lady grinning soul...
pt 2. to girl from ipanema
synopsis! you’re a bit homesick, dick helps raise your spirits with his contagious holiday cheer.
includes! dick grayson x reader, fluff, awkward-ish reader, foreign reader, dick's late robin years, some form of pining?, high school stuff, cute innocent kisses, christmas shopping, yeah...
a/n: sorry if it’s ooc everyone. I’m still getting the hang of writing him, especially as robin.
wc: 3k
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Ever since your first late afternoon conversation with Dick, you found that you two quickly grew close. It started as simple greetings, ‘good mornings’ and ‘goodbyes.’ Soon, it evolved into gestures of friendship– saving seats, carrying an extra item for the other, walking with each other to classes. And, it was nice.
You finally felt like someone saw you as something other than ‘the transfer girl with the unusual accent’. And to Dick, you were so much more. You didn’t expect anything of him. You didn’t expect him to be perfect, you didn’t expect him to be collected all the time. You were one of the only people who seemed to really get him— the only person to see him as Dick Grayson and not Bruce Wayne’s ward or Boy Wonder.
He hasn’t told you his secret yet. Honestly, he’s not sure he should. Not because he couldn’t trust you, no. Because he’d be endangering you with a secret you shouldn’t have to keep. And, while he’d tried to deny the fact, he wanted this part of his life– you, to be kept separate. He wanted this to belong to him. Not to Robin, but to Dick Grayson.
Though, that didn’t stop him from using the Batcomputer to find out your birthday— which he already had a present for.
He enjoyed the feeling of normalcy that came along with you and your presence. Even though others didn’t seem to share his sentiments.
From the moment you two began talking, hushed whispers spread across your year group. ‘Why would he hang around her?’ or ‘I wonder if it’s just because she’s new… out of pity?’ Your classmates made little effort to hide their speculations, often talking right in front of your face. Not that it bothered you. You hardly cared– or that’s what you believed. Truly, why would you care? You weren’t ever going to befriend the ones that speculated or ostracised you. They weren’t worth that extra effort.
But Dick, he was worth every minute. Every extra second you spent after class, in the library or even the courtyard was worth it. You were glad to have someone so open to share your thoughts with.
It was nearing Christmas and the school semester was finally coming to a close for the holidays. You hadn’t planned on returning home this year, to your dismay. Christmas was one of the biggest holidays for your family and you were pretty bummed that you couldn’t spend it with them. You mentioned this to Dick in passing and of course, he always listened. Which led you to your current status.
It’s the first Saturday of the vacation and Dick has taken it upon himself to show you around the better parts of town, the parts that are actually decorated for the holidays. In the past few hours, he’s taken you into several shopping centres to unlock your ‘inner Christmas joy’ as he so gleefully put it. You told him it wasn’t so much about the decorations, but rather the people around you. However, that didn’t stop him from walking out with two bags of ornaments in tow.
If it’s one thing you learnt during your shopping trip, it was: you had to be careful around Dick Grayson.
He always knew what you were thinking of getting. If you even so much as glanced at something for more than two seconds, it’s already in your basket. If you stopped to look at the price tag, dick would wordlessly take it from you, dropping it into your cart and leaving you with only a cheeky smirk. And to no one’s surprise, he beat you to the card machine— somehow, managing to distract you enough with something else in the store that you completely missed the cashier checking everything out. To this moment you don’t know what the sum total came up to.
Now, you two sit in a nearby cafe, nesting steaming coffees in both your hands. It’s a nicely decorated place. Even its pastries were Christmas themed. Festive, good lighting– warm toned lamps lighting the walls. Nothing too harsh on the eyes. An ideal place to rest your feet, you think. Dick sits opposite you, the small distance doing little to hinder the fragrance radiating off him, the same one you’ve complimented a thousand times before. Despite the holiday rush, this cafe was unusually empty this time around save for a few people who placed to-go orders.
“No one really dines in here.” Dick answers your unasked question. “This part of Gotham is filled with busy people— with little to no free time in their schedules.”
“I figured…” You look to a man collecting his drink, too occupied on his phone to even be bothered to thank the barista. “Manners in Gotham are… scanty.” You sip your drink carefully so as to not spill any on your newly bought coat. Also courtesy of Dick.
“Unfortunately. Gothamites aren’t the nicest bunch of people.” Dick offers a small smile, which attaches itself to the frown you didn’t know you were wearing.
“It’s not like that back home. Our people are… a talkative bunch.” you chuckle, remembering the weird instances you’d have with strangers or the conversations you’ve overheard. “Sometimes, too talkative.”
You raise your head to Dick, who’s already looking at you. He takes in all of your words with an expression not unlike admiration. “That must be nice.”
“It is, sometimes. But regardless of where you go, there’s always gonna have the more, uh… unwelcoming set of folks.” You don’t mean to think of school when you say that, but Dick knows. He always does.
He opens his mouth to speak, slowly inching his hand towards yours, but you already know what he’s going to say. “I’m not worried about that. I’m glad we became friends.” Dick shuts his mouth quickly, retracting his hand. He tries to bite back the smile that creeps onto his face, He has his bottom lip tucked between his teeth, fighting the upwards curl of his mouth. It’s cute, you think. And even cuter the way his lip slowly unfurls from beneath his teeth as his facade betrays him. All plumped and red from biting it — or maybe just the weather. Either way, around you— he was never much good at hiding his expressions.
Dick hears what the rest of school thinks of you, despite you hardly doing anything to upset anyone. There were a select few who enjoyed your presence, your quiet kindness, support and honesty. But they didn’t know you like he did. They didn’t grasp just how special you were. Dick finds that, whenever he’s with you, he truly gets to enjoy the little things in life. Like the way your eyebrows furrow when you’re thinking. Or the way you talk or laugh. The direction your head tilts when you’re confused. No one pays attention to that, except for him.
“If we have time after this, would you wanna help me decorate?” you ask after a beat of admiring Dick’s adorable face. Not realising that Dick was doing the same with you.
“Sure.” He answers a bit too eagerly and hopes you didn’t pick up on his fumble.
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The snow falls lightly across the streets, littering the freshly swept pavement with specks of white. Thin blankets of snow cover the bare trees spread across the streets. Both of your feet crunch against the snow reforming on the pavement, leaving boot marks in your wake. Delicate snowflakes drift from the grey sky, landing on your shoulders. Your pace slows behind Dick’s as you hold a gloved palm out to catch the white specks.
“Y’know, I haven’t seen snow before Gotham.” You say, snowflakes falling into your gloves. “Doesn’t snow where I come from.”
“You’ve never been away for Christmas?” Dick asks tentatively.
You shake your head, “Never. Most of my family tends to return home instead.” You frown, not thinking you’d ever see the day where you were disappointed with being in another country. Your frown catches onto Dick’s expression and you wish you hadn’t seen his face fall. Seeing his lips curl in the other direction pulls painfully at your heartstrings. Your disheartened state should never be the cause of his.
You look up to talk to him, but the glare that bounces off the snow down right nearly blinds you. “It’s okay though.” You recover, trying to smile up at him despite your squinting. “a first time for everything right.”
He smiles back at you, deciding then and there that this year was going to be worth more than your tears.
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It’s nearly four o’clock when you arrive back at your apartment complex which your relative had so graciously left you. Technically, it wasn’t yours but the actual owner was never around– always travelling. Much like the rest of the tenants in this place. It’s a decent sized place on the fourth floor, well furnished, cosy closed floor plan— there’s even a communal pool at the top of the building, not that anyone bothers to swim in it. The only thing the apartment lacks is a soul. You hadn’t exactly gotten to decorating it yourself.
“Maybe I can take you shopping sometime?” Dick offers, resting the bags on your kitchen countertop.
“Again?” You chuckle.
“Well if I had known, I would have taken you to the department store today. I know a really good one.” He hums, starting to pull out different ornaments from the first bag. “We should start with the tree.” He starts unpacking the faux Christmas tree from a compact box, its branches flattened from the restricted packaging.
You two make quick work of mounting it up, fluffing out the branches and setting the red tree skirt under it. Now, it’s onto adding the lights. Dick decided on warm lights— a stark contrast to those heavy blinkers your family would use. But, you prefer the warm. It’s almost as if Dick knew.
You stand behind the tree as Dick passes the lights around the front. You can’t help but think of how oddly domestic it all is. At what point does one begin to question platonic love?
You try to ignore the way he lets your hands brush every time he passes the bunch to you and the spark you feel at his touch— you really do. You also try to ignore the butterflies in your stomach. Those things seriously exist? You had always thought people were just making stuff up for the sake of it.
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The snow outside your apartment picks up, now falling in a constant array. It’s long past five and your Christmas tree, along with some wreaths and tinsel now fill the empty corners of your apartment. With your plain throw pillows and blankets traded for red and greens, you consider your job complete. Dick has even decided to put some hanging decor on the ceiling, swearing up and down that it’ll stay despite the flimsy tape.
You stand next to him in front of the door, admiring your handiwork. “Not bad.” You hum.
Dick makes an expression at the side of your eye, “Seriously? That’s all I get?” He mocks the offense, “‘Not bad’?”
You laugh at his antics, “Thank you, Dick.” You turn to face him fully this time, “It means a lot. Really…”
Dick reciprocates your affection, smiling warmly back at you. His dimples pop at the action and you can’t help but stare. You’ve always admired how pretty he is. Especially neat for a guy. Then again, he doesn’t seem like the type to let himself get too messy. But that isn’t it at all. Just him, you think. His face— it’s so adorably perfect. You don’t know what it is. Maybe it’s the expressions he wore? Or the way every feature of his perfectly compliments the next. Or how his smile is just so damn bright it manages to light up your whole mood. Whatever it is, you don’t even try to stop the words that flow from your mouth.
“You’re really pretty, Dick.”
Immediately, he flushes at your praise, the red going all the way to his ears. From the way he reacted, you can tell you’ve been staring at the boy for far too long. “Oh– um, t-thank you… You too. You– you’re really pretty too.” He bashfully fights the way his lips tug upwards. You don’t think you’ve ever heard him stammer that much in one sentence— ever.
A moment passes and it looks like he’s regained his usual stature. You giggle at his attempt at composure. “Actually, can I show you something?” He holds a hand out for you to take.
He then ushers you towards the corridor leading to your bedroom. For a second, you think he’s managed to distract you long enough to decorate your room for you. You’re taken aback by his abrupt stop in the entrance of the hallway. He turns around to face you and the look on his face comes off as almost impossible to read. He looks like he’s fighting both a smirk and bashfulness all at once. Dick then takes both of your hands in his, wordlessly gesturing upwards with a tug at your interlocked hands. You follow his gaze up to — oh…
Hanging on the arch above you is none other than —a mistletoe. You’ve never seen one hung in real life, expecting to be put to use— only in movies. Much less seen one from this angle. Your eyes find Dick’s once more and he just stares. He’s about to apologise, tell you to forget this even happened. He looks scared almost. Scared that you’ll reject him, kick him out even. But you don’t.
You stare back at him for a second, in thought. Then, you pull him down by his collar, stopping when your faces are so close together that your breaths mingle in the warmth of the other. His eyes are blown wide, searching yours intently— almost as if he doesn’t believe this is happening to him. “Smooth.” You giggle before meeting his lips with yours.
Dick practically melts into your hold, arms wrapping tentatively around your back, slowly inching towards your waist. “Is it okay if I– if I hold you here?” He breathes against you, looking at you with stars in his eyes. If anyone asks, he’d surely tell them you fell from the sky. You chuckle at his unusual bashfulness today.
“Yes, Dick. You can hold me wherever you want.” You reconnect the two of you, wrapping your arms tightly around his neck. The kiss is sweet, a mix of hidden emotions and untold secrets—some of which Dick couldn’t wait to share with you. But, not right now. Right now it’s about you and him, under this stupid mistletoe. He’ll look back and laugh at this plan one day, he thinks.
Moments pass before you two need to break apart for air. Dick speaks first, “Does this mean we’re together?”
“Do you want to be?”
“Of course I wanna be.” He answers a beat too early.
“Then, we’re together.” You giggle against his lips.
“Oh thank goodness.” He sighs, “I thought you were seriously gonna turn me away.” He latches onto your lips again, silently walking you back to your couch. He plops down first, leaving enough space next to him for you. He doesn’t give you a second to adjust before he’s on you again. “Can we stay like this for a bit?” Dick threads a hand through your hair, the other gently rubbing the skin of your cheek. With the warm light bouncing off your features, You look ethereal to him. And when you give your response? Dick knows he’s a goner.
“For as long as you want.”
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extra:
Darkness has long enveloped the sky in his starry embrace. The moon lazily shines through your pulled curtains as you and Dick huddle together on your loveseat couch.
Dick’s not sure how he managed it, but Bruce had given him time of patrol tonight. He definitely knows, Dick winces. He always does. C’mon, he’s Batman for crying out loud.
“I got you a present.” He whispers into your hair, gesturing to the single box under the Christmas tree. “You didn’t even notice, did you?”
Your eyebrows raise in realisation as you shoot up from his embrace. “I didn’t get you anything!”
Dick only chuckles, “You don’t have to.”
“Awh, you got me a present and I completely forgot about you…” you huff. “I’m sorry…”
“Hey, hey. It’s fine. Besides, you’ve given me a present today already.” He holds your face in his hands like you’re made of glass, delicate— as if one wrong touch would shatter you in his grasp. When he realises you’re not going to respond, he prompts you.
“Well, what present would that be, Dick?” He tries to mimic your voice.
“Oh I don’t know, maybe your love and affection?” He responds as himself.
That’s when an idea pops into your head. “Hold on!” You leave his lonesome on the couch, retreating to your bedroom. From the living room, Dick hears drawers opening and pen caps flicking on and off.
You soon return to your spot on the couch with something small cupped in both your hands. “Okay, I’m done.” You slowly open your palms to reveal a piece of paper, shaped like a trophy and stuck to a pin. On it, there’s some flowers and fancy borders. And in the middle, it says “Best Boyfriend Award!”
Dick’s face turns shamelessly red, smiling ear to ear. “It’s perfect.” He kisses you on the cheek, “pin it for me.” To which you stick it right below his left collarbone, flattening out the flimsy paper against his shirt.
“Do you wanna open yours now?” Dick moves to reach for the gift. You stop him before he can even get his butt off the seat. “No, because I know you got me something good and I’d like to feel proud of my small victory right now, yeah?”
He chuckles, relaxing against the armrest and pulling you tightly against him. “Whatever you say.”
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a/n: merry christmas everyone! not sure if it’s just me but this year christmas actually feels festive if ykwim. i was really in the spirits this year for whatever reason. I’ll continue writing for this specific reader but wow im awful at slow burns i’m so sorry. I might update this later on to fix any grammatical errors and whatnot so yah! Just a warning.
