E walked over to the coffee maker and yawned, pouring Dick a cup. She put two tablespoons of sugar in it before sliding it across the kitchen counter in between them. He wrapped his hands around the mug before lifting it to his lips.
"Have you talked to Artemis?" E asked, turning around to him. Her braids were piled on the top of her head and she was wearing one of Dick's old T-shirts as pajamas.
His eyes went dark and avoided answering.
E sighed, "You really should say something to her."
He nodded, feeling annoyed. He didn't want to talk to anyone, about anything. Everything had changed the past few years. After Jason's death, everything went to shit. The new Robin was a good kid, he seemed sweet. He was even less involved in training Tim than he was with Jason. He couldn't handle another death on his hands. Now with Wally….
"When was the last time you ate?" E asked, turning her back on him and opening the refrigerator. She pulled a styrofoam container full of Chinese food and put it in the microwave.
"I'm not in the mood for Chinese," Dick muttered, taking another sip of his coffee, "Besides it's 9 am."
"Tough shit," She said, watching the food spin in the microwave, "You need food, and this is all we have. I haven't had time to go to the store."
Because of Wally. Because of the cave. Because of Arsenal. Because of everything that had gone wrong in the past years. Dick and E had moved in together after Wally's death and Kaldur's reinstatement. Dick wanted to more to Bludhaven, and E reluctantly agreed. E thought he had just wanted to make a clean break. Maybe start a new life, or off himself, either way she was determined to not let another friend die.
Originally, she had moved in because she was worried. Over the years without Jason, she had grown close with Dick. She felt it was her responsibility to keep him safe now. Although he more thought she just had a huge crush on him. But after Wally's death, everything had changed. They both were cold now, not sure why they were still trying to help the world, which had taken everything else away from them. It wasn't romantic between them, but they had taken their pain out on each other. He was lonely and so was she, so they were lonely together. Might as well alieve some stress, exert some energy. He wasn't a bad looking guy, he just wasn't the one she pictured. Even though they had been intimate, he still knew nothing about her. She hadn't opened up to anyone except Jason all those years ago. If he were still alive, maybe things would have ended up different. But she was here alone without him. And so was Nightwing. So they took solace in each other.
The microwave dinged and broke E's attention from whatever she had been thinking about. She almost jumped before pulling the food from the microwave and dropping it unceremoniously in front of Dick along with a fork.
"You aren't going out until you eat," She commanded as he rolled his eyes. It seemed like, since Wally's death, they had been on patrol all the time. Dick didn't want to be social, he just wanted to take his anger out on criminals he met. He was becoming more like Batman in that way.
He took a bite before pointing the fork in her direction, "Why don't you call Artemis yourself."
She shook her head and leaned her back against the refrigerator, "She needs to hear from you, you know that."
He nodded, she was just happy he was finally eating. He was getting skinny, like Red Arrow had. She wasn't equipped to handle any more mental crisis, she had enough already. She picked up her phone from the counter and leaned on the table to read it, "She wants to go to the cemetery today. You should go with her."
And with that, Dick stood up and walked back into his bedroom, angrily grumbling to himself. He slammed the door loudly before falling face fist back on top of his bed. E sighed and responded to Artemis, saying she would meet her by Wally's grave. She dumped the half eaten food in the trash, while shaking her head.
She looked out the window, to the sun rising over their porch. She missed Gotham. She missed her old life. She missed her dad. She missed Jason.
E poured herself a cup of coffee and walked out onto the porch. She rested the mug, which was half broken from when she had dropped it on the floor and then threw it at Dick when he laughed at her, on the balcony. She crossed one leg behind the other and took a sip, watching the city come alive. Bludhaven was a lot like Gotham, it was dark and crime-ridden. It wasn't quite as busy as a city though, more offices and less taxi cabs everywhere. She sipped the coffee, watching as her downstairs neighbor snuck a joint while his wife was still sleeping. All drugs reminded her of Jason, just an unfortunate correlation. The sweet smoke made her cough and her neighbor shot her an angry look before putting it out under his shoe and walking back inside to his wife.
She sighed and took another sip, watching the sunrise. The best sunrise was the morning she last saw Jason. That was the most beautiful sunrise she had ever seen. The colors seemed like watercolor across the sky, broken only up by white fluffy clouds. It must have been a rare day in Gotham, because since she had only seen rainy sunrises. E watched as he city turned lighter shades of grey, the most color she was going to get. She sighed again and walked back inside, leaving the mug on the balcony.