Teen Titans: Normalcy

I am Dick Grayson, I've only just met these people, but maybe they're a chance to be a little bit normal. Vic let out a booming laugh that rattled the dry concrete beneath them, shaking his head as his cybernetic plating whirred softly in agreement. "Oh, hear him! The circus boy thinks he’s a culinary critic now," Vic jeered, tossing another popcorn kernel with sniper-like precision straight into Gar’s open, gaping mouth. Gar choked, coughing wildly while shifting his hand into a confused pelican's beak for half a second before coughing the kernel out into his palm. "Hey! Assault! That is biological warfare, Vic! I’m reporting you to the Geneva Convention!" Even Rachel couldn't keep up the stone-cold facade anymore. A soft, breathy huff of amusement escaped her lips, the violet glow in her eyes flaring into a warm, gentle amethyst before fading completely. The pigeon she had been staring down took the distraction as its cue and waddled away, utterly unbothered by the cosmic and demonic forces it had just narrowly avoided. Dick watched them bicker, the last lingering phantom chill of the Cave finally evaporating from his bones. He wasn't a tactical asset. He wasn't a shadow stepping in the wake of a dark knight. Here, in the heart of Jump City's pulsing, neon-hazed chaos, he was just a kid sitting with his friends. "Come on," Dick said, turning on his heel and walking backward, flashing them a grin that felt entirely weightless. "If we don't beat the afternoon rush, Gar's precious taco-pocalypse is gonna happen without us." Vic pushed himself off the fountain's rim with a heavy, metallic thud, rolling his massive shoulders. "Lead the way, boss. But if the meat tastes like it came from a Cadmus crate, I'm hacking your phone." "Hey!" Gar scrambled to his feet, transforming his sneakers into cheetah paws for a two-second burst of speed just to slide past them both. "Dibs on the corner booth! And I'm ordering for the pigeon, too!" As the four of them fell into step together, cutting through the thick, vibrant crowd of the Jump City plaza, Dick slid his hands into his jacket pockets. The city roared around them—traffic horns, street musicians, the hum of overhead hover-cars, and the endless, beautiful noise of ordinary life.