K-Cups and Laundromats (Dick Grayson, DCU)

[Anonymace]

Hi, all! This is my first time posting my work on the forum, and I’m not super used to this site’s formatting (sorry in advance if the text is super big or small), or writing sneeze fics 😅 But I’m excited to be here! I’ve been lurking the last few years and I’m glad to finally be a registered (if still validating) member of the forum. I don’t really have a plan for where this will go, but I’m happy to take suggestions! Sorry for the lack of sneezing (there is some!), I’m just trying to figure out my comfort level writing fics  I hope you enjoy! 

 

Dick had a headache. Of course, he always had a headache, so what was different about this one? 

 

Nothing, he reasoned with himself. Absolutely nothing.

 

Reasoning isn’t worth much in the face of pain. The nervous system doesn’t care much for words. Or blows, for that matter.

 

Gritting his teeth against the stabbing pain above his left eye, he swallowed two unassuming maroon pills with a swig of lukewarm water. Thank god for ibuprofen.

 

The half-empty mug of stale water thudded against the cheap countertop as he searched his barren cupboards for his salvation.

 

Honestly, when was the last time I bought tea? Or made it, for that matter. Cursing his lack of foresight and sniffing against an oncoming flood, he opted instead for a K-cup. What Alfred doesn’t know won’t hurt him — or me. 

 

God, the sniffling was getting annoying. This was getting nowhere. He sighed, dragging a hand across his face, and sank into the single dining chair he had haphazardly placed by the kitchen island for lack of a proper table.

 

Shit, the coffee! He was too late. The cottony fog in his brain had stuck itself between the cogs, slowing his thoughts to a crawl. The resulting mess on the countertop, a slight oversight regarding one K-cup and a not-quite-empty mug, would be future-Dick’s problem. Not his priority at the moment.

 

No, instead his focus had been drawn to his nose, a light prickling present since he downed the ibuprofen growing to a burning tickle that emptied his mind and slackened his face with need.

 

“Hehh… huh…” God, the buildup was torturous. He could hear the coffee spilling from the machine in the background, dripping onto his (admittedly cheap) floors, but his entire being was consumed by the itch.

 

“Cuh… come onn— huh’shxxgt! Hngshxt! Heh… hehshEEW! Jesus,” he moaned aloud, wiping the mess from his face with one hand while searching for a box of tissues with the other. The search, like his earlier scrounging for tea, was fruitless. He settled for a hand towel, rough though it was against the sensitive skin. 

 

He should have been more prepared. He should have gone out for supplies when his nose first began to run. Hell, he should have purchased tissues, at the very least, that day on the bus where he probably caught this hell-virus.

 

Curse that woman and her careless germs. 

 

He closed his eyes, sighing, and rested his admittedly heavy head against the back of his chair. 

 

Why had he even taken the bus? He was Nightwing, for god’s sake! He could basically fly! You know… assuming there were enough rooftops around. But that had never been a problem in Blüdhaven. So, why had he even bothered with the bus?

 

Ok, fine, maybe it had been raining, and he maybe hadn’t fixed his dryer, and he maybe hated the idea of going to Gotham just to ask Alfred to do his laundry. So, he had taken the bus. 

 

Maybe he should have just taken it to a Laundromat.

 

But he had taken the bus. And he had taken the only empty seat, and it had happened to be next to a woman who definitely should not have been out at all, let alone in the characteristic Blüdhaven rain. And he had gotten sick.

 

And now he was alone, in a shitty apartment, in a shitty city, listening to coffee drip onto the floor. Yeah, that would stain the countertop. 

 

God, he felt gross. Wincing, he swallowed against the congestion dripping down his throat and picked his head up off the chair. The rest of him followed, albeit begrudgingly.

 

…Onto the floor. Straight into the growing coffee puddle.

 

Would it be that gross if I still drank it? Yes. Yes, it would. Moaning, he rolled away from the puddle. 

 

Maybe a nap would fix this. Screw the tea, screw the caffeine, sleep is the real savior.

 

He rested his forehead against the cool linoleum, muscles groaning as he forced the rest of himself up. Maybe that workout last night hadn’t been a good idea. Neither was patrol three hours ago, to be honest. He’d only just barely peeled the soaked uniform off his skin and wiggled into a loose tee and shorts before collapsing on the couch.

 

The couch. That’s where he was going. He’d forgotten, lost his train of thought in remembering the (actually very recent) events of that day. Tracing his steps back from what lead him to existing in downward dog on the kitchen floor with a wicked head cold.

 

He dragged the rest of himself up. Couch. He was going to the couch. He just had to get to the living space, and then to the couch. Easy. Two steps. One unsteady step to the living room rug. Simple. Second unsteady step… directly over the back of the couch.

 

Worth it. Shoving his face into the worn canvas, he accepted his fate. Nap time would come in the form of a face plant into a shitty, smelly couch with one leg hanging over the back and one arm hanging off the edge (the other, of course, having been folded under his chest and slipping between the couch cushions).

 

The darkness of his face in the couch soon faded into the darkness of unconsciousness, and Dick was not about to fight that.

[-lilac-]

First of all, I absolutely love the way you write! I'm not really familiar with the fandom but just from that fic I now feel like I have a good understanding of him as a character and the universe he lives in. Plus, the details, figurative language, and humor were perfect. I'm glad you're here and I'm excited to see more of your writing!

I'm in the same boat as you (well not with being an amazing writer, but at least with being a new member who's been lurking the past few years) so it's cool to meet someone else like me

[Anonymace]

3 hours ago, -lilac- said:

First of all, I absolutely love the way you write! I'm not really familiar with the fandom but just from that fic I now feel like I have a good understanding of him as a character and the universe he lives in. Plus, the details, figurative language, and humor were perfect. I'm glad you're here and I'm excited to see more of your writing!

I'm in the same boat as you (well not with being an amazing writer, but at least with being a new member who's been lurking the past few years) so it's cool to meet someone else like me

Thank you! I’ve been writing for a few years (not sneeze fics ahaha) and I’m excited to write for the forum, so it means a lot to me that you like it! If you’re interested in the DCU/Dick Grayson, I’d recommend Young Justice. It’s a great show and a good intro to a lot of characters in the DCU

[Dgrayman]

Dick stories are always some of the best on here!