Chapter Text
Ah, now I don't hardly know her
But I think I could love her
Crimson and clover
Dick returned to Gotham the afternoon after the museum dance with Carmen's number saved on his phone and an internal vow not to let his family know about her (and investigate or scare her off) until he felt ready.
He also thinks that it will take a while for him to feel ready to talk about Carmen to the absolute chaos that is his family since he doesn't even know if he's ready to text or call the number she left with him.
So, the first thing Dick does when he gets to the apartment he rents in Gotham (for when he needs some privacy but doesn't want to be far from the mansion) is call Wally and tell him everything.
"Wow, man, you're down BAD for her" - His best friend seems strictly amused by the situation and something in Dick relaxes.
He and Wally worked best as friends and anything beyond that was just the need for a romantic partner who understood them as well as they both did, but a mistake in the end. He'll always cherish the time they spent together, but he knows they work better as friends than lovers, just like he and Kori or he and Roy.
Still, Dick is happy to know that things won't get weird now that he's thinking about getting into a new relationship.
Not that he and Carmen would become a real thing now, but the possibility was there.
"It's nothing serious yet. I haven't even texted her yet." Dick explained. - "Mostly because she disappeared after our kiss and I don't know..."
Wally seemed to sense what was coming.
"Ah, the old bat paranoia. I've been missing her for a while now." - The current flash laughed. - "I'd like to remind you that she's been working with the museum curator for the past two years, right? If she's secretly a villain, that's a really long game plan"
Okay, it sounded stupid when he put it like that.
"But she disappeared and I couldn't find her at all. “ - he defended himself - “I've been a trained vigilante since I was 8, I'm supposed to be able to find a civilian even if I'm on cloud nine because of a kiss.”
Dick had to pull the phone away from his ear when Wally laughed. He definitely didn't pout at his friend's reaction to his dilemma.
“Dick, you weren't even a confirmed guest for this ball.” - Wally reminded him anyway. - “She wasn't interested in you either or your family planning something sinister. Didn't Tim ask them not to tell who had donated the artifacts? She wouldn't have any way of knowing.”
Dick didn't point out that if Daniel trusted her he could have told Carmen in advance or asked for help to attest some of them because that would be another point in her direction of being trustworthy.
Okay, maybe he had to give in here.
“And, I would also like to point out that for every 3 sentences you said the whole call at least one was a compliment to this girl,” Wally continued. “Which makes me like her at least a little bit because you definitely didn’t want to go to this dance and now it seems like you’re sad that it lasted so little.”
He was. Dick thought he could listen to or dance with Carmen for several more hours. He didn’t say it out loud either but Wally seemed to hear it anyway. Damn, having a best friend who knows you as well as you know yourself sucks sometimes.
“Yeah, yeah, you’re in denial or something right now but I'll pass. ” Wally said in an amused tone. “Anyway, let’s pretend you won’t change your mind on your own in an hour or less and send her a flirty text soon. After all, you have to answer me one super important detail to determine where this is going.”
Dick regretted calling Wally. Babs was a much better ex-girlfriend and friend for this kind of thing, she wouldn't make so many jokes at his expense at least.
Well, she wouldn't make so many openly. Maybe a few indirect ones.
"Okay, Wally, what do you want to know?"
A laugh then a deep breath before his best friend started talking in a falsely serious tone of voice.
"Is Carmen a redhead?"
Dick groaned while Wally took this as confirmation and started laughing again.
"Oh my God, I have to call Roy. He owes me 50 dollars."
"Hey!! Did you guys bet on my love life?" Dick complained before stopping - "Wait. Did you guys bet on whether or not it would be someone with red hair?"
"Of course not, Dick." - The redhead answered over the phone - "We bet on how long it would take for you to have a crush on another redhead. Your type is obvious, so there would be no point in betting on it."
Dick wondered why they were still friends, honestly. Despite the bullying Dick feels he is a victim of, he keeps the conversation with Wally fresh in his mind.
His relationships haven't been working out lately. The ones with other heroes end up succumbing to the routine and pressure that this kind of life brings or something like that and the relationships with civilians end because his life is very different from that of a normal civilian. The lies necessary to keep his secret and that of his family destroy the trust between him and his partners.
He doesn't know if he wants to get into a relationship just for it to end again. But on the other hand, Carmen is interesting and beautiful and laughs at his silly puns. She likes to talk about her travels (and she knows what she's talking about), but she also likes to hear what his opinions are.
Maybe it's not the right thought, but he thinks that even if their relationship is doomed to end as well, he would be more than happy to have Carmen as just a friend.
He decides to postpone this decision for a while.
-----
After leaving his things at the apartment and ending the call with Walls, Dick rides his motorcycle to the mansion and goes straight to Tim's room to pass on Mrs. Warner and Daniel's thanks. (No, he's not putting off sending a message to Carmen.)
His younger brother was looking more exhausted than usual, probably because of the reason he couldn't go to the charity ball himself, but he seemed pleased to know that everything had gone well.
"It's not like it's a ball in Gotham, anyway. Ours are always bound to be interrupted by some rogue." Tim comments nonchalantly. Dick laughed. Unfortunately, he and any Gotham resident were used to most of the important events in their lives being interrupted by one of the countless villains that lived and terrorized the city. A graduation, a lecture at college, a picnic in the park, a wedding, a charity ball... Honestly, it wasn't a surprise that there were so few event-planning agencies in this city.
“Well, Metropolis can be boring when it wants to be, but don’t tell Clark or Kon I said that.” He commented although he was pleased to have had a “boring” charity ball.
After all, it was what allowed him to get to know Carmen a little better.
“But it was a fun ball.” - Dick points out before he can stop himself.
Tim didn’t seem interested in investigating the meaning behind the second sentence, which was undoubtedly proof of how tired the little stalker of the Wayne family was. Not that Dick minded the lack of interrogation, although the love language of most of the Batfamily was investigating and ignoring personal privacy boundaries, he liked the idea of keeping Carmen something just for himself.