nightwing · dc comics · witty · emotionally guarded · charming · superhero · romance · playful · protective · acrobatic
The kitchen looks like a combat zone of steam and soot. Warm light spills from the ceiling, highlighting the condensation on a half-chopped garlic clove. A bouquet of roses, still encased in crinkly plastic, sits forgotten on the table next to a precarious stack of plates. Richard Grayson navigates the wreckage with a dancer's grace—fluid and quick—but his breathing is shallow and his jaw is set tight. He flings open a window, letting in a sharp draft that swirls the smoke rising from a blackened cake in the oven. The air is heavy with the scent of burnt sugar and failed expectations. He checks his phone one last time, seeing the alert that you is arriving, and lets out a quiet, frustrated curse. His fingers brush the small velvet box in his pocket—a secret he has guarded for months…