Patchwork Siblings, a Batman fanfic by Raberba girl

Chapter 3 - Awkward Houseguest [rough draft]

Once they're done with breakfast, Tim shows Talon into the living room and turns on the TV. He scrolls through Disney+ and decides that the old animated version of Lady and the Tramp couldn't do any harm.

They watch together for the first ten minutes or so, Tim keeping an eye on the assassin(!) to make sure he doesn't get bored or upset. When he's determined that Talon seems completely riveted by the film, Tim quietly picks up a tablet and types "talon court of owls" into a search engine.

The first thing that pops up is a disturbing local nursery rhyme. Tim is even less happy than he was before to be mistakenly identified as an 'Owl,' but for Tim's own safety, it would probably be wise to not disabuse Talon of the idea.

Once Tim's found out all about the Court of Owls and Talons as he can (which isn't much), he starts looking into metahumans with Talon's looks and abilities. The results, while interesting, aren't particularly helpful for his current situation, so he finally puts the tablet down and studies his guest.

He's surprised to realize that Talon is surreptitiously brushing away tears. The TV screen currently shows Lady in miserable exile in the doghouse, and Tim squirms to remember that the same scene made him cry when he was a child - the character's abandonment used to hit home in an uncomfortable way. He wonders if Talon is triggered by the same element or something different.

Whatever the case, Talon seems to be taking pains to hide his expressions of emotion, and by the time Tramp battles the rat, Talon is back to looking blank (though still riveted).

A little later, when Trusty appears to be killed in the street, Talon cocks his head almost curiously, but seems unmoved by the tragic-looking scene. He does, however, perk up when Trusty appears in the next scene, injured but alive. Tim makes a mental note of both reactions.

Once the movie ends, Talon sort of stiffens up and stares straight ahead until Tim realizes that the assassin might be waiting for orders or something.

"Um..." Tim still has hours and hours of time to fill until nightfall, and he doesn't quite feel comfortable just going off to do his own thing and leave Talon to his own devices. "Do you want to play a video game?"

What follows is a much longer than expected explanation of what video games are and how they work, plus a really horrible bonus session where Talon attempts to work a video game controller for presumably the first time in his life, does an understandably poor job, then has a panic attack about it, made even worse by his attempt to repress it. By the time Tim has him wrapped up in a blanket, clutching a cup of juice, he looks traumatized and wrung out.

"Do you...want to just lie down there and take a nap?" Tim suggests tentatively, feeling wrung out as well.

Talon doesn't speak, but he obediently lies down on the couch, awkwardly trying to hold on to the cup without spilling it until Tim directs him to simply set it on the floor. Then Talon lies still and silent for a while, and Tim blinks his eyes open to discover that it's a few hours later, Talon hasn't moved a muscle, and Tim apparently fell asleep as well.

He moans quietly and rubs at his eyes, then checks the time. It's well past noon, so he goes to forage for lunch. "Do you need real food?" he asks doubtfully as Talon munches on a Pop-Tart. "Like, a full meal with vitamins and nutrients and stuff?"

"Talons do not need nutritional sustenance," Talon assures Tim through his mouthful of sugar.

Tim blinks. "Wait, you don't need food at all?"

"Affirmative."

"...But it doesn't hurt you to eat food, right?"

"Affirmative."

Tim feels a little jealous. He wishes he could survive entirely on peanut butter sandwiches, ramen, and candy bars or whatever without suffering nutritional deficiencies.

Since the video games were such a bust, Tim tries a simple board game after lunch. Talon is hesitant, but seems to have a much better time with it up until the end, when he stares at the board instead of making the final move that will cement his victory.

"It's okay," Tim encourages. "You rolled a six; go ahead and move your piece six spaces."

Talon slowly obeys, then peeks at him. Tim makes a point to smile widely and say, "Good job! You won! I'm proud of you."

The praise sounds blatantly fake in his ears, but Talon lights up, somehow radiating surprised happiness despite the lack of movement or change in expression.

"You know," Tim says, "nothing bad will happen if you suck at video games. Do you want to try again, or do you want to play another board game or maybe a card game?"

"I obey you, Tim."

Tim winces, but turns on the game console again, this time being slow and cautious. He picks a low-stakes game that focuses more on puzzle-solving than fast reflexes, and checks Talon's reactions frequently to see if he's doing okay. It goes better this time, and though Talon is pretty tense at first, he gradually relaxes as he gets used to the controls and gameplay, and after an hour and a half, he makes an odd, choked-off noise that might have been a laugh.

"Good job!" Tim praises, wanting to encourage healthy behavior. "You're doing very well with this, Talon." Talon gives Tim a look that's somehow simultaneously blank and adoring.

Maybe having an undead-looking assassin around won't be so bad after all.

o.o.o

In hindsight, Tim isn't really sure what he expected, but when night falls, Talon doesn't venture out now that it's safe for his eyes. Once the movie they're watching ends, Tim putters around a bit, trying not to make it obvious that he's waiting, but even though it's full dark outside, Talon simply sits. It finally dawns on Tim that Talon never intended to leave.

"So, uh...what are your plans for tonight?" Tim asks.

"I will follow orders."

"And...what are your orders?"

Talon tilts his head. "I'm ready to receive them, Tim."

Well, crap.

Tim considers for a moment. If Talon's weird loyalty to him really is absolute, then it might not actually cause a problem for the man to tag along on Tim's usual nightly excursions. It might even be handy to have a trained bodyguard along. "Okay. Um, you remember what I said earlier about not killing anyone?"

"Yes."

"That still stands. No killing or maiming. And try not to start any fights unless you really have to. It would...be nice for you to protect me if I need it, but don't hurt anyone badly enough that they won't eventually be able to recover, okay?"

"Yes, Tim."

"And don't let anyone see you. I don't want you to get in trouble for assaulting those trafficker creeps."

"Yes, Tim."

"Okay. You need anything before we go?"

Tim packs as usual and bikes down to the bus stop. Talon has to vanish when the bus comes and Tim doesn't catch a hint of the man's presence, but he assumes that Talon is still stalking him as he makes his way into town and toward the most recently mentioned Bat sighting.

It's a pretty normal night. Once Tim stops to rest in an alley and sees Talon peering down at him, he feels safer, knowing that even if he ever does get into trouble, Talon will probably rescue him. He tries not to get complacent, though, and the night passes without any negative incidents (unless one counts Batman nearly losing a fight by making several mistakes so amateur that even Tim could tell they were stupid).

When Tim gets home, Talon comes out of hiding, slinking out of the shadows in the living room even though Tim never heard him enter the house. "I'm really glad you're on my side," Tim comments. "Are you spending the night here again?"

Talon simply stares at him.

"I'll...show you to a guest room, I guess."

Getting Talon settled takes a lot longer than Tim expected - first he has to teach the assassin how to take a shower, which is kind of disturbing since it indicates that Talon isn't used to such basic self-care. Then he has to drag Talon back out of the shower after half an hour, because the poor man got lost basking in the warm water and Tim doesn't want to risk his parents noticing anything fishy about the next water bill.

The ordeal after that is showing Talon the bed, being alarmed when the assassin starts to strip freshly donned clothes back off, being horrified when he realizes why, fending off Talon's initial attempts to...'service' him, nursing him through the resulting panic attack, then spending several additional minutes convincing Talon that, yes, the bed is for him, and no, it's not for that sort of purpose, Talon is supposed to literally sleep in it. Alone.

"Do you sleep?" Tim wonders after the assassin continues to be reluctant.

"...I can go dormant," Talon whispers.

"Okay. Um, if you want to do that, go ahead, for however long you want. If you don't want to be dormant, you can just hang out in here. I'll bring you some books and games and stuff. Just don't break anything or leave the room unless it's an emergency, okay?"

"Yes, Tim."

"Like, you can come tell me if you need anything or rescue me if there's a fire or burglars or something, but just...don't leave the room for fun until I come get you in the morning."

"Yes, Tim."

At last, Tim makes sure all the curtains are completely shut, then stands awkwardly in the doorway, having the weird impulse to kiss Talon's forehead like fictional parents on TV. "Um," he says as Talon gazes at him from where he's bundled up on the bed. "Have a good night."

Talon doesn't speak, so Tim finally just closes the door and exhales.

He gets to bed later than he intended, so the alarm feels like it goes off two minutes after he set it. He groans and hits snooze a few times, but eventually drags himself up so he can get ready for school.

He checks in on Talon as soon as he can. The man appears to have barely moved in the night and looks asleep for an instant, but as soon as Tim opens the door, Talon's eyes pop open alertly. "Um...good morning," Tim mumbles.

Talon just looks at him. It occurs to Tim that he might not actually know the standard reply. "Most people respond, like- If I say 'Good morning' to you, it would be normal if you said 'Good morning' back."

After a pause, Talon whispers, "Good morning, Tim."

Tim musters a smile. "Good job. Did you sleep okay? Or...go dormant? Was it okay?"

"Yes, Tim."

"Okay." Tim fidgets. "You wanna come down for breakfast, I guess?"

After they eat, Tim finishes getting ready for the day, not having the heart to chase Talon off when the assassin follows him around. "Okay, so - there are two options. Either you go out into the sunlight and stay there all day, or you go back into the guest bedroom and stay in there all day until I get home from school. Which one do you want?"

Talon stares at him.

"...You said that sunlight hurts your eyes, right?" Tim says helplessly.

"Yes, Tim."

"Okay. Um...so, I guess the guest room it is. Same rules as last night, okay? I'll leave you some food and games and stuff, you can do whatever you want in there as long as you don't damage anything or make a mess, and please don't come out until I get home, unless it's an emergency and you need to keep yourself safe. Oh, and don't run the water too much." Tim doesn't quite trust Talon alone in the rest of the house yet, not that anything other than brainwashing would stop the man. "Okay?"

"Yes, Tim."

Tim, a little uncomfortable with how the assassin says his name the same way one would say 'Sir' or 'Master,' doesn't know how to address it, so he simply closes the bedroom door on Talon, leaves the security system disarmed (better to feign carelessness in the event of a break-in rather than Talon accidentally triggering an alert for the Drakes to see), and heads out to school.

It's hard to focus, but he does his best to take notes in class and get as much homework as he can done during the school day. He rushes home with a mixture of apprehension and excitement, part of him looking forward to coming back to a not-empty house and another part worrying about Talon either trashing the place or vanishing (or both).

The house is untouched, and when Tim shoves open the guest bedroom door, Talon is staring at him like a deer in headlights despite standing at attention in the middle of the room and nothing looking particularly out of place. "Hi," Tim breathes.

"Ready for orders," Talon says.

Tim shakes his head, feeling simultaneously affectionate and sad. "When someone says 'Hi' or 'Hello' to you, then you say 'Hi' or 'Hello' back."

"...Hi, Tim," Talon says cautiously.

"Hi! Good job!"

Talon perks up at the praise.

"Okay, so... I hate to say this, but I usually take a nap when I get home from school, because I don't sleep much at night." Tim considers. Talon appears to have behaved himself despite being left unattended all day, so Tim says, "Don't go outside, but you can go into any room of the house while I'm asleep, okay? Same rules; don't break anything or make a mess. Oh, and I guess don't go into my parents' room, either. Or mine." He doesn't like the idea of being stared at while he sleeps again.

He shows Talon where his parents' room is so that the man knows to avoid it, then puts on another movie in the living room before heading up to bed.

After Tim's nap is dinner and the last of his homework. Then he fusses over Talon with makeup and out-of-style clothes his parents have banished to an overflow closet, trying to come up with a disguise. Nice as it is to have a hidden bodyguard, it could also be useful to have a visible adult to produce in certain situations, so he tries to get Talon to look like a typical human being.

Behavior coaching is an even bigger part of that than the physical aspects. Tim does his best to teach Talon how to speak and move more naturally, but eventually concludes that it's going to take more than one night's practice for Talon to be convincing.

"All right, we'll pick this back up later. Let's go."

TBC