A Child's Reality (BBRae AU)

VIII

VIII
Cognitive Dissonance
~~~

Ok...Where did Dick say his house was again? Kai checks his phone for the address Dick sent him.

Because all of them are bored out of their minds this weekend, and on Friday they had talked about how Kai still isn't used to having such a large group of friends, Dick, Vic, and Wally had the "ingenious" idea to have all the guys hang out together. While Kai didn't really feel like it, he wasn't going to say no (not like Wally gave him much of a choice). But regardless, now he's having trouble finding the house.

Frustrated now, he decides to call Dick, explaining how poor his sense of direction is after he wakes up from naps.

He "forgets" to tell Dick, however, that he's still very unnerved by the girl he followed last week. Contrary to what one would believe, Kai's curiosity doesn't often get him into that much trouble other than a few select times: When it got his leg broken, when it got him into a fight with his mom, and when it got him into the last relationship he had. You'd think that after three incidences he'd try and control himself a bit more, but natural instincts and tendencies are difficult to ignore.

Either way, he feels like he definitely saw something he shouldn't have and it's been eating away at him all week. Sending him into his own head more than once during class every day and causing him to get hit a few times in gym class. It also hasn't helped that when he went to the police station to report the suspicious activity, he overheard a few officers that it could relate to an existing case. So yes, he's a bit on edge, but nothing he won't be able to readily handle. Hopefully...

After ten minutes of driving around the same block a few times, Kai finally figures out that he's in the wrong area and Dick's house is actually a few blocks away on a similarly named street.

He finally makes it and Dick is standing in his front door.

"Sorry, Dick, my brain works when it feels like it." He apologizes.

"Don't sweat it, Kai. Wally isn't here yet either."

"Seriously?"

"Jinx is probably holding him up. I think she wanted him to go with her, Kori, and Raven for some reason."

"What? Why?" He gets to the front door and Dick lets him through as they continue talking.

Dick shrugs, "Dunno. But I don't think that would end well."

"No kidding..."

"Dick, is that Kai?" Vic yells up from the den.

"Yeah!" He replies. "Take your shoes off. Kori hates it when mud gets on the carpet." He says rather begrudgingly as if his last incident with this happening was pretty recent.

"Wait, Kori lives with you?"

Dick sighs, "It's a long story. I'll tell you later."

Kai kicks his sneakers off and follows Dick downstairs feeling extremely uneasy. It's been a long time since he's hung out with people like this and he feels like everything he's doing is either wrong, very wrong, or extremely wrong.

"Hey," Dick brings him out of his slight uneasy panic. Kai looks as Dick flashes his baby blues towards him, not turning his head. "Relax." He says easily with a smile. "What, do you think we're gonna hurt you?"