You meet Dick in this one. Enjoy. As Always, read and review
Outside it was colder than Tim expected, that might be because he was sick, or because it was fall and the weather was getting colder and colder in Gothem. Jason's long legs were hard to keep up with, and Tim grew breathless as he scampered along behind. Soon enough they crossed onto the Wayne property and towards the giant mansion. Jason approached the back door of the house, the one that led through the herb garden. Most everything was dead back there, but Tim thought he saw some Thyme and a touch of Rosemary still growing. The wind was wet and cool, and the mansion was lit up with a warm orange light. Tim thought it looked very homey and nice.
"Wipe yur feet on the mat." Jason said, breaking their silence, "or Alfred will be mad at cha." Tim gulped and diligently wiped his feet. Jason did likewise then opened the kitchen door. The most heavenly smell wafted in the kitchen, and Tim was greeted with the most delicious scent of pumpkin, spices, and warmth in general. At the island rolling out some dough was an older gentleman. His posture was stern, but his eyes were kind.
"Ah, welcome back Master Jason." He said in a soft British accent, "I take it this is Master Timothy?" Jason was stripping off his jacket and shoes and nodded at Tim to do that same.
"Yup. This is Timmy. He's gonna play that new swordwalkers game I got with me. Timmers this is Alfred. He is awesome." Tim shrugged off his jacket and waved shyly at Alfred.
"H-hello Mr. Alfred. Its nice to meet you." He said as he tried to get his shoes off. Stupid laces.
"Just Alfred is fine sir." Alfred replied with a kind smile. Jason knelt to help Tim with the evil laces.
"Guess I tied 'em too tight, huh?" Tim blushed and sniffed. "Oh yeah!" Jason said "Alfred do you have anything for a cold? Tim's been all sniffley."
"Of course Master Jason." Said Alfred dusting his hands off on his apron. "let me see what we have in the cubord."
"Y-you don't have to." Said Tim, finally free from the evil shoes. He stood and hugged himself as Alfred returned with a glass of water and a pill.
"It's no trouble Master Timothy, Now if you will swallow this and drink this your congestion should go away soon." Tim nodded and wiped his nose with his tissue.
"We shall see if we cannot find you another hankie as well." Added Alfred as he looked on the tissue with distaste. Tim blushed yet again, and quickly swallowed the pill.
"Thank you Mist- I mean Alfred." Alfred smiled down at him and then turned to Jason who had been sitting on the bar stool seeing how many rotations he could make in five seconds.
"Shall I take you some hot chocolate and cookies in the media room Master Jason? And please refrain from spinning on that stool, it is nauseating." Jason sheepishly jumped off the stool and wobbled for a second before righting himself.
"Sorry Alfie." He said sheepishly, "And that would be awesome! I'm sure Timmers would like that, wouldn't you Timmy?" Tim nodded eagerly. Hot chocolate and homemade cookies… he'd never had homemade cookies…
"This way Tim!" Jason said, and walked from the kitchen. Tim waved quickly to Alfred and then scampered after Jason.
The game was a lot of fun, Tim and Jason were pretty evenly matched, and they won and lost as frequently as one another. It made every match exciting and new. Alfred brought them cookies and hot chocolate and Tim was quick to admit that he was in love. Jason laughed.
"So you've never had homemade cookies?" he asked incredulously. Tim shook his head.
"Only the store bought kind." Jason let out a long whistle.
"You seriously need to get out more Timmers."
"Why do you keep calling me Timmers and Timmy?" Tim asked as her nibbled on another cookie.
"It's a nickname. I like them better than Timothy or Tim. Those seem too grown up for you." Just then the door to the media room slammed open.
"YOU STARTED PLAYING IT WITHOUT ME?!" Tim jumped three feet and huddled further down into the leather couch in the media room. Jason just glanced back lazily.
"You were 'studying' and I wanted to start it." Jason said. "Besides I wanted to invite Timmy over."
"Timmy!?" Said the voice, and Tim closed his eyes. This was it. At any moment he was going to be kicked out in the cold and sent home. He heard whispers for a few minutes and then:
"Timmers?" Tim opened one eye and looked over at Jason. He was looking at Tim with a funny expression on his face. "Tim you okay? Dick was being an idiot he didn't mean to scare you." Tim looked behind Jason and saw sixteen year old Dick Grayson standing there. He had dark hair and was scratching the back of his head like Jason did.
"Yeah I'm sorry." Dick said. "I was just upset at this knucklehead." At this point he tackled Jason in a headlock. "He started playing swordwalkers without me!" Jason flipped onto his back in and elbowed Dick in the gut. Dick let him go with a:"oof!" Jason grinned at Tim, before Dick grabbed Jason's leg and pulled him back down.
"Leggo!" Jason said, as he struggled in Dick's arms.
"NEVER!" Dick proclaimed as the boys wrestled on the carpeted floor of the living room. Tim merely lifted his feet onto the couch, and watched; fascinated. So this was what a family was like. Rowdy and loud and… warm. So warm. Tim giggled as Dick sat on Jason.
"Uncle! Uncle!" Jason screamed as Dick tickled him unmercifully. Dick grinned and stopped tickling, but remained seated on Jason.
"Get your fat a-" Jason started
"Master Jason!" Alfred came into the room and looked sternly at Jason, who blushed.
"Sorry Alfie." He said sheepishly. Dick got off Jason and helped him up. Alfred nodded his prim approval and began collecting Tim and Jason's hot chocolate mugs.
"So, Tim." Dick started. Tim looked over obediently. "Are you staying for Dinner? Alfred's making Chicken and Dumplings tonight." Tim stared at him with wide eyes. Nightwing wanted him to stay for dinner. Or maybe he just wanted to know when Tim was leaving.
"I don't mean to intrude." Tim said quietly, "I have food and stuff at home." Jason elbowed Dick again.
"What Dickiebird means to say, is that it would be awesome if you could stay for dinner." Tim's mouth fell open. So they weren't trying to get rid of him. But he couldn't just intrude on a family dinner. It wasn't polite, as Tim's mother was so fond of saying when he wandered into the dining room.
"You are most welcome to dinner Master Timothy." Said Alfred with a kind smile. Tim bit his lip.
"If its Bruce you're worried about, he doesn't bite." Dick said casually. "And its not like it'll be fancy or anything." Jason nodded.
"Yeah. Stay, Alfred can give you some more meds for yer nose too." Tim blushed. His nose had stopped running for a while but it was starting to run more again. He wiped it on a cotton handkerchief Alfred had given him and nodded.
"Okay. Thank you very much." Dick and Jason lit up into huge grins.
"Awesome! Now show me how you crush Jason in swordwalkers." Dick requested. Tim giggled and then sneezed. Twice.