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Dick had a distinct feeling that something was burning.
He could clearly remember stirring together the meat and sauce for his spaghetti. Then he had moved the pan to the counter because the sauce had started bubbling... right?
And the noodles... what the hell had happened to them? Did he take them off the burner? Hell, did he even turn any of the burners off?
Why couldn’t he—why couldn’t he remember...?
Shit, it was too hard to think when his heart was pounding so loud in his ears. Why was it so loud? Had he been running? Was he running from someone? No, no. Wait, wait, wait. Wasn’t he just in his kitchen though? Something was—something was burning because it was too hot.
But if something was burning then why was he so cold?
“C’mon, Dick,” someone pleaded close enough to Dick’s ear to make him shiver. “Nothing’s burning, okay? You’re here with me and I—we’re gonna be okay, yeah? I’m not gonna let anything happen to you.” And, hey, that sounded a lot like Roy. Was it Roy?
Dick turned his head to check, and fuck, it took him way longer than it should have to move his own damn neck. Probably had to do with the fact that his head felt all stuffy like it was full of cotton.
He finally managed to get his head in a position where he could see over his shoulder and—oh... oh! It was Roy!
Dick smiled, happy to see him. He thought Roy was happy to see him too since his eyes lit up when they looked at each other, but when Dick stared at Roy’s deep frown and furrowed brow, he realized that Roy actually looked sick with worry.
It was that look that sent alarm bells off in Dick’s head. Something inside him begged him to focus and to try and figure this—whatever this was—out. And Dick would. He totally would when he could... if he could just...
Dick mimicked Roy’s frown when he noticed that there was dry blood caked on Roy’s jawline. His eyes sluggishly followed the path to where the blood trailed down Roy’s neck and gathered at the collar of his shirt.
It was only then that Dick noticed Roy’s back was pressed against a dirty white wall, and Dick was... oh. That was why he had to turn his head to see Roy. He was sitting between Roy’s legs and using Roy’s chest like his own personal recliner.
Now that he was paying attention to it, he could feel Roy’s arms wrapped around his waist in a way that pinned down Dick’s arms. There had to be a pretty good reason for that unless Roy just wanted a cuddle, which was most likely not the case since that was what Lian was for.
Had Dick been flailing or something? Was he... was there something wrong with him?
Dick was gonna ask. He swore he was gonna ask.
Then he opened his mouth and the only thing that came out was, “I think something’s burning.”
Roy squeezed his eyes shut as if pained and gently rested his forehead against the side of Dick’s head. Roy’s warm skin felt nice. Dick pressed back against him to try and chase away the cold that gripped his body like a vice.
“I know,” Roy said quietly, “just hang in there, Wingster.” He leaned back and looked Dick in the eye. “Think you can do that for me?”
Dick wanted to say yes immediately because he’d do anything for Roy. The only thing that stopped him was that he didn’t really get what Roy was asking him to do. What did he need to hang in there for?
“Okay,” Dick said just to make the sad look on Roy’s face go away. “But can we do the hanging thing somewhere else? Something’s burning.”
He didn’t know why Roy’s eyes looked watery after that. Maybe it was for the same reason that Roy’s arms were wrapped tight around Dick’s waist.
Dick wasn’t sure.
Nothing made much sense to him after that. Well, nothing other than the fact that he was almost certain something was burning.
It wasn’t until two days after his fever broke that Dick realized the only thing that had been burning was him.