Disclaimer – Own nothing.
To vi – Thanks for your review! I'm glad you loved the chapter! Yes, RIP in Hank, you are missed and I hope you do eventually return! I heard somewhere from someone that they had heard that the actress who plays Rose had some personal stuff or something come up during the pandemic. If that is the case, then I hope she's doing okay and does come back to the show soon. I hope you like this chapter! (I think you will because it has a lot of Dick and Kory lol)
To Guest – It would be nice if Hank does return. I had heard from someone who heard that the actress who plays Rose had some personal stuff or something come up during the pandemic which is why she isn't in this season. If that is true, then I hope she's okay and will come back soon. Hope you like this chapter.
AN – Sorry this chapter took a little longer for me to finish. Had a bunch of stuff going on and have started online schooling, so updates might be a bit slower. I do have at least two more chapters planned out but not sure yet if there will be more. I'll let you guys know. Hope you guys enjoy this chapter!
Enjoy!
When Barbara told everyone that Dick apparently liked human touch, Kory wasn't as surprised as the others were. True, Dick could be a bit stand-offish, and was a bit cold when they all first met, but she had seen how he reacted when Rachel hugged him. How at first he tensed in surprise, then hugged back. Cautiously, like he was scared of hurting her but the look on his face seemed like a man of dying of thirst that had just found water. After that, whenever someone hugged him, he wouldn't be as taken aback but he'd still had this almost relieved expression on his face. It made Kory wonder just how much physically affection he had gotten over the years. Clearly, it wasn't enough.
As time went on though, Dick seemed to relax a little more and the others seemed to either hug him, pat his shoulder or lean against him more often. Especially after their chat with Barbara. It was clearly starting to pull him from his shell but there were times Kory wondered if it was enough. Times where it looked like he was going to embrace them only to pull back before anyone noticed. Or so he thought.
Though she wanted to help, Kory didn't really know what to do. She wasn't really a touchy person. Sure, if she saw someone who needed comfort, she had no problem giving it, but she didn't seek it out. She couldn't deny however that she did love how she felt in Dick's arms. They weren't together anymore though, hadn't been for a while so the thought of just going up and hugging him was weird to her. And it would probably just make him feel awkward too instead of feeling comforted.
Kory felt the need to take some kind of action though when she noticed that Dick's fighting style changed a little. For some strange reason, he seemed almost sloppy when they were taking down criminals. Due to his training and experience, he could easily take down a few low lever goons who barely knew how to throw a punch. Yet, it took Dick longer than it should've to beat them. It was almost like he was looking to get hit. It was honestly a little scary to see.
After patrol, when everyone was in bed, Kory heard noises in the kitchen. Thinking it was Dick, knowing he usually stayed up later than the others, she got up and headed over. To her slight surprise, it was Donna.
"What are you doing?" Kory wondered, taking a seat at the island.
"Making some tea." Donna answered as she glanced over her shoulder at her. "Want some?"
"Sure, why not?" Kory responded.
Donna nodded and pulled out another mug. Once the tea was done, she filled the mugs and brought them over, handing one to Kory. "So, what's got that worried look on your face?"
"Dick."
"What did he do now?"
Taking a quick sip of her tea, Kory cupped the mug with both hands, letting the warmth seep into her fingers. Putting it back down, Kory said, "There was something strange in the way Dick was fighting. He was, slower. I think, it looked like he was letting himself get hit or something."
"Are you sure?" Besides the worried look spreading across Donna's face, she completely froze.
"Pretty sure, yeah."
Donna slammed her mug down on the island, not hard enough to break it but enough that she spilled some. Cursing under her breath, she grabbed the washcloth from the sink and began to clean it up. Kory watched her silently for a minute before asking, "You okay?"
"No, I'm not. Dick should know better than to do something like that." Donna huffed angrily. As she turned her back to the redhead to put the cloth back in the sink though, she quietly added, "He promised he wouldn't do that again."
"Wait, what? He's done this before?"
"He did once, when he was younger." Donna revealed, coming back to stand by the kitchen island across from Kory. "He and Bruce were going through a tough time."
"So he wanted to get hurt?" Kory questioned with a confused voice.
"Not like that. He was touch-starved, to the point any touch was almost… I don't know to explain it." Donna gave up half-way through before taking a sip of her tea.
"You guys need physical affection that much?" Kory was a little taken a back. She never really wanted touch that much. Then again, there wasn't that much affection in her life growing up.
"Depends on the person really. Some need it more than others but human touch is considered very important for peoples' mental and emotional health. And though he does his best to deny it and act like he's just fine, it does affect Dick." Donna explained after another sip.
As Kory also took a drink of her tea, she tried to wrap her head around everything Donna said. She couldn't really believe that humans needed touch that much. Then again, humans were weird. Especially Dick Grayson. Was that past of the reason he was so cold when they first met? She had assumed it was just because he had no clue who she was, they had just met after all, and that he was really guarded. While those were probably factors, Kory could see how part of it might have been because he was used to being alone, having been alone for a year at that point. As far as she knew, he didn't have any friends in Detroit and he was on the outs with Bruce. His only human contact was probably with coworkers. That had to have been lonely. Then suddenly he's surrounded by three people running for their lives with no clue what to do.
"So, what do we do?" Kory wondered. "We can't let him get himself stop fighting back just because he wants to feel something."
"I'll talk to him tomorrow." Donna replied with a look on her face that Kory recognized.
"And by 'talk', you mean yell at, don't you?"
Donna smirked as she lifted her mug to her lips. "Depends on how stubborn he's going to be."
2018TITANS2018
Kory wasn't sure if Donna got a chance to talk to Dick the next day. A sudden, massive thunderstorm hit the city during the night and continued raining during the day. It caused a massive power outage in parts of the city, which meant school was cancelled for the day. The teenagers quickly tried to take advantage of that, and Dick let them for a little while, but also added another two hours of training. The alien princess couldn't see Donna confronting Dick with a full house.
They still went on patrol that night. The rain had stopped by that point but the power was still out in several sections of the city. Which meant a lot of criminals, specifically thieves, would be going to work.
The patrol had been going fine for the most part. Really busy, and perhaps a little messy due to all the puddles and such, but nothing serious. Until the end that is, then they came across a group of teens that were high out of their minds breaking into a grocery store. It should've been an easy take-down. However, one pulled out a gun and started firing. Thankfully, he was so high he couldn't point straight. Being the reckless idiot he was, Dick tackled the shooter and managed to get the gun away only for the two of them to tumble into the bay.
After fishing them both out, the Titans decided to call in a night. Besides everyone, especially Dick, being cold, they were all fine. It was always nice when patrols ended without any injuries, even if Rachel would heal them almost immediately. They had all gone to bed as soon as they cleaned up but Kory couldn't fall asleep. Whenever she closed her eyes, she saw Dick falling, disappearing into the dark water. Knowing she wasn't going to be able to sleep until she reassured herself that their leader was safe and sound, she dragged herself out of bed and headed to Dick's room.
To her slight confusion, his bedroom door was open when she got there. Dick rarely ever did that. Kory could count with one hand the number of times his door wasn't shut. Peaking inside, she saw that it was empty. Before she could start panicking though, she head the sound of someone coughing coming from the living room. She quickly turned and headed in that direction.
"What are you doing out here?" She asked as soon as her eyes landed on Dick, who was sitting on the couch with a blanket and the fireplace on, a blanket wrapped around his shoulders.
"It's warmer out here." Dick answered, gesturing to the fire.
Sighing, Kory moved to sit down beside him. Once she was comfortable, she said, "You'd probably be warmer if you didn't take a dive into the bay."
"It's not like I planned that." He replied, shooting her a smirk.
"You sure about that? Sure that you weren't actually fighting as hard as you could.?" That made the smirk leave his face as a more confused expression replaced it.
"Why would I do that?"
"The other night, it seemed like you weren't fighting like you usually do. You were slower, almost like you wanted to get hit. And Donna said something about you doing that before and you apparently promised you wouldn't do it again."
Dick let out a quiet curse before letting his head fall onto the back of the couch, closing his eyes as he did so. After only a few seconds though, he opened his eyes, lifted his head back up and turned to look at her. "What happened the other night, had nothing to do with what all happened years ago. I was just tired and wasn't at my best. That's it."
Kory stared at him skeptically. He sounded so insistent, so sure. Almost too insistent, like he was he was desperate for her to believe him. That raised a red flag to her but she wasn't sure what to do about it. If he was going to deny it, then pushing more would just start a massive fight. If he was telling the truth, then the fight would've been for nothing and would just cause unneeded tension. Ultimately deciding the best thing to do was to let it be now and sic Donna on him tomorrow, she'd be able to find out for sure, Kory nodded and wrapped her arms around him in a hug.
"That better be it. We all care about you and don't want to lose you. Especially if it's because you were so… touch-starved or whatever you let someone kill you." She whispered in his ear as he returned the embrace.
"I won't. I promise."
"Good. And if you are touch-starved or need a hug or something, let us know. Because you might not be aware of this, but there are technically five kids here who I'm sure wouldn't mind a hug from you. There's also a dog who loves to cuddle." Kory reminded him, causing them both to chuckle. She then quietly revealed, "And I don't mind hugs that much either."
"I'll try to remember that." He responded. Kory hummed and leaned back on the couch, pulling him down with her. Next thing Dick knew, he was lying across the couch, on top of Kory, his head on her chest.
"Um, what,"
"You said you were cold." Kory interrupted, grabbing the blanket and moving it so it covered both of them. "Best way to warm someone up is with body heat and considering my powers, I'm clearly the best option."
"Are you okay with this though?" Dick wondered, his cheeks turning a little red. He was definitely starting to feel warmer but it was still a bit of an awkward position.
"If I wasn't, I would say so. Just relax and go to sleep." She practically ordered as she brought up one hand to the back of his head, running her fingers through his hair. Her other hand soon started traveling up and down his back comfortingly. Between those actions and the feel of her heartbeat under his head, Dick was lulled to sleep in mere minutes, Kory following close behind him.