Fic: Entangled, Young Justice, Tim/Kon, PG-13, 1/1
Tim thought dating Kon wouldn’t involve severe emotional entanglements. He was wrong.
Entangled
Tim was perfectly okay with how things were going between him and Kon until…until…
The thing was, is that Kon had been programmed with a lot of things in-tube. A lot of information, and quite a bit of it pertained to social skills and how to relate to other people, and…well, it was really quite interesting how stereotypically feminine Kon could be when it came to ‘talking about feelings’ or ‘intimate discussions’ and how much importance he placed on being able to bare his soul to someone he was involved with, and…
And of course he wanted, needed - but, at least, knew the rest of the human (and not so human) race didn’t always feel the same, so didn’t expect - the same from his…partner.
Tim had managed to make it eight months into his relationship with Kon - and if he hadn’t been able to reveal his name to everyone when he and Kon had just started dating he wasn’t sure if they would have even made it that far - and was pretty happy with how things were going. They’d even started having sex - well, to be perfectly honest, third base: handjobs, blowjobs, and a bit of…fingering - but now Kon wanted to talk about things. Things like their relationship and where Tim saw himself in five years, and did he maybe think that at some point when Kon ditched the Superboy name and he’d grown out of Robin it would be too kitschy for them to have matching superhero names? Not rhyming or anything, man, just ones that went together? ‘Cause you can’t tell me that anyone would expect a broody Bat to work with a bright Bird, and I know we can do better than that.
And Tim found himself reeling so much from just the idea of future…permanence - not commitment, he could do commitment, but emotional entanglements always left him feeling so… - that by the time he blinked away his confusion Kon had already gotten dressed.
It was the first time Robin was ever late for the morning training session - the sessions he’d insisted all of YJ have since that time they were chasing Empress and all ended up in a gigantic pile. That lapse in routine didn’t scare him nearly as much as realizing that his relationship with Kon was…was an actual relationship. They didn’t hold hands in public - except for when Kon had to transport him - and they didn’t have silly pet names for each other - except for Kon calling him ‘Wonder Boy’ - and really, Tim had been perfectly fine with their romantic relationship resembling their friendship with added sexual intimacies, he’d just…
He’d actually, somewhat futilely, it appeared, hoped that entering into a relationship with another (mostly) teenaged boy would result in a lack of emotional…detritus…littering his life.
No such luck. And if he wasn’t, actually, in love with Kon, he might try and break things off just so he wouldn’t have to deal with the emotional side of things. But Tim is, and he knows enough about psychology to realize that repressing dealing with his feelings is a bad thing, no matter - and probably because of the fact - that he can more than plausibly fake emotional stability and all that entails with such sincerity that even Batman is convinced he’s quote-unquote ‘normal.’
Just because he could fake it convincingly, doesn’t mean he should. In fact, it probably means he shouldn’t. Tim knows he lives a lie. But with Kon…with Kon he doesn’t have to.
And maybe that’s why Kon’s been talking to him about how he feels; because Tim will listen, and, if not understand, at least accept. Just like Kon will of him, and his foibles.
And even with all the emotional entanglements Kon presents - or maybe even because of them, and what they represent - Tim likes the way things are. And he’s more than okay with them.
Entangled
Tim was perfectly okay with how things were going between him and Kon until…until…
The thing was, is that Kon had been programmed with a lot of things in-tube. A lot of information, and quite a bit of it pertained to social skills and how to relate to other people, and…well, it was really quite interesting how stereotypically feminine Kon could be when it came to ‘talking about feelings’ or ‘intimate discussions’ and how much importance he placed on being able to bare his soul to someone he was involved with, and…
And of course he wanted, needed - but, at least, knew the rest of the human (and not so human) race didn’t always feel the same, so didn’t expect - the same from his…partner.
Tim had managed to make it eight months into his relationship with Kon - and if he hadn’t been able to reveal his name to everyone when he and Kon had just started dating he wasn’t sure if they would have even made it that far - and was pretty happy with how things were going. They’d even started having sex - well, to be perfectly honest, third base: handjobs, blowjobs, and a bit of…fingering - but now Kon wanted to talk about things. Things like their relationship and where Tim saw himself in five years, and did he maybe think that at some point when Kon ditched the Superboy name and he’d grown out of Robin it would be too kitschy for them to have matching superhero names? Not rhyming or anything, man, just ones that went together? ‘Cause you can’t tell me that anyone would expect a broody Bat to work with a bright Bird, and I know we can do better than that.
And Tim found himself reeling so much from just the idea of future…permanence - not commitment, he could do commitment, but emotional entanglements always left him feeling so… - that by the time he blinked away his confusion Kon had already gotten dressed.
It was the first time Robin was ever late for the morning training session - the sessions he’d insisted all of YJ have since that time they were chasing Empress and all ended up in a gigantic pile. That lapse in routine didn’t scare him nearly as much as realizing that his relationship with Kon was…was an actual relationship. They didn’t hold hands in public - except for when Kon had to transport him - and they didn’t have silly pet names for each other - except for Kon calling him ‘Wonder Boy’ - and really, Tim had been perfectly fine with their romantic relationship resembling their friendship with added sexual intimacies, he’d just…
He’d actually, somewhat futilely, it appeared, hoped that entering into a relationship with another (mostly) teenaged boy would result in a lack of emotional…detritus…littering his life.
No such luck. And if he wasn’t, actually, in love with Kon, he might try and break things off just so he wouldn’t have to deal with the emotional side of things. But Tim is, and he knows enough about psychology to realize that repressing dealing with his feelings is a bad thing, no matter - and probably because of the fact - that he can more than plausibly fake emotional stability and all that entails with such sincerity that even Batman is convinced he’s quote-unquote ‘normal.’
Just because he could fake it convincingly, doesn’t mean he should. In fact, it probably means he shouldn’t. Tim knows he lives a lie. But with Kon…with Kon he doesn’t have to.
And maybe that’s why Kon’s been talking to him about how he feels; because Tim will listen, and, if not understand, at least accept. Just like Kon will of him, and his foibles.
And even with all the emotional entanglements Kon presents - or maybe even because of them, and what they represent - Tim likes the way things are. And he’s more than okay with them.