Tim wandered from display to display, sighing as he picked up yet another shirt and gave it thoughtful consideration. Nothing today seemed to be catching his eye, nothing really sparked his interest. It wasn't like his usual outing experience and that was beginning to bug him.
Tim had decided to hang up his cat hood for a while till he could get a grip back on things. It had only been two days into this idea and he had already arranged for Jackson and his men to be taken to be tried in the next city over. The police had picked them up after the brawl and just happened upon some pretty damming evidence that connected their gang to crimes that crossed county lines.
So no Gotham for them anymore.
It tied up a few ends, the word about Stray and Robin couldn't spread and it was being handled. He was even getting some time to let himself heal.
Selina had tried to suggest he stay in while he was doing that part, but he went stir crazy only after a few hours and made a prison break. Which is how he wound up here, on a little shopping spree. Except he wasn't interested in getting anything he saw yet. It was really becoming quite the let down.
Tim's phone started to ring, sadly it was not the one connected to the one he had given his bird. He sighed and answered it anyway.
"Hello~" He greeted, he was sure he knew who it was and the disappointed tone confirmed it all.
"Alley Cat, where are you right now?" Selina asked from the other end, he could just see her little frown in his head.
"I'm at the Plaza, I got bored mama." Tim said, refolding the shirt he had picked up and put it back.
"I thought we agreed you were staying in this week?" Selina asked in such a mothering tone it made Tim want to giggle, she felt like she wasn't enough of a mother, she had no idea what a natural she was.
"I'm just shopping, not that anything looks good today. Getting things the legal way is just so boring." Tim sighed, wandering out of the men's section to just browse around.
"Baby, you have bruised ribs, you shouldn't be doing anything." Selina scolded.
"I feel much better today and besides," He said, glancing over the cheap jewelry display, he lifted better. "What's going to happen? At a mall of all places?" He joked.
A piercing scream rang out, startling the shoppers.
Oh no.
"Ain't nobody move, ain't nobody get hurt." A gruff burly man yelled at the room, holding a very large imposing gun.
Great.
Everyone, of course, started to panic instead of listening to him. They started to run for the exits or just in any random direction that took their fancy, honestly, people were no better than sheep when they got scared.
More men quickly poured out of the doors that lead to the main body of the mall. They were each heavily armed just like the ring leader and quickly covered each exit; and one even started shooting at the ceiling to let people know they meant business.
"Tim! What was that?" Selina yelled over the phone. Tim cursed and dropped to the ground, crawling back to the men's department to hide among the clothing racks.
"Me and my big mouth, that's what." He muttered, peeking out from his vantage point, he couldn't see everything, but it would have to do for now. "The store I'm in just got held up. Who are these idiots?" Tim wanted to just kick them. They were ruining his day off.
"Baby, are you safe? Get out of there." Selina was rustling with something on her end, probably getting geared up to come to him.
"I can't…they just bike chained all the exits…damn…" He spoke low, so not to draw any attention from the thugs that were starting to gather the frightened people like sheep, herding them to the center of the store in front of the jewelry displays. "They are definitely taking hostages. They aren't going for the registers or the jewelry? What do they want?"
"In Gotham, it's all about making a name for yourself." Selina supplied; a click and the sound of a zipper accompanying her.
"Mama, they all have guns, I really don't think you should come in here." Tim advised her, ducking down when one of the thugs started his sweep near Tim's hiding spot.
"Like I'm going to just leave you in there." She argued.
"I can get out of here no problem; I just need to get to the vents in the changing rooms. Just stay put and I'll see you in a little while." He assured her, freezing when he heard a very familiar click behind him. "Or maybe not…"
"Tim? Tim! What's happened?" But he didn't get to answer her as he raised his hands over his head, the phone being taken from him by a thug that slipped around him and had a pistol trained to the back of his head.
"Get up." The man growled and Tim complied. "Sorry, but you'll have to wait longer to see the kid again." The arrogant punk said into the phone, Tim could hear Selina screaming threats before he shut off the phone and dropped it, crushing it under his foot.
"That your girlfriend?" The man sneered, waving his gun to indicate that Tim better move to where the others were gathered up like animals.
"My mother." Tim said darkly, doing as he was told, because the last thing he wanted to do was get in a fight with a bunch of trigger happy morons with something to prove.
The thug laughed, shoving Tim down to the ground next to a panicked woman, who was crying already.
"Umf!" Tim grunted when he hit, rubbing his face, as if it hasn't suffered enough. He sat up and started scouted his surroundings, taking in any information he could gather that would help him get out of here.
The leader must be the guy that started off this party and all his lackeys were obviously not trained. This was their first time and it was obvious. Just watching them he could tell that much and that just spelled disaster.
A few of them were actually walking the perimeter, but they just looked like they were trying to find something to do, even running to each-others paths. Most of them were just standing around, guns pointed either at the hostages, the ceiling or accidentally at each other while they were holding their weapons casually. Someone was definitely going to end up hurt, Tim was sure of it.
"What are we going to do?" The sobbing woman asked between hiccupping, at least she had the sense to stay quiet during her break down.
"It's going to be fine, just stay calm." Tim told her, gently touching her shoulder and giving her a reassuring smile.
"They have guns, they aren't stealing anything, they're gonna kill us!" She whispered harshly, her sobs starting to rack her body again.
"No, they aren't." Tim said, moving closer to her, clocking the leader, he was just standing there smirking and waiting…for something. "They aren't stealing anything or threatening us. It's clear that's not what they after…they look like they're waiting for something." Tim explained to her, if only to think out loud. It didn't make sense.
"What are they waiting for?" The woman whimpered.
Tim thought the same, but just then the lights and power went down.
"Oh no…" Tim muttered, there was another wave of panic over the people still in the room.
"Come out!" The leader cried out, waving his gun back and forth, smirking wildly.
The crowd hit the deck, cause the idiot henchmen were starting to do the same and god only knew if those idiots were gonna randomly start shooting.
This was very, very bad. Tim counted at least a dozen hostages and even more of the idiots for hire with the fire power. It all added up to him getting shot if he didn't get out of there and soon.
A heavy silence fell over the store for a good five minutes; it was maddening, nothing happened at all. Just frightened people whimpering to break the silence and a bunch of men clicking off their safeties when they thought something moved.
Tim noticed the guard that had brought him over here was no longer pay attention to any of them; all of them seemed to be looking up or simply away from the circle of hostages, perfect.
Tim eyed some clearance winter masks just a few feet from where he was sitting, he could easily sneak over there, put together some make shift disguise together and get these people out here. Jason had told him a bit about this kind of thing, he needed to get all the fire power away from the hostages, turn the idiots against each other and take out the leader. He could do that. How hard could that be?
The minute he moved just an inch to put his new plan in action was the second that blubbering woman decided to throw herself on him, hugging him tightly as she cried on his shoulder. Great.
"What was that!" One of the men yelled after a loud crashing sound, broken glass rained down from above over the jewelry department.
"Hey fellas~" A very familiar cheerful voice echoed from the shadows. Oh no…Tim internally cursed, if his boyfriend came in and saved him right now….he would never hear the end of it, he really wouldn't.
Two bird-a-rangs shot out, taking down two men where were facing the opposite direction. They were followed by a flurry of color and even more started to fall.
"Sorry to crash your shopping spree, but I don't think your charge card is accepted here~" Robin grinned, jumping into the air as two goons rushed him, he laughed as they crashed into each other, doing a hand spring off the tops of their heads before they went down.
"What is with him and the quips…" Tim muttered to himself, but he had to admit, he loved to watch his bird work.
"Robin, get them away from the hostages." Another voice appeared from the shadows, but that was NOT Batman, Tim was sure of that.
There was as spark and surging noise before two glowing sticks shone from the darkness, men rushed in and only got knocked back out. The men on the ground groaned and moved sluggishly. Nightwing stepped out of the dark, making sure they stayed down before rushing over to aid Robin taking down the rest of the gang.
"What the hell is this!?" The leader yelled, starting to fire off his gun at random, the hostages screaming and pressing themselves against the ground. "I wanted the Bat!" He screamed, trying to shoot at Robin when he was focused on leaping out of the way of another thug.
"NO!" Tim screamed, grabbing and lobbing the nearest thing he could get his hands on, it happened to be a hanger, but he made it count and hit the guy in the hand and caused him to drop his gun before he could pull the trigger.
That got the attention of their guard unfortunately and he kicked Tim in his already bruised ribs for his meddling, causing him crumple to the ground crying in pain. He curled up in a ball as the idiot shouted at him to stay down or get shot. The woman he comforted earlier threw herself over him as if to protect him.
"Leave him alone! He's just a kid!" She cried, holding Tim close to her. He was going to log this whole moment away to reflect on later, right now he was trying to breathe out the pain.
"Mind if I cut in~?" Nightwing grinned when their guard looked over at him; he waved all cute before clocking the guy in the face. "You guys didn't need him to babysit, did you?"
Ah, so this is where Jason got it from, Tim thought as his new friend helped him sit up.
Nightwing kneeled down, his face morphing into concern as he looked at Tim. Tim internally began to panic when he got close.
"Are you hurt?" Nightwing asked softly, trying to come off non-threatening.
"That man kicked him for throwing a hanger." The woman answered for him, petting Tim and cooing at him. Was she mothering him? He didn't come off that young did he?
"That was very brave of you, but Robin and I have this handled alright?" Nightwing smiled at him and it dawned on him, he didn't recognize Tim out of his Stray uniform. That was a relief. "I'm going to get you all out of here, don't you worry."
Tim groaned internally, it this day was bad enough, now he had to rely on Douchewing to save him? Oh the internal suffering.
"Excuse me~" Robin cheered as he bounded through the crowd of hostages, jumping into a flip and kicking a thug in the head. He laughed as the other goons started to shoot at him; he pulled out his bird-a-rangs and set them loose, knocking the guns out of their hands all while in mid flip. "Oops, did you need that?" He grinned over at Nightwing before jumping back into the fray.
"That kid is amazing." The woman said under her breath.
"He sure is~" Tim agreed, watching Jason jumping and flying all over the store, it was really something else to see the way he fought from the outside. He was raw and powerful, while also graceful and fluid. It was gorgeous.
"Let's get moving folks, get you out of danger." Nightwing instructed, helping people up and starting to move them towards an exit that at some point had got unchained. Tim hadn't really been watching them the whole time, Jason was very distracting.
Tim was the last to get up, because he honestly didn't want to get too close to Nightwing, just in case. Just as he was getting ready to move with the group, something grabbed his pant leg, stopping him.
It dragged him down, hitting the floor again, he was really started to get sick of that, being tossed around like a rag doll was becoming his least favorite thing.
"You ain't getting off that easy." The guard didn't seem to stay down for very long; he grabbed Tim up and used him as a human shield despite him trying to wrench himself free. "Don't move." He warned, putting his pistol against Tim's temple.
Tim swallowed; this was the second time a gun was being shoved in his face in under a week. What did he do to deserve this? Well okay, bad question, but he never did anything that terrible!
"I need a vacation." Tim muttered to himself.
"Shut up! Or I'll blow your head off!" The thug barked at him.
"Let him go!" Nightwing demanded, readying his escrima sticks, but they wouldn't do much good against a gun, Tim knew that much. He was really deep in it now.
"Fat chance! Now me and my boys are getting out here and you ain't gonna follow us." He instructed, glancing around to see that nearly all of his boys had been taken down by a fifteen year old with something to prove. "What the hell?" He said, starting to sound panicked.
The idiot wasn't even holding Tim all that tightly, he quickly glanced around, he couldn't see Robin anywhere near by and Nightwing unfortunately wasn't looking away anytime soon, but Tim has had enough of this whack a doo. He slipped down out of his hold fluidly, elbowing him in the crotch as hard as he possibly could. The man groaned in pain, falling down to his knees. Tim couldn't help himself, he felt vengeful, and he spun and kicked the asshole in the side of the head, taking him down properly.
"Fuck you asshole!" Tim yelled at the unmoving body on the ground. That felt good.
Nightwing just stood there dumbfounded, staring at him, if he wasn't here to be a professional; his jaw probably would have dropped.
"What?" Tim shrugged. "This is Gotham, if you want to live to make it to high school you gotta learn to fight dirty."
"…You are a very strange kid." Nightwing said, shaking his head and starting to help Robin out in tying up all the other unconscious thugs.
Tim thought this was a good time to get the hell out of here before the cops showed up or before Jason noticed he was actually there, it was better to not chance giving away his identity if he could help it.
A soft fluttering noise of a cape coming from over head when he turned on his heel stopped him in his tracks as Robin landed in front of him with a huge grin plastered all over his face.
"Oh wow, I saw what you did to that guy! It was so awe-" He stopped mid-sentence when he finally processed just who he was seeing in front of him. "some…"
Tim frantically mimed a shushing motion, hoping Jason would just play it cool, he didn't have high hopes for that happening. But a guy could dream, right?
"Good job citizen!" Robin praised him, sounding so forced Tim wanted to face palm, he really needed to give Jason acting lessons.
"He really was good, wasn't he?" Nightwing added in, finishing up gathering the last thug and dropping him into the pile where the hostages had been kept.
"Yep, definitely, doing your city proud." Jason was starting to ramble that was just dangerous. "Ah, yes, so better get out of here, kid, you know…back to your…house…?"
Tim wanted to groan, this was so painful to endure. He decided, if it was gonna be weird, he might as well play along with that.
"Oh Robin! My hero!" Tim cried dramatically, throwing his arms around his neck and burying his face into his shoulder. "I was so scared! So I just thought, what would Robin do! You saved us all!"
Jason looked panicked; it was hard not to laugh really, especially when he turned bright red like that. And out of the corner of his eye, he could see how miffed Nightwing was for not being thanked for actually saving him.
"Um? I-It was nothing?" Robin stuttered, trying to pull Tim off of him. "It's my job."
"You are the best hero in all of Gotham!" Tim fluttered his eyelashes, Jason was starting to crumble now so he decided to finally let go of him. "Oh, you did good too." Tim mentioned casually to Nightwing.
Nightwing's face was priceless, it really was, but Tim couldn't stick around to savor that.
"Oh no! My mother will be so worried!" Tim gasped, looking around frantically. "I have to find her!" He announced, running off before either of them could say anything more to him.
"What a weird kid…" Nightwing repeated, motioning to Robin they should get out of there too.
Tim stretched out on his bed later that night, yawning, his whole day had been the opposite of relaxing and he didn't even have a new outfit to show for it. What an utter waste.
"My hero? Really?" Tim looked up at the door way, grinning when he saw Jason standing in it.
"What, cause, 'great job citizen' was any better?" Tim mocked, beckoning him to come in.
Jason had shown up in his normal clothes, something Tim loved to see, it was just so out of the ordinary for them. It was its own kind of thrill.
"You were worse." Jason defended, crawling onto the bed next to Tim. "That was way too much."
"You're way too much~" Tim retorted, rolling over to him, cuddling up against his side, sighing dreamily. "My day was terrible, be nice."
"I'm sorry…" Jason said softly, running his fingers through Tim's hair. "My poor baby~"
Tim couldn't fight back the grin that broke over his face as he wrapped his arms around Jason, burying his face into his chest and breathing him in. He mumbled against him, curling around Jason's body, intertwining their legs.
"Heh, what was that?" Jason asked, dropping a kiss to the top of his head.
"I said…you make it better." Tim repeated shyly, because he was lying secretly glad he hadn't heard, but Jason didn't need to know that.
"It's my job~" Jason grinned and Tim hit him with a pillow, both of them falling into a fit of giggles.
Tim sighed happily, he had all he needed right here. Arms full of a beautiful bird, curled up with nothing to beckon them away from the comfortable bed. Moments like this, it felt so normal, like there was nothing else to their lives that could complicate this.
"Tim…Are you okay?" Jason asked, making Tim look up at him.
"What?" Tim blinked, confused as why he would ask.
"Di-Nightwing, he said you got hurt?" Jason asked worried, it was so cute when he got all mother hen over him. Most of the time, just not right now.
"Oh yea, that." Tim snorted, rolling his eyes. "That was not pleasant, but I'll be okay."
Jason frowned, giving a moment to think about something, there was this gleam in his eyes that Tim didn't fully trust. And rightly so as he suddenly found himself on his back with Jason on top of him, straddling his hips.
"Wha?" Tim mumbled, startled when Jason grabbed his hands and pinned down his wrists with one hand. "Ooh…hot damn, Birdie." Tim sputtered surprised.
"I don't really believe you when you keep saying that it's nothing, that you're fine." Jason said, ignoring Tim's playfulness. He pushed up Tim's shirt, the boy under him blushing before he realized the actual motives.
"Hey! I'm the deviant one here!" Tim protested, starting to squirm under him.
"Damnit Tim…" Jason breathed, lightly tracing over one of the many dark ugly bruises marring his torso. "Why didn't you just tell me? This wasn't just from today."
Tim looking anywhere but Jason's piercing eyes, this wasn't how he wanted to bring things up. His fingers curled and uncurled in Jason's hold, he wanted to run away, escape down the fire stairs and not talk about this. He itched to just shove the boy off and do just that.
"I was going to tell you…I was just…dealing with things…Its complicated?" Tim tried to explain himself, but even to his ears it was a bunch of crap.
"Tim, don't you trust me?" Jason's voice cracked, it broke Tim's heart.
"Of course I do." Tim looked back up at him, wanting to run away even more when he saw those disappointed eyes. "More than anything…"
"Tell me, now." Jason commanded, letting go of his wrists but not moving from where he sat.
"I…can you pull my shirt down first?" Jason blushed, doing as he asked and mumbling an apology. "You remember that brawl I told you about? It was from that."
"Why were you in a brawl?" Jason asked, his brows knitting together in confusion.
"It wasn't what I was going there for, trust me, I would have stayed home." Tim sighed, trying to sort out the best way to explain this without Jason getting angry. "I was set up, I was supposed to be going in for a job, but they had other plans."
"Why would they want to do that? To you?" Jason asked, it was sweet he thought Tim was so pure sometimes, but also a little sad.
"I rub people the wrong way sometimes; I'm not a nice kitty." Tim shrugged, nervously fiddling with the hem of his shirt, trying to press it down smooth as this was nothing new.
"That's not all of it, there's more isn't there?" Jason caught his hands, making him still.
"Why do you say that?" Tim asked, curious how he got to that conclusion, he felt his explanation was pretty solid.
"I know when you're lying to me, remember?" Jason quirked a brow, challenging him.
"No you don't." Tim mumbled, refusing to believe that.
Jason just kept staring at him till Tim started to fidget again.
"Fine, alright, just this once you know." Tim said exasperated. "There was a different kind of reason why they tried to jump me…they sorta…they heard I guess that…"
"Tim." Jason urged him firmly.
"They found out we were dating." Tim blurted out in a rush.
Jason stared at him stunned, his mouth opened but nothing came out. Tim could see a million things passing through his eyes, but one thing stood out to him and he wanted to wipe it out.
"This happened cause of me?" Jason barely whispered, looking at Tim's chest, imagining the marks underneath.
"No!" Tim snapped, getting Jason's attention. "Not because of you, because people are terrible, that's who's fault this is." He wasn't going to allow Jason blame himself for this, not one bit of it was his fault.
"But…" Jason tried to protest, but Tim sat up and pulled him into a kiss, shutting him up from whatever lies he was going to spout about Tim getting hurt could ever be because Jason.
"Shut up that gorgeous mouth of yours." Tim growled, he didn't mean to scare him, but he wasn't going to let that idiot Jackson and his messed up views become something Jason took upon himself. "You have been nothing but wonderful to me, you are one of the best things in my life and I will not let you blame yourself for this."
"O-Okay…" Jason murmured, looking stunned.
Tim sighed, flopping back on the bed, staring up at the ceiling.
"I'm sorry for not telling you…" Tim said quietly. "I didn't want you worry about me."
"Why not?" Jason asked, leaning over Tim, bracing himself on his hands as he hovered over him.
"Because…I don't know…" Tim admitted, trying to avoid his gaze again. "I just wanted this to stay fun and easy, it's starting to become complicated, messy…real." He whispered the last word, hoping Jason wouldn't pick up on it.
"You are the one that knows more about this stuff, so I just kind of assumed you would know that relationships aren't always easy. They get messy and complicated, but it's not like we can't deal with it. Besides." Tim looked up him, unable to suppress a small smile at the grin shining down at him. "We'll always have fun."
Tim wanted to cry, he couldn't believe what he was hearing.
"Stop being so perfect." Tim whined, reaching up to brush his fingers against Jason's cheek. "You know, I've had dreams like this~" Tim smirked, raising his brow suggestively.
Jason went pink so fast, it was so precious.
"W-What?" He sputtered. "Why was I on top?" He sounded honestly so surprised.
"Oh so you know that term?" Tim kind of doubted it. "It was a dream, Jay, I don't control things…but it was steamy~ Want to make it come true?" He grinned.
Tim could see that urge to run away in Jason's eyes, he really needed to reel in his teasing.
"I'm just kidding, Jason." Tim laughed, getting up on his elbows, kissing his cheek. "You know I just like to mess with you."
"Do you?" Jason breathed. "Are you just messing with me?" He sounded oddly seriously. "Or do you really wanna do that stuff?"
Tim faltered, trying to gauge if Jason was upset with him or actually curious.
"We're too young for that, we agreed, remember?" Tim said, tilting his head. "Do you ever think about that kind of stuff?"
"Um…not really…" Jason struggled to find the right way to explain it. "I mean, when you say stuff, I do, but…I dunno, I guess it's not something I think about when I think about you."
Tim's brows rose in curiosity.
"What do you think about when you think of me?" Tim asked, trying to tread carefully.
Jason's pink face darkened into a cute shade of red.
"How happy you make me, how I can't wait to see you again, and how much I like kissing you." Jason said nervously, it was precious.
"Oh Birdie~" Tim could feel his heart swell; he wrapped his arms around Jason's neck and pulled him down against him. "You are more than anyone deserves. Don't argue, I know this for a fact that you are." He said before Jason could protest.
Jason made a tiny whine because he did want to argue, but he kept quiet. He also wouldn't lie down properly; it was like he was hovering over Tim, which bothered him. He wanted the warmth and pressure from the boy, it comforted him.
"What are you doing?" Tim asked, trying to get him to stop holding himself up.
"I'm gonna hurt you if I lay on you." Jason said, worried he was already doing it.
"Oh for the love of…" Tim muttered, grabbing hold of Jason and rolling them over so Tim was on top of him, lying down full against him. "There, better."
Jason blinked, blushing and sputtering at their switch.
"Now I'm top~" Tim grinned down at him, loving the way Jason had no idea what he was talking about. "Oh…" This time it was Tim's turn to go pink. "Are you sure you never think about that stuff? Cause something is~"
"Shut up!" Jason whined, shutting his eyes tightly. "It's your fault!"
"I will happily take credit for this." Tim grinned, but he decided to take mercy on him and lift himself off of him.
Jason started to fidget and squirm, keeping his eyes shut and mumbling to himself, listing off things Tim was sure to help make the problem go away.
"Would you like me to get off?" Tim asked softly, he didn't want to torture the poor boy.
"N-No…I'm f-fine." Jason stuttered, obviously very not fine at all.
When Tim tried to get off anyway though, Jason just held him in place, shaking his head. He wrapped his arms around Tim's middle, but not holding on too tight in case he hurt him too much.
"Mine." Jason mumbled, nuzzling Tim.
Tim couldn't help but laugh. "Oh yes Birdie, all yours." He sighed softly, kissing his cheek.
"Is there anything else you've kept from me cause you thought I'd get worried?" Jason suddenly said, probably to distract himself more than anything.
"Um…" Tim thought very carefully, because he really shouldn't tattle on Douchewing, even if he deserved it, but didn't want to take that away from Jason. If he really was part of the family, like a brother to Jason, then he didn't want to cause a rift between them.
Wait…like a brother….
"Oh my god! His name is Dick!" Tim exclaimed, causing Jason to open his eyes. "Oh that is peeerfect!" Tim laughed, burying his face in Jason's neck to stifle his giggles.
"What? What? How did you…where are you getting this from?" Jason sputtered; a panic in his voice.
"I just figured it out, it all makes sense, Douchewing would be named Dick. I love it." Tim snickered.
"Douchewing?" Jason's face twisted in confusion. "Are you not telling me something about what he did?" He frowned.
"Yes, he's an ass, I do not care for him." Tim sniffed, because he didn't, so he was being honest. Mostly.
"Why?" Jason asked suspiciously.
"Cause he's butting in our business, it's rude." Which again was true.
"So is everyone, it seems." Also true and valid.
"Really makes me want to take a vacation to get away from all this noise." Tim sighed, nuzzling against Jason's neck, boy must be sensitive there cause he kept twitching.
"As if anyone would let us." Jason snorted, running his fingers through Tim's hair which he absolutely loved; it made him melt against the older boy. "You okay?" Jason asked nervous that Tim was putting too much pressure on his torso.
"I'm in bliss~" Tim purred, making little happy whines when Jason's blunt nails scraped against his scalp.
"You really are a cat sometimes." Jason teased.
"I find nothing wrong with that, I can purr for you~" Tim started to roll his tongue to make a purring sound, rumbling against Jason's chest.
"You are way too good at that." Jason snorted.
"I know you love it, especially if I do it in your ear~" Tim teased, moving to do just that, but Jason pulled away. "I'm only kidding~" Tim feigned innocence, kissing his cheek.
"It's hard to tell with you." Jason muttered, resuming his petting, smirking a little when Tim turned into putty in his hands. This might be handy information later.
Tim could hardly care about anything but the feel of Jason's hands and the comfort he got just lying there with him without a care. He'd happily stay in during his time off if Jason would spend it with him, he could see himself staying put if Jason would just work his magic on him.
"Are you falling asleep?" Jason broke into his thoughts, realizing he just might have been.
"Maybe~" Tim nuzzled in further. "You are my new bed and I'm keep you here during my time off~"
Jason laughed, jostling Tim somewhat and he tried not to hiss in pain from the movement, he'd be damned he allowed Jason to quit his new position of being his bed.
"I'm honored?" Jason joked, pressing a kiss to the top of his head. "I wish I didn't have school, I'd take you up on the offer."
Tim groaned in distress, he had total forgotten Selina was making him go back to school during his time off. He had already missed a whole week because of his runs of bad luck and his attendance was absolutely terrible besides, what was the point anymore? He knew he shouldn't have agreed to skip a grade, what nightmare.
"It's not that bad, I can always come over after, you can help me study." Jason teased, twirling strands of Tim's hair between his fingers. "But I can't stay much longer tonight; I have to go to bed at a 'decent hour' tonight. Nightwing is an annoying babysitter when he wants to be."
"Awww~" Tim whined, pushing himself up some to look down at Jason. "Well fine…but you come over right after okay? I'm gonna be bored to tears cooped up in here."
"I promise~" Jason leaned up and sealed it with a kiss, Tim positively melting against him.
They spent what little time after that just relaxed in each other's arms. Careful not to fall asleep like how they had last time, they weren't going to be repeating mistakes like that anytime soon.
When Jason left, after many kisses and distractions, and Tim laid back down to try to go to sleep early for once, he couldn't help but feel like his bed was too big. Too empty now that his bird wasn't in it.
Tim reached over to his nightstand, grabbing his phone and pressed the only number that mattered in it.
"Mama? I'm not interrupting anything am I?" Tim asked, smiling when she laughed at the notion. "Nothing's wrong, I just wanted to talk. I wanted to ask you something?" He paused, curling up on his bed. "How do you know when you're really in love?"
He really was in over his head.
