"Come over here and make me."
Tim didn't have time for this. There was an irregularity in the chemical budget of Wayne Enterprises' Metropolis branch, and he needed to get to the bottom of it. Someone could be pocketing company funds for personal use or Lex Luthor could be using Wayne resources in some overcomplicated scheme to take down Superman, again. This was important and he couldn't afford to stop until he found out the cause.
But instead his computer's battery was at six percent, and his oldest dearest brother, hero of his childhood, giver of hugs when he was down, and biggest mother hen in Gotham was standing ten feet away grinning like a loon and holding HIS power cord.
"Dick," said in a false sweet voice as he pulled his lips back in a half smile half demonstration of how many teeth he had to bite with. He let his eyes widen to their full extent and titled his head slightly (it was a crazed sort of look he had perfected back in college, from when his normal friends would occasionally attempt to take away his caffeine in some sort of well meaning intervention), "Please give me back my power cord."
Dick didn't even have the decency to drop his grin. "Mmmmm, how about no." Dick began to toss the bundle of cables from one hand to the other, "I think it's time for good little Timmy's to take a break. You don't want to go blind from staring at a screen too long do you?"
Right, crazy looks stopped being unnerving after a few rounds with the Joker. Tim switched tactics. Sometimes dealing with his brothers was just a matter of trying different methods until one worked. Dropping the half smile part of his expression, he changed into his boardroom voice, "Give. Me. Back. My. Power Cord." Precise, monotone, and broking no debate or argument. It had served him well against many a bureaucrat and blowhard.
Unfortunately, the eldest was neither, "How about you come over here and make me." Dick said as he grinned even wider and held the power cord up high. Dammit, he wasn't that short, asshole.
Logic, mission, even Dick was persuadable when appealed to right, "Dick, what I'm doing is important. I nee-" Dick cut in, "To investigate the Chemical Finance thing. Tam told me. She also told me we have highly paid accountants who will be looking into it bright and early tomorrow morning. So you want it, come get it." Dick emphasized his point by jiggling the power cord high up in the air like a cat toy.
Alright, two minutes. Steal the cord back from Dick and then get back to work. This time paying more attention to his environment, so Dick couldn't steal anything else he needed. Taking the requisite time to make sure his laptop was safe on the end table, Tim launched himself at Dick's middle. A few minutes of elbows, scratches, and attempted pressure points jabs later, Tim was pinned, missing a shoe, and being tickled mercilessly. "Uncle! Uncle!" Tim cried between laughs.
"Ah, ruin my fun." Dick ruffled his hair and let him get up. Tim grabbed the power cord and shuffled back, before Dick could try to keep it from him again. Dick just smiled at him and continued on "So, I was thinking we could go ice skating today. The rinks have been open for a while and we haven't had any big brother little brother bonding time lately." Dick gave him a pleading look. Not quite full on puppy dog eyes but close.
Tim sighed. It's not that he didn't like spending time with Dick, but he didn't like other people doing work he could do better himself, "I don't have time"
The lack of immediate disappointment on Dick's face sent off warning bells in his head, "Thought you might say something like that, so I bribed Dami to steal and hide your laptop while we wrestled"
Tim felt his own eyes widen. No, Dick wouldn't. Tim whipped his head around desperately searching the now empty end table.
Dammit.