performance | IC CONTACT - MASK OR MENACE

Sweet ninja perks. And of course I got it! You were very graceful, by the way.

[ He bounces on his feet, laughing. ]

Lemme see it. [Wally ambles over and takes the camera, shoulder-to-shoulder with Robin as he peers down at the video.] Oh man, you see that? Majestic. I make scrambling down the side of a roof an art form.

[ Dick nudges Wally's shoulder with his own, beaming. ]

You're like a beautiful ginger swan, dude.

I am a beautiful ginger swan, I dunno why you're saying that like it's a joke. [Wally shoves Dick back, thrusts the camera into his hands and goes jogging for the street.] Okay first we're going to need at least ten packets of Skittles.

[ Dick trots along at his side. ] You sure you're not just saying that 'cause you wanna eat ten packets of Skittles?

Well yeah, I'm gonna do that, but we're going to record it. [Wally taps the camera in Dick's hands.] And we'll go from there.

You're gonna barf a rainbow. [ A prospect which he sounds SUPER EXCITED about. ]

Nope, just taste it. Did you know that's they're slogan? Taste the rainbow. Their commercials are pretty twisted, dude. [Wally pauses and pats down his pockets before freezing.] I forgot my money. Hold on.

[He vanishes for a second and then reappears within the same gust of wind, and that's kind of reckless to use your powers out of uniform, wally, u idiot] We should get Slurpees. Have you had those yet?

I can— [ His hair ruffles in the breeze from Wally's run, and he lets out an exasperated sigh when he gets back. ] ... pay. For the Slurpees. Whatever those are.

[ A frown. Seriously, dude? ] You know, just because everyone here has superpowers doesn't mean that's a great idea. Unless you're planning on hiding in plain sight.

I dunno if you noticed, but I kind of do that back home already. [no seriously wally uses his powers whenever he wants] My uniform doesn't exactly hide much. Besides, Wally West is an even bigger nobody here than he was back home, I'm not exactly worried.

Okay, okay. So I'm being paranoid.

[ And not least of all because with Wally living with him, showing off his superpowers in plain sight, it's not much of a stretch at all to tie Dick to Robin. If he were smart, he'd distance himself, but— no. No, he cuts that though off before it can begin. ]

It's fine dude, nobody cares. Not like I'm gonna use them all the time, just y'know, when I need to. [Like for completely mundane tasks, such as fetching his wallet.

...yeah Dick should probably talk to him about it.]

[ eyyyyerolllll. ] You didn't need to. [ And not least because Wally could have wrangled a Slurpee out of him anyway. ]

I so did, we were already a block down the street. [wally] Anyway, it's not like everybody here doesn't have powers. It's not that weird.

It's not on its own. [ lowering his voice, because someone can be stealthy, even if there's no one else out this afternoon. ] But it is a little weird that Wally West, ginger speedster, and Kid Flash, ginger speedster happen to have the exact same superpower.

[Pause.] Yeah, okay. But I mean, look at this. [Wally waves his tattooed wrist in Robin's direction.] Not exactly easy to hide. Unless I should start bringing sweatbands back into fashion.

Sexy, but no. And no, everyone knows you're an ImPort. You can't hide that. [ why is he even arguing this with Wally ]

[Yeah Wally's not sure why he's arguing it either.] Is this really about me, dude?

What? I just— [ He struggles for a moment, thrown off by the question. ] I-I don't want you getting in trouble. That's all.

I'm always running around back home without a costume, dude. Outside school, running home, to zeta tubes... [Wally folds his arms and stops. Bugs buzz in the background as the heat swells around them. Sweat dampens the back of Wally's tank between his shoulders.] So is it 'cause I'm with you that it's a problem?

[ Wally isn't the problem, but it's awfully hard to make it sound that way. He clenches and unclenches his fists a few times, eyes slipping down to Wally's bare, freckled shoulders (he's gonna get a sunburn, Dick thinks idly) before he looks down at the concrete of the sidewalk, feeling vaguely ashamed. Called out. ]

I guess... it's an added risk.

[Wally looks down and scuffs a sneaker against the sidewalk. He looks up at Dick uneasily, then away.] I can't separate it like you can, dude. I can't be Wally or KF.

I know. I like that about you.

So...what do you wanna do about this?

Honestly? I have no idea.

[ But he feels strange having this conversation standing in the middle of the sidewalk, so he keeps walking, urging Wally to follow his lead. ]

... But, I probably don't have to be too worried about it. You're right about that part. I know I'm a little bit famous back home, but probably no one here knows who Dick Grayson is, right? I mean, aside from— aside from the people who do. [ Gotham rogues have to ruin everything. ]

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