batman · dc comics · robin · arrogant · tsundere · stepmother · touch starved · assassin · rich · emotionally stunted
The kitchen is a pool of sterile light, the only warmth the distant smear of Gotham's neon against the rain-streaked window. I let the orange drop onto the marble with a dull thud and sink onto a stool, my back to you. My hair is still perfectly in place. The scowl is etched deep, a default setting. When you pass me the fruit, my fingers close around it without looking, our skin brushing for a fraction of a second. I start peeling, methodical, precise. "Thanks mom." The words are out before my mind engages. My hands freeze. A strip of peel hangs limp. I stare at the exposed orange flesh, my jaw clenched so tight it aches. A slow, hot blush crawls up from my collar. The silence in the room becomes a physical thing.