🦇 Ferris Wheel - Full Fanfic🦇
Kori’andr is new to Gotham, new to Earth in fact. She’s new to everything.
Dick Grayson knows Gotham, he knows everyone, every little thing the civilians shrug off as they get on with their mundane lives, every bank robbery (which is impressive considering there’s an attempt each week), every speculation in every newspaper. Dick Grayson knows Gotham.
Kori is trying to navigate everything all at once. The island in the distance with just one singular building on it? That must be where Earth’s rulers live! (It’s Arkham). That light in the sky that looks like a small winged creature. That young man sitting alone on a massive circle with small square enclosures. That huge park surrounding the circle, covered in loopy things that reach up to the clouds.
Dick Grayson has had a long day. He’s saved upwards of twenty people from three different criminals. The Riddler’s bank robbery - I told you there were a lot - this morning, 12 people saved from immediate danger, 1 injured, 6 saved from insanity. Harley Quinn’s Arkham breakout, 15 guards saved - if only they did their job properly so Dick didn’t have to pick up the slack - successfully, 3 guards maimed by Harley’s bat. Harley got away. Another mysterious criminal caught breaking into Bruce Wayne’s house, this plot was easier to foil since Dick lives at Wayne Manor.
Kori has had a long day. She’s met about thirty people, gone to three parties, and asked ten girls to be her friends. Yet still, she has nobody. Back on her home planet of Tamaran, Kori had loads of friends. It was easy to make friends as the Princess of the entire planet, a lot harder when you’re the random extraterrestrial who doesn’t understand how things work on this planet.
Dick is alone in a theme park after hours. It’s midnight, it’s raining, it’s locked up. He’s sitting in the ferris wheel pod watching the rain pouring down the window. Any passerby who didn’t know better would say he was trapped, that he needs Robin, Red Robin, even Nightwing to save him. Anyone who knew the truth would say he’s exhausted.
Maybe the man sitting in the theme park needs a friend too. Kori could be his friend.
It’s 12:20. Dick has been sitting in the theme park, unmoving, for twenty minutes. I say unmoving, but what I really mean is he’s still on the ferris wheel. He’s actually in a completely different position now, his legs crossed rather than straight, his head looking down at the ground studying a discarded piece of gum on the floor, his Nightwing mask in his suit pocket. He looks up at the window again, just to check if it’s still raining, and sees a green flash soaring through the sky. That’s normal in Gotham, probably a projectile set off by a criminal, something he’ll have to deal with. Reluctantly he reaches into his pocket to retrieve his mask and-
There’s a great THUD on the roof as if something landed on it. If Dick is correct, and it is a projectile, any sudden movements could set it off. So he slowly reaches his hand back out of his pocket and puts his mask back on. He carefully cranes his neck upwards to look through the skylight of the pod.
It’s not a projectile at all, unless there are new projectiles that look exactly like tanned women with long pink hair. A beautiful shade of fuscia, might I add. Her eyes have no scleras (the white part), but are instead fully green, almost glowing with quiet intensity. Before Dick can react, the woman - definitely not a projectile - opens her mouth “Hey!” She waves her hand slowly, then quickly, then in what can only be described as a mum wave she squeezes her fingers into her palms a few times.
Well, she’s not too threatening yet. Dick can’t help but think she has the energy of a lost puppy. He opens the door to the pod “Good god, what are you doing on the roof?”
Good god? Who is good god? Kori had heard that it was normal to forget people’s names. She’d also heard of earthlings giving each other what they called nicknames. A nickname, as far as Kori can tell, is a name that you call someone that isn’t their actual name. Similar to how some Tamaranians called Kori’s father “My liege” rather than Myand’r.
“I just wanted to say hi and make a friend, Toaster!” Kori replies, and Dick looks dumbfounded. Dick Grayson, The First Robin, The Boy Wonder, Nightwing. He’s been reduced to Toaster. Toaster. A stranger has reduced The Boy Wonder to Toaster.
“Toaster?…” The words don’t seem to come out afterwards. As if Dick knew what words to say anyway. My name is Dick. He looks down at his slightly creased costume concealing the blood from the cut down his leg that morning. “My name is Nightwing.”
“My name’s Kori!” She holds out her hand through the now open pod door. “What are you doing in there?”
Dick can’t exactly tell her that he’s hiding from his responsibilities. That Nightwing takes a break every night without telling his dad. Even that would narrow down his identity by telling her that he still lives with his dad. What other explanation does he have?
“Are you okay, Mr Nightwing?” Kori floats off of the roof and reaches her hand further inside of the pod.
“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine.” Dick replies, still thinking of excuses for what he’s doing in a theme park, at midnight, in the rain, alone. He’s got nothing. “Being a hero is… hard. I’m tired and I needed a break.”
“I get it.” Kori leaves her hand outstretched expectantly but inching slightly closer. “I’ve spent all day trying to make friends. I’m no hero, but it feels impossible. Like no matter how hard I try I’ll spend all my time on Earth alone and have to go back to Tamaran. Is that how you feel?”
“Yeah, kind of like that.” Dick notices the outstretched hand. He’s almost definitely decided that Kori isn’t a threat, but a robin can never be certain that he is safe. Besides, he can’t just grab a flying woman’s hand. Even Dick knows how heavy his suit is, making washing day a nightmare, especially when it’s wet. No human could hold Dick’s weight and the suit, not even a woman with muscles with an estimated strength equal to those of two regular people.
Kori’s had enough of waiting, she reaches out and grabs Dick by the arms, carrying him to the ground just outside of the theme park. So, it turns out she can lift Dick, even with the pounding rain almost doubling the mass of the suit.
“Thanks.” Dick sighs, releasing tension he didn’t know he was holding. He could barely move on his own, let alone get back out of that pod. Not without a full rest, which would have caused Bruce to notice his disappearance, if he hasn’t already. “I’m gonna head home.”
Kori releases Dick and steps away “Oh, okay.” She turns around and opens her bag, scrambling for her map to find her home. She’ll have to find her mobile later - when it’s not raining - and she’ll have to inform her mother of another day on Earth spent alone.
“Kori?” Dick isn’t just a serious brooding Robin, you know. He has a heart, a conscience, and that conscience won’t let someone feel like they have nobody to turn to. “Meet here tomorrow?”
Kori arrived outside that theme park at 5am. She couldn’t sleep, not with the excitement of meeting her new friend just hours away. Nightwing never said a time, but Kori imagines he’ll be there early in the morning. When Kori’s sister, Komand’r would say “see you tomorrow”, she would usually wake Kori up with the sounds of her battle training. She chose to battle train just outside of Kori’s room generally, to make sure Kori never overslept.
So Nightwing should be there soon. He may be late, possibly there at 7pm instead. He’ll be there soon.
“Hello ma’am.” A man appears as if out of nowhere, landing cleanly on the pavement with his legs bent and one arm out. He’s wearing a red latex top with gold chest and arm belts, black trousers with red details and a black cape. Much like Nightwing, he’s covering the upper half of his face with a black mask. “May I help you?”
“I’m okay, thanks. I’m waiting for my friend, Nightwing.” Kori reaches into her bag for her phone to check the time. It’s 8am. She’s been waiting for Nightwing for three hours. He’s… he’s not coming. “I’ve been waiting since 5am, he’s not coming.”
“You’re Kori?” The man asks politely, tilting his head and studying her flowing cerise hair. “Nightwing said he was meeting you this evening, about 7pm.”
“He said tomorrow, I assumed that meant the morning.” Kori puts her phone back in her bag and notices that the man has the same short and fluffy black hair as Nightwing. “How do you know him then?”
“Sorry, I forgot to introduce myself!” The man rubs the back of his neck awkwardly. “I’m Red Robin!”
Red Robin holds out his hand expectantly. Kori takes his hand and just… holds it. Red Robin lifts their hands up and down a few times, then lets go. Kori starts charging her laser eyes, ready to attack. The handshake is a symbol of war on Tamaran. Just as she aims, Red Robin moves his head to the side.
“Woah! You’re safe.” Red Robin pushes his hair back down after the shock of randomly being attacked. “Let’s get you home, huh?”
“Of course. I’ll come back at 7pm.” Kori… doesn’t really understand. Red Robin initiated a war but wants them both to be safe. He’s helping her to find her friend, he’s right, she isn’t in any danger. “I live in Jump City.”
“So does my friend Gar!” Red Robin pulls his own phone out of his sleeve-pocket (yes, those are a thing) and types a message to Garfield Logan. ‘Hey man! I just found a girl who lives near you in Gotham waiting to meet Dick, who’s on patrol for another 11 hours. Can I drop her at your place for a bit?’
Red Robin’s phone pings back almost immediately, and he turns back to Kori. “I’ll drop you off at Jump City on my way to meet Superboy.”
“Thank you, Mr Red Robin.” Kori looks around. There’s no indication that Red Robin can fly. Not even that he can man an aircraft. He looks about 16. “How will we get there?”
“Batfam won’t mind if I borrow the batcar.” Red Robin shrugs and pulls a set of keys out of his pocket. They don’t look large enough to unlock an aircraft, and they have a button with a bat on it. The same bat that was on Nightwing’s costume.
As soon as Kori gets home, immediately after laying in her bed, she opens her phone. She clicks on the icon for the browser app - which she has disguised as a calico cat.
Cats are an Earth creature that fascinates Kori, with their squishy toe beans and fluffy ears. Their agility is also quite impressive: their balance, speed, reflexes, how they always land on their feet. They’re affectionate but also independent, and extremely curious, even when they shouldn’t be.
She clicks on the search bar and looks up “how to keep a friend”. She’s already made a friend, but she needs Nightwing to understand how much she appreciates him. She scrolls past all the articles about keeping in regular contact on the phone, since Nightwing never gave her a phone number. Eventually, she finds a page on how to make something called a ‘friendship bracelet’ which is a wrist decoration exchanged between friends and lovers.
Kori follows the page’s instructions to the T. The cardboard circle, exactly 8 slits into it, 7 bits of string tied together and threaded through, go over two pieces of string and thread the piece you’re holding through the gap in front. Repeat the last step until the bracelet is long enough for your friend’s wrist!
She chooses the colours pink and green to represent her, cyan and black to represent nightwing, and red to represent their bond. She searches her room for charms to add to the necklace and decides on a star, a heart and a bat.
By the time she finishes the bracelet, it’s already 2pm. She goes to the kitchen and makes herself a grilled cheese. Then it’s 2:30, and she goes to her room and watches cat videos.
Dick Grayson is on patrol. Today’s going to be even worse than yesterday, considering he’s working alone now. Usually his brother Tim Drake, aka Red Robin, works with him. Even Red Robin needs a break sometimes, and he’s taken the day off to visit his boyfriend, Conner Kent aka Superboy.
It’s 2:45, and so far he’s foiled just one evil plot. Perhaps he’s off his game, maybe there’s been loads of criminal activity today and he hasn’t noticed it, maybe his exhaustion is finally getting the better of him.
It’s 3:00, and Dick - Nightwing even - is surveying Jump City, just outside of Gotham. He looks through the windows of every house searching for a robbery, a fight, anything out of the ordinary. The first house has children watching The Dark Knight, the second has people around the same age as Dick showing their Batfam action figures to a camera. The third has… Kori’andr. He didn’t know she lived in Jump City! She’s floating around the living room holding her phone, studying a picture and comparing it to a hanging piece of coloured rope. It looks like there’s charms on it maybe, or something that it picked up from the floor if she dropped it, Dick can’t tell.
Kori looks out of her window and sees her friend Nightwing walking down her street, then instantly hides the friendship bracelet in her pocket. She hopes Nightwing didn’t see it, that would ruin the surprise for this evening!
Dick notices Kori hiding the piece of rope, her panicked expression when she notices him. He probably matches her expression, and he can feel his mood drop as she panics, despite the blush obviously developing on both of their faces.
He runs to look at the next house, and carries on patrolling Gotham and the nearby area until the time he’s set to meet Kori, at 7pm.
Despite her earlier disappointment, Kori arrives early again. Not too early this time, but she stood outside the theme park, bracelet in hand, by 6:45.
Dick instinctively goes home to change out of his outfit, then remembers that Kori only knows him as Nightwing. He wishes, deep down, that he could show her the man behind the mask. She’s harmless, like a small puppy running around excitedly in a padded room. Robins have a duty to protect their identity, along with the identities of the entire family. Dick can’t sacrifice that for a sweet, energetic, bubbly woman that he met two days ago, even if she is adorably safe.
So Dick leaves the house again, still in his Nightwing costume. Tim arrives just as he’s leaving, and they exchange a small “What’s up?”
Dick arrives outside the theme park at 7:00. It’s started raining again, and Kori’s just standing in it, water dripping down her. She’s holding out the rope Dick saw her with earlier, except it’s not actually a rope. It’s a bracelet. With pink, green, black, cyan and red strings and charms of a star, a heart, and a bat.
“Hi Nightwing!” Kori waves quickly this time, she saw someone doing it at the start of a cat-parent vlog. “I made this bracelet for you!”
Dick looks at the bracelet for a while longer, then mumbles “T-thanks… I didn’t know we were doing gifts.”
“You don’t have to!” Kori looks up at Nightwing with her soft glowing eyes, then places the bracelet around his wrist. “I wanted to.”
“Well, I’ll make something next time!” Dick starts playing with the bracelet with his left hand, never breaking eye contact with Kori.
“The star is me, and the bat is you!” Kori explains, as if Nightwing needed her to. He fully understands the significance of the charms, including the heart between them.
“Thanks, Starfire.” Dick lets the new nickname hang in the air for a while. He thinks it’s appropriate considering she used a star to represent herself. He doesn’t really know where the fire part came from, it’s just the first thing he thought of at that moment.
“No problem, Toaster!” Kori - no, Starfire - exclaims excitedly.
