Faye Feng → Dick Grayson ✔

Training

Dick almost didn't recognize Faye's voice. Her words were a little muffled, but her tone had changed so drastically that Dick thought someone else was making polite conversation with Alfred. He pressed his ear to the door, eyes wide with disbelief:

"...I've found Gotham to be a very welcoming city," Faye said amicably, nothing short of pleasant. "Of course, there are issues with the press, but that was to be expected."

"Yes, I imagine that they're like bloodhounds that have caught a scent. Was it worse back in your hometown?"

"The cameras got used to me and I got used to them. I can hardly blame the reporters – it is their livelihood, after all."

There was a knock on the thick gym door, and Dick stepped away. He took a few steps from the entrance before calling, "Come in."

Faye stepped into the large room that smelled strongly of rubber and iron, the side of her small figure reflected in the mirror. Before she turned to Dick though, she smiled at Alfred so warmly that he couldn't believe his eyes. "Thank you, Mr. Pennyworth."

"Please, Ms. Feng, Alfred is fine," the butler nodded at Dick and left the room, closing the door behind him.

"What the hell was that?"

Faye set down her gym bag. "I don't know what you mean."

Dick scoffed mockingly. Her tone of voice told him that she knew exactly what he meant.

"I have never seen you be so nice to anyone in my life."

"Your butler's lovely," Faye said casually. "People at school aren't."

"Did you talk to my dad like that?" Dick had almost said 'Bruce', but he realized at the last second how strange it would sound for him to call his father by his first name.

"He called me Ms. Feng."

"Everyone calls you Ms. Feng."

"You don't."

"Do you want me to?"

Faye gave him a strange look. "God no, you're a friend."

A friend. That was a step up from before; Dick remembered when he was no more than an acquaintance to her. He knew that Faye had issues with letting people who weren't family close to her, so having her be able to admit it meant a great deal.

And yet, he realized with a shock that he was strangely disappointed.

"Anyway, you're a gymnast, right?" Faye changed the subject, which Dick was grateful for. He needed a distraction from the sunken feeling in his chest.

"I haven't competed in a long time."

"And yet you still train?"

He shrugged, appearing more carefree than he felt. "It's a hobby – besides, I like doing flips."

"Can you teach me?"

That caught him off guard. "To do a flip?"

"No, Grayson, to play the trombone; yes, to do a flip."

Dick asked, bemused. "Why do you want to know?"

"I just think it would be cool. Besides, you owe me, remember?" Faye raised an eyebrow, as if she were daring him to forget. "If you can't come with me to the masquerade, you can teach me how to backflip."

"That's fair," he admitted. "But first, I've got to see where you're at in terms of...fitness." Dick had almost said training, and that would have most definitely prompted Faye to ask him some difficult questions.