A/N so I don't write a lot of laid back, normal life fics. I physically don't know how. how do I write something with little to no plot? especially when any semblance of plot is just... life? work? drama? where's the magic and warfare and assassins and stuff?

but whatever, I tried something different. so have some normal-person-life stuff. domestic birdflash. I tried. 

Okay, who had natural disasters on their 2020 bingo card?

Earthquake, extreme weather, power outage

Wally sat forward on the couch, gnawing at his thumbnail as he watched the news.

"it's getting close," he said as Dick joined him on the couch.

"it'll be fine," Dick shrugged, placing a mug of coffee on the table, a piece of toast in hand, "it won't touch us, and if it does it'll be like, category one by the time it gets here."

Wally huffed, turning back to the screen to continue watching the weatherman. A cyclone was approaching- or rather a low pressure system that the Bureau of Meteorology predicted would form into a cyclone that would make it to the east coast.

"we should stock up, anyway," Wally said, "how much do you think it'll cost to buy water bottles on mass?"

Dick snorted, wiping away toast crumbs on his face, "Wally, chill, we don't get cyclones here."

"all the more reason to be worried," Wally turned the TV volume down, "this place doesn't have the infrastructure."

Dick gave him a look, "we'll be fine," he said, then turned back to the screen, "oh hey, 6:30, shouldn't you be dressed by now?"

"shit." Wally bolted up, "sorry, you'll have to do the dishes before you leave!"

Dick huffed, rolling his eyes as he worked his way through his breakfast. Wally walked by him on his way to the door, fixing his tie. He kissed him on the cheek.

"hang on," Dick sighed, standing up.

"I've got my watch, wallet, keys, what am I forgetting?" Wally spun in a circle as he looked around the foyer, their dog, Skippy, jumping around his ankles wanting to play. Dick patted him on the head and grabbed his ball from where it had rolled by the door, throwing it down the hall.

"hang on, one moment," he laughed, watching Wally mutter to himself as he looked around.

"I'm forgetting-" he turned to Dick, who held up a USB, "my class plan."

"your class plan," Dick snickered, handing it to him, "and..." he fixed Wally's tie, then smoothed the shoulders of his jacket before giving him a kiss on the lips, "there. have fun on your first day professor."

Wally snickered, picking up his bag, "can't believe I just finished years-worth of school, only to start working at one."

"if you love your job you'll never work a day in your life," Dick recited.

"so why do you act like such a free loader?" Wally grinned.

"alright, get out of the house," Dick laughed, pushing him lightly, "your energy-drink-fuel-ed students await."

As Wally left Dick turned the TV off so he could get himself ready for work, which he preferred to do when Wally wasn't around. it was weird, Wally slipped on a jacket and packed a bag. Dick strapped a gun to his belt and grabbed a badge. It was an interesting dynamic.

Dick headed out at 7:00, making sure Skippy was outside before he locked the door. He slipped on a helmet and hopped on his bike, revving the engine and turning out the driveway with practised ease.

"and you've restocked the cupboard?" Bruce asked, "non-perishables? Do you have a generator?"

Dick rolled his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose, "yeah, Bruce, we're good."

"are you sure? Alfred can bring some stuff over, or-"

"we're fine, B," Dick chuckled, closing the fridge door with his toe, the hand not holding his phone filled with piled and carefully balanced containers of dip, "it looks like we're gonna be hit with around category one to two, they're not sure. We can take that."

"okay, but if you two need it you can come to the manor."

"yeah, you already told me five times Bruce," Dick snorted, managing to get all the dips onto the bench without them tipping all over the floor, he headed to the pantry to get out the crackers, "look, this'll all blow over in like, a month, and then you can throw a stupid family dinner and I can go 'hey, remember when you thought Wally and I's house would get picked up and thrown away by the wind like the house in wizard of oz?' and you'll go 'shut up' and then we'll laugh about it till Jason picks a fight with Tim."

Bruce laughed and bid farewell and Dick hung up.

"oooh, is that fried onion? Yum, what's the occasion?" Wally grinned as he leant against the counter and took one of the crackers Dick had just got out, cracking open the dip container.

"well, if we're preparing to get hit by a cyclone, I figured we may as well start making our way through our perishables," Dick said, joining Wally, "we're having the leftover cheesecake for desert."

The window creaked as wind hit it, a tree outside swaying and raking the glass. The two shared a look.

"wind's picking up a lot already, it only just made land this morning," Wally said.

Dick pursed his lips, bringing out his phone to check the bureau of meteorology' site once more.

"what's the face?" Wally asked, watching as Dick began to appear more and more worried.

"I haven't checked the news in a while, have you?"

"no."

"how bad was it looking when you last saw?"

"like category two."

Dick swallowed, showing Wally his phone screen, "they're thinking at least four now."

Wally stared at the screen, wide eyed. He grabbed the phone and scrolled through.

"They're thinking it'll hit here in..." he scrolled, eyes scanning as he looked for the information, "oh..." he smiled sheepishly at Dick, "like two days."

The rain started. It seemed light at first, quietly hitting the roof, and then it seemed to roar.

"more like one and a half at most," Dick said, staring at the window.

The phone rang, Wally looked t the caller ID, "it's your boss."

Dick picked it up, exchanged the usual pleasantries then said, "do you need me in?"

"no, I'm calling because the town's going into natural disaster protocol," he explained, "so don't come in. stay home or head to a disaster shelter. Unless you're part of the emergency services on top of being a top notch detective."

"right," Dick said, "okay. Am I getting paid for this time off?"

His boss laughed, "go tape your windows, Grayson."

"you're off work now?" Wally asked.

"Yep," he sighed and stuffed his phone in his pocket, "schools'll be closed by tomorrow, too."

"well, it's not the holiday I'd like, but I'm sure we can work with it."

Dick woke up to the sound of thunder.

Although, 'woke up' was putting it lightly. He jumped awake, eyes wide. The curtains were still, the windows closed, but the shadows were shifting and archaic. Every distant bolt of lighting bringing awake a new image of momentary fear, frozen in the millisecond, nanosecond, fraction-of-a second moment of bright white.

He counted the time between lightning and thunder. Trying to get comfortable once more. He'd never been a fan of storms, they reminded him of the sound of the cracking and splitting ropes and wires of a trapeze. Storms were always bad in the circus, train carriages weren't made to withstand them.

"one, two, three, four." Thunder. The words were whispered under his breath, light and breathy. He could almost imagine cold white air puffing up past his mouth with each word. It wasn't there but he thought it should be the air was freezing. The clouds were too thick to let any light or heat in, even if it were only what reflected off the moon from the sun. the water outside thrashing at the windows was glistening with any bit of light getting to it through the haze of constant, rocketing water. The streetlights were still on, still filtering through the rain- which was less like rain and more like someone had twisted the earth till the seas rested above them and let the water come pummelling down.

Another flash. "one, two, three, fo-" thunder.

Wally shifted slightly next to him, he always slept like a log. He had five alarms just to make sure he got up on time.

Another flash of lightning. "one two, three, f-" thunder.

"hm?" Wally was groggy, he breathed in deeply, "wha's wrong, babe?" he slurred out, barely managing to get the words out, they were swallowed by his pillow.

Lightning. "one, t-"

THUNDER.

Wally bolted up, staring at the window. Dick could hear Skippy down the hall as his feet slid over the tiles, he sped into their room and into the bed, hiding under the covers and whimpering.

Dick was tense, but he pulled Wally back down to the mattress, kissed his cheek, then slid out of bed.

"where are you going?" Wally asked, sitting up.

"just gonna go unplugged everything from the wall sockets," Dick said, "was there anything in the front yard?"

"no, we moved it all in, I triple checked."

Dick nodded, unplugging chargers and the alarm clock and then the extension cords. Once everything in the bedroom was done he headed out into the hall.

His phone rang, he answered it, walking through the house and unplugging everything.

"Grayson."

"it's Mr. Kent from down the road," said the voice on the phone. Dick recognised the name. he lived on the corner of the street with his wife, three cats and youngest son, the rest had already moved out- although everyone was quite sure most of the kids were adopted, so the youngest was probably just the latest kid taken in from the street, a family situation Dick was well acquainted with. They were nice, they liked to throw neighbourhood barbecues every other month and Wally adored their family recipe for apple pie, and Mrs. Kent loved Dick because he was one of the few people she knew who was fluent in Hebrew.

"oh, what can I do for you?" Dick asked, another flash of lightning turned everything white momentarily and the thunder crashed with just as much bravado.

"just checking if the power's out at your place, a few other's is but not everyone. We're trying to figure out of there's a pole down or not, wouldn't want to call the electric company if we don't have to, there's enough on their hands."

"uh, we're good so far," Dick said, "I'm unplugging things now, though, so if it goes out we may not notice."

Mr. Kent sighed, "alright, I'll call you in the morning to check up, eh? Gotta look out for everyone in a situation like this."

"that we do."

"do you have a radio?"

"yep, Bruce told me to get one just yesterday," Dick said, "probably gonna need it, I'd wager the power will definitely be out by morning."

"yes, all you youngsters'll have to see how we got the news," Kent huffed lightly, Dick could hear the humour in his voice, "alright, I'll let you get back to bed."

"I'd say good night but I doubt that's happening," Dick snickered, the two exchanged the usual long winded 'good bye' that Kent was privy to and then the call ended.

Dick finished unplugging everything then made sure all the windows were closed and taped, then checked that there was nothing fragile by the windows. Everything was good so he climbed back into bed with Wally, who immediately curled up into a cuddle.

"it's cold," he hmphed, "get your ass back in here and be my hot water bottle."

Dick snickered and said, "is that all I am to you?" but the two got comfortable once more, Skippy curled up at the corner of the bed under the doona.

"you good?" Wally asked, voice so low that for a moment Dick didn't quite hear what he'd said under the sound of rain and wind.

"I'm good," he assured, "you?"

"no," Wally scowled, "it's too loud, I can't sleep."

"well, hang on, I'll go tell mother nature to turn down the volume for you."

Wally pouted and snuggled closer, stuffing his head under the blankets in an attempt to quiet things.

The second day in they woke up to the rain still pounding the windows and wind whipping things past their house, but the lightning was further away and the thunder was only distant rumbles, so that was something.

Dick tried to flick the switch, the lights didn't come on, "power's out."

Waly sighed, "I'm gonna take a shower."

"it'll be cold."

"yeah, well..." he pouted and blew a raspberry then disappeared into the bathroom.

Dick looked out at the rain through the curtains. If he squinted he thought he could see a few shadows of things in the distance. Although he couldn't see anything right where there should be a street light. Double although: that street light may have been brought down.

He rifled around in the cupboard, looking for something to have for breakfast. He needed coffee, he had nothing to make coffee with. He could feel his body going into withdrawal already, the headache was oncoming, the light was fading... he... needed... caffeine...

He collapsed on the couch, face slammed into the cushions. He could venture out into the rain to get the generator going and then he could make himself some coffee. But that was... so... far away... and he didn't think he could move without fuelling himself with some... sweet, sweet caffeine.

Eventually Wally got out of his cold shower, hair sticking out due to still being damp, wearing sweatpants and a t-shirt.

"you good?" he asked.

"I am in withdrawal, my body is going into shock," Dick said into the cushion of the couch.

"uh huh," Wally said, likely only having heard the word's withdrawal and shock, but he knew Dick well enough to guess what he had said.

"Wally," Dick said, "if I don't make it, you can have my bike."

"thank you so much," Wally said, "I will never ride that death machine."

"pussy."

"love you, too."

Wally tuned the radio into the news station and started listening. Dick huffed and stood, putting on the thickest jacket he could.

"I am venturing into the unknown," Dick said, "If I'm not back by noon tell my family I love them."

"kay."

Dick held back the laugh as he ducked out into the rain. He held a hand in front of his face in a pitiful attempt to protect himself from the painful lashing of water.

when he got back in Wally had already turned the lights and TV on.

"really?" Dick huffed, glancing at the radio, "we bought that thing for a reason."

"there's no visual stimulus, I'm bored."

"of course you are," Dick smiled, then headed into the kitchen. He put the kettle on to make his coffee and then plugged the toaster back in, "what are you having for breakfast?"

"is bacon and eggs on the table?"

"only if you make it yourself."

Wally groaned.

"also, I checked around really quickly," Dick said, "the side of the shed is almost gone."

Wally groaned some more.

When the cyclone finally passed a safe distance and they were able to venture out into the yard they found themselves surrounded by destruction.

The shed where the generator and tools and crap was almost destroyed. The generator was in a more sturdy, new part, screwed down into the cement slab, so they didn't need to worry about that. However, Dick had had to venture out into the rain to make sure the shovels and rakes and crap didn't go flying in the wind, they were now lying wrapped in a tarp in the garage.

On top of that, the street light across the road was in fact down, and there were a few trees down as well, one of which had fallen straight onto a power line. Down the street they could see a few people working on a power pole with one of those weird trucks that had a platform that was risen into the air by a folded arm.

Their roof was still on their house, so that was a plus, but several shingles were missing and the gutter on the right side of the house was hanging from the corner of the roof.

Dick sighed, "and this is why I made you sit down with me and get insurance."

Wally stuck his tongue out at him, "shut up, don't make me think that boring ass adult shit was worth it."

Dick snorted, walking around their small front yard to make sure there wasn't anything that had been blown into their yard. Other than the branches of trees, leaves and ant nests included, there didn't seem much.

"I'm gonna go door knocking, check in on some people," Dick said, then pointed to a couple stared in confusion at the mess of their front yard, "looks like they could use a hand."

"yeah? Well I'm gonna curl up inside and find a movie to watch," Wally said, "and then I'll find other ways to procrastinate from work."

"okay, cool," Dick said before he kissed him on the cheek, "I'm gonna go be everyone's favourite half of this couple, you enjoy being the recluse."

"okay, I will, come back with some of Mrs. Kent's pie."