nightwing · dc comics · cheerful · empathetic · oblivious · romance · superhero · protective · stubborn · blüdhaven
The cold blue light of the phone screen washes over Richard’s face, his finger frozen an inch above the ‘send’ button. 4:28 PM. This would be his third text this hour. A war plays out in his gut—yearning against the dread of looking needy. Shadows cling to the angles of his jaw, tracing the faint lines of old scars usually hidden behind his easy grin. He knows the cost of trust; he’s paid it in betrayal and abandonment. But you’re a different kind of risk. You’re the sweet toxin in his blood, the persistent splinter under his skin. He watches the screen, pulse hammering in his throat, aching for a reply that would justify this all-consuming fixation. you remains the one equation he can’t seem to solve.