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Dick Grayson laid in bed, taking black photos of the darkness of his room with his cell phone. No lights were on. Robin did not, and would never have a snapchat. Robin was a professional. Dick Grayson, however, had a Snapchat.
Dick took a black snap and wrote, ‘Can’t sleep. AND I have a test tomorrow.’ He hesitated before sending it to Wally but comforted himself by remembering they had been friends for some time. Wally certainly did enough complaining, Dick shouldn’t feel any guilt for whining a little bit. Not that he was whining. He didn’t whine.
‘Sorry bro :(’ came Wally’s reply through the snapchat messenger.
‘I’ve been in bed since like 11pm dude. I blame bats my sleep schedule is awful’ That was what Dick typed but it was not quite close to what was truly bothering him. He hadn’t meant to let himself fall into this cycle, but there were questions eating at him. Did he really belong on the team? In the field he was focused, remembering his training and focusing on the task at hand. In the time outside of being Batman’s partner, or a member of Young Justice, or an average civilian student, there was time to just be...himself. It was daunting sometimes. He rolled over in bed, exhausted but too anxious to sleep and angry at his lack of discipline. His phone lit up.
‘Go to sleep dude!’ Wally replied once more through the messenger.
‘Follow your own advice moron why are you awake’ Dick was grateful at least for the distraction of conversation.
‘Last minute homework that’s due tomorrow lol’
Dick rolled his eyes although no one was around to see him do it. It made him feel slightly better but he was soon frowning again. For a long moment he considered what he would type next, the thought alone making his heartbeat speed up in a flight-or-fight response. He groaned and typed out his next message.
‘Being alone sucks sometimes’ Dick replied, recklessly exposing his own vulnerability.
Dick’s phone shone white in the dark room, informing Dick ‘Kid Mouth is typing…’ Usually Dick would grin at the nickname he had assigned Wally, but he found his guts tightening, regretting his decision to be so open. He almost shoved his phone under the pillow so he could pretend the whole conversation had never happened. Everything seemed so much more imposing at night. Despite the fact that he went out to fight criminals in the darkness on a regular basis there was something about being alone at night that made him feel small.
‘Be there in a flash’ Wally responded. Dick could practically hear the wink at the end of that sentence. Before Dick could emotionally brace himself Wally was tapping on his window. They did not live close to each other, but the distance of a city was not much for Kid Flash. Slowly Dick pushed himself out of bed, feeling as if he was having to puppeteer his own body. He undid the latch on the window and Wally crawled in. Wordlessly Dick closed the window, not sure how to deal with the weight of the darkness he was feeling, not sure how to put it into words if Wally asked him about it. Moonlight shone in white stripes through the window. The slight creak of his own mattress pulled Dick from his thoughts. Looking over Dick saw that Wally had flopped onto his bed, bouncing a few times. Wally gave the space next to him an energetic pat, “Come on let’s watch some cartoons.”
Dick shook his head but acquiesced, grumbling in a weak voice, “It’s two am why are you so awake?” Dick crawled back into his bed, positioning himself under the covers and Wally grabbed the tablet Dick had left on the nightstand next to his bed. Wally put on a show and Dick let his body become heavy and he sunk into the mattress. The sound was low and Wally was warm, lying above the covers next to Dick. The room was dark besides the white light of the tablet and Dick felt his gaze softening. He did not pay attention to the cartoon but found comfort in the background noise. There was something simple and pleasant about Wally’s side touching his, about feeling someone solid there with him. Dick trusted Wally and despite his own endless teasing, and maybe even because of it, they were friends. Still Dick wondered anxiously if this was weird, if he was pushing some boundary he did not know Wally had. They had never discussed any thoughts on platonic touching. Things like this were supposed to come naturally to friends but Dick could not help questioning, wondering, worrying. Despite his hesitation as the show moved on Dick let his head rest against Wally’s shoulder. He hoped Wally would say nothing. Wally didn’t. Wally was quiet, amazingly quiet for him, seemingly absorbed in the show. Dick guessed Wally was only pretending to be so invested in the show for Dick’s benefit, so he could fall asleep instead of feeling awkward about the impromptu sleepover. There were no words for the gratitude Dick felt over this, so he did not try to find them. Dick fell asleep wrapped in warm blankets, lulled by soft sounds from the tablet, finally feeling safe, even if it was only for a moment.