Hello Reader!
Enjoy this first one shot in a series of one shots that, coincidentally, are all related to drinking or party games.
Why? Because I personally think that the batkids need to loosen up.
All these marvelous characters belong to DC.
Tim Drake's eyes went comically wide as the beer bottle stopped spinning, its head unmistakably pointing towards Cassandra Cain. Wolf whistles and cheers scattered around the room. Stephanie and Dick shamelessly gave each other high fives before turning towards Tim and Cass.
"Time to get up, Timmmyyyyy," Dick sang, draping one arm over Tim's shoulder and pulling him close for a noogie. Tim ignored him, even when he felt Dick's knuckles rub against his scalp painfully. He just kept staring at the beer bottle, his mind completely blank at the recent turn of events.
Across them, Stephanie grabbed an unfazed Cassandra by the shoulders and shook her violently. "Heaven's waiting for you, Cassie!" Stephanie shrieked, unable to contain the excitement in her voice.
"Don't understand," Cass said, looking at the beer bottle, then towards a bewildered Tim.
"Oh, you'll understand when you're inside heaven," Steph answered, standing up. She grabbed Cass's hands and pulled her up.
"Come on, replacement. The pearly gates are practically opening up for you,' Jason cried out as he turned the knob and opened the door to Dick's closet. He bowed and waved his hand like a chaperone.
"No way. You guys rigged this," Tim said, pushing Dick away as he stood up. He tried heading for the door and out of Dick's room but was blocked by Barbara, who expertly maneuvered her wheelchair to obstruct his way. "Come on!" Tim whined, raising his hands exasperatedly.
"Yeah, come on and get your butt in that closet," Babs said, laughing as she pointed to where Jason and Dick were now pulling Cassandra. Stephanie suddenly appeared beside Tim, causing him to jump. She snaked her arm through his.
"Tim, you can't keep Cass waiting," she giggled, forcefully pushing Tim towards the closet.
"You told the guys, didn't you?" Tim hissed, glaring at Stephanie accusingly, "You told them and now all of you planned this charade to get me alone with Cass?"
Steph just smiled cheekily. "Oh Tim. You can't fight destiny. The bottle pointed at her. You can't get more destined than that." With a strong shove, Tim was pushed inside the closet, where Cassandra stood with her arms crossed and an annoyed expression written all over her face.
"Guys," Tim gasped in desperation.
"Enjoy," Jason said, his voice smug at seeing Tim so embarrassed.
With a loud bang, Jason slammed the door, locking both of his comrades inside the small, dark closet. Tim banged a fist against the wooden barricade and shouted, "This isn't fair, guys! Get us out!"
"What did you say, Tim? I can't hear you all the way from heaveeeen!" Jason replied in a singsong voice.
Tim sighed, leaning against the door. They knew. Stephanie told, they knew, and they planned this whole thing.
"Tim," Cass called out demandingly. When Tim raised his head to look at her, she was tapping her foot impatiently.
"Why we here?" she asked, gesturing around her. "What we do?"
"This is a game, Cass," Tim answered, his voice an octave higher in frustration and hopelessness. He was acting like a spoiled brat, he knew, but he just wasn't ready for this. Not seven minutes of heaven with Cass.
"Teach," Cass said, taking a step closer and looking Tim straight in the eye.
"It's not the kind of game that I can teach you," Tim said, avoiding her penetrating stare.
"Why not?" Cass coked her head to the side, confused.
"Because…well, it's not like any other game." Tim scratched the back of his head and looked down at his sneakers.
Cass ducked to meet Tim's eyes. "So, me can't play?"
Tim noted how Cass's eyes grew a bit larger and how her voce held a tinge of fear and disappointment in it.
"It's not like that-"
"Me not allowed?" Cass placed her hand on Tim's shoulder, trying to make Tim understand that it was alright with her. Her short, halting words said otherwise, however. She was obviously afraid that Tim would not let her join in whatever game they were now currently engaged in.
"Of course you are," Tim answered reassuringly, placing his hand on top of hers, "You're locked in here with me aren't you? That means you're playing."
"Play what?" Cass asked, excited.
Tim grimaced. How do you explain seven minutes of heaven to a girl you like, who, by the way, has no idea what it is and what the implications behind it are?
"Tim." Cass was getting impatient, stomping her feet on the ground to coax him into telling her.
"Cass, seven minutes of heaven is…" Tim closed his eyes, pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed deeply. "It's a kissing game. Two people get locked up in a closet, like the two of us currently are, and make out for seven minutes."
Cassandra blinked. Then blinked again. She blinked a number of times more before she smiled. "This stupid game."
Tim laughed in relief and shame. "Yeah, it is."
The two of them laughed quietly together for a few moments before awkward silence crept in and hung heavily in the air. Tim looked up at the ceiling and distracted himself with a cobweb at the corner.
"So, we start now?"
Cassandra's question shocked Tim so much that when his head snapped towards her, his whole body followed and tipped dangerously to the side. He extended a foot to balance himself and straightened up, his eyes never leaving Cass's. "Are you serious?" Tim asked, his voice almost a squeak.
Cassandra raised an eyebrow, seemingly offended. "Why not?"
Tim shrugged, nervous energy coursing throughout his entire body. "Cass, you do understand that engaging in this would require us to kiss and maybe even do worse."
"Worse?" Cass asked, thoroughly confused. Then, realization hit her and she raised both eyebrows. "You no want?"
"Huh?" Things seemed to register inside Tim's head a lot slower.
"You no want." It wasn't a question.
Tim did not know what disturbed him more: the fact that him not wanting to kiss Cassandra Cain was a completely false statement, or that Cass seemed to believe this statement with such conviction and finality.
"Cass, no. That's not what I meant," Tim said, his eyes boring into hers, hoping that she'd see he was being truthful. "I'd love to kiss you."
"You would?" Cass jerked back, surprised.
'Oh holy batman', Tim thought. "Platonically, of course."
"Plat…plati-what?" Cass asked, irate at not being able to repeat the word.
"Platonically. It means, uh, as friends."
"Oh." Cass nodded in understanding. It was her turn to look up to the ceiling and distract herself with the cobweb.
Tim let out a deep breath. "So, now what?"
Cass looked at him, now fully knowledgeable of their current situation. They had only been in this closet for less than a couple of minutes. At most, they still had five minutes left. Five minutes to kiss, and touch and whatever else you do when you make out. She felt warm. She could not deny that she found Tim attractive, or that she liked him – liked him a lot. Now, they were both trapped inside a closet, required to do what couples do. It seemed to her like destiny. Or something that was carefully planned out. Knowing the people she considered as friends and family, she knew it was the latter.
"Kiss," Cassandra said quietly.
Tim blinked furiously and stood straighter. "You want to…"
"Kiss." Cassandra nodded slowly.
Tim gulped. Excitement and fear rushed through him, threatening to tear his insides up. "Okay," he answered shakily.
Tim breathed in deeply as he took a step forward. Cass followed, taking a single step closer towards him. They were so close, Tim could smell her scent. She smelled good, but in a mild way; she smelled like how a blue sky would if it had a scent. Cassandra was also breathing in deeply, taking in and appreciating Tim's cologne. She had always thought that men's perfume was concocted in such a way so as to excite women. Her theory proved to be correct as of the moment.
Tim slowly raised his hand and gently placed it on Cassandra's arm. "Have you…done this before?"
"Have kissed. Yes." Cass answered, her skin burning up at Tim's touch. Her sweater could not do anything to lessen the sensation.
Tim nodded, relieved to know that at least they both had some experience in the field. Tim closed his eyes and leaned in closer. Time seemed to run so much slower as Cass looked on, wanting to make sure that the kiss would happen. Only when Tim's lips was a hair's breath away from hers did she close her eyes.
The kiss was gentle and sweet. Tim pressed his lips against hers, hesitant at first. He could feel Cass's eyelashes flutter slightly against his cheek. Tim brought his hand up and placed it on Cass's waist, while the other gently trailed up and down her arm.
Cassandra realized she had stopped breathing only when her lungs had started to burn. But, she would be damned if she pulled away now. She didn't think she could even if she tried. Her body felt like it was about to burst; electric current raced inside her, burning her from the inside out. As it always had, her mind and body synched and took over her consciousness. Cass brushed her tongue against Tim's lips, which parted willingly, inviting her in. She pressed herself against Tim's lean form, deepening the kiss.
Tim was losing grip on himself. His hand left Cassandra's arm and snaked its way to her hair. He relished the feeling of smooth strands in between his fingers. Taking a handful of her hair, Tim pulled Cass's head down, angling it just right for him to push his mouth deeper into hers. The hand on her waist tightened, pulling her lithe body towards him, pressing it flush against his own.
Neither of them were thinking now; not a single thought ran through their heads. When Cass let out a soft but clearly audible moan, they both knew that there was nothing platonic about this kiss.
Cassandra wrapped her arms around Tim's neck and slowly pulled him down along with her. Her back hit the floor with a soft thud. Tim lost all control when he felt Cass squirm beneath him. He cupped her cheeks with both hands and held her head steadily as he ravished her mouth. Cassandra slipped her hands underneath Tim's sweater and raked at his toned abdomen. She gasped when Tim's lips trailed down to her neck and sucked at it. She felt one of his hands pull at her own sweater and slip inside. Slowly, his fingers travelled over her stomach. Tim held his breath and pulled away from Cass just enough for him to see her warm brown eyes meet his blue ones. He felt the curve of her breast, the most perfect of curves. And then –
"What the hell are you two doing?"
Tim's head swerved automatically. Cass raised her own, glaring at the sudden intrusion. "No seven minutes yet!" she whined.
"If you two don't tear yourselves away from each other right this second, both of you won't last seven minutes," the intruder growled.
Tim and Cass got up and straightened themselves up immediately. The intruder took a couple of steps forward to reveal himself. Bruce Wayne had never looked so angry and confused. But they should have known that the confusion would last for only a second. He was Batman.
Bruce looked at them, his eyes darting from Tim's guilty face, to Cassandra's blushing one, to her ruffled hair and wrinkled sweater, and finally, to the kiss mark that was freshly stamped against her neck.
"We weren't doing anything," Tim said weakly.
Bruce raised an eyebrow. "Your hand was inside her shirt, Tim."
Tim blushed furiously and glared at Dick and Jason, laughing hysterically behind Bruce.
"He mean not anything bad." Cass glanced at Tim sympathetically.
"Wrong. You weren't doing anything wrong," Bruce corrected. He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "I have half a mind to lock both of you up in separate rooms, in separate houses, in separate continents right now."
"Not fair. We just play game," Cass complained, crossing her arms.
Tim nodded. "We were bound by the rules."
"Don't play games with me, Tim," Bruce warned, pointing a finger at the flustered boy wonder. "You are going to be cleaning the Batmobile for a whole month for this."
"Yes sir," Tim muttered as he hung his head down in defeat.
"As for you, young lady," Bruce said, turning towards Cassandra, "I'm going to be keeping my eyes on you. There's not a place in Gotham where my eyes, or Oracle's, will not be looking on you. You won't be patrolling with Tim, or even be in the same room with him alone until I say so."
"But why?" Cass asked.
"Because yours is a forbidden love," Steph sang. Tim and Cass glared at her.
"Both of you to your rooms," Bruce said sternly. His young protégées left the closet and proceeded out of Dick's room in shame. Turning towards his older protégées, he cleared his throat. Dick, Jason and Steph stopped laughing among themselves. Barbara whistled as she slowly eased her wheelchair away.
"Would you look at the time?" Steph exclaimed, looking at her wrist, which was bare of any watch. "I've got to go." Before she left, she whispered, "sucks to be you," to Dick and Jason, who were standing straighter than they were earlier.
After a few awkward minutes of Bruce just standing in front of them, glaring silently, Jason coughed and pointed at Dick, "his closet, his idea."