The Road Less Travelled [Dick]

[k]

[/b] she replied slowly, wondering where this conversation was heading. She didn't like the sound of it. Was he the type of man to phone in a false story to the Gazette about how Comissioner Gordon's little girl was apparently seen moving in to Dick Grayson's apartment? Sounded like front page tabloid bullcrap, Babs thought, and she narrowed her eyes. "I'm helping him move in, actually," she added, slamming the door a little more ferociously than she probably ought to have. She had the boxes piled on the sidewalk as the taxi drew away and she looked down at them all.

"I hate you, Grayson," she seethed quietly, moving the piled boxes across to the apartment building door. She briefly wondered if she would merit herself a key to the apartment at some point. She hit the button and spoke into the intercom to Dick. She mentally told herself to be nice, the sentence 'hey Grayson, I brought your crap' wasn't going to cut it.
"Hey, Dick, I've got a few boxes of your stuff," she said. "I'd appreciate it if you opened the door. Or better yet, came down and helped me," Babs said - superstrength wasn't on her CV. The stuff in the boxes was from the Manor, bits and pieces that Dick hadn't picked up during the initial move and would probably need or want. There were a few new things she'd picked up too, because she wanted his new place to be homely, at the very least. Dick, on the other hand, hadn't seemed too bothered about decorating the place, and Babs wasn't sure why. He had a home now, he should be making some effort to make it habitable. She was sure he was avoiding making the place his own, and she was beginning to hope it meant there was a chance he would salvage something with Bruce and move home. She wasn't prepared to put any money down it though.

Barbara wasn't too sure whether she was angry at Dick right now - she hadn't quite managed to come to terms with the implications of this all. She did feel like she was in the middle, stuck between working under Batman's command - for lack of a better term - and between her partnership and relationship with Dick Grayson. Did she even have a partnership with Dick? Would he want to associate himself with Batgirl? That was a good question, one she hadn't yet got an answer for. Dick had obviously reached a cross road where the position of Robin had no longer been working for him. Babs felt like it had been a matter of a reputation, Robin was always seen as part of a duo with Batman, and his solo appearances had certainly been on the rise before. Now Dick was free to do what he wanted in terms of partnership, and as a lesser strand of the Batfamily, she wondered if he would care to associate with her still. All these thoughts began to run through Babs already rather crowded mind, and she had kind of hoped seeing Dick would distract her from all these thoughts.[/ul]

[Dick Grayson - Nightwing]

The light of the afternoon sun was blazing through the large side windows of the penthouse. The sun's light stretched across the floors in each room and over what furniture and boxes were still set around the flat. And at that moment, Dick Grayson laid on his back, asleep on the longest couch that sit in the livingroom of the flat. Dressed in an old pair of jeans and an old white t-shirt, Dick had worn himself out after working all night and part of the morning on a new system to stay in tact with batcomputer. He knew most of the code to hack into the system a bit himself, but it was harder to access computers outside of the batcave.

He was awoken by the sound of his intercom breaking the silence within the penthouse. Dick jumped a bit at first at the sound of it going off until he remember where he was. Swinging his legs off the couch, Dick sat up and rubbed his eyes a bit. As he stood up, he ran his right hand through his shaggy black hair as he walked toward the front entrance.

Looking at his watch, he wondered who it could be coming around at this time of day. He didn't really stop to think about who it really could be. Though as he had walked over, he could hear the voice of Babs over the intercom. A slight smile came to his sleepy face as he wanted to laugh at the way she had called through it.

He gave a slight yawn as he hot the button to answer back. "Hey, Babs. I'll buzz you in," he answered. "Though I'm not all too sure I really want to come down now." He was joking around. He could tell by her tone that she was probably annoyed at him, carrying what stuff she had down to his new place.

"I'll be down in a minute," he replied shortly after the joke. Dick pressed the button to unlock the door down stair for Babs as he headed out to the elevator outside his flat. Dick slipped on a pair of sneakers and headed out the door. Once in the elevator, it didn't take long to get to the main lobby. After catching sight of Babs, he jogged over and held a door for her to get through.

"Want me to take those for you," he offered as he held the door. "You could have called and told me you were swinging by." He smiled at her as he spoke. Dick knew she would be able to tell by the small signs that he had been up all night and had probably just gotten up. The slight five o'clock shadow would probably be a good hint that he had either been working all night or slept in until now.

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[/b] she joked through the intercom and picked a few boxes up as he buzzed her in. She used her leg to prop the door open and moved the boxes - all five of them - into the lobby. Lucky it didn't take Dick too long to get down to the lobby and rush over to hold the door for her. She managed to get the last box inside, and swung it into Dick's arm with a smile. She leaned over and gave him a kiss on the lips, still grinning at him.

"Well, it's good to see you too, Dick, I'm fine, thanks for asking," Babs smiled. She noted he obviously hadn't slept much, and she felt bad for waking him. He did look like he could do with a good sleep. Someone had been out on patrol all night, Babs figured. Dick was easily the kind of person who would stay out all night if it meant a chance to bring someone in or follow a lead. Sometimes he needed someone next to him to remind him sleep was a necessity to remain alert and aware. She worried he overworked himself, and with his new solo persona Babs was concerned he'd be trying too hard to prove he could make it alone.

Babs put a second box into Dick's arms, still smiling at him. She couldn't remember the last time she'd seen him, and she missed him a great deal. There was so much she wanted to say right now but couldn't. She wanted to tell him how empty the Batcave was without him, how she didn't have anyone to laugh with or chat with. Alfred was good company when necessary, but she missed having someone of her own age to chat with. She missed Dick. It wasn't the same without him around, and she walked past the display cases of costumes with a slight pang in the depth of her stomach.

"You look good," she said, half-sarcastically, observing his choice of clothes as well as the fact he looked tired. "Burning the candle at both ends?" She asked rhetorically, hardly needing an answer for that. She handed him the third box, which now covered his face so she wasn't able to see him. She piled two boxes ontop of each other and picked them up, looking at the elevator. She wanted to get to his apartment soon, so she could actually talk to him without the fear of being overheard. No one else was around, but it wasn't like she would risk talking shop with Dick until they were safely inside his apartment. [/ul]

[Dick Grayson - Nightwing]

He figured Babs would take him up on his offer to help her as she shoved a box into his hands. He could see the five boxes she had been lunging with her probably from across town. Dick hadn't expected the kiss other wise he would have kissed back. He figured there was plenty of time for that after they got everything up stairs.

"I was just saying," Dick commented back at her response to her just coming out to the place as she shoved another box to him. Though it was kind of her to come by on short notice. At least someone was helping him out a bit with everything he was going through. Even though, he tended to go off on his own and not tell anyone what he was up to.

He smiled at her all the while they had been standing down there. It was good to see Babs again. It literally wasn't everyday that he got to see her any more. He didn't really count classes as spending time with Babs as much as he would like to.

"You like it, though it might be a better look than the 'I just got up' look," he joked back even though he was probably pulling off both at the same time. He probably would have at least cleaned up a bit had he been going out of the building for a while, but in the lobby, who was there to bug him? That was the nice thing about the place, the door were locked in the front to keep some people out. And Babs was not one of them.

He took on the third box and started heading for the elevator. As they got close to it, Dick started to shift the weight of the boxes around, so once he was at the elevator he was now juggling the boxes on his right leg and pressing the elevator button with his left hand. The elevator was still there, so it would only take a minute for them to get up there. "Depends on your definition," he said as he stepped into the elevator once he reached around and pressed which floor they needed to get to before he collected the boxes from balancing them with one hand and on his upper leg.

Dick would answer her questions once they were upstairs. He knew how she ran. If she hadn't seen him in a few days, he knew he was in for quite a bunch of questions. Besides, unlike most people, Dick worked a lot of his nights away fighting crime and working on new projects. Babs did have a right to ask him them though.

Once they hit the floor, it wasn't a far walk to Dick's door. He set once again juggled the boxes as he got his keys out and unlocked his door. As they entered, Dick set the boxes down in the hallway as he waited for Babs to come in. The hall way wasn't all that long until you would hit into the main corridor of the penthouse, which was main where Dick had set up the livingroom and just an area to work on some computer projects at the moment. There was a divider to another room, where if you entered, you'd enter a training room that he had set up for his daily workouts. And as you walked in through the front door, off to the right was a nice sized kitchen.

The nice think about Dick's new place as a penthouse, it did have a second floor to it which was over top of the kitchen and spare room to the left. There was a small spiral stair case that let to a few more rooms upstairs. The ceilings were rather high in the place, up it made it feel less crowded to Dick. There was also an upstairs and down stair bathrooms in the place. And not to mention, having a flat on the the corner of the building, he had a balcony outside his livingroom and to the spare room. "Sorry about the way the place looks, I'm still organizing things," he said. The place took so vast with how little of things he had put into it.

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[/b] Babs half-joked when he apologised for the state of the place. She was genuinely half-joking, because she had in fact bought Dick a fern. What was an apartment without a bit of greenery, after all? Babs wanted to help Dick feel at home, and she would attempt to infiltrate the apartment with little things that would remind him of her when he was busy brooding and ignoring everyone in his life - something that happened a lot recently. However, without the influence of Bruce, Babs was hoping to see a return to the lighter, carefree Dick she remembered him to be.

"Pretty flashy," she quipped, trying not to imagine what it was costing Dick. It certainly wasn't the average University students idea of a first apartment after moving away from their home. Then again, Dick wasn't the average University student. She turned around to look at Dick, realising they'd barely even greeted one another in the lobby due to the presence of the boxes and the need to get them upstairs. She smiled at him and walked over, pulling him into a hug. In that very moment she wanted to tell him how missed he was, how empty the Batcave was and how her want to be there dimished every day because of his lack of presence. She was afraid that kind of emotional outpour wasn't acceptable right now.

She drew back from the hug and gave him another kiss on the lips, observing his face closely, one hand on his cheek.
"Oh, Dick," she said, her face full of worry and concern but mostly with the exasperated knowledge that whatever she said wouldn't change his current tired and rundown look nor his terrible sleeping and work pattern. She noted how long his hair was getting, but didn't comment on it. In that very moment she'd be more than happy to stay hugging him forever.[/ul]

[Dick Grayson - Nightwing]

"I hope it's one that has already grown. I don't have much time to try and raise one at this time," he smiled as he said this jokingly. He wasn't sure if she would pick up on the joke. "I'll have to find a good place to put it where there is plenty of sunlight," he commented quickly after. Showing that he appreciated the thought.

"Yeah, it wasn't easy getting this place," he responded to her comment as she got to see the place a bit better. He was actually really started to wonder just what all Babs had brought up with her to his place. He wasn't even sure what all he had left behind at Wayne Manor, but he did know what he left behind at the batcave. There were just some things that didn't need to be brought with him.

Dick embraced her as she had came to him and hugged him. Boy, he had to admit, it felt great to have Babs along side of him at that moment. He had missed her company. Though he wouldn't admit it as much as she probably would have. He knew she knew that he had missed her. It was written all over him, no matter how tired he was at that moment. As she came back in for another kiss, he kissed back a bit this time.

As she placed her hand on his cheek, Dick brought his hand to her's, wanting her to keep it there. He stayed like that for a moment, not saying anything. He dropped his and pulled her in closer to him as he pulled her in for a more tender kiss this time lead by him.

When he had pulled away to look at her. Her fiery green eyes, had his deep blue eyes trapped within her own. "You know you're more than welcome to come by anytime you would like," Dick said to her, meaning every word. He still held her close. He didn't really want to let her go.

"It's nice to have some company in this place," he said to her. Noting the emptiness of the large place. He had been working on it for a few days now to set up his own systems for crime fighting. He had only been stopping to go to classes, get something to eat, or to take a nap for a while. Other than that, he had been quite lonely with having all this time to himself. It was different not having others around. There was no one to check in on you or having to answer to. Dick had his own place and his own rules now.

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[/b] she said softly. "You need adult supervision anyway... and someone's got to come water the fern," Babs added, glancing over at the boxes behind Dick, where she could see the top of the potted plant she'd bought for Dick. Babs slipped her hand down into Dick's, standing close to him. She felt like they'd both grown up so fast in such a short amount of time - they felt like entirely different people from who they'd been just a few months ago. It wasn't a bad thing though, not at all.

Perhaps, Babs thought, she ought to come round to ensure that Dick was eating properly. Goodness knows he'd probably forget to do that - he needed some sort of direction in his life. He certainly wasn't that ready to be released into the wild. Dick could barely feed himself, let alone the fern she'd just bought for him.
"It's quiet without you," Babs added, looking up into his eyes with a warm smile still spread across her face. "Too quiet - it's not the same," she admitted. She missed him dearly, but she'd never ask him to come back, because he'd fought long and hard to come to this decision, and it wasn't something he'd approached without consideration. It wasn't fair to ask Dick to come back. This was his home now.[/ul]

[Dick Grayson - Nightwing]

"I can take care of myself, Babs," Dick replied to her. He knew Babs just wanted to be close to him. It must be hard to go back to the way things were. Especially for Babs, she was the one was probably having a harder time. She was left in the middle of everything.

Dick knew this new change was going to be difficult on mostly everyone. No as much so for Bruce though. Dick had appreciated everything that everyone had done for him. Even through the rough times. And Babs had been there through out all this time, along side of him.

He squeezed her hand lightly a few time, loving just having the feel of her hand in his. When was the last time they ever spent time like this. This was the kind moments that he enjoyed with her. Just being together and having this time by themselves.

"I know," Dick replied to her last comment. "But it was time for a change." He was being completely honest about the whole thing. Now that he had moved on, it had made things easier to deal with now. There wasn't much he really wanted to say about it, but this was Babs, she would understand.

"How have things been going for you out there," he asked. He wondered if she had just been working by herself on the streets of Gotham or was the Batman out there helping her. He knew she was good at working on her own on some cases, but since he left, he wondered if the Batman was try to keep an eye on his other partner.

Dick looked over toward the livingroom, wanting to move out of the hall way for a bit. He was pretty much just trying to make a bit of conversation to find out a little about what she was up to. There were a few other things on his mind beside just talking about their were as vigilantes at the moment. Though it didn't hurt to find out more about what was going on with her work on the streets of Gotham. He wanted to find out about her regular day. He just wanted her.

[k]

[/b] Babs smiled when he told her he could take care of himself. She knew Dick was strong and independent enough to make it on his own, but it worried her all the same. Without some gentle guidance she was concerned he'd end up overworking himself. He looked terrible now, and it would only increase if he allowed it to. Babs didn't mind what Dick looked like, but she found herself unable to hide concern when his general wellbeing was obviously the problem. She would have to insist he caught a few more hours of sleep, and she regretted even waking him up, despite her enjoyment of the moments they were now sharing.

Babs nodded in agreement when Dick told her it had been time for change, but she didn't say anything. She didn't disagree with his statement, but his method of dealing with change wasn't hers to criticise. She followed him to the living room, collapsing in the couch he'd previously been laying on. It was warm and comfortable, and for the first time since being in Dick's apartment she actually felt a certain sense of homeliness from it. She eyed him carefully, wondering how to phrase her reply.

"It's been different," she said, not wanting to go into too much depth about how this was affecting Bruce. This experience had shaken him, she was sure. He'd grown snappy, harder to deal with, and Babs found herself butting heads with him more often than she was used to. He was reluctant to let her patrol alone, even though Babs was equally reluctant to be under his thumb so much. Perhaps it was her imagination, but it was almost like he imagined Babs would leave too, and he'd be alone again in the Batcave.

"Alfie misses you," Babs said, looking up with a smile. She was playing with a button on her shirt, trying to distract herself from the talk they were having. She hadn't quite touched upon what vigilante life was like without Dick, only how they all missed him dearly back at the manor. "I feel like there's not so much reason to be there anymore," she admitted, leaning over once again to be closer to him. "But I can't leave - I won't leave," she added quickly. Right now, Babs place was the Batcave - it needed to be the Batcave, but she was sure in time, like Dick, her place would begin to change. She didn't know how, or when, but she was sure she wouldn't stay there forever. She smiled sadly and eyed Dick carefully. "How are you? I mean, how are you?" Babs asked, adding an inflection to show she was interested in how Dick was holding up being away from the company of everyone. It was easy to lose yourself in the vigilante lifestyle without a bit of normality. [/ul]

[Dick Grayson - Nightwing]

"I kind of miss having the guy around at time," Dick smiled at her. Alfred was a huge help and had made life easy living at Wayne Manor. Dick owed Alfred a lot for all the help and support he had given through out Dick's years of living with him and Bruce. When Bruce hadn't been around, Alfred had always been there. And what Bruce lacked in social means of support, Alfred had been able to make up for it.

Dick couldn't have imagined life at Wayne Manor without Alfred and he was sure near could Bruce or Barbara. Alfred had held the place together to the best he could. Even with the out breaks of fights between the former dynamic duo. Though Alfred knew when it had been best to let things be. And he knew just when he had needed to step in to keep arguments or situations from getting over heated.

Sure Dick had been on his own for about a week or so now. But there were some things around the place that Alfred would have wanted to have organized right away. Dick almost laughed at the thought with how the state of the place now was since he had been living there. Though at times it almost looked like what one of those model homes could look like. He didn't have all that much to up out in the main living quarters of the penthouse. Most of his stuff was his vigilante equipment, things that had been in his old room at Wayne Manor, and a lot of his own training equipment in the training room.

He knew he had blown over most of the subject about what was going on back at Wayne Manor. But he could probably figure that out for himself from knowing Bruce all these years. He looked at Babs stilling on his couch. "I don't expect you too. Just because I left doesn't mean everything has to change," Dick said as he sat down beside her. "I'm still in Gotham for the time being, aren't I?" He smiled at her, just to remind her he wasn't on the other side of the world or anything like that.

He heard her next words and thought about how to answer it for a moment. "I'm fine," he replied simply at first. "Not much has changed, I have just as much work here as I did before. I've taken care of my class work and have been setting up the new systems to my computers here. Sure it keeps me up late nights working on it, but I'm sure I'm almost finished with it."

Dick wondered if he should go into detail of thinking of new vigilante identities. It had been a little rough to think about it at times. He knew something would come to him sooner or later, but for now he was fine going out dressed in black with some type of eye mask or something to hide who he was. But there was no way he wanted to bring up the attempt to wearing a hooded cape for a change along with the eye mask. The Bat had put a quick end to that by showing him how it could be used against him. Even through Dick hadn't tried to run into Batman on the streets, it was kind of hard seeing as Gotham was seen as the Batman's city. Besides behind the mask, they were merely two vigilantes going out and fighting on their own on the streets of Gotham to help the city, not to fight against each other.

Though, Dick had a feeling Alfred had probably heard about it. And Dick was sure that was probably just the latest news on him trying to be on his own, going around Wayne Manor. So, Babs might have heard about that already. Lets just say Batman pretty much said in terms along the line of any thug on the street would know how a hood could be used against it's owner. Like pulling it down in the wearer's face to create a blind spot.

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[/b] she said pointedly, sitting up on the couch. It suddenly felt a lot less comfortable now. "What do you mean 'still in Gotham for the time being'?" She asked. She didn't really need to ask what he meant, because it was quite apparent to her what the implication of those words were. In fact, the reason Dick hadn't yet started to decorate was beginning to fall right infront of her. She opened her mouth to say something and then closed it again, worried about what exactly would stream out of her mouth if she was given the chance. However, Babs wasn't one for holding back when she had something of relative importance to say.

"Dick, everything changes," she said. "You're just not there to see it, so it's fine for you," Babs muttered. She was tired of them delving into an argument whenever they met. It seemed to be all they did recently. She stood up off the couch and crossed her arms across her chest, shooting Dick a look. She stood in silence now, not wanting to say more because she was concerned about the implications of them always fighting. She didn't want her first visit to Dick's house marred with the memory of an argument between them.

"Dick, are you going somewhere?" Babs asked. "Is that why you haven't decorated the penthouse? Because there's no point making somewhere comfortable when you're going to leave, right?" Babs asked, looking around at him. She wanted answers, she felt she deserved them too. Babs was stuck in the middle of them both, and she knew Dick had been out on patrol without a new costume but was still managing to cover his identity. She didn't want to imagine what would happen if Dick was going to leave, what would happen to them. 'For the time being' played over in her head constantly, and she was all too sure this meant Dick was planning to go cavorting across the country. [/ul]

[Dick Grayson - Nightwing]

After Babs responding so pointed let, Dick regretted ever even stay what he had said about 'for the time being'. Things were change and he knew it. He knew how hard it must be for Babs, he had been there. He had gone through a lot of changes in his life to get him to this point. All of which had challenge his determination and beliefs. It was just apart of going through life that a lot of people faced. But as a vigilante, it could be more so difficult for them than for the average person. Though sometimes it seemed the most average person had a more difficult time than the vigilant with the most on their plates.

This was the kind of thing he hated getting into with Babs. When ever they were having a nice time, he might let one thing slip out and she flips over it. She would go on to no end to get the answers she wanted to hear. And if they weren't the right answer, she would fight over it. Dick could be just as support, but he never jumped on just on mention of something he didn't like unless there was true back up to his opinion on the issue.

Dick didn't respond right away to any of her questions. She was going to want a long explanation for his reason of even saying something like that. Dick just sat back in the couch, no reason to get all tense over this up coming conversation. Else she really wanted an argument, Dick wasn't going to worry over the matter. Even though Babs was standing with her arms crossed and shooting off a nasty look at him.

He leaned back into his seat and sighed. "That isn't the reason at all for not decorating the place at all," Dick said. "You know I'm not the type to go all out and make my place look like some art exhibit or a museum. This is just how I live. You wouldn't expect much from growing up in a circus. You get used to not owning some much I guess?" He wasn't sure if he was really helping his case, but he was being honest. He just wasn't the type to own some much stuff that would clutter up this living quarters. It was easier have a simple way to life in means of having some much stuff. He had had to actually go out and buy some more furniture for the place himself since he hadn't own all this kind of stuff when living back at Wayne Manor.

"What I'm trying to say is that I don't really know what might come up in ten years down the road. Right now, I'm living in this time. I'm setting up what I can for what I need," he replied more directed to answering her question a bit. Even if it wasn't what Babs wanted to hear. If she wanted him to be so honest now, he was going to give it to her straight. He wasn't going to beat around the bush this time. He had played that game for too long and knew where it could take him sometimes.

"I don't know if that is what you wanted to hear, but I'm telling you the truth," Dick said as he stood up and looked at Babs. "I really don't know what I'm going to do just yet. Sure, there are people in this town that could use the help, but there are other places that could use someone. It's not like I'm going to disappear off the face of the earth. I have responsibilities I'm not going to run away from. And right now, I know where I'm needed. I just needed to be able to have more space to spread my wings with less restrictions."

Dick knew he was just digging himself deeper, but it was for the best to get his thoughts out in the open. If Babs really wanted to know how his mind was working at that moment, he'd show her. And he had done just that. He really didn't have the plans for years down the road. He was more focus on the here and the now, until something was going to truly test him to find out what he might have to decide.

He placed both his hands on her shoulders. "Babs, don't worry about it so much," Dick said. "I know this is difficult. There are no reasons to jump too far ahead of ourselves. I'm thinking about the here and the now. And the now is with you. And being honest to you and letting you in on how I'm seeing things right now."

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[/b] she said after a pause. He spent half the time they were together convincing her everything was going to be okay, and she spent half the time trying to convince herself something was wrong. The recent incidents had done nothing but changed the usually collected Babs into a paranoid old woman, and she couldn't let herself continue like this. She would end up driving Dick away with her constant annoyances and accusations.

"I'm sorry," Babs admitted, her arms dropping. "The past few months I have been nothing but an annoyance. To you and to myself, trust me," Babs smiled. "I've been so busy worrying about things, I keep jumping to the worst case scenerio. All this - the moving out, giving up Robin... I keep thinking you're trying to distance yourself from me," she admitted, stepping back from him now. "I'm a complete idiot. Sometimes," she smiled. For someone who was known for her smarts, and flying through her studies with no problem, on the verge of graduation before most people had even left high school, Babs had let herself slip a bit recently. However, she wasn't going to go as far to mark herself as always the fool she'd let herself become as of late.

"Dick, if you need to go somewhere - whenever that may be - just remember to let me know... I'll make sure I'm free to plant-sit," she instructed. Babs smiled at him and looked around the living room some more. It was a modern penthouse, a high ceiling that seemed to make the whole room slightly more spacious. It certainly didn't look inhabited, and it's emptiness had added to Babs' concerns. Dick was right though, the minimalism of the house wasn't an indication of his attempts to move away soon, she was sure.

"Why don't you show me around?" Babs asked, crossing her arms again and raising an eyebrow as she looked over at Dick. "I'm sure I merit at least one personal tour, right?" Babs smiled. She was interested in seeing the rest of the penthouse, and was hoping to put her paranoid episode behind her. [/ul]

[Dick Grayson - Nightwing]

Dick was concerned at first that Babs might get even more mad at him for what he had said. If she did, she did. He was just trying to get her to realize that it was his life and things were changing, but he wasn't going to just up and leave like he had before. He cared for her too much to do something like to worry her. But to his relief, she said calm.

Remaining silent, Dick listened to what she had to say about all this. He was a bit surprised that she was apologizing for her actions of late. As she spoke, he agreed with some of what she said about being overly reaction to some situations. But he would never say that out loud. He was sure she knew he had notice the difference and everything that had been going on.

"I'd say you aren't an idiot at all," Dick said in reply to her comments. That's what he liked about Babs sometime when she had done something wrong she would actually admit to it. Even if it took a while for her to come around to it. He was sure she had to put up with that from him at times as well. But things seemed to work between them.

"I'll be sure to let you know," Dick replied with a smile to her joke about the plant sitting if he ever went any where. He'd have to remind himself to maybe in a little while to have a key made for Babs as well. Though right now he was just too busy with his school work and his vigilante work.

"I guess I could show you around a bit. Though you are free to wander around a bit," he said half jokingly. Dick looked over toward down the other hall that connected to the living room. The kitchen and dinning room were connect to the livingroom as they had been coming in. "We'll start down this way," he said as he led the way down the hall and toward another large room divided by a wall from the living room.

He walked in ahead of her to the right of the hall. It was the training room. There were all your typical equipment in there, along with a few gymnastic equipment, and a few mats on the floor for marshal arts as well as gymnastics. The room was lined with large windows around the front of it and to the left side. The windows gave a view toward the north part of Gotham.

"Well, this is the training room," Dick said. The place was quite organized for Dick living alone. Everything was kept neatly in place. The room was set up so most of the gymnastic equipment had the most space. Under a lower hanging section of the ceiling, where some of the second floor hung over, there was a punching bag hanging down on a chain for work outs. "It's not quite as impressive at the one at Wayne Manor or anything, but it works for me," he said.

[k]

[/b] she smiled, looking around at Dick again. There was room in the training section for other equipment, stuff she imagined he would have to sort some covert mission with Alfred to move over, if indeed he could. She figured there were still a few things that needed to be moved over from the manor, but nothing of any genuine importance. The things in the boxes were mere personal possessions that Dick had, some books, some photos. Nothing too major, just the general, average thing one would collect throughout life. Things she wanted to bring over to help Dick feel at home and to remind him of who he was. The pair of them were too far gone, unable to absolutely indulge in 'real life'. That fleeting opportunity to indulge in that had been dissolved years ago, and now it was for certain. Neither Babs nor Dick would ever experience normal life, though both of them, blighted by tragedy so early on, quite understood what a normal life was, and pushed their way through as civilians based on what was merely expected of them. Babs was ultimately glad to have Dick by her side, in so many ways.

"Your computers," she said, gesturing in the direction they'd just came from, where she'd noticed Dick had set up some computers. "I'm gonna venture a guess that's not just there for writing essays," she smiled. Those had particularly struck her attention, because if there was anything Babs was an expert in, it was computers and technology.[/ul]