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Dick is driving, relaxed with the wind blowing gently from the window and the sound of disco in his ears, when he sees it.
A huge bowling pin sign and the words “Bowl Extravaganza” underneath in big red letters.
And suddenly, he knows they have to stop there. It’s perfect. It’s what they all need after finally getting out of Gotham. They can relax and decompress. And spend some time having fun together, something they haven’t done in too long.
So, Dick turns into the plaza where the bowling alley is.
Kory, with her beautiful legs up on the passenger side dashboard in a way that has totally not been distracting at all, turns to look at him.
The others are all too occupied to realize there has been a change of direction.
“Surprise stop,” Dick says, unable to hide the excitement in his voice.
Kory raises an eyebrow at him.
“You’ll see,” Dick promises.
“Is it the bowling alley?” she asks dryly.
Dick’s eyes widen at her correct guess.
“The only things in this strip mall are a life insurance agency, a barbershop, a phone store, and a bowling alley. Doesn’t take a super-detective to figure it out.”
“Maybe it’s the life insurance agency,” Dick replies, shooting her a playful smile.
Kory’s face hardens a little bit. “Maybe. With the way you do things, it might be smart to get you a policy.”
Idiot. Why did he bring up death?
He knows she’s still angry about him getting himself shot and killed. And he also knows she has every right to be. The others have forgiven him for dying, but she hasn’t yet.
Dick takes one of his hands off the steering while and places it on top of her hand. If he didn’t have to focus on parking the RV, he’d turn to look at her.
“I promise I’m done with that. I’ve changed, and i’m not going to recklessly run off on my own anymore.”
Kory’s silent. Dick tries to look at her from the corner of his eye, but he can’t see enough to get a good look at the expression on her face.
“I want to believe you. But i’ve chewed you out for it so many times, and you always just end up doing it again.”
That hurts. She’s not wrong. But it still hurts.
But he’s glad she didn’t hold back. That she doesn’t sugarcoat anything to spare his feelings.
“I don’t blame you for not believing me. I know words aren’t enough. I know I need to prove it to you through my actions,” Dick says, finally pulling the car to a stop. “And you’re right. I should have listened to you. And it shouldn’t have taken me dying for it to get through to me. Your words, your anger, your fear...it should have been enough. I’m sorry.”
Dick looks at Kory, and he sees that he’s rendered her speechless. She opens and closes her mouth a few times.
“Thank you for saying that,” she says softly.
Dick is about to reply when Conner calls out, “Why have we stopped here?”
Dick unbuckles his seatbelt and stands up, turning to face the rest of the team. They are all looking at him expectantly.
“I thought we could take a break from the road, and go bowling. If everyone’s down with that.”
“Sweet!”
“Awesome!”
“Sounds fun!”
“Oh, I am going to crush all of you.”
Ok, they’re all on board. Dick turns and looks down at Kory.
“How about you, Princess? Wanna have some fun?”
A smile slowly takes over Kory’s face.
The team walks into the bowling alley. It’s a nice place, filled with blue and pink neon lights. It has all the junk food anyone could want and an arcade, on top of the actual bowling itself.
Dick walks up to the counter with the team behind him.
“Hi, we’d like two lanes, right next to each other.”
The bowling alley employee, Kyle his name tag says, look at them dully and then looks at the computer in front of him. “You can have lanes 8 and 9, if that works.”
“That works.”
“Will it be six pairs of shoes? And can I get your sizes?”
Dick, Tim, Conner, Rachel, and Gar list off their shoe sizes, and then Dick turns and looks at Kory, who looks very confused.
“I’m sorry, what’s this?” she says to Dick.
“You need to use the bowling shoes that they provide for you.”
Kory looks at the shoes that Kyle has already lined up on the counter. They’re big and ugly and dirty and worn down, with blue, white, and red color patches.
“And how it works is that people wear these, then give them back, and then more people wear them, and now we’re wearing them?”
“Yes.”
Kory shakes her head with a disgusted look on her face.
“Mhmmm, no. No, I’m not doing that,” Kory says. “Can’t I just wear my own shoes?”
“That’s not how it works,” Kyle chimes in.
Kory turns back to look to Dick. “You guys can just play without me.”
“No, we’re not doing that,” Dick says adamantly. “Can’t you just wear the shoes?”
Kory takes another glance at the shoes.
“I would rather die.”
Dick lets out a sigh. He should have considered this beforehand, but he was just so excited to do something fun with them, especially Kory.
“It’s really not a big deal. I’ll just watch. I don’t mind.”
“I mind,” Dick counters. “I want...,” To hang out with you. To have fun with you. To teach you how to bowl and impress you, “You to have fun. You deserve it more than any of us. I’m not just going to leave you out."
Both explanations are true: the one he gave her and the one he didn’t.
Kory smiles softly at him.
“That’s really sweet...But, i’m still not wearing those clown shoes.”
Okay, Dick can fix this. He can make it work. And even impress Kory in the process.
“Why don’t you take the team to put their shoes on and find our lanes while I try to work something out?” Dick asks Kory.
Kory raises an eyebrow at him, looking at him skeptically. “Okay,” she says, shrugging.
The rest of the team takes their shoes before following Kory to the nearest bench. Dick turns back to Kyle.
“Is there anything we can do to allow her to wear the shoes she has on now?”
Dick takes a $50 bill out of his wallet and lays it on the counter. Kyle glances down at the bill, a bit of interest in his eyes, before looking over to where Kory is standing, zeroing in on her 6-inch stiletto boots. He turns back to Dick, an unamused expression on his face.
“No chance in hell.”
Dick places another $50 bill on the table. “Are you sure?”
“It’s a safety liability. If she gets hurt, she could sue.”
“You don’t have to worry about that. She’s not going to get hurt. The things she can do in those heels...it’s amazing,” Dick says, awe in his voice. “And she would never sue this place; she’s not like that.”
“Still not happening. She’ll scratch up the floor with those shoes.”
Dick has another move he can pull. He doesn’t want to pull it, doesn’t feel great doing it, but if it allows Kory to bowl with them, he’ll do it.
“I’m not sure if you recognized her, but that’s Starfire. She’s-”
“I know who she is.”
“So maybe just considering all she does for the world, you could just let her wear those shoes?”
Kyle looks at him flatly.
“Dude, I would get fired. I’m not going to get fired just so that you can impress your famous girlfriend.”
Dick feels his cheeks warm at having him refer to Kory as his girlfriend. But Kyle’s right about the other thing; he does want to impress her.
But that doesn’t look like that’s going to happen. He doesn’t want to get Kyle fired. And he knows Kory would be livid with him if someone got fired on her behalf. He’s about to accept defeat, when he has one more idea.
“What if she wears her own sneakers?”
Kyle shifts his head back and forth like he’s considering it, and then he pointedly looks down at the money on the counter.
Dick puts another $50 bill on the counter.
“Fine. She can wear her own sneakers,” Kyle says.
Dick grins victoriously.
“Thank you. I really appreciate it,” Dick tells Kyle.
“But if anyone asks, there’s something with her powers or something that she can’t wear the material of the bowling shoes. Like they’ll melt. Or something like that,” Kyle says.
Dick nods, before turning around again and taking a few steps towards the others. But suddenly, he turns back to face Kyle.
“Actually, with her powers, It’s really safest for everyone if she wears her boo-”
“No.”
Dick had to try. As he walks back to the team, he’s pretty sure he hears Kyle mumble “rich asshole,” under his breath.
Dick approaches the team and makes his way to stand in front of Kory. He tries to keep a smile off his face. She’ll be so happy and impressed. She may even hug him or give him a kiss on the cheek.
“Okay, I got him to agree to let you wear your own shoes, but they have to be sneakers,” Dick proudly announces to Kory.
“Oh,” Kory says mildly surprised. “Great, thank you.”
Not the reaction he was expecting. She seems pretty nonchalant about the whole thing. Not impressed at all.
“I need to get my sneakers from the RV then. I’ll be right back.”
As Kory passes him, she gives him arm a light touch. And then she’s walking towards the exit.
Dick watches her walk away.
Rachel leans over to him.
“How much did you pay to get him to allow her to wear her sneakers?” she asks with a smirk and a slightly mocking tone.
“Doesn’t matter.”
“So a lot then.”
“Shut up,” Dick mutters.
Once Kory comes back in her sneakers, the team congregates in their lanes. Dick sees Gar explain the rules and technique of bowling to Conner. And then Dick turns his gaze to Kory, who is examining the people bowling around them.
Dick picks up a bowling ball and steps closer to her.
“Hey,” he says softly, holding out the bowling ball to her. “Here, let me show you how it’s done.”
Dick can imagine it. He can see it so clearly in his head that he can almost feel it. Stepping up behind her, feeling her body pressed up against him and smelling her perfume. Wrapping his arms around her as he teaches her how to hold and use the bowling ball. Walking through the movements with her. Giving her a demonstration, impressing her with his skills - he is a great bowler.
Kory takes the bowling ball and looks at him skeptically. And then she pointedly looks around at all the bowling taking place around them, an unimpressed expression on her face.
“Thank you for the offer. But I don’t need to be taught how to do that.”
She points to someone bowling in the lane next to them.
“It may seem simple, but there’s some technique in there. And you’ve never done it before,” Dick counters.
Kory just raises one eyebrow at him.
“You’ve seen the things that I can do right?” Kory asks snarkily. “And this is hitting pins with a ball... a huge, heavy ball.”
She gives him a look like he’s an idiot, like the idea that bowling isn’t easy is absurd.
“I think i’ll be more than fine,” Kory says, not a trace of doubt in her voice, giving him a bemused smile.
“I just don’t want you to be embarrassed,” Dick says, a teasing smile on his face.
“Oh?”
“I just think you will feel really embarrassed if you fail after you so confidently dismissed my help.”
Kory lets out a surprised laugh. And then she narrows her eyes at him as she takes a few steps closer to him with her most intimidating swagger.
“You’re the one who’s gonna feel be embarrassed when I crush you after you made this whole big deal of me needing your help.”
She’s standing not even a foot away from him. Dick can feel her body heat.
She looks at him cockily with a challenge in her eye and a smirk on her face. It makes heat pool in Dick’s stomach.
“And you’ll feel like an asshole too,” she adds for good measure.
Dick meets her challenging stare with his own, as well as a mischievous smile.
Fuck, the energy between them is so hot, so electric. They’re standing so close to each other that their chests are almost touching; the bowling ball between them is the only reason they’re not.
“One problem, Princess. There’s no way you’re beating me.”
“Oh, yeah?”
“Yeah.”
“Wanna bet on it then?”
“Stakes?" Dick asks.
Kory looks around the bowling place, thinking. When she comes up with an idea, she turns back to look at him.
“Loser has to buy the winner a milkshake.”
Dick huffs a surprised laugh. “Pretty low stakes.”
“Well, it is bowling. Only a complete dork would take so much pride in being good at it,” Kory says with a glint in her eye. “So I think it’s fitting.”
“You’re on,” Dick says, a smirk on his face.
Kory gives him a wicked smile and then shoves the bowling ball into his arms.
“You can take this one. It’s too light for me.”
With that, she walks off towards the bowling rack. Dick watches her hips sway as she walks away.
He lets out a breath, trying to cool himself down. He then turns to look at the others, who are already looking at him, evidently having watched this whole display.
“Uh, Kory and I are gonna play the first game just the two of us on this lane first. And you guys can play in teams on that lane,” Dick says. “If that’s okay with you guys?”
“Oh, we would prefer it that way,” Tim says.
Gar nods along in agreement.
“Yeah, we wanna stay as far away from whatever that whole thing is,” Gar gestures to where Dick is standing and where Kory just was,” as possible.”
Dick is the first one to go. He grabs his bowling ball and walks up to a few feet before the line. He can feel Kory’s gaze on his back, but he’s not going to let it mess him up.
He takes a breath, brings the bowling ball up to his chest, and then he goes.
His form was perfect, and as he sees the bowling ball roll down the lane, he’s pretty sure it’s going to be a strike.
And it is.
Dick smiles with satisfaction before turning to Kory. She looks at him unimpressed.
He gives her a cocky smile. “I wonder what flavor milkshakes they have...”
Kory rolls her eyes, as she gets up to retrieve her bowling ball.
“Why don’t you go look and report back to me? So I can decide now instead of holding up the line later.”
“Why don’t you show us both what you can do first before you do any trash talking?”
“Careful what you wish for.”
She turns to the face the pins, takes her position, and brings the bowling ball up to her chest, just like he did.
And then she takes a few steps, swings her arm back and then forward and then releases the ball. It speeds straight down the middle.
And...it’s a strike.
Kory spins around triumphantly. She sashays over to him.
“You were saying?”
Dick shrugs, playing it cool. “Beginner’s luck.”
It’s not beginner’s luck.
Kory keeps on getting strikes and spares. And Dick does too, so the game is evenly matched. They are neck and neck.
But it’s so fun that Dick almost doesn’t care who wins.
Almost.
He still very much wants to win.
But he’s enjoying the trash talk between them that is really just flirting. The competitiveness creates this hot tension between them. It always feels like they are on the edge of ditching the game and fucking in the bathroom. They just keep teetering that line, but never crossing it.
It’s exhilarating.
They are each down to the last turn and their scores are tired. So it’s all down to this turn.
Dick wonders what happens if they tie. Do they each buy the other a milkshake? Do they buy one milkshake, splitting the cost, and share it? Do they play another game to break the tie?
Dick would be more than happy with any of those options. Really, as long as Dick gets to spend more time with her, he’s happy.
He grabs his bowling ball, sets his feet in the right stance. And the he surges forward and releases the ball.
And it’s looking like it’s going to be a strike, but then...
No. No. No. No. No. No.
The ball is slanting a little bit to the side. And then it hits the right side of the front middle pin.
And only six pins are knocked down.
Fuck.
Dick’s shoulders sag as he watches the knocked down pins get wiped off the lane.
He turns and walks back to get another bowling ball. He looks at Kory, who is trying really hard not to smile.
“Don’t,” he tells her.
“I didn’t say anything,” she says, but she’s still smirking.
Dick turns away from her, ignores her. She’s too distracting and he needs to focus. He needs to knock the pins down. If he gets a spare, then he can at least tie Kory if she gets a spare too.
He picks up the bowling ball and heads back to the lane. He does the same motions as before. Dick watches as the remaining pins are knocked down. A spare.
Now it all depends on Kory. If she gets a strike, she wins. If she gets a spare, they tie. If she gets anything less than that, he wins.
Dick sits down as Kory goes and retrieves her bowling ball.
“Feeling the pressure?” Dick taunts.
“I thrive under pressure,” she replies seriously.
Dick can’t help but crack a smile.
She tosses her hair back as she gets into position. She moves forward, swings her arm, the ball goes rolling down the lane.
And...it’s a strike.
Kory cheers, jumping up and down. A big, bright smile on her face.
And, to his surprise, Dick doesn’t actually mind losing. Kory’s smile, the joy on her face...it makes it worth it.
After she’s done celebrating, Kory plops down right next to him, her thigh and side pressed right up against him. She turns at look at him.
“I’m a classy woman, so i’m going to take the high road and not tell you ‘i told you so,’” Kory tells him.
“Yeah, yeah,” Dick says as he stands up, pretending to be put-out by her victory. “Let’s just get you your milkshake.”
Kory looks at him with a blinding smile.
Yeah, definitely worth the loss.
Kory ends up getting a salted caramel milkshake. Dick buys himself a cup of coke and some fries as well. Kory silently grins in victory as Dick hands the cashier his credit card.
They go and sit at their counter with their food and drinks. Kory makes a point to make it clear how much she is enjoying her milkshake.
Taking the high road, his ass.
Eventually Dick grabs a straw and goes to stick in in her milkshake. But Kory quickly reaches out and swats his hand away.
“Nuh uh. Losers don’t get milkshakes.”
“You’re not going to be a gracious, classy winner and share with me?”
“I am just following the rules that we set,” Kory says, a twinkle in her eye as she takes a big slurp from the straw. “Rules are rules.”
“Cause you’re such a rule-follower?” Dick asks sarcastically.
“Don’t be a sore loser,” she retorts.
Dick rolls his eyes fondly at her. Then he pushes the bag of french fries toward her.
“You ever had fries with a milkshake before?”
Kory looks at him questioning, her head tilting and her brows furrowing in confusion.
“No...”
“Take a fry and then dip it in your milkshake.”
She looks at him like he has a chicken on his head.
“Gross.”
“It’s not gross.”
“It sounds pretty gross.”
“I know. But it’s one of those food combinations that shouldn’t work, but just does, and everybody loves.”
Kory still looks at him skeptically.
“So this is an ‘Earth’ thing you’re teaching me? Not just something you came up with?”
Dick nods. Kory puts her elbow on the table and leans her face against her hand. She looks at him with a mix of affection and oddness, like she’s pleased by his behavior but is still trying to make sense of it.
Dick feels himself become giddy under her gaze.
“What is it with you and trying to teach me things today?”
Dick shrugs and gives her a sheepish smile. For a second, he thinks about telling her the truth; that he wants to impress her. But he’s not brave enough to do that.
“I just want you to have a good time,” Dick answers softly.
That is also true. And from Kory’s taken aback look, not the teasing answer she was expecting. It takes her a moment to recover.
“So I just dip a fry in the milkshake?”
Dick nods, looking at her overwhelming softness. Kory picks one fry out of the bag, and then dips it in the milkshake. She gives him one last questioning look before plopping it in her mouth.
Her face immediately scrunches up in distaste. It looks as if she has to force herself to chew and swallow it.
She gives him an outraged look.
“That was disgusting.”
Now it’s Dick’s turn to look at her skeptically.
“Hmmm,” Dick hums as he examines her face.
“What? Why are you giving me your interrogation look?”
“Do you really not like it? Or are you just pretending?”
Kory looks at him like he’s insane. “Why would I pretend to hate it?”
“Because you wanted to be right. And to prove me wrong.”
Kory lets out a surprised laugh, and then shakes her head.
“You are something,” she says. It’s an insult, but there is a lot of affection in her voice. “Unlike you, i’m not prideful.”
Now it’s Dick’s turn to bust out a surprised laugh.
Kory looks affronted and throws a french fry at his face, which makes Dick smile and laugh harder.
“What? I’m not,” she protests.
Dick keeps smiling at her. “Yeah. Ok.”
Kory pouts at him petulantly. She looks as if she wants to stomp her foot. And it’s the most adorable thing he’s ever seen.
“If you weren’t prideful, you would have just worn the damn bowling shoes,” Dick remarks, still smiling. He can’t remember the last time he smiled this long, or this much.
Kory throws another fry at his face. Then she straightens her posture, lifting her chest and chin up and squaring her shoulders.
“That’s not being prideful, that’s having self-respect,” she says haughtily. Yes, the princess side of her is definitely coming out.
God, he lo-likes her so much.
“Whatever you say, Princess.”
She glares at him for a few seconds more before dropping it, going back to enjoying her milkshake. But she’s having trouble sucking the straw with the big smile on her face that she seems unable to get rid of.
And he’s the one that put it there.
Dick finishes his fries and soda, and Kory finishes her milkshake. And they just spend some time talking to each other. It’s nice. It’s really nice. It’s been too long since they’ve been able to do this.
Eventually, their talking is interrupted by loud, familiar cheering. They turn and look to see Rachel and Gar some distance from them, cheering over an arcade game they just won. Dick turns to look back to Kory, who’s looking wistfully at them.
“They met at an arcade,” she says. She looks at them a second longer before turning back to look at him.
“So did we,” Dick commiserates.
Kory looks at him tenderly. “Well, we met in a place that had an arcade in it. We didn’t really meet in the arcade section of the rink.”
“It was by the jukebox.”
Dick can remember every single detail about that moment. Where they were, what she was wearing, how the lighting hit her, every single facial expression she made.
Kory smiles softly at him. “Yeah, it was.”
They gaze longingly at each other for a few moments before Kory’s face lights up, like she had an idea.
“I’ve never played an arcane game before. Wanna teach me how?”
Dick’s face drops the slightest.
“I was never an arcane kid,” Dick replies, shrugging his shoulders.
Kory gives a little giggle. “The one thing I actually need and want you to teach me, and you don’t know it.”
“Yeah,” Dick says, disappointment coloring his voice. His attempts to impress her today are not going well.
Kory slides off her stool. And then she holds a hand out to him.
“I guess we’ll have to figure it out together then.”
A smile comes back to Dick’s face as he feels his insides warm and his heart squeeze in the best way.
Dick places his hand in hers.
They make an okay go of the arcade games. They are both very good at skeeball: go figure. To no one’s surprise, least of all Dick’s, Kory is amazing at Dance Dance Revolution. Of course, Dick didn’t play (he does not dance), but he enjoyed watching her do it. The rest of the arcade games they have less success on. Pacman, Space Invaders, Asteroids, Donkey Kong; neither he or Kory are that great at any of them. They’re not terrible, but they’re not good either.
But it doesn’t matter, because they’re having fun.
Right now, Kory is trying her luck at the claw machine as Dick watches. She’s trying to get a purple stuffed unicorn. Dick watches as she moves the clutch back and forth, trying to line up the claw perfectly. And to Dick’s eye, it looks like she does. She presses the button to lower the claw.
It looks like she’s going to get it. It’s right above the unicorn when the claw opens. And then it closes, right where it looks like the unicorn is, but it doesn’t pick it up. The claw moves up to the top, empty handed.
“What!?!”
Kory gapes at the machine. She turns to look at him for answers, but he’s just as baffled as she is.
Dick shrugs.
“It was right there!” Kory exclaims. “I did it perfectly, but it didn’t work?”
“Here, let me give it a shot.”
Kory moves out of the way so that Dick can stand in front of the clutch. Dick inserts a quarter and the machine comes to life. Just like Kory did, Dick maneuvers the claw the spot that he thinks is right above the unicorn, and then presses the button to lower it. And just like when Kory did it, it doesn’t get the stuffed unicorn.
Dick turns to look at Kory. “I think it’s broken.”
“Dudes, it’s not broken. You guys are just doing it wrong.”
Dick and Kory turn around to see Gar watching them. He walks towards them, eying them critically.
“You have to see it from the side. Here.” Gar places his hand on Kory’s arms and moves her so that she’s placed on the side of the machine.
“You need to work together. One person uses the claw. The other looks from the side, and gives them directions,” Gar explains. “The side gives you a clear view of everything.”
Dick and Kory look at each other as they take this in.
“Oh,” Kory says.
“That makes complete sense,” Dick says. “Of course, you need the side view. Why didn’t I think of that?”
Gar rolls his eyes at them both before walking away.
“Thank you!” Dick and Kory both call out after him. They turn back to the claw machine.
Dick grabs the clutch again and moves it to where he thinks is the right place, and then he turns to Kory for instructions. Kory looks intently into the claw machine.
“Up a little bit...Too much. Yes, right there. A little to the left. Perfect!”
Dick looks to Kory for confirmation that he should push the button. She gives him a confident nod. Dick pushes the button and he and Kory watch in rapt attention as the claw lowers, anticipation building in each of them.
It opens the claw.
And then it closes... around the unicorn.
And then it moves up and the unicorn comes with it.
Dick and Kory watch as the claw moves across the machine and then over the hole, and drops it into the shoot.
He turns to Kory and they share a triumphant smile before giving each other a high five. Dick gets the unicorn out of the machine and hands it to her.
“Look like we did figure it out together,” Kory says. “With an assist from Gar, of course.”
Together.
That’s all Dick wants.
They all gather as a group, deciding to play a few games all together before leaving. Each round they switch up the teams. Although, every single time Dick and Kory are on the same team. It’s actually the first thing the younger Titans announce when they all gather; that Dick and Kory have to be on the same team for every game. Apparently Dick and Kory’s competitiveness with each other is unbearable to the rest of the team (their words). So same team it is.
They’re all very good at bowling, which makes sense; a lot of the skills needed in bowling are skills that are needed in fighting. Rachel and Tim are the two worst bowlers. But they’re still decent; they are superheroes after all - or well a superhero, and a superhero in training.
It’s fun. It’s a lot of fun. Dick didn’t realize how much he had missed hanging out like this when they were in Gotham. And everything just feels so right. And looking at the smiles and joy on everyone’s face, Dick knows that he did good.
It feels like he’s finally doing things right.
After a few hours, everyone’s energy starts to wane and they decide it’s time to leave. Dick is about to open the door to the driver’s side of the RV when he feels a hand pull on his elbow.
“Nuh-uh, my turn to drive, Grayson,” Kory tells him, holding her hand out for the keys. Dick rolls his eyes, but fishes out the keys and plops them in her hand. He is about to leave, to head to the passenger’s side, but something in Kory’s gaze stops him. She’s starting at him intently, looking like she has something to say.
He leans against the RV. Kory moves so that she’s leaning against the RV too, closer to the driver’s door. Her gaze softens as she looks at him.
“Thank you,” she says softly.
What? What’s she talking about?
“For what?” Dick asks curiously.
“For this. This day. I really needed it,” she tells him.
Dick smiles softly at her. “I did too. I think we all did.”
“I had a lot of fun. Bowling for the first time, hanging out with everyone, hanging out with you...”
Dick’s heart stutters at the last part. And he’s about to tell her that he had fun with her too, when she starts to move closer and all of Dick’s insides freeze.
Kory places a hand on his shoulder and then she leans her face close to his. She presses a light, quick kiss on his face, between the corner of his mouth and his cheek.
Dick can’t help his eyes from closing. Can’t help his heart from feeling like it’s going to beat out of his chest. Can’t help the fuzziness that takes over his mind. It’s like she’s put him in a trance, or under a spell. From just one simple action.
When Kory pulls back, she has a devious smile on.
"But most of all, it was fun kicking your ass in bowling.”
And with that, Kory turns around, opens the driver’s side door, and gets in.
Dick’s still stuck in a stupor. He’s pretty sure he has a dopey smile on his face. He feels like he’s in a daze, nothing going through his mind except for the feel of her lips on his skin and kory kory kory kory kory kory.
So it takes Dick a long few moments to process what she said. But once he does, he snaps his head towards the direction of the driver's side door.
“Hey! It was not an ass-kicking!”