Kon hadn't even heard him enter the room (which was pretty impressive considering he had enhanced senses), so when Nightwing flipped over the couch to sit next to him, Superboy was understandably freaked out.
It was a testament to the fact the Kon was far too used to Robin randomly appearing in nearly the exact same fashion that Kon did nothing more than flinch slightly at the newly arrived Bat.
"Anybody seen Robin?" Nightwing questioned.
Cassie and Bart, the only other occupants of the room, shook their heads. The three of them were the only ones in the Tower, since everyone else had gone out to do a practice training session. By the time Tim, Bart, Cassie, and Kon had gotten back from their recon, everyone had already left. Robin had stalked away almost before his feet had touched the rooftop after Kon set him down.
*I'm your biggest fan, I'll follow you until you love me, papa-paparazzi-*
"Ah, that'll be Tim," Nightwing announced. The young man winked at the teens and put a finger to his mouth jokingly before taking a phone out from who-knows-where and putting it on speaker on the table.
"Timbo!" he exclaimed playfully.
His reply was almost instant. "Dick, what the actual fu-?"
"I wouldn't finish that sentence if I were you!" Nightwing interrupted, glee apparent in his voice.
The sigh that came through the phone seemed to say Why me?
"Dick," he continued slowly, as if talking to a child. "Why did I check my phone after a mission and find that I had nearly 250 messages from you from within the past hour?"
Nightwing didn't make a sound, but when Kon turned to look at him incredulously. Thoughts like, Seriously? Is it even possible for a human to send that many messages in that little time? ran though his head.
Kon chanced a glance over at Bart and Cassie and found them in similar states of astonishment.
"I found something I thought you might like." When Nightwing spoke, his voice was steady and calm, but full of amusement.
"Yeah, I got that from the first twelve texts," Robin snapped dryly. It sounded like he was near his breaking point. Kon wouldn't be surprised if he started screaming.
Seeming to sense his successor's patience dwindling, Nightwing switched tracks. "Where are you at?"
There was a pause before Robin, ever cautious, replied, "In my room at the Tower. Why?"
"Perfect! Go into the living room," Nightwing commanded, kicking his feet up on the table in front of him.
"Why?" He enunciated slowly, sounding almost fearful of his pseudo-brother's response.
"Just do it," he said shortly. "Come on, Timmy, live a little!"
With another sigh, Kon's friend said he was on his way and hung up.
"Do I wanna know?" Cassie ventured cautiously.
"Even if you don't, you're gonna find out," Nightwing answered cheerfully.
"Oh boy," Bart quipped. "I definitely don't have enough to deal with this, be right back."
In a blur, Bart ran out of the room, only to appear a few seconds later with what looked like half of the fridge's contents.
"Dude," Kon chided.
Bart, ever mature, stuck his tongue out at Kon before practically inhaling one of the drinks he had pilfered.
After a few more seconds of Kon glaring at the young Speedster, Robin entered the room wearing a pair of dark gray sweats and a lighter gray sweatshirt that said 'Gotham University Knights' in dark navy lettering. Kon wondered for a moment if Tim was somehow in college already, but was reassured that it most likely wasn't his when he saw that the shirt looked a little big on him, and with his hair still damp from a shower. He also looked vaguely ruffled and rumpled for some reason. Kon had never seen his friend in anything but his armor, and Kon couldn't help it. He thought that Robin, the fierce warrior and protege of the Dark Knight of Gotham, looked kind of adorable. He would never say that to his best friend's face, though. Kon liked living, thank you very much.
He was wearing his mask, so his eyes were covered, but Kon could imagine the teen sweeping the room and assessing the situation.
Kon could pinpoint the exact moment his friend's eyes found Nightwing. His brows pinched together slightly before his face became carefully blank, though Kon could practically see the way Robin's eyes narrowed slightly.
The current Boy Wonder crossed his arms and tilted his head slightly. "So. What exactly did you want to show me Wing?"
With a bright smile, Nightwing bounced to his feet and strode across the room to throw an arm over the younger Robin's shoulders. "I'm glad you asked!" he exclaimed as he led the other towards the couch. As they passed the back, Nightwing pushed Robin ahead of him and reached behind the couch.
With a flourish, he spun around held a package out in front of him. He was met with Robin's less than impressed face.
"Are you kidding me right now?"
Kon craned his neck to see whatever it was that Nightwing was holding, but was unable to see it.
Still with a bright smile radiating from his face, the previous Robin slid over to couch and threw himself upon it while kicking his feet up on the table in front of him again.
"It's a package of Tim Tams, TimTam," he replied with a cheeky smirk plastered on his face.
Tim was silent for so long after that statement that Kon was beginning to worry.
"I'll repeat again," he finally exhaled. "Are. You. Freaking kidding me?!"
"Nope," Nightwing countered, popping the 'p' with a smug smile. He opened the orange and brown plastic and pulled one out, holding it out towards the annoyed teen. "Wanna try one?"
He looked calm, but Kon knew that his best friend was either a) fuming, b) plotting Nightwing's death, or c) utterly done with the man he called his brother. Maybe even a mixture all three. Actually, now that he thought about it, it was probably a mixture of the three.
A small noise broke the silence and all eyes turned to Bart, who was sitting on the floor with a hand over his mouth. His eyes crinkled at the sides, showing the amusement he was trying to hide. Cassie's eyes also seemed to sparkle a little brighter and she was biting her bottom lip with the corners of her mouth turned up. Kon himself felt laughter bubble its way up his throat, but he held his amusement back for the time being.
Nightwing finally brought the attention back to him with a dare. "Come on TimTam, try one of your brothers."
The look of absolute indignity on his friend's face was what made Kon finally crack. A chuckle escaped his lips, and when the Dark Squire of Gotham turned to him looking utterly betrayed, Kon burst into laughter.
That seemed to have broken the spell holding back Cassie and Bart's laughter as they too started to snicker. Soon all three were roaring with laughter, Bart so far gone he was on the ground holding his stomach.
Nightwing, however, had slid down the couch slightly. He had one of his ankles crossed over his knee. His arms were crossed with his thumbs resting against his chest pointing up. The grin that had stretched across his face had melted back into a smug smirk. He lifted his chin slightly when Tim's eyes finally made their way back to him and his smirk grew infinitesimally wider.
Tim suddenly relaxed his tight posture as a grin of his own made its way lazily onto his face. He crossed his arms loosely and leaned back, tilting his head up to match Nightwing. Actually, it was almost eerie to Kon how alike they looked in that one moment.
"Oh, believe me, Dick," Tim drawled slowly, spitting the last word out in such a way that Kon couldn't tell if he was using the older man's name or insulting him. "The Tim Tam isn't the brother of mine that needs to worry about getting chewed up."
With that, Tim immediately shot forward towards Nightwing and Kon quickly leapt off the couch and out of the immediate danger zone. Kon saw Nightwing's eyebrows shoot up for a moment before reaching out to catch the younger boy that had barreled into him. Kon watched the two wrestle each other from next to Cassie. Bart scooped up the food still on the floor before running over to join them.
The three Titans watched as the two heroes grappled, wincing when Nightwing rolled them onto the floor with a thump and a yelp from Tim. Nightwing had hit the ground first with an arm crooked around the younger's neck. With Robin splayed atop Nightwing, the blue and black-clad hero brought his free hand to the other's head with a smile on his face and a laugh spilling out of his mouth unrestrained. He started rubbing his knuckles across Tim's head and sped up when Tim protested, trying to wriggle his way out of the elder's grip. Tim managed to elbow Nightwing in the gut and, while the elder was breathlessly laughing, Tim flipped onto his hands and knees. He shoved himself to his feet at the same time that Nightwing planted his hands and feet firmly on the ground, using his position to fluidly push himself up, a move that he made look easy and graceful. Tim's eyes widened when another smirk overtook Nightwing's face and the shorter of the two stumbled backwards as the other started advancing.
Had it been anyone besides Nightwing, Kon had no doubt that Tim would've been gone already, disappearing seamlessly with a flick of his cape. He was always put together in battle, and was vigilant even in their more relaxed sparring and training sessions. However, he seemed to have let his guard down almost entirely around the man he saw as an older brother in such a non-threatening environment, making Tim much less coordinated than he usually was as Robin.
Nightwing seemed to have no problems taking advantage of this and pounced at him in much the same way Tim had when he began all this. Nightwing grabbed Tim around the waist and twisted them in mid-air so that he, again, landed on the ground first. While Tim was still vaguely disoriented, Nightwing wasted no time in turning them over and pinning Tim's arms with one hand and holding his legs together between his thighs. This time, Kon could see Robin's eyes widen even through the mask. Kon shifted to a crouch when he saw a look of panic cross his best friend's face, ready to intervene if necessary. He didn't really think that Tim was in any danger, especially from someone that was practically family, but it never hurt to be prepared. For all they knew, this Nightwing might actually be an evil clone or robot or something. Hell, Kon himself was a clone, so it wasn't that far of a stretch. It also wouldn't be the strangest thing that they had seen in their careers. It couldn't hurt to be prepared, just in case.
Oh no. He was starting to sound like Tim. Rao help him.
Kon tensed further when Nightwing's free hand darted towards Tim's neck, and Kon was about to race over there when Tim started…
Wait. Was Tim…? Was he... giggling?
Kon could honestly say he had never thought that Tim was even capable of making a noise like that.
Tim's loud laughed rang out in the room as he wriggled under Nightwing. He scrunched his neck up and tucked his head down on top of the hero's hand, but the other persisted. Nightwing's grin was nearly blinding as he laughed along. Tim managed to break the grip on his hands and started to shove Nightwing off of him, but he was didn't have enough force as he was nearly breathless from his chuckling. Besides, Kon knew that Nightwing had a lot of practice pinning down bad guys that were twice his weight. Tim, especially a Tim not at his best, wasn't going to be able to budge him without help.
Nightwing got ahold of both of Robin's hands again and continued his earlier ministrations. When Tim tried to used his captor's weight against him, Nightwing laughed and readjusted his balance on his knees and leaned in a bit more.
"Do you give up yet Timmy?" he shouted out, trying to be heard over the laughs that filled the room.
"Ne-NEVER!" Tim managed to get out. His declaration would've sounded like a line out of a heroic movie if not for the breathless tone in which it was said and the laughter that punctuated in.
"Aw, come on Tim! TimTam isn't that bad of a nickname!" Dick continued, chuckling himself.
"Yes it is!" came the reply, slightly more intelligible. "It's worse than- than Dick, and that's- haha- that's hard to beat!"
"You little-!" Dick laughed out, abandoning his hold on the younger Bat's hands to flip around and face Tim's feet. He then lifted up one of Tim's legs and continued to tickle behind his knee, a spot that Kon hadn't even known was ticklish for his friend. When Tim's laughed doubled in strength though, Kon knew that it was most definitely a sweet spot should he ever need to incapacitate the other.
Tim kicked his legs out trying to get away, and Nightwing turned his to face his captive, and huge grin lighting his face up. "Just let me call you TimTam and this'll stop Timmy!"
Tim's mouth opened several times as if to respond, but each time he was overtaken by more giggling and snickering. Finally, Tim managed to stutter out, "St-Stop! Okay, jus-just STOP!"
Nightwing's mask crinkled as he smiled. He immediately stood up without using his hands and beamed down happily at the kid who was, for all intends and purposes, his little brother. Tim laid on the ground, even when the fight was over. As soon as Nightwing had gotten up, Kon's friend had gone boneless and seemed to almost melt into the carpet. He was practically wheezing, but Tim had a slightly dopey smile gracing his face and his hair was even more ruffled than it had been when he first walked into the room. The lines that usually adorned his face had smoothed out and Tim looked so utterly and totally relaxed that Kon thought he looked…
Well frankly, his best friend looked young. Younger than Kon had ever seen him, and he definitely looked younger than he had been when they had met. Tim certainly seemed more innocent than Kon had ever witnessed before. Everyone in this room had seen Tim's eyes already, so Kon knew exactly what he looked like underneath that mask. He could almost imagine Tim as he must have been when he was just a kid. Kon thought that his friend currently looked a bit like the kids that would dazzle him with their smiles whenever they saw him out on the streets. He must have looked a little like that before he became a superhero himself.
Before he had become Robin. Before all the training and death and villains, when Tim was just a bright-eyed rich kid with a camera that followed Batman and Robin around Gotham. Kon's smile dropped a little.
He had never really thought about it after his friend had trusted him with his story, but Tim must have been lonely. He'd told Kon that his parents were often gone when he was younger which allowed him to take to the streets for pictures. And Kon had been trusted enough that he had seen a few of the pictures that were so precious to his friend. They were insane, and Kon had had a hard time figuring out the angles at which they had been taken. Many of them, he had concluded, had to have been taken from extremely precarious places. For some, Tim must've been quite high off the ground, and for others, the only place he could have stood to have captured such a photo were the sides and windowsills of buildings or hanging dangerously off the roof of buildings. What else, if not loneliness and a want for something he couldn't have, could have driven his friend to risk his safety like that?
Kon had never really known loneliness. Ever since he'd come out of that pod, he'd been surrounded by people, even when he didn't want to be. He couldn't imagine feeling as utterly alone as Tim seemed to have been for years of his life.
Kon glanced over at Cassie and Bart who both had near identical grins adorning their faces as they too stared at their friend who laid on the ground without a care.
Dick stuck a hand out when it seemed like Tim could finally breathe once more without gasping. Tim grabbed it with a small smile on his face and allowed his older brother to help him to his feet. Dick then spun him around so that he was holding the shorter of them to his chest and hugged him while burying his nose in Tim's hair. Kon knew it was to hide his smile, which had turned exceedingly soft and kind.
Kon knew that the Bats tried to keep their personas separate to avoid any chance of their identities being discovered, which sometime lead to them not allowing themselves to do certain things while in their different roles.
Nightwing was known as the wisecracking hero with a smirk and some serious wit, and Dick Grayson was known as a caring big brother and son.
Meanwhile, Bruce Wayne was the airhead that hosted galas and dazzled the world with his killer smile and playboy tenancies, while Batman stood as a grim and unforgiving guardian.
And Tim... Timothy Drake was the weak, quiet, rich kid that couldn't throw a punch to save his life, while Robin was a genius who saved people and took down men twice his size and age.
So yes. Kon knew that, at first, Nightwing came to the Tower to poke fun at and grapple with Robin. However, he also knew that at some point, Nightwing had allowed his quips to morph into Dick's playful teasing, and Robin's indignation had bled into Tim's adoration for the man who gave him something he had always longed for:
Acceptance and love.
Kon's smile returned at the site of his best friend wrapped up in his brother's arms. Tim looked content. He looked… happy.
"Glad you've allowed me the pleasure of another nickname for you TimmyTam," Nightwing announced, pulling out of the hug and flopping down onto the couch. With yet another grin, Bart picked up the package of Tim Tams that he had 'salvaged' before the fight started and threw it to Nightwing who, of course, caught it. He pulled out two cookies and took a bite of one, half of the cookie disappearing into his mouth.
"You know, you really should try one, Timbo," he continued, shoving the rest into his mouth and holding the other one out to Tim. "They taste pretty good. Your family is something else."
Kon knew he was probably the only one that caught Tim's near silent whisper. "Yeah. They really are."
Tim took the cookie with that same small (but sincere, and really, that's all that matters) smile lighting up his features. Kon could imagine the way his eyes would sparkle underneath his mask as he looked at Dick, who smiled back at him in nearly the same way (he was allowing another tiny piece of Dick Grayson to slip through the mask of Nightwing; as far as Kon had seen, he only seemed to do that around his family).
Tim might have grown up alone, but Dick had helped to make sure he didn't stay that way. He and Batman allowed and helped him to become Robin, which Kon was extremely grateful for. Otherwise, he may never have met the amazing person that was Timothy Drake. Now, Tim had Batman (who Kon knew was more of a father to Tim than his biological father was), Nightwing (Dick had definitely come to be an older brother to Tim, someone he could look up to and come to for help), Kon, Bart, and Cassie (and what kid didn't crave a group of friends, especially a kid that's already known just how lonely the world is without that group around them?), and the rest of the heroes. Kon knew that Superman was like an uncle to the Robins, especially Dick and now Tim (and the thought of that had once filled him was rage, but now only served to make him smile).
Tim sat down on the couch next to Dick and stole another Tim Tam while Dick playfully scowled and stuck his tongue out at him while holding the package as far away as he could. Kon soon joined at Tim's other side on the couch and Cassie and Bart moved back to where they had been seated before the the Bats had joined them. Eventually, Tim convince Dick to pass the package around, allowing the others to grab one, or, in Bart's case, three, before handing it back to the two Gothamites (one by birth, one by choice) to share between them.
"Thank you oh so much for sharing, TimTam," Dick stated with an eye roll, sarcasm heavy on his tongue, when he saw that there were only two left.
"That's what you get for coming up with terrible nicknames, Wing," Tim replied cheerfully.
Tim had seemed to enjoy them, so Kon felt safe throwing the entire cookie in his mouth at once. They tasted a bit like Twix bars, but… better. Maybe Kon was biased, but he had to admit, he couldn't bring himself to really care.
