Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

"What do you say? Boy wonder."

Tim completely missed the question. Of course, he wasn't exactly there the whole time during the meeting.

Meeting? Was this a meeting? He forgot what the occasion was today.

"Don't call me that. What was the question?" Tim mumbled, his gaze lazily flying over everyone in the room, only to be met with a single pair of eyes on him. 

Only one person was in the room with him.

"Fuck..." Tim sighed defeatedly before rubbing his face with his hands, hoping that whatever sleep was left inside him had disappeared instantly. 

He wasn't so lucky with this part, but the effort was there.

A snort interrupted Tim's hopeless train of thought. Tim looked over to where it came from, only to make brief eye contact with Kon beside him. However, they both immediately faced different directions.

Tim cleared his throat, and Kon shifted on the couch.

"You dozed off there," Kon inched closer. "Did... You hear a thing I said?" A smile played in the corner of his lips. 

Tim only eyed his face before looking away with an exaggerated sigh. 

Head leaned back on the sofa with a small whirl of thoughts inside his head. Messy, but he concluded with a simple response.

"Hm, no… I didn't. I'm going to take a total guess here and say, was it food-related?" Tim jested with a smile of his own.

Tim didn't know if he was right, mostly spitting out whatever thought came to mind. 

He barely had anything in his mind right now.

Turning his attention to Kon, Tim noticed a slight twitch in his brow. However, his face quickly smoothed over with a different expression—a simple, relaxed expression.

Tim wasn't buying it.

"No…" Kon mumbled, flickering his gaze away before returning his gaze to Tim. "That's fine, though. I'll bring it up next time."

Tim squinted, not liking this answer but going along with it for whatever sake the boy in blue had to save.

Shifting in place, Kon only grinned. 

A grin that wasn't readable for Tim to look into properly. 

Tim even considered investigating Kon before shoving that thought so far down.

Over-controlling habits that he tried getting away from.

Tim wasn't sure what he was doing, honestly. Wasting away on a Friday afternoon with Kon by his side. 

Thinking about it, Tim was only an inch away from him. He's so close, too close even.

His brows furrowed at the idea of nearly touching. 

He wasn't used to it due to his unfortunate upbringing and adoption into the Wayne family.

Even though Dick gets all touchy-feely most days, it isn't constant, rare moments that Tim doesn't store away in his brain file and upload into… Whatever it is. Seventh sense? 

Exhaling quietly, Tim started tapping his fingers against the couch's arm. Turning his head away, he clenched and unclenched his jaw.

"Tim? You alright? Honestly, you seem out of it today, ha," Kon half-chuckled, a slight concern in his tone of voice.

Tim only swallowed a pathetic excuse and pursed his lips, eyes squinting, pretending to think.

"Better than ever," Sighing as he says, "Why do you ask?" It was a quiet response. Deep down, Tim was hoping that Kon wouldn't answer that question.

"You're being… Sluggish, barely paying attention." Kon pointed out, his head tilting as he spoke.

There was a flex in Kon's neck that Tim kept his attention on, Adam's apple bobbing as he spoke.

Tim quickly dismissed that thought and pathetically stretched his arms.

Soon, settling down and placing his hands on cushions by his sides, Tim tapped his fingers in an inconsistent pattern, his bottom lip caught between his teeth. 

Pretending to be deep in thought for a response once more.

In the corner of his eye, he could see Kon staring at him openly, not shying away.

There was confidence in his demeanour, which Tim liked: laid back and open.

There were many other reasons why Tim liked Kon. It just feels wrong to admit it.

"I'm fine. I'm just starting to wake up or something." Tim murmured.

Leaning forward now and letting his shoulders slouch, possibly the closest way he'll ever relax.

"You sure do lie a lot," Kon chuckled, "Will you ever tell me what's wrong, Timmy?"

His voice was teasing, almost hushed, but his words had a clear intent.

To get a reaction from Tim.

Tim doesn't even know if the matter is worth talking about if the event happened weeks or months ago.

He would assume no, but knowing Kon, reassurance will always creep into his words or actions.

Tim definitely won't ever tell Kon a thing until he's dealt with it himself, and then go to Kon about it for reaction results.

"I don't want to talk about it just yet," Tim said in a strained voice, but he only shrugged it off and returned Kon's eye contact.

Sort of. 

If you count looking at Kon's lips, it's eye contact. Absolutely.

Tim sighs and places his hands on his knees, signalling his attempt to stand up instead of lazing around.

"Let's leave this area, hm?" Tim suggested, finally standing up and looking at Kon with raised eyebrows.

Kon only chuckled at his attempt to move on from the subject but eventually stood up with a stretch.

His shirt was a tiny, tiny bit smaller than it should be. His stomach threatened to show. It was pale and smooth, almost soft-looking and a little bit squishy. 

But he knew that part was a trick.

Swallowing down a lump in his throat, Tim hesitated slightly but eventually made eye contact with Kon, just to be met with the same piercing blue eyes staring back at him with a knowing look.

Fuck.

"Shameless." Kon teased. Tim could only groan in annoyance.

"I didn't mean to look," Tim protested. "I was just looking? At the cushions. Alfred would be distraught if he ever learned that you messed up his perfectly symmetrical work."

Tim wasn't exactly lying. He's sure Alfred could cast a disappointed gaze towards the two of them, wherever that butler may be anyway.

"What…! No! You're lying!... Right? No, that can't be true."

Tim only watched with a smug smile while Kon quickly tried to fix up the cushions he supposedly made a mess of.

It was funny, nonetheless. Watching the minor panic go on.

"Nah, dude. You visit this place so much. You're practically one of us." Tim continued to make light of the situation, already having his back turned, ready to leave the room.

Only to hear a heavy thud hit the ground. Concern built its way up into Tim's head.

But before he could check the noise, he was immediately swooped into the air, dangling upside down with Kon holding his ankle.

A shit-eating grin on Kon's face. Tim gritted his teeth and looked towards the ground to see what the noise could be that he had heard before, to see the couch tipped over and the coffee table pushed to the side more than it should have been.

"Kon, why the fuck is the couch tipped over?" He scolded. 

Now Alfred would really be upset with the Kent boy.

"Hm, it couldn't withstand my strength?" Kon grinned as he spoke. Tim only clicked his tongue to hide his amusement.

"Alright, you can put me down now, Kon," Tim said. 

Tim seemed amused to a certain point but more awake than ever; he just preferred talking with his feet on the ground and his shirt not getting on his face.

"Nah, I like this view." He teased.

The view in question was. Indeed, Tim's hands fight to keep his shirt from completely slipping past his waist.

Tim could never get used to Kon's boldness, flirtatious words and actions, teases, or Kon in general.

Sure, it's been a few years since knowing him, but how was he supposed to get used to these kinds of things in the first place when Kon is the only person ever to do these to him?

"Seriously, Conner! Put me down!" Tim whined in annoyance. 

His legs are now flailing in the air, and in the corner of his eyes, he sees the grin on Kon's face widen even more.

Ultimately deciding that Kon won't budge, Tim took the initiative and pulled himself up, his knee touching his chest and a dream to inflict pain on this stupidly inhuman boy.

Tim didn't punch him, but he considered doing it. Instead, Tim lightly, but not so lightly, whacked Kon's face repeatedly. Much to his delight, it worked.

"Ow! Tim, stop!" Kon had his eyes shut and face cringing away, his other hand flailing to push Tim's hands away but missing them entirely.

Tim only grinned and continued whacking him, but there was a slip of Kon's grip.

"What the fuck? Did I slip? I thought you were supposed to be out worldly strong, but you nearly let go of me?" Tim mocked.

Surprised and maybe a little worried since he is a few feet from the ground and very much human, last time he checked anyway.

"You! You keep moving and smacking my face with your stupid baby hands!" Kon pointed, still cringing his face away in case Tim smacked him again.

"Well, maybe you should listen and put me down," Tim said pointedly, "Preferably with my feet on the floor so I'm safe and standing upright." 

He grinned, his back stuttering, seemingly hurting from keeping the same position for an uncomfortable time.

"God, you described that in full detail with clear intent, so I won't loop around it, huh?" Kon scoffed, rolling his eyes. 

He made sure to hold on to Tim tighter, but not too tightly.

"Knowing you, your brain is too full of gel to make sense of any situation." Tim teased.

Slowly letting his upper body unfold and return to hanging upside down.

"All seriousness, though, put me down. This position is so not attractive." Tim sighed.

"You bats never know fun." Kon clicked his tongue and slowly gravitated towards the floor.

Once the super made sure it was a safe distance, Kon purposely dropped Tim, which Tim felt would happen and braced himself for a bit of impact.

It wasn't a profound impact, but for extra pity measures, Tim groaned and rolled to the side in pain.

He was faking it, of course. But Kon wouldn't think about using his X-ray vision that quickly when he got too close to Tim.

"Wait, shit. Did that hurt you?" Kon asked worryingly. Quickly closing the distance between them.

"Shit! Tim, I'm so s-" Before Kon could finish his sentence, Tim had already changed their positions. Pinning the super to the ground with a shit-eating grin of his own.

"I've… Been… Bamboozled!?" Kon faked a gasp of betrayal.

"God, did you just quote Jason?" Tim never felt so betrayed before in his life, lying, of course. But was Kon serious?

Kon snickered, knowing he'd been outed in the dumbest way possible.

"Your brother is quite the influencer. Tell him I said hi, won't you? Babes." Kon jested.

Tim only stared at him with total shock before aiming for Kon's hair and pulling on it.

"Leave him alone!?" Tim was horrified, "He's like? 45! Probably! And we're just past the legal age!"

Kon laughed his ass off while trying to defend himself and his hair, the pulling felt like nothing, but he loves playing along.

"45 and fine. You know who else is old and fine?" Kon grinned, hands shooting up to block his face from the potential hit.

"Don't you fucking dare."

"Brucie Wayne."

Tim made an indescribable noise before a well-aimed smack landed on Kon's cheek.

"You're so disgusting!" Tim exaggerated.

"Damn right, you are." 

Another person entered the area, and neither Tim nor Kon had noticed.

Jason clicked his tongue in disapproval before eyeing the mess in the living room.

"Alfie would be very disappointed with–"Jason gestured towards the couch and coffee table, and whatever else remained undone. "All of this."

"Go back to doing your reviews on YouTube," Tim grumbled.

"Another video? Tim, message me when he posts. I need to be the first to comment." Kon jokes, lightly pushing Tim aside to sit up to get a better view of the older man.

"You're just—I can't even with you, Kon." Tim sighed disappointedly; Jason only shrugged at the subtle comments he had overheard.

Tim stood, cracking his knuckles before moving the coffee table back into place.

Jason was long gone. God knows why he's in the manor.

Kon decided he didn't want to be a pretty princess anymore and help Tim. Lifting the couch into place and putting the cushions back where he found them.

Or so he thinks.

Looking over the time on his phone, Kon hums thoughtfully and turns towards Tim.

"I should get going unless you want me to stay the night?" Kon teased. Winking as he says.

"Corny, go home. I'll talk to you next time." Tim sighed, gesturing towards the front doors.

"You wound me." Kon shakes his head, walking towards the doors.

"I'll see you later then. Talk to me if anything happens, though. Okay?" Kon has his hand stretched out to Tim.

Unsure if he wants to push his limits and hold him or something.

"Yeah, sure." Tim lies, keeping his heart rate as steady as he can. A smile was playing on his lips.

"Get going, dude. See ya next time."

Kon felt reluctant to leave but did so anyway. Tim tried to smile at Kon as he went, flying as dramatically as possible, if that was even possible.

The moment Kon left. Dick had returned from Blüdhaven a few minutes later. However, he mentioned being a few hours away.

Tim was still surprised to see him strut through the manor's doors.

With a slight nod towards the older man, Tim quickly backed into the kitchen; eventually, all the other family members joined Dick in the living room to greet him, most of them anyway.

Stephanie was there for some reason. Duke and Cass were shopping, or was it bowling? Tim didn't know where they were.

Tim and Dick haven't been on the best of terms after what happened a few months ago.

Tim hasn't decided if he wants to approach the matter or ignore it entirely. Mostly tempted to forget that it happened and move on. 

Some misunderstandings here and there are always bound to happen in this messy family.

Muffled voices and laughter slowly gained Tim's attention, wholeheartedly interrupting his brooding moment.

"Say, where is Tim?" 

"Oh, I think I saw him move into the kitchen?"

"Really? Why the kitchen of all places, anyway?"

A moment of silence and then several footsteps shuffling closer towards where Tim was.

"Seriously, what the fuck." Tim muttered, pulling his phone out and holding it to his ear. Pretending to take a phone call.

Once Tim saw them, he eyed them cautiously before quickly mumbling, 'I've got to go.' Tim raised an eyebrow and pressed the end-call button.

"A friend?" Bruce questioned, standing just outside the kitchen while everyone else quickly stepped in.

"Conner, he just wanted to know if Jason posted yet." Tim lied.

In the corner of his eye, he could see Dick sucking in a breath, smiling towards Tim. He only returned the smile as naturally as he could.

Bruce only nodded before giving Dick one smile before stepping out of the room.

Jason only scoffed, seeing through the white lie he told.

Bruce left them in the kitchen, leaving the remaining people there.

Dick, Jason, Steph, and Damian.

"So…" Stephanie started, walking towards Tim to break whatever awkward tension was happening.

"So, what brings you back?" Jason clicked his tongue, leaning on the kitchen counter near Tim.

Stephanie wrapped her arm around Tim's shoulders, shoved her phone in his face, and showed him the latest cat meme online.

"Todd, you're being too direct. Your manners need polishing." Damian said sternly to the older man, which only earned a light scoff.

"Don't worry, Damian. I'm just visiting." Dick waved Damian off and moved towards the fridge.

"Very nice, very nice." Jason nods, clearly not believing it but wouldn't care regardless of the answer.

Tim wasn't watching Stephanie's videos, but his eyes were on the screen. 

That doesn't mean he wasn't overhearing the conversation near him.

Eventually, Stephanie released him with a smile, staring at her screen when a notification appeared.

"I'm heading out." She said, heading towards the door, "Cass and I are going to the movies. Toodle-loo." 

Tim sighed and crossed his arms, looking over to Jason, who raised an eyebrow at him.

"A phone call with Kon? Really?" 

"What he doesn't know won't hurt him," Tim mumbled, shrugging his shoulders.

"It wasn't a  call?" Dick interrupted with a mouthful of grapes. Which only earned a smack on the arm by Damian with a glare.

"You are disgusting." Damian huffed, taking a handful of grapes for himself from Dick's container and left.

"There goes another," Jason half-chuckled.

"Oh, man," Dick mumbled, still chewing on the food in his mouth, "Doyouguyswantsome?"

Dick spoke with his mouthful again, hand covering his mouth.

"Let's try that again without the food." Tim raised an eyebrow with a crooked grin.

After a few minutes of silence and chewing, Dick finished his food and wiped his mouth clean.

"I asked if you both wanted some, but Damian took the rest of my grapes," Dick squinted his eyes, "That, or I was the one to eat them all."

"It's alright, Dickie. I had sandwiches a while ago," Jason said.

Tim only shook his head before looking between the two and the door near Dick. Mostly pinpointing the closest exit near him.

The odds aren't looking good for him.

"That phone call, then?" Dick questioned, placing the empty container into the sink for later.

"Yeah, why don't we talk about that, like brothers?" Jason poked.

Jason knew Tim wasn't all that used to the term and wasn't comfortable with it. Tim never viewed them as siblings. Any of them.

Pressing his lips into a thin line, Tim glanced at Jason. Only to see him standing with his attention set on Tim.

Dick watched both Tim and Jason with raised eyebrows. He took a few steps back to the other side of the island where Tim was standing.

With Jason to his left and Dick to his right, Tim clenched his jaw with his mind set on leaving from the exit.

"You are so fucking predictable." Jason pressed.

"God, you'd do the same fucking thing, you damn hypocrite." Tim snapped.

"Woah, woah. What's going on?" Dick interrupted, his hands held up in a cautioning manner.

"Timmy here was planning on escaping from our brotherly bonding time." Jason mocked.

Tim cursed to himself mentally, only scoffing to hide his nerves from both of them. Only to see Dick stare at him with an unsure expression until he noticed Tim wasn't looking his way while all of this was happening.

In the corner of Tim's eye, he could see Dick frown when it seemed a thought struck through.

Tim furrowed his eyebrows and stepped away from Jason, ultimately ignoring him. And Dick too, Tim had to get out of that damn kitchen.

And he did.

He walked past Dick with a muttered apology, walking up the stairs, passing the rooms until he got to his own quickly.

Hushed voices from wherever Tim ignored them. He ignored it all.

Sliding down the wall of his room, Tim swore under his breath, simply because that whole scene made him feel like a Disney princess.

"Which princess would I be, though? That's a question." Tim snorted, grabbing a fistful of his hair.

"That was so dramatic, oh my god..."

Groaning loudly, Tim cringed at the memory of that whole interaction and thinking about how he could've gone about it in a better, less embarrassing way. Stephanie is for sure going to make fun of him about it.

Tim shoved his hand into his pants pocket, fishing out his phone and immediately dialling Kon. He said to talk to him if anything happened or something similar. So, Tim will take his advice, despite a small part begging him not to say anything.

Or maybe he's just being paranoid again, thinking everything will go south if he doesn't get a second point of view. Tim bit his lip, phone already in hand, Kon's name is right there, just a few taps away and he'd be on call.

A few taps away, Tim should think logically about this himself; not everything can be discussed easily without a PowerPoint. 

PowerPoint: Tim should make a PowerPoint presentation for Kon to see his issues so it can be more understandable.

Impulsively, Tim dialed Kon. A few rings go by, and Tim is having doubts already.

Definitely a dumb idea to talk about his uprising issues. Kon might not even pick up. Something probably happened, and Kon left his phone somewhere-

"What's up, Timmy."

Tim's head was a mess of thoughts; for something so minor, it made it out to be world-threatening, all because he couldn't fix it himself within seconds. He stayed silent, not daring to say a word in case his voice decided to fail him.

"I can hear you overthinking from here, babes. What's wrong?" Kon pressed, concern slipping through his tone.

"I'm having second thoughts about this call," Tim said bluntly.

"Awe, you wound me."

"..."

Tim said nothing else, his thumb hovering over the end call button.

"I'm coming over," Kon said. The sound of things shuffling and moving about on the other side of the call surprised Tim until the call abruptly ended.

Chapter Text

Tim paced around his old room. His mess of clothes was now neatly folded and placed in his drawers, and food wrappers scrunched up and thrown in the bin he had. 

Tim placed his old shoes on the rack somebody had gifted him. It was probably Steph, maybe even Cass or Duke. He doesn’t remember nor care about that right now.

What he did care about was how Kon would enter the manor, his window. Or the front door? Tim’s bets were placed on the window, cliché it would be.

His phone buzzed with several notifications, but Tim didn’t bother to check since it might just be Steph and Cass on their little date.

Although it didn’t hurt to check the other messages, walking closer to the bed, he leaned over, cautiously hovered his index finger over his phone, and quickly typed in his passcode. Swiping down, Tim looked over the notifications.

Five from Steph, two from Dick and several more from Instagram. Nothing from Kon; it’s been fifteen minutes since their call.

Tim had no idea why he was nervous, seriously. Nothing even happened. It’s just his teenage room and his little incident with Dick and his other little incident with Dick again. And another one with Dick. He messed up too many times to count, even in front of his childhood idol.

It's far too embarrassing even to look the man in the eye.

Eighteen minutes; Tim was counting while his attention drifted over to the window, his curtain slightly pushed to the side, letting the moonlight shine through.

Tim was staring at the window more intensely now, stepping back to take in the scene before him. The light shined nicely over his messy bed and wall full of posters; if he still had his camera, it would make a good shot.

A light knock came from the window, as predicted.

Tim walked towards it, pushed the curtain aside, and Kon was there. Floating in casual clothes.

And that damn grin.

“Can I come in?” Kon smiled, inching closer.

“Knight in shining armour,” Tim slid the window open and stepped aside.

“How shall I save you tonight, princess?” Kon chuckled and floated inside, passing Tim and settling down with his hands in his pockets.

Kon focused on everything else in the room instead of the distressed damsel. Tim was relieved to clean up before Kon came.

“If I knew you only came over to get an update on the well-being of my old room, I would’ve rejected you from coming in.” Tim snorted, grabbing his phone and placing it on his desk.

Sitting on the bed, he watched Kon play around with a few things he had in his room. Most of them fell or were misplaced. Tim didn’t mind. He found it entertaining, even, to watch Kon fumble around while trying to keep his nonchalant demeanour.

“Oops,” Kon said in a high voice, placing his phone beside Tim’s and pushing some papers to the floor.

Tim snorted; being entertained easily was his weakness, and Kon knew that.

Kon settled onto the bed next to Tim with a silence of his own, his smile still there, but there was something else that he seemed to want to say.

Before Tim could speak, Kon held his hand up with his head turned away.

“Doesn’t this make us feel like teenagers again?  Or, like the movies you see where the girl sneaks in a guy through her bedroom windows, and her parents have no idea,”

The silence was loud, and Tim was taken aback.

“What the hell,” Tim muttered, his ears increasingly burning. Now that he’s thinking about it. It does feel like that.

“Oh my god,” Defeated and surprised, Tim held a hand up to his forehead and stared at Kon’s smug face.

A well-landed smack on Kon’s forehead erupted the silence, and Kon cackled, his hand flying up to rub his forehead. Kon was shaking with laughter, and Tim had nothing to say.

“I thought you were here to help my overloading thoughts, not- not say corny shit like that!” Tim huffed; a smile of his own threatened to crack, too.

Listening to Kon’s crazy manic laugh was too funny not to laugh at.

“Okay, okay,” Kon muttered, breathing heavily. “What’s wrong, Tim?” Kon said, finally, after however long it took for this conversation to start.

Tim sighed and shook his head, his cold hands covering his ears to cool them down as he thought of how he’d approach this conversation.

“So, it- Okay, so. Wait, okay, so-”

“Oh, please don’t do this to me,” Kon snickered, shaking his head and hiding his face from the flustered Tim.

“Stop, I wasn’t actually expecting to talk about it!” Tim frowned, his ears heating up once more from his embarrassing attempt.

“Okay, okay! You did it, though, you— yeah! You were nearly there!” Kon quickly said, his hands flailing about to make his point.

“Another thing before it kills me,” Kon held an index finger up, and Tim only raised an eyebrow.

“Why are you staying here anyway? Pretty sure you have a place of your own, somewhere.” Kon questioned, leaning back and playing with the old posters, the edges curling and looking near to falling at any second.

“Hn, B wanted us all to be here when Dick arrived home, staying the night simply because the drive back is too much,” Tim shrugged. It wasn’t all that serious, but it's the thought that counts, he guesses.

“Okay…And how did…’B’ convince Jason to stay, or even go, come? here?” Kon asked, his eyebrow-raising, slowly ripping tiny pieces of Tim’s posters.

“Blackmail?” Tim suggested.

“Wait, dude, really?” Kon sat up immediately.

“No, no, I’m just throwing guesses out.”

“Don’t get me excited like that, ugh.”

Tim watched as Kon rolled his eyes, diverting his attention elsewhere.

“I don’t know, man, they’re still ignoring one another, so?”

“Alfred probably said something to convince him then.” 

Kon listed off with his index finger. After some silence, Tim assumed that was his only guess—the most accurate-sounding guess Tim had ever heard.

Tim shook his head and whacked Kon’s shoulder, bringing his attention back to him with an annoyed huff.

“We’re getting off track here.” Tim straightened his posture, hearing the bones of his back crack faintly.

Kon eyed him weirdly, and Tim only shrugged. His ability to crack any part of his body was strange, but it helped with specific situations. He didn’t want to find out which kind of situation.

“Anyway, as you were saying, what got you so riled up.” Kon half-chuckled.

Tim stared at him momentarily, thinking about where to start first, how much to say, what to say, and how to explain when it all happened.

Tim only got a major headache from all the incidents and situations. His brows furrowed from all the thinking.

Tim only decided to explain why he was being weird around Dick, but that would require more and more lore behind it all. It was frustrating not having an immediate explanation for Kon, but he was grateful not to have a blabber mouth and run it because of a slight mishap.

Shaking his head, Tim sighed and rested his elbows on his knees, his head in his hands. He could feel Kon’s questioning gaze on him, but he didn’t have an immediate response for him.

He cleared his throat, lifted his head and held his chin thoughtfully.

“Locking in now? Are you?” Kon snorted, lightly poking Tim’s side.

“Yeah, sure, locking in.” Tim grinned in defeat.

“Okay, look. I don’t exactly want to explain the whole thing without fixing it myself first, but I’ll explain the gist of it, I guess?” Tim gestured his hands in a questioning manner.

Kon only nodded, his eyes looking between Tim’s own. It made him feel like a teenager in high school again.

Tim hummed, dismissing some irrelevant thoughts while tapping an inconsistent pattern on his thigh.

“Okay,” Tim mumbled.

“Okay,” Kon nodded.

“Okay, right. So—Dick and I got severely injured during a patrol, you remember that?” Tim started, his hand stretched out with his palm facing the ceiling.

Kon only nodded while looking stupidly focused, with his lips pressed into a thin line, his eye on Tim only, and his undivided attention when the subject just started. Kon’s posture was relaxed and comfortable, almost looking like he was leaning in—

Tim cleared his throat.

“Right…Well, during that incident, I was the one to…Um, start it?” Tim bit his cheek. Kon said nothing else, only raising his eyebrows like an idiot.

“Anyway, that’s that teaser.” Tim smiled boyishly, a short chuckle there, and Kon frowned at him.

“Wait, dude, what?” Kon leaned forward, inching near Tim.

“I’ll tell you about that later, Kon.” Tim sighed, already regretting this.

Tim moved to the side a little so Kon and he weren’t so close together; he wasn’t trying to be subtle.

For a moment, it looked like Kon frowned at Tim, but when Tim made a double-take, Kon smiled at him with the sincerity he had ever seen.

“Thinking about it now, I definitely overreacted,” Tim mumbled, his hand patting down his hair to comfort himself or wipe the embarrassment off. Maybe both; he was starting to feel insecure about the little stunt in the kitchen.

“You probably did,” Kon snorted.

“You suck,” Tim snickered.

Kon raised his eyebrows and grinned stupidly, clearly taking his word to the gutter; Tim shook his head and clocked his tongue, not even bothering to acknowledge it.

“Jason was cornering me in the kitchen, Dick, unknowingly, was playing along by going on the other side of the island we have in the kitchen, so. Maybe I felt a little trapped and was thinking of ways to escape that situation—” 

Tim took a deep breath.

“Jason called me out on it, and Dick was looking like he was beginning to get sappy until he remembered what happened, and it clicked for him on why I was behaving the way I was; I can’t help it, and I didn’t know how to stop acting that way when I saw him get shot right in front of me—”

Tim took another deep breath, huffing after he spoke. Making gestures after each word he said, Kon frowned again. His mouth opened to say something, but he immediately stopped himself from talking.

“Wait, wait, dude—”

“Stop calling me dude—”

Kon waved him off and shook his head.

“You said Dick got shot in front of you? Was this when that whole ‘incident’ happened?” Kon said, his expression as perplexed as can be.

“Yes, but there’s more to that!” Tim shot a hand up to stop him from saying anything else.

“I can’t explain it right now, hell. I can’t even fix it besides apologising or ignoring it?” Tim stood up and walked around his room.

“Dick hasn’t said anything about it. It’s been a few weeks, so maybe it’s not as deep as I think, but I caused that incident! Quite literally!” Tim explained, out of breath but still kept the pace. His hands gestured as if trying to prove a point that Tim is and was in the wrong.

Kon watched him walk back and forth quietly, leaning his elbow on his knee and a hand on his cheek, holding his head up to keep his attention on Tim.

Tim bit his cheek, wondering if Kon would say anything to what he was explaining or if he even heard what Tim was saying in the first place.

He held his hands together and started cracking his knuckles and fingers nervously. Pop, pop, pop…

“Stop that,” Kon mumbled, “You’re being kind of vague about the whole thing. It’s hard to understand, but I’m doing my best.”

Tim cracked a nervous smile, the corners of his lips twitching as he smiled crookedly. His hands have gone cold and sweaty, almost but not entirely.

“Calm down, Tim. I thought you bats knew how to control your heartbeats.” Kon teased; Tim sighed before taking control of his raging heartbeat as Kon pointed out.

“We do. Why are you listening to it so attentively?” Tim shook his head and clicked his tongue.

“Not that important, first off; Dick got shot like, what? Two months ago?—”

“Three—”

“Not the point,” Kon shook his head dismissively.

Tim bit his lip, his hands clutching on the edges of his shirt. His eyes are set on the unmade bed that Kon’s sitting on.

“You haven’t apologised because you haven’t had the chance to, but now that he’s here, you’ll be able to apologise, but —”

Tim groaned internally. Kon was simplifying his explanation, but it was taking longer than he would have liked it to; he should’ve just stuck to the PowerPoint like he suggested to himself, next time then.

“—He hasn’t said anything about it to you, so now you have no idea if he’s even acknowledging it happened or avoiding the topic.” Kon finished. Tim stared at him silently, expectantly.

Kon shook his head. A momentary silence overtook the room before it was interrupted by another notification from Tim’s phone.

“Right, remind me, how long has Dick been in the manor for?” Kon asked, reaching for his phone and simply turning it on.

Tim also reached for his phone, pressing its sides to turn it on, meeting with a simple wallpaper. It was Nine Forty-seven, and Kon arrived over half an hour ago. It only clicked to Tim that he did, in fact, overreact.

“He’s been here for only four hours…And a half,” Tim mumbled, lips pursing as he spoke, his gaze still refusing to meet Kon’s. His phone is now in his pocket.

Standing around was beginning to get tiring, but sitting back down next to Kon seemed intimate. On his own bed, might he add.

There was a flutter in Tim’s stomach; he just refused to acknowledge that it happened. Kon makes Tim feel like a teenager again; each time Kon’s around with his stupid boyish personality makes him feel like he’s seventeen, skipping school to hang out in the public playgrounds.

He has no idea if Kon knows about his childish effect on him, even in moments like these where he’s on the edge of crashing out over the build-ups of old arguments and past situations Tim caused due to miscalculations he failed to look over and take control of.

Shifting from one foot to another, Tim gave up a small part of his pride and sat beside Kon with a dramatic sigh.

“You have patrol tonight, right?” Kon elbowed Tim, “After patrol, you’ll have the rest of the night to bring it up.” Kon chuckled. There was a rough pat on Tim’s shoulder, but it lingered a little longer than it usually would have if anyone else did that.

Kon held onto Tim’s shoulder . 

His pinky slipped under the collar of Tim’s shirt, maybe by pure accident. Tim said nothing about it, even when it lightly traced his collarbone.

Kon cleared his throat and squeezed Tim on his shoulder, suddenly removing his hand and standing up. Tim raised an eyebrow at him, and Kon responded with a shrug.

“Right…Then, I’ll plan out the conversation in my head,” Tim mumbled, watching Kon move around like he did when he first entered his bedroom, almost like he was trying to retrace his steps or something. Tim didn’t know.

“Okay,” Kon replied, inching closer to Tim.

There was nothing else to say at the moment; Tim didn’t know if it felt awkward or what. Lingering stares but nothing more, though by the looks of it, Kon let his curiosity take over, and Tim watched as Kon’s gaze swept over every part of him, from his face to the shirt he was wearing to his hands that rested comfortably on his lap.

Tim didn’t say anything again.

By the time Kon finished. He had already stepped away and headed towards the window.

“Call or message me any time. I’ll always respond to you.” Kon whispered the last part, though deliberately loud enough for Tim to pick up.

“Okay,” Tim muttered, watching Kon leave through the window. It almost felt like those vampire movies he’d been watching as a joke before.

It was quiet now, more than usual in Tim’s opinion, with occasional wind blowing against the curtain of his room. It was a mess now.

Reaching over to the window, Tim closed it and the blinds. He was already planning on leaving the rest of the room for the morning or when he returned from patrol.

Tim missed Dick that night.

Oracle popped in occasionally for updates on his patrol. Nothing was out of the ordinary about it, thugs here and there trashing alleyways or attempted robbery on what seemed to be an empty shell of a store that was in the progress of rebuilding.

Teenagers were vandalising the property, and a cat was walking the street but tripped from a crack in the pavement.

Everything that happened tonight was handled as professionally as possible.

It was quiet, unsettling as it is. There was nothing that Tim could see out of the ordinary.

“Red—”

“Hood, what do you want?” Tim cut him off almost immediately as he spoke up.

His night was going as boring as predicted; in his spare time, he wasn’t able to figure out how to start a conversation with Dick in his mind. Only switched his attention to watching the street lights flicker and shadows move about from the rooftop he was crouching on.

“What’s up your ass tonight?” Red Hood grunted, switching off his comms before inhaling air next to Tim.

Tim didn’t answer; he bit his cheek when he turned around to face Jason, his helmet off with the domino mask on. He could probably see sweat from his forehead if he squinted and stared long enough.

Nasty.

“I bet you stink of sweat right now,” Tim huffed and turned towards the busy roads of Gotham.

“A kind old lady helped me cool down by throwing her flower jar at my head. Bless her heart,” Jason said sarcastically; by the tone of his voice, Tim would’ve assumed he rolled his eyes, too.

“What do you want again?” Tim sighed, rubbing his temples with gloved hands. He already had a lot on his mind and had no idea what Jason could want.

And if his memory is correct, Jason has nothing to give or say to Tim about anything, no cases match up, no conversation to pick up again besides the one in the kitchen that Tim will stop from resurfacing. Nothing.

“I just want to talk,” Jason said, gravel grinding together under Jason’s heavy footsteps nearing Tim but a comfortable distance between them, an arm's length away or two. 

Tim didn’t believe him when he said he wanted to talk.

Anything he says isn’t believable unless proven otherwise; their relationship or friendship is still underdeveloped, brothers by title, acquaintances by choice or however the saying went.

Tim didn’t want anything more, and he’s sure Jason is the same way. 

Only taunting him with the reminder whenever they’re in public and vice versa when Tim felt like pissing him off.

The busy roads became a bore to watch, and the upcoming headache disappeared. Tim turned to face Jason.

“If this is about Dick, I don’t want to talk about it. Not with you anyway,” Tim pointed out. There was a twitch in Jason’s brow, and Tim pointed it out with his finger.

He heard a faint grumble of something but didn’t care to pick up on it.

“Assuming you spoke to that Kent boy about it, when will you get it over with,” Jason spoke directly, not failing to hint at his impatience.

“Why do you care?” Tim quipped.

Jason didn’t smile at it, only a heavy sigh or a defeated groan. They sound the same sometimes.

“Dick is going to be an ass about it, mostly just annoying. ‘Oh, little wing! When will my suffering end!’ Or some shit like that,” Jason said, acting out Dick’s supposed voice line.

Props to the bulk guy for even holding his hands together and praying with a leg kicked up; something about the literature he’s reading works wonders for the imagination. 

Or so Tim thinks.

“Right,” Tim chuckled, a grin cracking, “Soon, hopefully, brother of mine. Hold on tight!” Tim joked, holding his fist halfway in the air and his other hand over his chest.

Jason chuckled, shaking his head before sitting down with his legs hanging on the edge. 

Tim joined him, still keeping the distance for his comfort now.

“Seriously, though, I was planning on saying something to him tonight if he was on patrol here, but I couldn’t find him.” Tim sighed, cracking his neck to relax a little.

“I think he’s still settling into the manor or something.” Jason hummed, lips pursed, and his head tilted thoughtfully, by the looks of it.

Jason was also raising an eyebrow. With the way, the domino mask shifted awkwardly on his face.

Relaxed and unalarmed, those were the hints he was picking up from Jason’s behaviour. Turning his attention away from the man, Tim hummed for a second. And then breaking the comfortable silence.

“Was that all you came for?” Tim questioned, eyebrow-raising as he spoke.

“Nah, overheard Bruce and Dickface say something about an upcoming Gala. Everyone’s required to go.” Jason said, wiping away dust from his cheek.

Tim stared at him now. His mouth opened slightly, and his posture worsened. How could he forget that Tim could not escape from Bruce and Alfred in such a short time?

“Fuck, was that what the random fitting day was for?” Tim said questioningly to himself, not realising he didn't pick up on the cue.

“Don’t you have that big project you needed to finish for Wayne Enterprize, too?” Jason asked, his index finger pointed out towards Tim.

“ Fuck ,” Tim groaned, running his hands down his face, the realisation of his other projects falling on him, not even bothering to ask how Jason even knew about that information.

“Fuck, indeed.” Jason voiced, mocking Tim in a way.

“Don’t mimic me. It just sounds disturbing.” Tim cringed, already moving to stand up and dusting himself off.

“Disturbing the peace.” Jason sang under his breath. Too bad Tim picked up on it.

“Persona three, fucking loser.” Tim clicked his tongue and waved goodbye, now grappling off to prepare a fair enough excuse for tomorrow's event.

And a reminder to check his messages with Dick and Steph and whoever else messaged him while he was on ‘Do Not Disturb’.