Metal scraped against ceramic as I scooped my eggs into a pile. My heart was beating in my chest, fast but not entirely unwelcome. Energy poured through my veins. The way Wally would vibrate when he got excited began to make all too much sense to me, in a watered down way. I, of course, was not physically vibrating, otherwise I'd probably have been making that humming sound the little three dollar back massagers make. And for fun, probably making my way across the floor. 

"Should I ask why you're so happy or do I not want to know?" asked Bruce. He didn't look at me, too engrossed in his paper. A plate half full of food sat pushed to the side, and Alfred glared at it like it insulted his mother or his cooking, or both. 

"Revenge."

"Do I dare ask why?"

"I don't know, do you?"

Dick rolled his eyes and pushed away from the table. "Well, have fun figuring out how to torture Wally, I'm going to go hang out with my friends, because I have those."

"I have friends!" I said, offended. 

"Sure you do. Bye, Bruce. Bye, Alfred." He disappeared into a clock. 

I pushed my own plate away. "I should probably get going too. Revenge waits for no man, and I doubt it will wait for a girl either."

"Not until you eat your eggs."

"Dick didn't eat his."

"You are not Master Richard now are you?"

I scowled and shoveled the eggs into my mouth. "Happy?"

"Don't talk with-"

"Don't care. I'm gonna head out the window so you have plausible deniability." I walked away from the table, still chewing. Forcing myself to swallow the eggs, it was all I could do to not gag. Why did he insist on undercooking scrambled eggs? Who likes slimy eggs? My calves burned after the long trek upstairs. "Fuck," I mumbled, huffing. Either I'm getting out of shape, or those stairs are really steep. Or my legs are still sore from last nights escapades, which was, to be fair, the far more likely option. 

My legs protested as I began to walk and didn't sink down to sit at the top of the stairs. I pushed open my door and nearly collapsed back into my bed. I wanted to. I wanted to sink into the plush mattress and the multitude of pillows and wrap myself up in blankets and never emerge. But I couldn't. Not yet, I told myself over and over again. I repeated it as I picked out clothes, and as I sat on the edge to put my shoes on. I repeated it as I ran a brush through my hair and as I slipped into the bathroom to brush my teeth. 

I walked to my window and pushed the sky blue curtains to the side. I slid the window up, and pulled the screen out. Okay, there's my, uh, cover?

Taking a deep breath, I disappeared. I reappeared in the aquarium, sputtering and gasping for breath. I drew some odd looks, but most were curious, no real worry. What else could I expect from Gotham? And really, what else was I expecting from doing that? It seemed like every time I vapor-travelled there was some new after-effect. It was like a grab bag of consequences. 

The second the shock wore off, countless minds shouted into my own. I winced and waved a hand, trying to shush the fish. The voices mingled and merged into a mess that grated. Nails on a chalkboard was less painful. Any excitement I had, instantly vanished. I found myself wishing for the fish from the aquarium where I was locked in a tank as an exhibit. Drugging the fish probably wasn't ethical, but giving that those two could understand them, I could see why. The novelty would wear off, but having to deal with the voices of the fish? Even just the ones in this tank were bad. 

The bad thing was, normally I tuned them out. But I couldn't. Maybe they were operating at a different wavelength than the ones in the wild, or maybe I pissed off one of my siblings and this is their revenge on me. 

"Quiet," I whispered, "Be quiet." My words came out as a hiss, and the fish shut up. I sighed. "Thank you." I sank onto a bench, rubbing my temples. I didn't want to have a headache for this, but the dull, throbbing pain was there. A dip in the water would probably fix that, but I didn't know where the shark tank was, and I didn't have a class of kids to drop in alongside me. On the bright side, the aquarium was for the most part empty. Most of the people I saw were adults, and most of those were pushing strollers or holding onto the hands of their small children. A few older kids were scattered about too but nowhere near as many. 

I turned my face back to the tank, watching people pass by in the reflection. Half an hour passed with no sign of them, but I was hesitant to turn my gaze back to the fish. They were ignoring me for the most part, I didn't want to tempt them into talking to me again. 

"Wow," a girl said. I turned my head, only to quickly look away. Megan stood near the glass, staring at the colorful fish swimming by. "Connor, look at that one, it's so cool."

"They're fish. They're cold-blooded."

"I don't think that's what she meant, dude." Wally laughed. 

"Well, maybe she-"

"Enough," said Kaldur, breaking up the brewing argument. "We are not here to argue." He sighed and brushed a hand over his head. I blinked, continuing to watch them.

"Are we staying together or splitting up? Because I want to see the seahorses." Dick pushed his sunglasses up. I could feel him staring at me. Don't move, don't act like anything's wrong. If he asks, I caught a ride with a friend of mine. If he doesn't ask, he doesn't need to know. He looked back at Kaldur, and I forced myself to not shift. So many things could make him suspicious, and me being here was enough of a reason on its own.

"We can meet at the food court at noon."

The others nodded. They broke up into groups and disappeared further into the aquarium. Kaldur watched after them before turning to the small window tank in the wall behind me. I stood up. My joints complained and my ankle hurt from how I had been sitting. I ducked around a woman leading a child by the hand. With my steps light, I ended up behind Kaldur. He didn't notice me. Cool plastic pressed against my palms; I stared into the tank.

"I would say they're pretty--" Kaldur jumped as I spoke. "--but then they usually start thanking me and arguing over who I like the most."

"I did not expect to see you here. Not that I do not want you here, but why are you here, exactly?"

I shrugged. "It's in my blood, quite literally. Plus I knew you guys were going to be here, and i'm not passing up a chance to mess with Wally." I looked up at Kaldur, smiling. A similar expression rested on his face, white teeth exposed with the grin. 

"Please do not do anything too extreme."

"Can't promise that." 

Kaldur snorted. "You can not or you will not?" Regardless of what my answer would have been, he reached over and rested his hand over mine. I turned mine over. Our fingers laced together with the webbing between his fingers rubbing against my skin. If it felt weird to him, he said nothing. He simply pulled away from the tank and took me along with him. "What do you wish to see first?"

"It's probably a good idea for you to pick," I said. Kaldur raised an eyebrow. "I really shouldn't be showing favoritism." Not if I wanted to keep this headache from making my eyes feel like they were trying to jump out of my skull and stab me anyway. He hummed, a soft note rising in his throat. His hand never left mine. His thumb brushed over my knuckles, and I couldn't help the surge of warmth that accompanied it. The blush on my cheeks was far too obvious for my liking. The fact that we were dating still hadn't settled in yet, and it was weird to have little reminders like that one. 

Kaldur stopped. In the middle of the room, a large tank sat filled with gallons and gallons of water. A hum, so similar yet so different from the earlier one, pulled from him. He coughed and glanced down at me. "It, um, it is a recreation of some ruins from Shayeris."

"That's..."

"My birthplace." Colorful fish swam in lazy circles around the tank. A few hid under rocks and recreated rubble. Kaldur rocked onto his heels. "It is quite hard to resist the temptation to chase them."

Hello, my Lady! 

I forced a smile onto my face. Just that greeting sent a spike of pain through my skull. It splintered and arced down behind my right eye.  "Hello." 

"They are talking to you?"

"Yeah. It comes in handy sometimes, but if there are too many it can give me a headache." I pressed my palm against my eye. The pressure did nothing to help, probably even made things worse. I turned towards Kaldur, thoroughly not caring if anyone saw me do this. I pressed myself towards him and rested my head against his chest. I let my hands tug at the fabric of his jacket until I could ball my fists in it. 

"You have a headache." It was more a statement than a question, so I didn't nod. Kaldur shuffled. His hand rested on my back, and he guided me towards a bench. Hard wood pressed against my butt. Kaldur sat beside me. He left his arm draped over my shoulders and let me push myself against his side. Shallow breaths puffed out from my mouth, no deeper in fear that it would make me puke. A gentle hand brushed my hair away from my neck letting the climate controlled air hit my skin. Even with the dim lighting in the room, walls lit with blue from floor lights and the wavering light from within the tank itself, I closed my eyes.

Moments after I did, a new presence made themselves known. "Percy? I thought you were staying at home."

I flinched, but pulled away from the warm comfort of Kaldur's embrace to look at Dick. "I got bored." I blinked, pressing my eyes together for a few seconds before opening them again. "Isn't it a bit risky to be calling me by name?" 

"I live in Gotham, you live in Gotham, you're dating him, and I'm friends with him."

The words took a moment to process, but when they did, I had to admit it made some semblance of sense. I didn't want to put too much thought into it. I wanted to sleep. It didn't seem destined to happen, not with the way Wally ran into the room. He slipped, in a puddle of water from the freshly mopped floor, and landed on his back. He groaned and rolled over, before picking himself up.

"That hurt," he said. "Hi, babe. You're looking as stunning as ever."

"There is a shark tank in this aquarium and I have a record of dumping people in them." My voice was dull, no hint of joking within it. Part of me really wanted to do something, maybe to ask the fish to mess with Wally, but at the same time I didn't want the headache to get any worse. Even as it was the nausea had wrapped its talons around my throat. 

"Why?"

"Because I dumped my entire class in one."

Kaldur bumped his leg against mine. "I can ask them to leave if you want me to."

I stood up, clenching my stomach muscles as my vision went black. I blinked and shook my head. "I actually want to go see the sharks, so you know, they might actually like a snack." Dick probably had medicine with him, part of Bruce's be prepared for anything schtick, but I didn't want to ask. For one he'd have to dig it out of the bright yellow belt hidden somewhere on him. And then he'd tell Alfred and Bruce. "Do you want to stay here, or come look at them?" I asked Kaldur. He didn't response verbally, instead standing and taking my hand. Wally's eyes widened. Dick elbowed him and laughed. 

"Megan found a penny press, so we're going to go do that, have fun you two," said Dick. He turned on his heels and walked out the door, Wally trailing behind him.

"That went...better than I thought."

Kaldur chuckled. "It helps that Megan really did find a penny press. Now, you wanted to see the shark exhibit, correct?"

"I was just trying to get them to leave, but sure."

We walked from the empty room and through the halls, following signs and passing out into the hot sun to pass into another building. Kaldur's steps hurried at the same time I tensed. Someone was behind us. It didn't take seeing their reflection in the door to know that, but it certainly helped. The door shut behind us, and then opened again. Kaldur was basically pulling me down the dark hallway. The only light was from the runner lights along the walkway and from the glowing fish. I had to trust him. And then we were off the path.

Before I could ask what he was doing, a hand tickled the back of my knee and an involuntary giggle slipped out. Kaldur shushed me, acting like he hadn't just done that. And then- And then his fingers pressed against the back of my neck, and he pulled me into a kiss. The cold wall pressed up against my back, hard and harder still as Kaldur pressed me back into it. Hard kiss after kiss, hands slipping up under my shirt. 

As sudden as it began, it stopped. He broke away, and he peered out around the corner. He sighed and pressed his head against my shoulder. "Apologies." Panted breaths fell from his lips. "I should not have done that." 

"Um, why did you do it?" 

"As much as I know you can handle yourself, I do not want to endanger you by having a villain notice you with me. This was the easiest way for me to ensure he would not look too closely," he mumbled the words. "As long as the others stay out of sight, he should leave."

"I...I didn't mind that," I said. My nails dragged on my palms. "N-Not really." Not as much as I would've had it been someone else, or as much as I would have had he not had a reason. My thoughts were clouded. Everything that passed through my mind was viewed through a layer of fog and felt like it was wrapped in cotton. All I could feel was the soft breathing against my collar, and the phantom press of lips against mine. 

"My apology still stands." 

"It's fine. If you were someone else, well, do you have any idea how much energy I can draw from here?" Saltwater was everywhere. Though the same could be said for the last aquarium I was in, and that could have went badly. But having an immortal being working against me certainly didn't help, in that situation or any other. If Frank hadn't been there, if he couldn't shape-shift, we probably would have died. 

I tried to wet my mouth. Mud flooded every other thing I could taste. Fire licked at my skin, and the smell of ash wafted up my nose. I blinked and tried to focus my eyes on anything, only having to settle for the light of the walkway. Not the reflection of Kaldur's eyes, never the reflection of his eyes. Too animalistic, too much like the monsters I've fought. 

"Percy?" Kaldur's hand brushed my cheek and I snapped back. I still didn't look at him. 

"Hm?" Keep my gaze on the lights. What was it Chiron told me? Five things I see or was it five things I hear? Or maybe touch. Anxiety burned in my bones, buzzing like bees. Fight or flight was activated, and it was like my body couldn't choose.

"Do you need to take a break?" 

"No." I shook my head. "No, I'm fine," I insisted.

"If you're sure..." He seemed hesitant to accept my words, and I really didn't know why. I said I was fine, I managed a small smile, so why was he seeing through this? Was I really that bad at acting? No, because Bruce would have noticed something and called me on it. But that didn't explain why he was this good at it. "The shark tank is that way, if you still wish to go."

"That sounds great."

Another chapter, another day of me playing stardew valley. 

I hope you enjoy this chapter the way I enjoy yelling at my pet slimes to stop attacking me

See yah