Archive of Our Own ^beta

Edward raised an eyebrow. "And if I refuse?"

Batman pulled him in tight, his eyes narrowed into white slits. "Then I'll hurt you before I send you back to Arkham. Got it?" Edward nodded choppily. "Good." The Dark Knight unceremoniously dropped him to the floor before he left through the broken window he'd entered from.

Edward staggered to the kitchen table, over his henchmen's unconscious body, and sat down in a rickety chair. When the henchman awoke, he sent him off with a wave of a hand. Once alone, he sat at the table and pondered the riddle before him. What did Red Robin want with him? Obviously, nothing too earth-shattering, if Batman wasn't involving himself, but significant enough that Batman insisted on his assistance. Something personal to Red Robin then. Interesting...

Three hours on the dot after Batman's departure came a knock on the front door of the apartment hideout. Edward got up to answer and found Red Robin on the other side. The boy rubbed his elbow and looked down at his feet. "Hi, Nigma," he said. "I know this is weird, but can I come in?"

For the second time that evening, Edward found himself raising an eyebrow. Red Robin had always been more polite compared to the other Robins, but this was just..odd. "By all means," he answered, ushering the boy inside. Red Robin nodded, still not making eye contact with him as he walked to the kitchen table.

"Well," Edward said when he joined him. "Batman said you wanted to ask me something? Ask away."

Red Robin took a deep breath. "Ok. This is going to sound really weird, but I was wondering..." For the first time, he looked up at Edward. "You...you're bi, right?"

Edward blinked, then scoffed. "What, I haven't made that exceedingly obvious over the last decade? What kind of question is that?" Was he being recruited for some kind of Honey Trap scheme?

Red Robin flushed. "Yeah, I know, I know. I just, I wanted to ask you..." He began fidgeting with his fingers. "When did you know you were bi?"

Clarity soon came to Edward's mind. He folded his hands in front of him. "You're not asking out of idle curiosity, are you? You are, or you suspect you are at least, bisexual."

Red Robin gulped and quickly nodded. "Yeah. I was kind of hoping you'd have some advice for me."

Edward stared incredulously at the former Boy Wonder for a long moment, then shook his head. "Surely, you must have better options than the notorious criminal outlaw that you yourself have battered on numerous occasions?"

"There aren't a whole lot of people I can talk to about this," Red Robin said. "Almost all the bi people I know are women, and there's some stuff I feel more comfortable talking to a man about, and there's some stuff you just don't talk about with family, you know?"

"I don't," Edward said pointedly. This was just what he needed, being forcibly recruited to fill a void in this young man's life that Batman was incapable of filling. "I'm not exactly the sage elder type, you know. Why me?"

"I know, this isn't exactly my first choice either but I broke up with my girlfriend and I've been doing a lot of thinking about my life, and there's so much stuff that makes more sense now, but a lot I'm still confused about, and I don't know-" he stopped and sighed. "You've always been so open and unapologetic about yourself like that," he said softly. "I kind of wish I could be more like you in that way."

Perhaps it was his ego being gratified, or maybe it was some strange camaraderie, but Edward felt his heart soften, just a tad. “And there’s no one else in your costumed brigade that you could go to for advice?”

Red Robin shuffled in his seat. “Not…really? I mean, I asked Ghostmaker, but I don’t think I want to follow his advice. And the only other guy I could think of off the top of my head was John Constantine-“

Edward held up a hand. “Say no more.” He leaned back in his chair, cracked his knuckles, and sighed. “Very well. Just this once, I’ll dispense some sage advice. What do you want to know?”

Red Robin smiled, and despite just how odd this whole situation was, Edward couldn't begrudge him for it. "When did you know you were bi?"

"Since high school," Edward said. "Of course, I couldn't act on it until I got to Gotham. Didn't want to give my father and the troglodytes at school any more ammunition."

Red Robin nodded. "Is there a difference between how you date a man versus how you date a woman?"

"There is one slight difference," Edward teased. He laughed at the flush on Red Robin's face. "But I doubt you want to hear any of that from me. In my experience, I've never approached a man differently than how I'd approach a woman. I've always been more interested in what was in a partner's brain than what was in their pants. The important thing to remember is no gender is a monolith. You need to see your prospective partner as an individual first and tailor your approach accordingly."

Red Robin nodded eagerly. Edward was half surprised he wasn't taking notes. Then his face became downcast. "And," he asked. "Have you ever wondered if maybe...you were just confused?"

"Not for an instant," Edward answered. "I am a bisexual man. Whether I'm with a man or a woman, that doesn't change. I happen to have a slight preference towards women, given my upbringing, but it doesn't make my attraction to men less valid. It's the same with you. If you date a man, it doesn't make your past relationships with women invalid. You are just as valid as anyone who identifies as heterosexual or homosexual and don't let any moron ever tell you any differently."

Red Robin smiled again. "Thanks, Edward."

Edward found himself smiling back. "You're welcome, Timothy."