Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Tim wasn't too sure how it'd all started.

They'd finished a mission, escaped by the skin of their teeth; both of them were lost for breath, & Tim had flashed Kon a smile, then suddenly Kon was kissing him. After the initial shock passed, Tim had kissed him back.

They hadn't talked about it. Not really. Blame it on the adrenaline, but whenever one of them needed the reassurance or release, a hand would touch a hand, or fingers would brush a cheek, & it was the mutually understood signal of "I wanna get you alone right now."

That's all it had started as; stumbling into empty rooms to have their way with each other. But that quickly turned into hanging around after these escapades, huddled in each other's arms.

That then turned into Tim showing up at Kon's bedroom door every so often on cold nights, just to be next to another warm body. Then they'd still share a bed on warm nights, opting to kick off the covers, making sure the door was locked so nobody could storm in on them cuddled into one another.

Tim had grown accustomed to falling asleep using Kon's arm as a pillow, his other arm draped over Tim's waist possessively, his face buried in Tim's hair as he sleepily whispered Tim's name.

Except... it wasn't Tim's name. It was never Tim's name.

Because Conner Kent had never met Tim Drake.

Kon had asked him, 𝘣𝘦𝘨𝘨𝘦𝘥 him on multiple occasions to take off the mask; to give him a first name, last name, 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨.

But Tim had always remained steadfast. He always tried to convince Kon that it 𝘸𝘢𝘴𝘯'𝘵 because he didn't trust him; Tim trusted Kon with his life. Kon was never particularly easy to convince, but it’s not like he could just tell him the truth.

The truth that there was no tangible risk to revealing his identity to Kon. Kon had seen him vulnerable enough times to prove his trustworthiness, & had revealed almost everything about himself to Tim. Even things that nobody but Tim knew about.

No: in fact, the only risk factor in telling Kon who he was, was Tim himself.

Behind the mask, he could be Robin; the boy wonder; the intelligent, strong, skilled vigilante who never gave up & always found a way.

Behind the mask, Kon would never have to put up with Tim Drake; the emotional, self-punishing wreck with the world on his shoulders. Tim Drake, who was head over heels for Conner Kent, but would never give himself the privilege of being with him.

Tim Drake, who wanted nothing more than to tear off the mask & have Kon kiss all over his face, mumbling about how gorgeous he was.

Tim Drake, who much to his dismay, had started breaking out with spots underneath where his domino usually lay, due to how often it sat on his face.

He studied himself in the mirror as he washed his face, grimacing at his own features.

His tired eyes sat heavy, framed by purple circles of exhaustion. He'd been sleeping worse than usual, recently, which was saying something.

Maybe it was the faint lighting of the small bathroom, but he was sure he looked paler too.

Luckily, the domino managed to cover all of his blemishes & marks, hiding too much of his face for anyone to make a decent judgement on his appearance.

Yet Kon still had the nerve to call him pretty. A nerve that made Tim's heart flutter.

If only he knew.

"Yo, Rob! You awake?"

Tim startled slightly, recognising the voice immediately.

"One second!" He yelped, grabbing his domino & snapping it back over his face. He cringed at the tacky soap that squelched uncomfortably between the material & his skin.

He stumbled out of the bathroom, tripping over some clothes strewn across the floor before he made it to the door.

Swinging it open, he saw Kon, stood there in his civvies: a simple pair of blue jeans & a white T-shirt Tim was sure was a little too tight on purpose.

Kon looked him up & down amusedly, a smirk growing on his face. "Rough morning?"

"You going somewhere?" Tim countered, not taking the bait.

"The weather's nice; thought we could go get breakfast." Kon stated cheerfully. He glanced down to his watch. "Brunch. Make that brunch."

Tim laughed, head falling forward as his shoulders relaxed.

Ow ow ow. Bad idea. The motion had ran more soap into his eyes, & they very quickly started to sting like hell.

"Actually? That sounds great." Tim strained, looking back up & giving Kon a half-forced smile. "Give me a second to get ready, & I'll be right with you."

It wasn't a lie. It was early summer, & the weather had started to warm up significantly. It'd also been a while since he'd had a decent breakfast, & if Kon was taking him to get street food, he knew that this was going to be a 𝘥𝘢𝘮𝘯 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭 decent breakfast.

However, his excitement was dulled by the wrenching pain currently striking his eyes.

Kon watched as Tim's temple twitched, teeth gritted in his smile, & grew concerned.

"...hey, are you alright? You look really tense."

Tim's grin only grew more forced, & Kon was sure he was wincing under the mask.

"I, ah," Tim drawled, "I have a lot of soap in my eyes right now."

"Oh, shit."

"Yuh huh."

"You wanna...?"

"Wait for me?"

Kon smiled at him sweetly. "Always."

Tim momentarily weighed up the very genuine option of ignoring the burning in his eyes to jump Kon's bones then & there, but very quickly concluded to race back to his en-suite, practically sticking his head under the sink.

Chapter Text

"𝘚𝘩𝘦𝘦𝘴𝘩, it's getting hot. Jeans were a bad idea." Kon wailed, throwing his head back exhaustedly.

The sun was beating down mercilessly, wrapping the air in a warm blanket. The city streets looked unusually bright & prosperous: a stark contrast to what the night-dweller was used to. There was a weird cacophony of smells: the dirt & leaves from small trees planted along the sidewalk; baking tarmac; stomped out cigarettes.

It wasn't what Tim would call a pleasant smell, but it was a familiar, comfortable one all the same.

"Aren't you supposed to be solar powered?" He chirped half-teasingly, half-seriously. "You should be feeling supercharged right now."

Kon shot him a look, a thin sheen of sweat on his skin.

"Tactile telekinesis only requires a little yellow sun radiation. Besides: humans pretty much run on food, yet you still whine about heartburn."

Tim shrugged. "Fair point."

He had opted for a pair of blackout sunglasses; they were his go-to whenever neither Tim Drake or Robin could be seen. The edges arced over nicely, hiding his eyes from his side profile.

In a rush, Tim had slung on a blue polo shirt & khaki shorts, clearly more conscious of the weather then Kon had been. Already tight to begin with, Kon's white tee was now lightly stuck to his skin from the sweat, following each dip & edge of his torso.

Not that Tim was looking, of course.

It was definitely more ogling than looking, but the sunglasses let him get away with it.

"Aha! Speaking of food!" Kon clapped his hands together, rubbing them in anticipation as they approached a small deli on the corner.

The moment they stepped inside, the two emitted a synchronised sigh of relief as the AC shot straight through them.

Kon had said he liked this place, & Tim could see why. The smell of fresh food hit you at the door. The interior was surprisingly clean for the city, though still had that old-fashioned charm that made it feel like a deli.

But today, the AC made it feel like heaven.

Looking at the array, Tim went to reach inside his pocket for his wallet, only to have his hand swatted away by Kon.

"Nuh uh; my treat. Grab whatever you want. I checked how much money I had before we left, so I'm good."

Tim didn't argue, stepping forward to place his order at the counter.

Once their total was given to them, Kon swished his hand into his jeans, theatrically pulling out his wallet.

However, as he opens it & looks inside, fingers ready to grab his card, he stills.

Tim watches his face fall.

Desperately, he begins to pat around his jean pockets, stuffing his hands in & out of each compartment, all to no avail.

Nervously, he turns to the cashier, then to Tim, a weak smile on his face. His wallet is still open in his palm.

"I, ah... I am not smart."

Tim doesn't answer, only looking at him expectantly. Starting to turn slightly red, Kon's eyes dance between Tim & the cashier.

He speaks through gritted teeth. "My actual card is in my jacket. I took it out the other day."

"That's alright, I can pay." Tim stated simply, reaching for his own pockets again.

Kon throws his palms up in protest. "No, wait, Rob, you sure?"

Tim responds by taking out his own wallet, retrieving his card & clicking it to the reader by the checkout. The transaction goes through fine.

"I owe you." Kon grimaced, looking more embarrassed than Tim had seen him in a while.

"Don't worry about it. I have the cash to spare." Tim shrugged, thanking the cashier as he took the plastic bag of food.

Kon raised one eyebrow, giving him a curious look.

"You some kinda rich kid? Well, that's a development."

Oops.

Trying to play it off, Tim chuckled. "What, are you gonna start using me for my money?"

"Nah. Just a confirmation that you're super out of my league." Kon replied, sticking his hands in his pockets as they both turned to leave.

Tim tried to ignore the implications of that comment, for his heart's sake.

______

Kon had discretely flewn them up to a rooftop, where there was more of a breeze & a distinctly better view of the bustling city below. He fumbled around in the white plastic bag beside them, retrieving two wrapped up sandwiches.

"𝘔𝘰𝘯 𝘤𝘩é𝘳𝘪." Kon half-bowed where he sat, handing Tim one of the items.

Tim rolled his eyes, the smirk on his face unavoidable as he took the sandwich. "Tais-toi." He scoffed amusedly.

Kon wriggled his brows, a big, stupid grin on his face. "Why thank you."

"That wasn't a-"

"Shhhhhhh!" He hushed, smushing his finger against Tim's lips.

Tim wanted to act annoyed, but Kon's playful nature was infectious. He resolved to simply huff a short laugh out his nose, narrowing his eyes at the other.

Beyond the sunglasses, Kon couldn't see it, but Tim was sure he could feel it.

Kon pulled his hand away (Tim pulled his lips in, the warmth of where Kon's finger had pressed still lingering) & started rummaging around the bag for his own sandwich.

They talked about nothing & everything. Missions; anecdotes; hypotheticals; friends; enemies; memories. How hot the weather was. How much Kon was complaining about the weather.

Both their legs dangled over the edge of the building, watching the city below. Cars crawled along the road like ants, people going about their day-to-day lives, probably in a rush or doing something important.

Up here, however, everything was at a standstill. Whenever the two were alone, it was like their own little bubble; like they were the only two real people in the universe, watching the world pass by like a movie.

Calm. Quiet. Comfortable. He loved being like this. He loved their... dates?

Was this a date? Potentially. Tim had no idea where they stood anymore.

They were friends, for sure. He'd go as far as to call Kon his closest friend. They'd seek each other out constantly. To laugh; to cry; to theorise; to complain; to listen to.

Friends didn't typically kiss, though. They'd never actually gone very far, beyond long makeout sessions that got a little handsy. These days, most of those interactions were just them sprawling over one another, no agenda in mind other than to be close.

So what exactly were they? Friends with benefits?

He would ask, but... no. No, he wouldn't. He'd never have the guts to find out the answer to that question.

Clearly, he'd been deep in thought for a while, because Kon piped up out of concern.

"You alright?" He questioned, tilting his head, mouth still half-full of food.

It shouldn't have been as cute as it was.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine." He muttered, trying to shake his head back into lucidity.

Kon stared at him for a moment, entirely unconvinced, but eventually conceded.

"Whatever you say, Jake."

Ha! 𝘑𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘋𝘳𝘢𝘬𝘦? His parents hadn't hated him 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 much. Though, the striking resemblance to his last name had almost caught him off guard for a second.

Tim grinned showily. "Nope. Nice try."

"I'll catch you out one of these days." Kon warned, leaning back onto his elbows.

The thought terrified Tim as much as it excited him.

The two stayed & chatted for a while longer, Kon not asking any more questions about Tim's silence earlier.

It had surely been an hour or two before Tim decided to wrap things up.

"We should probably head back." He sighed, sitting up & flexing out his legs. "I've got personal stuff to do soon."

It wasn't a lie. Bruce needed him for a meeting. Sure, it wasn't until the afternoon, but Tim had the feeling he'd probably need a cold shower & some time to shove down all his soppy feelings before he'd be able to act like a professional.

Kon also pushed himself up, stretching out his arms achingly.

"Can't I just fly us back?" He groaned, getting to his feet. "I don't think I can do that walk again."

After considering it for a moment, Tim nodded. "Just make sure we're not obvious."

Kon smirked, stepping closer & wrapping an arm around Tim's waist, holding him close as they lifted a few feet off the floor.

"Honestly, you have so little faith in me."

Chapter Text

Tim sat blank-faced, twirling a pen between his fingers anxiously as people spoke around him. Only one thought was going through his head.

Shit.

Shit shit shit.

This couldn't be going worse. This day 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘺 get 𝘢𝘯𝘺 worse.

It had been fine: 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘭𝘺 manageable, all up until he was getting ready for this damn meeting. That's when all hell had begun to break loose.
______

Tim scowled at his own reflection as he tightened his tie up to his collar.

𝘚𝘵𝘶𝘱𝘪𝘥 Kon with his 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘱𝘪𝘥 face & his 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘱𝘪𝘥 smile. His 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘱𝘪𝘥 pestering & his 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘱𝘪𝘥 jokes & his 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘱𝘪𝘥 hands on Tim's waist, with his 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘱𝘪𝘥 fingers on Tim's lips.

How was Tim supposed to focus like this? The heat certainly wasn't helping either. Everything felt ten times more intense, & the last thing he wanted to be doing was getting ready to sit in a stuffy room with self-important business men.

But Bruce needed him, as did the company. Tim always committed himself to 100% of the different aspects of his life, & he would not let this be the exception.

Hence, Tim Drake was just going to have to suck it up & be Tim Wayne for a few hours.

Easier said than done.

His eyes trailed back up to his own face in the mirror; he'd managed to clean himself pretty well since that morning, but there was no disguising the stress on his brow.

Exhaling slowly, he ran his thumb over his bottom lip, resting for a moment in the shadow of Kon's touch.

He wasn't sure why he was pondering on the action so much. It's not like it was particularly out there for them. Besides, Kon had had much more than his fingers on Tim's lips.

Maybe it had been having Kon's hand so close to his face? All it would've taken was for it to grace upwards, lifting the sunglasses off of his eyes, & then the game would've been over.

But Kon didn't, & he wouldn't. He respected Tim & his wishes: a thought that made Tim's heart hurt. Was he really deserving of such patience? It wasn't like Kon was particularly patient with the rest of the population.

Tim turned away from the mirror, groaning quietly. Now was no time to think about that. He was supposed to be clearing his head for the meeting.

One meeting. A few hours. That's all he had to do. After that, he could just rela-

"Woooaaaah! You're that guy from TV?! Keeewl!"

Tim froze in place.

Slowly, his eyes travelled the worn out carpet of the floor, finding a pair of red sneakers, which led up a short frame topped by a mess of poofy brown hair.

Bart.

Bart was in his room.

Tim wasn't wearing his domino.

"T... Todd? No, that was the other one. Hang on, I'll get this..." Bart tapped his foot at superhuman speeds like an angry rabbit, frowning his brows in thought. Suddenly, his face lit up, foot going still. "Tim! Tim Drake! Or... Tim Wayne? I've heard both. Oh well. Nice!"

Tim's face completely drained of colour.

Dismayed, he launched himself across the room, tackling Bart against the door by shoving a hand over his mouth.

"Shhhh! Not so loud!" He hissed, expression manic. "What the hell are you doing here?"

Bart's brows flew up defensively, pulling Tim's hand away from his mouth.

"I came to ask you if we have any more..." His eyes scanned Tim up & down, taking in his suit. "Are you gonna go do business stuff?"

Tim pulled away, hands clutched at the back of his own neck. "How are you so calm about this?! You're not even... I mean... aren't you gonna say anything about it?!"

"You're the only one who hasn't revealed their identity yet. You were gonna do it eventually, right? So no biggie!" Bart responded, looking slightly puzzled.

"No, Imp, this is a 𝘣𝘪𝘨 biggie. God, oh my 𝘨𝘰𝘥." Tim flustered, running a hand through his hair in a panicked manner, caring not about whether it messed up his neatly gelled handiwork. "You can't tell Conner, under 𝘢𝘯𝘺 circumstances. Got it?"

Bart considered him.

"...can I tell Cass?"

"What? No! Jus- d- no telling anybody!"

Tim was practically flailing his arms around at this point. This was not happening. This could 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨.

"Why did you say Kon?" Interupted Bart, cutting off Tim's mental trainwreck.

"What?"

"You said '𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘊𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘳'." He mimicked, voice becoming theatrically serious & monotone. "𝘚𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺. Do you not trust him or somethi-?"

"Of course I trust him!" Tim shrieked, a little too loudly. The outburst took both Bart & Tim himself aback.

A silence echoed afterwards, hanging awkward in the air.

"That's surprising, then." Bart proposed after a while.

"What is?"

"If you would've told anyone already, I thought it would've been SB. After all, you two are all buddy-buddy."

Man, if he even knew the 𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘧 of it.

"Wait!" Bart exclaimed, beaming. "Am I the only one who knows?! Seriously?! That's so cool!" He started bouncing excitedly on the spot. "I'm like your agent guy on some secret spy mission or something!"

Tim studied Bart in frightened exasperation. Could he trust him? Well, not that he had much say in the matter anymore. All he could do was pin his hopes on the speedster keeping it quiet.

He didn't dare spend long considering the probability of that.

"Okay." Tim exhaled, hands squeezing on Bart's shoulders to keep him still. "Tell nobody. We can talk about this later, alright?"

"Tim?"

Huh?

"𝘛𝘪𝘮?"

That wasn't Bart.

"Tim!"
______

Tim was jolted back to reality by someone hissing his name.

Glancing around, he remembered where he was: sat in a meeting room on a high floor of Wayne Enterprises, sat at a table with Bruce & some representatives from a possible new investment.

Representatives who, at that moment, had expressions ranging from put-off to concerned.

Looking to his side, Tim saw Bruce looming next to him, giving him an expectant glare. He had been the one calling Tim's name.

"H-huh?" He said weakly. He heard one of the investors sigh, bringing a hand up to his face.

Another, slightly kinder-looking, investor spoke up.

"If Mr. Wayne isn't feeling well, I'm sure we can reschedule at another time?" She smiled nervously.

Tim went to intervene, but the group started to pack up before the words could leave his mouth. Bruce looked grim.

"I suppose that will be necessary. My apologies. We'll keep in touch." Bruce conceded, moving to hold the door open as the group left.

Tim remained glued to his seat, stuck in both guilt & confusion. On their way out, Tim heard several murmurs, typically involving the words "kid", "unprofessional", "overworked."

Once the room was near empty, Bruce closed the door & turned to look at Tim.

Tim offered an apologetic smile.

Bruce did not return it.

"My office. 𝘕𝘰𝘸."

Chapter Text

Bruce loomed on the other side of the room, his shadow reaching wide like an animal staking its territory.

"Those were important people, Tim." He stated, a reprimanding undertone to his words.

Tim simply huffed & narrowed his eyes, staring at the floor a few feet in front of him. He swivelled side to side in his desk chair. "Really? Couldn't tell from all the fancy cufflinks."

"I will 𝘯𝘰𝘵 accept an attitude from 𝘺𝘰𝘶." Bruce scolded more directly, placing his hand on the desk. "What's going on? Since you 𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘺 have more important things on your mind."

What was it Dick would say? 'Breathe in. Breathe out. Nod & smile. Agree & get it over with.'

"It's just some stuff happening with YJ. I'll get over it."

Bruce's insistence remained unwavering. "'Stuff'? Elaborate. If you need assistance with missions, then there are plenty of people willing to-"

"It's nothing to do with missions!" Tim spat, voice slowly raising in volume & bite. "It's- it's fine, okay? Sorry I messed up the meeting."

"So it's team-related?" Bruce persisted. He brought a hand up to his chin, holding it in thought. "I did always think those others were a little juvenile for you. What, with the speedster & Clark's clon-"

"Would you quit calling him that?!" Tim snapped, face flushed with rage. Bruce 𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘸 Tim was touchy about him referring to Kon as 'just a superman clone', & was even more so about him chewing out his teammates.

Seemingly recognising that he'd crossed a line, Bruce stepped back, resignation in his eyes.

He waited a moment before continuing, voice a lot softer this time. "Tim, if it's starting to feel like you're balancing too much, maybe it's time to-"

"No! I'm completely fine. I'm not balancing too much, I'm 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘦. God, it's too damn 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘧𝘧𝘺 in here. You can't even fucking breathe." Tim rambles violently, wrenching himself out of his seat & making a beeline for the door.

"𝘛𝘪𝘮." Bruce warned.

The voice completely stopped him in his tracks, causing him to grit his teeth.

God damn to hell Bruce & anyone he taught that omnipotent tone to. A register that had been perfected over years of interrogating the most offensive criminals known to man, which also proved incredibly useful as a parenting tool.

Useful for Bruce, that is. Right now, for Tim, it was a pain in the ass.

Turning slowly, Tim watches Bruce's face twitch & shape, like he's considering the best way to phrase the thoughts going through his head.

He finally settled on:

"... take it easy."

Well, that's about as heartfelt as you were gonna get from Bruce Wayne.

Rationally, Tim appreciated the sentiment: he truly did. Though it didn't stop him from continuing to storm out the office with a sour look on his face.

__________
"Huuuaaaagh!"

𝘚𝘓𝘈𝘔! The punching back was sent flying backwards with impressive force. Tim wasn't sure how long he'd spent in the training room, but his knuckles were starting to feel raw, even under his wraps.

However, the sensitive pain didn't stop Tim from throwing strike after powerful strike, pummeling the punching bag like it owed him something. The sweat collected under his domino.

There was no excusable reason for him to be training that hard; if anything, the knuckle injuries would probably come back to bite him. Tim just needed to get it out of his system: that morning with Kon; Bart learning his identity; screwing up the meeting; Bruce being 𝘉𝘳𝘶𝘤𝘦. He was wound up worse than Christmas lights. He 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘦𝘥 a release, or else he was going to burst.

Hence, the punching bag.

After a while, the pain in his knuckles dulled out, the numbness making it easier to throw hits. However, in its place, a burning sensation ripped through his arms, radiating in his triceps.

He was sure that someone had entered the room at some point, but he was too tuned out to care. They were probably there to do some training of their own.

They appeared to be saying something, but everything sounded like it was underwater. Tim didn't care. He just needed to beat this damn punching bag within an inch of its-

"Wu-hoh, hey, hey!"

As the punching bag swung on its chain away from him, it was brought to an abrupt stop, joined by a loud WHACK.

Kon had caught the bag with both hands, close to his chest, narrowly avoiding getting smacked in the face. His TTK made the feat relatively easy, but Tim still came to at the noise, face a mixture of surprise & apology.

"Shit, Rob, what'd the punching bag do to you?" Kon teased, chuckling.

He was in a black muscle vest donned with the superman logo, along with a pair of grey basketball shorts: a far more comfortable fit than his previous attire. The smile on his face was all so familiar, & immediately made a wash of calm fall over Tim.

Tim couldn't help but return it weakly. "Nothing. Sorry. Hey."

"Hey," Kon echoed, pushing the punching bag to the side in order to approach Tim, crowding into his space. It didn't feel invasive; it just made that personal little bubble of theirs smaller & more intimate. "Wanna talk about it?"

𝘠𝘦𝘴. "No, I'm okay. Just stress relief."

Kon hummed in acknowledgement, eyeing Tim for a moment.

He seemed to be pondering something before his face suddenly lit up. He walked to the area behind Tim, tapping his shoulder playfully as he passed.

"You wanna spar instead? I could use the practice, too." Kon offered, opening his arms invitingly as he stepped backwards into a more open space. He bowed at the waist, looking up at Tim through his lashes mischievously. "Unless you're too tired, that is."

The offer had already been tempting as is, but Kon had really tipped the ledge with that final line. He knew exactly which buttons to press to get under Tim's skin, which meant the line between wanting to kiss Kon & wanting to smack him was often so very, 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 thin.

Responding with a smirk, Tim followed him into the open space, taking a ready stance. Kon mimicked the movement, plotting his first attack.

"Alright, bird boy. I'll try & go easy on y-𝘸𝘰𝘢𝘩!" His taunting was immediately departed by Tim sweeping his legs.

Kon landed on his back with a thud, crumpling to the floor. He glanced back up at Tim, who was stood over him with an infuriatingly cocky grin on his face. 𝘛𝘸𝘰 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘺 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘨𝘢𝘮𝘦.

After regaining the breath that had been knocked out of him, Kon gave Tim a look that was less of a smirk & more of a challenge. Maybe even a promise. A look that made sweat prick at the back of Tim's neck.

"Oh, so you wanna play rough, huh?"

Tim couldn't help the shiver that went through his whole body. Kon had definitely phrased it like that on purpose. However: he wasn't going to lose that easily.

Even behind the domino, Tim gave the impression of a determined glare, hoping he'd appear unaffected by the comment. Kon wore a Cheshire grin.

"Alright, then. Just remember you 𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘪𝘵!" At these last words, he lunged, hands immediately finding Tim's middle in order to tackle him to the floor.

The two wrestled & tumbled around on the floor, more play-fighting than training for combat. At one point, when both had managed to scramble back to their feet, Tim tried to go at Kon with a flying kick. Kon caught his foot with ease, TTK completely disrupting his momentum, causing him to fall in mid-air like an old fashioned cartoon.

Tim bent at the middle, glaring up at Kon as he dangled him by his ankle.

"Hey! No powers!"

"I don't know what you're talking about!" Kon grinned coyly.

Always three steps ahead, Tim let himself fall backwards, lifting his free leg to wrap around Kon's waist. Before he could begin to react, Tim threw his weight back up. The momentum sent Kon flying back, landing on the practice mats with Tim virtually straddling his chest.

"Had enough?" Tim panted, a triumphant air about him. Kon simply smiled up at him, eyes full of playful admiration.

"Of you? Never."

Tim's breath hitched as his face flushed darker than before. He tried to come up with some witty retort or remark, but Kon had just won & they both knew it. Tim was putty in his hands.

"Conner..." he breathed out the word. The meaning seemed to get across, because Kon raised a hand to skim his fingers behind Tim's ear & down the side of his neck. His fingers felt comparatively cool to the burning fire under Tim's skin, sending another shiver down his back. The wandering hand eventually found the hook of Tim's jaw, pulling him in until their lips met.

Tim was bent at a slightly awkward angle, but in the moment, he honestly couldn't care less. Elbows resting on Kon's shoulders, Tim cupped his face with his hands, pulling him in as close as physically possible.

Slowly, Kon's fingers ghosted up & down his sides, brushing across his thighs, his hips, his waist, before finding their way to the hem of his shirt. Kon let his fingers slip under the fabric, gently caressing the skin there. Unable to hold back the breathy sigh he made against Kon's lips, Tim keened into the touch, one hand drifting down to flatten against Kon's chest.

Kon's hands finally found refuge under Tim's shirt, just above his hips, where he squeezed gently. His kisses began to trail up the side of Tim's mouth, leading around to the back of his jaw.

"I wanna know as much of you as I can." He mumbles into Tim's neck, one hand wandering back down to his thigh. "Whatever you're willing to show me."

The words hit something painful inside of Tim, making him pull away slightly. Kon picks up on the hesitation, noticing his mistake immediately.

"Shit, uh, that was supposed to be, like, sexy; not a guilt trip. Sorry."

Tim laughs emptily. Frowning, Kon raises his hand to cup Tim's cheek.

"Hey." He whispers, brushing Tim's hair out of his face. His fingers come back to rest against the domino, making Tim's pulse pick up. "Take all the time you need. You're only ready when you're ready. I'm never gonna make you do something you don't want to, alright, Rob?"

There it was. That Conner charm. The sweet, vulnerable side that- as far as Tim was aware- was for his eyes only.

𝘏𝘢. Figures. For Tim's eyes only, yet the one thing he wouldn't give up to Kon were his eyes.

Tim brought his own hand up to hold Kon's in place, leaning against them both, running his thumb over the back of Kon's digits. Now that the adrenaline had worn off significantly, his knuckles were starting to throb nastily. Kon's hand in his seemed to ease the pain significantly, though.

"Do you think anyone's hanging around?" Tim prompted.

Squinting his eyes, Kon listened around, checking for activity. "Nope. I think we're clear."

Dropping both their arms to the side, Tim maneuvered himself so that the two of them lay comfily on the floor, his head on Kon's chest. "Can we stay like this for a while? I don't really feel like moving."

A sweet, easy smile rest on Kon's face. The hand that wasn't holding Tim's came up to hold the back of the smaller boy's head comfortingly.

"You got it, boy wonder."

Chapter Text

"So, does Bruce Wayne know you're Robin?"

"Not telling you."

"Who was Robin before you? I heard people thought there was a few, because Robin kept looking & acting different."

"𝘕𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶."

"Who's batman? Or do you even know?"

"I feel like something's not getting across here."

Bart had been nagging Tim relentlessly since the other day. At first, it didn't seem like he was going to make a big deal out of it, but the questions very quickly came to head.

"Sorry, I'm just curious! You've always been so secretive with it, even though we all revealed our identities ages ago. I just wanna know why?"

The YJ core four had gone out a mission, investigating disappearances happening near an old industrial site. It was the dead of night, & the team had split off into two groups: Cass & Kon had taken to the skies to check the perimeter, whilst Tim & Bart searched around on foot for any signs of activity.

He'd initially been disheartened by them opting to split up, which was only deepened by Bart's newfound interest in 'Tim Drake'.

Tim sighed, finally giving in some.

"Security measure. If people knew who I was, they could attack me when I'm vulnerable, & use the people I care about as bait. It just puts too many targets on too many backs."

Bart paused, stewing over the words in his head.

"Is that why you won't tell Kon? Dad told me that Batman has a big 'the powerful can't be trusted' thing. But I don't think he'd ever hurt you, dude. He looks at you all dazey when you're not looking."

"I told you, I trust K- wait, what?" Tim stuttered, stopping in his tracks. "What do you mean, 'dazey'?"

Bart span around, hands reaching out either side of himself in a shrug.

"I dunno, he just stares at you, looking all sleepy & smiley. Plus, how many times has he defended you, even when you don't want him to? He wouldn't hurt you, I'm sure."

Grimacing at the accusation, Tim tried to continue. "Bart, I mean it, it's got nothing to do wit-"

"Oh, do you remember that time we were chaperoning that party & he broke that guy's fingers just 'cause he was picking on you?"

Tim did remember. He was pissed as all hell at Kon in the moment, but looking back on it, it still made his chest a little fuzzy. Especially given they hadn't even known each other all that long back then.

He scoffed. "You also stripped the guy."

"Yeah, but Conner got in there first. I just took the opportunity to get in on the fun." Bart drawled, turning to continue their search, Tim in tow. "Then you two kept squabbling like some old married couple about it afterwar-"

"Alright, alright, that's enough. I get it." Tim pleaded, face reddening slightly. He stumbled in his attempts to keep up with the speedster. "& I told you: it's not because I don't trust him. It's... it's a personal issue."

Spinning again, Bart took to walking backwards so that he could look at Tim. "Why? What is it?"

"It's 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭, Bart." Tim warned, patience waning thin.

"Okay, I know. I just don't see why the others can't know. Kon's always trying to guess your name, right? I think he'd be super happy if you told him!"

"Bart, just drop it already!" His voice came out a little meaner than usual. He didn't mean to, but the last thing he needed right now was a guilt trip.

Bart looked slightly offended, taken aback by Tim's tone. He paused in his stride, letting Tim walk past him. "Alright! Jeez."

The two continued on in awkward silence, Bart moping behind Tim pettily.

This was 𝘯𝘰𝘵 what he needed right now. It wasn't entirely Bart's fault; Tim knew he was being a lot more testy than necessary. Bart couldn't possibly know how deep those words dug at him. How guilty Tim already felt about the whole situation. Now that Bart knew, he had no valid back-up excuse for not telling the rest of the team. If it ever came out that Bart knew, he'd have no leg to stand on but the truth if Kon was to question him, & Tim wouldn't be ready for that in a million years.

As two shadows blocked the moonlight, Tim didn't think he'd ever been so grateful to see the costumed figures flying down from the sky.

Kon was the first to land, smoothly transitioning from his airborne glide into a sturdy walk towards them. His cheeks were burnt lightly pink from the cold altitude.

"We cleared the perimeter. No big baddies in sight just yet..." Kon's eyes darted between Bart & Tim, noting their bitter expressions. He raised a brow suspiciously. "Hey, are you two good? Who pissed in who's cereal?"

Kon yelped in protest when Cass dug her heel into his shin. "Sheesh, what?!"

Ignoring him, Cass turned to the other two boys. "We couldn't spot anyone, but that doesn't mean we should relax. Something still feels off."

"Agreed." Tim spoke, avoiding Cass' concerned gaze.

The four grouped up again, Cass & Bart taking the lead whilst Tim & Kon lingered a few feet behind.

Kon elbowed Tim gently, trying to get his attention. When Tim looked up at him, Kon nodded towards Bart, flicking his brows up in question.

Tim shook his head, waving a hand dismissively. When Kon furrowed his brows in disbelief, Tim responded by sticking his tongue out. Kon returned the gesture, before biting his tongue in a smile.

Their silent conversation was interrupted by a deep, gurgling sound that seemed to erupt from all angles. All four heroes froze, taking a cautionary stance. Tim held back a giddy smile at how Kon edged closer to him protectively.

Not the time, heart.

"What was that?" Cass uttered quietly, scanning their surroundings.

"I can go check it out!" Bart offered, not so quietly.

Tim hushed him. "Wait! We don't know what this thing i-"

Another booming rumble sounded, shaking the floor. It was far louder than last time, making everyone's hair stand on edge.

Bart turned his head back around to face Tim.

"I'll be fine!" He stage-whispered, frowning. "In & out! We need to have a basic grasp on this thing to fight it!"

"It could be dangerous!" Tim hissed back. "We move as a group, got it?"

"Yeah! 𝘋𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘴! As in one of us should get a grasp first rather than all of us getting our asses kicked at the same time!"

"You know what? I-"

"Rob! Look out!"

He heard Kon holler from beside him, voice sounding panicked.

Before he could begin to react or respond, a strong, dull THUD hit the back of his head.

Vision fading out like a vignette, everything went dark.

Chapter Text

Tim slowly blinked his eyes open. He could feel the softness of a blanket beneath him, peering around a room he quickly recognised to be Kon's.

He'd been knocked out. How long had he been there? What did everybody else do once Tim went down? Had he been dead weight? Did they have to drop the mission?

"Don't think so much when you just woke up; your brain'll start pouring out your ears." A voice sounded from across the room.

Tim looked over at Kon, who was sat comfortably in a chair a few metres away from the bed. He had a magazine in hand, but it didn't take an IQ of 142 to recognise that it was simply a prop to make it seem like Kon hadn't just been watching him.

"Is that what happened to you?" Tim groaned, rubbing his eyes through the mask wearily.

"Still conscious enough to berate me, I see." Kon joked, leaving the chair to come hop onto the foot of the bed beside Tim. "That's a good sign."

"Did everything go alright? With the mission?" Tim queried, worry creasing his brow.

"Just dandy. Imp pulled you out the way whilst Cass & I took care of the big fella who knocked you out. Think Cass was angrier than I was. Damn thing came out of the fight looking uglier than when it went in, if possible." He explained, grinning happily with his last statement.

Tim laughed weakly, sounding forced. How much more was he gonna mess up this week?

"But yeah. Everything went fine. No need to beat yourself up over it. Looks like that monster did that plenty enough for you." Kon punched Tim in the shoulder playfully, trying to bring up the mood.

The smile only caused Bart's words to reverberate around Tim's head.

"𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘩𝘦'𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘺 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘮!"

He would be. He'd be elated if Tim finally told him his identity. Kon wouldn't have an issue; it was Tim's problem. His stupid, selfish problem.

A dreadful burning started to creep in behind his eyes, & Tim had to tighten his breath in order to keep his composure.

He'd brought this all on himself. He'd screwed up a chance at a new investment because he gotten distracted. He let slip his secret identity to Bart because he'd been careless. He'd gotten himself knocked out & left vulnerable because he was caught up in some stupid argument. All that, just because he was worked up over a problem between him & Kon that 𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘮𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 was entirely to blame for.

This was the mess known as Tim Drake, that Tim wanted Kon so desperately to never know about.

But all of the mess was seeping out the seams, & tears started to prick at his eyes. Tim wasn't sure how much longer he could hold it all back.

"Rob, buddy, you alright?" Kon noticed Tim's silence, hand coming to lay next to Tim's leg.

The floodgates burst open.

Tim started full-blown sobbing, ugly & unabashed, like a little kid who just dropped their icecream. He brought his knees up to his face, curling into a ball as his body shook with the sobs.

With his face buried, he couldn't see Kon's expression, but he could feel the shell-shocked energy coming off of him. As close as they'd gotten, Tim had never actually cried in front of Kon before, nevermind so openly. Seeing his stoic teammate so vulnerable must've shook Kon to his core.

"Rob, he- hey..." Kon hushed unsurely, & Tim felt his weight on the bed shift uncomfortably.

He tried pulling in a few desperate gasps, attempting to compose himself enough to apologise to Kon for breaking down, but before he could begin to speak he felt a pair of finger tips touch his temple.

The fingers followed down a familiar trail: up around the back of his ear, tucking away any loose strands of hair with it, before coming to stroke the underside of his jaw.

Kon had made a habit of pulling this move on Tim, knowing it consistently got a positive reaction out of him.

Removing his face from the safety of his own lap, Tim let his eyes wander over to Kon, who sat across from him looking lost & devastated.

The caring expression only pulled an even harder, wracking cry out of Tim's throat.

Launching forward, Tim threw his arms over Kon's shoulders, hugging his neck like a lifeline. He continued to sob, tears forming a wet patch on Kon's shirt. And Tim was sorry; so, 𝘴𝘰 sorry, but he had no clue what else to do & would apologise properly the minute he stopped bawling.

Thankfully, Kon didn't seem too bothered. If anything, Tim expressing what he needed right then seemed to settle Kon, the taller boy determined to deliver tenfold.

Gently, he wrapped his arms around Tim's trembling body, hovering them both in the air slightly as he maneuvered them around. Once he set them back onto the bed, Kon & Tim had swapped positions; Kon laying with his head on the pillow, pulling Tim tightly against him.

Quiet shushes left his lips as he rubbed a soothing hand up & down the small of Tim's back, the other sweetly carding through his hair.

"Rob?"

Unable to respond verbally, Tim nodded into Kon's collarbone.

"Take off the mask."

Tim's head shot up, looking at Kon in surprise & despair. His face screwed up in pain. "Please, Kon, no, I-"

"I'm not going to try & look." Kon stated assuredly, fingers still gliding through Tim's dark locks. "You can hide your face in my neck or whatever. I can't imagine it's particularly easy to cry in that thing."

He had a point. Tim's eyes were practically swimming in his own tears, blocked by the tight hold of the domino on his face. The white-out lenses also caught against his lashes every so often, tugging uncomfortably.

Kon wasn't going to try & look. He said he wasn't going to try & look. Kon wouldn't break his trust. Tim trusted Kon more than anyone.

Maybe...

Maybe just this once.

After a final few moments of consideration, Tim dropped his head again, letting his whole body relax into Kon's hold. He reached towards his own face, working off the domino.

The moment the cool air hit the skin around his eyes, it was like the world had flipped the right way up for the first time.

It was intimate; far more intimate than anything else could possibly ever be. Tim was right there, mask tossed aside, in Kon's arms. It would be so impossibly easy for Kon to pull back & get a full view of everything Tim had ever hidden from him.

But he wouldn't. Because Kon cared deeply for Tim. A care Tim was sure he didn't deserve.

Even so, Kon would care about him anyway.

A shuddered sigh left Tim as he further nuzzled into Kon's neck, feeling the heat of Kon's skin against his cheek.

They stayed like that for a long while, the universe seeming to go still around them. Kon would periodically press kisses to the top of Tim's head, which would make Tim giggle weakly every time. Their own little bubble; nothing but the two of them in the whole world.

Tim opened his eyes, gaze landing on the discarded mask sat on the bedside table.

"I almost don't want to put it back on." Tim laughed wetly.

Kon pauses carefully before chosing his next words. "...Then don't."

Tim shakes his head tearily. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry, I-"

"I know, I know." Kon quickly corrected himself. "Sorry. I shouldn't push."

Guilt sank in Tim's gut.

"No, it's okay. I..." he paused. "You... you know that I trust you, right? More than anybody else. I-if I could let you... see every part of me, like you said, then I would. Gladly. Only you, Kon."

He could physically feel Kon's pulse pick up in his neck. Silence swam over them as Kon's fingers tightened in Tim's hair, before finally releasing the breath he'd been holding.

"Hey. So, if I close my eyes & pinky promise not to open them, can I kiss you right now?"

Tim laughed outright, inhibitions going out the window. In for a penny, in for a pound.

"No peeking. I'm serious." He scolded, poking a finger at Kon's cheek.

"When are you not?" Kon chastised teasingly.

Tim didn't humour him with a response, waiting for some kind of indication that Kon had closed his eyes.

"Okay, done."

Tim slowly lifted his head, thankful to see that Kon was a man of his word. His eyes were clenched shut, lips pulled expectantly.

The whole situation felt almost perverse; Kon had left himself open & vulnerable, awaiting a kiss from a practical stranger. Tim had 100% of the power, & it was exhilarating.

He couldn't help but grin at how Kon started pouting impatiently.

"I can feel you moving, so I guess that means yo-𝘮𝘱𝘩!"

Tim shut him up with a kiss, hands falling onto Kon's shoulders, pushing him into the mattress. Kon reciprocated eagerly, one hand landing on his thigh just below his ass, dragging his hips closer.

His other hand, Tim noticed, came up to Tim's face. He wasn't too sure what Kon was trying to do, until the realisation hit him like a tonne of bricks: Kon was tracing the outline of Tim's eyesocket with his thumb, relishing in the skin he'd never been exposed to before.

The action made Tim's heart wrench in his chest, only kissing Kon harder, tilting his head to deepen it.

Only once Tim could barely breathe did he pull back. He panted lightly, eyes opening to see Kon's still squeezed tightly shut. He chuckled breathlessly at the sight.

"You're good."

Kon smiled proudly. "You said you trust me. I've gotta live up to that, now."

Sitting up on Kon's waist, he squeezed a hand on Kon's shoulder, the other reaching over onto the bedside table to retrieve his domino.

"You're such a dope, Conner."

It was as close to an 'I love you' as he'd allow himself to say.

Chapter Text

Tim wound up staying in Kon's room that night, Kon insistent on keeping an eye on him after the head injury.

He'd slept tucked into Kon's side, not bothering to get changed out of his costume: a decision he'd regretted the next morning. The feeling of being restricted by the tight garments, with buckles & buttons digging into his torso, was not a pleasant sensation to wake up to.

Drearily opening his eyes, he looked around the half-lit room, blind pulled part-way down the window to block the rising sun. Drawing his focus upwards, he saw that Kon was still fast asleep, face peaceful in the mid-morning light.

Smiling, he brought a hand up to Kon's face, poking at his cheek affectionately. He watched as his finger dimpled the skin there, Kon blissfully unaware of the puppy-dog eyes Tim was giving him.

This was nice. Being like this. After the wreck he had been the previous day, waking up squished tightly into Kon's body made everything feel like it was going to be okay.

Bruce; Bart; the company; Tim felt like he could handle anything as long as he started the day looking at Kon's sleeping face.

Luckily, Kon slept like a log, so it was pretty easy for Tim to quietly slip out of his arms. He strolled around the room, pulling off his top in exchange for one of Kon's old shirts he'd let Tim borrow a few times.

The worn-out item sat loosely on his skin. Grabbing a handful of it, he brought it up to his face & inhaled, taking in the smell of washing detergent & lingering traces of Kon woven into the fabric.

He shut the door quietly behind him, careful to not wake up the sleeping super as he left. Turning down the hall, Tim rubbed the sleep out his eyes, yawning dreamily.

Had it not been for keen reflexes, he would've walked straight into the pacing boy waiting for him down the hall.

Jumping slightly, Bart paused to look at Tim, dread filling his face.

The two held silent eye contact for a moment before Bart opened his mouth to speak.

"I..." He squeaked, tensing up before launching himself at Tim, practically wrapping his whole body around the taller boy.

"I'm so, so, 𝘴𝘰 sorry, man! I was just feeling petty about the whole thing, & I was being difficult on purpose, but then you got hurt & I felt so bad & I really don't like us arguing & I was being such a jackass & I'm so-"

"Bart!" Tim asserted firmly, making the smaller boy flinch, rant going dead silent.

"It's okay. I was being a jerk too. I'm sorry." He soothed, patting his friend on the back.

"I had no clue that you & Kon had a thing going on, man, I'm sorry!" Bart wailed, burying his face in Tim's chest.

Tim suddenly went a violent shade of crimson, squirming in Bart's hold, pulling the smaller away.

"What?! How do you know that?"

Bart blinked, face blank.

"Cass told me."

Tim screeched incredulously. "How does 𝘴𝘩𝘦 know?"

"She said that you two aren't subtle, & that you need to remember that the base has security cameras. & I mean, now that I know, she's got a point: you just walked out of his room wearing his shirt, dude."

Well, fuck.

Noted, Cass. Thank you.

"But all that aside," Bart added, "I'm... I'm really happy you trusted me with this, dude. I promise, your identity's safe with me. & I won't tell Kon. Swear."

"Well, isn't that fuckin' sweet of you." A familiar, but cold voice sounded.

Down the hall, Kon loomed, clearly having recently woken up. Tim would've thought his messy hair & crumpled clothes were cute if he hadn't been giving off such a dangerous air.

Oh god.

Oh god, this looked bad, didn't it.

"K-Kon, t-th-this isn't what i-"

"'Isn't what it looks like'?" He bit, sneering. "Oh, yeah; 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦. Then tell me what it does fucking look like, 𝘙𝘰𝘣."

Tim stumbled on his response, a string of unintelligible noises coming out of his mouth. He looked at Kon desperately, who wore an expression of total devastation, anger & hurt.

It made Tim's stomach drop.

"Conner, yo, man, it-" Bart began, but Kon immediately turned on his heel, storming away from the both of them.

Finally letting go of Tim's body, the two boys watched as Kon disappeared around a corner.

Not even sparing a glance at Bart, Tim began to stumble forward, trying to follow Kon's trail through the halls of the base.

"Conner! Wait!"

Fortunately, Tim didn't have much trouble tracking him down.

He found him pacing back & forth in a cliffside area of the base, overlooking the scenery below. The sun was on the other side of the building, casting the whole space in shadow.

Kon had clearly been expecting Tim, as the moment he came into view, Kon started at him.

"I can't believe you!" He shrilled, voice uneven & trembling.

"Kon-" Tim attempted, reaching his hand out.

"And after all that last night? 'I trust you', 'only you, Kon', 'if I could let you see, I would.'" He mocked, impression high-pitched & cruel. "I can't believe you would bullshit me like that! And for what?! What, am I just 'stress relief' to you too?"

Tears began to sting Tim's eyes as he started to beg. "No, Conner, of course not, please, I-"

"You know what? I wouldn't have cared. If you had told Bart first, because that was just who you trusted more, I wouldn't have had a problem. 𝘈𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭. But the fact that you 𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘦-"

"It wasn't a lie, I swear, Kon, please-"

"'Wasn't a lie', my ass! 'I promise I won't tell Kon'? What's your fucking problem with me? What the fuck have I done, Rob?"

"Nothing!" Tim was yelling through sobs at this point, each sentence punctuated with a watery gasp or choke.

Kon's face tensed painfully, brows torn with an overwhelming sense of hurt. As furious as he was, seeing Tim bawling his eyes out again made it feel like someone was using his heart as a pin cushion. The anger is his eyes slowly faded into a glassy despair.

"I just- 𝘩𝘪𝘤- I just don't get it, Rob. Make me get it. Be honest with me, for once." His voice croaked, pleading.

He'd been backed into a corner. He was tangled up in his own web of lies, left with no option but to throw his bleeding heart on the ground between them & hope Kon wouldn't judge him too harshly.

"I..."

Just breathe. Switch your brain off, & talk.

"I... don't think much of myself, Kon." He started. Kon's face softened slightly, a mixture of surprise & inquiry coming over him. Tim continued, knowing he had Kon's full attention.

"I try to hide behind the mask, but I'm..." he opened his arms outward, gesturing to himself & the state he was in. "I'm a mess, which I guess you know now."

Kon looked sympathetic, but still unsure. "Okay, but what has that got to do with all this? With me in particular?"

Tim let a sad, resigned grin rest on his face. "I think the world of you, Kon." He laughed pitifully. "I wanted you to think the world of me too."

"I do." Reassured Kon, taking a step closer.

"No, you think the world of what I show you. I'm scared that if you saw the rest of me, you, you'd-"

A gentle breeze passed through the air, rustling Tim's hair & shirt, the wet tears on his face turning a freezing cold. At this point, Kon was stood mere centimetres away. He brought his hand up, coming to lay on Tim's shoulder, squeezing protectively.

"I do know you, Rob."

"Not everything."

"Well why not?"

"Because what if you don't like it? What if you up & leave?"

Kon's brows raised, seeming hurt again. He retreated his hand, taking a step back to shoot Tim a disbelieving look. "You really think I'd do that to you?"

Tim hadn't thought about it like that. He'd been projecting his fears onto Kon so much that he hadn't stopped to consider how Kon might 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 feel about him. About all of this.

Before Tim could conjure up any sort of reasonable response, he heard an exasperated chuckle come from above him. He glanced back up at Kon, who had a hand raking through his own hair, wearing a face of pure incredulity.

"I mean, honestly, Rob; you think I don't already know you're a neurotic, over-thinking mess with a stick up your ass?"

Tim wasn't sure whether to feel comforted or offended.

Clearly spotting Tim's puzzled look, Kon only laughed harder.

"That mask doesn't do shit, Rob. I don't know what magical disguising properties you seem to think that thing has, but you’re still you whether you're covering your eyes or not."

Kon leaned in, giving him a teasing peck on the cheek before pulling back just enough that their noses were barely touching, eyes completely level.

"I don't stick around because I think you're perfect, dumbass." He grinned. "I stick around because you're 𝘮𝘺 dumbass. I quite enjoy watching you fumble your way through life, & I like fumbling my way with you."

Tim was well & truly floored, looking into Kon's eyes, feeling something between awe, shock & emotional mush.

Grabbing Tim by his upper arms, Kon continued to question him amusedly. "Is that 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 what this has all been about this 𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘦 time? You thought I'd find out you collect stamps or something, & then I'd up & ditch? Of course you're not a hero all the time, Rob. I'd never expect you to be."

Tim huffed, pouting defensively as he averted his gaze. "Anything sounds stupid when you put it like 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵."

"... so, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 why you told Imp first?" Kon cautioned to ask, jealousy catching at his voice.

Tim sighed. "In my defense, I didn't actually tell him. He zipped into my room when my domino was off, & the rat was pretty much out of the bag from there."

A pause.

"Oh."

Kon's face pulled into a similar shape as it did the time he forgot his wallet at the deli: red, flustered & ashamed. "Soooo I definitely jumped to conclusions. I'm a hypocrite. Sorry about that."

"I'm sure I'll forgive you." Tim chuckled, letting himself relax slightly.

However, the unresolved elephant in the room kept nagging at the back of his mind.

"Just always wanna be good enough for you." He admitted, voice small & crinkly.

Kon brought a hand up to his cheek, wiping away any tears that had seeped under the constraints of the mask. His other hand came to tilt Tim's chin up, leaning in to kiss him, slowly & softly.

Every time Tim thought Kon was going to pull away, Kon instead pressed their lips together again, kissing him deeper & sweeter than the previous. It felt like an insistent promise; a reassurance that Kon wouldn't let up until he drilled the message into Tim's brain.

Tim had no good reason anymore. If Kon wasn't interested once he knew Tim in & out, then Tim had no right to cling onto him like this. To lie to him anymore.

Finally, after what had felt like years of deliberation & insecurity, Tim nodded, pulling his head away from the long string of kisses.

"Okay. I- okay. I wanna... I want to take off the mask. You can see." The way Kon's face lit up made Tim's heart flutter. "B-but can we do it tomorrow? Meet somewhere private? I kinda want time to... emotionally prepare."

Disappointment flashed across Kon's expression momentarily, but he didn't let it linger long. Instead, he replaced it with a light, excited smile.

"You got it. Time & place?"

Chapter Text

So, yeah.

The thing that Tim was 'emotionally preparing for' wasn't strictly only his meeting with Kon.

"No."

"Bruce, seriously!"

"It's 𝘥𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘴, Tim. It's bad enough that the speedster knows. You need to keep damage control to a minimum."

Tim, being the good son & sidekick he was, had gone to Bruce to get a blessing of sorts: permission to reveal his identity to Kon, with whatever consequences it may bring.

Unfortunately, that included giving Bruce a brief rundown of recent events, which the older man was less than impressed with.

Even more unfortunately, as they stood in one of the manor's many lounges, Alfred vacuuming in the background, Bruce's reaction to Tim's request was entirely predictable.

"Conner isn't 𝘥𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘴." He insisted.

"He has the capacity to be." Bruce countered.

Tim snarked, crossing his arms confrontationally. "So do I."

"𝘠𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 not indestructible."

He was sure he heard a tint of sorrow in Bruce's words; experience seeping through every syllable. Flames crackled in the fireplace, nearly drowned out by the noise of Alfred cleaning. Tim's position eased up slightly, chosing to let Bruce continue.

"Listen. I know the bond you share with the Kent boy is... special. Clark says that 'Robin' is a frequent topic of conversation between the two of them." Tim's collar felt tighter at the mention. "So I know that however much I advise you, I won't be able to stop you from doing this."

"No, you won't." Tim stated, but with no venom in his voice.

"If I may interject?" Alfred piped up from across the room, getting in there before Bruce could open his mouth & continue talking.

The two others nodded. Alfred momentarily switched off the whirring vacuum cleaner.

"I believe what Master Bruce is trying to express is that he is well aware that he cannot control your actions. However, that doesn't stop him from having a deep concern for you & your wellbeing. Try to respect his fear, & I'm sure he'll respect your choices." He explained, shooting Bruce a commanding look with his last few words.

Tim had been wrong. The originator of the omnipotent, powerful parenting tone was definitely not Bruce.

Reluctantly, Tim turned to look back towards his surrogate father.

"I..." he began, unsure how to phrase his feelings best.

"I don't need you to trust Conner. I just need you to trust me. Believe in me & my capacity to look after myself. I learnt from the best, after all." He added charmingly on the end, trying to sweeten the deal.

Despite Bruce's knowing groan, Tim knew it had worked.

He looked Tim up & down exasperatedly before pointing an instructing finger.

"Make sure it's just the two of you. Be back here by 11:30. And 𝘣𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘶𝘭."

Tim bounced on the spot slightly, stepping forward to throw his arms around the man.

"Thank you!" He leaned back. "And I will, I promise."

Bruce gave him a disbelieving look, but upon spotting Alfred shooting him daggers from across the room, he patted Tim on the shoulder tiredly.

All the same, as he left dressed in civilian-wear, Tim made sure to pull out all of his pockets to make sure Bruce hadn't slipped any kryptonite or tracking devices into his pockets during the hug.

There were none, to Tim's relief, but as Bruce himself would tell you: you can never be too careful.

______

It was a local park he had first heard about in school.

Because of the shade of the overhanging trees & the moisture of the pond, spring flowers lasted longer here.

Tim didn't come out here too often, more out of sake of convenience than anything else. But whenever he did, he appreciated the calm that surrounded the area. It truly felt like his own private little area, that he & he alone got to enjoy.

He supposed inviting Kon to share this space with him was representative of this whole situation, so it seemed fitting for the meeting.

Moonlight came through in spots from the gaps in the leaves above, painting all it touched in a light blue. Tim sat by the pond, knees tucked into his chest, fingers rippling through the cold water.

A shudder came over his body as he felt a presence slowly drop from the sky a few metres behind him.

Kon didn't say anything at first. The two stayed in silence, accompanied by the rustling of leaves & the occasional croak of a grasshopper.

Tim appreciated that Kon had dropped in behind him, giving Tim full control of when he should turn around & finally let this happen.

The silence breaks.

"Hey."

Hearing the anticipation in Kon's voice made Tim's own nerves both settle & sky-rocket at the same time.

His breath began to quicken. Was he really ready to do this? He'd built it up for so long that now it was actually happening, it felt like some grand cosmic change was going to occur if he turned around.

Kon wouldn't mind if he changed his mind, right?

No. No. He was doing this. He just needed to convince his body to move.

However, as Tim placed his hand on the ground & went to push his weight into it to help himself up, the limb began to shake & buckle, refusing to support him.

Shit. Just calm down. How the hell was he supposed to do this if even his body was rooting him still? God, he just wanted to-

Fuck it.

Kon jolted slightly as Tim suddenly launched his arms upwards, throwing his whole weight backwards so that he was laying on his back in the grass.

Eyes clenched tightly shut, he huffed out a frustrated, wrecked noise. The way he'd sprawled himself backwards, arms wayward above his head, made it so that he was almost reluctantly giving himself up to Kon as an offering.

He refused to open his eyes & look at Kon's reaction just yet, but his face was now on full display to the boy behind him should he look.

Kon let out a loud, deflating laugh.

"Ha-I-ha, I mean, I guess that's one way to do it. Hello."

Tim heard the crunch of grass as Kon approached him, seeming to settle just above Tim's head. A pair of cool hands came either side of his face, tilting it slightly side to side like Kon was studying him.

Tim's eyes clenched even harder shut, causing Kon to chuckle again.

"I think I recognise you, actually." He marvelled, hands still tilting Tim's head in various directions.

"T- TV, probably." Tim's voice came out strained impossibly tight. "I- I'm Tim Drake. Wayne. Uh, I'm kinda taking on Wayne Enterprises in Gotham."

He was pretty sure he was currently tensing every single muscle in his body; an impressive feat if it hadn't been so uncomfortable.

Kon whistled. "Damn, I really guessed right on the rich kid thing..." he mused, drawing out the silence like he wasn't finished.

"...Tim."

Hearing the name come out of Kon's mouth sent a shiver throughout Tim's entire body. A shiver that he was 110% sure Kon had felt, & he was even more sure that Kon must've been smirking like a kid on Christmas right now.

"So..." Yup. Tim could definitely hear the smirk in Kon's voice. "Are you actually gonna open your eyes, or am I just gonna have to keep looking at your eyelids?"

After a moment, Tim gently creaked his eyes open a peep, the sudden glare of the moonlight jarring.

Allowing them to fall further open, he finally found Kon's face, upside down in his field of vision, framed by the trees & stars above.

Their eyes met for the very first time.

Tim somehow felt like this was the very first time he was truly looking at Kon, too; there was this new gleam of recognition in his eye that Tim had never seen before. He decided that he liked it.

The previous cocky smirk had been replaced by a look of floored wonder.

"Your eyes are blue."

"Yeah."

"They're... nice."

Tim lifted a brow at him mockingly.

Kon furrowed, looking flustered. "Cut me some slack, alright? I'm not a fucking poet. They're nice. You're nice. You've got a really nice face, & it's kinda messing me up right no-"

His ramblings were interupted by Tim grabbing him by the back of his head, pulling his face down into an upside down kiss.

It was an awkward angle, & felt kinda weird, but the moment Kon started kissing him back, none of that mattered.

Everything was okay. Of course it was. This was Kon. Kon knew Tim. Better than anybody else, all this time, without even knowing his name.

"𝘛𝘪𝘮."

Speaking of.

Kon continued to kiss him, muttering Tim's name against his lips. Tim couldn't help but giggle bashfully.

"That gonna be your new-𝘬𝘪𝘴𝘴- catchphrase or something?"

Sneering, Kon nipped at Tim's bottom lip scoldingly.

"Just let me get over the novelty, alright?"

The only response Tim gave was a shove at Kon's face. Kon grunted in protest, but Tim siezed the opportunity to sit up, whisking himself around & throwing himself back at Kon feverishly.

Kissing the correct way up made the process a lot easier, both of them smiling against eachother's lips.

Kon's hands found the small of Tim's back, pulling him in & dipping him backwards. Letting his head fall down into the grass, Tim threw a leg over Kon's hips, locking him in, gasping as one of Kon's hands came to hitch his thigh up further.

Breathlessly, his hands clutched at the short hairs at the back of Kon's head, fingers moving restlessly. Kon's body pressed harder into his, flattening the two of them against the ground, & Tim considered whether Kon could feel his racing heartbeat through their connected chests.

Once he started to feel light-headed, his hand moved to poke at Kon's shoulder gently. Kon immediately let up, hovering above him with a hazey, wrecked expression.

"Y'alright?" Kon tried breathlessly, mouth hardly forming the sentence.

Tim grinned up at the charming, considerate idiot before him.

"Not that I'm not enjoying this, but I'm not letting our first time be in a random park in the middle of nowhere." He smirked, hand coming up to hold Kon's cheek. "Plus I told Bruce that I'd be back by 11:30."

Kon's face twitched in a strange way, lifting his wrist to look at his watch.

Tim watched as the boy above him went a funny green hue.

"What? What is it?"

"It's, uh," Kon squeaked, not moving his eyes from the watch. "It's 12:05."

"It's 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵?!"

______
When Kon flew Tim into the entrance of Wayne Manor in the early hours of the morning, both of them with suspiciously screwed-up hair & clothes, Tim was sure he was going to have to hide all of Bruce's kryptonite stashes in fear of Kon's life.

Chapter Text

Tim rubbed the back of his hand across his brow, swiping away the sweat that settled there. In the midst of the crowded airport, the already torturous summer heat became humid & suffocating.

Collectively deciding they had all earnt some down-time, the members of YJ were taking the week off duty, allowing the B-team to fill in:

Cass had gone back to the sub-urbs, planning on catching up with Cissie & enjoying the weather.

Bart had set out a plan to go to as many amusement parks as he physically could in the week, keeping the rest of them regularly updated on his ventures & wailings.

Kon, upon invitation, had travelled back to Smallville to help around the Kent Farm, taking refuge in an old guest room.

Hence, the reason Tim was putting up with sweaty strangers knocking carelessly into his shoulders in a Kansas airport.

Bruce & Damian wouldn't take a day off it meant death, so Tim didn't have much of a chance at family time there. Dick was over in Blüdhaven, attending to the near-constant mess that was that city, which Tim wanted no part of. There wasn't a snowball's chance in hell that Jason was going to volunteer to spend one-on-one time with Tim, & honestly, the feeling was mutual.

So, when Tim had purposefully voiced his considerations to Kon of asking Steph about her plans, he revelled in the way that Kon had jerked in a manner that suspiciously resembled jealousy.

Kon proposed that he come stay in Smallville for the week too, which had totally been Kon's idea that Tim had no part in whatsoever.

Tim grinned to himself. He could play that boy like a damn fiddle.

Trying to glance over the shoulders of the crowd around him, Tim searched the large room for any sign of his temporary chauffeur of mention.

They had agreed on a certain time, but looking at the steady stream of people entering the building still, Tim could imagine the traffic must've been horrendous.

He was about to give up, fighting towards a wall to prop himself up on, when he heard a voice.

"Tim!"

Kon, unsurprisingly, had still not worn off the novelty of finally knowing Tim's name.

A big, cheesy smirk lay across his face as he yelled over, waving Tim down. Had they not been in public, Kon would have surely flewn straight at him, picking him up by his face in a way that was only comfortable due to Kon's TTK supporting his legs.

It'd become pretty clear, since that night by the pond, that Kon had developed some sort of obsession with Tim's face. Maybe it had been the result of all the built up anticipation, but the boy could hardly seem to leave it alone. He'd grab it every so often, squeezing or pinching his cheeks teasingly, staring into Tim's eyes so intensely that it bordered on weird.

Tim found he didn't mind it all that much, though. The thorough & undivided attention made his heart skip a couple of beats every time.

Budging his way through the wall of people, Kon came to stand at Tim's feet.

"You lost at sea, Columbus?" He greeted, having to lean in close so that Tim could actually hear him, reaching to take one of Tim's travel bags.

"It's even more packed here than in Gotham!" Tim yelled over the ruckus, handing over a bag with a silent gratitude. "How do you even find your way around?"

"Amazing intuition!" Kon grinned cockily, making Tim roll his eyes.

His snark fell, however, when Kon outstretched his free hand, offering it palm up for Tim to take.

Tim oggled at the appendage for a moment, glancing around them at the sea of people before looking back at Kon questioningly.

Apparently reading his mind, Kon laughed, sticking his hand out with more purpose. "It's so I don't lose you in the chaos, Romeo. What did you think it was for?"

He finished the sentence with a wink, making Tim's already flushed face prick even hotter.

Passing his remaining bags to one hand, he wiped his palm quickly against his shirt before placing it in Kon's. Fingers wrapped tightly over his knuckles, making Tim's hands immediately clam up again.

Letting Kon ramble as he dragged the two of them through the airport, Tim slipped into his own thoughts.

As much as he simply enjoyed spending time with Kon, there was also a motive to his being here.

Their relationship.

Tim was pretty damn sure at this point that Kon liked him. Hell; walking through a busy airport hand in hand; planning on sharing a bed for the next week; even Tim could admit that Kon pretty much already acted like his boyfriend.

They'd just never... talked about it before.

One day, they had just started a habit of making out in empty corridors, & it had never really been addressed outside of compliments & tender moments.

After all that had happened over the past few weeks, Tim felt significantly more confident about Kon not grievously rejecting him.

However, that didn't take away from the lingering insecurity he still had.

What if Kon just saw them as fuck-buddies? ... kiss-buddies? Run-my-fingers-through-your-hair-and-tell-you-you're-amazing-buddies?

Whatever.

The point was that Tim wanted more. 𝘍𝘦𝘭𝘵 so much more. He wanted Kon, more than just hands & kisses.

His mind flitted back to Kon's words from that morning they fought.

"𝘠𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘥𝘶𝘮𝘣𝘢𝘴𝘴. 𝘐 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘫𝘰𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘧𝘶𝘮𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦, & 𝘐 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘮𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘺𝘰𝘶."

That had to count as a confession, right? Right? There's no way that there wasn't romantic intention by the way Kon emphasised the 'my' in that sentence.

But Tim, ever the over-thinker, refused to take 'probably' as an answer. He needed proof. Confirmation. Hard, cold evidence stating that Kon was his.

"Aaaand you weren't listening to a word of that, were you?"

Kon's voice snapped him out of his thoughts.

Tim marvelled, having not even noticed that the two had long left the building, both now stood in front of Kon's car.

He bared his teeth apologetically. "Sorry. The weather's just making me dizzy."

It wasn't a total lie.

"It's fine," Kon ushered him into the passenger seat. "Two minutes ago I pretty much just started spewing nonsense just to see if you were paying attention."

________

Luckily, the farmhouse had been empty when they arrived, Clark & Lois having taken Jon on a playdate with some school friends. Despite technically having the entire house to themselves, Kon still rushed them to the upstairs floor for the sake of their privacy.

The moment the door of the guest room closed behind the two of them, Tim found his back pressed against the wall, Kon ducking down to kiss him like it was a breath he'd been holding in all day.

Tim, objectives flying out the window, melted into it, pliantly letting Kon interlock their fingers as he pinned Tim's hands against the wall either side of his head.

His breath hitched as Kon wedged a knee between his thighs, completely locking him in position (not that Tim particularly felt like escaping, anyway.)

Feeling a weird sensation buzz down his forearms, Tim snuck his eyes to the side to investigate, only to find nothing there. It took him a moment of pondering before he realised what must be going on: Kon's TTK, whether subconsciously or not, was sending tingly, massaging vibrations down Tim's arms, like a tangible representation of how eager he was.

If he was, in fact, doing it consciously, then Tim was definitely going to ask him to do it more often.

As Kon's fervent motions began to calm down, deep, hard kisses slowly delved into short, sweet pecks on Tim's lips & face, his grip on Tim's hands loosening ever so slightly.

Tim's brain felt like chewed-up bubblegum. As Kon's kisses travelled up his cheek, the words left Tim's mouth before he could even comprehend what he was saying.

"I really like you, Kon."

It was more of a sigh than a sentence, but it was still legible enough for Kon to understand. He pulled back slightly, staring into Tim's glazed-over eyes in the same studious way he'd been doing recently.

A playful smirk graced his lips, a pent-up airiness to his voice. "Awh, you're just saying that 'cause I'm kissin' you."

Tim shook his head, still trying to form coherent thoughts.

"No, I mean, like..." he gulped. "I have feelings for you. Serious feelings."

The expression on Kon's face didn't change, moving in to continue his ministrations by the edge of Tim's jaw.

"Aren't all your feelings serious, Tim?" He jeered into the skin underneath his ear.

Tim huffed frustratedly. Why the hell was Kon not taking him seriously?

"I 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘵, Conner. 𝘓𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘯 to me."

Kon pulled away again gently, raising a brow. "What are you talking about?"

"I want to 𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘦 you. Be your boyfriend. Be exclusive. Et cetera et cetera." Tim felt himself getting more & more flustered. Kon wasn't exactly making this whole thing easy for him, with his back still pushed up against the guest-room wall.

A mixed bag of emotions passed over Kon's face: humour, confusion, concern, processing, before his eyes flicked open comically wide.

There was a beat of silence between the two, Kon looking utterly flabbergasted.

"We... were we 𝘯𝘰𝘵 dating?"

Tim froze.

"...𝘩𝘶𝘩?"

"I thought..." Kon trailed off, face going pale as he looked down shamefully. "Oh. Uh. Whoops?"

"You... you already thought we were dating?" Tim asked, voice entirely full of gleeful awe instead of mockery.

The tone didn't seem to translate through to Kon, though.

"Well, I don't know! We kiss a lot & go out for food together & share a bed &, well, 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨! I mean, I guess I just kinda assumed!"

"Kon."

"Looking back, I guess we never really said anything about it, but hey! Shoot a guy for trying to read between the lines for once. You know I'm not great with subtlety, dude!"

"𝘒𝘰𝘯."

"Wait, so were we not exclusive? Have you been seeing other people? Oh god, 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦?!"

"Kon-El!"

Kon shut up at Tim using his Kryptonian name. He looked like a deer in headlights; like Tim had just threatened to shoot him if another word escaped his lips.

Tim, however, was not threatening in the slightest. A wide, giggly grin was stretched across his face, looking at Kon in a mixture of amusement, admiration & exasperation.

"I'm not mad at you. I 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘯'𝘵 been seeing other people. I just wanted to officially know whether we felt the same way." He laughed. "I was a little worried you'd wanna keep things casual, but I suppose you just proved that wrong."

Kon's shoulders seemed to relax, though he turned slightly red at the last statement.

The entire time, their fingers had remained interlocked on the wall behind Tim. Noting Kon's embarrassment, Tim squeezed his hands in teasing reassurance. Failing to hold back a smile, Kon squeezed Tim's hands in return, letting their foreheads rest together.

"So," Kon started quietly, "If we 𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯'𝘵 𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘩𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 dating, does that mean I can ask you out?"

Tim snorted. "What do you think I was just trying to do, genius?"

"Send me to an early grave, based on how fast my heart is beating." Exhaled Kon, closing his eyes for a moment. "Wait, so who's asking who? Do 𝘐 speak? Or-"

"Conner, will you go out with me?"

Kon glanced back up to meet his eyes.

Ever since Tim had started taking his mask off in front of Kon, he had come to the expertly analysed conclusion that Kon was completely & utterly whipped for his eyes. Maybe it was still the residing novelty, but whenever Tim would remove the domino, he'd catch Kon gawking at him like he was one of the seven wonders of the world.

Always looking deeply, 𝘸𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘭𝘺 into his eyes, just like he was doing at that very moment.

Tim's heart stuttered.

A smirk befell Kon's face. "I mean, there are certainly worse things I could do with my time."

A hard, irritated shove to Kon's face was reciprocated by Kon grabbing at Tim's middle, tickling him until the two wound up tackling eachother to the floor playfully.

That night, Tim did indeed fall asleep using Kon's arm as a pillow, other arm wrapped tightly around Tim's waist, face buried into Tim's hair as he sleepily whispered Tim's name.

And this time, it was Tim's name, & Tim wouldn't swap that for the damn world.