Dick ran a hand through his dark hair and yawned as he stepped into his room. He never knew why but he always felt drowsy after having showers. He stretched his arms above his head as he looked for a clean wife beater and a clean pair of sweats within his wardrobe.
He located some clothing and set it upon his bed whilst he dried himself off with his white towel. He shrugged himself into his fresh clothes and wandered back into the main room of his apartment.
Suddenly, he heard an odd high pitched type of cry. He was curious as to what it was. He knew he wouldn't be able to hear a cat or some form of animal considering how high his floor was.
He quietly stepped over to his front door and pressed his ear to it in an attempt to hear the cry again.
His expression turned sad as he came to the realisation that it was a girl sobbing somewhat uncontrollably and he felt worse as he had a good idea as to who it was.
As Dick slowly pulled his front door open, he saw a flash of Kori as she marched over to her own front door. He only saw her for a moment but it was all he needed to notice her red, puffy eyes and tear stained face.
He walked out slightly but hung back and leaned against the wall. He crossed his arms and furrowed his eyebrows as he listened to her unmanageable crying. He poked his head around the wall a little and saw her struggling with her bag. She dug her hand through the bag in a clear attempt to find her keys. After a moment, Kori developed a moment of anger and threw her bag down at the ground whilst a strained weep escaped her lips.
Kori gave into a shaky sigh and placed a hand against her forehead and used her other hand to lean against her front door.
Dick gulped, not overly confident in how to help her but he began to walk towards her anyway. He slowly reached a comforting hand out and lightly touched her shoulder.
Kori immediately flinched but turned her head to see who it was who had touched her.
"Oh..." Kori stuttered, rubbing her eyes to try and conceal her emotions, "Greetings Richard..."
"Kori... Are you alright?" He asked, displaying his concern for her wellbeing,
Kori's fake smile vanished and she closed her eyes and sighed, "I simply had a small argument with my boyfriend is all..." She admitted,
"D'you feel like hanging out for a while? To get your mind off of it?" Dick offered, giving her a smile.
Kori bit her lip as she considered his proposal. After a moment, she nodded, "Thank you..." She answered, softly. Dick crouched down and retrieved her bag. He stood and passed it to her with a gentle smile. Kori's expression softened and she visibly relaxed.
Dick motioned for her to go into his apartment and she giggled lightly. Kori allowed her eyes to scan his apartment and she smirked a little. It was a sweet apartment. It seemed very homely and quite cosy too. The lamp was lowly lit, giving the room a relaxed atmosphere whilst the TV was on the news at a calm volume level. Kori placed her bag down at the end of the sofa and she gently removed her feet from her flat shoes.
"Your dwelling is very nice, Richard." Kori complimented, feeling the need to be polite,
"Ah, it's alright, I guess." Dick chuckled. Kori smiled but her eyebrows rose in question,
"May I please wash my face in your bathroom, Richard?" Kori asked timidly,
"Yeah of course," Dick replied, pointing to the door. Kori nodded and headed into the bathroom, closing the door behind her.
Dick sighed and fell onto the sofa. He hated how upset she had been. It was clear to him that his feelings for Kori were developing deeper as the time passed. He had never met Kori's boyfriend nor did he ever want to but he felt that the guy was a waste for her. He wasn't one to make judgment on someone so quickly and maybe it was his feelings for Kori that made his opinion on Xavier so biased but he stood by it. He didn't like her boyfriend one bit. Any boyfriend that makes his girlfriend cry and doesn't even chase her up to find out if she's alright doesn't deserve her in the first place.
Dick smiled at the mere thought of Kori. He liked so many things about her. He liked her appearance; he really liked girls with red hair and Kori's red hair looked so natural on her whereas it looked gross on some girls. Her skin was so exotic and golden and Dick could have sworn that her skin glowed in even the slightest ray of sunlight. Her smile was intoxicating. Every time the corners of her lips turned upwards, Dick felt himself lose his breath a little. By far, his favourite feature of Kori was her eyes. They were such a deep shade of green and each time he stared into them, he felt himself get a little bit lost in their enchanting depth.
He was pulled out of his thoughts of Kori as she wandered out of the bathroom, looking fresh and more upbeat than before. Kori sighed but smiled nevertheless.
"Thank you. That made me feel a little bit better." Kori informed him,
"No problem, Kor," He responded. Kori quirked a small smirk at the use of the nickname as she took a seat beside him on the sofa.
Dick watched her as she idly tapped her fingertips together.
"Do you... Wanna talk about it?" Dick queried. Kori shrugged and sighed,
"We argued because..." She paused, "Xavier is constantly paranoid and at times, he will accuse me of all sorts of things like tonight. He accused me of resenting him. He truly believed that I was beginning to hate him and I wanted to break up. In the end, we simply got angry at each other..."
"Is he... Y'know... Mentally stable?"
Kori glanced at him briefly, "Yes... As far as I am aware that is... However..."
"However?"
"He participates in drug use... A lot..."
"That explains it then,"
"Excuse me?"
"C'mon... Everyone knows that drugs mess with your head. They throw you completely off balance with reality, Kor."
"Mm..."
Dick thought for a moment as a painful silence occurred between them.
"I know something that will cheer you up," Dick announced,
"What?"
Dick enthusiastically jumped up and offered a hand to Kori. She raised an eyebrow and giggled as she accepted his hand. Dick led her into the kitchen portion of his apartment and stood in front of the oven with his hands on his hips. Kori stared at him, curious.
"So... What are we going to do?" Kori quizzed,
"I say we bake a cake." Dick answered,
"Excuse me?" Kori laughed in disbelief,
"What's wrong with baking a cake?"
"Um... It is 10 o'clock at night to start with..."
"So what? Kori, dearest Kori, you have got to loosen up. Be weird; be crazy."
Kori faintly smiled. Dick took her change of expression as a green light and began getting ingredients out such as flour, sugar and eggs.
Dick politely directed Kori to get the baking tin out of the cupboard whilst he whisked the cake mix in a large plastic bowl. She did as instructed and passed him the tin.
He smoothly transferred the mix from the bowl into the tin and placed it into the oven which was slowly heating up. As the two of them began cleaning the counter, Kori noticed the bag of flour still on the side and slyly got some in her hand. In a flash, Kori flicked the fresh flour at Dick who was shocked to begin with. Kori giggled and placed her fingertips upon her cupid bow lips. Dick's shocked expression changed into a smirk. Kori shrugged.
"You told me to do the loosening up." Kori reminded him.
Dick grinned and followed the flour assault up by throwing a handful of it at Kori in response. Kori squealed and began laughing like a child. She narrowed her eyes playfully at the dark haired boy beside her and a flour war broke out.
Kori gave up trying to grab actual handfuls of flour so she just started brushing the flour at Dick instead. Dick on the other hand, enjoyed grabbing flour and continued to follow those exact tactics.
Kori felt completely carefree as she participated in her flour conflict with her neighbour. Every so often, she would briefly gaze at him. She really was starting to like Dick and she knew that was wrong because she was in a relationship with Xavier; good or bad, it was a relationship nonetheless and she didn't plan on being unfaithful to him. But, it was hard for Kori to simply forget about Dick. He had been so kind to her since his party when he revealed his true self to her instead of the obnoxious jerk he originally made himself out to be. Kori really enjoyed his company too and she couldn't deny that he was very attractive too. She inwardly sighed.
Kori sucked in a breath as she and Dick had a standoff; a pause within their war. Kori smirked and raised an eyebrow at him,
"I believe it is your turn..." She told him. Big mistake.
Dick grinned and shrugged. He stepped closer to her and picked her up over his shoulder. Kori burst out laughing and lightly smacked his shoulder.
"Unfair advantage! You are stronger than I am and- Ah! Richard! Put me down!" Kori giggled, feeling the heat rise in her cheeks. Dick wandered into the main room and he shrugged,
"Sure thing," He replied and with that, he dropped the petite girl onto the sofa. Kori held her stomach in an attempt to stop the tight feeling she felt from laughing too much.
Dick looked down at her and smiled admiringly. She was so amazing and he would literally sit and stare at her for hours if it didn't seem so creepy. Finally, Kori exhaled a heavy breath and blew her hair off of her face. Her jade eyes fell upon his face and a smile began to slowly break out upon her lips.
"That was truly fun..." Kori panted,
"You're welcome." Dick smirked,
"How long will the cake take to bake?"
"Do you realise how many words you just made rhyme?"
Kori giggled,
"Probably about half an hour, give or take."
"Would it be alright if I used the bathroom to wash the flour off of myself?"
"Of course,"
Kori hauled herself up and walked into the bathroom for the second time that evening. She wet a towel when she was in the bathroom and gently dabbed at her clothing and skin to remove all traces of flour. She glanced up at the mirror to briefly check her appearance and noticed that she had a certain aura about her, almost like she was glowing. She had to admit, she had not laughed that much in a very long time.
Kori convinced herself that simply hanging out with Dick had no negative implication. She was doing nothing wrong.
When Kori ambled out of the bathroom, she noticed that Dick wasn't sitting where she had left him. She got an idea as to where he might have gone and wandered down the hall and found his room. His door was open and Kori felt her cheeks flush a little as she witnessed him changing his shirt. She really needed to stop blushing so much whenever she saw him without a shirt; she was such a girl.
Dick turned to her and favoured her with one of his signature smiles, "Hey Kor, you can come in you know," He greeted, chuckling lightly.
Kori felt herself smile back at him and she took a few steps into his room. He pulled on a fresh grey t-shirt and moved to place his dirty clothes into his hamper.
Kori glanced around his room with curiosity. She gave into a small smile at seeing how his room was a typical boy's room. There were posters of cars, bands and sports stars. There were even some flags of high school memorabilia pinned up.
There was a specific object that took up placement on Dick's bedside table and Kori's expression softened when her eyes spotted it. She got closer to his bedside table and gently ran her fingers over the edge of the frame. She assumed that the man and woman in the photo were his deceased parents. She smiled sadly, feeling sympathetic for Dick.
Dick appeared beside her which caused Kori to look up at him. He mirrored her expression in a way of telling her that it was okay.
"I would be correct in assuming... These are your parents?" Kori whispered,
Dick nodded, "Don't get me wrong, Bruce has done everything for me but... I never want to forget their faces..." He explained,
"I understand... Your mother was very pretty, Richard."
Dick smiled a little more, "Thanks"
A moment of complete silence passed but Dick was the one to break it,
"How about we go and check on the cake?"
"Oh! Yes!"
Kori turned away and strolled back through the main room and into the kitchen with Dick following closely behind her. Dick placed the oven glove over his hand as he opened the oven and dragged the cake tin out.
"Kor, could you pass me a rounded knife please?" Dick asked, politely,
"Of course," Kori replied. She scanned the drawer and found a knife with a very blunt and rounded tip. She crouched down and passed the desired knife to Dick. He proceeded to push the knife into the middle of the cake.
Kori raised an eyebrow, "What are you doing?" She queried,
"It's to see if it's cooked. If the knife comes out clean, it means it's cooked. If it comes out with gunk on it that means it's not cooked all the way through yet." He informed her, earning a nod of understanding.
Dick pulled the rounded knife out of the middle of the cake and smiled as Kori clapped happily. The knife was completely clean.
He stood up straight and placed the cake on the counter. Then, he opened the cupboard which apparently held all of his cooking ingredients. He gestured to the cupboard with his hand,
"Which colour fondant should we put over it?" He asked,
"Mm... Purple!" Kori answered, enthusiastically. Dick chuckled and grabbed the tub of purple fondant. He grasped the rolling pin and began rolling out the fun coloured fondant. Afterwards, he carefully placed the fondant over the whole cake and smoothed it all out. He handed Kori the icing bag which was already filled with white frosting. Kori giggled and began frosting the edges of the cake before finishing with frosting a smiley face in the middle of it. Dick smiled softly as he noticed her mood had picked up substantially.
"Do you bake a lot?" Kori wondered, "There are a lot of supplies for such an activity..."
"I get cravings for cake... Like, a lot... So, I'm always prepared to bake." Dick replied, laughing nervously.
He transferred the cake onto a large plate and wandered out onto the small balcony overlooking Gotham City. He placed the cake down on the little table upon the balcony and grabbed two forks from his back pocket. He handed one to Kori who looked like she was about to explode with cheerfulness.
They took a seat on the two chairs placed beside the table. Kori took a chunk of the cake with her fork and lifted it to her mouth. She chewed the moist and fluffy confection and closed her eyes in delight as she delved into the enchanting taste.
Dick chuckled and also began to dig into the pretty cake. As Dick lifted his fork over the cake more, the metal clinked with Kori's fork. Apparently, she was defending her side.
"Hey!" He chuckled,
Kori smirked, "Stick to your side, Grayson!" Kori giggled,
"Violent Anders, very violent." Dick grinned, winking at her.
Kori laughed aloud and lifted her slender fingers to her lips,
"I wonder if I make you laugh enough, you'll spit the cake out..." Dick wondered out loud,
"Do not even try it." Kori threatened, playfully,
Dick nodded, "Alright, I won't. I promise,"
Kori smiled triumphantly before giving into a tired yawn. She rubbed her eyes like a child and tilted her head slightly,
Dick smiled, "Tired?"
"A little... Yes."
"Feel like calling it a night?"
"Apologies, Richard..."
"You can't help being tired, Kor. Sides, as long as you're feeling better, my job is done for the night."
Kori felt her cheeks heat up as she got to her feet. Dick picked up the cake and walked back into the kitchen. He placed the cake on the counter and brought a plastic box out from a cupboard. He used a sharp knife to cut the cake in half. He continued to place the half Kori had been eating from into the plastic container. He turned to Kori with a grin and handed her the contained food.
Kori smiled and accepted it from him. She began walking towards the front door and was aware of the fact that Dick was behind her. They reached the door and Kori opened it and stepped out slightly,
"Thank you for cheering me up tonight, Richard." Kori said, calmly,
"Hey, don't worry. That's what friends are for," Dick responded,
"Still. It truly helped."
Kori leaned in and pulled Dick into a heartfelt embrace. Dick was caught off guard initially but that melted away as soon as his arms encircled her small waist. The hug seemed to last forever but for Dick it ended a lot quicker than he would've liked.
"Goodnight, Richard,"
"Night, Kor."
Kori turned away and strode over to her apartment. She opened the door and closed it behind her after she stepped inside. Neither she nor Dick could erase the smile that insisted on being upon their lips and neither of them really minded anyway...
