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Tim didn’t really wanna be here.
He was busy- he had work to do. But seeing as how this was a Wayne Enterprise-hosted gala, his attendance was mandatory.
The suit he was wearing was uncomfortable and scratchy. All he wanted was to go home, change into some sweatpants and finish his work before sleeping for a week.
But nope. He was stuck at this stupid gala with all of these stupid high society pricks and their pointless prattling.
The rest of the family was here too, much to his dismay. Even Jason, although how he was convinced to come was a complete mystery. He had seen most of them around, but they must not have seen him, because none of them had approached. It wasn’t that he was avoiding them… well maybe he was, but he thought it was probably excusable. All things considered.
Tim was currently hiding out at a table off to the side on the opposite side of the hall as the entrance. Definitely not brooding. He was nursing his second champagne glass. He was glad that he could finally drink (legally), but he secretly wished that it was something a little bit stronger.
He knew he should probably be out mingling with the other attendees, but he could probably do that later. For now, he was content to people-watch.
After a little while of Tim hiding out in the corner, he saw Dick approaching the table he had claimed. He groaned internally. One of the many people he didn’t want to talk to this evening.
“Hey,” Dick said “It’s been a while. I feel like we haven’t talked in ages.”
“I’ve been really busy recently.” Tim shot back. The shorter this conversation, the better.
“Too busy to even respond to my messages? Even Bruce is getting worried, you know,” he said. The tone was teasing, but Tim could tell there was some truth to the words.
“Where is Bruce, by the way? It’s his gala, shouldn’t he be here by now?” Tim asked, carefully sidestepping past the uncomfortable topic. He hadn’t seen the man all night. Heck, he hadn’t seen the man at all since he had dropped by his office after the last board meeting.
“He said he was nearly here last I heard,” Dick replied.
As if on cue, Bruce walked in the doors. He was dressed up in his best suit, looking exactly up to Alfred’s impeccable standards. He was accompanied by a good-looking younger man. The young man was dressed to the nines as well. He had a darker complexion, neatly styled black hair and bright green eyes. He looked vaguely familiar, but Tim hadn’t been following Brucie’s news stories, so he couldn't say for certain.
Regardless, it must have been Bruce’s new “evening fling.”
Tim turned to Dick.
“So I know Bruce is bi and all, but- doesn’t that guy seem a little young for him?” He asked. The young man didn’t look much older than he was. Surely Dick would clear things up. Or set Bruce straight when he saw.
Dick looked at him like he had grown another head. Or perhaps lost his altogether.
“What on earth are you talking about?” Dick asked, completely confused.
“The guy that Bruce just came in with. Isn’t he a little young for him?” Tim asked again, gesturing vaguely to the entrance where the two were still mingling.
Dick followed his motion, obviously very confused.
The young man spotted the two of them at the table, or more likely spotted Dick, saying something to Bruce before the two of them began heading towards them.
“Tim,” Dick said seriously, causing Tim to look over at him, “That’s Damian.”
What? No way. But when he looked back at the young man steadily approaching the table, the similarities were pretty obvious. Surely it hadn’t been that long since he’d seen them. But he was pretty sure he would have remembered Damian looking like that.
He stared at Damian as he walked the remaining distance to the table where he was seated.
“Timothy,” he greeted. And wasn’t that a shock? “I see you are well. It’s been some time since we last saw each other.”
Tim felt his eyebrows rise incredulously. Who did he think he was fooling? That’s because the last time we “talked” you were trying to kill me! He wanted to say. But he didn’t. When had that been anyway?
Instead, he replied with a simple “yeah…”
He didn't think it had been that long, but the more he thought, the clearer he remembered. He was pretty sure the last time he’d had a real conversation with Damian was over five years ago. Sure, he saw some of his other siblings occasionally, but he hadn’t really hung out with any of them. And it wasn’t like he was going to weekly family dinners or anything.
He saw them sometimes on patrols, or during crises but Tim usually worked alone. Especially after all of the murder attempts. Regardless, he had cases to work on, and WE work to work on. He just didn’t have the time to be messing around.
Just then, Bruce finally reached the table.
“Tim!” He said, “It’s great to see you. I'm glad you were able to make it out tonight.”
Dick attempted to surreptitiously clear his throat. Bruce looked over at him. Tim could feel the awkward tension building in the air.
He sighed, looking back down into his drink. Based on the fact that no one was saying anything, they were probably having one of those silent conversations they always seemed to have. Tim really wished he could go home.
Finally, Bruce coughed awkwardly. Tim looked back up at him.
“Are- Would you- there’s a family dinner on Saturday, and we would like for you to be there.” Bruce got out.
Tim thought for a moment. It seemed like Damian had truly changed- it certainly looked like it, but was he willing to risk it? Although, there was a slight chance that he may have missed his family. A little. Maybe.
Maybe things had been bad before, but there was no knowing if they would get better if he never attempted to reconcile. He was pretty sure the chances of getting murdered were fairly low. Especially at a dinner in front of everyone. And besides, he didn't want to disappoint Alfred by not showing up.
‘Screw it’ he decided. Worst case scenario, he would just leave. It would be fine. Hopefully.
“Sure. Yeah, I’ll be there.”