Conner sat on his bed staring at the wall. He had barely slept the night before, his mind too filled with strange thoughts about Batman. He had never spent any real time alone with the Caped Crusader. He was different from what he expected, not as cold and distant. And yet that was what was causing his sudden problem. Every time the older man got close to him, he started to have these overwhelming feelings, not unlike what he had once had with M'gann, only much much stronger.
It got hard to breathe and his skin felt hot; it was hard to concentrate on anything besides the other man. Batman was the world's greatest detective, there was no way that he could hide his feelings for long. But Conner didn't want to sacrifice his time with the other man. M'gann had loved him because of her sick television fantasy world, but Batman... Batman wanted to be with him, even when Superman refused to acknowledge his existence.
A loud knock at the door jerked him from his thoughts. "Super—Conner. Are you up?"
Superboy jumped up and opened the door, shocked to see Batman standing there out of uniform. he was wearing dark pants and a black t shirt that was almost as tight as his usual spandex and body armor. He was wearing the same kind of dark sunglasses Robin did when he hung around the base in his civilian clothes. It was strange to see how normal he looked out of his foreboding all black garb.
"Uh, hi." Conner felt his face grow warm as a blush crept up his neck and covered his face. he had already been thinking about the other man and then he showed up looking like that.
Batman raised an eyebrow slightly, noting how awkward Superboy had become. "Can I come in?' He smiled slightly when Conner simply nodded mutely, too embarrassed to speak. Secretly, he was pleased to see the boy acting like this. So desperate for his attention. Robin didn't need him anymore. He spent all of his time with his own team, he had given up trying to turn the Batman into a father figure. But Superboy...
"I thought we could work on something new today." He crossed over to the bed and took a seat, beckoning Superboy closer. "I noticed a few odd reaction during the end of our last session and thought maybe we should look into that."
Conner felt his face get even redder, if that was possible. He nodded and stepped over to Batman, who motioned for him to stand in front of him, putting Batman at eye level with his chest and stomach.
"Take off your shirt." The tone of voice left no room for argument.
Connor only paused for a moment before following the older man's instructions. Batman had seen him shirtless during training before, but somehow this seemed different.
Bruce felt his breath catch in his throat as the boy stripped. He had seen him shirtless, but not like this, not so close and so touchable. He reached out a hand and traced a finger down the boys chest to his stomach, stopping just above his belly button. He was warm to the touch, all hard muscle under that soft young skin. There were no scrapes or scars to mar that perfect body, the Kryptonian genes had seen to that.
For a moment his mind flashed back to all the times he had patched up Robin in his own lair, how many scars and stitches the boy had gotten because of him. Superboy was a perfect clean slate. He slid both hands down to Conners waist, dipping his thumbs into the waistband of his jeans.
"How does that feel?" He looked up into those blue, blue eyes.
Superboy swallowed audibly. "Fine." He let out a little gasp as Batman scraped a thumbnail across his ribs. "Uhm what's this for...?"
Bruce continued his delicate ministrations. "Well you seemed to have an odd reaction yesterday when I got too close. I think that it needs some more looking into." He slowly rubbed Superboys exposed skin, watching the boys face get red. "See, you're blushing again, and I can feel your pulse, your heart is racing."
Superboy nodded. 'Yeah I guess a little." He frowned slightly, suddenly even more nervous than before. "Is that normal?"
Bruce nodded. "Most boys have these kinds of reactions at your age, usually with girls. This is a little different."
Superboy felt like his skin was on fire. "So I should only be having these feelings with girls?" He had seen Wally pining after girls before, but he had seemed so laughable with his clumsy flirting.
"No, but having them with an older man is... A bit more unusual. Most of the sidekicks get antsy around me. I scare them. I don't scare you do I?" He stopped moving his hands and looked up, right at the Conners face.
Superboy shook his head quickly. "No! Not at all, you're the only League member that pays any attention. No one else trains with me, not even..." He trailed off, trying not to upset himself. Batman WAS the only one who cared about him, and as much as it hurt him to know Superman would never accept him, Batman was important to him. He needed him.
"Not even Superman." Bruce shook his head and pulled the boy closer into his arms.