Happy Decanting Day, Part One
Tim's getting good at this birthday planning thing. This time, he enlists Dick in his mission.
Tim had many talents. He was a genius of rarely matched or surpassed caliber, his martial arts training came from three of the finest instructors in the world, his family had controlled an industrial company of no small wealth or power and that before he'd hitched his fortunes to the Waynes who lived next door. Even on the island, he'd trained to be a medical doctor despite not yet having completed high school and maintained a patrol schedule that would have exhausted many military units at the peak of physical readiness. Tim was, by all reckonings, an extremely impressive individual.
Party planning terrified him. He simply had no skill at it or talent. He couldn't cook at all and his people skills were stunted at best. He had the plans but he did not have the social connections to pull them off. So he turned to the complement to his intellectual genius in order to complete his mission.
"Dick? Can I ask for your assistance with something?"
Where Tim's talents might be enumerated and listed, Dick's, rather like the man, refused lists and rules. He was neither one thing, nor another; not the top martial artist (Dinah, for example, was better), and only the third best detective (Tim really was better, even if Dick liked to say different for fun), the best human acrobat, but Trance who had been a star was better. What Dick excelled at was strategy and that, unquestionably, came from his refusal or, more accurately, his inability to stay inside the lines and his ability to believe people into giving him 120% of themselves, since he never gave less than that.
So when Tim came to ask for his help, he rolled up from the sit ups he'd been doing and kept rolling over his toes to his stomach. Chin on his hands, propped on his elbows, he smiled up at Tim, who carried a notebook and looked Very Serious. "You want my help storming the castle? I'm in. Do we have a holocaust cloak?"
Princess Bride jokes. How could you not love him with every fiber of your being? Tim certainly couldn't imagine not. "Something similar," he replied and crossed to where Dick was, sitting down in front of him, his legs folding naturally into a lotus position. "Kon's birthday is this week. I'd considered planning something for this weekend but I'd rather not overrun the wedding that's occurring. The island isn't so large that we can risk ruining a bride's special day." He opened his notebook and turned it for Dick to see. "I have some plans but I'll need your help carrying them off."
"Two weddings this weekend," Dick corrected, then hauled himself forward to rest his arms across Tim's lap. It made reading the notebook a little harder, but he'd already seen the flowcharts and the idea of diagramming a party, honestly, scared him. "Penny and Gideon, Shari and George." He didn't know either of the couples personally, but he knew of them and knew people who knew them. "I know Shari and George's wedding is island-wide, so, ruining the bride's special day is less of a concern than all of Kon's friends already being busy." He smiled up at Tim. "But good on you for thinking of it." Tim was thoughtful. He just lacked any feel for people. "So... was that really a pie chart?"
Tim coughed and looked a little sheepish. "Coraline made that and she informed me that I was going to make sure it happened and I couldn't say no..." Bullied by a 12 year old. Some superhero. For his next trick, he could get menaced by a box of kittens. "Anyway, I made sure that all of her requests are viable based on the flow of the planned events."
"Viable based on the flow of..." Dick blinked up at him. The combination of Tim and Coraline really ought to scare any sensible person. Being the opposite of sensible, Dick just buried his face in his arms and laughed until Tim tugged impatiently at his hair. "Okay, Commander Data." Still grinning, he snagged the notebook to look at the chart. "Oh, look, there's a clause just for you." Tim must be smiling and anyone who causes Tim to frown must be kicked out of said party. Eyes dancing with mischief and mirth, he tapped it with his finger. "I've got this part covered."
Tim scowled and tapped Dick on the nose. "It's Kon's birthday, not mine. You can ignore that. Focus, please. We need to get people to attend, that's your job." His face serious, Tim outlined the rest of his plan, the whole thing organized like a tactical strike on a secured location.
Tim had many talents. He was a genius of rarely matched or surpassed caliber, his martial arts training came from three of the finest instructors in the world, his family had controlled an industrial company of no small wealth or power and that before he'd hitched his fortunes to the Waynes who lived next door. Even on the island, he'd trained to be a medical doctor despite not yet having completed high school and maintained a patrol schedule that would have exhausted many military units at the peak of physical readiness. Tim was, by all reckonings, an extremely impressive individual.
Party planning terrified him. He simply had no skill at it or talent. He couldn't cook at all and his people skills were stunted at best. He had the plans but he did not have the social connections to pull them off. So he turned to the complement to his intellectual genius in order to complete his mission.
"Dick? Can I ask for your assistance with something?"
Where Tim's talents might be enumerated and listed, Dick's, rather like the man, refused lists and rules. He was neither one thing, nor another; not the top martial artist (Dinah, for example, was better), and only the third best detective (Tim really was better, even if Dick liked to say different for fun), the best human acrobat, but Trance who had been a star was better. What Dick excelled at was strategy and that, unquestionably, came from his refusal or, more accurately, his inability to stay inside the lines and his ability to believe people into giving him 120% of themselves, since he never gave less than that.
So when Tim came to ask for his help, he rolled up from the sit ups he'd been doing and kept rolling over his toes to his stomach. Chin on his hands, propped on his elbows, he smiled up at Tim, who carried a notebook and looked Very Serious. "You want my help storming the castle? I'm in. Do we have a holocaust cloak?"
Princess Bride jokes. How could you not love him with every fiber of your being? Tim certainly couldn't imagine not. "Something similar," he replied and crossed to where Dick was, sitting down in front of him, his legs folding naturally into a lotus position. "Kon's birthday is this week. I'd considered planning something for this weekend but I'd rather not overrun the wedding that's occurring. The island isn't so large that we can risk ruining a bride's special day." He opened his notebook and turned it for Dick to see. "I have some plans but I'll need your help carrying them off."
"Two weddings this weekend," Dick corrected, then hauled himself forward to rest his arms across Tim's lap. It made reading the notebook a little harder, but he'd already seen the flowcharts and the idea of diagramming a party, honestly, scared him. "Penny and Gideon, Shari and George." He didn't know either of the couples personally, but he knew of them and knew people who knew them. "I know Shari and George's wedding is island-wide, so, ruining the bride's special day is less of a concern than all of Kon's friends already being busy." He smiled up at Tim. "But good on you for thinking of it." Tim was thoughtful. He just lacked any feel for people. "So... was that really a pie chart?"
Tim coughed and looked a little sheepish. "Coraline made that and she informed me that I was going to make sure it happened and I couldn't say no..." Bullied by a 12 year old. Some superhero. For his next trick, he could get menaced by a box of kittens. "Anyway, I made sure that all of her requests are viable based on the flow of the planned events."
"Viable based on the flow of..." Dick blinked up at him. The combination of Tim and Coraline really ought to scare any sensible person. Being the opposite of sensible, Dick just buried his face in his arms and laughed until Tim tugged impatiently at his hair. "Okay, Commander Data." Still grinning, he snagged the notebook to look at the chart. "Oh, look, there's a clause just for you." Tim must be smiling and anyone who causes Tim to frown must be kicked out of said party. Eyes dancing with mischief and mirth, he tapped it with his finger. "I've got this part covered."
Tim scowled and tapped Dick on the nose. "It's Kon's birthday, not mine. You can ignore that. Focus, please. We need to get people to attend, that's your job." His face serious, Tim outlined the rest of his plan, the whole thing organized like a tactical strike on a secured location.