Archive of Our Own ^beta

Jason lay back on the worktable, feeling a little awkward as Tim fussed around him. It wasn’t the first time he’d been up on that table, it had been an ongoing project, piecing Jason back together into something more whole. 

This time they were here on Tim’s insistence. 

He looked almost grimly determined when he dropped the box of parts on the table next to Jason’s head. Jason tipped his head back, baring his throat to the human and making Tim’s ears pink slightly at the sight. 

Jason smirked, wanted to make a joke about how he was about waist height so if Tim just stood on his tiptoes they could have some fun, but it didn’t really seem like the moment for it so he held back. Barely. 

It did leave Jason eye-level with the utility belt Tim had thrown on in place of a regular fucking toolbelt. Yet another thing that Jason could mock him for. 

“Okay,” Tim said, nodding to himself, “Let’s do this.” 

Jason grimaced, but obligingly opened his mouth when prompted. 

“I’m going to disconnect your salivary glands first,” Tim explained, reaching for his utility belt to grab the specialized fine cutter. Jason still sort of expected a knife. Maybe a scalpel. No, Tim had specially ordered a smaller version of the cutter he already had, which shorted out the synthetic nerves to the area being cut. 

High-tech. Expensive. 

Wasteful. 

Just like Tim.

It was an odd sensation, the press of the metal against the roof of his mouth where the controls for the head-oriented fluids was located. Salivary glands. Tear ducts. All of it was fed through the same system. 

They were lucky that Tim didn’t have to disconnect his eyes to get at everything he needed. There were some models designed like that. Jason couldn’t imagine. He’d come to trust Tim with a lot of his parts, but he was still wary of leaving himself too vulnerable. Too many of his senses taken away would leave him feeling… antsy. Likely to lash out. 

Regardless, Jason’s eyes got to stay in place. Which was good, because there was no way that Jason would have agreed to this if that was a step in the process. 

Tim made a small, disgruntled sound, pulling back to grab a paper towel and wipe the fluid from his hands. Jason huffed a laugh through his nose, careful to hold his head still while he did so. 

Tim shot him a look, daring him to say something. 

Jason obligingly opened his jaw wider when Tim readied his tools again, his fingers pinching Jason’s tongue and pulling it up so that he could slice through the gums and get at the screws that held Jason’s jaw together. Still holding Jason’s tongue in place, Tim’s other hand went back to the utility belt, easily finding the tiny screwdriver that he needed. 

Jason forced himself to stay still as he felt things start to shift. Tim dropped Jason’s tongue in favor of catching the teeth that almost fell down into Jason’s throat, dropping them on the table with a clatter as Jason’s jaw dropped open further, unhinged, held only in place by the synthetic skin that covered it. 

Tim had to cut away the skin, a thin line starting at Jason’s bottom lip and dragging down to the hollow of his throat. The skin split, exposing the metal, wires, and circuitry that lay beneath the deceptively human appearance. 

It felt. Odd. Like it should hurt. It wasn’t comfortable, there were messages flashing that told him to not tear his jaw off. Jason ignored them. It was less error messages than he was used to getting when they tried anything, so the human must be doing something right. 

Tim’s fingers skimmed along the edge of the split skin. The nerves were mostly dull, but Jason still had some sensation. It was. Odd. 

Hands were touching the inside of his skin. 

Jason wasn’t sure how he felt about that. 

He fought back the urge to shiver, laying limp on the table as the human poked around inside of Jason’s throat, tracing the metal boning in search of the screws he wanted. He had to slice away more of the soft tissue, his blade deep in Jason’s throat. The knowledge of how close that sharp tool was to his wiring made Jason want to recoil. He relaxed instead. 

Tim had to cut away his tongue, unable to remove it without destroying it. Jason didn’t care. His head tipped back against the table, further splitting the synthetic skin of his throat and baring his internals to the human. 

He forced himself to keep his eyes open, staring blankly at the stupid utility belt Tim had locked around his trim waist. 

Tim scraped away the artificial tissue from around Jason’s jaw so that he could get to the tongue anchor-points. It was amazing how much the tongue was responsible for. How intricately it was woven into the hardware of Jason’s head and neck. 

Tim had to cut deeper into the roof of his mouth to disconnect the salivary tubes from the tear-ducts, an odd sensation deep in Jason’s sinuses. Removing the old tongue was a laborious task, one that Tim took to with the same careful precision that he always did. 

Jason had a vague memory. Glitchy. Unfocused. That maybe this had happened before. 

He knew it had. 

He’d just— he hadn’t wanted to think about it. 

Remember. 

He knew he’d been nervous. 

It was. He thought— 

Maybe. It was his manipulation. Trying to get Jason used to the type of invasive procedures that repairs could be after a fight.

Like Jason didn’t already know how bad a bot could get damaged. 

He couldn’t remember if that had been during the period where they’d been trying to convince him to let them into his skull to fix his auditory processors. No, probably not that early. After they’d taught him to read the complicated human languages, maybe. 

He didn’t want to think about it. 

Jason focused on the deadening sensations from the disconnected tongue, where he could and couldn’t feel Tim’s fingers touching him. 

He certainly didn’t think that things could have been this… charged last time. 

He felt the pressure of the screwdriver against his jaw, Tim’s gentle fingers braced against the metal. Things to ground him in the present. 

Like staring at the stupid fucking utility belt. 

Jason’s tongue hit the table with a thud and Tim stepped back, pressing his palms against his eyes and breathing for a moment. Jason couldn’t ask him what was wrong. 

“I feel like I’m doing surgery,” Tim said, turning towards the sink and scrubbing his hands clean “I’m not even wearing gloves,” He said, sounding vaguely horrified with himself. Jason huffed soundlessly, rolling his eyes when Tim glared at him. 

“Okay,” Tim said, pushing his hair out of his face and settling back in front of Jason, reaching for the box that held the parts to replace everything he’d just had to rip out. 

“Okay,” Tim said again “This would be a really awkward time to realize that I bought the wrong size,” He said, as if he hadn’t checked a half-dozen times before starting. Jason rolled his eyes again, taking the moment to swat at Tim’s arm. Tim yelped, almost dropping the handful of screws he was setting aside so as not to lose them while he worked. 

There was a part of Jason that rebelled against the weight of the dead tasting system laid out in his hollow throat, the desire to tear away the foreign touch. He glared at the stupid buckle on the stupid utility belt, clenching his hands into fists and letting Tim press the parts into place, holding them steady as he fumbled with the screws, trying to ensure the angles were all correct. 

The wires connected slowly, sensation zinging across new sensors and making Jason wrinkle his nose at the odd feeling. Pins and needles, maybe. Tim made a warning sound “Do not move,” He snapped, curling his fingers deeper into the boning of Jason’s throat, angling for a wire that had dropped low behind his collarbone. 

Jason held still and let Tim work. He could feel the seams of where the old tissue and new tissue rubbed against each other, not quite melded. It would take time for his body to fully incorporate the new tissue, healing seamlessly as though it had always been there. 

Tim could probably explain the mechanics of how, precisely, that worked. And comment on how it was fascinating and an incredible advancement in technology. Jason, however, didn’t really care. He knew. It worked. Whatever. 

He blinked when Tim reached for a new tool, one that was newer, but still familiar. 

It was meant to essentially solder the synthetic skin back together. Glue it in place so it melded faster. 

Jason’s nails bit into his palms. 

He hadn’t told Tim, but he wasn’t sure he liked that tool. 

It made the skin feel. Tingly. Hot. Almost burning. It didn’t quite tip over into true pain, but feeling it deep inside his vulnerable throat was. Something. 

Jason closed his eyes, clenching them shut tightly as the tool glued the old skin with the new. It felt. Intimate. Having Tim’s fingers in his throat, his tool dragging heated sensations across new flesh. Jason fought back the impulse to arch, forcing his eyes open because keeping them closed only made the sensations stand out more. 

He relaxed minutely when Tim set it down, moving on to connect the new tubes for the salivary glands and then seal that away behind the synthetic skin. 

Tiny screws fastened the new tongue against the bottom of his jaw, teeth pressed back into place with careful precision. 

Jason licked his split lip, stretching his tongue out and seeing what it felt like. It was. Fine. 

He wasn’t sure if he was really meant to be noticing a difference. 

Tim paused to watch, mumbling under his breath about specs and fittings. Jason ignored him. Tim’s joiner tool pressed against his throat. Jason made a low sound, voice raspy. 

The line of heat dragged up his throat, Tim’s careful fingers pinching the synthetic skin together so that it fused almost seamlessly. Jason forced himself not to react, breathing steadily as the tool swept higher, until Tim’s fingers were in his mouth again, holding his lip together and biting heat burning through him as the tip of the tool rested against Jason’s parted lips and— 

Tim put the tool down. 

Jason swallowed. 

He felt like he tasted metal. Heat. Did heat have a taste? His tongue swept out to dampen his lips, saliva flooding his mouth to get rid of the dry sensation in his throat. 

“Okay?” Tim asked, studying him for his response. Jason gave a jerky nod in response, sitting up and swinging his legs over the side of the table. “Your toolbelt looks so stupid over your civvies,” Jason told him. 

Tim scowled “Fuck you too” He said, taking it as the quiet confirmation it was. 

Installation successful. Nothing to worry about. 

It had been a little awkward, but it was fine. 

Nothing to linger over. 

“We’ll have to test that it actually, y’know, works,” Tim said, “If you’d like to stick around for that?” He scratched his cheek, not quite looking at Jason. 

Jason paused. 

“Are you asking me to eat with you? Like. Dinner?” Jason asked, bewildered. 

Belatedly, he realized that that was a stupid question. The whole point of it was that Tim wanted Jason to be able to taste, which implied eating. Jason had a fully functional “stomach” for processing and utilizing energy converted from food.

He just hadn’t thought about it. The implications. 

“Sure,” Jason amended, trying for casual and not entirely sure that he hit the mark. 

Still, Tim seemed pleased enough. 

“…We’ll order takeout.” Tim belatedly said, wilting slightly “Because I can’t cook. Like. At all.” Jason shrugged “It’s up to you.” It literally didn’t matter. Jason wasn’t even convinced that he’d like being able to taste. 

Smell was at least useful. Taste didn’t do anything except flavor foods that he didn’t really need. 

Still, humoring Tim hadn’t come back to bite him yet, so there wasn’t really any harm in letting him try to feed Jason flavorful foods. 

Worst case, he could leave. 

Jason could always choose to leave, if he wanted to.