wildestlogs | (no subject)

Entry tags:

(no subject)

Who: Dem Wayne Boys (Tim Drake and Dick Grayson)
What: Tim needs let off some pressure before he pops. Dick has a pin.
Where: Tim's room moving to the highest balcony available.
When: Immediately after the Council.
Warnings/Notes: Discussions of sexuality in ways that will not always be healthy.

At the first sign of movement towards the doors, Tim left the Council. He thought about staying until the end, to watch who leaves with who and pay attention to any last minute conversations, but guaranteed privacy is hard to come by, and he wants to check his bandages and see how well the heal he did earlier today has taken.

Without being able to close the windows to the outside walkways, he wants to do it when everyone else is busy. Hence ghosting the party so he could get back to his room and poke at his side, frowning that the color doesn't look as good as he would expect it to, for how exhausted trying to use his healing power on it made him. It's still dark pink, although it's now healed over enough that he doesn't have to worry about re-opening it. He's already been feeling the difference the past few days; it's easier and easier to move normally. Now, touching his side doesn't set off any sharp pains.

Tim drops his shirt back down. The miruvor has him feeling good enough to try a second heal today, but he'll wait until he's about to sleep in the wee hours. It's not late enough to assume that no one's going to come to rip apart what was said at the meeting today. Tim's money is on Dick, or Elle.

For now, he just stretches out on the bed and starts running through the meeting again in his head, trying to commit certain phrases to permanent memory.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

It's a good thing that Dick's not a betting man, or he would have lost this one.

Not just because of wanting to rip apart what was said in the meeting. He'd noticed how pale Tim was at the meeting. Not that he has much of a tan at the best of times, a combination of being active mostly at night and western European genes. But he still knows his little brother, and this is beyond what's normal.

Dick does wait out the end of the meeting, giving Tim a little bit to sort himself out before heading to the room. He knocks on the door, rocking back on his heels. After all, Tim could be taking a nap.

He napped for three days, and it was at least another three before he fell completely back to his normal sleep.

Even now, he got a solid five hours last night. Tim doesn’t need a nap.

“Come in,” he calls towards the door as he sits back up. “The doors and windows are open.”

"Sure, but it literally costs me nothing to respect your privacy."

Dick's smiling as he opens the door, though it doesn't stop his eyes from sweeping over Tim to make certain he's okay. It's habit and it's not going anywhere.

"So. Now that you're feeling better. I was wondering if you want a little field trip?"

"Dick, it's me. When do we ever expect complete privacy?" Without doing a sweep for trackers, bugs, and possibly setting off an EMP.

"Field trip sounds good, but I get to go under my own steam," Tim makes it sounds like a negotiation, but he's firm about that. He's already riding the sharp edge of stressed, because everything - including knowledge, after those vagaries and predictions - remains out of his grasp, and getting carted around by Kon put him in a bad place. And the fancy elven drinks didn't do anything for his mood. "Where are we going?"

Dick just raises an eyebrow. Not because he's arguing with Tim about the privacy, but because it just doesn't matter to him. Not in this instance.

"And sure. You can go under your own power." If they go slow, it's not a problem. "And where we're going is up."

He's found a good balcony that a lot of people leave him alone on. It's not a guarantee of privacy, but it's quieter. With some really nice flowering vines.

It matters to Tim. Privacy is always going to be very important, no matter what the situation. It's hard to be on all the time.

Tim gets up, tucks in his shirt and reaches for the vest that he'd been wearing over it. We mustn't affront the Middle Earthen sensibilities. "Sounds good."

He gets an impish look on his face as he heads out of the room. "Soooo... should I ask what's up, Dick? now, or should I hold it for later?"

Dick laughs, shaking his head as he leads the way toward the stairs. Which he is absolutely going to let Tim set the pace for. Though he knows Tim is going to push himself, at least a little.

"Up is the balcony I've basically been hanging out on most days. It has a great view of the gorge."

He has to build his strength back up. He's not taking them two at a time, but he's at least maintaining the speed of Alfred-with-a-tray. Any slower and would it even count as PT?

"Hnh," Tim makes a non-committal sound at the idea of 'just' hanging out on the balcony. He pauses and turns on the stairs, looking out towards the gorge as best he can. He can just make out the rock that he and Kon had been sitting on, in the far distance and down yet another flight of stairs. "And you can get a really good view of the balcony, gorge, and vines from over there. Sometimes there's entertainment."

He knows how Dick hangs out on balconies.

At least he knows not to expect Dick to be embarrassed by being seen. If he'd been worried about that, he wouldn't have been doing the Tarzan yell at the same time.

Dick just grins at him as they make their way up to the upper balconies. "The elves have absolutely no idea what to do with me. I've been getting weirder looks than the dwarves did, I think."

Really, it's easier to account for Dick Grayson once Tim realized that he was nigh-impossible to embarrass and generally needed no encouragement to get from 'the thing that he wanted to do' to 'the thing that he was doing'.

"I'm not surprised. We barely know what to do with you, and we at least grew up with hawaiian shirts as a concept. The Elves don't have a chance," Tim mused as he turned a landing. His side is starting to get tight, but it's not so bad. He doesn't have to really baby it. "The real question is, what do the dwarves think of you?"

Dick is still careful as he wraps an arm around Tim's neck, pulling him in for a light noogie. Careful, but not babying him. Just letting Tim be the little brother for a while.

"Honestly, I'm not sure. I haven't had a lot of chance to talk to them. Though there's been some cheering at least once when I did a swing, so it's possible that was them." Dick grins over at him. "You think I could introduce Hawai'ian shirts here? The pattern might be a bit difficult for the weavers to manage, admittedly."

Ahhh, focused attention and contact and teasing! And... Tim feigns a duck, but somehow never escapes the hand at all, and the laughter and body language are happy and light.

Tim's gotten more than one interpersonal relationship wound so tightly that he's afraid something is going to snap. But if he can wheedle a noogie out of Dick this fast, they're good. (Thank god they're good.)

"I think they could do it. There's a lot of subtle shading patterns in the clothes. Tone-on-tone vines and knots. I think you better ask them now if you're going to get one before they send us after the entire fantasy wing of the library," Tim says. "I read Die unendliche Geschichte in the original German, but I never thought that could ever come in useful."

Edited 2022-03-13 23:27 (UTC)

"Just remember not to make any wishes if anybody gives you a weird, entwined snake amulet."

He doesn't take his arm away from Tim, but moves it down to his shoulders. Loosely, so he's not trying to take any of Tim's weight. Just letting the contact stay.

They haven't done this enough lately. Kon reminded him of that.

"We're going to all be plumbing the depths of our brains to get through this. All of us. And all the skills we can bring to bear." Which meant that, eventually, they'd probably trip up and the hero thing would come to light. Best to be ready for it.

“You just have to make the right wish from the start. Bastian was careless and made too many small wishes. The right wish solves everything, and one memory isn’t too much to ask.”

Tim could use it sparingly and judiciously. If the Childlike Empress is here, then the Auryn could be as well. Hm. Something to keep an eye out for.

He makes a face at the idea of using everything, with others, in a way that implies transparency. “We could just be casually well-rounded? Good schooling, rich eccentric father - you know how much that can cover.”

"Eventually, there's going to be one thing too far. It's easy to play things off when people aren't around you twenty-four seven." And Tim knows that. And the people here aren't stupid. He knows at least a few have already started putting things together.

Once they reach the top floor, Dick leads the way to the balcony he's been using, hoping right up onto the railing in a way that would give most people heart palpitations to watch. "I've already had one of the girls worried for my mental health when she came up here."

The frown deepens, because he knows and hasn’t wanted to admit it. But he knew from the first day that hiding was only really possible if he wore the mask the entire time, or used a pseudonym and denied any knowledge of Kon. They just have to hope that the Green is fine with their universe. “It’s easier to compartmentalize when you have breathing room. I don’t think I’ve ever had to deal with so many people for so long.”

Getting stabbed was like a vacation.

“You should tell her that you regularly take running leaps off skyscrapers. See what happens.”

"Yeah, same. The closest was in 'Haven." Which...there's still a tightness to his voice whenever he talks about his city. The one he...didn't fail, but wasn't able to save. It hadn't been his fault. But sometimes, it's still hard not to feel that it had been.

He shakes his head, shaking the feeling off as best he can. "Anyway, I'm not sure that would convince her about my mental health. I took her for a swing instead."

[ Tim holds his breath when Dick mentions Blüdhaven. Figuratively, to actually hold his breath would be noticed. He’s here, and he’ll absolutely listen if Dick wants to talk about it. He thinks Dick has already done his grieving though, so there’s a brush of his hand on Dick’s back that isn’t quite a pat. Just sign that he’s not alone, and cautiously avoiding making another mess out of old traumas this week.

He’s relieved when they go back to talking about the girl. “Subtle. I’m going to go out on a limb and say she’s pretty.”

If Dick leans into that brush, neither of them would call him on it. Blüdhaven is always going to be like that for him, more than likely. But it's also acknowledgement that he knows he isn't alone. And grateful to Tim for that.

Still, he's able to laugh and shake his head. "Honestly? I guess she's pretty. Really not my type and too young. But I figured the best way for her to understand why I wanted to do it and I'm good enough to make sure she wouldn't fall."

Nope, not calling him on it. But making a mental note to be more attentive for a few days. A better kid brother to provide some distraction and support until Dick’s in a better place and not mentioning the ruined city.

“Too young’s a problem because it means I can’t make a joke about how hair dye can make anyone your type,” Tim teases. “So everyone knows that you can swing on a vine like Tarzan while carrying another person, and your brother hangs out with a superhero. Bruce’s going to burst a blood vessel. I’m moving out for three months.”

Tim is a just fine brother. Dick is good at distracting himself. And mentioning the city all on his own.

There's a moment of quiet before Dick shakes his head. "I'm still trying to get my head around that. That Bruce is alive." He looks over to Tim. "Don't get me wrong, I'm thrilled that you were right. I just..." It's a rough one. "I had to get used to the idea he was gone in order to do what I needed to do. So it's going to take a bit to get used to that."

But it's obvious that being here, not having to be Batman, has been good for Dick. He's loosened up a lot. He's always been a different Batman to Bruce, but having to do it without having Bruce in the background for advice had been rough.

“It’s still weird for me, too, sometimes,” Tim admits. If anyone can understand how it’s hard to adjust to a sudden return to the old normal, it’s Tim. He had utterly refused the new normal, and he’s still having trouble resuming normality. “But the good news is that you don’t have to deal with it here.”

He can avoid bringing Bruce up again. Tim would’ve wanted to know, but maybe not when he couldn’t see for himself and really take it in. There’s a point where someone being back becomes real (it’s somewhere around the third time Tim sees them again, but he can’t study it for obvious reasons). “I can’t not bring up Kon though. He’s right here.”

"Not much, at least." Because Tim is still here and knows, and it's going to come up. So Dick is all right talking about it. It's just weird.

And then his little brother brings up part of the reason for Dick seeking him out, which makes his job so much easier. (Not that Tim has realized that it's part of reason. Yet.)

"Kon's easier because he's here, I think. It's easier when you can see it with your own eyes, you know?" Which is when Dick turns his full attention onto Tim. "Well. Easier for me."

Not as easy for you isn't SAID, but the weight in the air means it's certainly implied.

Tim can feel the moment the tectonic plates of the conversation overcome the friction and snap to their new position.

This isn’t about Bruce, or Tim leaving the meeting borderline early. For some reason, this is about Kon, which is stupid. Tim accepts that Kon’s alive. He’s been over that shock since before he got yanked into this new universe.

(Don’t pull away or look guilty. Whatever this is, Dick doesn’t know how awkward things have been the past few days because Kon is mercifully clueless and Tim will die on this hill.)

(But a confused look is okay. In moderation.)

Tim turns towards Dick who, unsurprisingly, is already looking at him. Like he couldn’t tell. Tim can hear when Dick’s staring at him when they’re both blindfolded. (Don’t even think about asking what you did. Implicates you as having done something.)

“I think everyone’s handling it okay. “The Legion of Superheroes did it” is an effective explanation for what would otherwise be too much science to explain.”

Edited 2022-03-14 19:29 (UTC)

Tim wishes Dick didn't know. But, then, he doesn't know that Kon went looking for him to try to get insight into Tim.

"I've had friends come back from the dead too, Tim. I know it can be...odd." He'd stepped down as leader of the Titans because of Donna's death. Mourned Garth. Probably would have given Arthur a piece of his mind if he'd been in a good position to do so.

Wally hadn't died, but they'd lost him all the same for a time. That had been nearly as hard to deal with as losing Donna.

Joey had returned. Hank had, but Don hadn't. More names than he wanted to remember right now.

"It's okay for it to be odd. Especially when you can't get some space to sort yourself out."

Calling his little brother out? Just a little.

Edited 2022-03-14 20:32 (UTC)