Dick "life's a carnival" Grayson (lifesacircus) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2020-08-11 15:12:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, dick grayson (nightwing), nova artino |
Who:Dick and Nova
What:Fourth of July, another firework show.
When:Fourth of July
Where:A rooftop
Warnings:none
Status:Complete when posted.
Nova had always enjoyed fireworks. She remembered watching them with her parents before they had died when she was a little girl - they’d go to the beach and watch the explosions over the ocean. Her uncle Alec had taken her once once she’d come to live with him, and Leroy had taken her a couple of times.
But she’d always made a point of going even when they didn’t take her. She’d sneak away at night, and climb up to some building, and just watch them explode in the sky like stars.
This Fourth of July was no different, and Nova had staked out her rooftop weeks ago. She had a blanket and some snacks and some headphones tucked into the backpack she had strapped to her back, and she climbed the fire escape most of the way up the building. It didn’t quite make it to the rooftop, so she got a little extra height - she needed it, given the fact that she was only a couple inches over 5 feet - by standing on top of the railing and jumping. She managed to get some footing on the top of the window frame the fire escape led to, hooked her fingers over the lip of the roof, and pulled herself up.
She had managed to get the top half of her body cleared over the rooftop when she froze, staring at the man who was already occupying the rooftop, wondering what exactly she should do in this situation. What exactly did someone do when they found out the rooftop they wanted to sit on was already occupied. Say ‘sorry, didn’t know anyone would be up here?’ and find another roof? Take her spot anyway and ignore him? Tell him to find a different roof, because even though he had gotten there first, she had called mental dibs weeks ago?
Dick had also enjoyed fireworks. He didn’t have fond childhood memories of them, unless one counted Dream memories of circus fireworks. Those were pretty good to a point. But he just was a sucker for shiny things and couldn’t help himself. And the rooftop he’d chosen happened to have the best view in the city. Before he’d moved away he’d often ended up there with Ruby or Raven on the 4th.
She didn’t have a chance to decide, Dick’s training had carried over to his real world self. He could hear a pin drop on a rooftop. His senses were always on high alert when he was so high off the ground a slip up could mean death.
“Gonna sit down or what?..Or if you’re going to attack me can we at least watch the shows first?” He turned his gaze in her direction with a friendly enough expression. He wasn’t wearing his nightwing suit though he probably ought to have been, but he wasn’t up there to be a vigilante. He was just in civilian clothes, a black hoodie and jeans. He was up there for logistics.
--
Nova hesitated for just a moment longer before she pulled herself the rest of the way up onto the roof, briefly wondering if she should set up her chair near him or just find another part of the roof.
Deciding that going to the opposite side of the roof would just be awkward, especially when he seemed friendly enough, Nova decided to set up her chair within conversation distance of him. “Sorry, I didn’t think anyone else would be up here,” she said as she unfolded her chair, which was different from most other chairs. For one, a thin piece of canvas covered the front legs of the chair, and the usual x-shaped bars that made up a reclining chair had significantly more bars, joints, and springs than a normal camping chair.
---
“Makes two of us, but it means you have good taste. Best view in the city.” He offered, the show hadn’t started yet. Dick hadn’t brought anything besides himself and a juice box. Yes he was a twenty something year old man drinking a juice box, sue him. It was good.
“Didn’t know anyone else did this kind of thing.” He had his feet dangling off said rooftop. Obviously fear of heights wasn’t a thing. “Showed a friend for a while, but it wasn’t his shtick.” He shrugged. Said friend was safely down on the ground now.
***
She didn’t really have any friends to show this kind of thing, but she still felt like she understood. “Yeah, my Family isn’t very interested in climbing up on rooftops either,” she said. Winston seemed to like heights, but… well, he was kind of… strange, and Nova didn’t enjoy spending time with him when she didn’t have to. “I’ve always liked it though. It’s peaceful up here.”
She sat down in her chair, and dug through her backpack, pulling out a chocolate bar and, after a brief hesitation, pulling one out for the stranger too. “I’m Nova,” she said, leaning forward on her chair to hold it out to him.
***
“It is.” He agreed, being above the noise was always a thing he gravitated toward. Orange County was full of noise. A break in the insanity was much welcome. Where better to get a breath of fresh air than literally in the sky? It reminded him of circus days in the dreams too, which were a weird source of comfort lately. Things in his life were undeniably weird, this was the place he could get a little sanity back.
When she handed out chocolate he grinned. “Hey, Dick. Or Grayson, whatever you want.” He shrugged, some people were ten and didn’t want to call him Dick-or mocked his name. He could tell you every Dick based joke in the book, and while he wasn’t ashamed of it he sure was tired of putting on a routine. “Thanks. Ever try roof diving?” It was a fair question, she was on a roof and looking pretty comfortable.
***
Nova definitely wasn’t the type to laugh at a name like ‘Dick,’ though there was a small part of her that wondered why he wouldn’t go by Richard or Rick instead. “Roof diving?” she asked, taking a bite from her chocolate bar. “You mean, as in jumping off roofs? I have not. Gravity and I have a pretty good relationship: I don’t go jumping off insane heights, and it doesn’t send me plummeting to my death.”
She was half-joking, of course. Cliff diving and all the rest had always looked like it could be fun, but she had always preferred climbing to falling.
***
He didn’t really care, he just got exhausted by the joke attempts mainly. He’d been called it his entire life, so he chose mostly to go by Grayson these days. “Like parkour. But for rooftops. Eh, guess I’m a bit of an adrenaline junkie there.” He admitted with a shrug. “Comes with highwire acts.”
As he finished speaking, the fireworks began. His eyes flickered toward them for a moment and he looked like a child in a candy store. Thoroughly enjoying himself while they went off in the background.
Nova’s attention was immediately grabbed by the fireworks, and she leaned back, pulling a small lever on the side of her folding chair. She’d tested it at home, of course, but this was the first time she’d actually used it, and she felt no small amount of satisfaction when the chair slid smoothly back into a reclined position, perfectly angled toward the fireworks.
She took a bite of her chocolate bar, content to watch the fireworks in silence for the time being. An especially large burst of them went off, and she could hear the people applauding below them, though Nova’s smile only grew larger.
Of all the holidays he had to admit, the fourth was probably his favorite. Not because yay America or anything like that, he simply liked shiny lights. He looked forward to any holiday or place that involved fireworks and was always anxious to participate. He had to admit that it was even more fun with a new rooftop buddy. His feet dangled over the edge of said roof and he enjoyed the show.