Title: Gingersnaps
Author: Naimeria
Warnings: None
Summary: Robin pulls out his mom's old cookbook and Wally learns a bit about his best friend. Pure fluff. A response to a prompt and character challenge.
Author's Notes: I have no beta (if you're interested, feel free to contact me, as I would love one), so all mistakes are mine. This was written vaguely for a reason – see it as a pairing if that's what you're into. ;D
This was a challenge, given to me by the lovely Grimmy over at Sugar Sweet Challenge at the Young Justice Challenge forums. The prompt was gingersnaps, and the character was Dick G/Robin. Hope you like, my love! It was loads of fun to write something so fluffy and cuddly.
Standard Disclaimer~
oOo
Kid Flash was guiding his car around one of the more tricky bends on the racetrack when the smell hit his nostrils. He dropped the game controller and stood slowly, stretching all the kinks out of his shoulders and hands before taking another inhale. Man oh man, did that smell good. Had Megan finally figured out how to not turn cookies into grotesque lumps of coal? He grinned and zipped into the kitchen, mouth drooling.
And quickly realized it was not Megan in the kitchen.
Robin was sitting on the countertop, feet swaying backwards and forwards so his heels tapped the cabinet every so often, with a cookbook balanced in his lap. If he noticed Wally was there, he didn't act like it. He was gazing at the cookbook, flipping through the pages slowly. Wally watched, green eyes wide at the odd display of interest in something that seemed so...not Robin.
Then Robin looked up slowly, a playful grin on his lips. Of course. "Take a picture, Wally," he said. Wally was suddenly struck with the desire to go over and yank his sunglasses off. He ignored the feeling and merely glared playfully back.
"It's not very often I get to see you doing something that doesn't involve hurting people," he said, before realizing just how brutal that sounded. Robin merely shrugged the remark off, which Wally was very grateful for. He oh-so-subtly switched tracks.
"So, what are you cooking?"
"Cookies," Robin said. "Gingersnaps, actually. My mom used to make them all the time. I think I got the right ingredients in there," he said, jumping off the counter.
Wally grinned. "Gingersnaps?" he repeated.
Robin nodded, looking at him as though he were an idiot. "Yeah, dude. Gingersnaps."
With a thrill, Wally egged his best friend on. It wasn't often Wally got to hear about Robin's parents. He knew they were dead, and had been for a few years now. That was pretty much it. "What else did your mom like to cook?"
Robin grinned, and suddenly the flood gates opened.
He explained how his mom used to love to bake. She would make all sorts of different things, like cookies that looked disgusting until you tried them, only for them to turn out to be the best things you've ever eaten. How her cookies were always cooked just right, so the outside was crunchy but the inside was warm and gooey. How she used my make pies with every type of fruit inside, the crust cooked to just the right crispiness. How her cakes were almost a work of art, the icing so expertly put on, the cakes decorated with swirls and flowers of every color you could imagine. How she hated canned whipped cream, and would instead make her own, which tasted infinitely better than any store bought can of cream. How when he would go to school, there was always some sugary treat inside his packed lunch, and everyone else was always jealous.
He went on, explaining that everyone always loved it when his got on her baking binges. Sometimes she would stay inside all day and bake, and when everyone would finish practicing they would come inside and see cakes and pies and cookies of every size and flavor, and that dinner for the next three days consisted only of her baked goods. Wally wanted to ask what he meant by practice, but he didn't have the heart to interrupt. Robin was waving his hands about as he spoke, accenting his nostalgia-laced words with hand motions.
He was smiling the whole time. Wally found himself smiling too, so enthused by his friend's excitement.
"My favorite room was always the kitchen. Or, at least, what served as a kitchen. We traveled a lot," Robin added. "But man, I do miss her cooking."
"I'm sure these'll be just as good," Wally said with a grin. Robin nodded with a grateful smile and clicked the oven light on, peeking through the glass to check on them. He slid on a baking glove and pulled the tray out, eight little steaming browned morsels sitting invitingly on the metal. Wally felt himself start drooling again as he watched Robin set the tray on the stove. He reached for one, but Robin smacked his hand.
"Let them cool first," he said. Wally pouted but did as he was told. After a couple minutes, Robin told him he could have one.
Wally grabbed the nearest cookie happily and, after blowing on it, stuck it in his mouth, conscious of Robin's reserved look of nervousness.
Wally had never tasted Robin's mom's cookies, but he could safely say that Robin's gingersnaps were the best things he'd ever eaten in his life. He assured his best friend of this, and the smile he was given in return competed with the taste of the cookies.
Wally smiled back and took another.
oOo
Reviews are, as always, treasured.