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Dick wasn’t the weird stalker-type.
Okay, he wasn’t trying to be the weird stalker-type.
Bruce, being ex-military, just raised him to always be vigilant and aware of his surroundings. So really, it wasn’t his fault that he’d managed to learn so much about his stunning next-door neighbor despite having never talked to her. Besides, it wasn’t like him noticing her little quirks mattered. He certainly wasn’t going to try and interact.
Except…
He knew she baked when she was stressed. He’d figured out after three or four incidents where she’d arrived on their floor, stormed out of the elevator, and slammed her apartment door behind her once she made it inside. After 30-45 minutes, he’d begin to smell something sweet waft into his apartment from the crack under his door.
Normally this little occurrence was rare. He’d gleaned from the very few interactions he’d had with her that she was a bright, happy sort of person. But lately - the past two weeks or so - she’d been baking a lot. The fact had Dick a little worried about her, which brought him to his current dilemma as he entered the hallway and realized it smelt like cookies.
Rationally, he knew he should just go to his own door and pretend to be as dull and oblivious as any other stranger would be, but he hesitated as he passed her apartment. He stood there, between their doors, probably looking like an idiot. Or a serial killer. Or some combination of both.
In the end, the decision was sort of made for him. His neighbor’s door opened suddenly. Dick’s eyes caught her’s and they both blinked in surprise at the presence of the other. She was wearing black leggings and a long purple sweater, a stark difference from her usual high fashion get-ups. In her hands was a platter of chocolate chip cookies.
“Uh, hi.” Dick felt his face heat in embarrassment the moment the words left his mouth. What could he do though, honestly? He’d known the woman living next to him was beautiful, but he’d never gotten to seen her so… soft looking. “Sorry, I was, uh, just heading to my apartment.” And as if it made it less weird that she’d caught him creeping around, he punctuated the statement by walking the half step to stand in front of his door.
“Don’t apologize,” she said, grinning, “I was going to knock on your door, actually. To see if you wanted some cookies.” She raised the plate in her hands a little. “I have a lot of extras.”
Dick blinked at her, partially stunned by the offer and partially by her brilliant smile.
Please just act normal.
The voice in his head sounded a lot like Donna.
“Um, yeah. Thanks.” He turned from her to unlock his door and maybe muster up a little courage. “Did you want to come in? Have some with me?”
Someone ought to give him a fucking gold medal for sticking that landing.
Her smile became even brighter, which was apparently possible, before nodding. “Sure.”
He held the door open and let her pass him to walk inside. Mentally, he thanked every deity he knew that Bruce raised him to keep his room relatively clean. He watched as she took in his space for a moment before walking towards his kitchen and placing the plate in her hands on the counter.
He shrugged out of his jacket and tossed onto his couch. “So, you like baking?” He clenched his jaw.
Obviously.
She shrugged. “Sometimes. More than usual lately.”
He walked over to stand on the other side of the counter. “Any reason?”
“Hmm,” she glanced down at the plate before looking up at him again, “You know, I never caught your name.”
He was a little surprised by the abrupt topic change, but let it go just as quickly. “Richard Grayson. I, uh, usually go by Dick.”
“Kory. Kory Anders.” She held out a hand, lips twitching into a smirk.
He returned the look, shaking her hand. “It’s nice to officially meet you, Kory.”
“My job frustrates me sometimes,” she said, dropping his hand and reaching for a cookie, “and my mother used to tell me that creating something can be very fulfilling in times of doubt. So I bake.”
“I see,” Dick picked up a cookie himself, “That’s probably good advice.”
“Probably, but at the moment I just have a kitchen full of sweets and the same uncertainty. I decided to try something different.” She gave him a pointed look.
“Something different, huh?” He gave a soft chuckle. “How’s it going for you so far?” He took a bite of the cookie, eyes immediately falling shut as it melted in his mouth. How is it legal to be gorgeous and good at baking at the same time? He was in trouble.
“Great, actually. I finally got to meet the cute guy I’ve been wanting to talk to for months.” She bit into her cookie as well, looking as casual as ever.
Meanwhile, Dick was trying to get the cymbals crashing in his brain to quiet down enough for him to offer her a decent response. She had wanted to talk to him? She thought he was CUTE?
He could do this.
He was good at talking to women, most of the time. And he was very good at finding fun, nice people to have fun, nice one-night stands with. This wasn’t that. Not to say he was in any way opposed to a one-night stand with Kory. But really, he’d prefer something a little more personal than that. After all, she was his neighbor. And she liked to bake. That’s someone you want to keep around.
“Funny, I could say the same about you.” He took another bite of his cookie, if only to keep himself from saying anything else blatantly flirty.
She seemed to like the response, if her grin was anything to go by. “Thank you for turning my day around, Dick Grayson.”
“Thank you for these cookies, Kory Anders. Maybe next time you have a rough day, you could come here. We can talk. Or bake.” He tried to shrug it off, though his offer was 100% genuine.
“Or both!” She looked delighted at the prospect. “You know, I have a couple of meetings tomorrow that I don’t have high hopes for. The day I come knocking with cake ingredients might be sooner than you think.”
Dick took her in again, still a little shell-shocked at how his evening was going. Things rarely went so well for him; and when they did, he tended to fuck it up. He was really going to try not to this time though.
“How about this, bad day or not you come over tomorrow? Since we’ve wanted to meet each other for so long…”
“Make up for lost time?”
He nodded. “So, you’re in?”
“It’s a date.”