Fic: You Each Time (1/2)
Title: You Each Time
Authors: ficbyzee and brown_betty
Setting: Follows The Long Way Around (warning for mature/disturbing content)
Warnings: adult content being enacted by teens.
Authors' notes: Betad by Petronelle
Summary: Does the whole 'we can see your eyes now' thing mean you're going to not be a repressed freak anymore?
So Robin has a face, and actual eyes. Blue eyes, and a really nice face. And...his name is so totally not Alvin, but whatever.
Kon corners Robin after he puts his mask on, and Kon resists the urge to peel it off again. "So. Al. Does the whole 'we can see your eyes now' thing mean you're going to not be a repressed freak anymore?"
Robin's mouth curls in a way that's got to be Alvin because Robin never did that. "You know, I'm really grateful that you're taking an interest in my self-actualization, except not."
Kon really hates the way Robin shoots him down so that he doesn't even know what happened, except that he's in a nosedive and headed for the swamps.
"I'm just saying, maybe it's time to admit you're not actually a robot, even if Batman wishes you were."
"Does this pick-up line usually work for you?" asks... yeah, that's Rob now, not Alvin. Alf. Alvie? Whatever.
He takes a deep breath, and Kon can feel a lecture coming. "Look, Superboy--"
"You look hot without the mask, you know." Maybe if Kon doesn't let him finish a sentence, Robin won't be able to shoot him down.
Rob's face hardens, and it's like he's wearing the mask. "Have you heard anything from Star Labs about getting your powers back?"
"Well, Dr. Thompson--" says Kon automatically and then realizes he's been diverted. He scowls at Rob. Rob gives him nothing.
Nothing. Not even an eyebrow. He tries to stare Rob down, but twenty seconds into the contest, Cassie turns up.
"Kon, is it... Kon, I'm so sorry, she says," and then Kon remembers that his best friend not talking to him is pretty minor. Or maybe it's all part of the same thing.
Kon'd always thought that Tana would be there. Maybe he wasn't too clear on where "there" was, but he'd find her eventually. He can't believe she's dead, that she's not going to smack him and call him Kid anymore, and refuse to let him get past second base.
Screw this shit, he needs to go do something or he's going to sit in his stupid room, which isn't even his stupid room because Match picked it, in the stupid new headquarters, and feel like a retard.
"Oh good! I was wondering when you'd come out of your room because of how Robin doesn't have any powers and he lurks a lot but I don't think lurking is really your thing, you know?"
And Kon had kind of planned on making the first person he found go have a beer with him, but... just no. It was a stupid plan anyway. He can't make Bart drink beer, that's asking for disaster. Secret can't really drink, and is also kind of scary. Cissie would be cool, but... well. Match has probably screwed up everything with Cassie for him, and he's not sure he wants to have to talk. That leaves Robin.
Well. And if what Match said about Robin wasn't a great big lie...
It's not fair that everything happens to him at once, Kon thinks.
"Is this one of those things where time seems to be passing really slowly but it's just me, because of the subjective thing?" asks Bart.
"Nah, sorry, just staring into space." Kon shakes his head. "You wanna... play Nintendo?"
"Sure!" says Bart, a little too quickly even for Bart, and blurs away. Kon tries to fly to the game room to meet him, and then remembers he can't. If Bart weren't waiting for him, he might just sit down and... fuck. He punches the wall. His knuckles bleed.
Bart beats him so bad at Mario Kart it's not even funny, but Kon manages to convince himself he's having fun. Secret shows up half way through and cheers them on, and if she seems to be cheering harder for Bart, Kon doesn't really mind too much. When he's on the island course Rob shows up and hangs in the doorway. Kon loses that game even more badly. Robin leaves as he crosses the finish line.
"Is it okay if I talk to you about Tana?" Kon asks, and Bart puts the controller down, and Yoshi flies off the bridge.
"Yes?" says Bart. "Max always says- Hold on," and Bart disappears for a second, and returns with two mugs of cocoa, and offers Kon one.
"What does Max say?" Kon asks, hoping it will be something really smart.
Bart looks down. "He says... when someone has a problem you can't do anything about, you should bring them food. Because it shows that you care, and also, they might be hungry."
Kon can't help smiling a little into his mug. "Thanks Bart. I know you care."
Bart sits next to him, cross legged, and they stare at the aggressively cheerful kart drivers until Bart hits the TV's power button.
"She-- She was the first person to take me seriously. The first. She. Fuck. I learned to surf to impress her, and I totally cheated and used TK. She laughed her ass off at me because I was really bad at it."
Bart grabs his own feet, and Kon can tell that he's fighting the urge to run. He's doing that for Kon, and he just-- He feels pathetically grateful for Bart's presence, for the fact he's not alone. He can't believe that Rob's --
He leans against Bart's side and sighs. Bart is too small but he braces himself to make it work.
Rob's dug up some canned food, and they have chili that evening, for supper. Everyone seems the same as always, just a little quieter. Cassie seems a little sad when she looks at him. Rob seems a little... tentative. Secret hovers. Heh. Hovers...
Rob volunteers to wash up, after, and disappears into the kitchen, which is really... weird. He usually manages to dodge out of it, with any of a gazillion excuses. Figures Rob would go all weird, right now. It's just one more way his life is falling apart.
"We've got to find something else to eat," says Cassie, pushing back her chair.
"I like this stuff," says Kon, feeling a bit offended. Cassie smiles at him, and it feels all weird too. Maybe he's the weird one. Freak.
"Bart said you... talked. That's good. I'm really glad." She brushes her hair behind her ear. "You know. We're here for you."
"Yeah. Um. I don't think right now is..." and Cassie kind of flinches and looks away and he wants to go bang his head against something except. Right. It would hurt.
"Whenever, Kon, you can talk to me whenever," Cassie offers, and reaches out to touch him, and doesn't.
Yeah. Match was totally not lying about her.
The kitchen is ginormous, and Rob is not in it. "Rob?" Kon calls, feeling dumb, and then he appears from underneath a counter.
"Just hooking up the water so we can use the dishwasher," he says.
"Smart," says Kon, vaguely. That's probably why Rob volunteered-
Kon jumps up and sits on one of the stainless steel counters, grinning a little at the way it makes Rob wince. "So...," he drums his heels against the counter. "Everyone's acting a bit weird. Did Match, you know. Go around giving people wedgies, or something?"
Rob breathes through his nose, like "hhf" which is a Robin laugh. "How would that be any different?"
"Well, I dunno. I wasn't here. Maybe they were atomic wedgies. You've gotta tell me what he did, okay?" He's not exactly expecting Rob to say, well, I had a torrid affair with your clone, and I am a cock-slut, like he said!
But maybe he'll say... something, so that Kon will know if it happened.
"He... in retrospect, his behavior was off. I blame myself, I should have caught it earlier. If I'd realized you were being held capt-"
"Hey, I escaped," says Kon, because Rob's clearly heading off into a big I-suck fest. Kon's been there. "What'd he do?"
Rob shrugs, and sort of hunches. He's doing that thing where he's disappearing into his cape. "He was a bit... more abrasive than you generally are. He made some comments about Young Justice's leadership. He--"
"What?" asks Kon.
"Kind of flirted with Cassie," says Robin.
"And you?"
"Me?" And Rob blushes. Kon always kind of figured it meant he totally won when he got Rob to blush, but this time it's Match making him blush, and that's just not right.
"Yeah. Did I- he. Was he an asshole to you?" Kon leans forward.
"He wasn't you, Kon. I know that," Rob assures him, intense.
"Yeah, no duh. His powers weren't as screwy."
Robin looks so sincere it's slightly scary. "I just want you to know that I--I don't. I know he wasn't you and I don't expect you--"
"Whoa, whoa." Kon holds up his hands. "Who said anything about expecting... anything? Uh." Robin has gone from looking way-too-sincere-for-a-Bat to looking slightly nauseous. "Jeez, Rob. What did he do? "
"Nothing. He--it's irrelevant." Rob is staring at the floor, and Kon slides off the counter. But when he tries to move closer, Robin moves back automatically, like he's... scared.
"Jeez, Rob!" says Kon. "I. He totally--" Kon stops himself from saying fucked, then screwed, "messed you up!"
Rob's eyes narrow like he heard what Kon didn't say. "It was. I drew conclusions from bad data. It's my own--"
"Jesus!" says Kon, and then realizes he yelled that. "It is not your fault, okay? I'm the one with the crazy-ass evil twin, okay?"
Rob's chin goes up. "I'm accustomed to being able to evaluate my performance without-- I made a -- I made mistakes. Let it go." And it's like Rob is getting angry with him when Kon's pretty sure it should be Match who deserves it.
"Robin!" says Secret, coming through the- holy fuck coming through the drain and Kon jumps off the counter and nearly bashes his head on a hanging thingy with spoons dangling from it.
"Oh. And Superboy. Hello."
"Hello, Secret," says Robin, with that little smile of his, that right now Kon decides is really annoying.
"Robin, Bart and me were watching TV, I think maybe there's a robbery we can go stop!"
"Close?" asks Kon.
"Yeah, right--"
"Ten minutes in the Super-cycle," says Robin, in that freaky bat-way of his.
"Your plan," says Kon, "is the suckest plan that ever sucked. Am I getting through to you?"
"Calm down," says Rob, which is not calming at all. "I can have us out of here in ten minutes."
"The water is rising" Kon points out, and maybe his voice rises a little, too. "No wonder my evil twin thought you were a bad leader!"
"When I unlock the door," says Rob, as if this were in any way part of the plan, "You get the device and I'll signal Wonder Girl to come pick us up."
"That's your plan?" asks Kon horrified. "Being picked up by a chick?"
Robin gives him a look, and Kon breathes deeply. Right. Don't panic. Humans can survive without air for... "How long can humans survive without air?"
Somehow he knows Robin is rolling his eyes. "Here," he says, going into his belt. "It'll give you five extra minutes if you need them."
Kon reaches to take the breather thingy, then recoils. "Dude! No, I'm not taking your air! I've seen this movie!"
Robin gives another of his long-suffering sighs. "That's my spare. Are you ready?"
"Yes," says Kon, meaning no, but too late, because Robin blows the door to the storage closet they're in, and the water outside comes rushing in. He has a moment of thinking he's going to drown and maybe he should... Maybe say something deep or kiss Robin, or do something, but then the water stops rising at belly button level, only eight inches above where it was. Kon looks at Rob. "I keep on forgetting you're short."
"Go. Get. The device," says Robin and tries to bat-disappear, but it's not possible in tit-high water.
"Match was right!" Kon yells, at Robin's back, because if they're not going to die, they might as well stay on topic. "This was a crappy plan!"
"Like you could do better!" comes Robin's voice, weirdly echoing, weirdly pissed.
"I so could! At no point would my plan include locking myself in the supply closet of a sinking ship! I think that's better right there!"
Rob pretends he can't hear him, which Kon thinks isn't really very mature.
Later, Cassie refuses to carry both of them if they keep bickering, but luckily the Super-cycle like Kon too much to let him plummet to his death.
There's something really funny looking about a dripping wet guy, naked, in a mask. It's totally unfair that Rob kind of makes it work for him. Kon scrubs himself with the towels, which are kind of awesome. They live in the land of nothing but hotel towels. How is that not cool?
Rob does that little through-the-nose Robin laugh of his.
"What?" asks Kon.
Rob grins. "Your hair, it's--" He makes a sign like he's trying to mime: dude, your head is on fire.
Kon scowls. "Well, If it weren't for your shitty plan" and regrets it when Rob scowls.
"Can't you give it a rest? You sound just like--" Rob turns around a slams his locker open.
Kon really wishes he were Batman's sidekick (except totally not) so that he could have a spare change of costume for costume emergencies. He wraps a towel around his waist because it's weird being the naked one in a conversation. "Like who?"
Robin just purses his lips together. "No one." And, wow, he couldn't have said anything to pique Kon's interest more.
"No fair, you can't just say something like that and not follow through." But Robin just busies himself with putting on his cape. Kon scowls, and when Rob reaches for his gloves Kon snatches them away, holding them above Rob's head. He might not have his powers, but at least he's still taller than Midget Wonder.
"Dude, just tell me," he says when Rob glares at him.
"You sounded like your evil twin," he says, and takes the gloves back.
"Oh, like every time I disagree with you, until forever, it's going to be like this, isn't it?" says Kon, enraged.
Robin huffs, and slams his locker. "No, mostly you're just wrong," he says.
"What, like how you were wrong about the boat being empty?"
Robin turns on his heel and stalks out.
"So if you could just tell us which way our planet is, um. We're really sorry about intruding on your sacred hut. Thing."
Rob is radiating innocence that is probably fake innocence like that fake sugar that goes right through you and gives you an oily discharge. "We really didn't intend to offend. We have all the respect in the world for the rites of the Shkkkkrrkkk, and we have journeyed here as pilgrims."
Kon gives Rob a quick look. Rob glares at him through his innocent look. "Yeah, pilgrims," says Kon.
The head-lady seems to relax, so it looks like Robin was right again. "Ah, of course! You do us honor by choosing our temple to celebrate your joining. Let me get the chuusa oil and spices. Prkksha? Show our guests the --"
"Joining?" hisses Kon.
"shutup" says Rob without moving his mouth.
And then it's all scaly kangaroo aliens and hot tubs for a couple hours and holy fuck, he really did not need to know what they kept in their pouch.
Then he and Rob are in a room together, alone, and the incense is making Kon's eyes water. He sneezes.
Rob glares at him for sneezing and sits down stiffly on the bed. He's still in his white ceremonial... garment.
"So. Uh."
"Don't say it." Rob somehow manages to look intimidating in white satin. Kon wants to know that trick.
"What? What? You didn't even know what I was going to say!"
"I'm sure I could guess."
Kon can't help it. He grins. "So... is Batman like my in-law now?"
"It's a special bond between warriors," says Rob, stiffly.
"Warriors who have sex," Kon points out, "so...," and stretches.
Rob glares at him again.
"What!?"
"That's the fakest stretch ever!" says Rob, and he's not so much glaring, as just...
"It was not," says Kon reflexively.
This time the look is much easier to interpret.
"Well, you know. If we're going to respect this kerchunk ceremony, we should. You know." Kon waggles his eyebrow.
"Kon," says Rob, "remember those pouches? Neither of us is anatomically equipped to do the next step in the ritual."
And Kon did not need to think of that. "They seemed like pretty cool people. I bet they'd be okay with the next best thing."
Rob folds his arms like he's wearing his cape, and not someone's bathrobe made out of white leaves. "Kon, this is no time for-"
Kon rolls his eyes. "You're planning our escape, right? We can't get out until sunset, so we've got six hours."
"Six and a half," Robin says, and then closes his mouth tight.
Kon sits on the thing which would probably be a bed, if his hips were on backward and he had a tail. "So. Want to tell me what happened with Match?"
Rob brings his hands up, and actually runs them through his hair. Kon's never seen Rob do that. His hair looks actually messy as opposed to styled. "He. Kon, I-" Rob turns his face away. They're stuck in a little hut, and Rob's afraid of him, and can't look him in the face. Kon feels sick, a bit, but he can't stop pushing.
"It's really obvious, dude. Either you guys fucked, or... Okay, I can't think of anything else. Unless you, like, drowned puppies together. But that would be weird. And."
For a second, Rob's face is just kind of crumpling up. Not like he's going to cry, thank god, but like it got away from him. And then it's Robin again. "You're correct," says Robin. "Was there something else?"
Suddenly a drum starts banging outside the hut. They both jump. Someone starts ululating. Kon's actually sort of glad no one was getting their cock sucked at that point, because there might have been a nasty accident involving teeth.
"Six and a half hours, huh? So you and Match..." It's like poking at an open sore, but Kon can't help it. "Did he. Um. Oh god." A nauseating thought occurs to him. "He didn't force you or anything, did he?"
Rob turns an interesting shade of blotchy pink. "No. I--no. It wasn't like that."
"Phew. Okay." Kon looks at the floor. "So he... what? Came on to you? Or--what?"
"The details are irrelevant." Someday, Kon is going to make Rob tell him how he makes his voice sound like a robot's.
"Well, you're clearly all worked up about something in those details. So--just--" Kon doesn't know how to end that sentence. He gives Rob a pleading look.
"I'm--" Rob looks down. "It's my fault we had to eject. I should have planned for the meteor shower. But nothing that occurred with Match affected me."
"That's bullshit. You haven't been able to look me in the eye since I rousted my evil twin."
Rob flinches, and Kon doesn't like that the words he says can affect Robin like that. "I'm just--I'm trying to keep things professional."
"Professional? We just got married! And as your new husband, I think I have the right to know why you're so worked up about sex with my evil twin."
Robin glares at him. "This is a tactical marriage. It doesn't mean anything."
"I'm hurt. I'm also stuck with you for the next six and a half hours, and I'm going to keep badgering you until you fess up, Wonder Boy."
"There's nothing to tell. You're aware of my mistake. The details are none of your business."
"They so totally are," says Kon, and he means it, but Rob gives him the Bat-eyebrow, and Kon...
"Well, come on! He's my evil twin," Kon attempts.
"And something's bugging you," he says, back to where he's on surer ground. "Yesterday? Bart got into the engine room twice. This morning? Unexpected meteor shower. You're like, on another planet."
"We're both--" begins Robin, but Kon doesn't let him deflect that.
"No, you know what I mean. You're not--"
"Do you think- I should step down. As leader?" Rob asks, and it's like being hit in the head with a kryptonite batarang.
"You-- Uh. You what? No! Not that I get why you're leader anyway, because you're totally-- " Rob swallows, and his mouth quivers. His eyes look huge. It's almost too-- "Oh hell. No way in hell. You did not just--. You little bitch."
Rob looks startled, and the trembly lip is just gone. Kon can't believe Rob would do that to a teammate. "You- You! You can't do that!" he finally spits out. "That's not. Fair!" Rob's face is gone Robin smooth again, and there's almost a twist like a smile at the corner of his mouth. Kon hasn't seen it there since... He's not sure when he last saw it. He kind of wants to hit Rob, and kind of wants to kiss him, and he's pretty sure he'd get a kryptonite enema either way.
He glares at Rob, mute with frustration. Rob softens. "I'll deal with it. I--it won't bother you. You guys. I promise."
Kon frowns. "This is Bat-dealing, right? Where you bottle it all up and repress it and get ulcers and stuff?"
"Ulcers are caused by a bacterium," says Rob, which probably means "Yes, yes I plan to repress."
"Rob..." says Kon, unhappily. "That's just... Working it out would be way better. And more fun."
"I'm not like that," says Robin, sounding just like Kon feels. "Let me deal with this my own way, okay?"
Kon looks down at his feet. 'But your way's stupid' he doesn't say, because he isn't five, dammit. "I just wish that you could get within, like, ten feet of me without freaking out, that's all."
Not that what comes out of his mouth is actually better. Kon knows he's pouting and whining, but he can't seem to make himself stop. This really sucks balls.
"We're only sitting six feet apart at the moment. And I'm not freaking out." Rob's voice is so dry it makes Kon want to kill him. He resists the homicidal urge and glares instead.
"No, you're just being a freak," he retorts. "Don't you think getting the Match stuff off your chest would help you deal? And I'm not even saying that to try and get into your pants!" he adds when Robin rolls his eyes.
Robin sighs. "It's bothering you, too"
"It's not-- It is bothering you, then?"
"I don't like making mistakes," says Rob, and it's so obvious that Kon waits for the rest, but Robin's looking at him like he's just accidentally blurted out his secret identity.
"What? Yeah, no one does, so?"
"No," says Rob. "I really don't -- I messed up badly. It could have been-- If he'd been there to assassinate us, we'd all be dead. I fucked up really big."
Kon stares. "That's what's bothering you? I thought it was. You know. The sex."
Robin raises an eyebrow. "It's not like I've never had sex before, Kon." Robin's gone all unreadable again, and Kon can't be sure he's telling the truth. But he does seem more... laid back. Less freaked out.
The drums suddenly stop. "Does that mean..."
"One of us needs to give a battle cry," Robin mutters.
"I'll do it!"
"Be my gue--" Kon cuts him off with a tarzan yodel.
Cassie's really not impressed by Mighty Endowed. Not surprising, but when she throws her in the river, Kon thinks she's maybe a bit mad.
Rob's too busy doing his little talk-to-invisible-people thing, but Kon follows Cassie over to the corner of the clearing where she's punching a big tree that didn't do anything to her.
When he comes up behind her, she says without turning to look at him, "Cissie got 100% on her English paper."
And Kon doesn't get it. She's brainy, so what? "So, uh. That's bad?" he asks.
"Yes!" says Cassie. "You don't get 100% on English papers. It's not like math. She always gets 98% and hates it."
"So..." says Kon, still not getting it.
"So, she has more time to study now, don't you get it? She's... " Cassie punches the tree and it cracks. Kon winces. "She's doing really well in school."
Sometimes Kon forgets that the other kids go to school. Or at least, the girls do, he's not really sure about... "So, you think maybe she won't... want to come back, if she can study instead?" he asks.
Cassie shreds the tree she's splintered. "I don't know. No. I mean, she'll come back, right, that's dumb. Who'd study when they could do this?" She looks at Kon hopefully, and then her eyes slide off him, like she's embarrassed.
"Sorry," says Cassie. She drops the splinters she's made and dusts off her hand. "I guess this was ... Sorry I didn't mean to... It'll be okay."
"Hey," says Kon, awkward. "It's okay, you can. You know, talk to me. If you want."
Cassie smiles again. It's not like her smiles before Match, but Kon thinks it's real anyway.
For just a second, Kon's glad when Robin gets a faceful of the mist. It's not fair that Robin's a guy without any powers, just like Kon is, now, and is a gazillion times better at this than him. Rob's always there before Kon, gone before Kon, knocking out the bad-guy while Kon's trying to figure out what's going on. So he's a tiny bit glad when Rob whirls just in time to get misted in the face by a squirt bottle. Rob sneezes and punches out the weedy goon at the same time, and Kon tries not to snicker.
"I need back-up!" yells Cassie, on a catwalk two floors above them, and Robin says:
"Bart?" and then staggers.
"Woah, you okay there?" asks Kon, suddenly wondering what was in the mister.
"I... I think--" says Robin. "Cassie, how're you doing?"
"Little. Twerps. Won't. Stand. Still!" yells Cassie, and Bart zips back.
"I think I'm going to sit this one out," says Robin and then slides to the floor like he's gone boneless.
"Rob!" Kon yells.
Rob turns his head to look at him from the floor. "I'm fine. But I think I might need some help getting back to the Super-cycle," he says, contemplatively.
Robin's pretty heavy for such a little guy, and he keeps on trying to help when he can't really control his feet. "I think there was something in that bottle," he tells Kon. "I think it's making me funny."
"No shit, dude," says Kon, and looks both ways before dragging them out the cargo bay.
"I think I'm--" and then Robin goes suddenly lucid. "I- Don't let me. Kon. I won't forgive you ever," he says fiercely.
"What the fuck?" asks Kon. The outside of the compound is pretty much empty, so getting Rob outside the fence is pretty easy.
"I'm kind of-- I need to--"
"Just, here, lie down," says Kon, and tries to manhandle Robin into the back seat of the Super-cycle. Robin's panting a little, and his face looks flushed. This close, Kon can see a blackhead. It makes Robin seem like just somebody.
"It's really--" says Robin, and tugs off one glove using his teeth. "You're really f- attractive when-- Oh fuck!" and Robin shoves the glove back in his mouth and bites down hard. Then he thrashes and starts scratching at his arm with his bare hand.
"Dude, stop it!" says Kon, but Robin shakes his head like someone who's not hearing anything, and scratches again, and his blunt fingernails are raising welts.
"Stop it!" says Kon again. Robin's face is white, and his arm is getting red, so Kon kneels over him and tries to pin him.
Robin bucks against him, once and then goes limp again. He tilts his head back up to look at the sky, perfectly calm, as if he hadn't been trying to tear his own arm off. A shiver runs through him that Kon can feel. He still has his glove in his mouth and looks demented.
A breeze flutters the trees around them, and then dies. "Rob?" Kon asks. Robin's still, and Kon's beginning to feel a bit ridiculous.
Robin opens his mouth and his glove falls out onto his shoulder. He turns his head to look at Kon. "I want you to fuck me." Robin's eyes aren't focused.
Kon nearly falls into the footwell. There's not really any other way to take that, but other than Rob's flushed cheeks, he could be talking about ordering the fries from the cafeteria.
"I think of your telekinesis," says Robin, and Kon thinks, Yes, wait. What? But Robin keeps talking, "holding me down, inside me, everywhere," and it's Match Rob's talking about, because Kon's TK is still missing, and Robin squirms up against him, a slow writhe that's more obscene than sexy.
Robin's voice is a hoarse whisper. "Anything, Kon, please, I'd-- would you like me to beg?" Kon has a desperate moment of needing to say something, anything to stop Robin from talking, and in a burst of inspiration, shoves Rob's gauntlet back in his mouth, holding it there with his hand.
With one hand free, Rob has leverage, which Kon tries to counteract with his TTK before he remembers he doesn't have it anymore. Robin briefly has the advantage, before they both roll off the seat and into the footwell, Kon on top. Kon automatically tries to tell if the hard lump against his thigh is just Robin's jock or an erection, but maybe a bat-jock is too tight for a boner because he can't really tell. Robin breathes into his ear.
"-in R! Do you read? Report!" says a tinny voice by Kon's ear.
"Hello?" says Kon, startled.
"Superboy?" says the insect voice. "What's Robin's condition?"
"I can't-- I mean. He's drugged, or something. Who are you!?"
"Oh," says Robin conversationally in Kon's ear.
"This is Oracle. Please describe Robin's symptoms."
"Uh. He's kind of. Um."
"Let me up, and I'll guh gor gok" says Robin, when Kon hurriedly pushes the glove in his mouth.
"Friendly?" finishes Kon.
There's a moment of silence, and Kon kind of hopes for Robin's sake that the robot voice isn't too good at deciphering garbles.
Then Oracle makes him describe what happened, and take Robin's pulse, in his throat when he can't find it in Robin's wrist. It's a bit hard to do that keeping his ear next to Robin's. Robin's breath smells pretty much like Kon's does by this time of day, and he's warm.
"On Robin's belt there's pouches. The third left of the buckle contains antihistamines. I want you to squeeze the sides of the pouch gently, and then open it from the top using the snap closure." It's a pretty complicated maneuver, and made harder by the fact that Rob seems to think Kon is trying to pull down his tights and tries to help him.
"Is this going to help him?" asks Kon, as he applies the patch to the inside of Robin's exposed elbow.
"It'll keep him until we get him to where we can get some blood-work done," says Nightwing from behind and above Kon. Kon tries to spring off Robin and accidentally knees him in the stomach. Nightwing ends up leaning over into the Super-cycle and helping to drag Kon, and then Robin out.
"Jeez, warn a guy!" says Kon.
"I was Oracle's closest contact," says Nightwing, which is maybe a Bat-apology for scaring him.
Nightwing props Robin up and doesn't say anything about the white line of Robin's hip where his tights had been pulled down. "You're so soft," says Robin into Nightwing's shoulder.
Kon feels protective. "Don't let him--"
Nightwing pulls Robin up into a fireman's carry. "I'm taking him to our medical facilities. Do you think you can find what they sprayed him with?"
"You're just--" taking him? Kon doesn't ask. "I uh. Yeah, I'll see if I can find it."
Nightwing gives him a reassuring smile, only a little tight. "Don't worry. He'll be fine next time you see him."
Go to the Next part
Authors: ficbyzee and brown_betty
Setting: Follows The Long Way Around (warning for mature/disturbing content)
Warnings: adult content being enacted by teens.
Authors' notes: Betad by Petronelle
Summary: Does the whole 'we can see your eyes now' thing mean you're going to not be a repressed freak anymore?
So Robin has a face, and actual eyes. Blue eyes, and a really nice face. And...his name is so totally not Alvin, but whatever.
Kon corners Robin after he puts his mask on, and Kon resists the urge to peel it off again. "So. Al. Does the whole 'we can see your eyes now' thing mean you're going to not be a repressed freak anymore?"
Robin's mouth curls in a way that's got to be Alvin because Robin never did that. "You know, I'm really grateful that you're taking an interest in my self-actualization, except not."
Kon really hates the way Robin shoots him down so that he doesn't even know what happened, except that he's in a nosedive and headed for the swamps.
"I'm just saying, maybe it's time to admit you're not actually a robot, even if Batman wishes you were."
"Does this pick-up line usually work for you?" asks... yeah, that's Rob now, not Alvin. Alf. Alvie? Whatever.
He takes a deep breath, and Kon can feel a lecture coming. "Look, Superboy--"
"You look hot without the mask, you know." Maybe if Kon doesn't let him finish a sentence, Robin won't be able to shoot him down.
Rob's face hardens, and it's like he's wearing the mask. "Have you heard anything from Star Labs about getting your powers back?"
"Well, Dr. Thompson--" says Kon automatically and then realizes he's been diverted. He scowls at Rob. Rob gives him nothing.
Nothing. Not even an eyebrow. He tries to stare Rob down, but twenty seconds into the contest, Cassie turns up.
"Kon, is it... Kon, I'm so sorry, she says," and then Kon remembers that his best friend not talking to him is pretty minor. Or maybe it's all part of the same thing.
Kon'd always thought that Tana would be there. Maybe he wasn't too clear on where "there" was, but he'd find her eventually. He can't believe she's dead, that she's not going to smack him and call him Kid anymore, and refuse to let him get past second base.
Screw this shit, he needs to go do something or he's going to sit in his stupid room, which isn't even his stupid room because Match picked it, in the stupid new headquarters, and feel like a retard.
"Oh good! I was wondering when you'd come out of your room because of how Robin doesn't have any powers and he lurks a lot but I don't think lurking is really your thing, you know?"
And Kon had kind of planned on making the first person he found go have a beer with him, but... just no. It was a stupid plan anyway. He can't make Bart drink beer, that's asking for disaster. Secret can't really drink, and is also kind of scary. Cissie would be cool, but... well. Match has probably screwed up everything with Cassie for him, and he's not sure he wants to have to talk. That leaves Robin.
Well. And if what Match said about Robin wasn't a great big lie...
It's not fair that everything happens to him at once, Kon thinks.
"Is this one of those things where time seems to be passing really slowly but it's just me, because of the subjective thing?" asks Bart.
"Nah, sorry, just staring into space." Kon shakes his head. "You wanna... play Nintendo?"
"Sure!" says Bart, a little too quickly even for Bart, and blurs away. Kon tries to fly to the game room to meet him, and then remembers he can't. If Bart weren't waiting for him, he might just sit down and... fuck. He punches the wall. His knuckles bleed.
Bart beats him so bad at Mario Kart it's not even funny, but Kon manages to convince himself he's having fun. Secret shows up half way through and cheers them on, and if she seems to be cheering harder for Bart, Kon doesn't really mind too much. When he's on the island course Rob shows up and hangs in the doorway. Kon loses that game even more badly. Robin leaves as he crosses the finish line.
"Is it okay if I talk to you about Tana?" Kon asks, and Bart puts the controller down, and Yoshi flies off the bridge.
"Yes?" says Bart. "Max always says- Hold on," and Bart disappears for a second, and returns with two mugs of cocoa, and offers Kon one.
"What does Max say?" Kon asks, hoping it will be something really smart.
Bart looks down. "He says... when someone has a problem you can't do anything about, you should bring them food. Because it shows that you care, and also, they might be hungry."
Kon can't help smiling a little into his mug. "Thanks Bart. I know you care."
Bart sits next to him, cross legged, and they stare at the aggressively cheerful kart drivers until Bart hits the TV's power button.
"She-- She was the first person to take me seriously. The first. She. Fuck. I learned to surf to impress her, and I totally cheated and used TK. She laughed her ass off at me because I was really bad at it."
Bart grabs his own feet, and Kon can tell that he's fighting the urge to run. He's doing that for Kon, and he just-- He feels pathetically grateful for Bart's presence, for the fact he's not alone. He can't believe that Rob's --
He leans against Bart's side and sighs. Bart is too small but he braces himself to make it work.
Rob's dug up some canned food, and they have chili that evening, for supper. Everyone seems the same as always, just a little quieter. Cassie seems a little sad when she looks at him. Rob seems a little... tentative. Secret hovers. Heh. Hovers...
Rob volunteers to wash up, after, and disappears into the kitchen, which is really... weird. He usually manages to dodge out of it, with any of a gazillion excuses. Figures Rob would go all weird, right now. It's just one more way his life is falling apart.
"We've got to find something else to eat," says Cassie, pushing back her chair.
"I like this stuff," says Kon, feeling a bit offended. Cassie smiles at him, and it feels all weird too. Maybe he's the weird one. Freak.
"Bart said you... talked. That's good. I'm really glad." She brushes her hair behind her ear. "You know. We're here for you."
"Yeah. Um. I don't think right now is..." and Cassie kind of flinches and looks away and he wants to go bang his head against something except. Right. It would hurt.
"Whenever, Kon, you can talk to me whenever," Cassie offers, and reaches out to touch him, and doesn't.
Yeah. Match was totally not lying about her.
The kitchen is ginormous, and Rob is not in it. "Rob?" Kon calls, feeling dumb, and then he appears from underneath a counter.
"Just hooking up the water so we can use the dishwasher," he says.
"Smart," says Kon, vaguely. That's probably why Rob volunteered-
Kon jumps up and sits on one of the stainless steel counters, grinning a little at the way it makes Rob wince. "So...," he drums his heels against the counter. "Everyone's acting a bit weird. Did Match, you know. Go around giving people wedgies, or something?"
Rob breathes through his nose, like "hhf" which is a Robin laugh. "How would that be any different?"
"Well, I dunno. I wasn't here. Maybe they were atomic wedgies. You've gotta tell me what he did, okay?" He's not exactly expecting Rob to say, well, I had a torrid affair with your clone, and I am a cock-slut, like he said!
But maybe he'll say... something, so that Kon will know if it happened.
"He... in retrospect, his behavior was off. I blame myself, I should have caught it earlier. If I'd realized you were being held capt-"
"Hey, I escaped," says Kon, because Rob's clearly heading off into a big I-suck fest. Kon's been there. "What'd he do?"
Rob shrugs, and sort of hunches. He's doing that thing where he's disappearing into his cape. "He was a bit... more abrasive than you generally are. He made some comments about Young Justice's leadership. He--"
"What?" asks Kon.
"Kind of flirted with Cassie," says Robin.
"And you?"
"Me?" And Rob blushes. Kon always kind of figured it meant he totally won when he got Rob to blush, but this time it's Match making him blush, and that's just not right.
"Yeah. Did I- he. Was he an asshole to you?" Kon leans forward.
"He wasn't you, Kon. I know that," Rob assures him, intense.
"Yeah, no duh. His powers weren't as screwy."
Robin looks so sincere it's slightly scary. "I just want you to know that I--I don't. I know he wasn't you and I don't expect you--"
"Whoa, whoa." Kon holds up his hands. "Who said anything about expecting... anything? Uh." Robin has gone from looking way-too-sincere-for-a-Bat to looking slightly nauseous. "Jeez, Rob. What did he do? "
"Nothing. He--it's irrelevant." Rob is staring at the floor, and Kon slides off the counter. But when he tries to move closer, Robin moves back automatically, like he's... scared.
"Jeez, Rob!" says Kon. "I. He totally--" Kon stops himself from saying fucked, then screwed, "messed you up!"
Rob's eyes narrow like he heard what Kon didn't say. "It was. I drew conclusions from bad data. It's my own--"
"Jesus!" says Kon, and then realizes he yelled that. "It is not your fault, okay? I'm the one with the crazy-ass evil twin, okay?"
Rob's chin goes up. "I'm accustomed to being able to evaluate my performance without-- I made a -- I made mistakes. Let it go." And it's like Rob is getting angry with him when Kon's pretty sure it should be Match who deserves it.
"Robin!" says Secret, coming through the- holy fuck coming through the drain and Kon jumps off the counter and nearly bashes his head on a hanging thingy with spoons dangling from it.
"Oh. And Superboy. Hello."
"Hello, Secret," says Robin, with that little smile of his, that right now Kon decides is really annoying.
"Robin, Bart and me were watching TV, I think maybe there's a robbery we can go stop!"
"Close?" asks Kon.
"Yeah, right--"
"Ten minutes in the Super-cycle," says Robin, in that freaky bat-way of his.
"Your plan," says Kon, "is the suckest plan that ever sucked. Am I getting through to you?"
"Calm down," says Rob, which is not calming at all. "I can have us out of here in ten minutes."
"The water is rising" Kon points out, and maybe his voice rises a little, too. "No wonder my evil twin thought you were a bad leader!"
"When I unlock the door," says Rob, as if this were in any way part of the plan, "You get the device and I'll signal Wonder Girl to come pick us up."
"That's your plan?" asks Kon horrified. "Being picked up by a chick?"
Robin gives him a look, and Kon breathes deeply. Right. Don't panic. Humans can survive without air for... "How long can humans survive without air?"
Somehow he knows Robin is rolling his eyes. "Here," he says, going into his belt. "It'll give you five extra minutes if you need them."
Kon reaches to take the breather thingy, then recoils. "Dude! No, I'm not taking your air! I've seen this movie!"
Robin gives another of his long-suffering sighs. "That's my spare. Are you ready?"
"Yes," says Kon, meaning no, but too late, because Robin blows the door to the storage closet they're in, and the water outside comes rushing in. He has a moment of thinking he's going to drown and maybe he should... Maybe say something deep or kiss Robin, or do something, but then the water stops rising at belly button level, only eight inches above where it was. Kon looks at Rob. "I keep on forgetting you're short."
"Go. Get. The device," says Robin and tries to bat-disappear, but it's not possible in tit-high water.
"Match was right!" Kon yells, at Robin's back, because if they're not going to die, they might as well stay on topic. "This was a crappy plan!"
"Like you could do better!" comes Robin's voice, weirdly echoing, weirdly pissed.
"I so could! At no point would my plan include locking myself in the supply closet of a sinking ship! I think that's better right there!"
Rob pretends he can't hear him, which Kon thinks isn't really very mature.
Later, Cassie refuses to carry both of them if they keep bickering, but luckily the Super-cycle like Kon too much to let him plummet to his death.
There's something really funny looking about a dripping wet guy, naked, in a mask. It's totally unfair that Rob kind of makes it work for him. Kon scrubs himself with the towels, which are kind of awesome. They live in the land of nothing but hotel towels. How is that not cool?
Rob does that little through-the-nose Robin laugh of his.
"What?" asks Kon.
Rob grins. "Your hair, it's--" He makes a sign like he's trying to mime: dude, your head is on fire.
Kon scowls. "Well, If it weren't for your shitty plan" and regrets it when Rob scowls.
"Can't you give it a rest? You sound just like--" Rob turns around a slams his locker open.
Kon really wishes he were Batman's sidekick (except totally not) so that he could have a spare change of costume for costume emergencies. He wraps a towel around his waist because it's weird being the naked one in a conversation. "Like who?"
Robin just purses his lips together. "No one." And, wow, he couldn't have said anything to pique Kon's interest more.
"No fair, you can't just say something like that and not follow through." But Robin just busies himself with putting on his cape. Kon scowls, and when Rob reaches for his gloves Kon snatches them away, holding them above Rob's head. He might not have his powers, but at least he's still taller than Midget Wonder.
"Dude, just tell me," he says when Rob glares at him.
"You sounded like your evil twin," he says, and takes the gloves back.
"Oh, like every time I disagree with you, until forever, it's going to be like this, isn't it?" says Kon, enraged.
Robin huffs, and slams his locker. "No, mostly you're just wrong," he says.
"What, like how you were wrong about the boat being empty?"
Robin turns on his heel and stalks out.
"So if you could just tell us which way our planet is, um. We're really sorry about intruding on your sacred hut. Thing."
Rob is radiating innocence that is probably fake innocence like that fake sugar that goes right through you and gives you an oily discharge. "We really didn't intend to offend. We have all the respect in the world for the rites of the Shkkkkrrkkk, and we have journeyed here as pilgrims."
Kon gives Rob a quick look. Rob glares at him through his innocent look. "Yeah, pilgrims," says Kon.
The head-lady seems to relax, so it looks like Robin was right again. "Ah, of course! You do us honor by choosing our temple to celebrate your joining. Let me get the chuusa oil and spices. Prkksha? Show our guests the --"
"Joining?" hisses Kon.
"shutup" says Rob without moving his mouth.
And then it's all scaly kangaroo aliens and hot tubs for a couple hours and holy fuck, he really did not need to know what they kept in their pouch.
Then he and Rob are in a room together, alone, and the incense is making Kon's eyes water. He sneezes.
Rob glares at him for sneezing and sits down stiffly on the bed. He's still in his white ceremonial... garment.
"So. Uh."
"Don't say it." Rob somehow manages to look intimidating in white satin. Kon wants to know that trick.
"What? What? You didn't even know what I was going to say!"
"I'm sure I could guess."
Kon can't help it. He grins. "So... is Batman like my in-law now?"
"It's a special bond between warriors," says Rob, stiffly.
"Warriors who have sex," Kon points out, "so...," and stretches.
Rob glares at him again.
"What!?"
"That's the fakest stretch ever!" says Rob, and he's not so much glaring, as just...
"It was not," says Kon reflexively.
This time the look is much easier to interpret.
"Well, you know. If we're going to respect this kerchunk ceremony, we should. You know." Kon waggles his eyebrow.
"Kon," says Rob, "remember those pouches? Neither of us is anatomically equipped to do the next step in the ritual."
And Kon did not need to think of that. "They seemed like pretty cool people. I bet they'd be okay with the next best thing."
Rob folds his arms like he's wearing his cape, and not someone's bathrobe made out of white leaves. "Kon, this is no time for-"
Kon rolls his eyes. "You're planning our escape, right? We can't get out until sunset, so we've got six hours."
"Six and a half," Robin says, and then closes his mouth tight.
Kon sits on the thing which would probably be a bed, if his hips were on backward and he had a tail. "So. Want to tell me what happened with Match?"
Rob brings his hands up, and actually runs them through his hair. Kon's never seen Rob do that. His hair looks actually messy as opposed to styled. "He. Kon, I-" Rob turns his face away. They're stuck in a little hut, and Rob's afraid of him, and can't look him in the face. Kon feels sick, a bit, but he can't stop pushing.
"It's really obvious, dude. Either you guys fucked, or... Okay, I can't think of anything else. Unless you, like, drowned puppies together. But that would be weird. And."
For a second, Rob's face is just kind of crumpling up. Not like he's going to cry, thank god, but like it got away from him. And then it's Robin again. "You're correct," says Robin. "Was there something else?"
Suddenly a drum starts banging outside the hut. They both jump. Someone starts ululating. Kon's actually sort of glad no one was getting their cock sucked at that point, because there might have been a nasty accident involving teeth.
"Six and a half hours, huh? So you and Match..." It's like poking at an open sore, but Kon can't help it. "Did he. Um. Oh god." A nauseating thought occurs to him. "He didn't force you or anything, did he?"
Rob turns an interesting shade of blotchy pink. "No. I--no. It wasn't like that."
"Phew. Okay." Kon looks at the floor. "So he... what? Came on to you? Or--what?"
"The details are irrelevant." Someday, Kon is going to make Rob tell him how he makes his voice sound like a robot's.
"Well, you're clearly all worked up about something in those details. So--just--" Kon doesn't know how to end that sentence. He gives Rob a pleading look.
"I'm--" Rob looks down. "It's my fault we had to eject. I should have planned for the meteor shower. But nothing that occurred with Match affected me."
"That's bullshit. You haven't been able to look me in the eye since I rousted my evil twin."
Rob flinches, and Kon doesn't like that the words he says can affect Robin like that. "I'm just--I'm trying to keep things professional."
"Professional? We just got married! And as your new husband, I think I have the right to know why you're so worked up about sex with my evil twin."
Robin glares at him. "This is a tactical marriage. It doesn't mean anything."
"I'm hurt. I'm also stuck with you for the next six and a half hours, and I'm going to keep badgering you until you fess up, Wonder Boy."
"There's nothing to tell. You're aware of my mistake. The details are none of your business."
"They so totally are," says Kon, and he means it, but Rob gives him the Bat-eyebrow, and Kon...
"Well, come on! He's my evil twin," Kon attempts.
"And something's bugging you," he says, back to where he's on surer ground. "Yesterday? Bart got into the engine room twice. This morning? Unexpected meteor shower. You're like, on another planet."
"We're both--" begins Robin, but Kon doesn't let him deflect that.
"No, you know what I mean. You're not--"
"Do you think- I should step down. As leader?" Rob asks, and it's like being hit in the head with a kryptonite batarang.
"You-- Uh. You what? No! Not that I get why you're leader anyway, because you're totally-- " Rob swallows, and his mouth quivers. His eyes look huge. It's almost too-- "Oh hell. No way in hell. You did not just--. You little bitch."
Rob looks startled, and the trembly lip is just gone. Kon can't believe Rob would do that to a teammate. "You- You! You can't do that!" he finally spits out. "That's not. Fair!" Rob's face is gone Robin smooth again, and there's almost a twist like a smile at the corner of his mouth. Kon hasn't seen it there since... He's not sure when he last saw it. He kind of wants to hit Rob, and kind of wants to kiss him, and he's pretty sure he'd get a kryptonite enema either way.
He glares at Rob, mute with frustration. Rob softens. "I'll deal with it. I--it won't bother you. You guys. I promise."
Kon frowns. "This is Bat-dealing, right? Where you bottle it all up and repress it and get ulcers and stuff?"
"Ulcers are caused by a bacterium," says Rob, which probably means "Yes, yes I plan to repress."
"Rob..." says Kon, unhappily. "That's just... Working it out would be way better. And more fun."
"I'm not like that," says Robin, sounding just like Kon feels. "Let me deal with this my own way, okay?"
Kon looks down at his feet. 'But your way's stupid' he doesn't say, because he isn't five, dammit. "I just wish that you could get within, like, ten feet of me without freaking out, that's all."
Not that what comes out of his mouth is actually better. Kon knows he's pouting and whining, but he can't seem to make himself stop. This really sucks balls.
"We're only sitting six feet apart at the moment. And I'm not freaking out." Rob's voice is so dry it makes Kon want to kill him. He resists the homicidal urge and glares instead.
"No, you're just being a freak," he retorts. "Don't you think getting the Match stuff off your chest would help you deal? And I'm not even saying that to try and get into your pants!" he adds when Robin rolls his eyes.
Robin sighs. "It's bothering you, too"
"It's not-- It is bothering you, then?"
"I don't like making mistakes," says Rob, and it's so obvious that Kon waits for the rest, but Robin's looking at him like he's just accidentally blurted out his secret identity.
"What? Yeah, no one does, so?"
"No," says Rob. "I really don't -- I messed up badly. It could have been-- If he'd been there to assassinate us, we'd all be dead. I fucked up really big."
Kon stares. "That's what's bothering you? I thought it was. You know. The sex."
Robin raises an eyebrow. "It's not like I've never had sex before, Kon." Robin's gone all unreadable again, and Kon can't be sure he's telling the truth. But he does seem more... laid back. Less freaked out.
The drums suddenly stop. "Does that mean..."
"One of us needs to give a battle cry," Robin mutters.
"I'll do it!"
"Be my gue--" Kon cuts him off with a tarzan yodel.
Cassie's really not impressed by Mighty Endowed. Not surprising, but when she throws her in the river, Kon thinks she's maybe a bit mad.
Rob's too busy doing his little talk-to-invisible-people thing, but Kon follows Cassie over to the corner of the clearing where she's punching a big tree that didn't do anything to her.
When he comes up behind her, she says without turning to look at him, "Cissie got 100% on her English paper."
And Kon doesn't get it. She's brainy, so what? "So, uh. That's bad?" he asks.
"Yes!" says Cassie. "You don't get 100% on English papers. It's not like math. She always gets 98% and hates it."
"So..." says Kon, still not getting it.
"So, she has more time to study now, don't you get it? She's... " Cassie punches the tree and it cracks. Kon winces. "She's doing really well in school."
Sometimes Kon forgets that the other kids go to school. Or at least, the girls do, he's not really sure about... "So, you think maybe she won't... want to come back, if she can study instead?" he asks.
Cassie shreds the tree she's splintered. "I don't know. No. I mean, she'll come back, right, that's dumb. Who'd study when they could do this?" She looks at Kon hopefully, and then her eyes slide off him, like she's embarrassed.
"Sorry," says Cassie. She drops the splinters she's made and dusts off her hand. "I guess this was ... Sorry I didn't mean to... It'll be okay."
"Hey," says Kon, awkward. "It's okay, you can. You know, talk to me. If you want."
Cassie smiles again. It's not like her smiles before Match, but Kon thinks it's real anyway.
For just a second, Kon's glad when Robin gets a faceful of the mist. It's not fair that Robin's a guy without any powers, just like Kon is, now, and is a gazillion times better at this than him. Rob's always there before Kon, gone before Kon, knocking out the bad-guy while Kon's trying to figure out what's going on. So he's a tiny bit glad when Rob whirls just in time to get misted in the face by a squirt bottle. Rob sneezes and punches out the weedy goon at the same time, and Kon tries not to snicker.
"I need back-up!" yells Cassie, on a catwalk two floors above them, and Robin says:
"Bart?" and then staggers.
"Woah, you okay there?" asks Kon, suddenly wondering what was in the mister.
"I... I think--" says Robin. "Cassie, how're you doing?"
"Little. Twerps. Won't. Stand. Still!" yells Cassie, and Bart zips back.
"I think I'm going to sit this one out," says Robin and then slides to the floor like he's gone boneless.
"Rob!" Kon yells.
Rob turns his head to look at him from the floor. "I'm fine. But I think I might need some help getting back to the Super-cycle," he says, contemplatively.
Robin's pretty heavy for such a little guy, and he keeps on trying to help when he can't really control his feet. "I think there was something in that bottle," he tells Kon. "I think it's making me funny."
"No shit, dude," says Kon, and looks both ways before dragging them out the cargo bay.
"I think I'm--" and then Robin goes suddenly lucid. "I- Don't let me. Kon. I won't forgive you ever," he says fiercely.
"What the fuck?" asks Kon. The outside of the compound is pretty much empty, so getting Rob outside the fence is pretty easy.
"I'm kind of-- I need to--"
"Just, here, lie down," says Kon, and tries to manhandle Robin into the back seat of the Super-cycle. Robin's panting a little, and his face looks flushed. This close, Kon can see a blackhead. It makes Robin seem like just somebody.
"It's really--" says Robin, and tugs off one glove using his teeth. "You're really f- attractive when-- Oh fuck!" and Robin shoves the glove back in his mouth and bites down hard. Then he thrashes and starts scratching at his arm with his bare hand.
"Dude, stop it!" says Kon, but Robin shakes his head like someone who's not hearing anything, and scratches again, and his blunt fingernails are raising welts.
"Stop it!" says Kon again. Robin's face is white, and his arm is getting red, so Kon kneels over him and tries to pin him.
Robin bucks against him, once and then goes limp again. He tilts his head back up to look at the sky, perfectly calm, as if he hadn't been trying to tear his own arm off. A shiver runs through him that Kon can feel. He still has his glove in his mouth and looks demented.
A breeze flutters the trees around them, and then dies. "Rob?" Kon asks. Robin's still, and Kon's beginning to feel a bit ridiculous.
Robin opens his mouth and his glove falls out onto his shoulder. He turns his head to look at Kon. "I want you to fuck me." Robin's eyes aren't focused.
Kon nearly falls into the footwell. There's not really any other way to take that, but other than Rob's flushed cheeks, he could be talking about ordering the fries from the cafeteria.
"I think of your telekinesis," says Robin, and Kon thinks, Yes, wait. What? But Robin keeps talking, "holding me down, inside me, everywhere," and it's Match Rob's talking about, because Kon's TK is still missing, and Robin squirms up against him, a slow writhe that's more obscene than sexy.
Robin's voice is a hoarse whisper. "Anything, Kon, please, I'd-- would you like me to beg?" Kon has a desperate moment of needing to say something, anything to stop Robin from talking, and in a burst of inspiration, shoves Rob's gauntlet back in his mouth, holding it there with his hand.
With one hand free, Rob has leverage, which Kon tries to counteract with his TTK before he remembers he doesn't have it anymore. Robin briefly has the advantage, before they both roll off the seat and into the footwell, Kon on top. Kon automatically tries to tell if the hard lump against his thigh is just Robin's jock or an erection, but maybe a bat-jock is too tight for a boner because he can't really tell. Robin breathes into his ear.
"-in R! Do you read? Report!" says a tinny voice by Kon's ear.
"Hello?" says Kon, startled.
"Superboy?" says the insect voice. "What's Robin's condition?"
"I can't-- I mean. He's drugged, or something. Who are you!?"
"Oh," says Robin conversationally in Kon's ear.
"This is Oracle. Please describe Robin's symptoms."
"Uh. He's kind of. Um."
"Let me up, and I'll guh gor gok" says Robin, when Kon hurriedly pushes the glove in his mouth.
"Friendly?" finishes Kon.
There's a moment of silence, and Kon kind of hopes for Robin's sake that the robot voice isn't too good at deciphering garbles.
Then Oracle makes him describe what happened, and take Robin's pulse, in his throat when he can't find it in Robin's wrist. It's a bit hard to do that keeping his ear next to Robin's. Robin's breath smells pretty much like Kon's does by this time of day, and he's warm.
"On Robin's belt there's pouches. The third left of the buckle contains antihistamines. I want you to squeeze the sides of the pouch gently, and then open it from the top using the snap closure." It's a pretty complicated maneuver, and made harder by the fact that Rob seems to think Kon is trying to pull down his tights and tries to help him.
"Is this going to help him?" asks Kon, as he applies the patch to the inside of Robin's exposed elbow.
"It'll keep him until we get him to where we can get some blood-work done," says Nightwing from behind and above Kon. Kon tries to spring off Robin and accidentally knees him in the stomach. Nightwing ends up leaning over into the Super-cycle and helping to drag Kon, and then Robin out.
"Jeez, warn a guy!" says Kon.
"I was Oracle's closest contact," says Nightwing, which is maybe a Bat-apology for scaring him.
Nightwing props Robin up and doesn't say anything about the white line of Robin's hip where his tights had been pulled down. "You're so soft," says Robin into Nightwing's shoulder.
Kon feels protective. "Don't let him--"
Nightwing pulls Robin up into a fireman's carry. "I'm taking him to our medical facilities. Do you think you can find what they sprayed him with?"
"You're just--" taking him? Kon doesn't ask. "I uh. Yeah, I'll see if I can find it."
Nightwing gives him a reassuring smile, only a little tight. "Don't worry. He'll be fine next time you see him."
Go to the Next part