Freckles

"Dude! You've got freckles!"

"Get off me, Wally!"

"But you've got freckles! Where the heck have you been hidin' 'em?"

… …

At the sound of their young counterparts yelling, Batman and the Flash both sighed, looking resigned.

"This is why you should let Robin tell Wally who he is. Because until then," Barry smiled, "My nephew is going to go overboard every time he finds out something new about his best friend."

Batman met this logic with a glare, decisively closing the conversation.

… …

"Are they always like this?" Artemis grimaced, leaning back on the counter.

"Not… always," M'gann hedged, as she measured out two cups of milk, adding them to the mixing bowl.

Raising an eyebrow, the blonde met the redhead's gaze. "And what exactly does that mean?"

A small, guilty blush climbed up the alien's green cheeks. "It has a tendency to get worse when Wally needs a reaffirmation that he and Robin are best friends."

A disgusted huff, and Artemis rolled her eyes. "Whatever. Idiots."

I think it's sweet, M'gann thought, but didn't share.

… …

"Why are freckles significant?"

Kaldur looked over at Superboy, who had his head tilted slightly in the way the Atlantean had come to recognize meant the clone was listening to something in a distant part of Mount Justice.

Kaldur shrugged back his shoulder, trying to determine what the odd question could mean. "Freckles are an irregularity in the pigment of the skin, which are smaller and darker than the individual's general skin tone."

"I know that," Superboy growled. "But why is Wally so excited that Robin has them?"

"Aaah," the older boy nodded. Focusing entirely on his teammate, and ignoring the targets he had been using for target practice with his water jets, he smiled. "It is not about the freckles, Superboy. It is about Kid Flash discovering something regarding Robin which he did not previously know."

Happy with this explanation, Kaldur returned to his training.

Superboy, however, continued to stare towards the entertainment room in puzzlement.

… …

Green Arrow slipped an arm around Black Canary's shoulder and laughed. "Those kids of yours are loud, baby."

In a long-suffering tone of annoyance, she replied, "They're not my kids, idiot. I'm not their mother, I'm their teacher."

"Well then," he chuckled. "You should teach them how to keep it down."

Dinah slugged her boyfriend in the stomach before standing and striding purposefully away.

… …

Red Tornado made a point to record the best friends' struggle for reference in the next combat lesson, then returned to more important issues.

… …

Roy received twenty texts in less than two minutes, all from Wally freaking out about Robin having "FRECKLES! Dude, Roy, he totally has FRECKLES! HA! It's AWESOME, buddy!"

Shaking his head, the ginger sent back a basic "cool" text, then proceeded to delete all twenty of the messages.

"Wally's such a spa," he groaned.

… …

Robin reached up and smacked the back of his best friend's head. "Nice, Wally. Very subtle."

The speedster grinned widely. "Hey, it was your idea."

"Yeah," the Boy Wonder frowned. "But we're just trying to throw them off, not make them more suspicious. And this is Bruce we're talking about."

Wally kept grinning. "Dude, you're paranoid."

Pulling off the ever-present sunglasses, the younger boy rubbed at his forehead. Opening his big blue eyes to glare, he double-checked the readout on his complicated wristband. "Just because you're paranoid, doesn't mean they're not out to get you, bro."

The grin never wavered as the redhead slung an arm around his best friend's shoulder. "Whatever, Dick. Besides, I don't care if Bats does find out-"

This was cut off by a patronizing snort.

"Okay, fine, I do care, 'cause I like being alive. I'm too awesome to die!"

"Yeah, yeah," Robin chuckled. "Keep telling yourself that, man."

Wally cleared his throat loudly, then continued. "Like I was saying, it doesn't matter if your scary dad finds out. I'm too happy you told me your real name."

The little bird flushed and mock-punched the speedster in the side. "Shut up."

Wally held out his fist, and Robin tapped it with his own. "Best friends for life?"

"You're an idiot."

He smirked until the acrobat rolled his eyes then grinned back. "Yeah, man, best friends for life."

They stood silently for a moment, smiling at each other, until Wally started giggling.

"What?"

"You have freckles, dude!"

"Shut up, Wally!"

end.