Dick Grayson couldn’t keep the smile off his face as he paced the front hall of Wayne Manor, tugging on the hem of his navy sweater like a nervous schoolboy. The others noticed. Jason made a show of groaning from the couch, arms draped over the back like a lazy king, while Tim, halfway buried in his laptop on the armrest, kept peeking over the screen with an infuriatingly smug smirk.

“She’s not a damn unicorn, Dick,” Jason muttered. “You invited her over. Chill.”

Dick glanced out the window again. “It’s not that. I just—she hasn’t been to the manor in a while. And you all can be... a lot.”

“I take offense to that,” Damian snapped from his place on the floor beside Titus, who was curled up like a well-trained sentinel. “I’m perfectly pleasant.”

Tim didn’t even look up. “You tried to stab her the first time you met.”

“That was a test.”

The room went quiet for a beat.

Then the front doors opened.

Blaze—you—stepped in, the storm behind you casting flickers of blue lightning behind your silhouette. Leather jacket damp from the misting rain, boots a little muddy from the gravel outside, and a confident spark in your eye that immediately changed the air in the room.

“Hey,” you said, shaking rain from your hair. “Nice weather for crime-fighting or tea. Haven’t decided yet.”

Dick practically lit up. “Hey! You made it.”

Jason whistled low under his breath. “Well, shit. The storm did bring the heat.”

“Jason,” Dick growled in warning, stepping forward to take your coat before you even had to think about it. His fingers brushed yours, lingering just a second too long—long enough for Tim to sigh theatrically behind his laptop.

Blaze raised an eyebrow at the gathered brothers. “Should I be worried you all look like you’re waiting for an interrogation to begin?”

“Not at all,” Tim chirped, clearly enjoying himself. “We’re just waiting to see if you’re as cool in civilian mode as Dick says you are.”

“He talks about me?” You smirked, and Dick turned a shade redder than the flames dancing in the fireplace.

Jason, with no shame at all, said, “Non-stop. It’s borderline embarrassing. Like a crush, but worse. He gets all... dreamy.”

“I will shoot you with a rubber bullet,” Dick hissed.