6565/Moving out of Dad's place

Moving out of Dad's place
Date of Scene:	14 June 2021
Location:	Dick Grayson's Townhouse
Synopsis:	Dick surprises Steph with their new home. A tour is taken, and plans are made.
Cast of Characters:	Dick Grayson, Stephanie Brown

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Dick Grayson has posed:
After the opening at the Themyscirian Arts Center, Dick and Steph take the hyperloop back to Gotham. Picking up the Nightbird from the parking lot, Dick seems to be headed for the University, possibly to deliver Steph to her place for whatever reason. Close to the campus, however, he takes a sudden turn and heads over a few blocks, finally pulling up in front of a fairly modern looking three story townhouse.

Looking over at her, he smiles and gestures at the building, "Remember when I said I was going to find a place near the school? What do you think, is this close enough that you can make it to classes easily? About the only thing it doesn't have is Alfred, but I think we can probably manage somehow."

He watches her with a slightly raised eyebrow to see her reaction to the news, given that this has taken longer than he expected.

Stephanie Brown has posed:
Stephanie Brown underwent very intense training from Barbara Gordon. She learned to fight and to solve crimes, to observe the smallest of details that might be useful in getting to the truth of a matter. So she notices those subtle things when they are amiss. Like Dick driving on past the University Apartments where her room is located just across the street from the Gotham University canmpus.

She turns to look at him with a slightly raised eyebrow. But not seeing an explanation will be forthcoming just yet, she just relaxes in her seat and sees where they end up.

Finally they arrive at the brownstone, Stephanie leaning towards the window slightly to be able to look up and see all of it. She turns to him as Dick smiles and gives her the explanation for the detour. "Oh, wow, this would definitely be handy. Just a couple of blocks, close enough I can walk most of the time," she says, her head on a swivel looking from Dick to the brownstone and back again. "Are you thinking about getting it then?" she asks him.

Dick Grayson has posed:
Dick Grayson turns off the car and holds the keys up, "Thinking? Not exactly." He gets out and walks around to her side, opening the door and offering his hand to help her out of the car like a gentleman does. "Comon, I'll show you, it's basically already done except for the stuff from my bedroom."

Leading her to the door, he unlocks it and steps in, turning on the lights. The place is, of course spotless. And tastefully decorated. And pretty obviously professionally designed, because Steph knows Dick simply doesn't care quite that much about coordinating colors between furniture and drapes.

As they wander in, he's saying, "I figure it's big enough that we can even turn one of the larger rooms into a gym, be able to spar and the like. Maybe keep some backup equipment here as well, for emergencies."

Reaching the living room, he turns and pulls her into his arms, "And now for the most important thing... the first kiss in _our_ new home." He leans close and his lips find hers in a lingering, gentle kiss. When it finally ends he smiles at her, "So, would you rather stay in your tiny little dorm room?"

Stephanie Brown has posed:
Stephanie Brown waits for Dick to come around and open her door. She may have gotten used to the treatment, yet doesn't take it for granted. It always brings a soft, warm smile to her face when she puts her hand in his and rises from the sporty car. "You do move fast, Mr. Grayson," she says in a teasing voice, moving with him to the door and stepping inside with him.

Her eyes move about the room, noticing how nicely it's decorated. "Well," she says as if just a touch reluctant. "I mean, if you'd rather have all this nice furniture instead of building our own out of cinder blocks and pieces of wood," Stephanie continues, mentioning what the decor is like at her student apartment. "I -suppose- we could probably make it work," she says, turning to face Dick directly then.

She sinks into his arms, body pressing in against his. And they kiss. Sweet. Soft, there's a sultry heat to it, Stephanie losing herself in the feeling of his arms and the touch of Dick's lips. "Mmmm," she murmurs before their lips finally part. "Of course, the answer is wherever you are, is where I'll be," she tells him with a smile, looking into Dick's eyes. There's an excitement lighting the girl's soft blue eyes. At actually having a place together like this.

Dick Grayson has posed:
Smiling as he gazes into her eyes, Dick gives her a tight squeeze before saying, "Well then, welcome home Stephanie." He looks around, than back to her, "Ok, this is a little weird. I suddenly feel very adult, moving in with the woman I love. I mean, I've had my own place before, but this is a lot different somehow."

He gives her another hug, then moves around to her side, one arm still around her waist, hand on her hip. "So, want to wander the whole place, or just hang out here? I'm good either way, most of the place is pretty generic at the moment since I didn't have plans for all the rooms, so you can claim one or two for doing your own things like schoolwork and the like."

Looking over at her, he adds, "It's also nice and private, as you can see, heavy drapes and modern construction for soundproofing, so we're good with doing whatever we want." He shakes his head, "Definitely a kinda weird feeling, but I like it."

Stephanie Brown has posed:
Stephanie Brown's arms snake up around Dick's shoulders as she hugs him back tightly. "I know what you mean," she agrees, eyes widening just a little bit with a look that is a mix of wonderment, happiness and a touch of disbelief. "This is still so new for me. Having someone I'm sharing my life with like this," she tells him. "Let alone moving in together." She can't hide the dreamy look though as she gazes at the too-handsome man.

Her eyes are pulled away for a moment to look around the place again. "I'm sure we'll figure out uses for everything. Maybe get Barbara to help wire everything up to the Batcomputer," she says. Stephanie turns her attention back fully to Dick, grinning and leaning in to brush a short, soft kiss to his lips. "Maybe we can make a secret room somewhere to hold some gear, yes. It's a bit of a trip up to the Manor," she says, the university being halfway across the islands of Gotham from the bridge up to Bristol where Wayne Manor can be found.

Stephanie's fingers move to brush through the back of Dick's hair. "Why don't you show me around then?" she asks.

Dick Grayson has posed:
Dick nods, "Ok, well, living room here, nice big fireplace is always romantic and warm." He guides her over to the kitchen, "Made sure it's got a modern kitchen for when we feel like cooking or entertaining, plenty of space for mess making." He gestures over at the dining area, "I figure a table for ten is enough to begin with. Any more than that and it's not really a sit down dinner party any more, we move to people all through the place."

Heading upstairs, he first shows her to the master bedroom, "This will be the bedroom, I figure we'll use my bed, but if you have stuff you want in here, just let me know. For the moment I was gonna set it up like my room at the Manor, but since this is our place, half the room is yours if you want." Going into the master bathroom, he shows off the huge tub and large shower enclosure, as well as a fairly massive vanity. "Tons of space in here for anything we need as well, we won't have to be fighting over space for our stuff."

The tour of the rest of the townhouse is fairly quick, just a number of unoccupied rooms. The largest one on the third floor he leads her into and says, "I figure this could be the workout room, we can even take down the wall into the next room to make it bigger if we want."

Stephanie Brown has posed:
There is plenty to see as Stephanie follows along, one hand holding to Dick's as he gives her the full tour. "This means I'm probably going to need to learn how to make more than Pop Tarts and grilled cheese," she says. She squeezes his hand, having cooked a little for Dick before they even had gotten together, as her penance for losing a bet on their sparring match.

She looks around the spacious bedroom. "Bigger than my whole apartment, not even sure where to begin," she says. "I like what you've done with it." Then the bathroom and she pauses, reaching out to run a hand over the big tub and then look at the glass-enclosed shower stall. "Even with a bench so I can shave my legs easily," she says with a smile, moving up against Dick's back, her chin on his shoulder as she looks around it all.

The workout room to be makes her nod enthusiastically. "That would be good," she agrees of taking out a wall to make more space. "We should probably put alarms and booby traps in all of the vents too. So Cass has something to entertain herself with before showing up announced," she says with a chuckle.

Dick Grayson has posed:
A laugh and nod greets that last suggestion, "True. Honestly, I'm going to talk to Barbara about a security system for the whole place, but I'll make especially certain she doesn't forget the ducts and vents. We also have plenty of room to set up a guest room for Cass to stay in if she wants to visit sometimes."

As they head back downstairs and pass the bedroom, he says, "I just want you to feel that it's your home too, not just that you're staying in mine. So I do want you to put your touches on it too. It's easy to move stuff around, we have just tons of space in here that we're not likely to use up."

Getting back down to the living room, he turns and takes her in his arms again, "So, what do you think? Can we manage to survive in such a tiny space?"

Stephanie Brown has posed:
"Yes!" Stephanie says enthusiastically. "Yes, with a four post bed and a canopy over it. All the stuff she never had before," the blond teen says, eyes lighting up at the thought of doing that for Cassandra Cain. "Been working with her on reading. And speaking too, at that," she says with a smile. "She's doing so good. I'm so proud of her, Dick."

She heads back down with Dick, looking thoughtful. "Ok, I'll come up with some things. Maybe... a Dazzler poster in a room I can set up for doing my homework. And, well, we'll work it out in time," Stephanie says.

She turns to Dick as his arms go around her. "I think we can be happy here," she says with a soft coo as she looks into Dick's eyes. "Thank you for doing this," she tells him, looking more than a little touched that he's gone through all of this so they can be together more.

Dick Grayson has posed:
"It's for us, Steph. How could I do any less? It's not like I like being away from you any more than you like being away from me. This way, we're always both here if we're not out, we don't have to worry about if there's time for you to come all the way to the Manor and get back in time for school or any of that."

He smiles at her listing of Cassandra's accomplishments, "She's lucky to have such a good friend who will help her." He brushes her hair back from her face, "Just another reason I love you, that good heart." He pauses then adds, "Hey, we can also bring that big doll house over for her too to keep in her room."

He nods with a smile, "Whatever makes you happy Steph, posters, paintings, whatever you need. We'll take a trip to a couple stores and you can pick out furniture for your space, you can set it up however you like."

Stephanie Brown has posed:
Stephanie just looks back at Dick, her eyes gleaming with warmth. And maybe glistening just a tiny bit too, if he notices. Which, of course he notices, trained by Bruce Wayne and all. He can likely read her expression, the girl who had an absentee family growing up, whose dating life reads like a cautionary tale.

But not this. This is good. This is more than Stephanie Brown ever thought she'd find. She presses close and hugs Dick Grayson tightly, resting her head on his shoulder. "I love you, Dick," she whispers to him. "Thank you," she tells him, hiding her face in just beneath his jaw.

Dick Grayson has posed:
Dick wraps his arms around her and hugs her tightly against him. "I love you too Steph. This is the start of our life together, it had to be perfect." He kisses the top of her head, then lays his cheek against her hair. There's emotion in his eyes as well, though at the moment she can't see that. He didn't grow up with anything like a normal family for a good portion of his life. Bruce was a mentor, a good man, but not exactly a Dad. And most of his dating has been fairly shallow, women interested in his social standing more than who he is, so finding her was a ray of light in the darkness.

"This is going to be very good for both of us, I think. It's something we both need, a little normal among the nights patrolling the roofs and fighting the criminals we deal with all the time. This is our retreat, our island of normal."

Stephanie Brown has posed:
Stephanie Brown spends awhile basking in Dick's arms. Standing hugging the man, and sharing kisses in their new home together. Eventually she spots the remote sitting there, experiments with it and hits a button, finding the one that draws the curtains closed. She smiles and then spends the night with him in the new home, not having school the next day so they can spend the night just enjoying each other's company.