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Hawk looked up from his book, the words long past blurring on the page, distracted from trying to figure out if the smudge was clock or another word entirely by a flicker of motion.
Tim's long fingers rubbed at his eyes, slipping under his glasses so he didn't dislodge them.
Tim adjusted the wide frames with a frown, glaring harder at the books spread in front of him.
Hawk set his book aside, making a mental note to finish it tomorrow.
"Bedtime, Skippy."
"I'm not tired," Tim complained, his fifth such protest in as many minutes ruined by the jaw-cracking yawn he let out.
Hawk smiled indulgently, kissing Tim on the forehead. "Of course you're not, Skippy," he agreed, his hand finding Tim's elbow, helping Tim rise to his feet.
"It's still early," Tim continued, as if stubbornness alone would be enough to keep both the march of time and his own tiredness at bay.
And if anyone's stubbornness could stop time from marching on, it would be Tim's, Hawk would admit. But, sadly, that was beyond even his Skippy's many talents.
"Early," Hawk confirmed, steering Tim away from the stack of books spread over their dining room table.
He had been a sucker for Tim's puppy eyes and soft plea for "just one more chapter, Hawk, please?" far too many times that night already.
"I have an exam," Tim murmured, apparently oblivious to Hawk's escorting him upstairs. "I need to study."
"Yes, angel," Hawk humoured, knowing better by now than to tell him the exam in question wasn't for a few weeks. If Hawk's students studied half as well as Tim did, everyone would be doing much better. "But one early night won't hurt you."
Early, of course, for a given definition of the term. Hawk would have happily been in bed hours ago.
As if finally realising that he wasn't sitting at the dining room table, Tim turned in Hawk's gentle guiding hold, facing back towards the stairs. "One more chapter?" Tim tried, his eyes soft and wide behind the lenses of his glasses. "I'll come straight to bed afterwards, Hawk. I promise."
Hawk had fallen for that one when Tim was studying for his first exams. He'd come downstairs the next morning - after a very unsatisfying night's sleep - to find Tim fast asleep on his books.
If Hawk truly thought that Tim needed to study or would be angry with him for helping him up to bed, Tim would still be in their dining room and Hawk would be making coffee. Tim had a wonderful dream and Hawk wasn't going to be the person who got in the way of that. Not for anything. But, sometimes, his Skippy got so caught up in what he thought he needed to do immediately that he failed to remember he needed to take care of himself. Which is why he had Hawk.
"Left," Hawk said, still maneuvering his unresisting love towards their bedroom.
Tim, obligingly turned, frowning adorably as he came face to face with the wall.
"Your other left, angel," Hawk smiled, giving in to the urge to kiss the corner of the pout on Tim's sweet lips.
Tim grumbled, yawned, and turned, snuggling himself right into Hawk's waiting arms.
Hawk wrapped his arms around him, giving himself a moment just to be with Tim.
"You work too hard, Skippy," Hawk whispered against his hair. "The world doesn't end if you let yourself have a break."
Something about pots and kettles was mumbled into his skin, followed by a soft kiss.
"I know," Hawk agreed, steering them both the rest of the way to their bedroom. "But we can both try together."
Sleepily, Tim pulled just enough away from Hawk that he could smile at him. Like all Tim's smiles, it Hawk feel like he was the only person in the universe with Tim. Like he needed only this for the rest of his life and he would be the happiest man in the world. Which was definitely the truth.
"Together," Tim agreed, his nose crinkling as he fought back a yawn. And then, soft and mumbled. "Tired, Hawk."
Tim was unhelpfully helpful as Hawk divested him of his clothes, moving the wrong limb or forgetting how a belt worked. Hawk patiently helped him, effortlessly managing to fall even more in love with every endearing thing his sleepy Skippy did.
After he poured Tim into bed, he tucked the covers securely around him. Bending down, Hawk pressed his lips to Tim's forehead, a silent goodnight, I love you in case Tim drifted into slumber before Hawk could join him in bed.
He could feel Tim's eyes following him as he undressed, feel his soft smile when he folded the clothes even if they would end up in the laundry hamper in the morning.
Tim lifted up the covers for Hawk to climb in beside him, latching himself to him like a limpet as soon as he was comfortable. Hawk closed his eyes and smiled. Fast asleep before Tim even murmured "goodnight, beloved".