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Tim is flying.
He is soaring through the sky, softly dropping every yard or so, with air rushing through his hair and marshmallow melting inside his mouth.
He laughs out loud at something that Bart says. Something dumb, probably, but he laughs, and laughs and laughs, and he can’t seem to stop, until Cassie shushes him off, laughing her ass off too.
“Shhhhh. Sh! They’re gonna hear us,” Cassie says between dizzy laughter. “They’re gonna hear us, stupid.”
“Who cares?” Kon replies to Cassie, his eyes closed. Tim sighs contentedly against his bicep. “They should try it too.”
“Yeah,” Tim agrees, mumbling. “Might be fun to see Bruce giggling.”
That makes them giggle.
“Man, imagine that,” Bart says, calm and not-at-all fast. “Batman giggling. Like—what? I’d pay to see that.”
Abruptly, Tim sits up. “How much?” He probably looks crazy. He doesn’t tear his gaze apart from Bart, though.
Bart shrugs, “Couple bucks?”
Tim flops back down against Kon.
“Bucks,” he repeats. “Bucks. B-U-C-K-S? No thanks.”
“What’s money, anyway?” Cassie wonders, and Tim turns a bit to look at her. Her eyes are almost as red as her Wonder Girl suit.
“Paper,” Kon mutters. “Capitalism.”
“We should try to time travel to the Star Trek universe,” Bart sits up this time, his face shining in excitement. His hair is all over the place. “Imagine that.” A dreamy sigh. “I call dibs on Spock.”
“Dibs?” Cassie frowns in confusion. “Why dibs?”
“But Star Trek has currency?” Tim asks.
Bart raises an eyebrow, “Dibs!” And he smiles widely at Cassie, totally ignoring Tim. “Have you seen that man’s face?”
“Nah, it doesn’t,” Kon replies at Tim. “People get free food and stuff.”
“I’ve seen his pointy ears,” Cassie uselessly chirps.
“They don’t,” Tim laughs without reason over Kon’s chest. “They have to pay with something.”
“Duuude,” Kon groans. “That’s Star Wars!”
“Pointy ears are kinda hot,” Bart lays down once again, sighing loudly.
“Eeeh,” Cassie looks at the ceiling. Liam Gallagher stares right back at her. “I think eyebrows are better. Spock’s are cute.”
“Pointy,” Kon says slowly and starts to laugh. Loud.
It’s contagious.
“Point-eeh,” Bart repeats, doing a terrible british accent between giggles.
Tim doesn’t even know what’s so funny but he can’t stop. His stomach hurts. Another marshmallow invades his mouth.
Probably not a good idea to eat between fits of laughter, but, hey, they taste so good. And he’s hungry. And floating. Soaring. Flying. Breaking free. Like that High School Musical song.
“Guys, what’s with all these Sharpay love lately?” Tim asks between munches.
“Excuse you? Sharpay is a goddess,” Cassie replies almost instantly. Then: “Hey, we should cosplay as HSM!”
“Dibs on Efron,” Bart says, making everyone giggle.
“Yeah, ‘cause you look so much like him,” Cassie snickers.
“I do!”
“He’s so hot,” Tim adds dreamily. “Can’t wait to be in college so I can have existential crises about my career and a six-pack blue eyed boy all over me.”
“Drake. What. The. Hell.”
The moment stops.
Tim blinks bearily. “Did someone hear a squeaky voice too?”
“Zac Efron?” Kon tries to sit up even though Tim is draped all over him. “Is that you?”
“Uh. Definitely not Zac? Little D is here…?”
At Cassie’s words, Tim squirms over Kon’s chest, who immediately plastered himself on the carpet at Damian’s mention, apparently trying to disappear. A distant, alert and non-drugged part of his brain thanks his past self for having depowered his very strong and kind of dumb friends. But again, that rational part of his brain tells him ‘yeah, duh’ before disappearing completely.
Tim opens his eyes again, oblivious that he’d closed them, just to see a very upset Damian towering over them.
“This is pathetic, even for you,” Damian snarls at him before pausing. Then, his lips stretch in the most evil smile Tim has ever seen in an eleven year old. “Father is going to kill you—no, Alfred will kill you. Father is just going to look at you and throw you out of the manor in seconds.”
“Man, you’re so mean,” Bart whines somewhere behind Tim.
Damian nods once. “Thank you, speedster.”
“Yeah, dude, why’re you so mean? You’re, like, nine. Or eight? I dunno.”
Damian doesn’t dignify Kon with a look nor a reply. He keeps smiling with triumph.
“Yikes,” Tim smiles back at Damian, whose grin falters. “You’ve got me,” and he opens his palms in a gesture of defeat. “Now, have you seen High School Musical? I don’t think Dick has shown you those movies and I want to correct that, please and thank you.”
Damian visibly recoils. “You didn’t hear me, Drake? Alfred will kill you. Father will throw you out. He’ll probably remove you from his will. Either way, I will win. Maybe we won’t share the same surname by tomorrow. Ha!”
Tim blinks, tilts his head and beams. “Okay? Heard you loud and clear? But, uh, it wouldn’t be the first time?” Tim giggles at his brother’s flabbergasted face. Then he turns at Cassie. “Remember when Alfred found us doing the 50 Wings Challenge and took me to the hospital?”
“Oh God,” Cassie starts to giggle too. Loudly. “He found us just when you started to throw up! And Bruce yelled at me for, like, five minutes straight in the waiting room. No joke. It was hilarious.”
Tim let out a guffaw.
“I’m still offended that I wasn’t invited, by the way!” Kon interjects.
“Me too!” Bart quickly adds.
“What is even happening.” Tim hears Damian muttering.
Tim turns back at Damian. “I think you can’t get anything out of this, baby bat.”
“So you’re still capable of thinking,” Damian scowls before pressing further. “I can still make you lose privileges. Father can bench you. He will, if I go downstairs right now and tell him what is happening in his own home.”
“Good idea,” Kon gestures at Damian with excitement. “If Batman benches you we can take that vacation we always talk about!”
“Totally!” Bart says, shaking Tim’s shoulders. “Let him snitch, Tim! Let him!”
Tim wants to roll his eyes but finds himself unable to. Everything is a little bit too blurry looking. Too fast. He grins, loosely shaking his head. “I dunno.”
“This is not funny,” Damian snaps. “You should be begging me for mercy.”
“Aw,” Cassie coos and Tim sees her pouting for the first time since they met. “You’re cute. You’re a tiny little itty Batman. Don’t give up, kid. One day you’ll get your revenge.”
Damian mumbles something in reply that Tim can’t quite pick up but that makes Cassie coo again.
Tim sighs very loudly before sitting straight. Kon is offering his literal support, placing both of his hands on his spine. Tim, mindful to not let his whole weight over Kon’s palms, offers Damian his right hand.
“I’ll write your mission logs for 2 months and help you convince Bruce to adopt a piglet.”
“I’ve always wanted to hug a piglet,” Kon interrupts with excitement.
Before Damian can accept his hand, Tim quickly raises his pinky.
Begrudgingly, Damian raises his pinky too. “3 and a half months of mission logs and 2 piglets and 1 chicken.”
“Pinky promise, little Robin.”
And their pinkies meet, sealing the deal.
“You should be setting me an example, you know,” Damian grumbles on his way to the door. He clicks the lock on the handle. “You’re not the youngest anymore.” And with that, he leaves, quietly closing the door.
Tim’s hazy brain logs Damian’s words in the ‘emotional memories’ carpet before chuckling.
“I’m no example for no one!” He yells back even though Damian probably can’t hear him anymore.
“Dude, your family is super weird.”
Cassie nods, agreeing with Bart. “What the hell just happened?”
“Yeah,” Kon snorts. “It makes sense, though,” he concedes.
“Whatever, shut up, you three,” Tim replies without any real bite, smiling widely while he settles back over Kon’s chest again. Bart starts to pet his hair and Cassie’s hand grips his arm tightly. Her manicured nails ground him somehow. “So… Sharpay love. What’s up with that?”
Idiotically, they burst out in giggles once again.