escaped but he doesn't know what's waiting in store for him this time. Because I am going to be the one to stop him.'
👀👀 we finally move into one of my favorite parts of the story ! the first epic fight between Aurelia and Clara's arch-nemesis, The Doctor (aka Anthony Harmon). the next chapter will have a lot more information about him and i really hope you like his backstory :))
also, aurelia sucks at flirting and that's just plain facts.
till then, i hope you liked this chapter! let me know what you think of this in the comments below!
(shoutout to biIIieIourds for making the awesome manip gif above)