Work Text:
Tim held onto Winter’s leash as they walked up to the Wayne Manor’s porch. He was excited for tonight’s dinner since Alfred was making his favorite meal at Jason’s request. He couldn’t really remember what his favorite meal was before Joker Junior since things can be very fuzzy, especially when it comes to food.
But his favorite food now was chicken tenders and a salad with a balsamic vinaigrette. He loved the crunch of the chicken and the salad was a lot healthier than fries or onion rings. Jason would try to make the chicken tenders and salad a few times a month for Tim so they’d have a good routine. Tim thrived on routine.
The whole house smelled amazing when they stepped inside. Tim grinned excitedly. He could smell a dessert that Alfred had made, which was always so great. His stomach growled loudly.
“Yummy smells,” he said.
“Hungry, buddy?” Jason asked, chuckling softly. He pulled Tim close to his body with one arm.
“Yeah! Alfie makes the best food.”
“He does, doesn’t he?” Jason nodded. He grinned. “Let’s see if we can find Dick.”
Other than Jason, Dick was Tim’s favorite Wayne. Alfred was a close third, but Tim adored Dick. He loved his oldest brother. One of his favorite things to do with Dick that they did mostly during Sunday dinners was gymnastics together. Tim remembered a lot of what he knew from before Joker, even if he wasn’t as good as he used to be. So one of his favorite things to do with Dick was have little competitions with Dick and see who was the best acrobat.
Dick would sometimes throw the competition and Tim win just because he knew how happy it made Tim. Tim knew that Dick was throwing them, but he decided to let himself live in the bubble of beating Dick Grayson at acrobatics. It was fun and great exercise. His therapist told him a few times that exercise was really important for his mental health.
They found Dick talking to Damian. Damian ignored Tim completely, choosing to greet Jason. He had stopped trying to greet Winter after a few reminders that she was a working dog and not just a regular pet. Dick pulled Tim into a tight hug. That was another reason why Tim liked Dick so much. He gave the best hugs. Tim smiled and snuggled into Dick. Dick was safe and secure. He smelled like black licorice and pine needles. It was such an oddly comforting smell.
“Hey, baby bird. It’s good to see you!”
“It’s good to see you too, Dick. We’re always happy to come over.”
“And I know we’re all happy to have you and Jason over.” Dick pulled back and patted Tim’s shoulder. He looked at Jason and offered him a handshake. Jason wasn’t as touchy feely as either of them, so he was respecting that.
Jason playfully rolled his eyes and grabbed Dick’s hand. He pulled him close to his chest in what he would refer to as a bro-hug. He put their arms between their chests and patted Dick’s back. Dick chuckled and patted Jason’s back as well. “A fucking handshake, really? That’s lame.”
“You’re lame,” Dick shot back. He let go of Jason. “Bruce is in the media room. He’s on the phone with Clark.”
“Why?”
“Clark called him. I don’t know what Clark needs, but hopefully they won’t be on the phone for too long. I’m sure Bruce’ll tell Clark that you three are coming over.” Dick looked down at Winter for a second before looking away. He still struggled sometimes with not interacting with her.
If it was up to Tim, he’d probably let his family outside of Roy and Jason interact with Winter, but Jason was very adamant about it. He didn’t want people to see that they were making exceptions for people. Roy only got to because he was technically a third caregiver for Winter, and his interactions with Winter was only when Jason wasn’t there to help Tim. And Tim was needing help to take care of her less and less.
“Do you have any ideas on why they’d be talking?” Tim asked.
“I believe Kent and Lane are getting a divorce,” Damian cut in. “Jonathan has mentioned that they fight quite a lot and have been pulling apart.”
“You two talk about their relationship?”
“Only recently. Jonathan has been venting to me about it. It is possible that Kent is telling father about the divorce, if father was not already aware. But I believe that they’re discussing the separation.” Damian crouched down and started to pet Winter, making eye contact with Jason.
“Damian, no petting her,” Jason reminded him. “She’s a working dog.”
“I’m simply giving her attention.”
“Little D,” Dick said. “I want to pet her too, she looks so soft. But Winter is a service dog. I know you know what a service dog is. Tim needs her to be at attention at all times. She doesn’t need to as much when she’s at home, but she’s not. So she’s on duty.”
“Fine.” Damian stood upright and crossed his arms. He huffed angrily and looked away. “It’s not fair.”
“I know, but Jason’s asked that we don’t pet her or say hi to her. We have to respect his boundaries.” Dick patted Damian’s shoulder. “You’ve got your own dog to snuggle, and Bruce’s dog. I know that she’s a really cute dog, but you’ve gotta respect the rules they’ve set.”
“Whatever.” Damian marched off.
Tim looked down at Winter, who sat down and looked up at him. She tilted her head a little. He smiled down at her then patted her head. “He’s just a silly,” Tim decided. Winter barked, wagging her tail. Tim’s smile grew a little more as he pulled her into a hug.
“Dinner is ready,” Alfred announced as he walked into the room. “Where are Master Bruce and Master Damian?”
“We don’t know where Damian went, but Bruce is in his room,” Dick answered. “He’s on the phone with Clark, so he might be a little slow.”
“That is very good to know, thank you. You three should wash up. I prepared a small dish for Winter as well so she won’t feel left out as you eat.” Alfred nodded. He went to go find Damian.
“Wash up!” Tim shouted as he ran towards the bathroom to wash up. He had dropped Winter’s leash so he wasn’t dragging her along as he did so. Tim could hear Jason and Dick both laughing at him. He ignored them and got to a bathroom. He scrubbed his hands pretty well then went to the dining room. Tim knew where it was, even if things had been fuzzy for a while.
Everyone gathered around the table and started eating. Tim flapped his hands excitedly as Winter curled up by his feet. The older two Batboys were fighting over something, but Tim didn’t really care what. He was focused on his food.
Halfway through the meal, the door swung open. Tim looked over to see Superman. He looked pretty beat up, and his hair was smoking. The strong stench of burnt hair hit Tim’s nose since he was the closest to where Superman was. He blinked slowly before a few laughs cut through his lips.
Bruce stood up to lead Superman out of the dining room. Tim’s laughter got stronger. His body reacted poorly to the smell of burnt hair from being electrocuted. It was starting to kick into fight or flight response. Or in Tim’s case, start laughing.
Jason tensed for a second before kneeling next to Tim. Winter put her head in Tim’s lap and nudged her nose against the palm of his hand. Tim kept laughing as he stroked her head. Jason put his hand onto Tim’s chest and gently pressed. He was saying something, but Tim couldn’t hear what he was saying. Tim’s body shook as tears ran down his cheeks.
“Deep breaths,” Jason’s voice finally broke through to Tim’s ears.
Tim tried to catch his breath and take deep breaths, but he couldn’t. He laughed harder and gripped the table with the hand that wasn’t petting Winter. Jason rubbed Tim’s chest and ran his hand through Tim’s hair. Tim buried his face into Jason’s chest. He hated feeling like this. It was an awful experience. He wanted it to just end.
Winter licked Tim’s hand. She wagged her tail. Jason put Tim into the ground, so Winter could properly climb into Tim’s lap. She put her head onto his shoulder like she was hugging him. Tim’s laughter slowly calmed down as he held onto Winter. He shut his eyes. He felt so tired and ready to go home.
“Are you okay, Tim?” Dick asked once Tim had stopped laughing.
“No,” he admitted. “We wanna go home.”
“That’s okay.” Jason gently picked him up and grabbed Winter’s leash. “Can you tell Bruce we went home?”
Dick nodded. He looked concerned. “Text me when you get home?”
“Sure.”