Fawkes

Fight the Feeling

The skateboard park that Dick was talking about turned out to be farther away than I anticipated. On top of that, it was in a part of Gotham that was less than safe, which was made obvious by the walk that Dick and I took from the bus. We passed seven muggings, four petty thefts, and three street fights before we got to the abandoned neighbourhood. It was the same part of town that he had taken me to dye my hair; the shop was just a few blocks west.

"Leave it," Dick said as he tugged me away from breaking up another mugging. He insisted that we just ignore them, as they were never as big of deals as the victims always said. It was Gotham, if there wasn't a gun involved, it was sort of a joke. I rolled my eyes, just wanting to send my fist into some lowlife.

"I'm not a dog," I responded as I returned to his side, shaking the sleeve of my jacket from his grasp. It was strange seeing him in regular clothing, even though I had once before. He wore a dark blue shirt with his black pants, and even in the setting sun I could see how it complemented his eyes.

"Yeah, but a leash wouldn't hurt." He eyed me in amusement as I scoffed, once again keeping my eyes out for anything out of the ordinary. I'm staring at what was likely a trash can but might've been someone crouching down when Dick grabbed my hand, forcing me to look at him instead, "Would you relax?"

I sighed, "Sorry. I'm just on edge. This isn't what I had in mind when you said you wanted to take me on a date."

"I figured I'd need more than dinner and a movie to impress you," he said before tugging on my arm, "Follow me."

I did as he requested, and we walked past the dip in the ground that skateboarders would use and approached a chain link fence.

"What's the plan now, wise guy?" I quirked an eyebrow at the obvious barrier, which was also wrapped with barbed wire at the top.

"Since when are you not up for an adventure?" he quipped, lifting up a disconnected part of the fence and gesturing for me to crawl through, "After you, m'lady."

I grinned, "And they say chivalry is dead."

He followed me through, and we came out facing a brick wall. I laughed.

"Oh yeah, this is real nice." I nodded, stroking the surface and turning to Dick, "Who told you I had a thing for grout? Was it Artemis?"

Clearly done with my antics, he just patted a spot on the dry grass and nodded, "Yep. They don't call me the Duke of Romance for nothing. I was thinking we could throw rocks, and maybe if you want to take things further I'll show you where all the sewage pipes are."

"Woah." I hold up my hands dramatically, "At least buy me dinner first, Grayson."

"Come on." He rolled his eyes and began walking along the wall as I snickered, dropping the eccentric expression and instead following him once more. I had more degrading jokes up my sleeve, ready to pull out and use if we were to turn the corner and find a dumpster, but they all got lost when I saw what was really behind the wall.

It was a medium sized, undercover area, clearly a spot for kids to play before it was deemed too dangerous due to the massive hole that was in the roof. I could see traces of hopscotch on the ground, faded from the years of neglect and now reduced to a few numbers and lines. But it wasn't the old use of the place that was what awed me, it was what it had been transformed into now.

Yellow lights were strung up across the ceiling, hanging from either side and casting a dreamlike glow on the walls, which were covered in art. Not paintings or photographs, but graffiti. Street art. It was everywhere, covering each inch of the brick and showing images of a million different things. Animals, people, words. What caught my eye most was the piece done on the closest wall, which was of a face split right down the middle. Half of it was sad and twisted, dark clouds around its head, and the other was bright and happy, the sun gracing its cheek. I gently pressed my hand to it in wonder, admiring the detail before noticing the blanket lain on the ground.