The Great Pretender (Dick and Lydia)

[utilitybelted]

When Dick had been on a lengthy mission in the middle of nowhere (aka Beacon Hills, California), the last thing he'd expected was to make a really good friend.
Well, technically the last thing he'd expected was to get mixed up in a weird werewolf pack showdown, but the friend thing was a close second - and he was definitely much happier about it.
Lydia had turned out to be one of the best friends he'd ever had, and if he maybe had just a little bit of a crush on her that was neither here nor there, so he'd been eager to keep in touch after heading back to Gotham.

It helped that she was somebody who knew his identity (not that he told Bruce that part) without being directly involved in his crime-fighting life, so she was someone he could talk to about that part of his life when it was getting too much for him. Conversely, he hoped him being someone who knew about the weirdness in her life without being directly involved was helpful to her as well.

It all added up to him being glad to hop on a plane and come see her whenever he had the chance, so when she told him she needed him to come to Beacon Hills to help her with something important one weekend, he didn't even ask what it was.

So right on schedule he was heading into the arrivals lounge at the nearest airport, looking out for a familiar redhead.

Comments

[sanguinescry]

Lydia lifts her head at his offer, looking over at him. She almost rebukes him; does he really think she waited until the last minute to buy a dress? But then she realizes that he probably doesn't think that at all, he just has money and he's willing to pamper his friend in her hour of need. Lydia's expression melts into gratitude.

"I have a dress, but it's nothing spectacular," she agrees, giving him a smile after a moment. "I would appreciate that, so much. You have no idea." He really doesn't. Her dress is nice, but you can only get something so nice when you're thrift shopping. "Only if you're sure and you don't mind," she interjects suddenly.

A huff escapes her and she rolls her eyes a little, resting her head against his shoulder again and relaxing against him. "Yeah, I used to be one of those people, once upon a time. Now, that's embarrassing to think about because oh my God, it's really and truly obnoxious."

The shuttle comes to a stop in a little roundabout near the parking lot and Lydia lifts her head again. "Come on, I'm actually not parked very far from here. The sooner we can get to the car, the sooner we can get some snackage and get you unpacked and breathe for a few before the show must go on." She says that with a hint of apology in the tone, because she knows he probably won't mind that much, but all the same, she feels guilty asking him to feign a deeper relationship with her than they actually share. She doesn't get the feeling he's a big fan of lying if he doesn't have to.

[utilitybelted]

Dick almost breathed a sigh of relief when she didn't take his offer as an insult, and beamed brightly at her - he just wanted to treat his best friend, it was nice to get the chance to. "I don't mind one bit. It'll be fun to shop with you... besides, you'll need to make sure my outfit matches."

He wasn't really a fashion sort of person, so while he knew that the suit he brought with him was a good, expensive and flattering suit (Alfie got it, of course it was), he also wasn't sure if it would be up to Lydia's exacting standards - and if they were going to make an entrance, be the It couple and steal all the attention away from the bride and groom (not that he'd ever do that, really he wouldn't), he would have to make sure they both looked perfect.

He knows all about putting on a charade, and while the Wayne Family riches were no subterfuge, they pretended in a lot of other ways, and Dick knew exactly the kind of persona to present to all her family to pull off the image that he assumed she wanted, although he did intend to make sure exactly what she wanted before throwing himself into the role.

"Sounds great, lead the way gorgeous," he grinned "Just seeing what sounds good, are there any pet-names off limits?."

[sanguinescry]

Laughing a little in spite of herself, Lydia looks incredulously back at him. "You have the luxury of never having been shopping with me before, so it's easy for you to say that it'll be fun. It's okay, you'll learn," she says playfully as they make their way toward her car.

The grin on her face causes a wrinkle of her nose with amusement when he asks about pet names. "Anything that sounds kind of private or lame, we should probably steer clear of, but the normal ones are fine," she replies. When she says normal, Lydia's mostly thinking of the things Jackson used to call her and it's a little embarrassing to realize that it's been that long since she's been called by a pet name. Stiles didn't use them all that often, or if they did, they were little cutesie inside joke sorts of names reserved for when they were in private.

"Gorgeous is a good start," she adds for clarification, bumping her shoulder against his as she pulls out her keys and presses the button to unlock her car on the fob, causing a nearby vehicle's headlights to turn on. "Onward," she says, gesturing toward it, and once they've gotten settled into the car she turns to look at him and asks, "what do you feel like? For food, I mean."

[utilitybelted]

"Oh no, what did I just volunteer for?" he joked, though whatever she said wouldn't convince him really that it was going to be bad, he loved spending time with her - why would shopping be any different, right?

"Nothing lame, huh? So pookie and schnookums and..uh.. cupcake are probably off limits?" he asked teasingly, though he wouldn't be caught dead using any of them unless it was to mock somebody. Gorgeous and babe would suit him just fine, though he still intended to get a little experimental until he found something that worked - it was more fun that way.

"Not that I think you'd use it, but I'd just like to veto 'pudding' here and now." he shuddered theatrically "Too many negative connotations."

Settling into the car he looked thoughtful for a moment before shrugging "Anything is cool with me. Wanna just grab some fries or something from the first drive-through we see?" it didn't have to be anything fancy or big after all, not if they had a rehearsal dinner to go to later.

[sanguinescry]

"A very long day," she responds, but she's grinning and she's mostly joking. It would be the truth if they weren't on a time constraint, but since they are, she'll have to give him Lydia Lite at the mall.

As she starts the car, she smirks over at her friend. "You're such a smart ass," she laughs, rolling her eyes playfully and then turning herself around in the seat as she shifts into reverse so that she can watch where she's going as she backs out of her spot. "But yeah, those are all off limits and you don't have to worry about 'pudding,' largely because that's super lame and you couldn't pay me to call someone that," she replies. Lydia drops back in the seat again, facing forward once more, and shifts the car into drive.

Lydia can appreciate that he's being flexible. She's not really that hungry, mostly because she's nervous about how well — or poorly — this whole thing is going to go. Well, her body is hungry, but her mind is a million miles away from French fries. "Yeah, we can do that. Or we can just grab something in the food court at the mall... Do you want to eat before we shop or do you not care?" Because, either way, first things first, she's taking him to the lake house so they can drop off his things. If he wants to eat before they go shopping, then maybe she'll just swing through a Wendy's or something on the way to the lake house.

[utilitybelted]

Dick laughed, feeling all the tension ease out of him as he relaxed into the car eat - regardless of her assurances he was in for a long day or that her family were going to be terrible or any other warning she might throw his way, he felt good to be here, to be able to laugh and joke with his friend and only worry about making a good impression and what pet names they could use rather than any life-or-death scenarios. It was nice, he was pretty sure, for both of them to get into the more normal dilemmas for a change.

However normal fake-dating your friends was.

"We should probably eat before shopping," he decided after a moment's though, flashing her a cheeky grin "I'm going to need to keep my strength up for the trials ahead."