"How are things going for you two?" Roy asked before sticking more jelly into his mouth. Several empty packets sat in front of him. "League stop treating you like ten year olds?"

The ice cream shop was quiet. Red booth seats, torn and ripped and some stained with substances I hoped were from messy eaters, mostly sat empty. The haphazardly repaired tables scattered in the middle didn't fair much better, with only two of them occupied. Even then those two tables were together. Rundown and constantly on the verge of going under, the small shop was a favorite place to relax when we were off duty. 

Mainly because it was cheap enough that Wally would not go broke. 

"We don't have babysitters when we go out. Well, aside from that time we had to take the captain with us." Wally scratched at a spot on the table. 

"I am not sure that counts as adult supervision," I said. "Sometimes it seems as though he is younger than any of us."

"That's only because Robin's like an-"

"Oh, hey guys!" Dick slid into the booth, pushing Roy and Wally against each other. Bright blue eyes gleamed at me, along with the bright smile on his face. "We didn't know you guys were here today."

"Hello, my friend," I said with a small grin. "Hello, Percy." My gaze held on her for a moment, probably too long. I looked back to Dick before she could notice. Not before Roy or Wally could notice unfortunately. The table jolted and blood ran from Wally's nose.

"I knew-" 

"Thank you, Roy." I slid over, pressing myself into the corner; I patted the spot next to me. 

Percy's lips pressed into a thin line and she shuffled her feet.  "Do you, uh, do you mind if I take the window?" asked Percy. I nodded and got out of the booth. My hand rested on the back as I let Percy move past me. The jagged edges of torn vinyl pressed against my palm and fingers. The bite of it was enough to distract me from the wide smile Wally bore behind the napkin used to stifle the blood-flow.

"Who's this?" Roy asked, gesturing to Percy. 

"My cousin. Have you guys ordered yet? The banana split is good, even though someone-" Dick glared at Roy. "-refuses to admit it."

"Banana's are disgusting, no matter how much chocolate you slather onto them."

"I've seen you eat bananas before."

"Green ones."

"You're disgusting."

"Oh, are you two joining them?" The waitress sat our drinks on the table. "What can I get you two to drink?"

"Water for the both of us," said Percy, ignoring Dick's protests until the waitress left. "You already drank pop today, Alfred will lecture us both if you drink more. Anyway, do they have any blue ice cream here?"

"No, but they have black raspberry." Dick said.

"Close enough."

When the waitress came back and after we placed our orders, awkward silence reigned. Roy looked at Percy with narrowed eyes. Percy noticed, having raised an eyebrow. After that, she did not pay any attention to him. 

"How come you're living with Bruce all of the sudden?"

"My parents were murdered." Percy bit out. "I didn't get much of a choice, since I don't have any family that can take care of me. I mean, I have some cousins on my dad's side, but-" she shrugged. "Not sure I was to let a thirteen year old be in charge of me."

Roy looked as though he realized the taste in his mouth was that of the shoe he had shoved in there. "Well uh. I guess you get to join the adopted by billionaires club then." 

"What is with billionaires adopting orphans?" Dick rolled his eyes.

"Probably because we're orphans. I mean, I know why Bruce adopted you, but I'm not sure why Ollie adopted me."

"How have the three of you not been kidnapped yet?' Wally asked, having finally stopped the blood flowing from his nose. "They could get major ransom from having all of you together."

"I got into a gunfight with my kidnapper when I was twelve." Percy said. "Also blew up the Gateway Arch trying to escape. If they know about that, I doubt they'd try to take me. After all, I'm a fair bit more destructive  now than I used to be." She smiled, and it was nice. She sighed and settled back against the backrest. She did not say what was bothering her, none of us asked either. We all have our own problems, and it is up to us if we want to admit them to others.

"That's-"

"Here you go." A bowl of black raspberry was slid over to Percy, cutting off any current attempts at conversation. The rest of our order was placed in front of us, and the cheeseburgers Wally ordered disappeared in an instant.  As I began to eat my chocolate ice cream, I could not help glancing at Percy. She took tiny bites of her own, no longer interested in the concept of ice cream it appeared. 

"Are you okay?" I asked.

"I'm fine." If the way she looked out the window to avoid our gazes was any indication, she was not, and neither was the way she tensed. I looked past her and out the window. A man with golden blonde hair stood leaning against a tree. His eyes were locked onto Percy. She looked back to Dick. "What's the best way to get rid of someone you don't want to talk to?"

The midday light  that had been streaming through onto the floor shifted. It should not have, given that  four hours would have had to passed in but an instant. The golden rays now fell directly onto Percy's ice cream and stretched onto my arm. I hissed and scooted to the end of the table. I rubbed at my arm. Something was wrong. Very, very wrong. 

"Fucking asshole." Percy mumbled, glancing out the window. The man, even though he could not have heard her, stuck his tongue out. The sunlight seemed to shift, falling onto Percy instead of the remains of her ice cream. I narrowed my eyes and looked back at the man. He was gone.

"Who was that?" I asked.

"Fred."

"Is he your boyfriend?" Dick snickered. I found myself looking back at Percy, dreading yet wanting her answer.

"He's an asshole. Also, ew." Percy sullenly lifted her spoon from the bowl, tilting it and letting the liquid ice cream dribble off. I pushed my ice cream towards her. "I can't take this, Kaldur."

I shook my head. "I doubt I will be able to eat any more of it. But I am sure Wally would like it if you do not want it." I watched with a small smile as she pulled the bowl towards her. She pulled her legs onto the seat and turned to press her back against the window ledge, probably in an attempt to protect her ice cream. She winced and stretched one leg out. Her foot hit against my leg. 

She didn't move it. 

I settled back and half-listened to the conversation going on between my friends. Why did I have the feeling that there was something more going on here?

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 I sighed and let my head tilt back, enjoying the warm sun on my face. My phone sat in my lap, unlocked and screen open to the latest number I had texted. We agreed to met at noon, and yet there was no sign of her twenty minutes after. Closing my eyes, I let the doubt soak in. Perhaps she- Cold plastic pressed against my forehead, and I opened my eyes. Percy stood behind me, an all-too-forced smile on her face. Shimmering dust covered her hair. 

"Sorry," she said. "I got...held up. Also, Alfred gave me some water for you." 

I stood up and took the bottle. Tossing it from hand to hand as she rounded the bench, I looked down the path. "Which way do you want to go?"

"That way?"

Percy was pointing down the path towards the grove of trees. I tilted my head, trying to remember if there was a stream that ran through it. I may be acting as a civilian at the moment, but it does not change that I and the rest of the Team have enemies. Not to mention the criminals in Gotham probably would attempt to kidnap Percy at some point, reputation or not. 

"That sounds fine," I said. Did I figure out if there was a source of water there? No, but I could not stand the way Percy continued to stare at me; it was almost as if she was asking if I regretted agreeing to this. She nodded. The two of us started down the stone paved path. Neither of us said much, and maybe it should have upset me. But the nervous energy radiating from her was enough to give me reason to worry. 

Every so often she would cut off and look around, hand slipping into her pocket. Whenever that happened, her shoulders would tense and everything about how she held herself sounded alarms. She looked like Artemis did whenever her parents were mentioned, defensive and ready to lash out. The odd thing was, there was nothing I could notice that would cause such a reaction. We were alone on the path. It never happened when others were nearby, even though another form of it did appear as we passed people. 

A warm hand wrapped around mine, and my body lurched forward. Taking faster steps to keep pace with her and avoid falling over, I let Percy pull me along. And so she did until we stood beneath the boughs of a large tree, one wreathed in blooms of all colors. With her lips parted in an awe-struck smile, Percy stared up at the swaying branches. 

"This is so cool," she said, voice barely above a whisper.

"I believe it is a remnant from a fight with Poison Ivy. If I recall correctly, it produces a few different kinds of berries, though, I am not sure if the amount of pollen it is said to produce is worth the trade-off." 

"Still super cool. If one of my friends knew about this, he'd be going nuts over the possible applications of Poison Ivy's powers. The ability to grow plants near instantly would really help with conservation of forests. Wonder if her powers function underwater or are just limited to surface plants? And I mean, i know fungi isn't considered a plant, but could she grow and control that too since it grows onto plants? I know Aquaman can talk to whales and dolphins even though they aren't fish, and even then the ability couldn't be considered to be aquatic life since he can talk to walruses and they're technically amphibious mammals not aquatic." 

She continued to talk about the logistics of my king's powers, and I stared at her. Most of it was not publicly known, and even then most of it was limited to the Atlantean public. Then I remembered she is, in fact, the niece of Batman. He probably told her about the powers of most of the League by now. 

"Uh sorry. I kinda ramble." The change in tone snapped my attention back to her. "Which way?"

"Left."

We began our walk again. My sandals and her sneakers were near silent on the pathway. I glanced over at Percy. One hand was stuck in her pocket, the other- Smiling, I turned my gaze forward again. Really, I should have pulled my hand away. I doubted she noticed we were holding hands, I had not and I am supposed to be aware of my surroundings. Not to mention if she had, she would have pulled away as she so often did. But I just... I could not bring myself to. It was probably wrong of me, but I wanted to enjoy this.

Wind blew around us, rustling leaves and cutting through the fabric of my jacket as though it was not there. I looked at Percy, mouth open to ask if she was okay. The words never left my lips, taking note of the sheen of her jacket. A windbreaker, my mind provided.  As the breeze settled, the pink and white petals caught in it floated to rest atop Percy's hair. 

"You have-"

"I know," sighed Percy.

"Do you want me to get them?" My heart leaped into my throat with the offer. Was it too forward? Is there a boundary between Earthers that Atlanteans do not have? Did I cross it?

"Sure, just, uh, wait until we get-"

"Hey, you! Fight me." Lightning flashed, followed by the crash of thunder.

Percy blinked. "Nope." She pulled me forward, away from the random person who shouted at us. Looking back at him, he had not moved from his spot in front of the bench. "I was hoping that wouldn't happen."

"Do people normally challenge you to fights?"

"One of my cousins hires people to make my life miserable. Why? No idea. Not like he tried to kill me when I was younger, but then again who hasn't tried to kill me. I'm a very killable person. Or, uh, very attackable I guess, I haven't died yet."

I frowned, and pulled my hand from hers, brushing the petals out of her hair. "Should that concern me?"

"It's fine. I'm used to it by now." 

"I really do not think you should be used to it."

"And plenty of Atlanteans probably think you should not be used to breathing air." Her words were not enough to distract me from the smile falling onto her lips. All too soon, we found ourselves back where we started, and me with a text from Artemis saying Wally was on top of the fridge and kicking Connor. I locked my phone without replying. 

"We should do this again sometime," I said. Percy nodded. She reached up; her fingers brushed my scalp and then the touch was gone. Withdrawing her hand, a petal rested cupped in her palm. A sigh slipped through her lips. Running her thumb over the silk-smooth surface, she smiled. Contentment washed over me, even though I could not place why. Percy's smile vanished.

"I need to go."

Without another word, she walked away. A pen danced around her fingers, tension crawling back into her frame. Before I could offer to walk with her, to give her some peace of mind, my phone rang.

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Wally and I walked across the grass, blankets tucked under my arms and a basket under his. Several families and friend groups had already claimed their place on the lawn, leaving few places with a good view of the makeshift screen. 

"What about that- And somebody took it. Told you we should have left earlier."

"Wally, you were the one who insisted we stop for snacks."

"Yeah, because I didn't feel like starving all night." 

"What happened to the ones you bought earlier?"

"I ate them. Duh." Wally grinned. He shifted the basket to push his goggles back into his pocket. "Hey, isn't that Dick and Percy?"

I followed his gaze. In the middle of the other blankets, it was all too easy to pick out the two of them out. "Should we go sit with them?"

"Would you rather find a place to set up shop?" said Wally, already walking towards them. I rolled my eyes and followed after him. He plopped onto the blanket without a word. Dick kicked him and promptly had the basket pushed onto his lap. 

"I did not know you would be here." I sat beside Percy. "Did Bruce let you come, or did you two sneak out of the house?"

"Alfred brought us." Percy tapped her fingers against her leg. A sweatshirt draped her frame, and Dick was wearing a similar one. She caught my gaze. "And Bruce let us borrow these." I nodded and leaned back on my hands. I watched Percy as she shifted, moving so her legs were under her. If she noticed that she was oh so close to me, she did not say anything. And I was not going to say a word about it myself. 

"Hey, you're Percy, right?" A woman walked up to us. Carmel brown hair tumbled down her back, and icy blue eyes locked onto her, not bothering with any of us boys. 

"Yeah?" Suspicion layered Percy's voice. "What do you want?"

"Congratulations, you won one of the prizes in the raffle. Here you go." She handed Percy two blankets tied together with a ribbon. "Enjoy."

"Those weren't on the table earlier," Dick commented.

"And I didn't enter, but blankets are blankets." She pulled off the ribbon and shook out the blankets. The shimmering material tugged at the corners of my mind, at a memory fresh in my mind. They reminded me so much of the blankets I kept at my king's house here on the surface, but they could not possibly be similar. Mine are from Atlantis. The odds of them being of the same make are extremely low. And yet, they were too familiar to not be. 

Percy wrapped the blankets around herself and looked up at the screen. The movie had finally begun. Silence washed over everyone as our attention all focused on the opening scenes. I sat forward, folding my hands in my lap. Movies were still odd to me. One would think two years on the surface would change that, but it really did not. Time ticked on, and the movie progressed. A girl fought for her freedom, Wally made comments and Percy would occasionally laugh at one of them. More often than not, Percy would mumble a comment about the fight scenes. 

However those mumbled words became less and less frequent before dropping off altogether. A warm body pressed against mine. My breath caught in my throat, and my heart froze mid-beat. I glanced down. Percy rested against my side, eyes closed and chest rising and falling in a gentle rhythm. Fuck. I looked up, looking to Dick and Wally for help, but the two of them were gone. Did they say they were going for snacks? I swallowed. What do I do? The question was answered for me as Percy's body began to slip. Without thinking, I wrapped my arm around her and tucked her against my side. 

The realization of what I did hit hard. Heat rose to my face, a burning fire, but I could not move her. I did not want to move her. Some part of me said to keep her close and to keep her safe. I could only assume it was the same part of my mind that begged me to stand a little closer to her, and the same part that made me want to-- The heat fanning my face increased alongside my embarrassment. If Wally knew I was contemplating flirting with her, he would never allow for me to live it down. 

Or he would suggest material for me to use.

The pads of my fingers brushed her blankets. I frowned. This material...It is the same as the blankets we use undersea. But why, no, how would this have gotten on the raffle table? Percy shifted closer to me, nestling further into her blankets. The bottom half of her face disappeared into them.

My hand hovered. Pull her away? Or pull her closer? 

Her eyelids fluttered and she struggled against her blankets until they fell loose onto the ground. She did not pull away, and I unfortunately did not notice Wally and Dick's return.

"Are you sure she doesn't like you?" said Wally, smiling all the while. I was about to refute it, denial on my tongue, but Percy looped an arm around mine, turning to press her back against my side. My first reaction was to take her hand. My fingers laced with hers. The heat which had disappeared returned in full-force. What do I do in this situation?

"Help."

"Nope. Have fun."

Thankfully, or unluckily depending on how I looked at this, the movie was nearing it end. And once the end credits began to roll, I stood up, lifting Percy with me. Carrying her bridal style, I managed to grab her blankets. They dragged behind us on the ground, but anything that got in them would wash out. I followed Dick and Wally towards the street. A dark car sat waiting for us.

"You need a ride?" Dick asked Wally. Wally shook his head and pulled out his goggles. Slipping them on, he vanished in a gust of wind. I looked to Dick. He nodded and opened the back door. I placed Percy in the middle seat, pulling the seatbelt over her and buckling it. I fished my phone out. I am pretty sure the nearest Zeta Tube is only a-

"Just get in." Dick yawned. He clambered into the front seat. "We can take you home." He pulled the door shut. Even so, I nodded. Sliding into the seat beside Percy, I pulled the door shut. I could not help but smile as my leg pressed against Percy's. As a result of either the touch or the car starting, she yawned. Her eyes cracked open, but I doubted she was fully awake. Shifting and turning sideways, kicking a leg over my lap. Arms snaked around one of mine, and she clung to me. 

I hummed happily. The noise was out of place on land. My finger brushed over her knuckles. Over and over again, I repeated the motion. I told myself it was because I wanted her to fall back asleep, but I could not lie to myself or deny the way I enjoyed the way she snuggled closer to me.

"Really wanna know how you're gonna deny this." Dick's voice was mumbled.

I did not bother denying it. 

Eventually, the car came to a stop. Too tired to carry her, I shook Percy. Eventually and with grumbled words, Percy stumbled out of the care after me. Her hand caught on my arm, using me to keep herself upright. The walk into the Manor was short, but it felt longer. And everything was odd once we stepped inside. 

We were barely inside the door, when Percy stumbled unprompted against me. "Night." Percy mumbled. "Don't die." Her face pressed hard against my chest as her fingers grasped at the back of my jacket. 

My arms, of course, fell around her, as they had every other time. "I will try my best." My words slipped out, jumbled into a mess. "I love you." I almost did not register it, half asleep as I was. No real words left Percy, no acknowledgment of hearing it, as she pushed herself further into my chest. The only thing that saved me was the fact I said it in Atlantean. At least, I think I did. I was not sure I had even said it at all.

"I'll make sure she gets up to bed," said Bruce. I blinked at him, his words taking a moment to process. I nodded and dropped my arms. Bruce easily pulled her away, and in an instant she was hugging him, face pressed against him. "Okay, Perce, let's-" He sighed and picked her up. Dick walked over and clambered onto Bruce's back. Near instantly, both of them were asleep. "Man, if I knew this would get them both to sleep, I'd have them watch movies more often." He chuckled. "You know where the Zeta is. Night, Kaldur."

"Goodnight, Mr Wayne," I said. And even though I knew she was asleep, I added, "Goodnight, Percy."

Welp, i am very tired, but this is nearly 4,000 words. So hope the last part is coherent. Time to go to bed and be woken up by a lawnmower

See yah