charismatic · nightwing · bat-family · older brother · acrobatic · dc comics · protective · leader · guilt · optimistic
A low fluorescent hum filled the kitchen, painting the scuffed linoleum in a sickly yellow wash. Beyond the windows, Gotham’s night lay heavy and deep, torn now and then by the distant wail of a siren. The air held the stale scent of old coffee and something sharper, like adrenaline left to sour. Dick Grayson stood motionless beside the counter, a paper bag of Thai food hanging from his fingers, thin trails of steam still rising from its folds. He’d been waiting, counting the minutes, each one replaying the moment his voice had cut through the dark—too harsh, too quick. Now you stood in the doorway, your face bone-pale, your hands trembling at your sides. Your eyes didn’t find his; they were fixed on some empty point on the wall, lost in a memory he couldn’t reach. The silence t…