Smallville Kansas, aka Bumfuck Nowhere. A small community where you couldn't fart without someone smelling it and yet remained oblivious to the fact that an alien grew up there and an alien-human hybrid was living there during the week. To be honest, Kon was a little glad that the Kents had a farm, because there wasn't much to do in Smallville except that. Walking around cornfields only entertained you for so long and there weren't anyone to have sex with.

Kon never could become friends with the kids at his school. Hey, he was a dude that grew up in a tube and went directly to fighting crime. He just couldn't find a way to be that interested when his schoolmates were talking about dances that he most likely wouldn't go to anyway, or about hot girls when as a superhero, being around beautiful women was a common occurence seeing as how most superheroines could be supermodels (what was up with that, anyway? Not that he was complaining, no sirree). There was only so long he could feign interest in some guy's car engine when he'd been to space.

And sure, some of the girls were hot, and yes, he did stare at Anna Felk's bouncing breasts (she never wore a bra, proving that God does exist), but none held a candle to some of his previous girlfriends. He just never bothered really trying to become friends, and didn't flirt but what was the bare minimum for him. So yeah, in short, he hated school.

In Kon's mind, one of the few good things about Smallville were Ma and Pa, coming home to a house that smelled of baking spices and someone smiling at him. Not just out of courtesy, but actually being happy to see him. Outside the other Titans, that was startling to see, but he loved it.

Still, he couldn't wait to get back to the tower. Sure, Ma and Pa had to be the best grandparents-that aren't-really-your-grandparents anyone could ask for. But nothing was like being with his friends, fighting beside them and goofing off.

And of course, Tim. If he was a more creative sort of guy, he could write whole pages filled with reasons why Tim was his best friend, but instead he'd say he was friends with Tim because Tim was, well, Tim. There was no one quite like him, so Kon couldn't really find much to compare. Especially when they met for the weekend and Tim would quirk his lips in a special way just for him that spoke more than words.

In many ways, Kon-El was a carefree kind of guy. Don't sweat the little stuff and try to enjoy the good things in life. Kicking butt at video games (no matter what Tim said), Ma's famous cooking. Talking to Tim late into the night until he nearly fell asleep right there, and so when he did finally go to bed his last thoughts were the sound of Tim's heartbeat and not losing himself within the purpose of his creation. He could hear the sound of Robin's arm being broken, but the steady rhythm helped bring the clone back to the now.

Tim, on the other hand, was kind of an uptight guy. He hardly ever seemed straightforward, at least to Kon. Every word uttered by his lips, every sound, and every small movement seemed to be filled with hidden nuances hidden beneath the surface.

Kon was the one with superpowers, and yet it felt like it took everything he had to keep up with Robin, and still it felt like he fell behind. He was so complex, with so much whirring around in his bat brain that Kon didn't know if he was doing it right - this friendship thing - and it sort of scared him sometimes. Tim was like something fragile and beautiful that had nicks and chips and scratches etched across his being, some cutting to his soul. It was Kon's job to make sure that while he couldn't stop Tim from getting cracked and the edges from fraying, he could keep him from breaking completely. He wasn't sure he was the right guy for that, God knows he's kind of dumb when it comes to this stuff. But dammit, he liked to think he was one of the few people that knew Tim best and no one else appeared to take it on themselves to always be there for him.

The problem with this is that it seemed Tim tried to make this as difficult as possible for Kon. Not on purpose - or wait, maybe it was. It was hard to tell with Robin sometimes. He put the work in workaholic. Kon noted that lately, Tim looked even more tired, his skin paler and shadows under his brilliant blue eyes. And, as expected, when anyone suggested he take it easy, he just brushed them off and continued what he was doing.

It was when Kon was sprawled across Tim's bed with Tim typing on his laptop that the idea came to him. They had fallen into one of those nice silences, the kind where you didn't have to say a word and yet nothing about it was awkward at all. Just two buddies hanging out, two people that had been through hell together and didn't need to interrupt every pause.

And when Kon got an idea, instead of mulling over it and dissecting it and weighing the pros and cons for anywhere from hours to months like a certain someone, he just blurted it out.

"Hey Tim?"

"Hm?" Tim's eyes didn't look away from the screen.

"I want you."

"What?" Tim's head snapped up. His eyes were slightly narrowed and guarded, but Kon could have sworn his cheeks were a little pinker than normal.

"You know, to come with me to Smallville for the week." Kon sat up and crossed his legs. "You could use the break."

"Oh." The tenseness faded from Tim's shoulders a bit, and looked a little…what, disappointed? Geesh, Smallville was the middle of nowhere, but it had some merits.

"Aw, come on. Smallville isn't that bad. Ma makes a damn fine pie," Kon wheedled.

However, Tim had returned to whatever boring ass work he was doing on that dumb laptop. "Kon, you know I'm busy."

"You're always busy, man. And it's boring without any of you." And if that sounded a little whiny, and if Kon was pouting a bit, well, he was really only some odd years old anyway so he could whine and pout all he damn well wanted, thank you very much.

"You could just ask Bart or Cassie," Tim pointed out, ceasing his typing and again staring at Kon. Score.

"Yeah, but you're my bro."

"I am not your 'bro'."

Kon snorted. "Sure. Anyway, you're my best friend."

"So?"

God, Tim could so annoyingly stubborn. "I miss you," he said honestly. "It's boring, and yeah, I miss Bart and Cassie, but I miss you the most, and I hardly get to see you anymore."

It's probably a trick of the light, but Tim's eyes seemed to soften just the slightest bit. Kon just gives him this look puppy dog look he learned from Krypto, and Tim sighs.

"I'll talk to Batman and my dad about it. So it's a maybe."

"Fuck yeah!"

And then Tim is smiling softly, and Kon can't help but think if his best friend was a girl, he'd kiss him.