Band of Brothers...Kinda
((Summary: Yet Another Backdated Batfamily Piece - Tim & Terry meet on the roof following some owls the day after the Masquerade & just before the Secret's Board. There's brotherly bonding, even if one of them's a girl. No bad touch. Perfectly worksafe. Endearing, really.))
Tim had decided to do some training in his (her?) room, before going to meet Terry on the roof. After a long, solid work-out and a quick shower, Tim tugged on a sort-of-baggy-ish t-shirt that sort-of-kind-of hid her breasts, and a pair of jeans. Grabbing a quart carton of milk he'd asked a house elf for, Tim opened up the window, tossed the grappling hook up towards one of the gargoyles that lined the roof, and climbed on up to meet Terry to talk.
Tim... definately needed it. After everything that happened. He sort of wanted to talk to Connor... and sort of... didn't want Connor to know *exactly* what was getting to him.
The grapple hook that had helped Terry get onto the roof, was black with red trim; noticable. It stayed nestled in the back of a gargoyle, with the other end tucked into Terry's waistband, as he lay on his back on the roof. There was a kind of widow's walk or defensive stretch of battlement above his room and that's where he had an open backpack with thermos and wrapped sandwiches sat beside him.
He wasn't in the suit, which made him look like a very normal boy in dark jeans and a t-shirt. The sun glinting on the collar around his neck, however, making it shine like glass and steel was very, very, not normal.
"Nice jewelry," Tim commented, higher-than-normal voice quirking up with curiosity. Tim crossed to Terry quickly enough, cocking her head to one side and tucking a lock of hair behind her hear, before she nudged Terry with the milk carton and sat down.
Settling in, Tim kicked her legs out forward and crossed them at the ankles. She leaned back, tipping her face up at the sky, and set the carton she'd brought next to Terry's thermos, looking up at the sky with a quiet smile. At least the weather was nice.
Even if Tim was confused as all hell by Jason. And frustrated by Bruce.
His hand went up to his neck and Terry smiled. "Girl's got to have the pretty, shiny things." The smile became a smirk as he sat up and watched her - and Tim as a girl was strange, but not too unusual and he was still Tim where it mattered. "Nice rack." He said, because he had to. He leaned into her to nudge her back though, pulling out one of the sandwiches and handing it over.
Tim snorted, "I know, I'm a hella catch." Laughing, Tim jokingly pushed said rack together and up, looking down with a snort. "Did you see Connor's? Holy shirt. I don't know how he stays standing." Tim gladly took the sandwich, and took a bite while she absently reached out to touch the collar, just to get a better look at it. It didn't look like it had a latch or clasp or anything. Didn't it chafe?
Terry tensed a moment, he wasn't expecting curiosity to translate into touching. Terry reached up to grab Tim's hand. "Careful. It's got protections on it and I'm not quite sure what'll trigger them. So no sudden moves." He grinned despite himself. "Which means no saving me if I fall down laughing because the love child of Superman and Lex Luthor..." And the chuckling began as if it wouldn't stop. "Now has a pair like Barda!"
Tim cracked up, pulling her hand back and shaking her head. "Oh, GOD, don't call him a lovechild, please! I think that'd make his head explode! Oh, man. I just hope, for his sake, he changes back soon. Jase and I are just waiting for an antidote, he's waiting to get the Kryptonite out of his system."
"I could not believe the outfit he was wearing last night. Rockstar Schmockstar, I still say he looked like a working girl."
Terry winked. "I'm too much of a gentleman to comment on that." He pulled a sandwich out for himself. "So Connor's a friend from back home ? The right home ?"
"My best friend, since a little after I first joined up with Bruce. We're both Teen Titans, and we were in Young Justice - sort of like a baby JLA. It was me, Kon, Impulse, and a little later, Wonder Girl." Tim sighed. Oh. Right. Cassie. Kon was head over heels for Cassie, so far as Tim knew. He was sort of surprised, actually, Kon hadn't really mentioned her since they'd gotten here. "He's amazing, either way. Even if he can be a little, you know, hard to handle sometimes." Tim meant, of course, Kon's temper.
"I don't think anyone in the family makes friends with easy people. It's some sort of contagious bat pathogen." He winked again, then leaned back, now that they'd indulged in a bit of small talk. "And speaking of difficult people." Terry arched a brow and looked pointedly at Tim. The tilt of his head made the collar shimmer again.
"What, is Dick giving you trouble again?" Behold, Tim's ability to dodge questions and play dumb. But, this wasn't an interrogation, was it? No, no it wasn't. And it probably shouldn't BE one. The black-haired girl sighed and leaned back, propping herself up on her elbows, taking another bite of sandwich. Food was another great way to delay questions you don't want to answer.
"Or are you talking about Bruce? Or... Jason?"
Because, gosh knows they were all difficult sometimes.
"I should mention Jason. But right now, I want to know aboutlast night and you and Bruce and me completely missing the opportunity to spy on that conversation." He wasn't ashamed to admit that he would have, or to warn Tim that he very well could in the future. "You stirred things up last night. Badly."
He took a bite of his own sandwich, leaning forward to watch Tim's reaction. They needed to talk and they would. Even if he had to pull out the voice.
"I didn't exactly mean to. The conversation with Bruce... went stiffly. He was asking about you in particular. When he first got here, he asked me for a run-down of each of us, so I gave him what you'd told me, then, which.. honestly wasn't much. Just that you worked as his assistant and took over the suit, really. I didn't tell him about your test results, I wanted to ask you first, and... not step on any toes. He doesn't honestly seem interested in the rest."
Well, that wasn't entirely true. Bruce HAD asked what Jason had meant, and why everyone had jumped on him for dancing with Tim at all. "He's really young," Tim said with a sigh.
He simply nodded. "He would want to know about me. Epsecially after last night." For all the posing, no one else had actually stood up to Bruce; antagonized him, tried to reason with him, yes - but call him on something ? Not so much. He gave Tim a look, but it wasn't harsh. "I appreciate you balancing loyalities. I'm not ready for him to know yet." He watched Tim a moment. "But you're right, he's young. He had to want to get a better handle on us. We all know so much about him. How much did he want you to dig up for him ?"
Terry asked the question quietly and matter of fact.
"He just wanted to know everything I had. I told him that I didn't have anything new, which... was a lie, which kills me, but I didn't want to leave you bared like that. I don't think he'd exactly handle it, either. Not after that show last night, anyway. He just wants to know more about you, especially. I think he's got the jist of the Robin persona, and I think he doesn't have much interest in "sidekicks"." Tim spat out that last word. He hated it. He wasn't a sidekick at all, or so he said. "He wants to know everything I can find out. Really, all I've given him aside from what little background I had right after we met, was that I trust your character, whatever that's worth."
"You're a Robin. It's worth a lot." But he looked thoughtful. "So he's trying to get out of talking to me directly until he has a game plan. It wouldn't do to treat me like a Robin no matter how green he thinks I am." Terry paused. "And he's probably a lot greener than I am." It hit him then that this Bruce just got his name, probably only just chose his symbol. And to have someone else wear it as well as he already did...
He shook his head. "How are you dealing ? Is him not understanding Robin enough to brush the shine off that idol-worship ?"
"I'm not a Robin," Tim grumped, her voice beginning to get on her nerves already. She sounded pouty. When Tim pouted and was a boy, he just sounded angry. "The idol worship was already fading. Bruce is an amazing man, and I'm really close to him, but I'm not his number one fan. I mean, he's no Blue Beetle." Tim smirked at his own joke, not thinking that maybe Terry wouldn't get it. "I'm dealing... well enough. Lately, Bruce has been having me do more work on my own, or with Nightwing, so working on my own isn't so bad. It's just that having him look at me like an inexperienced kid is irritating. I thought getting Bruce to trust me after Jason was hard, but getting him to trust me and deal with having a partner before he's even met Dick? I don't honestly know if I've got any real chance of getting through to him." Tim shrugged, and decidd to stretch out all the way, pillowing her head on her hands as she looked up at the clouds.
"Like all that work I put into getting him to trust me is just gone."
That all sounded like Tim. It was the right complaints and the right frustration and the right indignation. But last night... "So who was melting in his arms last night ? Robin, or Tim... Timone ?"
He turned on his side to watch her. "Because it set everyone's alarms off. Mine, Ryuuji's, Jason's and Kon's I'm guessing, if he was the other girl there. "
Terry mulled the other things over waiting for the answer. Tim was convinced that Batman needed a Robin, only this was a green Batman, a non broken in Batman and none of them really wanted to have to put that much energy turning things that way. Dick and Tim and Barbara had broken Bruce in by the time he'd arrived. Apparently it took three to get Bruce to be comfortable with a partner.
Terry pulled his bag closer and began to unscrew the top, this conversation needed hot chocolate.
"Kon was the other girl, but ... I wasn't, I mean. I wasn't melting," Tim protested immediately, his face flushing. "I'm not. I stopped thinking about Bruce that way a long time ago," he muttered. "He's my friend, and my boss, but... I mean. He's handsome and all, and charming, but no. I wouldn't. We were dancing. He had something to say and he decided to get really, really close to say it. I'm not sure if that was secrecy or a bad habit."
Tim sucked in a breath, puffing out her chest for a moment, before she sighed, and shook her head. Ugh. "The one family member I've got to deal with is giving me enough trouble. I'm not going to get tangled up with a second."
Terry poured Tim a cup fo chocolate. "You were melting. Maybe you didn't mean to, but you were. You miss him, a lot. We all do. And it probably got all confused. But you were melting."
He smiled a bit and passed the cup over. "Pour milk in that to cool it. And at least you're aware right now. When there's no princess dresses and fairy lights."
"I wasn't melting," Tim insisted, pouring some of the milk in with the cocoa and taking a sip. "We were having a conversation. He just wanted to whisper." Tim would be stubborn about this. He DID miss Bruce, terribly, but he wasn't crushing on the strange young substitute.
"I was surprised everybody got so... razzled. Bruce asked me about that too, and I explained as best I could."
Terry laughed. "You explained to him about his history of assumed pedophilia ? I can't believe I missed that."
"It was a brief explanation, but yeah. He thought it was ridiculous. And he quickly changed the subject." Tim snorted, shaking his head. Bruce was... an interesting case, let's say. "He asked about Jason, too." Tim groaned, arching her back and stretching before she settled back down. "That was a... fun set of questions to avoid."
Terry pinched her stomach and moved his hand away, keeping a completely innocent face. "Hey, you decided to go talk to him. You get the fun of the that dance."
He moved to pour himself a cup.
"Yeah, I could talk to him, or blow him off and make sure he secluded into his little bat-corner to brood and plan how he'd never take on a partner or apprentice, ever. I dealt with it, anyway." Tim swatted Terry's hand away, taking another drink. "Can I. Ask you what you think about him? Jason, I mean."
"I think you're way over your head, little bird." He quirked a brow acknowledging his use of the phrase. "You're all brains for the most part. You've met people like Jason on the streets, but you didn't have to deal with them. You don't know what you're doing and you're going to get burned. Badly."
"Yeah, that's what I thought," Tim groaned, not looking at Terry anymore. "I just. He's not beyond reaching, you know. And, if I were in his place... I think I'd not be so different at all. There's just something about him," Tim muttered, irritated. "I can't stand him, but whenever he's not around, you know?"
Maybe Terry didn't know. Tim probably shouldn't be dumping all this on him.
"No, I don't think I know." He gave Tim an easy smile. "At least not the can't stand part. Yeah he's reachable, but that's the trap, cause where he is, it's all up to him. There's nothing anyone can do but show trust and wait." There was a touch of bitter experience and wisdom in his voice.
"Stop trying to pull a Bruce, Tim. You don't have enough force."
"I'm not trying to pull a Bruce!" Tim was just full of denial argument today. "I guess, I can't stand that every time I think I'm getting somewhere, he goes right back to being an ass. And, ... I can't just let him go off and be an ass, 'cause sometimes he's sort of okay." By sort-of-okay, Tim meant amazingly-okay, but gushing was not the thing to do right now. Or ever, really.
Tim was not a girl, no matter how much he might have looked like one.
Terry arched a brow. "Taking in the troubled youth, trying to soothe away his pain. Do you really want me to break it down further, Timmy-boy ?"
He looked away from Tim then, out over the rooftops. "You're not going to save him with the amazing power of your ass. And he can't trust you actually care about him, so all you're doing is ruining yourself."
"I wasn't -- my ass has nothing to do with it." Okay, so maybe it did. And he could tell that Terry was giving him good advice. "I'm not saying I want to save him, I'm saying I don't think he's evil. I just. I don't know, Terry. Most of the time he makes me so mad I want to learn Shiva's Leopard Blow, but sometimes... I just. Connect."
Tim rolled his eyes at himself. "That line? Straight out of a daytime soap. This is pathetic."
"First person I ever fell for on the other side, was part of the Royal Flush Gang. She wouldn't leave them. She couldn't see herself living without them. I don't think Jason has any idea where he'd go or if anyone would even want him if he stopped being a pain in all our asses."
He nudged Tim's leg. "And it doesn't matter how much you connect. There's no trust there, not on his side. All those bruises ?" He looked Tim over in a thoroughly Batman appraising way. "This family might be full of the slightly unbalanced and territorial. But you ever stop to think he was trying to see, is still trying to see what will make you turn away from him ?"
"... I was turned away from him to begin with," Tim mused, taking another drink of cocoa. "I've been getting closer ever since." That was strange. Tim would've said, in the beginning, that it was curiosity that had been pulling him closer to Jason, but.. curiosity killed the cat. Presumably the little bird, too, if it wasn't careful.
"I think, I'm ... getting attached, though." Well, of course Tim was getting attached. It was only natural, right? To get attached to somebody you've made out with (and then some).
"You think ?" Terry had to laugh at that. "You're up here talking to me about him. This conversation was supposed to be about Bruce." He sipped from his own cup, forgoing the milk and blowing to cool it. "What do you want me to say ? You know it's a bad idea. You know that he'll hurt you and not just physically."
Terry ran a hand through his hair. "Bad boy mystique isn't all it's cracked up to be, Tim. Sometimes we're good guys underneath, sometimes it's just another mask." He shook his head. "As long as Jason's playing with you, I've got no advice to give."
"Right. Bruce. Anyway," Tim said, cheeks suddenly burning. Damn. Had he really steered the conversation that far off-course? Yes. Yes, he had. And yes, Terry's points were all very, very valid. What did that mean for Tim? A lot of... confusion, mostly. Because even if he knew that he shouldn't like Jason and that Jason was bad and probably, you know, just going to continue to be an ass for forever... he still felt how he felt.
Stupid emotions. No wonder Bats like to bottle them up.
"Let's get back on topic. Sorry, Terry," Tim said, and shrugged a little.
"Hey, we are on topic. Basically you're saying we all have no reason to worry about you and Bruce, because the real trouble is with Jason."
He reached out and touched Tim's blushing cheeks, knowing his fingers would be cool against the pink flush. "Jason's the one who has you wrapped up and upside down." Terry suddenly paused.
"Wonder if he thinks you only like him because..." He arched a brow. "He leads, you follow?" He asked, wondering about their relationship and whether or not Jason thought he was some sort of trial or test.
"I.. the first two times we ... did anything, it was more .. I started, and he finished. Most recently though," Tim said, sulking down and hugging her knees against her chest (which was HARD TO DO with breasts, Tim discovered). "He started. And was ... nice about it. And... It was a good thing. I mean. While it was happening, it was." Tim felt a little weird talking about this with Terry, but.. it was definately easier than trying to talk about it with anyone else. "I guess, yeah. He's more in charge during. Definately."
Tim bit down on her lower lip, cocking her head to one side, waiting to hear the end of what Terry was thinking. Which wasn't at all unlike what Tim was thinking, probably. It could be a dominance thing, or a control thing, or both.
He blinked, that was... unexpected information. He'd actually meant in terms of what they did. But maybe this was all they had done. No talking, no dares, just throwing words back and forth until it led to sex. Now he had to think, and he sat up, draining the rest of his hot chocolate; because somehow he'd just become the 'big brother' who would talk to you about sex.
And now he was wondering if Tim was attracted to Jason, or attracted to someone who could take control. He was quiet a while, thinking, the only movement the tap of his finger against the side of the thermos mug. "Are you letting him be in control out of some sort of apology ?" Terry paused, he was so not good at this, but what the hell. "I mean, do you just let it happen ?"
"Not at all," Tim blurted, surprised. "It's... more like a fight. Or... it was the first time. I guess. It kind of switches around. But, mostly... it's just like a fight. Sometimes one person has the upper-hand, but... I guess, I don't mind when he wins." Tim set his cocoa aside, a knot forming hard in his belly. "It's not an apology. He's already proven he's the stronger one, I don't think that's what this is about. I don't know, but.. I don't think so."
Terry tilted his head, half wishing that the Bruce he knew was around. Cause that Bruce could have a talk about this, without blushing. And his own cheeks were faintly pink. "No...I just meant. How does he know you actually want him and you're not just trying to appease him ?"
He arched a brow. "Are you making comments about his sexual technique ? Ambushing him in quiet corners and whispering dirty things ?" Terry laughed suddenly. "Now I sound like a talk show, so we're both pathetic. Still... If all it is right now is sex, how does he even know you actually want that and you just don't think it's inevitable ?"
Terry's eyes lit up suddenly as he thought of something. "It's like the most popular girl in school knows she's going to get asked to some dance. She doesn't even have to think about it. But there's a difference between working up the nerve to ask her yourself, and just waiting until she nods in your direction and tells you to pick her up at eight. One way, you want him. The other way, you're just getting off."
"I... never thought of it like that. I mean, I guess... I go out of my way to see him, sometimes. Talk to him when he'd probably normally... ignore me, but the problem is, we.. I mean, I. I keep wanting to stay. Wanting to just, kiss him for no reason. But I can't do that, 'cause he hates me, and ... the one time I did, he ended up breaking my arm. I stole a t-shirt, last ni-- er, last time."
Way to go Tim. Real slick.
"I don't honestly know what he thinks. I try to be anything other than hateful, and he pounces on the opening like it's a weakness. Which it kind of is. It's impossible."
Tim swallowed thickly. If it were ANY Bruce, Tim wouldn't be talking to him about his sex life. Certainly not his sex-life with Jason.
"He broke your arm ?!" That knocked aside any further analysis of Jason for the moment.
"It was an accident -- April Fool's Day. He was ... oh, Jesus this sounds bad. He was in Connor's body. Super-strength." Tim definately felt weird now. He'd made out with Jason while Jason was in his BEST FRIEND'S body.
"Then he didn't intentionally break your arm. And..." Terry rubbed between his eyebrows. "I can't even go there. Can we talk about something else? Anything else next time you lure me up to the roof? I'll even talk sports like a tiny brained jock."
"We can talk sports NOW? I think I'd much rather talk about lacrosse than my whatever-it-is with Jason right now." Whatever-it-is. Which meant it was a something, to Tim, which was more telling than he'd ever meant for it to be. Oh, man. Tim downed the last of his cocoa. "Shit, Terry, I'm sorry. I just. Last night, and.. I'm a little scattered."
Scattered and confused and in need of a guidance counselor or something. Didn't they have those at this school?
This was the second time Tim had mentioned last night. Terry reached over and tugged gently, opening his arms. "Hey, little sister." Because there was no way Tim was going to be held without a tease. But he was going to get hugged.
He propped his chin up on Tim's head, easily. "You're so lucky I like you, Tweet-tweet."
Tim had decided to do some training in his (her?) room, before going to meet Terry on the roof. After a long, solid work-out and a quick shower, Tim tugged on a sort-of-baggy-ish t-shirt that sort-of-kind-of hid her breasts, and a pair of jeans. Grabbing a quart carton of milk he'd asked a house elf for, Tim opened up the window, tossed the grappling hook up towards one of the gargoyles that lined the roof, and climbed on up to meet Terry to talk.
Tim... definately needed it. After everything that happened. He sort of wanted to talk to Connor... and sort of... didn't want Connor to know *exactly* what was getting to him.
The grapple hook that had helped Terry get onto the roof, was black with red trim; noticable. It stayed nestled in the back of a gargoyle, with the other end tucked into Terry's waistband, as he lay on his back on the roof. There was a kind of widow's walk or defensive stretch of battlement above his room and that's where he had an open backpack with thermos and wrapped sandwiches sat beside him.
He wasn't in the suit, which made him look like a very normal boy in dark jeans and a t-shirt. The sun glinting on the collar around his neck, however, making it shine like glass and steel was very, very, not normal.
"Nice jewelry," Tim commented, higher-than-normal voice quirking up with curiosity. Tim crossed to Terry quickly enough, cocking her head to one side and tucking a lock of hair behind her hear, before she nudged Terry with the milk carton and sat down.
Settling in, Tim kicked her legs out forward and crossed them at the ankles. She leaned back, tipping her face up at the sky, and set the carton she'd brought next to Terry's thermos, looking up at the sky with a quiet smile. At least the weather was nice.
Even if Tim was confused as all hell by Jason. And frustrated by Bruce.
His hand went up to his neck and Terry smiled. "Girl's got to have the pretty, shiny things." The smile became a smirk as he sat up and watched her - and Tim as a girl was strange, but not too unusual and he was still Tim where it mattered. "Nice rack." He said, because he had to. He leaned into her to nudge her back though, pulling out one of the sandwiches and handing it over.
Tim snorted, "I know, I'm a hella catch." Laughing, Tim jokingly pushed said rack together and up, looking down with a snort. "Did you see Connor's? Holy shirt. I don't know how he stays standing." Tim gladly took the sandwich, and took a bite while she absently reached out to touch the collar, just to get a better look at it. It didn't look like it had a latch or clasp or anything. Didn't it chafe?
Terry tensed a moment, he wasn't expecting curiosity to translate into touching. Terry reached up to grab Tim's hand. "Careful. It's got protections on it and I'm not quite sure what'll trigger them. So no sudden moves." He grinned despite himself. "Which means no saving me if I fall down laughing because the love child of Superman and Lex Luthor..." And the chuckling began as if it wouldn't stop. "Now has a pair like Barda!"
Tim cracked up, pulling her hand back and shaking her head. "Oh, GOD, don't call him a lovechild, please! I think that'd make his head explode! Oh, man. I just hope, for his sake, he changes back soon. Jase and I are just waiting for an antidote, he's waiting to get the Kryptonite out of his system."
"I could not believe the outfit he was wearing last night. Rockstar Schmockstar, I still say he looked like a working girl."
Terry winked. "I'm too much of a gentleman to comment on that." He pulled a sandwich out for himself. "So Connor's a friend from back home ? The right home ?"
"My best friend, since a little after I first joined up with Bruce. We're both Teen Titans, and we were in Young Justice - sort of like a baby JLA. It was me, Kon, Impulse, and a little later, Wonder Girl." Tim sighed. Oh. Right. Cassie. Kon was head over heels for Cassie, so far as Tim knew. He was sort of surprised, actually, Kon hadn't really mentioned her since they'd gotten here. "He's amazing, either way. Even if he can be a little, you know, hard to handle sometimes." Tim meant, of course, Kon's temper.
"I don't think anyone in the family makes friends with easy people. It's some sort of contagious bat pathogen." He winked again, then leaned back, now that they'd indulged in a bit of small talk. "And speaking of difficult people." Terry arched a brow and looked pointedly at Tim. The tilt of his head made the collar shimmer again.
"What, is Dick giving you trouble again?" Behold, Tim's ability to dodge questions and play dumb. But, this wasn't an interrogation, was it? No, no it wasn't. And it probably shouldn't BE one. The black-haired girl sighed and leaned back, propping herself up on her elbows, taking another bite of sandwich. Food was another great way to delay questions you don't want to answer.
"Or are you talking about Bruce? Or... Jason?"
Because, gosh knows they were all difficult sometimes.
"I should mention Jason. But right now, I want to know aboutlast night and you and Bruce and me completely missing the opportunity to spy on that conversation." He wasn't ashamed to admit that he would have, or to warn Tim that he very well could in the future. "You stirred things up last night. Badly."
He took a bite of his own sandwich, leaning forward to watch Tim's reaction. They needed to talk and they would. Even if he had to pull out the voice.
"I didn't exactly mean to. The conversation with Bruce... went stiffly. He was asking about you in particular. When he first got here, he asked me for a run-down of each of us, so I gave him what you'd told me, then, which.. honestly wasn't much. Just that you worked as his assistant and took over the suit, really. I didn't tell him about your test results, I wanted to ask you first, and... not step on any toes. He doesn't honestly seem interested in the rest."
Well, that wasn't entirely true. Bruce HAD asked what Jason had meant, and why everyone had jumped on him for dancing with Tim at all. "He's really young," Tim said with a sigh.
He simply nodded. "He would want to know about me. Epsecially after last night." For all the posing, no one else had actually stood up to Bruce; antagonized him, tried to reason with him, yes - but call him on something ? Not so much. He gave Tim a look, but it wasn't harsh. "I appreciate you balancing loyalities. I'm not ready for him to know yet." He watched Tim a moment. "But you're right, he's young. He had to want to get a better handle on us. We all know so much about him. How much did he want you to dig up for him ?"
Terry asked the question quietly and matter of fact.
"He just wanted to know everything I had. I told him that I didn't have anything new, which... was a lie, which kills me, but I didn't want to leave you bared like that. I don't think he'd exactly handle it, either. Not after that show last night, anyway. He just wants to know more about you, especially. I think he's got the jist of the Robin persona, and I think he doesn't have much interest in "sidekicks"." Tim spat out that last word. He hated it. He wasn't a sidekick at all, or so he said. "He wants to know everything I can find out. Really, all I've given him aside from what little background I had right after we met, was that I trust your character, whatever that's worth."
"You're a Robin. It's worth a lot." But he looked thoughtful. "So he's trying to get out of talking to me directly until he has a game plan. It wouldn't do to treat me like a Robin no matter how green he thinks I am." Terry paused. "And he's probably a lot greener than I am." It hit him then that this Bruce just got his name, probably only just chose his symbol. And to have someone else wear it as well as he already did...
He shook his head. "How are you dealing ? Is him not understanding Robin enough to brush the shine off that idol-worship ?"
"I'm not a Robin," Tim grumped, her voice beginning to get on her nerves already. She sounded pouty. When Tim pouted and was a boy, he just sounded angry. "The idol worship was already fading. Bruce is an amazing man, and I'm really close to him, but I'm not his number one fan. I mean, he's no Blue Beetle." Tim smirked at his own joke, not thinking that maybe Terry wouldn't get it. "I'm dealing... well enough. Lately, Bruce has been having me do more work on my own, or with Nightwing, so working on my own isn't so bad. It's just that having him look at me like an inexperienced kid is irritating. I thought getting Bruce to trust me after Jason was hard, but getting him to trust me and deal with having a partner before he's even met Dick? I don't honestly know if I've got any real chance of getting through to him." Tim shrugged, and decidd to stretch out all the way, pillowing her head on her hands as she looked up at the clouds.
"Like all that work I put into getting him to trust me is just gone."
That all sounded like Tim. It was the right complaints and the right frustration and the right indignation. But last night... "So who was melting in his arms last night ? Robin, or Tim... Timone ?"
He turned on his side to watch her. "Because it set everyone's alarms off. Mine, Ryuuji's, Jason's and Kon's I'm guessing, if he was the other girl there. "
Terry mulled the other things over waiting for the answer. Tim was convinced that Batman needed a Robin, only this was a green Batman, a non broken in Batman and none of them really wanted to have to put that much energy turning things that way. Dick and Tim and Barbara had broken Bruce in by the time he'd arrived. Apparently it took three to get Bruce to be comfortable with a partner.
Terry pulled his bag closer and began to unscrew the top, this conversation needed hot chocolate.
"Kon was the other girl, but ... I wasn't, I mean. I wasn't melting," Tim protested immediately, his face flushing. "I'm not. I stopped thinking about Bruce that way a long time ago," he muttered. "He's my friend, and my boss, but... I mean. He's handsome and all, and charming, but no. I wouldn't. We were dancing. He had something to say and he decided to get really, really close to say it. I'm not sure if that was secrecy or a bad habit."
Tim sucked in a breath, puffing out her chest for a moment, before she sighed, and shook her head. Ugh. "The one family member I've got to deal with is giving me enough trouble. I'm not going to get tangled up with a second."
Terry poured Tim a cup fo chocolate. "You were melting. Maybe you didn't mean to, but you were. You miss him, a lot. We all do. And it probably got all confused. But you were melting."
He smiled a bit and passed the cup over. "Pour milk in that to cool it. And at least you're aware right now. When there's no princess dresses and fairy lights."
"I wasn't melting," Tim insisted, pouring some of the milk in with the cocoa and taking a sip. "We were having a conversation. He just wanted to whisper." Tim would be stubborn about this. He DID miss Bruce, terribly, but he wasn't crushing on the strange young substitute.
"I was surprised everybody got so... razzled. Bruce asked me about that too, and I explained as best I could."
Terry laughed. "You explained to him about his history of assumed pedophilia ? I can't believe I missed that."
"It was a brief explanation, but yeah. He thought it was ridiculous. And he quickly changed the subject." Tim snorted, shaking his head. Bruce was... an interesting case, let's say. "He asked about Jason, too." Tim groaned, arching her back and stretching before she settled back down. "That was a... fun set of questions to avoid."
Terry pinched her stomach and moved his hand away, keeping a completely innocent face. "Hey, you decided to go talk to him. You get the fun of the that dance."
He moved to pour himself a cup.
"Yeah, I could talk to him, or blow him off and make sure he secluded into his little bat-corner to brood and plan how he'd never take on a partner or apprentice, ever. I dealt with it, anyway." Tim swatted Terry's hand away, taking another drink. "Can I. Ask you what you think about him? Jason, I mean."
"I think you're way over your head, little bird." He quirked a brow acknowledging his use of the phrase. "You're all brains for the most part. You've met people like Jason on the streets, but you didn't have to deal with them. You don't know what you're doing and you're going to get burned. Badly."
"Yeah, that's what I thought," Tim groaned, not looking at Terry anymore. "I just. He's not beyond reaching, you know. And, if I were in his place... I think I'd not be so different at all. There's just something about him," Tim muttered, irritated. "I can't stand him, but whenever he's not around, you know?"
Maybe Terry didn't know. Tim probably shouldn't be dumping all this on him.
"No, I don't think I know." He gave Tim an easy smile. "At least not the can't stand part. Yeah he's reachable, but that's the trap, cause where he is, it's all up to him. There's nothing anyone can do but show trust and wait." There was a touch of bitter experience and wisdom in his voice.
"Stop trying to pull a Bruce, Tim. You don't have enough force."
"I'm not trying to pull a Bruce!" Tim was just full of denial argument today. "I guess, I can't stand that every time I think I'm getting somewhere, he goes right back to being an ass. And, ... I can't just let him go off and be an ass, 'cause sometimes he's sort of okay." By sort-of-okay, Tim meant amazingly-okay, but gushing was not the thing to do right now. Or ever, really.
Tim was not a girl, no matter how much he might have looked like one.
Terry arched a brow. "Taking in the troubled youth, trying to soothe away his pain. Do you really want me to break it down further, Timmy-boy ?"
He looked away from Tim then, out over the rooftops. "You're not going to save him with the amazing power of your ass. And he can't trust you actually care about him, so all you're doing is ruining yourself."
"I wasn't -- my ass has nothing to do with it." Okay, so maybe it did. And he could tell that Terry was giving him good advice. "I'm not saying I want to save him, I'm saying I don't think he's evil. I just. I don't know, Terry. Most of the time he makes me so mad I want to learn Shiva's Leopard Blow, but sometimes... I just. Connect."
Tim rolled his eyes at himself. "That line? Straight out of a daytime soap. This is pathetic."
"First person I ever fell for on the other side, was part of the Royal Flush Gang. She wouldn't leave them. She couldn't see herself living without them. I don't think Jason has any idea where he'd go or if anyone would even want him if he stopped being a pain in all our asses."
He nudged Tim's leg. "And it doesn't matter how much you connect. There's no trust there, not on his side. All those bruises ?" He looked Tim over in a thoroughly Batman appraising way. "This family might be full of the slightly unbalanced and territorial. But you ever stop to think he was trying to see, is still trying to see what will make you turn away from him ?"
"... I was turned away from him to begin with," Tim mused, taking another drink of cocoa. "I've been getting closer ever since." That was strange. Tim would've said, in the beginning, that it was curiosity that had been pulling him closer to Jason, but.. curiosity killed the cat. Presumably the little bird, too, if it wasn't careful.
"I think, I'm ... getting attached, though." Well, of course Tim was getting attached. It was only natural, right? To get attached to somebody you've made out with (and then some).
"You think ?" Terry had to laugh at that. "You're up here talking to me about him. This conversation was supposed to be about Bruce." He sipped from his own cup, forgoing the milk and blowing to cool it. "What do you want me to say ? You know it's a bad idea. You know that he'll hurt you and not just physically."
Terry ran a hand through his hair. "Bad boy mystique isn't all it's cracked up to be, Tim. Sometimes we're good guys underneath, sometimes it's just another mask." He shook his head. "As long as Jason's playing with you, I've got no advice to give."
"Right. Bruce. Anyway," Tim said, cheeks suddenly burning. Damn. Had he really steered the conversation that far off-course? Yes. Yes, he had. And yes, Terry's points were all very, very valid. What did that mean for Tim? A lot of... confusion, mostly. Because even if he knew that he shouldn't like Jason and that Jason was bad and probably, you know, just going to continue to be an ass for forever... he still felt how he felt.
Stupid emotions. No wonder Bats like to bottle them up.
"Let's get back on topic. Sorry, Terry," Tim said, and shrugged a little.
"Hey, we are on topic. Basically you're saying we all have no reason to worry about you and Bruce, because the real trouble is with Jason."
He reached out and touched Tim's blushing cheeks, knowing his fingers would be cool against the pink flush. "Jason's the one who has you wrapped up and upside down." Terry suddenly paused.
"Wonder if he thinks you only like him because..." He arched a brow. "He leads, you follow?" He asked, wondering about their relationship and whether or not Jason thought he was some sort of trial or test.
"I.. the first two times we ... did anything, it was more .. I started, and he finished. Most recently though," Tim said, sulking down and hugging her knees against her chest (which was HARD TO DO with breasts, Tim discovered). "He started. And was ... nice about it. And... It was a good thing. I mean. While it was happening, it was." Tim felt a little weird talking about this with Terry, but.. it was definately easier than trying to talk about it with anyone else. "I guess, yeah. He's more in charge during. Definately."
Tim bit down on her lower lip, cocking her head to one side, waiting to hear the end of what Terry was thinking. Which wasn't at all unlike what Tim was thinking, probably. It could be a dominance thing, or a control thing, or both.
He blinked, that was... unexpected information. He'd actually meant in terms of what they did. But maybe this was all they had done. No talking, no dares, just throwing words back and forth until it led to sex. Now he had to think, and he sat up, draining the rest of his hot chocolate; because somehow he'd just become the 'big brother' who would talk to you about sex.
And now he was wondering if Tim was attracted to Jason, or attracted to someone who could take control. He was quiet a while, thinking, the only movement the tap of his finger against the side of the thermos mug. "Are you letting him be in control out of some sort of apology ?" Terry paused, he was so not good at this, but what the hell. "I mean, do you just let it happen ?"
"Not at all," Tim blurted, surprised. "It's... more like a fight. Or... it was the first time. I guess. It kind of switches around. But, mostly... it's just like a fight. Sometimes one person has the upper-hand, but... I guess, I don't mind when he wins." Tim set his cocoa aside, a knot forming hard in his belly. "It's not an apology. He's already proven he's the stronger one, I don't think that's what this is about. I don't know, but.. I don't think so."
Terry tilted his head, half wishing that the Bruce he knew was around. Cause that Bruce could have a talk about this, without blushing. And his own cheeks were faintly pink. "No...I just meant. How does he know you actually want him and you're not just trying to appease him ?"
He arched a brow. "Are you making comments about his sexual technique ? Ambushing him in quiet corners and whispering dirty things ?" Terry laughed suddenly. "Now I sound like a talk show, so we're both pathetic. Still... If all it is right now is sex, how does he even know you actually want that and you just don't think it's inevitable ?"
Terry's eyes lit up suddenly as he thought of something. "It's like the most popular girl in school knows she's going to get asked to some dance. She doesn't even have to think about it. But there's a difference between working up the nerve to ask her yourself, and just waiting until she nods in your direction and tells you to pick her up at eight. One way, you want him. The other way, you're just getting off."
"I... never thought of it like that. I mean, I guess... I go out of my way to see him, sometimes. Talk to him when he'd probably normally... ignore me, but the problem is, we.. I mean, I. I keep wanting to stay. Wanting to just, kiss him for no reason. But I can't do that, 'cause he hates me, and ... the one time I did, he ended up breaking my arm. I stole a t-shirt, last ni-- er, last time."
Way to go Tim. Real slick.
"I don't honestly know what he thinks. I try to be anything other than hateful, and he pounces on the opening like it's a weakness. Which it kind of is. It's impossible."
Tim swallowed thickly. If it were ANY Bruce, Tim wouldn't be talking to him about his sex life. Certainly not his sex-life with Jason.
"He broke your arm ?!" That knocked aside any further analysis of Jason for the moment.
"It was an accident -- April Fool's Day. He was ... oh, Jesus this sounds bad. He was in Connor's body. Super-strength." Tim definately felt weird now. He'd made out with Jason while Jason was in his BEST FRIEND'S body.
"Then he didn't intentionally break your arm. And..." Terry rubbed between his eyebrows. "I can't even go there. Can we talk about something else? Anything else next time you lure me up to the roof? I'll even talk sports like a tiny brained jock."
"We can talk sports NOW? I think I'd much rather talk about lacrosse than my whatever-it-is with Jason right now." Whatever-it-is. Which meant it was a something, to Tim, which was more telling than he'd ever meant for it to be. Oh, man. Tim downed the last of his cocoa. "Shit, Terry, I'm sorry. I just. Last night, and.. I'm a little scattered."
Scattered and confused and in need of a guidance counselor or something. Didn't they have those at this school?
This was the second time Tim had mentioned last night. Terry reached over and tugged gently, opening his arms. "Hey, little sister." Because there was no way Tim was going to be held without a tease. But he was going to get hugged.
He propped his chin up on Tim's head, easily. "You're so lucky I like you, Tweet-tweet."