written june 24th, 2019/may 16th, 2020
word count:

a/n sorry if the premise of this isn't very clear, it LITERALLY came to me in a dream

dick grayson was tired. and sad. but mostly tired. his eyes drooped as he tried to hold onto what was consciousness, his head pounding with a migraine. but alas, he still fell asleep.

"darling?"

he shot up, the sound of wally's voice echoing through his ears and the smell of dry grass filling his nose, forcing him to open his eyes. they were in a prairie. yellow grass stretched as far as he could see and the blue sky went on forever. but most importantly, the man standing in front of him, arm out.

"darling, don't you fancy a hand up?" wally repeated, his ginger hair hidden by a straw hat, matching his theme of a white long sleeve and overalls.

"uh, um, yes. yes, please." dick stuttered, grabbing wally's hand and letting himself get pulled back to his feet. "where are we?"

"where do you believe we are? we're home, dickie!" wally gave a chuckle, tilting his head toward a small cottage in the middle of what seemed like forever. the forever land.

the ebony raised an eyebrow, but let himself be pulled toward the house by the other. he noticed how his own clothing blew in the wind, dark loose pants and a shortsleeve button down. the forever land smelled wonderful, a mix of freshly chopped grass and baking cookies. dick smiled, he wasn't quite sure what was happening, but it felt like home to him.

"you right off disappeared! we ought'a milk the cows before the sun sets." the redhead took off his hat, fanning his face with it. his hair was curlier and longer than dick had ever seen it, a giant floof atop his head. it looked soft.

the ebony reached up to touch it, only to find his hand wasn't there. looking down hazardously, he was shocked to see himself disappearing. his left arm was gone, followed closely by his calves and feet.

"darling?" wally yelled, the sound of rushing wind blowing past their ears.

"wally!" dick shouted to no avail. he couldn't feel beneath his chest anymore. "walls!" he was gone, and his eyesight faded to black.

and then he was back. but gone was the sweet smell of the farm, replaced with a chemical odour, the scent was the way metal tastes. cringing slightly, dick checked to see his arms back, now covered in a black long sleeve and some kind of watch-type device.

he stood up from a crouching position, noticing he was in some kind of tunnel, definitely underground. no shining redhead was anywhere to be seen, perhaps the worst news.

"richard, do you read? i repeat, richard, do you read?" a feminine voice came from what seemed to be in his ear. the ebony jumped, looking around him and seeing no one.

"uh, hello?" he whispered, hoping nothing with ears was near him, "what's going on?"

"you're not funny. wally's almost at the bomb, you need to be there too. please don't mess this up." she spoke like a leader, but there was a hint of friendship laced in her tone, long laughs, late nights, pleasant bickering and happiness. a name popped into his head, artemis.

"bombs!? wally?! wally's near a bomb?" he exclaimed, only met with a word of agreement from artemis. how was she not freaking out?

dick bit his lip, tasting blood, and began walking down the tunnel, hoping he was heading to wherever wally was. hoping the bomb wasn't lethal, wasn't about to detonate. he began to run as fast as he could in one direction, intuition guiding him down forks in the path.

soon he arrived at a large room with a incredibly tall roof, straight to the sky. old machines cluttered the place, and in the middle was wally west, redhead extraordinaire.

"richard! it was a ploy, this isn't a real bomb," the other ran toward dick, grabbing his hand and leading him down another tunnel. "the real one could go off any moment."

dick felt warm, holding hands with wally made his heart jump leaps. he was so warm, maybe too much so. he stared at the redhead in terror, he wasn't warm from love, he was warm because of the explosion.

a tear ran down wally's cheek. they both knew that any minute they would be dead. "i love you." dick stated, standing up on his tip toes and closing the space between their bodies.

"i'll miss you." wally said, but as their lips closed to touch, dick felt the familier feeling of nothingness.

"no, no!" he cried, his fingertips gone from existence. "i want to die with you! no!" the redhead held him close as dick began to shake, his limbs slowly fading out of existence before his very eyes.

dick groaned, rubbing his eyes harshly before opening them and glancing around him. a quaint shop. he exhaled deeply, sitting down in the rustic styled seats lining the walls. he was unsure of what was happening, but the smell of coffee beans brought him some relief.

"richie? your iced coffee is ready," the barista called out warmly, and dick smiled at him, walking over to the counter.

"thank you." the ebony reached for the coffee, slightly brushing the pair's hands before he took it to his own.

the barista was almost too cute. fluffy orange hair and a dopey grin, not to mention the sun spots dotting his skin. dick's eyes trailed down to the name tag on his apron, wally.

"nine am."

"what?"

"you come in here at nine am everyday," wally shrugged, "different order everytime though. are you trying to drink the whole menu or something?"

dick grinned, "you could say that. or maybe i like keeping you on your toes."

the words just rolled off his tongue, as if this occurrence had happened seamless times. even though dick didn't know who, what, where, when, why, or how he was in this situation, this male made everything okay with a look. perhaps more than a look, an aura.

an aura of love.

"well, stranger, i suppose i'll see you tomorrow at nine," wally smiled, turning toward the small line at the ordering station.

"you know my name." dick pointed out.

"and you know mine. call me," he gestured toward the series of numbers written underneath his name. "i've been writing it everytime you come in, yet you never manage to pick up the phone."

dick lips were agape, just a bit. he glanced at the numbers before looking back at his barista. "i think i'm dreaming." he wondered aloud.

"what?" wally furrowed his eyebrows, a few strands of curly hair falling in front of his face.

"i'm gonna wake up now. thanks for the coffee," he smiled kindly, and once again he felt his limbs buzzing. but this time they weren't disappearing, rather, the world around him was.

"good morning, babe," a small kiss was placed on his forehead. "have a good dream?"

dick fluttered his eyelashes open, seeing the redhead getting dressed before him and their small master bedroom, warm as ever.

the light from their window spilled onto wally, giving him the appearance of that of a greek god as he turned toward his fiancé, ready for the answer.

"yeah. i think i did."