Prompt Post - Part Seven [CLOSED TO NEW PROMPTS]
THIS PART IS NOW CLOSED. YOU CAN CONTINUE POSTING FILLS, BUT PLEASE PROMPT ALL NEW THINGS HERE.
Part one here!
Part two here!
Part three here!
Part four here!
Part five here!
Part six here!
Feel free to reprompt posts from parts one, two, three or four in part five once. If you do so, I'd recommend leaving a link to your fill on the original prompt, in ( Read more... )
They drink their milk and run off, and Dick shows Tim all the best places to hide in the manor.
Tim is really good at hide-and-seek. Really, actually quite unfairly good at it. When Dick complains after the third time he's taken an hour or more to find him, Tim just shrugs.
“Sorry,” he says, and looks down at the rug. “Sorry. Lots of times I need to know no one can find me.”
And Dick feels a little tear start right at the corner of his heart, and loops an arm around Tim's shoulders. “S'okay,” he says, and gives the boy a squeeze. “In this house, you'll never have to hide. Unless we're playing hide-and-go-seek!”
And Tim looks up at him, big eyes shining and wide, and says, “Really?”
Dick has to swallow before he can say, “Of course. In fact, here. Why don't we give you a room? Your very own place to hide, if you ever need it.”
“You mean it?” Tim asks, and then visibly hesitates, bites his lip. “But...but I don't have to be there alone, right? Can I still...can I still sleep with...?”
He doesn't finish the question, looking down and to the side, and Dick just wants to take this little boy away from the world and keep him safe with him forever. He kneels down, and catches Tim's eyes. “Of course you can still sleep with me sometimes,” he says, quietly, gently. “Of course you can.”
Tim doesn't look convinced. He's probably been lied to before, Dick knows, which only makes him vow to stay around and prove himself. “Hey, You're okay here, okay? You're safe, and no one will hurt you, and I'll be there. You'll never have to be hurt or lonely again. I promise.”
“Promise...?” Tim repeats, and then sniffs. “You really promise?”
“I really do,” Dick says, and pulls him into a hug. “I'll always be there for you, I promise.”
And Tim throws his little arms around Dick's neck and squeezes tight. “Okay,” he says, and Dick feels like he's been handed the world, or rather, this one broken little boy's trust, shining and fragile and cracked, but still so beautiful. “Okay, Dick. You're the best big brother in the world.”
And Dick thinks of his parents and his uncle and aunt and cousin, and how he always wanted a little Grayson to play with, and laughs. He laughs, and it comes out low and a little harsh, but he's gotta laugh or he's gonna cry.
Tim withdraws just a little, hesitating. “You...don't mind, do you?”
Dick forces a smile, because the last thing Tim needs is to see him being weak. “No, of course I don't,” he says, and the words almost don't burn on his tongue. Almost.
So he stands and turns a somersault, just because he can. When he comes back up, he's a little more composed, and Tim is clapping and smiling again.
“How about another round of hide-and-seek?” Dick offers. “And if you can find me, I'll teach you how to do that.”
“Yay!” Tim cheers. “Yeah! I'll count!” He leans into the nearest wall and hides his eyes. “One! Two!....”
And Dick takes off down the hall like a shot. He's got to find somewhere, quick, because he needs the time in hiding right now, needs some time to get his head on straight.
He could go high, but he's in the main hall, and there're no support beams. But, ooh, the bedrooms have those nice canopies, he can perch on one of those, so he goes tearing across the open space and up the stairs and down the hall and what was that?
That was a screech, a small noise, dampened but noticeable. That was the sound of something scratching at glass. That was...he backtracks. That was a bat, inside the elegant grandfather clock in the main hall.
A bat. A real, live bat. Inside a clock.
Dick comes back to stand in front of the clock, and blinks. Nope, there's still a live animal in the clock.
However it managed to get there, he decides, he can at least set it free.
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His first response is to boggle. His second is to dash back down to the front hall, where Tim has reached, “Thirty-one, thirty-two...”
“Tim!” he hisses, and grabs the boy's shoulder. “Tim, you gotta see this!”
Tim looks up at him, confused. “No, Dick, you're supposed to go hide.”
Dick rolls his eyes, “Thanks, yes, but you gotta come see this!”
Frowning, Tim lets Dick grab his hand and lead him back across the empty hall and up the stairs. The clock is still open, and still open.
“Is that...?” Tim asks, in awe.
“I think so,” Dick whispers back. “It's a secret passageway! Bruce told me this house was old, but I never thought-”
Tim clutches his hand tighter. “Can we go explore it?” he asks, voice high with excitement.
“Of course we're gonna explore it!” Dick cheers quietly. “It's a secret passage! This is so cool!”
And he goes to fetch a torch, and then he and his best friend descend cautiously into the dark.
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