{ +fightanyways }
Tonight, Stray was distracted. He was lost deep in the
turmoil of his thoughts, seated on a rooftop that he had
chosen specifically for thinking. It belonged to an old
apartment building in the Narrows, and the nearby street
lamp had long since been shot out, thus concealing him
in shadows.
Tim lay stretched out, hands resting behind his head.
His eyes were closed, but he didn’t fail to hear the quiet
and nearby footsteps. Immediately, he sat up, fixating
the silhouetted figure with a perceptive gaze. The thief
emitted a soft hum, though his eyes narrowed behind
his goggles.
❝ You know, they say it isn’t nice to
sneak up on people. ❞
Dick’s smirk grew, laughing lightly at Stray, shaking his head. He took a step forward, slowly taking the other man in once again. He hadn’t been aware Catwoman got a side kick, though he guessed it was only a matter of time.
And taken, he thought, adding onto the other’s list. But the other man didn’t need to know that. Harmless flirting wasn’t going to hurt anyone. He hummed, arms moving up the cross over his chest. “Only if I get one in return.”
Tim could feel the other man’s eyes looking him over again, and he had to stifle a laugh. This is what his life had come to: Dick Grayson was shamelessly checking him out. But it only fueled Stray’s own flirtatiousness, and he glanced up at the taller male through long eyelashes when the distance between them shrunk further.
“A fair trade, I suppose. If you’re ignoring the fact that I asked first,” he mused. “I’m known as Stray.”
Gotham wasn’t Wally’s type of city, the redhead always found it a little creepy.
Maybe because the Twin Cities he, and Barry patrolled were different from here.
But, this was where his best friend lived, so he would occasionally have to step in for a visit. If neither of them were too busy; now running into someone else was totally not on the agenda. He opened his mouth to retort, but stumbled on his words for a second,
w confused look on his face.”Wait, what—-” Oh no, not a weirdo, please.
Stray had successfully caught him off guard. A very immature part of him mentally punches the air in victory upon seeing the bafflement on Kid Flash’s face. A light snicker escapes from the thief’s mouth, lips quirking into a grin.
He shifts from a crouched position to a sitting one, remaining perched above the redhead. Tim crossed one leg over the other and hummed in amusement.
“I’d make a joke about a cat catching
your tongue, but bad puns tend to be
turn-offs.”
Dick had to to stop himself from doing a double take when he turned the other man. He raised an eyebrow, making no effort to be subtle as he looked over the young male. Something seemed oddly familial about him, but Dick shook off the feeling, knowing he wouldn’t have forgotten someone like that so easily.
“I could say the same for you.” He let a smirk tug at his features as he looked back up at the man’s face, head tilting to the side slightly.
“And I’d have to say the same, once again.”
“Oh?” Tim thinks that he really should have anticipated that Dick would flirt back–because, well, he's Dick,–but he didn’t. So the bafflement that appears on Stray’s features isn't entirely feigned. He places a hand on his chest, a smile tugging at his lips in mock flattery.
“Cute, costumed, and charming?” (Tim has always liked alliteration, shh) “Well aren’t you the whole package. And may I have a name to seal the deal?” he asked with a wink, not sparing an ounce of playfulness.
Being Batman was something Dick hadn’t wanted for a really long time. Part of him still didn’t want it, but he knew that Gotham needed Batman, and that was more important than what Dick wanted. So whether or not it was Bruce under the cowl, they wouldn’t know. It was all in the name ; Batman was all they cared about.
But he also didn’t want people to think Nightwing had up and left them, either. So donning the ( old? ) suit had been something he had been planning, leaving Damian with some research to do and having good faith he wouldn’t go out without him. But this—- this guy was unexpected and Dick had cautiously made his way over, brows knitting together.
❝—-I hope you’re talking about the
view over the city.❞He stopped when he was at a safe distance, but close enough to catch the other if need be. Lips pressed together and his chin rose a fraction, brows rising.
❝I haven’t seen you ‘round before.❞
Tim couldn’t blame Dick for wanting one night of freedom from the cowl. After all, he was used to seeing the best in people, whereas Batman forced him to view people as puzzle pieces, in a way: seeing which one would cause the most damage to Gotham if he pulled it out.
It was obvious that Nightwing was trying to block off any escape routes by the amount of distance he left between them, but the tactic only brought a smirk to Stray’s features. The vigilante’s approach was slow and cautious (always wary of the unknown, hm?), but the thief remained relaxed and uncaring. Popping a hip out, Stray loosely folded his arms over his chest.
❝ I don’t plan on running, you know.
Wouldn’t want to miss the show~. ❞
Of course, Stray wouldn’t know that it was actually Nightwing himself that now donned the cowl, so Tim played ignorant. He kept his tone playful but direct for his next response. Under the orange lenses of his goggles, his eyes gleamed with intensity.
❝ You leave Gotham for even a little
while, and you miss a lot. Speaking
of which, where have you been, hm? ❞
“Coincidence, yep that’s it. Nothing to do with the precious gem you’ve stolen. Speaking of, hand it over."
She kept a stern tone and a neutral look on her face as she regarded him. The thief was handsome, and looked unfairly good in a catsuit but Stephanie wasn’t going to let that get to her. He was still a thief, and that jewel needed to be returned
"Hm, a precious gem? I’ve come across a lot of those in my time, so you’ll have to be a little more specific,” he mused, blinking innocently. “It sounds like something you’d want to keep under high security, though.”
As he spoke, the thief raised his arms in a careless shrug, before they lowered to rest on his hips. Stray’s amusement was only fueled at the revelation of the situation: the fact that his life had come to him in a skin-tight leather suit, flirting with his ex-girlfriend. Ah, life’s sense of humor was astounding.
{ + gunpowder-n-bigtops }
Tim would recognize Dick in any costume, given the proper amount
of time to survey him. Especially considering that this one was quite
similar to the Nightwing uniform, it wasn’t hard for him to draw the
connections. But then… why? What kind of mission required him to
go undercover in a different costume? It peaked Stray’s interest.
❛ I haven’t seen you around before, ❜ he hummed,
sauntering up to the “stranger" whilst swaying his
hips (more instinctively than anything).
❛ I know, because I’d remember a face like yours. ❜
{ + itscrimetime }
Stray grinned. For some reason, tonight he didn’t find himself
groaning with annoyance or scowling with anger at encountering
Damian. (Maybe it’s because he just had a successful heist.) He
let out an amused hum, lounging above Robin with a smirk.
❛ I forgot my birdseed, sorry, ❜ he winked.
{ + acceleratxd }
Stray inwardly wonders what Kid Flash is doing in Gotham City,
before realizing that he doesn’t care. It doesn’t effect him now,
and ultimately holds no relevance to his operations. Just another
reminder of his new found freedom, he thinks. It makes his smirk
widen.
❛ And here I was, thinking that I made
skintight suits look good. ❜
{ + observexandxreport }
Tim had wondered, on more than one occasion, what Bruce
would have thought of his decisions. But he neverthought
he’d ever get the chance to find out–he hadn't wanted to,
anyways.
He had suspected that Bruce had still been alive, but he hadn’t
been prepared to go on a global search when he was mentally
and emotionally unstable (feelings that were only worsened as
everyone told him, but with nicer words, that he was c r a z y.)
His facade shatters when he sees his former mentor FATHER, and the comfort he normally finds in Stray’s persona fails him
and leaves Tim feeling vulnerable and ridiculous.
But Bruce is dead. This has to be a hallucination, a sick joke–
❛ What’s going on?! ❜
