Muddling Through
I wrote this as I thought it might be a fun idea and I wanted to write something that I could use as an excuse to practise my dialogue writing.
This fic is mostly based on the Flash TV series but also uses elements from various DC comics and the DC Superhero Girls cartoon.
The Rooms and Roommates…
Kara Danvers/Supergirl and Barbara Gordon/Batgirl– Room A
Len Snart/Captain Cold and Oliver Queen/Green Arrow - B
Caitlin Snow/Frost and Kendra Saunders/Hawkgirl - C
Barry Allen/The Flash and Hal Jordan/Green Lantern - D
Cisco Ramon/Vibe and Dick Grayson/Nightwing- E
The first few weeks…
Arriving at Accommodation
My name is Barry Allen and I'm the fastest man alive. To the outside world I'm a first year forensic science student but when I'm not in classes I'm using my speed to fight crime and become the Flash.
Today is my first day of university and as usual I'm running late! Fortunately classes don't start until tomorrow but I was late to pick up my keys and late to get to my dorm room. The dorms at my uni are broken down into flats with shared kitchen, dining room and bathrooms. Each flat has 5 bedrooms that are two to a room. I was also in a mixed sex flat. I was kinda annoyed when I realised that I wouldn't get to be the one to pick which bed I wanted. Though as I kicked open the door and I walked into the breezeblock room I was relieved to see that my roommate was lying out on the top bunk – I'd wanted the bottom one. My new mate was about the same height as me though he was a bit broader, he wore a leather jacket with a green tee underneath as he laid out casually on his bed.
"Hey I'm Barry." I said with a smile to my new roommate as I walked into our home for the next year laden with boxes.
The guy with brown hair smiled at me. "Hal. Hal Jordan."
"So we're living together for the next year then."
"Yeah. Lucky you." He grinned and winked at me.
I put the box I was holding down and then went to get the other boxes I'd brought with me. I unpacked more or less everything over the course of what was left of that afternoon. The only thing I didn't unpack was my Flash suit which I left in a box and pushed underneath the bed. My Flash suit was still a work in progress at this point, I'd made it myself but I'm not a natural sewer. It was made from combing various red and gold spandex bodysuits. In places it was very tight and in others quite baggy but it was my super suit and I am the Flash!
I briefly wondered if I should tell Hal that I'm the Flash but I decided against it. I'd just met the guy and a very important part of being a superhero is keeping your secret identity a secret.
With everything unpacked and sorted I decided I needed to do something to keep my mind off the fact I'd just left home for the first time and I was now on my own. Crying in front of my new roommate did not seem like a good first impression to make! I grabbed one of my mugs and headed down to the communal kitchen in our shared flat to make a cup of coffee. As the kettle was boiling another of my flatmates walked in.
"Hey." I said with a smile.
"Hey dude, I'm Cisco."
"Barry Allen, forensic science student in room D."
"Sweet! I'm a mechanical engineering student in the room next to yours."
"Sounds cool, guess I'll be seeing a lot of you over the next year."
"Probably will. You seem cool, cooler than one of our other flatmates. Snart in room G, he's just cold!"
"I've not met him yet but I'll bear that in mind. I got here not that long ago and I've only met you and my roommate Hal so far."
"I think you're the last of us to arrive."
The first morning of the very first day
I was up relatively early. I'd slept relatively well. I got up to shower and get dressed and tried not to wake up Hal as I did so. Though to my relief it turned out my roommate was a pretty deep sleeper.
Dressed and showered I headed into the kitchen to get some breakfast. I thought I'd probably be the first person to be up and having breakfast this morning however to my surprise there was already someone up.
"Morning." I greeted her with a smile as I put the kettle on for my coffee!
"Hi!" replied the blonde woman enthusiastically. "I'm Kara Danvers, nice to meet you."
"Barry Allen, forensic science student." I replied as I made myself a bowl of porridge.
"Oh you might be in the same class as my roommate Barbara Gordon. She's doing joint forensics and computer sciences."
"I'll keep an eye out for her. And what are you doing?"
"I'm a journalism student."
"My best friend - Iris West - is doing journalism too!"
"Well I'll keep an eye out for Iris if you keep an eye out for Babs."
"Deal." My porridge was ready now so I took my porridge and my coffee and sat down at the kitchen table with Kara. "How have you found everything since moving in yesterday?"
"Not bad. Still getting used to it all but I've already met some interesting people like you and Barbara and Cisco."
"So you're happy with your roommate?"
"Yeah definitely! Are you?"
"I think so. Hal seems pretty cool, but at the same time I kinda feel like we're totally different people."
"Well if he ever seems too different to get along with I'm down in Room A, feel free to pop along for a chat." She smiled again, Kara had a really genuinely friendly smile.
Coming back to the flat after Soc Fair
Today was mid-way through the first week and it was Soc Fair. Soc Fair is this big event were the university clears out the sports hall and gives it over to various societies to recruit new members. I'd obviously joined Chem Soc!
On the way back to the flat I met Dick Grayson, he's another of my flatmates. He recognised me and walked over to introduce himself to me.
"Hey, you live in the same flat as me." He held out his hand to shake. "I'm Dick."
"Barry, nice to meet you."
"You live with Hal right?"
I nodded in response.
"He seems cool. I'm Cisco's roommate."
"Oh, I like Cisco. We're kinda friends." I felt like all my responses sounded uninterested which I didn't mean them to.
"Yeah I know. So did you sign up for any societies today?"
"I signed up to Chem Soc, I'm quite a science geek." I chuckled slightly. "Studying Forensics and now a part of Chem Soc."
"You do whatever you're into, Barry."
"Thanks." I smiled.
"I mean it, just do what makes you feel happy. And in your case that's science."
"Usually from non-science people I get a lot of judgement when people realise what a massive science geek I am so thanks for just being really nice."
He shrugged very cool and casually "I signed up for the Acrobatics Society, it's something that's just a part of me and I'm pretty flexible. But it's also something I sometimes get crap from people for being into so I get where you're coming from with that."
Fresher's Week is over, now it really begins…
Today was my first proper day as I had my first proper week of the semester. This morning I had a 9AM lecture, 9AMs are infamously bad amongst students. In preparation for my 9AM I'd picked out my outfit and packed my bag the night before so that all I had to do in the morning was get washed and have breakfast.
Going into the kitchen for breakfast I encountered a red haired woman I'd not met before.
"Hey, I'm Barry."
"Hey, I'm Barbara." Ahh, so this was Kara's roommate. "I'm guessing you have a 9AM too."
"Yeah, it's my first lecture. I'm a little nervous."
"I'm sure it'll be fine. What's your lecture on?"
"Introduction to Forensic Theory."
"Same as me!"
"That's good, should we go to the lecture theatre together?"
"Sure."
A couple of weeks into the semester, Hal finds out!
I'd been out fighting crime as the Flash. It was getting late, I'd had a long day and I was just tired. I'd decided no powers in the flat but tonight I was just too tired not to run into the flat and into my room still in costume. Big mistake.
"Hey Barry!" Hal was in our room. "Where hav… You're the Flash!"
"What? No! Don't be ridiculous." I tried to sound as convincing as possible but wearing a bright red suit and speeding into a room are pretty damning evidence that you're the scarlet speedster. "This is just a … costume."
"Really?"
"Yes! It's a costume." I really hoped he'd believe that.
"And why were you out in a Flash costume at this time of night?"
"..umm… I was at a party?"
"We've lived together for a couple of weeks now, I know you're not a party guy."
"Even if it was a Chem Soc party?" I knew that was a bad excuse and Hal knew it too because he laughed in response.
"I'm not an idiot, Barry."
"I never said you were an idiot."
"Look I saw you run into the room and you're wearing the Flash's costume. You are the Flash."
I groaned. I might as well just admit it. "Okay fine! I am the Flash! But you can't tell anyone about this!"
"You can trust me, I'm good at keeping a secret." He said with a smirk.
"Okay…" Though I knew I didn't sound too convinced.
"Trust me I can." He jumped down from his bunk and standing before me put on a green ring. When he put the ring on his body was bathed in green light that died back a little to reveal that Hal was now wearing a mostly green super suit with parts on it highlighted in black and white. "You're the Flash and you've been rooming with the Green Lantern all this time."
I tried to think of an appropriate response. "You look so much cooler than me in your supersuit."
"I am so much cooler than you." He chuckled. "But thanks."
"So how'd you become Green Lantern?" I moved to sit down on my bunk. I still had my Flash suit on.
"I got this ring from a dying alien and he made me a Green Lantern. I'm one of the Green Lanterns for our sector. As I'm still a student there's another guy who I share looking after our sector with."
"Aliens are real?"
"Yeah. Aliens are real. There's even one living in our flat."
"You're joking?"
"Nope! Kara Danvers is an alien, she's secretly Supergirl."
"Wait, there's three superheroes living in our flat?"
"More. Babs is Batgirl and Ollie is Green Arrow."