Inflorescence • Poison Ivy's Daughter

chapter ten ~ moonlight

An older man entered a room, he had a small mustache, thinning black hair gelled neatly to his head and was dressed in a neat suit and tailcoat. 'Pardon me, Master Dick, Master Bruce requires your... ah, Ms Isely, I wasn't aware you would be joining us this evening,' He said shotting Dick a stern look which Dick matched back at him. An uncomfortable tension arose in the silence.

'Ah, well it's good to see you again, Alred,' Calla smiled, her cheer was a little bit forced in an effort to break the tension. 'And just Calla is fine thanks.'

'The pleasure's mine, Ms Calla,' he replied, nodding his head in greeting, 'As I was saying though, Master Dick, your father would appreciate your assistance in some business matters. Urgently if you could.'

Dick sighed slightly in annoyance but didn't stall in getting to his feet and meeting Alfred at the doorway, turning back to face Calla, 'Sorry,' he winced, 'This would probably take a while, do you need a car to get home.'

'Nah I'm good,' She replied.

'You sure?' Dick stressed.

'Go!' Calla insisted, 'I'll clean up here.'

Dick shot her an apologetic smile before darting out the door. Alfred didn't follow, 'Shall I make up a dish for your evening tea, Ms Calla? Tonight I'll be serving Caramelised Figs with Ravioli.'

Calla's mouth watered at the thought of Alfred's cooking but she shook her head regardless. 'No thank you, Alfred. I'll be leaving soon anyway.'

He nodded, shutting the door on his way out. After Calla gathered up the stationary into its case, fitted Dick's textbooks on their shelf and placing her own into her school bag. Once she was done she sat down on the end of Dicks bed with a soft sigh and pulled out her phone. She scrolled through the abundance of missed calls, all from the same number. Her finger hovered over the contact, hesitant to tap it. But Calla didn't want to be alone today, and she couldn't aviod them forever. She took a deep breath, closed her eyes and pressed the button before holding it up to her ear. It had barely made it through the second ring before someone answered.

'What the actual fuc-'

'Hey Jay,' Calla sighed cutting off his rant.

'Don't Calla. You don't get to "Hey Jay" me. What the hell were you thinking?! Exposing yourself to the world, no mask or anything! What happened to not wanting to live that kind of life, playing the tragic anti-hero, what happened to living a quiet life away from Gotham? Wasn't that the plan??'

Calla raised her voice, 'You think I don't want that anymore? You think that if I had that option I wouldn't have taken it?'

'You could have called,' he hissed back, 'Yesterday or today, you could have called! I've been worried sick, I thought you were dead!'

His voice cracked at the last word and Calla felt her anger dissipate as quickly as it had come. 'I know, and I'm sorry. It's been a rough 24 hours.'

A pause of silence was her only reply until finally, a quiet voice spoke, 'How are you?'

The amount of care in Jason's voice shocked her, Calla blinked, finding her words again, 'Yeah yeah, Jay I'm fine. I was just wondering if I could-' A loud crashed sounded on the other line along with some muffled swearing. 'You alright Jay?'

Jason's voice cut through the noise as it began to quiet down, 'Yeah fine, my Moms just gotten home, she's a little out of it- Mom just lye down alright, don't move- Sorry Calla, what where you saying?'

Calla considered her words as she heard the muffled noise in the background of Jason's call. 'Ah can't remember, sorry, I'll go sounds like you've got a lot to deal with.'

'Calla, wait.' The urgency in his voice made her stop, 'You'll let me know if you're struggling, right?'

Calla smirked, 'Of course, you too kid.'

'I'm not a ki-' Calla pressed the hang up button and laid herself down the bed, the back of her palm pressed to her forehead, Idiot. She didn't want to go back home yet, she was too tired to walk and too unstable to be alone. She curled up into the doona feeling herself sink deeper into the plush mattress, hugged by the soft fabric. She couldn't help but rest her heavy eyelids, as exhaustion swept her away from her anxious thoughts and into a deep sleep.

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Dick ruffled his damp hair with a small towel as he opened the door to his room. A late night chill had filled the room and despite his tracksuit pants and cotton top, he shivered a bit. He glanced around the room, moonlight streamed through the glass doors which led to the balcony and hit the above chandelier so fragments of light splayed across the room, his eyes caught on the clock on the wall which read 3:15, he yawned as he reached his bed and allowed his body to fall. Exhausting weighed down his aching bones, he had just showered but the smell of gunpowder and blood still seem to linger in the arm around him, groaning slightly he went to pull the covers over himself. That was when he noticed it. There was someone else on the bed next to him, he scrambled to get away, almost falling off the bed but catching himself just barely just barely on the post, instinctively he reached for the staff he hid under his mattress. He froze with his hand around it when he noticed the figure hadn't moved at all. Slowly he released the metal weapon and inched himself a little closer so he could get a clearer look.

His eyes widened at the sight of Calla, curled up over his covers, eyelid flickering in deep sleep and pale skin speckled with moonlight. She looked so at peace, he couldn't picture the last time she had been this relaxed, Calla was the type of person who never let down her walls. Always something isolating herself from others. Dick didn't judge her for that, he supposed he was the same, whether he wanted to be or not.

He pulled a blanket over and smiled slightly to himself as he lay back down, his back inches facing her. He pulled a pillow over his arm and tucked it under his chin, letting his eyes close as he relaxed again. He was pulled once more from his rest by a hitch of breath sounding behind him.

Dick turned his body slightly so he could reach Calla, 'Hey,' he breathed, thinking she had woken up. When she didn't respond he reached out to brush her arm, it was trembling and covered in cold sweat.

'Hey,' he hissed worriedly turning around fully so he was facing her. Her face had contorted in pain, her breath was sharp and hurried. Dick placed a hand on her shoulder, she turned with his touch and tossed closer to him, her head rested against his chest fingers intertwined in his shirt. Dick froze in shock and hesitation his hands hovering over her, his gaze caught on her eyelids as her face began to soften. Slowly and cautiously he allowed his hands to rest on her trembling back as her breathing slowed back to a calming rhythm. Dick closed his eyes but couldn't sleep, the pounding of his heart sounding like heavy drums in his ears, not permitting him to escape the whirling of thoughts going through his head.

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