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With careful, silent steps, Tim crept towards the large sleeping figure hunched over the Batcomputer console. Batman's cape softly brushed the floor with each slow rise and fall of his chest and shoulders, and as Tim padded closer, he noticed that the man had fallen asleep before he'd even taken the cowl off.
It wasn't the first time B had fallen asleep after patrol—even if they got back well after dawn, he still insisted on updating the Bat-computer's files while everything was fresh in his mind. On those nights, Alfred would help Tim take off the suit, makeup, and protective gear before carrying the boy up to bed while Bruce stayed behind in the Cave.
Tim let out an inaudible sigh as he reached around B's arms to turn off the Batcomputer, dimming the lights in the Cave and reaching up to brush gentle fingers over the part of Batman's cheek that was visible. Bruce really worked himself too hard… But that was just one of the many things that Tim had known about him before they'd ever actually met. And with Jason gone, Bruce kept pushing himself harder than ever. Night after night, he would stay up, working himself past the point of exhaustion—sometimes to punish himself, but sometimes just to get some blessed few hours of sleep without nightmares.
Alfred was past the point of sticking around after-hours to watch Bruce work himself to death, so it was up to Tim to make sure that the Bat actually got the amount of food and sleep required for his continued survival. And honestly? Tim was good at it. He wasn't sure exactly what about himself had Bruce so willing to listen to him when everyone else had failed to talk reason into him, but Tim's heart flipped every time Bruce acquiesced to his gentle attempts to shepherd him. All he'd ever wanted was to take the burden from Bruce's shoulders, even before he approached him in the wake of Jason's death.
Tim peered at Batman's sleeping face, daring to reach and brush his fingers over the man's visible jawline with the care of one approaching a sleeping beast. B didn't stir, his even breaths warming Tim's hand slightly with each exhale.
Emboldened by the confirmation of how deeply B was asleep, Tim leaned closer, heart hammering in his chest. With a feather-light touch, he closed the remaining distance between them and brushed his much smaller lips over Bruce's slack ones. The Bat slept on, unaware of the warmth blooming in Tim's chest, bright and fierce. Tim pressed his lips to Bruce's once more before drawing back to carefully climb into Bruce's lap, nestling into the crook of his arms gingerly to avoid disturbing him.
Tim's pulse still thundered in his veins, his lips tingling where they had pressed against Bruce's. Even if it was just his little secret, Tim was glad that his first kiss went to someone so special.