[Fic] Sparks (1/?)
Kon’s room still looked deathly the same, like no one dared to touch it after his death. It was pretty cool, actually, since that meant everything was in place. Bart’s room was pretty tidy though; tidier than normal when they first got there. Kon suspected one of the girls needed closure or something, because he really couldn’t see Tim picking up Bart’s underwear. Well, maybe if justice required it, but the little guy borrowed underwear from Gar, so touching stuff where’s Gar’s junk had been sounded nauseating.
Tim’s room-well, as far as he knew, no one bothered to go in it. Too booby-trapped and stuff. Bart could vibrate through, but the little guy had been so wrapped in writing info down and reading books that it probably didn’t matter.
How Kon found himself in Tim’s room-well, Bart wasn’t there yet, and then it struck him how Bart suddenly became his wingman while Tim was doing Red Robin stuff. And, well, talking to Bart was fun. Sometimes didn’t make sense, but eh. It wouldn’t have been Bart if it did.
“I figured you’d have this place booby trapped,” he admitted before settling against a wall. One small box and his laptop. That was all Tim essentially had with him, along with a few clothes in the closet for. You know. Casual Friday or something.
Tim did that thing where he said something without saying anything at all, and then you could just feel how soaked the room was with sarcasm. Tim smirked. “You haven’t set anything off, evidently.”
Kon stared at him, mouth agape.
If that freaky cowl thing was up, Tim would have been rolling his eyes. Maybe? Who knew. “No booby traps. Kidding, Conner.”
“About…having booby traps or not having booby traps?”
God, freaky batsmirk. “I’ll let you figure that out for yourself.”
“Conner!” Out of nowhere there was a pickup of wind and Kon found himself with an armful of Bart. Bart’s tiny hand fisted into his flannel shirt and he jumped up and down (though it really looked like wriggling with how quickly he was doing it) with that baby-faced, impatient expression. “Yougotanypaper?”
“Bart--! Well,” there was the paper for his trig homework, but-
Bart shook him violently and-what the hell, when was he so strong? Large yellow eyes widened to the size of his fists. Freaky stuff, man. “Paper! Rememberedsomething-somethingimportantandurgent.”
“Um. Slower. Please?”
“Paper, Kon! Paper!”
“Well, I got that, but-”
“Here.” Tim whipped out a notebook from out of nowhere, and god, Kon nearly jumped out of his pants as Tim held it up.
Then something weird happened. Bart stopped his violent vibrating, the excruciating look of importance for a half-second disappearing into something unreadable, and stared at Tim. Then the notebook. Then Tim. Notebook. Tim. notebooktTim-
“Dude, you’re hurting my eyes!” It was too early in the afternoon for Kon to be getting a headache. He pressed a hand to the back of his head while Tim sauntered across the bed, standing parallel between all three of them, and held the notebook out in front of Bart. Bart stared at the spiral for a second-and really, that was pretty long for Bart.
Finally, a gloved red hand yanked the notebook from Tim’s grasp and Bart jumped between his feet. “Thanks.”
“You’re-” Bart zipped away. “-welcome.”
“That was weird.” Kon scratched his head. Bart sitting still was. Well, it just never happened.
Under the cowl Tim’s look stayed calculative and in the, ‘I know more than I should and all of you combined’ look and opened his mouth to speak.
Kon put a hand in front of him. “Hold on.”
A yellow blur zipped back, Bart shifting between his feet and fingers tangled in the notebook against his back. “Hi, Tim.”
“Hi-” Zip! “-Bart.” Tim put hands on his hips and waited. When five seconds passed with no answer, he turned his head back and-and, Kon put his hand up again.
Bart zipped back. “Thanksforthenotebookandeverything. You know.”
God. Kon arched an eyebrow, scratching his head like Gar whenever he took the form of a gorilla. The weeks without Tim, Bart had actually been…well, calm. Relatively speaking, of course. Now he was as jumpy as ever.
Tim sighed. His, ‘this is getting nowhere and I know what you want’ sigh. “Do you want-”
“You,” Bart directed his attention back to Kon with one of his bright smiles, “want to go girl hunting?”
Girl hunting? Kon bit back a grin, knowing Tim was now giving them ‘the Look.’ He missed this; really. “Well, we’re kind of pro-feminism, so ‘girl-hunting’ may not be the correct tone and-are you even listening to me anymore?”
Bart’s eyes were darting around so fast that it almost looked like he had no eyes. For what was probably a good ten minutes in subjective time, Bart took a deep breath and suddenly looked calmer. Sort of, the chaos he always was with an underlying sense of nervousness. “Just. Want to get your mind off. Stuff. And whatnot. But since Tim’s here, I guess…” Bart’s voice trailed off and then he held his hand up. “ByeTim.”
“Bye-” Bart zipped away.
“I’ll find him later and sort things out. And. Whatnot.” Kon’s lips twisted with very, very appropriate confusion.
“Go see a movie with him after patrol.” Tim turned his head and began unpacking his tiny box of things. “Cassie and I are going over…plans.”
Oh. Oh. “I see how it is then, isn’t it? Now that you’re back, you’re taking sides? Dude, unfair.” Very unfair. Kon sighed. “Look, Bart’s already been in the middle of all of this, and with Aquagirl and Bombshell missing-”
“Bart hasn’t made eye contact with me since rejoining the Titans.” Er. Wrong assumption. Tim continued…whatever the heck he was doing while Kon tried to make thoughts out of the claim. Bart was…Bart. He started out a conversation with full eye contact, and if he got bored he would zone out. Though nowadays he was easy conversation. Fun, lighthearted, and obviously one of his best friends. Readjusting to Tim? Yeah, still a little weird, but not that bad.
“We totally group hugged you, remember?” And Bart hand clung onto Tim the longest with one of his super happy smiles. Actually, even just now Kon couldn’t remember a time the little guy got so worked up. Bart was flippant with his subjects, but after everything he’d gotten pretty laidback. And his cousin, Jenni or whatever, calmed him down. Kon used his TTK to unpack the few things left in the box.
Tim shrugged. Anyone who didn’t know him would have thought he didn’t care about the subject. Bart hadn’t mentioned anything to Kon, but then again…every time they met up Bart tried to get his mind off of Cassie. “The only time we ever have conversations is as a group. What did he need the paper for?”
“Ah-well. It’s. Well, Bart,” Kon said. Like it explained everything. And it really did, but he had enough sympathy to elaborate. “When we were with the Legion, he memorized everything he read in the library, but since the future’s changing-so he says, some of the information just has disappeared. So he’s been writing stuff down. Didn’t he tell you?”
Silence. Which really wasn’t a yes or a no. Tim hummed in conversation, but somehow even that hum just sounded forced.
“Have you even been by his room yet?”
“Saw papers.” Once Tim was satisfied finishing…whatever the hell he was doing, he turned around, fingers grazing against his cowl before pulling it off. Tim’s bright blue eyes stared right back at him, wry smile and everything. It was weird; honestly. The guy was more comfortable. Not a bad weird. Just a…Tim-weird. “But as far as I know, even I came earlier than he did.”
“Well, he lives with Wally now-” A sharp glance showed that no, Tim didn’t know that. It wasn’t a well-known secret; one of the odd things Bart didn’t even talk about. Kon had dropped by Keystone in hopes of killing some time and found Bart playing ‘big brother’ for his baby cousins. “The twins-you know, Wally’s twins cling onto him and are so possessive.”
“Why don’t I know this?” Tim’s voice darkened, like it was suddenly the most interesting news in the world.
“I found out last week, dude. He says it’s a little awkward, and uh. Stuff. Didn’t tell me to keep it on the DL, but-well,” Kon rubbed his head and shrugged awkwardly. “It’s…not like it’s something I can talk about. Cassie…really can’t stand the sight of me right now and-”
“I get it.” Now there was that thing where Tim’s voice went crisp. But he was smiling more, albeit still with his sardonicness. Is that even a word…? “Not my information to know.”
“It would have been.” Somehow that left Kon’s mouth before he had the chance to process the thought. Tim stared back at him, eyebrow arched. Boy Wonder wouldn’t have admitted it-but c’mon, of course it bugged him. “How about I talk to him? He pestered you every two seconds when he was Impulse.”
There was something thoughtful that fluttered across Tim’s face, even when he was trying his best not to show an expression. He was wary. Duh. “He’s grown up now.”
“Tim-” Bart zipped back, eyes as wide as ever. “…nevermind.” Then zipped away.
“I’ll catch him,” Kon hovered in the air, and for a midst second, that little glimmer came to Tim’s eyes. The small, set frown that said everything and nothing. Whenever Tim got that it kinda made him nervous. He pretended not to notice, leaving wonder boy to do whatever he wished and sauntered down the hall-at first in Bart’s room where he expected to see papers flying around like ghosts. Nada. Kon peeked his head with curiosity and somehow there wasn’t the normal chaos that spewed everywhere. Bart’s room looked…clean, actually. And that. Well, that was a scary thought all its own-as much as when Tim surprised-hugged him.
Kon flew into the kitchen.
“Hey, Gar, have you seen, oh, erm-you’re not Gar, so I’ll leave you now.”
“Wait-” Cassie wrapped a hand tightly around his wrist with that stern look that looked almost as good as Tim’s. “Who are you looking for?”
Don’t look at her face, Kon told himself. If he looked at her face then he was totally going to spew his guts, and-well. No time for Cass. “Bart.”
“Ah.” Somehow Cassie’s tone fell flat and she awkwardly smirked. “Did you try the gym?”
“Well, Rose is-oh…Thanks, Cass.” Kon turned around-“Oh, and Cass?”
“Yes?” She didn’t look up from making her PB&J.
“You look nice today.” Okay, good. Nowrunrunrun. As expected, Kon found Bart sitting cross-legged on the other side of the room with Rose kicking the shit out of a punching bag in her sexy short-shorts and tank-top. Er, not that he’d ever tell anyone that on purpose. Speaking of which, Kon settled on the ground right next to Bart, who had the spiral Tim had given him between his feet and a pencil laced lackadaisically between his fingers.
And, whoa Bart was looking at Rose kick the shit out of that thing without so much of his perverted grin. Damn. Bart was frowning.
“Hey, buck-o.” He just said buck-o. God, maybe farm-life was getting to him far worse than he expected.
Bart turned his head, sitting higher in his perch with a blank stare before offering half a grin. He leaned over and yanked Kon down until they were at um-eye-level. “I like her legs. You’ve got to appreciate a girl with long legs.”
That was a little more like Bart. Kon felt the concern on his heart loosen slightly, crossed his arms with relief and remembered not to stare. Instead he returned the half-smile with an arched eyebrow. It was hard to believe sometimes that little Imp had turned into Kid Flash the bookworm, then…this. Bart had discovered girls since they both returned. “And the eye patch?”
“Hah!” Bart sniggered. “Johnny Depp could totally put an eye patch on and wouldn’t look nearly as sexy.”
“Good point.” Whoa, whoa- “Did you just call a guy movie actor sexy?”
It was hard to understand Bart’s reactions if you didn’t know him and even harder if you did because you understood that he could flip through emotions and thoughts faster than flipping channels on the TV screen. So when Bart paused for those two seconds (god, this gave him a headache having to pay extra careful attention), then arched an eyebrow with a casual smirk, Kon wasn’t sure what to say. “He’s pretty.”
“You think most things are pretty.”
“He’s alright. An adequate answer for you?”
“Weren’t you going to fill out that notebook?” Kon switched subjects and gestured to the sleek black spiral between Bart’s heavy boots. He arched an eyebrow. “You nearly ran me over trying to get it, man.”
“Finished. Hello-Fastest Kid Alive?” Bart scooted it out of sight, eyes turning back to Ravager and-damn, why did the guy have such weird tastes in girls? “You still want to go girl hunting?”
“If you tell me why you aren’t talking to Tim.” Kon turned his head, pretending to be disinterested, but even he couldn’t fool himself. He wasn’t as analytical as Tim was-otherwise the problem may have never been brought up-so he faintly wondered if he hit it a little too close to home pestering Bart about the matter. At least Tim knew how to get the subject out of someone without making them feel uncomfortable. Which…was kind of disturbing.
Then Bart frowned. It was the same frown he had when Kon had found him, maybe three times deeper. His eyes darkened troublesomely, and Kon suddenly felt horrible for shoving all his problems with Cassie down Bart’s throat without letting Bart share his own problems. “It’scomplicated.”
“Bart-”
“Bye.” Bart zipped out of the room without so much as eye contact. The hell?
That wasn’t normal. Kon’s eyes fell to the spiral left on the ground and began sifting through the pages. He expected to see complicated formulas and Bart’s surprisingly neat handwriting.
Nada. All the pages were blank.
--
It was a little too early to retire, in Kon’s opinion, just because Tim’s deduction had been spot-on. Going back to Tim’s room would have been the epitome of humiliation (epitome-a word Bart taught him just last week when the guy was talking about…erm, explosions, maybe?) and besides, he liked a challenge.
The thing about Bart from what people told him was that Bart was oddly more stable. He shocked everyone, really, by being less impulsive after they came back from the future. Imp had always been kinda twitchy. He tended to one-up people and render them speechless (Kon included) without even realizing it, gave Rob serious headaches, and made Cissie giggle. That may have been a good idea; calling Cissie and all. Though, erm, maybe later, because Kon wouldn’t have put it past Cassie to have Cissie on her side.
Kid Flash was an improvement, but not by much. Bart had apparently hit puberty in that transition from Imp to KF, and that had been a bad time for both Tim and he. In a sense, Bart became the third wheel, and his deepest darkest secret was stealing Gar’s underwear.
Then, Kon had heard stories of what it was like for Bart to grow up. Sort of like, Peter Pan left Neverland and by the time he came back Peter wasn’t Peter anymore. Bart tried to run away from the legacy. Bart really didn’t like talking about his growth experiences much, but it was partially Kon’s fault for never sitting down with Bart and really asking about it.
And now the thing about Bart was, he was the same as he was different. Flirted with girls more. Maybe that was Kon’s doing. Bart also had his own wry smirk that weirded Kon out because it really looked out of place on Bart. Tim probably taught him that.
Bart made for good conversation now, and was pretty laidback. Not stupidly impulsive and oblivious like Impulse, or thrillseeking, LET’S RIDE THE BAT_____ NOW AND TRY NOT TO CRASH IT in his erly days as Kid flash. He was still unpredictable, then spontaneously spastic if he remembered something, still mischievous, and left people surprised. But more…stable. Less, ‘I’m about to spontaneously combust into unicorns with five legs and teddy bears with tentacles’ and more analytic.
And, well, now Kon was getting a little misty-eyed thinking his ‘baby brother’ had grown up without him, so he decided to push the sentimental stuff to the back of his mind and flutter through the tower while the sun set. Bart was nowhere to be seen, and Robin-Red Robin had probably gone off to patrol the city or something with Wonder Girl.
Seeing as in the three ‘stages’ of Bart’s growth, confidants went from Superboy and Robin (who Bart wouldn’t confess the problem to, so it automatically went to Cissie or Cass-who wouldn’t look him in the eye) to Gar (because Superboy and Robin were busy with their own things) and then now-before Red Robin came into the picture, where Kon should have been the first confidant, Kon’s mental list of Bart’s confidents went as so:
Max Mercury (wasn’t he back in full throttle?)
Wally (they were on speaking terms and stuff, um, right?)
Wally’s kids (Jet and Irma? Were those the names? Weren’t they like, one?)
Grandma Allen (not that Kon and she have ever met)
Grandpa Allen (wasn’t he like, the Flash again?)
Mrs. West (Bart said she was nicer than Wally once)
The Garricks (come to think of it, out of anyone, how did Bart decide where to live with his first two mentors, grandparents, and the cousin he butt heads with every two seconds?)
Tim (well, Bart and Tim being weird was the problem, so he didn’t count)
Kon (if he actually knew the problem, then the list wouldn’t be needed)
Cissie (who was on Cassie’s side, and Kon didn’t want an arrow shoved down his throat)
Cassie (who was Cassie, and Kon would avoid her for the time being)
Rose (well, maybe not? Bart tended to do more drooling than talking)
And Gar. There were so many different possibilities when it came to Bart being…just Bart, and the trip to Kansas would have taken a couple hours. By the time he would get back, Tim would probably get all Batty, shove the matter aside, and pretend that it didn’t bother him. But at least, Gar was a little easier to talk to and down the hall in the rec room. Kon found him sitting on the couch watching some documentary about frogs. Frogs were weird.
“Hey…uh.” Kon scratched his head, eyes hovering around the empty, dimly-lit room. Gar’s eyes remained on the television screen. He held a hand up haltingly, but didn’t protest. Maybe that was a good sign. “Do you know what’s wrong with Bart?”
At the mention of their speedster, Gar surrendered half his attention, partly looking at Kon and still gazing at the screen. “What about Bart?”
“He’s been…uh.” Two frogs on the TV screen were doing something you only found on the discovery channel. “He’s been acting weird.”
“Not weird.” Gar stuffed a handful of popcorn into his mouth, and then turned into a chipmunk with big cheeks that looked ready to hibernate for the winter. “Just Bart.”
“I...Tim thinks he’s been acting weird, too.” Kon crossed his arms, still tiptoeing on boundaries wondering what the truth was. Gar nonchalantly shrugged, and that was when Kon surrendered little bits of his patience. He stood in front of the tv screen and stared at Gar accusingly. “You know something.”
Gar frowned much in a way Bart would (or did Bart always frown like Gar would?) and sat straighter in his seat. He turned into a turtle and proceeded with hiding in a vibrantly green shell.
“Hey! That’s not playing fair!” Kon picked up the turtle, lips twisting crookedly, and tapped on the shell. A stubby arm popped out and shook funnily, like Gar was saying, It’s a secret! “Gar, we just want to know why he’s been acting weirdly. I mean, he’s Bart, but…I don’t…like…worrying about him.”
Freaky turtle eyes stared at him weirdly, like they were staring into his soul or something. Oddly enough Kon apparently won their staring contest because the green turtle turned back into the green man and stared at him like an idiot. Funny; Kon was getting that stare a lot now.
“You can get your hands off my waist now, Conner.”
“Oh, er. Right.”
Gar looked around the empty living room, painfully put the tv on mute, then took a deep breath. “Bart’s gay.”
Silence.
Kon stared at Gar blankly, hinges of his jaw slowly loosening until he looked like an idiot with his mouth dropped to the ground. He stared at Gar, part of his brain going limp from the two words. The deep breath was understandable, yeah, so he took one of his own and-“What the fuck?”
“He’s also still in the closet, big guy.” Apparently this wasn’t a prank. Garth grinned snidely, apparently finding something funny, then crossed his arms, expression dimming again. “Though he said something about the Kinsley scale-mumbled something in fast mumbo-jumbo, evidently kissed and cuddled me. Then that lasted for two minutes before he chirped, ‘Bye, Gar!’ and sped out the room.”
Hmm…mrrgh…gah….hah. “And where was I?”
“Angsting. Or. Detention.” Gar rubbed his head. “It might have been a Tuesday…”
“And where was Cass?”
“You guys are on radar with me during weekends.” A smile etched across Gar’s green demeanor, and he leaned back against the seat. “Don’t know about the weekdays.”
“So…he kissed you, and you’re okay with that?” Kon’s jaw twitched.
“No. He left me hard, horny, and had hot, passionate lovemaking with my hand. Kidding, Kon.” Kon stared. Gar sniggered, evidently finding the situation more entertaining than Kon did, before dropping his amusement. Gar scratched his head with a troubled look and shrugged. “Look, kid, it’s…it’s complicated. Anytime it’s brought up he tries to change the subject.”
“Is there…a certain…reason,” Kon arched an eyebrow, “why it’s complicated?”
Gar shrugged. “The kid’s in love. And denial. But I’m not gonna turn into the tower gossip again. If you want to get a proper answer, then you’ll have to ask him yourself.”
“Erk.”
“Get Red Robin to double-team with you.” A mischievous glint appeared in Gar’s eyes, and Kon wasn’t sure what to make of it. “It’ll make the process go faster. Maybe.”
“Uh. Noted.” Kon shifted between his feet bewilderedly and turned his back. “I’m uh. Gonna go to bed now.”
“Good for you.”
The fact he was able to make it down the hall without dropping dead with shock was a surprise. Bart. Gay. Bart was gay. Bart was gay. Bart was gay. Bart was gay and…in love?
Holy shit, Bart was in love?
That thought alone made some wimpy sound come from his throat. Bart hadn’t just made the sprint from Impulse to Flash; Bart made the leap from little kid to teenager. Kon had to grab the wall to keep from falling over and cleared his throat. The noise echoed through the hall, solemnly, and he trekked down the corridor to the dormitories in silence. So. Bart was in love, but in denial.
And also apparently in front of the hallway between Tim’s room and Kon’s room, looking extra fidgety. Impulse-fidgety.
“You finally back?” Kon asked in surprise. Bart had been gone all afternoon.
Bart turned his head, nearly jumping between his feet in the Kid Flash uniform with the cowl dipping behind his neck, and took a deep breath. “Er, K-Kon. Hi. I, um. Just came back from helping Impulse with stuff.”
Kon blinked.
Bart grinned weakly. “My cousin, Irey.”
“Ah.” So it wasn’t Irma.” It took a moment, but Kon finally realized Bart had been standing in front of Tim’s door, gazing at it like it would eat him up. Kon made a mental note and remembered he’d picked up Bart’s borrowed notebook after Bart made a getaway. He was probably going to apologize for losing it. Or, gathering up the nerve to at least knock the door. “Hey, you wanna watch a movie?”
“Sure.” Negating any possibility of having to confront Tim, Bart visibly relaxed with a sigh of breathy relief. It was weird looking at Bart, then suddenly remembering that the guy was in love. With a guy. Heart-wrenchingly so, it meant that Bart wasn’t that little spaz anymore.
And like he’d been saying with Tim-how many times had Bart been there with a shoulder to sulk on and comfort him? Cassie and he were the sheer definition of ‘awkward tension that could be cut with a knife’ right now, and still Bart grinned. Before Tim was here to unintentionally take sides, Bart had no choice but to play messenger-boy between Cassie and him.
Aw, heck, he decided as Bart flipped through the trig book on his desk. Kon looked through the few the few movies he owned and settled on the Incredibles. Dash sort of made him think of Impulse.
Bart had helped him with all his Cassie problems, so maybe it was about time Kon helped Bart with his girl-er-boy troubles. And maybe after that Bart would finally look Tim in the eye again when they spoke.
Next
Tim’s room-well, as far as he knew, no one bothered to go in it. Too booby-trapped and stuff. Bart could vibrate through, but the little guy had been so wrapped in writing info down and reading books that it probably didn’t matter.
How Kon found himself in Tim’s room-well, Bart wasn’t there yet, and then it struck him how Bart suddenly became his wingman while Tim was doing Red Robin stuff. And, well, talking to Bart was fun. Sometimes didn’t make sense, but eh. It wouldn’t have been Bart if it did.
“I figured you’d have this place booby trapped,” he admitted before settling against a wall. One small box and his laptop. That was all Tim essentially had with him, along with a few clothes in the closet for. You know. Casual Friday or something.
Tim did that thing where he said something without saying anything at all, and then you could just feel how soaked the room was with sarcasm. Tim smirked. “You haven’t set anything off, evidently.”
Kon stared at him, mouth agape.
If that freaky cowl thing was up, Tim would have been rolling his eyes. Maybe? Who knew. “No booby traps. Kidding, Conner.”
“About…having booby traps or not having booby traps?”
God, freaky batsmirk. “I’ll let you figure that out for yourself.”
“Conner!” Out of nowhere there was a pickup of wind and Kon found himself with an armful of Bart. Bart’s tiny hand fisted into his flannel shirt and he jumped up and down (though it really looked like wriggling with how quickly he was doing it) with that baby-faced, impatient expression. “Yougotanypaper?”
“Bart--! Well,” there was the paper for his trig homework, but-
Bart shook him violently and-what the hell, when was he so strong? Large yellow eyes widened to the size of his fists. Freaky stuff, man. “Paper! Rememberedsomething-somethingimportantandurgent.”
“Um. Slower. Please?”
“Paper, Kon! Paper!”
“Well, I got that, but-”
“Here.” Tim whipped out a notebook from out of nowhere, and god, Kon nearly jumped out of his pants as Tim held it up.
Then something weird happened. Bart stopped his violent vibrating, the excruciating look of importance for a half-second disappearing into something unreadable, and stared at Tim. Then the notebook. Then Tim. Notebook. Tim. notebooktTim-
“Dude, you’re hurting my eyes!” It was too early in the afternoon for Kon to be getting a headache. He pressed a hand to the back of his head while Tim sauntered across the bed, standing parallel between all three of them, and held the notebook out in front of Bart. Bart stared at the spiral for a second-and really, that was pretty long for Bart.
Finally, a gloved red hand yanked the notebook from Tim’s grasp and Bart jumped between his feet. “Thanks.”
“You’re-” Bart zipped away. “-welcome.”
“That was weird.” Kon scratched his head. Bart sitting still was. Well, it just never happened.
Under the cowl Tim’s look stayed calculative and in the, ‘I know more than I should and all of you combined’ look and opened his mouth to speak.
Kon put a hand in front of him. “Hold on.”
A yellow blur zipped back, Bart shifting between his feet and fingers tangled in the notebook against his back. “Hi, Tim.”
“Hi-” Zip! “-Bart.” Tim put hands on his hips and waited. When five seconds passed with no answer, he turned his head back and-and, Kon put his hand up again.
Bart zipped back. “Thanksforthenotebookandeverything. You know.”
God. Kon arched an eyebrow, scratching his head like Gar whenever he took the form of a gorilla. The weeks without Tim, Bart had actually been…well, calm. Relatively speaking, of course. Now he was as jumpy as ever.
Tim sighed. His, ‘this is getting nowhere and I know what you want’ sigh. “Do you want-”
“You,” Bart directed his attention back to Kon with one of his bright smiles, “want to go girl hunting?”
Girl hunting? Kon bit back a grin, knowing Tim was now giving them ‘the Look.’ He missed this; really. “Well, we’re kind of pro-feminism, so ‘girl-hunting’ may not be the correct tone and-are you even listening to me anymore?”
Bart’s eyes were darting around so fast that it almost looked like he had no eyes. For what was probably a good ten minutes in subjective time, Bart took a deep breath and suddenly looked calmer. Sort of, the chaos he always was with an underlying sense of nervousness. “Just. Want to get your mind off. Stuff. And whatnot. But since Tim’s here, I guess…” Bart’s voice trailed off and then he held his hand up. “ByeTim.”
“Bye-” Bart zipped away.
“I’ll find him later and sort things out. And. Whatnot.” Kon’s lips twisted with very, very appropriate confusion.
“Go see a movie with him after patrol.” Tim turned his head and began unpacking his tiny box of things. “Cassie and I are going over…plans.”
Oh. Oh. “I see how it is then, isn’t it? Now that you’re back, you’re taking sides? Dude, unfair.” Very unfair. Kon sighed. “Look, Bart’s already been in the middle of all of this, and with Aquagirl and Bombshell missing-”
“Bart hasn’t made eye contact with me since rejoining the Titans.” Er. Wrong assumption. Tim continued…whatever the heck he was doing while Kon tried to make thoughts out of the claim. Bart was…Bart. He started out a conversation with full eye contact, and if he got bored he would zone out. Though nowadays he was easy conversation. Fun, lighthearted, and obviously one of his best friends. Readjusting to Tim? Yeah, still a little weird, but not that bad.
“We totally group hugged you, remember?” And Bart hand clung onto Tim the longest with one of his super happy smiles. Actually, even just now Kon couldn’t remember a time the little guy got so worked up. Bart was flippant with his subjects, but after everything he’d gotten pretty laidback. And his cousin, Jenni or whatever, calmed him down. Kon used his TTK to unpack the few things left in the box.
Tim shrugged. Anyone who didn’t know him would have thought he didn’t care about the subject. Bart hadn’t mentioned anything to Kon, but then again…every time they met up Bart tried to get his mind off of Cassie. “The only time we ever have conversations is as a group. What did he need the paper for?”
“Ah-well. It’s. Well, Bart,” Kon said. Like it explained everything. And it really did, but he had enough sympathy to elaborate. “When we were with the Legion, he memorized everything he read in the library, but since the future’s changing-so he says, some of the information just has disappeared. So he’s been writing stuff down. Didn’t he tell you?”
Silence. Which really wasn’t a yes or a no. Tim hummed in conversation, but somehow even that hum just sounded forced.
“Have you even been by his room yet?”
“Saw papers.” Once Tim was satisfied finishing…whatever the hell he was doing, he turned around, fingers grazing against his cowl before pulling it off. Tim’s bright blue eyes stared right back at him, wry smile and everything. It was weird; honestly. The guy was more comfortable. Not a bad weird. Just a…Tim-weird. “But as far as I know, even I came earlier than he did.”
“Well, he lives with Wally now-” A sharp glance showed that no, Tim didn’t know that. It wasn’t a well-known secret; one of the odd things Bart didn’t even talk about. Kon had dropped by Keystone in hopes of killing some time and found Bart playing ‘big brother’ for his baby cousins. “The twins-you know, Wally’s twins cling onto him and are so possessive.”
“Why don’t I know this?” Tim’s voice darkened, like it was suddenly the most interesting news in the world.
“I found out last week, dude. He says it’s a little awkward, and uh. Stuff. Didn’t tell me to keep it on the DL, but-well,” Kon rubbed his head and shrugged awkwardly. “It’s…not like it’s something I can talk about. Cassie…really can’t stand the sight of me right now and-”
“I get it.” Now there was that thing where Tim’s voice went crisp. But he was smiling more, albeit still with his sardonicness. Is that even a word…? “Not my information to know.”
“It would have been.” Somehow that left Kon’s mouth before he had the chance to process the thought. Tim stared back at him, eyebrow arched. Boy Wonder wouldn’t have admitted it-but c’mon, of course it bugged him. “How about I talk to him? He pestered you every two seconds when he was Impulse.”
There was something thoughtful that fluttered across Tim’s face, even when he was trying his best not to show an expression. He was wary. Duh. “He’s grown up now.”
“Tim-” Bart zipped back, eyes as wide as ever. “…nevermind.” Then zipped away.
“I’ll catch him,” Kon hovered in the air, and for a midst second, that little glimmer came to Tim’s eyes. The small, set frown that said everything and nothing. Whenever Tim got that it kinda made him nervous. He pretended not to notice, leaving wonder boy to do whatever he wished and sauntered down the hall-at first in Bart’s room where he expected to see papers flying around like ghosts. Nada. Kon peeked his head with curiosity and somehow there wasn’t the normal chaos that spewed everywhere. Bart’s room looked…clean, actually. And that. Well, that was a scary thought all its own-as much as when Tim surprised-hugged him.
Kon flew into the kitchen.
“Hey, Gar, have you seen, oh, erm-you’re not Gar, so I’ll leave you now.”
“Wait-” Cassie wrapped a hand tightly around his wrist with that stern look that looked almost as good as Tim’s. “Who are you looking for?”
Don’t look at her face, Kon told himself. If he looked at her face then he was totally going to spew his guts, and-well. No time for Cass. “Bart.”
“Ah.” Somehow Cassie’s tone fell flat and she awkwardly smirked. “Did you try the gym?”
“Well, Rose is-oh…Thanks, Cass.” Kon turned around-“Oh, and Cass?”
“Yes?” She didn’t look up from making her PB&J.
“You look nice today.” Okay, good. Nowrunrunrun. As expected, Kon found Bart sitting cross-legged on the other side of the room with Rose kicking the shit out of a punching bag in her sexy short-shorts and tank-top. Er, not that he’d ever tell anyone that on purpose. Speaking of which, Kon settled on the ground right next to Bart, who had the spiral Tim had given him between his feet and a pencil laced lackadaisically between his fingers.
And, whoa Bart was looking at Rose kick the shit out of that thing without so much of his perverted grin. Damn. Bart was frowning.
“Hey, buck-o.” He just said buck-o. God, maybe farm-life was getting to him far worse than he expected.
Bart turned his head, sitting higher in his perch with a blank stare before offering half a grin. He leaned over and yanked Kon down until they were at um-eye-level. “I like her legs. You’ve got to appreciate a girl with long legs.”
That was a little more like Bart. Kon felt the concern on his heart loosen slightly, crossed his arms with relief and remembered not to stare. Instead he returned the half-smile with an arched eyebrow. It was hard to believe sometimes that little Imp had turned into Kid Flash the bookworm, then…this. Bart had discovered girls since they both returned. “And the eye patch?”
“Hah!” Bart sniggered. “Johnny Depp could totally put an eye patch on and wouldn’t look nearly as sexy.”
“Good point.” Whoa, whoa- “Did you just call a guy movie actor sexy?”
It was hard to understand Bart’s reactions if you didn’t know him and even harder if you did because you understood that he could flip through emotions and thoughts faster than flipping channels on the TV screen. So when Bart paused for those two seconds (god, this gave him a headache having to pay extra careful attention), then arched an eyebrow with a casual smirk, Kon wasn’t sure what to say. “He’s pretty.”
“You think most things are pretty.”
“He’s alright. An adequate answer for you?”
“Weren’t you going to fill out that notebook?” Kon switched subjects and gestured to the sleek black spiral between Bart’s heavy boots. He arched an eyebrow. “You nearly ran me over trying to get it, man.”
“Finished. Hello-Fastest Kid Alive?” Bart scooted it out of sight, eyes turning back to Ravager and-damn, why did the guy have such weird tastes in girls? “You still want to go girl hunting?”
“If you tell me why you aren’t talking to Tim.” Kon turned his head, pretending to be disinterested, but even he couldn’t fool himself. He wasn’t as analytical as Tim was-otherwise the problem may have never been brought up-so he faintly wondered if he hit it a little too close to home pestering Bart about the matter. At least Tim knew how to get the subject out of someone without making them feel uncomfortable. Which…was kind of disturbing.
Then Bart frowned. It was the same frown he had when Kon had found him, maybe three times deeper. His eyes darkened troublesomely, and Kon suddenly felt horrible for shoving all his problems with Cassie down Bart’s throat without letting Bart share his own problems. “It’scomplicated.”
“Bart-”
“Bye.” Bart zipped out of the room without so much as eye contact. The hell?
That wasn’t normal. Kon’s eyes fell to the spiral left on the ground and began sifting through the pages. He expected to see complicated formulas and Bart’s surprisingly neat handwriting.
Nada. All the pages were blank.
--
It was a little too early to retire, in Kon’s opinion, just because Tim’s deduction had been spot-on. Going back to Tim’s room would have been the epitome of humiliation (epitome-a word Bart taught him just last week when the guy was talking about…erm, explosions, maybe?) and besides, he liked a challenge.
The thing about Bart from what people told him was that Bart was oddly more stable. He shocked everyone, really, by being less impulsive after they came back from the future. Imp had always been kinda twitchy. He tended to one-up people and render them speechless (Kon included) without even realizing it, gave Rob serious headaches, and made Cissie giggle. That may have been a good idea; calling Cissie and all. Though, erm, maybe later, because Kon wouldn’t have put it past Cassie to have Cissie on her side.
Kid Flash was an improvement, but not by much. Bart had apparently hit puberty in that transition from Imp to KF, and that had been a bad time for both Tim and he. In a sense, Bart became the third wheel, and his deepest darkest secret was stealing Gar’s underwear.
Then, Kon had heard stories of what it was like for Bart to grow up. Sort of like, Peter Pan left Neverland and by the time he came back Peter wasn’t Peter anymore. Bart tried to run away from the legacy. Bart really didn’t like talking about his growth experiences much, but it was partially Kon’s fault for never sitting down with Bart and really asking about it.
And now the thing about Bart was, he was the same as he was different. Flirted with girls more. Maybe that was Kon’s doing. Bart also had his own wry smirk that weirded Kon out because it really looked out of place on Bart. Tim probably taught him that.
Bart made for good conversation now, and was pretty laidback. Not stupidly impulsive and oblivious like Impulse, or thrillseeking, LET’S RIDE THE BAT_____ NOW AND TRY NOT TO CRASH IT in his erly days as Kid flash. He was still unpredictable, then spontaneously spastic if he remembered something, still mischievous, and left people surprised. But more…stable. Less, ‘I’m about to spontaneously combust into unicorns with five legs and teddy bears with tentacles’ and more analytic.
And, well, now Kon was getting a little misty-eyed thinking his ‘baby brother’ had grown up without him, so he decided to push the sentimental stuff to the back of his mind and flutter through the tower while the sun set. Bart was nowhere to be seen, and Robin-Red Robin had probably gone off to patrol the city or something with Wonder Girl.
Seeing as in the three ‘stages’ of Bart’s growth, confidants went from Superboy and Robin (who Bart wouldn’t confess the problem to, so it automatically went to Cissie or Cass-who wouldn’t look him in the eye) to Gar (because Superboy and Robin were busy with their own things) and then now-before Red Robin came into the picture, where Kon should have been the first confidant, Kon’s mental list of Bart’s confidents went as so:
Max Mercury (wasn’t he back in full throttle?)
Wally (they were on speaking terms and stuff, um, right?)
Wally’s kids (Jet and Irma? Were those the names? Weren’t they like, one?)
Grandma Allen (not that Kon and she have ever met)
Grandpa Allen (wasn’t he like, the Flash again?)
Mrs. West (Bart said she was nicer than Wally once)
The Garricks (come to think of it, out of anyone, how did Bart decide where to live with his first two mentors, grandparents, and the cousin he butt heads with every two seconds?)
Tim (well, Bart and Tim being weird was the problem, so he didn’t count)
Kon (if he actually knew the problem, then the list wouldn’t be needed)
Cissie (who was on Cassie’s side, and Kon didn’t want an arrow shoved down his throat)
Cassie (who was Cassie, and Kon would avoid her for the time being)
Rose (well, maybe not? Bart tended to do more drooling than talking)
And Gar. There were so many different possibilities when it came to Bart being…just Bart, and the trip to Kansas would have taken a couple hours. By the time he would get back, Tim would probably get all Batty, shove the matter aside, and pretend that it didn’t bother him. But at least, Gar was a little easier to talk to and down the hall in the rec room. Kon found him sitting on the couch watching some documentary about frogs. Frogs were weird.
“Hey…uh.” Kon scratched his head, eyes hovering around the empty, dimly-lit room. Gar’s eyes remained on the television screen. He held a hand up haltingly, but didn’t protest. Maybe that was a good sign. “Do you know what’s wrong with Bart?”
At the mention of their speedster, Gar surrendered half his attention, partly looking at Kon and still gazing at the screen. “What about Bart?”
“He’s been…uh.” Two frogs on the TV screen were doing something you only found on the discovery channel. “He’s been acting weird.”
“Not weird.” Gar stuffed a handful of popcorn into his mouth, and then turned into a chipmunk with big cheeks that looked ready to hibernate for the winter. “Just Bart.”
“I...Tim thinks he’s been acting weird, too.” Kon crossed his arms, still tiptoeing on boundaries wondering what the truth was. Gar nonchalantly shrugged, and that was when Kon surrendered little bits of his patience. He stood in front of the tv screen and stared at Gar accusingly. “You know something.”
Gar frowned much in a way Bart would (or did Bart always frown like Gar would?) and sat straighter in his seat. He turned into a turtle and proceeded with hiding in a vibrantly green shell.
“Hey! That’s not playing fair!” Kon picked up the turtle, lips twisting crookedly, and tapped on the shell. A stubby arm popped out and shook funnily, like Gar was saying, It’s a secret! “Gar, we just want to know why he’s been acting weirdly. I mean, he’s Bart, but…I don’t…like…worrying about him.”
Freaky turtle eyes stared at him weirdly, like they were staring into his soul or something. Oddly enough Kon apparently won their staring contest because the green turtle turned back into the green man and stared at him like an idiot. Funny; Kon was getting that stare a lot now.
“You can get your hands off my waist now, Conner.”
“Oh, er. Right.”
Gar looked around the empty living room, painfully put the tv on mute, then took a deep breath. “Bart’s gay.”
Silence.
Kon stared at Gar blankly, hinges of his jaw slowly loosening until he looked like an idiot with his mouth dropped to the ground. He stared at Gar, part of his brain going limp from the two words. The deep breath was understandable, yeah, so he took one of his own and-“What the fuck?”
“He’s also still in the closet, big guy.” Apparently this wasn’t a prank. Garth grinned snidely, apparently finding something funny, then crossed his arms, expression dimming again. “Though he said something about the Kinsley scale-mumbled something in fast mumbo-jumbo, evidently kissed and cuddled me. Then that lasted for two minutes before he chirped, ‘Bye, Gar!’ and sped out the room.”
Hmm…mrrgh…gah….hah. “And where was I?”
“Angsting. Or. Detention.” Gar rubbed his head. “It might have been a Tuesday…”
“And where was Cass?”
“You guys are on radar with me during weekends.” A smile etched across Gar’s green demeanor, and he leaned back against the seat. “Don’t know about the weekdays.”
“So…he kissed you, and you’re okay with that?” Kon’s jaw twitched.
“No. He left me hard, horny, and had hot, passionate lovemaking with my hand. Kidding, Kon.” Kon stared. Gar sniggered, evidently finding the situation more entertaining than Kon did, before dropping his amusement. Gar scratched his head with a troubled look and shrugged. “Look, kid, it’s…it’s complicated. Anytime it’s brought up he tries to change the subject.”
“Is there…a certain…reason,” Kon arched an eyebrow, “why it’s complicated?”
Gar shrugged. “The kid’s in love. And denial. But I’m not gonna turn into the tower gossip again. If you want to get a proper answer, then you’ll have to ask him yourself.”
“Erk.”
“Get Red Robin to double-team with you.” A mischievous glint appeared in Gar’s eyes, and Kon wasn’t sure what to make of it. “It’ll make the process go faster. Maybe.”
“Uh. Noted.” Kon shifted between his feet bewilderedly and turned his back. “I’m uh. Gonna go to bed now.”
“Good for you.”
The fact he was able to make it down the hall without dropping dead with shock was a surprise. Bart. Gay. Bart was gay. Bart was gay. Bart was gay. Bart was gay and…in love?
Holy shit, Bart was in love?
That thought alone made some wimpy sound come from his throat. Bart hadn’t just made the sprint from Impulse to Flash; Bart made the leap from little kid to teenager. Kon had to grab the wall to keep from falling over and cleared his throat. The noise echoed through the hall, solemnly, and he trekked down the corridor to the dormitories in silence. So. Bart was in love, but in denial.
And also apparently in front of the hallway between Tim’s room and Kon’s room, looking extra fidgety. Impulse-fidgety.
“You finally back?” Kon asked in surprise. Bart had been gone all afternoon.
Bart turned his head, nearly jumping between his feet in the Kid Flash uniform with the cowl dipping behind his neck, and took a deep breath. “Er, K-Kon. Hi. I, um. Just came back from helping Impulse with stuff.”
Kon blinked.
Bart grinned weakly. “My cousin, Irey.”
“Ah.” So it wasn’t Irma.” It took a moment, but Kon finally realized Bart had been standing in front of Tim’s door, gazing at it like it would eat him up. Kon made a mental note and remembered he’d picked up Bart’s borrowed notebook after Bart made a getaway. He was probably going to apologize for losing it. Or, gathering up the nerve to at least knock the door. “Hey, you wanna watch a movie?”
“Sure.” Negating any possibility of having to confront Tim, Bart visibly relaxed with a sigh of breathy relief. It was weird looking at Bart, then suddenly remembering that the guy was in love. With a guy. Heart-wrenchingly so, it meant that Bart wasn’t that little spaz anymore.
And like he’d been saying with Tim-how many times had Bart been there with a shoulder to sulk on and comfort him? Cassie and he were the sheer definition of ‘awkward tension that could be cut with a knife’ right now, and still Bart grinned. Before Tim was here to unintentionally take sides, Bart had no choice but to play messenger-boy between Cassie and him.
Aw, heck, he decided as Bart flipped through the trig book on his desk. Kon looked through the few the few movies he owned and settled on the Incredibles. Dash sort of made him think of Impulse.
Bart had helped him with all his Cassie problems, so maybe it was about time Kon helped Bart with his girl-er-boy troubles. And maybe after that Bart would finally look Tim in the eye again when they spoke.
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