Five (Short) Things Wally Does In The City
from here
I. Christmas shopping used to be a terrible chore. His mother would drag him out and they'd spend hours in stores picking out presents for people Wally hardly knew. It was utterly boring. Not to mention those hours were seriously like days to him. That's not to say Wally doesn't like picking out gifts, he does, but he likes being thoughtful about them and that's hard when you don't know a person well.
This year promises to be a whole lot different. For starters, he's going shopping with Dick and he's only getting presents for people he actually knows instead of the obligatory family business. The best thing about it though? He gets to do it at his own speed and he knows this lovely little shop in Japan. It'll be fun for once.
He also secretly plans on buying Barry something, just in case.
II. For New Year's Wally is determined to get Garth out of the Tower and watch the fireworks with them. It probably won't be an easy feat but he's already resolved to be dead-set on it. He knows it'll be worth the clinging and shrill shrieks in his ears in the end. Fireworks are beautiful like that. He just hopes Garth won't promptly die of a heart attack or something. Oh, and they should probably bring a bucket too.
III. Dick may have returned but Wally still works on the Cosmic Treadmill every now and then. It's definitely not as frequent and...well, obsessive as before but the urge to work on it is there. He's gone back to going out and doing the superhero thing and enjoying the company of his fellow Titans but whenever he has time to spare, he works on it. He knows it's a futile effort because he doesn't have the knowledge to make it work but it makes him feel a little less useless in the grand scheme of things. Maybe one day he'll get it to work and then he can help everyone get back to their own world.
IV. Wally misses home terribly. He may have felt apathetic about his parents but they're still his parents. If he had to be honest to himself though, he misses Aunt Iris and Barry more and feels a little guilty for this. Sometimes he misses his home enough to think about visiting...
But then he remembers his conversation with Troy and asks himself if it really is worth it to find out his city doesn't exist here or maybe it does but isn't the same. The conclusion; it isn't. So he continues to avoid Nebraska like the plague even if the ache almost gets unbearable at times. He prefers the nostalgic conversations with Troy over the possibility of tainting a memory.
V. Wally is more grateful for Garth's presence in the Tower than he would ever let on. The pool has become a sort of retreat for him because whenever he goes there to goof around with Garth, it feels like home. That feeling allows him to just forget about everything terrible going on in the City and for a few moments he can pretend that nothing is wrong, that things are as they should be.
He would never say it out loud, mostly because it's unfair to the others and he feels awfully guilty for indulging, but he loves those moments best.
VI. Wally knows he really shouldn't do it but he does it anyway. He avoids Bart. It's not going to do any good to the weirdness already between them and he knows this. He honestly does and yet he can't help himself. He wants to get along and get to know Bart better, really, but then he thinks of the awkward feelings and he ends up dodging. Never had approaching someone been such a complicated thing in his life before. He sincerely hopes that one day soon he'll have the courage to become Bart's friend.
I. Christmas shopping used to be a terrible chore. His mother would drag him out and they'd spend hours in stores picking out presents for people Wally hardly knew. It was utterly boring. Not to mention those hours were seriously like days to him. That's not to say Wally doesn't like picking out gifts, he does, but he likes being thoughtful about them and that's hard when you don't know a person well.
This year promises to be a whole lot different. For starters, he's going shopping with Dick and he's only getting presents for people he actually knows instead of the obligatory family business. The best thing about it though? He gets to do it at his own speed and he knows this lovely little shop in Japan. It'll be fun for once.
He also secretly plans on buying Barry something, just in case.
II. For New Year's Wally is determined to get Garth out of the Tower and watch the fireworks with them. It probably won't be an easy feat but he's already resolved to be dead-set on it. He knows it'll be worth the clinging and shrill shrieks in his ears in the end. Fireworks are beautiful like that. He just hopes Garth won't promptly die of a heart attack or something. Oh, and they should probably bring a bucket too.
III. Dick may have returned but Wally still works on the Cosmic Treadmill every now and then. It's definitely not as frequent and...well, obsessive as before but the urge to work on it is there. He's gone back to going out and doing the superhero thing and enjoying the company of his fellow Titans but whenever he has time to spare, he works on it. He knows it's a futile effort because he doesn't have the knowledge to make it work but it makes him feel a little less useless in the grand scheme of things. Maybe one day he'll get it to work and then he can help everyone get back to their own world.
IV. Wally misses home terribly. He may have felt apathetic about his parents but they're still his parents. If he had to be honest to himself though, he misses Aunt Iris and Barry more and feels a little guilty for this. Sometimes he misses his home enough to think about visiting...
But then he remembers his conversation with Troy and asks himself if it really is worth it to find out his city doesn't exist here or maybe it does but isn't the same. The conclusion; it isn't. So he continues to avoid Nebraska like the plague even if the ache almost gets unbearable at times. He prefers the nostalgic conversations with Troy over the possibility of tainting a memory.
V. Wally is more grateful for Garth's presence in the Tower than he would ever let on. The pool has become a sort of retreat for him because whenever he goes there to goof around with Garth, it feels like home. That feeling allows him to just forget about everything terrible going on in the City and for a few moments he can pretend that nothing is wrong, that things are as they should be.
He would never say it out loud, mostly because it's unfair to the others and he feels awfully guilty for indulging, but he loves those moments best.
VI. Wally knows he really shouldn't do it but he does it anyway. He avoids Bart. It's not going to do any good to the weirdness already between them and he knows this. He honestly does and yet he can't help himself. He wants to get along and get to know Bart better, really, but then he thinks of the awkward feelings and he ends up dodging. Never had approaching someone been such a complicated thing in his life before. He sincerely hopes that one day soon he'll have the courage to become Bart's friend.