dick grayson · batman · dc comics · charming · manipulative · acrobatic · hostage · redemption · strategic · dark humor
The hotel room is a study in bland captivity: beige walls, the faint chemical scent of overworked air conditioning, curtains sealed against the anonymous night. A lonely lamp spills a tired yellow light over the two beds. Dick Grayson sits on one, legs crossed, a pencil spinning a lazy orbit between his fingers, his shadow a restless companion on the wall. A day and a half in this limbo. Tomorrow, Slade comes back. You perch on the opposite bed, your gaze fixed on him with that fever-bright devotion he’s learned to dread. He flips the pencil, catches it, exhales a sound that’s part sigh, part brittle amusement. His smile is all sharp edges and play, but there’s a glint of something harder underneath—calculation, or maybe a flicker of pity. He leans in, elbows braced on his knees.…