fandomhighdorms | First Floor Lobby, Thursday afternoon

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First Floor Lobby, Thursday afternoon

After talking to Karla, Dinah needed time to de-stress. Maybe a real bike ride around the island, instead of just going out on her motorcycle would work. She stopped in the lobby to pull on her biking gloves, then sat down to tie on her trainers, trying to decide where to go first.

[for one, but open afters!]

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Larry Lance wasn't used to being nervous. He'd been a cop. He'd been a private eye. He'd face criminals and danger. There was no reason for him to feel nervous facing a teenaged girl. But he was.

Focused on the speech he kept muttering, he walked through the doors into the dorm lobby. "Hi Dinah. I'm your father. No that's cheesy. Hi Dinah, I'm your dad. I'm really glad to meet you..."

Dinah, from her spot on the parquet, froze. Then peeked up over the couch between them, eyes huge.

The same feeling that had led him towards the dorms, suddenly had Larry turning his head and focusing on the blonde girl on the floor. "So much for impressing you with my speech. Hello Dinah."

A teeny wave, then Dinah was on her feet, trying not to stumble with eagerness and confusion and sheer overload. This was the guy! In the pictures in her scrapbook, her dad and--

"It was a good speech!" she offered, then tried to think of something else to say. "I was impressed. Also, kinda shocked. Still shocked. Hi. Are you-- this is a Fandom thing, right? I mean. Are you my alternate universe dad, or, um, a clone of my dad, or--" Please be my dad?

"I don't know," he admitted. "What would make this a Fandom thing? But I'm not a clone. I'm most definitely your dad."

Larry's lip quirked up in a smile. "Who'd really like a hug."

Okay, if this was a trick, Dinah was going to claim later that she knew all the time and was just playing along.

For now, that would be a pounce-hug made of squee hitting Larry like a Force 5 blonde hurricane.

He stepped back at the impact then wrapped his arms around the blonde hurricane. "You're glad to see me?"

"Beyond glad! Way! I'm thrilled to meet you!" Dinah said, squeezing him hard. "But a little confused. Not that I care! Not if you're staying around for a while?" Dinah took a breath and stepped back, bouncing on her toes. "Like, at least 'til the weekend? 'Cause that's how long these things last? Not that I wouldn't love it if you'd stay a week. Or two. Or a month!"

"Not long," Larry admitted sadly. "Two, maybe three days. I know it's not long, but I wanted to meet you."

"Ohhh." Dinah deflated a bit, then reached out to take his hand, squeezing his fingers. Her Dad. Real. Here. Time enough to be sad later. "Me too. So much. Since forever. I have a photo album with pictures of us together in it, and your detective agency card, and the newspaper articles about you... but it's not the same as getting to meet you now. You know?"

"I can imagine," he said, squeezing her hand back. "Do you have a camera? Maybe you can add some pictures to that album."

Dinah swung their hands and beamed at him. "I do! And I have my camera phone. And we can get someone to take our picture together!" Like all those other tourists at Las Vegas and Vancouver. Like... family.

Just like a family.

"Camera phone? That sounds fancy," Larry observed. "Like something Batman would have."

"Oh! Oh oh oh did you ever meet him while you were working?" Dinah nearly danced in place. "And did you know I'm going to be a crimefighter like mom? And a P.I. like you?"

"Once or twice I caught a glimpse of him," he told Dinah. "But he had that whole whoosh, here and gone thing down to an art."

Larry's smile dimmed the barest amount. "That's a pretty big job."

"I can do it," Dinah said instantly. Hoping he'd get this. Of all people, she wanted her dad to understand it. "Well, the investigating, I'm going to Gotham University for. In the fall. The other side of it..." She bit her lip. "I inherited Mom's gifts. Plus a few more. And I can't just not do anything with them."

"No, you can't," Larry had to agree. "You're my little girl, even if you are heading to college. I'm allowed to worry about you."

Dinah's return smile was blinding. The same smile, if anyone had been there to see it. "Oh, totally. But, you know, given your life, and mom's-- it's not like I was gonna do anything else." She squared her shoulders. "But I'll be smart about it. Swear!"

"You'd better be," he warned. "Don't make me come back and haunt you."

"See, now I want to go out and break every bone in my body," Dinah said seriously. Then grinned. "Are you into ice cream, Dad?"

Dad. Heeeeee.

"Well," Larry said slowly. "I might have a fondness for chocolate ice cream on a hot summer night."

"Awesome. It's like we have the same brain!" Dinah grinned and tugged on his hand. "I know just the place."

Dinah didn't stop smiling the whole way to Chilly Boulder. Which was okay. Her dad seemed pretty happy the whole time too.

Far behind them, another figure kept the two in sight.

And occasionally smiled, even though her eyes remained very sad.

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First Floor Lobby, Thursday afternoon

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