"Oh, good. Thanks." He hauls 'Bandit' back by the collar, shooting Steph the sort of shy-hopeless look he's sure other guys have given her before, the look that says I'm too easily embarrassed to approach you or talk to you more, and ducks his head as he urges the dog toward the fountain.
That could be the end of this, and he kind of hopes so, because seriously? Seriously? He doesn't do this. He prefers gathering his information through good old-fashioned stalking. But Stephanie isn't a target, meaning ruthlessness is not warranted. Nor is she 'family', per se. She is, but they've never met and they're not even vaguely close, so he simply doesn't feel right following her around at night. (But it's perfectly all right to do that to Dick or Tim, and once upon a time, Bruce. JASON LOGIC.) He doesn't have an agenda with her, and he doesn't want to make his case like he did with Mia. So it's either stalking, or more painful sessions as a blond goofball named Nate, with a dumbass dog that doesn't belong to him. No. No way. Stalking it is. And he should have done that from the beginning, but that feeling, that this-isn't-right feeling, and maybe curiosity (did she die? Did she come back, like him?) brought him to this dumbass situation.
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That could be the end of this, and he kind of hopes so, because seriously? Seriously? He doesn't do this. He prefers gathering his information through good old-fashioned stalking. But Stephanie isn't a target, meaning ruthlessness is not warranted. Nor is she 'family', per se. She is, but they've never met and they're not even vaguely close, so he simply doesn't feel right following her around at night. (But it's perfectly all right to do that to Dick or Tim, and once upon a time, Bruce. JASON LOGIC.) He doesn't have an agenda with her, and he doesn't want to make his case like he did with Mia. So it's either stalking, or more painful sessions as a blond goofball named Nate, with a dumbass dog that doesn't belong to him. No. No way. Stalking it is. And he should have done that from the beginning, but that feeling, that this-isn't-right feeling, and maybe curiosity (did she die? Did she come back, like him?) brought him to this dumbass situation.