Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“You’re doing it again.” Kon calls to him from the doorway. Robin had squirreled himself away in the security room hours ago, as usual. Rob doesn't react to his call, just keeps typing away on his laptop, hunched over it with his shoulders to his ears and his bottom lip caught between his teeth. The surrounding screens display a mix of security footage and evidence reports, all in a grainy texture.

Kon lets out a sigh as he watches the shrimp-postured excuse for a human. His gaze lingers on his lip; Robin had taken to biting it when he was in deep focus or frustrated, he probably didn’t even notice he was doing it. Yet he ignores Kon’s kindly reminder.

He stalks forward into the room, coming to a stop leaning over their resident bat. He aims to flick the side of his head but the chair swivels just enough and just in time for his to miss by inches. Kon lets out another deep and exhausted sigh before grabbing the chair and turning it around to face Robin head on. The masked boy doesn't stir, still ignoring him in favor of his laptop, typing away like nothing had happened.

“Rob.” Again, no answer. And really, that's just rude isn’t it? So he TTK's the laptop shut on his fingers. Robin lets out a hiss and his face shoots up to return Kon's glare.

“What? I’m on a case!” He tries to pry his laptop back open but Kon is having none of that.

“Dude, when was the last time you ate something, or like, stood up?”

“Irrelevant.”

“Tha-what?" The nonsensical answer causes just the slightest dip in his concentration. Robin takes full advantage of this, pushing away and turning the chair back around to face the main computer. He then reopens his laptop and goes back to typing. "What did you just...Rob,”

“Whatever you and Bart are up to, I don’t want in. I need to have this done by Monday.” Robin informs, focus flipping between the large screens and the tiny one on his lap. Kon leans over his shoulder to take a closer look at all the reports on the screens and what exactly he was typing up.

“...is this a cold case? All these are dated like fifteen years ago.”

“Astute observation.” Is his answer, masked gaze back to the small screen in front of him and pointedly ignoring Kon. Kon grabs the back of the chair and shakes it.

“Rob, Robbie, Robin, take a break my dude. You’re spine is going to break if you keep sitting like that.”

“Irrelevant.”

“THAT doesn't makes sense!” Kon exclaims. he steps back and raises his hands off the chair to avoid the chance he snaps it. Robin continues to type away, unbothered. Kon resists the urge to pinch the bridge of his nose.

“Okay, look,” Kon starts again, “I am going to get some lunch like a proper person. And you better take a break sometime today.”

He points an accusatory finger at the Robin. It does nothing.

“I mean it.”

“Or what?”

“What?” The confusion is clear in his tone. This time Robin lifts his head away from the screen and turns around in his chair.

“You are trying to threaten me but you don’t have any useful leverage.” He explains. Kon blinks, thinking;

“Cassie, Bart, and I can lock you in your room.”

“Where I keep all my spare equipment?”

“In Bart’s room then.”

“Leaving me annoyed and unsupervised in your own personal spaces so I can find more blackmail or setup some nice surprises for you?” Rob almost sounds thrilled about the idea, and Kon shivered. Another thought sprouts in his head and he confidently crosses his arms as he continues,

“We can hold you down in the media room, Bart will talk your ear off.”

“Last time you tried that I got away in about five minutes.”

“But we’ll have Cassie to supervise this time!”

“You haven’t even asked her yet and that's only assuming she will agree. Because for that to work you both need to be present so Bart can talk ALL of our ears off.”

His confidence is quickly shot, as usual when dealing with Robin, and he begins to slouch over himself. Kon feels the heat on his face as his, gritting his teeth he quickly tries to formulate a response or plan or something. Rob gives him exactly two seconds before he twists back around in his chair.

“You’ve got nothing on me.” He has the audacity to smirk as he types away, one hand on the computer keyboard and the other on his laptop.

Glaring at the back of the boy's head, Kon thinks Rob should be really thankful he didn't have any laser vision. He and Bart could definitely come up with something, certainty, absolutely. But that wouldn’t win him anything in the here and now. He continues to hover, hoping in vain that his presence would cause Robin some sort of discomfort. The only change in expression is when Robin pulls up a file on the computer that looked mostly empty. His brows draw closer together and he bites at his lip again.

Kon’s eyes flicker to the movement, because that is the main problem! It was distracting! Last time they sparred Kon had him on the ropes, he wasn’t falling for Rob’s taunts or feigns, he was actually about to beat him, fair and square with no powers. And then Rob started biting his lip. Sure, it was a sign he was anxious or whatever but it was distracting! It left his lip redder than usual, left little teeth marks imprinted, little cuts and splits on his lip, little bits of dried blood, left Robin licking his lip more than usual to appease the sore and angry red lines that made his lips all puffy and plush-

So yeah he was distracted and totally lost whatever advantage he had. That round. And the next. It was distracting. Whatever the fuck Robin was doing wasn't fair. He talks big about the importance of training and being ready for anything yet completely ignores himself. And Kon has nothing on him. It's infuriating.

Seething, hovering over Robin he watches the teen look through dozens of files on the computer and take notes on his laptop, all while worrying his lip between his teeth. Kon opens his mouth and says the first thing that comes to mind,

“Stop biting your lip or so help me I’ll bite it for you.” Falls out of his mouth and Robin stills. His shoulders hike up further over his ears as the room goes deadly quiet.

“You- you what?” Rob’s hand slips away from the desk, retracting back to his side as he turns back. Kon rarely sees Robin looked confused.

“You heard me.” He doubles down, because it’s getting an actual reaction out of him so screw it.

A response doesn’t come. Robin stays still as a statue.

“I am going to go get some lunch. YOU better take a break, or else.” And with that Kon glides out of the security room. Satisfied that he at least got something through to Robin.

Ooooor not. Because he is still there. Hours later, sitting in the same position, with the same casework up on the screens. Kon’s face falls as he takes in the same scene, the frantic typing replaced with more rhythmic finger drumming, and more empty soda cans littered the desk and consoles.

“Rob,” Kon sighs, giving in and pinching the bridge of his nose. Once again, he is met with silence, and no change to the pace of the tapping.

Again, he stomps over to the boy in the chair. A hand falling on the backrest and spinning him around with a little more force than necessary. Again, the boy ignores him in favor of his laptop.

“Did you even leave the chair?”

“I got something to drink.” Robin keeps a neutral expression, focused on his work. Kon glances to the empty sodas cans strewn about.

“That is not-” He leans lower over him, hands braced on the empty arm rests of the chair. “So help me bird boy you are going to listen to me.”

“Or what?” Robin finally looks up from his laptop. The other boy leans forward, returning his glare with a crooked smirk, leaving mere inches between them.

There is a cut on his lip, a little slit right under where his canine was poking out. Other faint bite marks left behind, no doubt from earlier and throughout the day. Red and irritated they stretch with his lips into a grin. It was a challenge. Robin remembers his threat, this is him calling his bluff.

And well, Kon has to be a man of his word, doesn’t he? He had warned him. And he made some pretty simple demands. He couldn’t back down now.

With his face flush and no small amount of anxiety stirring in his gut, Kon closes the distance, and Robin startles as their lips meet. Rob squeaks out a surprise noise that gets muffled by Kon’s own mouth, before the boy stills under him. Kon brings two fingers up to rest under Robin’s jaw to steady him, to tilt his head up gently, and he meets no resistance. Thinking Rob’s lips had suffered enough today, he doesn’t make good on his entire threat; he does take immense pleasure when Rob shivers as Kon runs his tongue over the cut on his lip. He wonders if that stung.

Robin goes limp under his touch, his jaw relaxes and his lips part, and all tension drains from his shoulders. Kon pushes forward, crowding him back into the chair until Rob’s back is arched over the backrest. With better access, he takes more care when he runs his tongue over Rob’s lower lip again. This time instead of a shiver he gets a low, and soft sound from deep in Rob’s throat that has Kon’s stomach doing flips.

Kon pulls away, leaving his fingers under Rob’s jaw to keep his head tilted up. Rob’s face is about as red as his chest piece, lips still parted and mask lenses as blank as ever. But his shoulders are relaxed, his back is actually resting against the chair now so his posture is giving more human than shrimp, he’d call that a win.

“There’s leftover chinese in the fridge that Bart hasn’t gotten to yet.” Kon lets his thumb brush over the corner of Rob’s mouth, “Fried rice, the wanton soup at least, you’re going to go eat something.”

A choked, gargled sound is Rob’s only response. Kon presses his thumb to Robin’s lips.

“And then, you’re gunna go to bed. Or your room, or something to get out of this stupid chair and stay out for at least eight hours. Got that?”

Rob gives a tiny, hesitant nod, and Kon feels elated. The laptop zips out of Rob’s lap to close and hover behind Kon.

“I am taking this to Cassie. You can have it back tomorrow. After breakfast.”

Robin’s brain must be rebooting from the brief intermission, his brow furrows and his mouth opens to respond. Kon just presses his thumb against his lips again. And his luck continues because it works and Rob stays silent. More than satisfied with the turn out, he releases Rob’s jaw, only to snatch him up by the scruff of his cape and fly him through the tower halls to the kitchen.

Robin is definitely back to normal once their feet hit the tile. he struggles in Kon's grip like an excited puppy trying to get down. Only this was a particularly annoyed bird so not as sweet. Kon simply drops him, Rob catches himself gracefully and bolts away from Kon. Once an acceptable distance away, Rob turns to glare. Kon returns the gesture, nodding his head towards the fridge and crossing his arms for the added effect.

For a solid thirty seconds, nobody moves. Kon fights extra hard to keep his expression serious, he really does, but the smile breaks through anyways. It only stretches further when Rob turns with a huff towards the fridge and grabs the leftovers. He hovers in the doorway with a giant grin on his face, watching Rob reheat the leftover soup and rice and sit down at the counter. He is mid-bite before he pauses.

“I don’t need a babysitter.” Rob loudly announces and lets the fork full of rice fall back to the tuple-ware.

“Yet he has had no dinner, and it’s way past his bedtime.” Kon teases from the door frame.

The flush is back over Rob’s cheeks as he glares down hard at his rice. He mumbles ‘Robin doesn’t have a bedtime’ under his breath before taking a bite, and the comment makes Kon’s heart squeeze and flip in his chest.

He does leave when Rob is about halfway finished with the rice, keeping an ear trained on the young bat. His heart-rate is erratic, no doubt due to the numerous sodas and lack of, well, everything his body actually needed. Kon delivers Rob’s laptop to Cassie in her room; her wide eyes fill with shock, a little horror, and lots of unasked question. He leaves them unsaid and unanswered, departing with nothing more than a wink, a grin, and a heads up that Rob would be by after breakfast for his laptop.

He loses track of their bird after he hides away in his room. White noise generators and lead-lines bedrooms, privacy and all. Honestly, Kon is grateful. But with how groggy Robin acts the next morning over breakfast, Kon is sure he got at least a little sleep. Rob makes a beeline to the coffee machine that morning and all but forgot about his laptop until his second cup was well underway.

Gar makes a comment about him actually resurfacing from the security room and Robin’s eyes snap to Kon, who doesn't even try to resist the grin growing over his face. Rob ducks his head to hide the blush and mutters something about needing ‘fresh eyes’ on the case. So that is Robin fed, rested, and flustered? Kon is counting this one as a complete win in his book.

Chapter Text

It...wasn’t meant to happen a second time…

Honestly Kon thought the first time was a fluke, a fever dream, a hallucination or something. Other than Robin not looking at him for the entire rest of the weekend, everything went back to normal after that.

Including Robin’s lack of self-preservation.

He took a nasty fall in the field, ended up caught under some rubble. He sprained something in his wrist getting himself out, instead of, ya know, calling for his team of metas and super-powered aliens to come help him. No, no, he just said he 'got it' over comms and limped back into the fight. Kon will never understand how that guy's mind works.

Starfire basically manhandled Robin into the med-bay, keeping him under a harsh glare while Vic checked over his arm and put the a cast on. He also gave him a knee brace because apparently Rob also fucked up his knee in the fall too, but neglected to mention that part. Robin was...not happy but cooperative. Until about the second Kori turned her back.

“Is Rob still stuck in the med-bay?” Asks the blur that steals one of the bags from Victor's arms. Bart stills at the table before either of them can shout at him, sitting down and surrounded by the food he snatched.

Almost the whole team was in the kitchen, minus one Robin. Kon was helping Vic carrying in all the take out they ordered, but Bart did not seem interested in doing the same. The speedster is halfway through the tub of macaroni and looking at them expectantly. Vic sighs as he rests the bags on the counter,

"Nah, I think he's in his room." Victor starts to unpack the tubs of food while Conner sets the rest of them down.

Bart swallows and furrows his brow, "He's not eating?"

“Robin needs rest.” Kori voice sounds behind them, as she glides closer to add some plates and cups to the feast Vic is setting up.

“Yeah but he needs food too food always cheers me up.” Bart comments over a mouth full of said food. Vic makes a face, and he’s not sure if it’d due to Robin’s antics or Bart’s.

Kon huffs a defeated sigh; Robin was totally going to hide in his room for the rest of the weekend, or until he recovers, or until he tries to sneak into the security or training rooms anyways. An idea strikes him as he ponders his best friends habits.

“Compromise.” He speaks up, grabbing two plates from the counter, “I’ll bring him a plate and see if he’s up for company or not.”

“That’s very kind, Conner.” Kori praises. He shoots her a warm smile back and starts to put together a plate fro their resident bat.

He knocks once, no response. Twice, same result.

“Heeeey, I’m coming in!” Kon announces on his third knock, “If you're indecent scream now or forever hold your peace.”

The door is locked but Kon has TTK. The seal on the door flies open with a ‘swoosh’ about the same time a clatter sounds from inside. Conner is met with the sight of Robin, still half in uniform, mask on, and his cast and braces set aside on the bed, standing frozen midway between the bed and desk. Kon eyes the box fallen at Rob’s feet, contents spilling out on the floor, little pieces of metal, plastic, and wire mixed with various tools. Looking back to the desk, there was a suspiciously clean area surrounded by various other pits and bobbles, and bat-themed gear that was half disassembled. He turns to set Robin with a look,

“Are you seriously working on gadgets right now?” Kon makes sure the annoyance is clear in his voice.

“Some of them were broken in the fight-”

“So was your wrist!” The only thing that saves the plate in Kon's hand is his TTK.

“Sprained, not broken.” Robin corrects and squats down to start gathering the bits and bobs back into the box. Obviously favoring his uninjured hand.

Kon set's the plate of chicken and mostly sides down on the empty spot on the desk, "I didn’t see you eat breakfast. Brought you a plate.”

Rob makes a noise of acknowledgment, a mix between a grunt and a hum, and continues his work. Kon approaches with a huff, easily covering the floor and bits and box with his aura. The spilled pieces gather themselves back into the box, which then floats up to Kon. He takes it with one hand and shoos Rob away towards the next with the other.

"Thanks. That's very thoughtful." With how Robin is still leering at the box in his hand, Kon knows he's not talking about the food. He could do without the healthy does of sarcasm.

“Why yes it is, Star thought so too.” Kon perches the box on the highest surface he can find, which happens to be on top of a cabinet that almost reaches the ceiling.

He takes a step back, looking between Rob and the desk. Rob says nothing, makes no movements, only slowly turning his head to follow Kon. Something heavy fills the air, something uncomfortable. The silence stretches, making the seconds longer. Robin waits for him to leave, Kon takes pride in not doing that.

“Could you move the box back down? It doesn’t go there.” Robin says after a while, gesturing to the box.

“Maybe after you eat something.”

“Never mind, I can get it.”

“I am very sure you could but also,” He takes two steps over to the bed and snags up the wrist cast, the knee brace still lying innocently on the bed, “Shouldn’t you be wearing these?”

“I still have the splint, the cast and brace are overkill.” Robin lifts his arm to show a rod taped to his arm along with more tape wrapped around his wrist, the rod supporting his wrist disappearing under his sleeve.

“I’m pretty sure Vic wanted you to wear these.”

“I’ll put them on later.”

“Is this also the mystical ‘later’ when you say you’ll eat and sleep and definitely stop drinking more soda than water?” Because he’s been playing this game with Rob for WAY too long to believe that one. Rob's face twists as if in pain, and he dips his head.

“Why are you like this?” He mutters through gritted teeth.

Rob turns away from him, his good hand closed into a fist and his jaw tight and… and he’s biting his damned lip again! Kon wants to scream! His wrist has to be hurting right? He has to be starving and tired and hurting and he is just standing there, surrounded by solutions, yet he ignores them! For what? For dull work? For Batman? Seriously? He doesn’t understand. The only thing Kon understands is that Rob needs to put the fucking casts back on and eat something. That he needs to relax before he sprains something in his shoulders or neck just by standing there.

“What’d I say about biting your lip?” Robin freezes at the threat, it takes Kon a second to realize he said it out loud.

He can hear Robin’s heart when it skips a beat. And it worked well the last time, was the only thing that seemed to work sooooo…

So he takes a step closer to close the distance, gently taking up Rob's chin between his fingers. Just like before there is no resistance; he doesn't pull away, doesn't shove, doesn't kick. The lenses on his mask grow wider, Kon hears Rob's breath hitch and then chapped lips meet his own. Again, Rob makes the slightest surprised sound at the contact. Again, the other boy melts under his touch. Again, he shivers when Kon runs his tongue over the small cuts on his lip.

This time though, Robin kisses him back. His good hand comes up to Kon's shoulder, griping at the fabric of his shirt to steady himself. Sparks buzz under his skin as Rob leans forward, tilts his head and tries to push himself up and closer, deepening the kiss.

Kon keeps a gentle hold of Rob's chin, his other hand reaches out to graze Rob's elbow. He keeps his touch light as he grabs hold of Rob's arm, covering it with TTK, feeling the flimsy splint and weird angle his wrist sits at. A small little light flickers in the back of his mind, reminding him he was supposed to be doing something. Ah, right! He licks over Rob's bottom lip again and the boy responds, opening his mouth for him. It starts to feel like he's on fire, but he valiantly remembers to use his TTK to keep Rob's wrist set and latch the cast back on in the correct place. Rob does not seem to notice.

He takes a step forward, leaning down more. Rob makes a sound at the back of his throat and Kon feels like he’s on fire; like Livewire struck him square in the chest but it didn’t hurt, it doesn’t hurt. He rubs his thumb against the inside of Rob's elbow, adding just a touch of pressure under his chin, and takes another step forward. It prompts Rob to take a step back, which not only sets off a weird heatwave through his body, but it also gives him an idea. He continues to push forward while Rob takes another step back and Kon-

And Kon deposits him in the desk chair. Rob lets out a little ‘oof’ as he lands, taking a second to find his balance and sit up. By then Kon had already gotten the knee brace off the bed and was putting that back on his knee.

“Wh-wha…”

“So you should definitely keeps these on, or I WILL tell and sick Kori on your ass.” Kon makes sure the brace is secured correctly on his knee before standing. Rob is still sputtering as Kon pushes the chair in.

“Also if like, you don’t want chicken and stuff we could just get you some soup? Not really sure how hurt you are because someone refused to tell us, but we could totally just get you some soup and crackers or something.” He leans over the chair, gesturing to the plate of food.

Rob doesn’t move or respond for a minute or two, just sits and stares blankly at the wall. Kon waits. The moment is soon gone and the gears in his friends head seem to be turning again. His shoulders tense and his hands ball into fists as Rob lifts his head.

“This is harassment.” Robin announces.

“And this,” Kon keeps close, very gently taps at the cast on his arm, “-Is self endangerment. Should we tell Nightwing?” His voice soft, right next to Rob’s ear, and he lingers in the space. The waiting game begins anew as Kon stays leaning over the back of the chair and Robin stares down the plate of food like it had personally offended him.

He is just about ready to offer up the soup idea again when Rob reaches out and pulls the plate closer. A wide smile crosses his face as Rob begins picking at the food. He decides to push his luck.

“No tinkering. Keep the casts on.” He instructs from over Rob’s shoulder. His friend nods wordlessly, still tense as a spring and that just would not do.

His arm is already braced against the back of the chair, he shifts forward until it meets warm skin and lets his TTK spread over Rob's back and his shoulders. Poking and pulling gently at the tense muscles. Rob's face grows a pretty shade of red and Kon has almost managed to rid his shoulders of the tension before Rob’s deep warning came, “Conner.”

“Alright, alright!” He backs off, arms leaving the chair and feet leaving the floor as he floats back to give the poor bird space. He quickly maneuvers to the door, turning just as it opens.

“But seriously. Take a breather, dude. Mission’s over.” He lingers in the doorway, no response comes so he continues, “Also, think we’re gunna have a movie night later in the media room. You should join, you’d probably get a good spot on the couch considering. Should take advantage.”

Silence stretches, Rob picks at the food, Kon doesn’t exit. “Plus, it’s just be nice, ya know? Like old times.”

He hovers, looking back for something. He gets rewarded when Robin mutely nods and takes a bite of one of the sides on the plate. Kon’s smile is back in full force, he lets the door close behind him and makes his way back to the others.

Much later, as Gar and Bart argue over what movie to play first and the specifics of genres, as Vic sets up the TV and the girls settle around the room with the snacks, Robin slips into the room. Kon doesn’t even see him until he feels a presence behind him on the couch. Cassie makes a delighted cheer and Kon lets his head fall back on the couch to see his friend, with cast in place and a smile smile over his lips. Kon returns the expression tenfold, and scoots over to make room for his friend to sit.

...And then it kinda just became routine after that.

He’d find Rob curled over his laptop, nibbling his lip and testing the durability of his spine. So he'd walk up and kiss him until all the tension melted away and he went went limp. Rob would always let out the tiniest squeak, even if he saw it coming. He'd jump in his skin and then he'd melt under Kon's touch. Every time, like clock work.

He’d find Rob surrounded by empty zesti cans and piles of paperwork, and he’d glide up behind him, and whisper into the shell of his ear to ask when the last time he had some water was. Rob would go rigid, his mouth pressing into a line and his heart pounding. Which told Kon he was not going to like Rob’s answer. He’d give him a quick peck as a distraction and whisk him away from the paperwork and empty cans, sitting him at a table with a bottle or glass of water in front of him. Rob would down the whole thing with his cheeks dusted red, and Kon would try to look away instead of watching Rob’s adam’s apple bop up and down.

He didn't think to much about it, he just did it. Of course the thoughts would seep into his mind during the day, but those were easy enough to put off and ignore. It was the ones that caught him alone, trying to sleep, that were a bother.

But he was just helping a friend! Rob had bad habits, he did stupid things. Kon would relate. So he helped stop those bad habits in the moment when he saw them happening. That was it. He was not going to give the subject the time of day, and if Rob really did have a problem with it, he would make it known, loudly and violently. And if Rob didn't want to talk about it, neither did Kon.

He did not take into account the 'treatment' might be working. No, that would mean thinking about it and he very firmly established he was not gunna do that. He did notice Rob would drink more water, was more present with the team and participated more in their non-mission hijinks. He did notice he spent less time holed away, that he actually slept a little more, that he started to eat with the team more. That he had really started to take better care of himself, at least when he was at the tower.

Cassie definitely noticed, as did some of the others. She was estatic about the change, while Bart accused him of being an impostor. They joked about it, Gar teasing about Rob losing his 'Bat' status if he kept up the healthy habits. It was nice, it was fun. Conner failed to realize what exactly that meant.

He didn’t realize until it happened.

It started that Friday night; Rob had been more energetic, smiled more, jokes mord. He ate with the team and worked in the common areas alongside everyone else. He was still the last to go to bed but he was actually getting some sleep, and waking up with the rest of the team. Kon saw him drinking water and taking stretch breaks. He seemed a lot happier, healthier, and Kon hadn't seen one scratch or cut on his lip all weekend.

So Kon really didn’t understand why he felt so frustrated.

By Saturday night he felt on edge, almost anxious, but nothing was different. They all sat in the media room, Gar and Bart were watching something, more talking over it than watching it but same difference for them. Music with a deep bass played in the background as Vic tinkered with something and Cassie talked animatedly over the phone. Rob sat on the couch, laptop open, working on something for some case. It was a picturesque scene of 'chill Saturday night' yet Conner felt like an alarm was going to start blaring any second.

So what did he do? Check the scanners? Go on patrol? No, he started heckling his best friend. Started poking fun at Rob over random and dumb things and then watching his reactions like a hawk. Rob brushed him off like normal; Kon pressed and Rob deflects. He didn't notice the room went quiet until Victor asked if he was feeling okay. The music had been turned down so low it was basically off, Bart and Gar had stopped arguing in favor of watching the scene, and Cassie still had her phone in hand but her attention was on him as well. They were all looking at him like he had grown a second head or third arm. Except Rob, who carried on typing away at his laptop, taking a sip of water that he kept beside him.

Conner said it was nothing and excused himself from the room.

By Sunday night he was furious and he still had no idea WHY. Maybe 'furious' wasn't the right word. He knew he was upset, it had something to do with Rob, and he let it get out of hand.

Training that morning had been intense. Starfire was running the drills and she was merciless. He got his ass readily handed to him more times than he could count in just a couple hours, which was not helping with the frustration. After intense drills and an obstacle course from hell, their cool down was sparring. His match with Rob had…not ended well. Some words were said, some where shouted. He cringes thinking about the things he said; heat of moment insults that he did NOT mean but were said nonetheless. The end result was Cassie getting in his face and calling him out for being as ass all weekend, and Kori dismissing Rob from the room.

So yeah, not his finest moment.

Now he wanders around the tower aimlessly, mostly just avoiding everyone else but not wanting to leave entirely. He can't tell if it's a huff or a sigh that leaves him as he thinks about the fight and the stupid anxiousness turning in his gut. It was stupid! He should be happy for Rob! His friend is getting over his stupid bat-habits and actually thinking about his health! He is relying on his team more! Rob had seemed so genuinely happy and healthy this weekend so what was Kon so angry about? Why did he have to go and start a petty fight when HE wasn't even sure what his problem was?! He had ruined Rob's good mood and upset his friends. He couldn't help but agree with Cassie's earlier comment.

Turning a corner he resists the urge to put his fist through the metal walls, he didn’t need to be causing any more problems. Despite his reluctance, a flight sounded like a good idea. But he knows he’ll just end up in Kansas and then Ma would ask questions and then Superman would ask questions, and he really doesn’t want to leave early; that felt like running away. It sounds nice but he really doesn’t want to.

But Sunday is quickly drawing to a close and he is no closer to figuring out why the hell he was so angry and what it had to do with Rob.

Speak of the devil, Kon senses someone standing in the hall just up ahead. His TTK was usually really good at picking up vibrations or landscape in range when he could focus, and feeling things out turned out to be a good grounding exercise. Letting his feet lift off the ground he slowly glides forward until he could confirm it was Robin, leaning up against the wall next to one of the storage closets, arms crossed and gaze a million miles away.

And biting his lip.

A different feeling explodes in his chest, his emotions quickly twisting and turning into something else. The previous anxiety and frustration turn into pure energy that feels electric. The corners of his lips are twitching upwards before he can stop himself. A small part him is sad, that his friend hadn’t completely kicked the habit, it throws guilt at him and suggests it is because of him and their fight. A much, much larger part of him is elated.

His forearm is braced on the wall next to Rob's head before he can register the want to do so.

He may or may not have approached a bit too fast, arm hitting the wall with a bit of force. Robin doesn’t flinch, Rob never flinches. He does go still, joints and muscles tensing and ready to throw a punch at a moments notice. Kon leans forward over the boy, grinning like the cat that got the cream, Rob doesn’t back down or push away.

“No lip biting, Robbie.” He can’t help the smile on his lips as he speaks.

“Whoops.” Rob’s voice is deep, his tone flat.

Before Kon can close the distance, Rob grabs the front of his shirt and pulls. The door beside them opens and he’s being dragged inside right after Rob. The result is the same, Kon crowding Rob against a wall with his arm braced just above his ear. The only difference is the darkness that envelopes them once the door closes, and Rob’s death grip on his shirt still pulling him forward. Kon follows the momentum, their lips connect and Rob makes that little noise in the back of his throat that always sets Kon’s nerves on fire. He leans in as close as he can, bringing a hand to cup Rob’s face, tilting his head for a better angle and rubbing small circles just under his ear with his thumb. A gentle press to the hollow just under his earlobe has Rob gasping into him and Kon takes the invitation.

Sense of time is quickly lost, outside perceptions freely given up to solely focus on the boy pressed against him. Kon’s hand slide from Rob’s cheek to cradle the back of his head. Rob’s hand still tugs on his shirt and an arm had comes to wrap around his middle. Every soft touch or press forward has Rob making those barely heard soft sounds. Small moans or grunts in the back of his throat that were fuel to the fireworks brewing in Kon’s stomach.

He doesn’t know how long they stayed in that closet and would never admit to it anyways. They are both breathless when they pull away; foreheads resting against one other and panting, struggling to catch their breath. As his senses and spacial awareness return to him, he notes he feels much….calmer, than before. The knots in his stomach having been smoothed out, like a freshly rung out towel left to dry. Kon lets his fingers wander up the back of Rob’s head, feeling the short hairs under his fingernails and notes the buzzing anxiety had been quelled, leaving behind only warm sparks and a tingling sensation.

One breath, two, and Kon’s attention gets stolen completely by blank white lenses that were staring up at him. Now, Kon has wanted a lot of things in his short existence, but he doesn’t remember feeling such an intense desire for something as he did in the moment; he needed to see Rob's eyes.

Another breath and then he feels cold, the head he’d been holding ducking away and the boy gone, taking the warmth and what felt like Kon’s breath away with him. The door had opened and closed in the time it takes Kon to process his absence, still cradling empty air in his hand. Kon breathes again and lets his head and hand rest on the wall, finding it still warm from Rob’s presence.

Chapter Text

It was supposed to stop.

It was supposed to be some stupid mishap, about Conner saying something stupid and then doubling down on it because of ego. He ignored it. He was ignoring it. It was supposed to stop. He was supposed to get bored. Get embarrassed. He was supposed to stop. Instead Tim's cram sessions are getting interrupted by soft lips and a gentle touch that has his brain leaking out his ears. Whispers that cause shivers up his spine, make his mind go blank. It was confusing, it was distracting, it wasn’t suppose to keep happening. He doesn't know why it keeps happening.

He does know it's gotten out of hand when he almost misses a deadline.

It happened one day when he was going over case details for a recent murder, picking out relevant information and making connections and notes of his own to report back to B. He was close, so close to finding the perp and making sense of the evidence. It was on the tip of his tongue, his fingers flew over the keyboard because it was all there, he just had to bring it together and his brain often moved faster than his fingers could type.

He barely noticed his presence, a light, tingling feeling pricks at his arms and shoulders. And FUCK he missed dinner, hadn’t he? He scrambled to open his notes doc and info dump in basic shorthand because he knew what was coming.

“I know! I know! But this is really important and her family deserves justice before the perp skips town! I am almost done and then I’ll grab some food.” The sensation moved to poke at his back and Tim corrected his posture.

“I’ve also had the recommended amount of water already today AND did an extensive stretching routine after our training session.”

He felt the phantom touch slide up his back, following up his spine to the base on his head. A shadow fell over him, he would be right behind Tim now, probably levitating since he did not hear any footsteps.

“I cannot have my brain blanking on me I just need to finish these notes, please don’t.”

A hum sounded from behind him in response to his rambling requests. The shadow lingered; the phantom touch dissipated and was replaced with a real arm braced against the back of the couch. Tim could feel the warmth seep into his back, an occasional breath against his neck. Ten minutes later and he had taken note of everything swirling around in his head. It was unorganized and looked like a database threw up on a word doc, but it was just about everything he had on the case.

Relief lifted the stress from his shoulders. Looking over his notes, he started to make connections between them again. All the evidence laid out in front of him he started to see the killers path and how the other accomplices were involved. He kept typing as his thoughts formed; with a little more prodding he could have this wrapped up and sent over to B-

“Got all the stuff out of your head?” His voice rung clear as a bell right next to Tim’s ear.

“Uh..” Tim's fingers hovered over the keys, hesitant. “Yeah.”

“Can afford your mind blanking?” An arm snaked around him from behind the couch, strong and warm and trailing his fingers over his collarbone.

“Ye-yeah I could go for a break now.”

Fingers ghosted up his throat to to tilt his chin up and to the side. Soft lips pressed against his and all cognitive functions began to slow. Kon’s other arm wrapped around his shoulders from behind, the lightest touch on his chin keeping his head steady. Again, his body involuntarily relaxed. Again, his thoughts started to slow and dissipate, fleeting like smoke. Again, that soft and embarrassing noise rumbled up from the back of his throat. He knew Kon heard it because that bastard smiled into the kiss.

A few minutes later had Tim’s laptop sitting innocently beside him on the couch and Kon rubbing circles into his cheek with his thumb as he pulled away. He looked to Tim with such fondness it should be illegal. He should have been able to tie him up and leave him dangling from a high rooftop for the cops to pick up.

“Come eat something.” Kon beckoned while still holding Tim’s jaw as it were fragile, and precious.

“Okay.” He complied, because his brain was turned to goo and resolved turned to mush.

So Tim did what he does best in an unfamiliar situation. Conduct research. Theorize, collect data, test hypothesis; look for clues to unravel the mystery. Conner was exhibiting a weird behavior, so Tim just had to find the motive behind it. It did NOT seem to be just some one-off prank, meaning it could be something more serious. Tim was determined to figure it out and keep his best friend from getting hurt, or hurting himself.

His first major clue was from the closet test. That particular weekend had seen Conner in a terrible mood, anxious and irritable. All directed at Tim, despite meeting every unwritten criteria Conner had ever mentioned! Conner got worse over the weekend, on edge as if he were expecting an attack. Tim was able to rule out any outside variables effecting his mood, both Conner Kent and Superboy had a seemingly great week, which left him with quite the conundrum. The only real change from last weekend was that Tim was meeting all those unwritten criteria, leaving Kon without an excuse to engage in the subject behavior.

So cue the, ahem, closet test.

Just the mere thought of it made his ears burn. It was a last minute decision, almost impulsive. From there it wasn't hard to find Conner gliding aimlessly though the tower and track his pattern. Tim was honestly expecting a fight or intervention not, what actually happened.

And the lovely little fact that kept haunting him was that it worked. Like a reset button, Kon reverted back to normal. Loose movements, relaxed shoulders, easy going conversation, completely different and unwound. Or so Tim saw over the security cameras and heard from the others; he could not face interact with the subject so recently after the test.

Since then he started to pay closer attention. After going over old interactions and keeping an eye on Conner during the next couple weeks, Tim had confirmation. If Kon hadn't caught Tim in one of the behaviors that violated his original demands (lip biting, not eating three meals a day, etc.), then Kon would seek him out and try to catch him in the act. The time frame was determined by how much stress Kon seemed to be under; AKA, what his week had been like.

At one end of his data spectrum was the 'Pleasant Mood Kon'. It was a week were Superboy and Superman got to team up on a mission that had gone off without a hitch. Kon had been on cloud nine that week, boasting to everyone about how well the mission had gone and how pleased Superman was with his efforts. The boasting was annoying but Tim didn't really mind Kon retelling in a smaller voice how they went out for fro-yo afterwards. That seemed to be a major factor in his mood. It was an older interaction, Tim had been too busy that week to notice, and Kon had been happy and not acting like an ass. The behavior had been a quick peck at most, late on Sunday after Kon came across him dehydrated in the common room.

On the other end of the data spectrum was the 'Pissed Off Kon'. He had arrived late to the tower in a horrid mood; something about getting captured by rogue and insane geneticists that had not ended very well. Kon had sought him out the minute he arrived, putting in effort to be sneaky and silent, coming up from behind Tim to catch him in the act. And Tim… let him. Kon had looked like he'd been through hell and Tim had read up on the incident report that came through to the cave so he knew he kinda had been. And he knew it would improve Kon's mood even just a little bit- and it was also needed for his research, for data. In fact, he noticed the resulting behavior had been more…intense…than usual.

From the data points, one might draw a slight correlation between the time frame and intensity of the behavior to the amount of stress Kon seemed to be under or how upset he was. But of course, correlation was not causation, and he had multiple data points were the completely opposite occurred. Kon seemingly had a wonderful week and was very upbeat, yet followed Tim around all weekend and sought him out and enacted the behavior several times. Or he'd be quiet and moody or just plain pissed and not reach out to Tim at all. Not to mention the time frame factor, since the behavior had been going on for weeks and Kon just seemed to be getting bolder the longer this went on.

Tim huffs over his coded notes that were scattered around his room; because how was he supposed to focus on history homework when he had a mystery to solve? Involving his friend no less. Even from all the data he had it was hard to draw a conclusion. His original hypothesis suggested it was some weird prank fueled by pride, that Kon had doubled down on it so it was a thing now; it was usually how he got into trouble. That was disproved with the closet test. If it was just a prank or some weird way for Kon to help Tim, it would not have made him angry when it was no longer needed; nor would he have reacted like that. His second hypothesis is that Kon was doing it to find… comfort? Tim knows he split with Cassie a while ago, and he hasn't heard of or seen anyone new in that regard.

There was also the idea of Kon...experimenting on his own...Tim had never heard of Kon flirting with a guy before. But the nature of the situation was odd; Kon had framed the...behaviors, as a punishment. Which opened several doors he would rather have a professional psychologist take of because ouch. Maybe he should bring it up to-

Nope. A full body shiver runs through him and his face is set on fire by the thought of even mentioning this to either Clark or Bruce. Nope nope nope, never going to happen.

He still jots down the ideas, in a code so complicated that even Bruce would have a hard time cracking. If he could find a way to narrow down and confirm the issue, he could find a way to subtly hint to their mentors or maybe the Kents what Kon needed. Assuming his second hypothesis of comfort and insecurity being the motive was correct. Maybe offering alternative comforting activities during the weekends would help?

Stuck lying on the couch halfway under his sleeping best friend who has an arm and leg wrapped around him and TTK skimming around on his skin, Tim comes to the realization that this might be worse.

The plan had been simple, add more comforting group activities to the environment while taking away opportunities to engage in the original behavior. So Tim called for a video game tournament that Friday night, pending any disasters or emergency calls. He made sure there were plenty of pillows and blankets and tons of comfort food. Kon's mood seemed close to baseline that afternoon and significantly improved upon the announcement. The dress code was pajamas or other comfortable clothes, and Tim played along; ditching his uniform for baggy sweatpants and a hoodie he stole borrowed from Dick. He didn't bother with the mask or his hair either.

It was a good plan, a simple plan. It should have gone off without a hitch. Kon should have been too distracted by the team and food and video games, no room for discomfort or anything that would have triggered the need for the subject behavior. Yet, not two hours into the 'tournament', he caught Kon staring at him instead of the screen. Goosebumps grew along his arms and he fought the blush from his face, he ducked away from the other with the excuse of getting more snacks. Kon lost that round in the game, and the one after that.

For the rest of the night, Tim kept catching Kon's gaze on him. He focused on keeping in line with the clauses of their unspoken agreement; opting to drink water rather than zesti and getting up every once and a while to stretch, even teasing some of the others into joining him. He watched closely as Kon's mood began to shift; he grew quieter, less energetic, more irritable if provoked. It was not a significant enough change to cause any alarm in the others, but Tim noticed. Tim noticed and wanted to scream because it was the OPPOSITE of the desired outcome.

By the end of the night Kon seemed… out of it. It was a new response if nothing else. He wasn't lashing out or trying to pick a fight. He seemed put out, maybe a little anxious and almost disappointed. Kon excused himself earlier than usual, Tim left shortly after to follow. Kon exited from the roof, no doubt for a late night flight, and went straight to bed after he returned. Tim noted the reaction and tried to figure out where the new response would fall in with his theory.

The next day added to the puzzle, because Kon went out of his way to avoid him entirely. From scrambling out of the kitchen during breakfast when he arrived, to avoiding all the rooms Robin usually inhabited. He showed nor hide or hair of himself all day. Tim followed most of his movements through the security cameras, noting his paths and behaviors. Worry and panic bubbled up to his throat like hot tar over the reaction. Worry that he had done something wrong and now Kon was avoiding him for it. Panic about not knowing what happened or how to fix it.

It haunted him all day, the uncomfortable emotions following him until he was the only one still awake in the tower. He started working in the common room after dinner and just never left, watching one by one as everyone turned in for the night. Tim was mostly doing tedious but important work, research to keep their databases up to date on criminal activities. Batman once ensured him the systems updated automatically; Tim had proven Tim could do it better and it helped to keep up with current mob and gang movements.

Rereading the same police report for the third time he failed to retain any of the information, just like the first two times. He is interrupted by the very subject of his distracting thoughts as the main door slides open to reveal Kon, floating into the room. The boy froze and his eyes went wide as he meets Tim's gaze, still hidden behind white lenses.

"Oh, uh, hey."

"Evening." Tim greeted, lowering his attention back to his screen. Kon landed softly on the ground, fidgeting uncomfortably in place, before he tried to excuse himself.

"I'll just, uh-"

"Are you avoiding me because of game night?" Tim cut him off. He couldn't puzzle out Kon's avoidant behavior and it was slowly driving him insane. He needed to know if he misstepped in his calculations and somehow made Kon uncomfortable. Had Kon realized the ploy behind the game night? Had he figured out something was going on but came to the wrong conclusion?

Kon's eyes went wider than before as he raised palms up and stammered over his words. "What? No nono, I'm not, I'm not avoiding you."

"Then come join me." A simple request for his friend, one of his closest friends. A simple way to prove his words. Denial meant being caught in a lie, acceptance bought Tim time to figure out what's wrong. Kon's expression turned suspicious as he looked him over again,

"What for?"

"Company."

Tim could pinpoint the second Kon realized he lost, in the tension of his jaw and the slump of his shoulders. Kon glides over, defeated and slow; somehow finding a way to drag his feet while weightless in mid-air. He settled down on the couch next to Tim, so gentle and hesitant that Tim didn't feel the couch dip under his weight, most likely because he hadn't actually settled down at all. The police reports on his screen blurred under his eyes as the boy next to him sucked up all his attention.

"What's wrong?" Is how Tim started the interrogation. Kon fiddled with the hem of his shirt, picking at threads and keeping his eyes downcast.

"Nothing, you?." A common and nonchalant response. Kon either did not pick up on Tim's serious tone or he was doing his best to ignore it. Tim decided to side-step that particular obstacle and be more direct. He stopped scrolling through the reports on his laptop and turned his full attention towards Conner.

"Something is bugging you." He called him out, watching as the muscles in his arms, shoulders, and jaw tense up.

"Nothing's wrong, you're just paranoid." Kon continued to fidget.

"You've been avoiding people today." Tim did not specify, "You only do that when something's wrong."

"I have not, I had a wonderful afternoon with Cassie." A partial truth, Kon had spent the majority of the afternoon in Cassie's room. Although for most of that time, Tim noticed Cassie wasn't even in her room, and she did not look particularly joyful over the cameras when she discovered Kon hiding away in there. She had that worried look on her face as they parted ways.

But he couldn't exactly use that bit of evidence in his argument without Kon bringing up the old 'stalking' argument. He had already played the 'paranoid' card, so Tim went for a different angle.

"You've been quieter." Tim explains, and Kon let out a small laugh,

"And you're complaining about that now?"

"It started last night, with the games. You were quiet, distracted."

"I was a little tired."

"I've seen you exhausted and that wasn't it. Something is bugging you and I want to help." He reached out instinctively, resting his hand on the cushion between them. He hoped it was a comforting gesture. Kon's eyes darted down to follow the movement, they stayed locked on his hand for maybe a moment to long. Tim made a mental note.

"It's…" Kon trailed off, still looking down at Tim's hand between them. Then a small smile crossed his face, the one he always wore for the cameras. It didn't quite reach his eyes, his tired expression clear as day. "It's nothing Rob, really. Something small and stupid, probably won't even remember tomorrow."

He held Kon's gaze for a moment more, taking in his expression. It read 'lie'. He sighed and relented, turning back towards his laptop screen. His hand moved back over the keyboard, and he copied down some of the information in the reports into his notes. The silence did not last long.

"Game night was fun, we should do it again soon." Kon suggested, reaching an arm back over the couch. Tim hummed in acknowledgment, knowing he imagined the phantom feeling of fingers brushing against his ear.

He tries to focus on the reports while keeping an eye on Conner. Pressing the subject further would only turn into an argument, which would turn into a shouting match, which was not productive. Conner seemed determined to solve the issue himself, and at least his ire wasn't directed at Tim this time. His mind switched gears, refocusing on the reports of a high level mobster's recent arrest. Mentally putting together a timeline for the perps release and what that would mean for the surrounding community in the meantime. However it was incredible hard to split his focus between Kon and the reports, especially when Kon kept glancing at him every few seconds.

Over the course of his life and training, Tim has learned the feeling of being watched. Be it for an undercover mission or his normal civilian life activities. He had to recognize it and endure it. That did not mean he had to like it. That did not mean it wasn't incredibly distracting coming from his best friend sat not two feet away from him. He wasn't just being watched either, he was being studied. Kon was looking for it, any indication of malnourishment or his biting habit. Tim's skin felt like it was burning under Kon's gaze, thoughts refused to form, all his senses switched back to notice just how close Kon was, and how closely he was watching.

"It's pretty late, how long you gunna be up?" He asked and Tim had seen it coming a mile away. It was the only 'bad habit' left Kon could pry at. It did not change the fact Tim had begun to sweat under his suits collar.

"Only a bit longer." He left the answer vague, noticed Kon's slight frown at the answer. And then, without thinking, he lied, "Pretty tired since I didn't really sleep yesterday."

Half truth, he had gotten sleep, he just had trouble getting to sleep since his brain was on fire trying to piece together an explanation for Kon's behaviors after game night. Kon's reaction was immediate; he perked up at the lie, leaning closer the couch started to dip under his weight.

"You need your sleep, Robbie." Kon didn't question his statement, despite morning conversations being enough to at least install reasonable doubt. But then again, he wasn't present for those. No he just leaned over until there were real fingers brushing against the back of Tim's shoulders.

And then there were fingers gently brushing under his chin. Sparks of heat swirled in his gut, anticipation. Tim snapped his head away to the side,

"I'm tired." He explained, and all the touches disappeared.

He had never denied him before. It was in his notes, something he needed to test. It just had never occurred to him to pull away, never considered it a bad idea until after Conner had left. It was nice to note that Kon immediately dropped the behavior on request. It was less nice to know his own reaction to the situation was internal screaming, something tore deep inside him as Conner shifted further away from him on the couch, a longing he refused to name screaming over his thought to fix it. Because Tim knew it would cheer Kon up, it always did. He would bounce back to his bubbly self, larger than life and with attitude to spare. But this was also a crutch Kon was using to avoid whatever the real problem was, and tonight was the closest Tim has ever gotten to the root issue. So he ignored pain in his chest and strengthened his resolve, looking back to the information on his laptop.

Bless his mask being able to hide his eyes, he was able to sneak glances back at Kon to observe the reaction. He observed Kon looked like a kicked and guilty puppy, slinking back into himself at the other end of the couch, expression and gaze fallen to the floor. It made Tim's heart tear further, anxiety tying his intestines into knots. He switched to a different document on his laptop.

"If you're so tired then sleep." Kon suggested causally, Tim let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. He didn't sound upset with him, so Tim did his best to convince himself Kon was not upset with him. Slowly he felt knots in his chest start to unravel.

"Can't." He explained, simple and to the point.

"Can't?" Kon pressed for elaboration.

"Stuff needs to be done."

"Something always needs to be done, Rob. There's always another load or laundry or dishes or whatever." His arm was back over the backrest of the couch, hand directly behind Tim's head.

"I-" He hesitated, trying to form the right words to explain, trying to decide if he should, "-have trouble actually sleeping if I leave something unfinished." Kon seemed to take in the statement and give it thought.

"Okay, one, it's technically Sunday now. Respect the Sunday vibes." He moved closer, leaning closer. One arm still hanging off the back of the couch while the other points a finger at Tim. The it turns to two fingers,

"Two, I bet you've done a lot already and that-" He was over Tim's shoulder now, looking closer at the laptop, "-looks like idle work considering it's literally about someone going to jail so that seems pretty done deal." Any nerves Tim was feeling were shaken away by the 'idle work' comment.

"That's a high lever mobster, and him being behind bars will have ramifications on the community and rival gangs in the area. Knowing about how, when, where, and why will allow me to predict what kinds of moves his crew will make and what the other- HEY!" Tim shouted the last bit in a higher octave than he meant to as his laptop literally slips out of his grasp and flies across the room.

"Sounds very interesting, you know what else sounds nice? A nap." Kon let out a big, dramatic yawn complete with the wide stretch as Tim's laptop lands gently on the counter clear across the room.

Tim didn't have time to retort or get up to retrieve his laptop before Kon literally fell over him. Tim toppled down into the couch under Kon, who wrapped an arm around him to trap him. An 'oof' escaped in him surprise and effort, since Kon is built like a Kryptonian brick wall and he felt every single bit of his dead weight crushing him into the couch.

"Kon." Tim voiced the complaint, only receiving fake snores in response. Kon nuzzled his head further into the crook of Tim’s neck and he could feel the bastard smiling as a hot blush overtakes him.

"Conner."

"Nap time." Kon murmured into his neck, a strong feeling washed over him that had his toes curling just to stop himself from screaming; or making any other embarrassing noises.

Overheating felt like an understatement. He was crushed under a truck filled with weighted blankets and heating pads. Tim could hear his own heartbeat treacherously pounding in his ears, meaning Kon could definitely hear it. He laid as still as possible, waiting. He was sure Kon would get bored, start talking, start poking at him or do something that Tim could leverage to escape. And just like every other prediction he had about his friend recently, he was proven wrong. Kon's fake snores quiet down and he shifts slightly, getting closer and more comfortable. Tim can feel Kon's nose brush against his neck and every hot exhale that he lets out. Tim was about ready to implode when Kon started tracing nonsense shapes against his shoulder with his thumb. Nonsense shapes in a soothing rhythm lulled his brain into a quiet hum instead of the barrage of popup thoughts and rabbit holes.

He doesn't remember closing his eyes or drifting off, doesn't remember if it was him or Kon who went first. He does remember waking up completely encompassed by warmth and something heavy. Secured in the worlds biggest hug with soft and delicate touches running along his skin like a leaf floated over the water. He does remember when his brain finally kicked on and he realized what was happening, because that's when the panic started and that was also about five minutes ago.

Kon is still laying on top of him, still has his face hidden in the crook of Tim's neck, still has an arm and now a leg draped over him. He's snoring, gentle sounds like a low whistle on each slow exhale. His TTK had taken to tracing circles around Tim's arm; starting and the wrist and moving up slowly only to reach his shoulder and retrace back down, past his wrist to play with his fingers before moving up to start the process over again. Tim felt phantom touches tracing nonsense shapes up and down his side, felt it play with his hair before starting to move down and trace down the side of his face to rest on his cheek.

Suffice to say Tim knows he's currently blushing redder than his costume.

The worst part was that Kon was well and truly asleep; completely knocked out and in dreamland. His actions of using Tim like his personal teddy bear and lightly tracing his skin are subconscious. Tim can feel his blush deepen, which should not be medically possible, yet the heat on his cheeks is intensifying. He was stuck physically and metaphorically because he had no idea how to handle this situation. Should he push Conner off? Wake him before that? Wait for him to wake up on his own? What was the plan after that? Stick around or retreat? Should he pretend to be asleep and see what Kon does once he wakes up? He could see the sunlight coming in the large windows, it was clearly daytime, it shouldn't take long for Conner to wake up naturally.

Dread started to prick at his senses and swirl in his gut. Kon would be waking up soon which added a time limit to his planning. Kon waking up also meant him moving, and the warmth leaving. The same warmth and touches that left Tim's brain more scrambled than a breakfast omelet. Yet he dreaded the end of this little bubble in time and space they find themselves in. He wasn't going even to start thinking about how all this tied into his experiment or what it meant for his hypothesis. His brain being left a pile of mush as it always it after Kon's antics. The newest behavior leaving him just as confused and flustered.

He is saved from his internal struggles when the door begins to slide open. Bart is standing over the couch with an irritated look on his face before the door actually finishes opening.

"THIS is where you guys have been?! Why are you here DIDYOUhaveaSLEEPOVERwithOUTME?!" His accusations come rapid fire. Bart zips all around them as he speaks, settling on leaning over and shaking Kon's shoulders at the end.

It causes Kon to finally stir in his sleep. His grip over Tim tightens and he feels an all-encompassing squeeze. Kon nuzzles into Tim's neck, hiding and murmuring unintelligibly. This of course, causes Tim some more heart palpitations. Bart's reaction to this was to shake at Kon again, harder and faster this time. Tim is along for the ride as Bart basically shakes the whole couch with his attempt.

"Bart." Kon's voice is muffled and heavy with sleep. Tim can feel his breath against his neck, can almost feel the movement of his lips.

"You had a sleepover without me." The speedster continues to pout, glaring between the both of them. Tim lifts one of his hands as much as he can in surrender, the other being pinned to the couch.

"Don't look at me, I'm a prisoner of war." Tim nods to the larger boy still half crushing him into the couch. He own voice deeper from sleep, and he is very proud it does not waver.

"Just a nap." Kon comments, still half asleep.

"WITHOUTME!" Bart exclaims loud enough to wake the rest of the tower. Kon winces at the noise and picks his head up to return the glare.

"You were already asleep. This jerk needed to sleep. Solution."

Bart says nothing in return, crossing his arms and keeping the scowl on his lips as his foot tapped so fast into the carpet Tim couldn't hear the noise anymore. And then, at normal person speed, he turns on his heels and walks to the end of the couch. Tim watches with rapt attention and confusion as Bart turns to glare at them from the other side of the armrest at their feet.

A grin breaks out on his face and Tim can't dodge. Bart jumps over the arm rest and lands hard over both of them, adding himself to the pile. Kon takes most of the burnt force but Tim can still feel the added weight.

"Bart!" He tries to scold him, but the boy just buries his face in the crook of Kon's arm around Tim's chest and waves him off.

"It's not even ten yet, shush."

"Nap time." Kon echoes and resituates himself to get comfortable while Tim starts to sweat.

"Nap time?" Came a very familiar voice and Tim can see his life flash before his eyes before Gar can speak up again, "Oh sweet! Dog pile!"

Next thing he knows there is a large green Mastiff jumping into the fray, settling on Bart's back and the back of the couch.

"Smaller!" Tim all but orders as Bart shouts and shoves in protest. There is a little dogie whine but the mastiff shifts into a smaller beagle. Tim is basically buried under his teammates; what he'd give for a grapple or taser right now.

"Did I miss something?" Cassie's voice sounds from the doorway, Tim turns his head but he can't even see beyond Conner anymore.

"It's nap time." Conner explains. Cassie's head peaks over them and Tim actually gets to see her.

"Found Rob up all night again?" Her hair is tied up and she's wearing a red headband with blue stars scattered around it. He scoffs at her accusation.

"It was barely until two, please get off." Tim starts to move and struggle under the weight and grip around him.

"Nope, I have not been recompensated yet." Bart says directly into Kon's arm that he is using as a pillow.

"That makes no sense."

"Does too."

"Shuuussh nap time."

"Sounds fun." Cassie comments before free falling into the pile. Tim can feel his soul leaving his body.

"Cassie! Ew, you're all sweaty!" Bart wiggles and complains.

"Morning workout, which most of you missed by the way."

The sound of the door and heavier footsteps follow.

"I see you found them."

"Vic! Come join the pile!" Gar scrambles his way back to the top of the couch, still in beagle form.

"Please no." Tim pleads, he doesn't actually need to die-by-friend-hijinks today.

"Nah, Cassie looks all sweaty." Vic politely declines as Cassie starts to wrestle with Bart.

"Unhand me!" The speedster shouts as Cassie's main goal seems to be just wiping sweat onto him.

"You're being dramatic." Kon tells him, completely unbothered by the literally wrestling match happening on top of them, before he turns his head towards the door and asks, "Are you taking pictures?"

"Duh." Vic confirms. Tim is filled with the deepest desire to finally combine with the couch and never come back out. He takes it back, he can just die now, it can just swallow him whole. Anticlimactic way for a Robin to die but it is what it is.

"Aww, look at the young ones!" That was Kori's voice. Tim thinks this has gone on long enough.

The senior Titan's continue to coo over them as Tim shifts under the pile. With his mostly free arm, the one not pinned under Kon, he moves until he feels fur. And then he sharply pulls at it.

Gar lets out a little dogish shriek before shifting again. Instead of a small beagle dog on the back of the couch it's an eight-foot alligator. The new weight combined with Cassie and Bart's struggling had the couch tipping backwards. There was a still silence for half a second as everyone realized what was about to happen.

The couch falls back with a harsh thud and the teens are flung from it. Gar topples the furthest away, Cassie shielding Bart while Kon shields Tim. He feels the cool air hit him and he takes a deep breath of it. The world spin and the weight lifts off of him, but the fall doesn't hurt at all. The buzzing on his skin confirms the culprit.

He lands on top of Kon this time, his arm still firmly wrapped around Tim while the other moved to hold the back of Tim's head. Kon smiles up at him, and real fingers start to play with his hair. The feather light buzzing along his skin remains.

Tim scrambles to his feet, the energy around him dissipates. He ignores his own blush as he dusts himself off. By the time he thinks to offer a hand to Conner, he was already floating up next to him. Bar helps both Cassie and Gar up.

"A gator? Really?"

"Somebody pulled my tail! It just happened!"

"And I got it ALL in 4K, baby!" Vic cheers. Several giggles and moans follow. Gar and Bart basically materialize over Vic's shoulder to take a look.

With the attention off of him, Tim can breathe. He slowly starts to slink to the back of the room. He felt gross in the way he usual does after wearing his suit for too long; sweat and grime under leather and kevlar. He decides his next course of action would be a shower and a good stretch. Kon catches his gaze as he makes it to the door, offering a small smile and a wave. Tim slips out without anyone else noticing the hot blush over his face and decides the second course of action was to forget this morning ever happened. Data be damned.

Chapter Text

An alarm wakes him. Softer than most he's heard and he immediately worries if that is a good or a bad thing. Kon slowly blinks his eyes open, noting there are no flashing lights, no explosions or fires, and nothing blaring over the intercoms. The alarm he hears is faint but persistent, definitely coming from inside the tower, but not anywhere close to the dorms. The joys of super hearing.

He rolls over and tries to go back to sleep, it was probably nothing and it was definitely a tomorrow problem. Twenty minutes and two pillows later and the annoying beeping had proven to chase away and semblance of peace or sleep. Groaning, he gets out of bed and lazily throws on a shirt to track the down and possibly break whatever is making that gods awful noise.

Kon follows the low and rapid beeping through the tower. It sounds like an over-excited microwave timer, beeping for a solid thirty seconds, then break, then beeping again. By the time he enters the security room, it was starting to give him a headache. There was a pop-up alert on one of the screens, it listed a name, time, and showed a little picture of a angry yet familiar looking man. Nothing else seemed out of place, no perimeter alarms had been tripped, nothing ordinary showed up on the cameras. Kon groans again as he sees the current time under the blinking red alert because it was way too early for this.

Trying to turn off the blasted alert proved to be useless. He couldn't close the little pop-up, and clicking on it did nothing. He also couldn't exactly turn off or break the main security and monitoring system of the tower. Not without major risk to literally everyone and an earful from most of the team. That would be a bigger headache than the stupid beeping noise. He glares ruefully at the little man on display in the alert box, and he glares angrily right back. Kon scratches his head, trying to piece together why the dude seemed so familiar and where he had seen him before.

It hits him like a light bulb attached to a two-by-four. Rob was doing case work at dinner, and that was one of the guys he was looking into. Kon had seen the guy's mugshot when he peered over his shoulder and ratted him out. The rest of the team joined in on roasting Rob until he closed the laptop and Kon hadn't thought much of the incident.

Another groan, of course this would be Rob's fault.

So he flies lazily back to the dorms, accompanied by the annoying microwave alarm, and knocks on the birds door in the dead of night. Or morning, technically. He doesn't hear anything inside, so he knocks again. Another minute passes and he's about ready to knock again, fist up and ready, when he hears the lock click. The door slides open to reveal a very sleepy Rob, sans the mask and a dead tired look in his half-lidded eyes. His hair was an absolute mess and sticking out in places, he was drowning in the same faded and worn blue hoodie from game night the other week, and one of the pant legs of his sweatpants was stuck higher on his leg than the other.

Kon's mouth goes bone dry and his breath sticks and hitches in his throat; it was a miracle he didn't choke.

"Kon?" His voice is deep and groggy and riddled with sleep. He might have said something after that but all Kon heard was his name in Rob's gravely voice and that was it for him.

What's left of his already sleep deprived brain power is flooded with memories of game night; of Rob dressed down in that worn hoodie that looked so soft. Of his hair hanging over pale blue eyes. Of Rob practically glowing all curled up on the couch and laughing, toothy grin on full display after he won a round. He wanted to push his hair aside for a better look, wanted to bury his fingers in his hair and the fabric of his hoodie. The longing was back in full force, to pull him closer, to get a taste of that toothy grin and gravely voice.

He wanted, so he did. Reaching out to Rob's hip somewhere under the faded blue fabric that was really soft, he pulls him closer. He reaches up and brushes his hair out of his face, it feels silky without the styling gel, and cups his cheek and leans in. He presses a sweet and chaste kiss to his lips, and then another. Rob lazily, and sleepily reciprocates, his arm sliding around the back of Kon's neck. Satisfied, he pulls back to admire his Robin. His eyes are still half-lidded and hazed over, a light blush sits over his cheekbones. Kon's fingers move up from Rob's cheek to play with his hair. Rob leans into the touch, and Kon can't hear anything except his breathing and heartbeat.

And then all at once clarity sparks in Rob's eyes, and they grow narrowed and sharp.

"Conner." The voice hits him like cold water. Whatever bubble he was in pops and shatters like glass. Rob removes his arm and Kon follows suit, taking a step back and clearing his throat. As he does, the annoying and ever present beeping in back, and drilling into his skull.

"Alarm." Falls from his mouth. Tim cocks his head to the side and Conner rushes to explains, "There's an alarm, security room. Martin Telegra?"

Rob's eyes widen at the information and his whole stance shifts. Now much more awake and cognizant, he quickly exclaims "That fast?!" before pushing past Kon and rushing down the hall. Leaving Kon to ponder the interaction and his actions on his own.

Kon shakes his head of the thoughts and heads back to his room. He is far to tired for this. He drops back into bed the second he gets close enough and doesn't bother with his shirt or the blankets. But sleep doesn't come that easy. The alarm had stopped thankfully, replaced with Rob typing away at the computer and muttering to himself about the case. But his breathing and heartbeat are calm, which feels comforting and soothing to hear. So he focuses on that, and grabs one of his pillows and hugs it tight, trying to compensate for how empty his hands feel, missing the soft and warmth he held before.

Chapter Text

It was late morning when Tim had finally wrapped up his report. It was a detailed plan to fully dismantle one of the gangs in downtown Gotham. He had been helping Batman whittle away at these guys for months, and there was finally an opportunity to properly dissolve the gang. He had the movements of the gang members written down and instructions laid out, all backed by evidence he had been collecting. This would get those gang members off the streets, and give most of them a new chance at rehabilitation while keeping the community safe in their absence. And it was all thanks to his surveillance on one Martin Telegra. Really all it was missing now was the little gift bow.

Raising his arms above his head he stretched in his chair. Then cracked open his second energy drink of the day while he began to proof read his plan. He felt lighter as he took a sip, his plan sounded strong, no missing details or holes in his logic, and he fixes the few typos as he sees them. It had been an incredibly productive morning. Bruce would be proud to see the culmination of all their efforts leading to one last devastating blow. Sure, the morning had started off WAY too early and abruptly when Kon had woken him up and-

The memory of a warm kiss meets his lips the same time he takes another sip of his drink. Which he promptly chokes on and spit out all over the keyboard. His throat and face burn as he hacks up one of his lungs to clear his throat, most of the drink ending up over the front of his hoodie or over the keyboard and thankfully not the actual computer unit.

Unprompted! Last nights behavior had been unprompted! He just…he just DID THAT and then informed Tim that his activity alarm had gone off. His face still feels like it's on fire as he pictures his theory board going up in flames with the notes as kindling. There would be no rest for him as the caffeine rushes through his bloodstream and his mind shifts gears. His brain was already filtering through the memories and he was NOT getting a choice in the matter.

The loud knocking had woken him up. He slipped out of bed to investigate. Lo and behold, it was Conner on the other side, looking as tired as Tim felt. The other boy had taken one good look at him, and then he was being held close and kissed. Warm, close, safe- and unprompted! It made no sense! What had been the trigger? Was there something he missed yesterday? Something about his mood? An important variable he was overlooking? Nothing was adding up!

He forces himself to take a deep breath, putting the drink back down carefully on the desk. First order of business, fix the keyboard before Vic or anyone else notice. He could think about what to do while he works.

So he gets up from the desk and walks over to the supply closet, where they keep spare keys and tools for just this scenario. Grabbing the cleaning solvent, spare parts, and tools, he continues to think over Kon's behavior early that morning and the previous day. He concludes, as he makes his way back over to the desk and starts to dissemble the embedded keyboard, that he did absolutely nothing to prompt the behavior and Conner's mood had been above baseline for most of the day. And while it wasn't unheard of in his notes for Kon to enact the behavior while in a good mood so early into the weekend, it WAS the first time Kon had gone so far out of his way and done it without Tim exhibiting any of his 'problem behaviors' first.

With the keys cleaned, he is thankful none of the circuitry has to be replaced. One less problem for him to deal with. He also concludes he doesn't have nearly enough information on the situation to theorize about Kon's behavior. None of his previous predictions came to pass and he couldn't puzzle out any of Kon's recent behaviors. He needed more data and context on the situation if he was going to solve this.

Different perspective, different tactics. New plan. He's only been passively cataloging Kon's behaviors in relation to him, making minor changes to the environment that wouldn't be too out of place. He could do better, he could go bigger. He replaces the last of the keys on the board as he starts to mentally draft up some new hypothesis questions. Once everything had been replaced, cleaned up, and put away, he headed back to his room to change out of the sticky hoodie and make a new game plan.

Going bigger meant pressing as many of Kon's buttons as possible and seeing what happened.

First order of business, how frustrated could he get Kon if he completely removed himself, and thus the behavior, from the situation? Would it be like withdraws? Would it make things worse? Would it solve the situation entirely? To test this, he skipped a weekend or two at the tower. And when he was present and engaging with the team, he made a point to limit physical touch with Kon. He dipped out of hugs, he moved away when he sat down, he positioned people in such a way Kon would have no reason to causally reach out to him.

The conclusion to this? He could get him very, very frustrated. Throwing a training bot straight through the steel reinforced wall and out to the bay kinda of frustrated. Additionally, the next time he let Kon catch him, the exhibited behavior had been more…intense, than normal. Even beating the closet test results, and he didn't let Tim slip away as easily either.

The tease leaves a smirk on Tim's face as he speaks and dodges away from Kon. Who's jaw tenses and a sound akin to a growl reverberates from his throat. Tim doesn't see him move, just feels a hand pressing him against the wall that was a few feet behind him half a second ago. The impact felt muffled and the pressure keeping him there doesn't hurt. It's a familiar pressure that just loved to trace itself across Tim's skin and mess with his hair. A mouth on his and Kon kisses him like he wants to devour him-

Second topic, rating the awareness level and the incentive difference between each trigger. The conclusion to the first half had been a bit overwhelming, because Kon paid much more attention to him than he originally thought. All lot more. To the point where he heard him complaining about lack of sleep in the tower while he was fighting in Metropolis.

When Tim confronted Kon about the behavior, while being pinned to a wall for said lack of sleep conversation, Kon causally dropped that he listens to the team and their heartbeats when he needs to keep calm. A fact he had previously known, given new light as he realizes Kon had been intentionally listening to him during a fight to keep calm. Intentionally, and not just his heartbeat. A shiver ran down his spine as he pulled himself up and used the wall behind him as leverage to return the kiss tenfold. None of that makes it into his notes, nor does that fact that Kon was the one who got pushed against the wall after that. Nope. Not in the notes. Nothing can be proven. Only as thoughts that haunt him in the dead of night.

Lip biting rated as the most effective trigger, which made sense since it was the original trigger. It always gets the strongest response, and Conner was always looking for it. While he may wait or stall on the other behaviors like skipping a meal or slouching, lip biting always gets an immediate response. This is reinforced on one of their missions. Simple rescue turned complicated when they were informed that the hostage had some familial relationship with the kidnappers. The perps had used this as leverage when abducting her in the first place, and it always made an extraction more tricky when the hostage doesn't want to be rescued. It had been habit, biting his lip as he poured over the building's blueprints and weighed their options. He hadn't even realized Conner was in the command tent until soft lips were being pressed against his and Kon whispered reassurances that he was going to figure it out.

He never thought he'd give Impulse a stealth role, but Bart proved himself when he snuck in and explained the situation to the hostage and convinced her to leave with him while the rest of them distracted the kidnappers. On the way home while Bart bragged, Kon kept looking to him with that warm and sweet expression that melts his heart and turns all his thoughts to static.

Which brought him to the third and most recent topic, how far was Kon actually willing to go with it? So far, all behaviors had been done in private, his teammates having no idea about the situation. Kon never even brought it up to Tim. So how far could he push that? He had covered during the day time in corridors or in smaller rooms with the door open, in broad daylight in the field before a major fight -he still doesn't understand how no one saw-, and out in public when they were attending one of Cissie's events. They had disguises for the last one and no one on the team was present but still.

So Tim plotted his next test; earlier he overheard Conner talking to some of the others about going out to an arcade in town after Victor was finished with something. When Kon settled down in the common room that afternoon in casual clothes, he put his plan into action.

Entering the common room, he finds Conner lounged on the couch scrolling through his phone. Tim sits on one of the arm chairs opposite him, out of reach but in line of sight. He offers Kon a casual greeting which is returned, before they both go back to their own business. Tim begins to unpack the homework he brought with him, setting some books to the side and pulling out some papers he's meant to look through and answer.

He gives it about five minutes, staring intensely at a boring history essay question, before he takes his bottom lip between his teeth. It takes about thirty seconds for Kon to notice. Tim feels a shiver as a jolt of nothing runs down his arm and tugs at the papers in his hands.

"Lip." Kon announces like a warning, trying and failing to to keep his gaze focused on on his phone. It's easy to read the confliction over his face, suggesting Conner was wary of his behavior being exposed to the others. They could walk in at any minute.

Tim mumbles an apology and fakes refocusing on the papers in his hands, making a note of the reaction. He readjusts his sitting position and brings up a book to place the papers against. He writes down answers on a couple of the questions, and gives it a few minutes before he starts nipping at his lip again.

The papers and books that were resting against his leg on the chair fly up and away as Conner's knee takes their spot. He leans over Tim and braces his arm on the backrest of the chair.

"Lip." he repeats in a lower tone.

"Blame my history teacher." Tim deflects, ignoring his own heart rate to the best of his abilities. He looks Kon up and down before he adds, "Aren't you going somewhere?"

Something flashes in Conner's eyes, he pauses, he's thinking. The reminder keeps him at bay for about sixty more seconds before he leans more weight onto chair, letting his knee dig into the cushion and his leg rub against Tim's thigh. "Was. You're distracting, though."

A gentle tug on the papers and book in his hand, another tug and Tim lets go. He watches as his homework floats off and stacks itself neatly on the end table with the other books and papers he had brought. Then his attention is abruptly stolen back as Kon leans in to take their place. A hand comes to caress his cheek and Tim raises his own hand to press against Kon's chest, making him pause.

"We're in the middle of the media room." He points out, "In direct sight of the cameras."

We will be seen, he implies. Keeping his hand pressed against Conner's chest, he waits for the information to sink in. That they were in a high traffic area, in direct sight of the cameras, in the middle of the afternoon, and they both knew someone would come in or come looking for Kon at any second. Tim waits with baited breath for the answer to his experiment; would Kon back down?

Logically, he should. Especially since he did seem wary of keeping the situation under wraps. The best course of action would be to back off, to leave, maybe postpone the behavior until later when he could ensure they were alone. But Kon doesn't often follow the logical route. Instead, he smirks, and leans in until his lips brush against the tip of Tim's nose.

"Then stop being so distracting."

Kon is still smiling as he kisses him. He presses Tim back into the chair and climbs into his lap. Tim's heart is pounding a mile a minute. He melts against Kon, pulling at his shirt. A callous free hand holds his cheek, thumb gently rubbing under his eye as Kon kisses him softly. He's tilting Tim's chin up and licking at his bottom lip. Kon's other hand is playing with his hair and brushing against the back of his ear. The pressure of Kon against him feels amazing, warm and comfortable. He relaxes his jaw, opening his mouth and letting Kon do as he pleases.

There was a persistence in the back of his mind. Something poking at him, clawing at his consciousness to remember, it's important, remember it. Perhaps it was about the test, his hypothe- whatever. He got his answer, is currently getting his answer as Kon ventures further into his mouth and shifts so Tim's thighs where caged in between Kon's knees. This was one of the predicted outcomes, although he expected more of a peck or short and chaste kiss rather than his current treatment because-

Because it was three in the afternoon, they were in the middle of the common room in sight of the cameras and someone would be walking in any second.

Tim's brain kicks back on and directly into overdrive. His eyes fly open, disregarding the question of when they had closed in the first place. The hand he has pulling on Kon's shirt is now used to push him away, and he turns his head to the side to break the kiss. Kon takes the hint, whining as he sits back, still straddling Tim on the chair. There is confusion written over Kon's face but Tim doesn't have time to process the expression as he is currently stuck on the fact that Kon was still straddling him, on his lap. His presence feels all encompassing, cornered, trapped. It was hard to breathe, like he was stuck baking in an oven and his blood was about to melt through his skin.

He pushes Kon back, twists and struggles until Kon floats up and Tim can pull his knees to his chest. Then he presses both feet against Kon and kicks. Kon goes flying back to the other couch and lands with a soft 'oof' on the floor.

For a moment they just stare at each other. Tim feels the burning over his face and ears, like hot coals or a magma shot from Firefly. Kon says nothing and just looks mildly confused while Tim's brain won't compute any information besides 'overloaded' and 'flee'. So Tim snatches up what homework he can and bolts out of the room before Kon can blink. He doesn't look back, doesn't stop, doesn't breathe until his dorm room door is firmly shut and locked behind him.

Tim slides down the door until he's sitting with his knees to his chest, letting his head fall into his hands. His heart feels ready to burst out of his chest, he's overheated yet shivering and shaking. Breathing was his most difficult challenge so he sits still and focuses on that. In and out. Until the pounding in his chest is less painful and his skin feels like his own again. That's when his brain starts to piece together what the FUCK just happened. The heat is back full force as he recalls the precious events and his analytics are rendered useless by the flames engulfing him mind, body, and soul. Setting something on fire suddenly sounded to cathartic. He might a little easier on Firefly next time, he understands now.

Chapter Text

He knows he fucked up he just isn't sure exactly how. Or how to fix it.

Rob just like, disappeared, after their media room thing. He left completely without warning or goodbye. He wouldn't answer his communicator, not for him or even Cassie. Bart tried running around Gotham to find him but got caught and quickly booted out by a very annoyed Bat, and told not to come back. After the first week of no answer, Kon asked the senior Titans if they could get a hold of any of the bats. Victor called Nightwing, who said he 'wasn't sure what was going on, but it was probably just a minor issue in Gotham that Bats needed Robin for'. So the most vague and basic answer in the book.

Three long, Rob-less weeks pass until he finally shows back up at the tower. Aaaaaand starts avoiding Kon like the plague. Dodging out of the room when Kon comes to greet him. He's barely seen glimpses of Rob, heard him talking to the others a few times but he just wouldn't stay in the same room as Kon for longer than five seconds. It's gotten so bad Kon is actually wishing for a crisis or apocalypse or something. Because then Rob wouldn't be able to duck out of the debrief.

That flighty, upset and anxious feeling is back and turned up to twelve. He really needs fix this, like, yesterday. But it's not like he can go to Rob for advice or anything at the moment, so he goes to Bart instead. He tried to keep the situation vague but Bart couldn't follow along past 'SB and Rob are fighting again'. So he had to add in a bit more detail, and then Bart had a million questions and he kept having to pause while Bart ran a few laps to dispel some energy because-

"I literally cannot believe you did that are you a fake or something? Did you get switched again??" Bart rants for the umpteenth time that minute. His friend looks exasperated, pacing his room in a mix of speeds while starting and then aborting different gestures like running his fingers through his hair or shaking his hands .

"Do I need to prove it a fifth time?" He hopes not, because then Bart would ask stupid questions for about twenty minutes in some mock interrogation and it would take even longer to get back on track.

"It's just- wow, wow. wowowowowwoah I can't tell if this is the most mode or crash thing I've ever heard but it's something." He scratches his head, his hair gaining more volume as the static from the rapid movement sticks to the follicles.

"Look, I was just trying to knock some sense into him-"

"SO you just started making out about it?" Bart turns to him with hands gestured out and that exasperated look. Kon cringes and sinks further into the beanbag, shoulders coming up to his burning ears.

"It's not LIKE that! He just, wouldn't listen and, and you know how he is!"

"So you just started making out about it???"

Again, Kon cringes, tightening his already crossed arms. "It started out as more of a threat-"

"Threatening to make out about it?!?!"

"It was the only thing that worked and HE KNOWS WHAT HE DID!" His arms come unfurled as he fully gestures out and in front of him.

Bart takes a deep breath in, bringing his hands up to his nose, almost as in prayer. He stares Conner down as he exhales slowly through his nose, Conner stares back. The hairs on the back of his neck stand on end as the staring contest continues. Bart doesn't move, doesn't blink, his eyes brimming with fire. Conner looks away, slinking further back into the beanbag and crossing his arms over his chest again. Bart's next inhale is sharp and audible.

"So, just to get this right, just to clarify, just to make sure," He finally blinks and gestures one hand out towards Kon, while the other shifts to pinch the bridge of his nose. Then it slides up through his hair as he glares back at Kon. "You noticed Rob had some pretty mode habits and started making out with him about it?"

"-Making out is a bit dramatic-"

"-Didn't talk about it, didn't ask or clarify, just one day went 'hey bestie I noticed you don't take too good care of yourself-"

"He knows what he did!"

"-so imma shove my tongue down your throat-"

"Bart please no-"

"-to convince you not to do that'." Bart finishes his tirade, still staring him down. Conner can feel the glare, and he can't bring himself to look up to meet it. Instead he's looking to the floor, half swallowed by the beanbag, with his whole face flustered and red.

"…it gets results…" Kon admits after a moment passes.

“Ohmygodyoujuststartedmakingout withhimKonwhattheACTUAL-”

“You are not helping!”

Silence follows. Bart makes a few faces before zipping out of the room once again. Kon feels like there's steam coming out of his ears, there very well might be, and maybe his face is actually glowing red. Wouldn't be the weirdest thing he's done. He leans further back into the chair until he's laying over it, covering his face with his hands. He gets to wallow there for about thirty more seconds before Bart comes barreling back in.

"Okayokayokay O-kay. SO that is all a thing that happened. Sure, okay." He's still pacing at super speed in a circle over his specialized floor mat. It had been a Hanukkah gift from the team last year and it had seen a lot of use. Maybe enough to get him another one. He files that mental note away for later, shaking his head and returning to the matter at hand.

"He won't even look at me now, what do I do?" Kon groans into his hands, being unwilling to remove them. The rapid footsteps stop,

"What you should have done the first time it happened, talk to him."

"How?!" He sits up at the absurd comment, finding Bart still staring down at him. Something was different, usually wild yellow eyes narrow and shine like molten gold.

"Actually no. No FIRST you need to think real hard about what you did because that was SO not crash, Kon." There is no smile or humor in his expression as points an accusatory finger at him. Both his feet are planted firmly on the ground. Kon feels his stomach drop as he gulps, he has rarely seen Bart like this.

"SECOND," He points his finger in Kon's direction again to emphasize and taking a single, normal paced step forward, "You need to figure out what you want. Cause you're using a really bad excuse and you really really need to figure it out fast."

"I WANT my friend back." Kon explains, sitting up properly in the beanbag. Bart sets him with a look that makes Kon gulp again and crosses his arms.

"Friends don't casually make out with each other." He pauses, just for a second as he thinks and taps his chin, "…Unless they do and you've all been really bad friends to me."

Kon scoffs at the notion, "Okay okay, apologize for being a jerk, tell him I want my friend back, awesome. What if he says no?" And Kon really can't express more how THAT is the PROBLEM. Bart crosses his arms again, only to let them fall and gesture out,

"Me and Cassie will take him out for ice cream because that is the wrong thing to say! That line never works-!"

"Take HIM for ice cream!?" Kon instinctively grabs at his heart, it twinges in pain and his gut rolls uncomfortably. He comes to Bart, suffering, and this is the response?!

Bart opens his mouth to argue back, but he freezes. Then he closes his mouth, brings his hands together in front of his nose again, and stares. Seconds pass and Bart doesn't move. Kon shifts in the beanbag, looking around the room, anywhere but the speedster. Still no movement or sound. Kon begins to sweat at the minute mark. Bart continues to take deep, controlled breathes. Kon wipes the sweat on his palms on his jeans and chances a glace at his friend, his glare just as intense as before. By the second minute mark Kon starts to panic.

"You like hanging out with Rob, right?" Bart finally speaks and it floods Kon with relief. It was a stupid question but that was normal and he was grateful to get a little bit back to normal.

"Yeah." Stupid question, easy answer.

"Okay, you like doing stuff with him? Fighting, training, and no matter how much you guys fight you always manage to patch it up, right?" His hands are still pressed together, but now directed at Conner. And Conner glances down at his feet to confirm that yup, hasn't moved an inch from that spot.

"Yeah I don't-"

"Do you enjoy being close to him?" He continues to ask, what is essentially, the same question.

"I literally just said-!"

"Do you enjoy holding him close, maybe closer than everyone else?" Bart quickly restates, "And you enjoyed those little make out sessions and seeing him in his pajamas and getting to nap together and-"

"Yes, okay?! I still don't see your point."

"I think Rob will be mad if you say you just want to be friends."

The last half of his sentence echoes in Conner's head. It bounces and repeats until it's morphed into a concept, like a scene from those dramas Cassie and Greta love to watch. The man will tell the woman, after dinner and an intimate night, that he wants to remain friends. The scene shifts again and its him and Tim in the scene now. Kon stomach lurches as he vigorously shakes the idea from his head. It didn't matter who was in which role, the very thought was uncomfortable.

Because yeah, okay, maybe he got a little carried away with the bit. Maybe he shouldn't have gone so far in the first place, but it worked! It worked and Rob didn't, like, hate him afterwards. Everything was normal. And okay maybe he should have let up after Rob seemed genuinely okay and doing better. And maybe there were sometimes where Rob didn't really do anything that warranted a… well he wouldn't call it a punishment per say. It was really more of an excuse to…a reason to…

"I don't think you want that either." Bart's voice is soft yet crystal clear. And he continues to show god-like patience as he waits for Kon to process the world shattering around him.

Shattering was a good way to put it. He's going through every memory he's ever had, looking for evidence to defend himself and getting proved the contrary. Recent memories, old memories, good and bad memories; he might be dying because his short existence is flashing before his eyes and it feels like his organs are imploding.

Most of the memories included Robin. Fighting along side him against Metallo, arguing with him over TV shows and battle strategies, playing video games and sharing pizza. The first time Rob ever took off his mask and Kon learned his eyes were blue. The first time he saw him out of costume and dressed down. It was Robin explaining that while Batman had associates, and Robin had friends. It was Robin giving him a pep talk after a rough encounter, about how being a clone didn't change anything, no matter whose DNA he had.

It was Robin's smile's and toothy grin, his steadfast dedication to the mission and his friends, how he acted away from the mentors or cameras. More recent memories of closer encounters behind closed doors made his heart skip a beat. And then his stomach dropped at the idea of never getting to hold him close again. That Rob would never sit still or be comfortable in his presence. He would never let Kon hold him close on game night, just to have his arms around him while they played. He would never get to hold his hand while Rob ranted about whatever was plaguing his mind at the moment. Rob would never agree to a movie night, were they could watch whatever while curled up together on the couch or maybe on the floor in a mound of pillows. That Rob would never let Kon hold him close by his waist, or lean in to press a kiss to his lips or bury his face in his hair or-

"Oh fuck." Kon curses as it clicks that those weren't really best friend behavior thoughts. Those were way past best friend territory.

"There ya go." His revelation must have been noticeable, as Bart swiftly plops down on his bed with a much more relaxed expression and watches him descend into madness. None of which Kon sees, since he was too busy staring at the carpet and dealing with his current crisis.

"Oh fuck."

Tim sat across from Cassie in her room. His whole body was tense as he watched her continue to pinch the bridge of her nose. Her eyes were closed yet she faced the ceiling, frustration clear through the wrinkles around her eyes an the shape of her mouth. They were coming up on the five minute mark where neither of them had spoken.

"…I take it back, you can totally be mad. You can totally start yelling at me. Just say something." He pleads, knowing that the silence and unknown were much scarier and much less productive than a shouting match at this point.

"You are the literally worst." Her tone drips like molten iron as she complies with his request.

"I know." All he can do is hang his head and agree.

"Who let you lead the team? How did we survive? You are so incredibly dumb-"

"Cassie what do I do?" He knows the desperation is clear in his eyes, he left his mask off for this particular chat. He felt more vulnerable without it, but he couldn't risk hiding behind it any longer.

"You fess up is what you do!" Standing from her place on the bed she starts to yell, "You march over to him and talk about it! Explain yourself and just ASK HIM!"

There was thunder in her voice, and Tim was grateful she had yet to smite him. Yet the idea of just…bringing it up to Kon felt like dangling over a bottomless pit. He had no idea how Kon would react, let alone how his own avoidant behaviors would get in the way.

"I…Don't know how that will go, and I can't lose him over-"

"You are CURRENTLY loosing him by doing nothing!" She stresses through gritted teeth, "You both need to talk it out to fix your weird ass relationship!"

“That’s-”

“Oh gods forbid you tell the truth? Admit having feelings? Be emotionally vulnerable?? And not have a plan about it???”

“This is VERY MUCH out of my wheel house, okay?!” Because it was. He could lie to the best of them, he lied to Batman on a regular basis. Lied to his parents, lied to his teachers and superiors. Because he could plan those, could orchestrate whatever he needed and make them all believe what was necessary. But the truth is something you couldn't change. Not to mention other people's reaction to it.

"Ah, yes. Because your wheelhouse is starting a gods forsaken experiment on why your best friend keeps kissing you instead of just ASKING HIM!"

"He wouldn't give a straight answer." Tim argues, crossing his arms and looking away from the demigoddess who was starting to faintly glow. Even now Tim doesn't know how to approach the topic, any predictions he had of the conversation either turned into a shouting match or fizzled out entirely.

"We'll never know because you never tried!" Her statement booms through the room like thunder. And Tim has no response to the accusation.

Cassie turns away from him, her hands coming up to her forehead as she looks up to the ceiling again, or perhaps beyond it. She mutter under her breath and takes a moment to compose herself. Tim continues to glace at her while looking mostly at the carpet under his boots. They were back to the silence.

"You didn't ask because you didn't want him to stop." Her statement has Tim snapping to attention. His eyes wide with confusion, and something else that feels gross as it squirms in his stomach.

"What?" He asks, however Cassie holder his hand up in pause, then points her finger at his as she continues her accusation,

"You purposefully egged him on, knowing DAMN WELL what was going to happen. You manipulated him."

"I did- That's not what happened!"

"That's what it looks like."

That icky squirming feeling intensifies, making his stomach roll. He suppressed the instinct to shiver and squirm. From her perspective, yes it very much does look like that. From anyone seeing this from an outside perspective might come to that very conclusion. He wonders if Kon had as well.

"You wanna fix this? Admit to yourself what you want. Then go apologize, and tell him exactly what you thought of those kisses." Cassie crosses her arms and stands tall. Her chin held out as she looks down at him.

Admit what he wanted. What did he want exactly? He wanted everything to go back to normal. He wanted his friend to be okay and not hate him. He wanted to be able to sit in the same room as him without his cheeks lighting up like a christmas tree, without his stomach feeling like he just opened a soda can directly into his gut after shaking it vigorously.

"I- What do you mean 'admit what I want'? I want my friend to be okay and not hate me." He questions. Her eye brows raise up to her bangs, lowering her head slowly.

"You have to be joking." Her tone is flat as she stares at him. All the righteous energy surrounding her dissipates as her shoulders relax.

"I want everything to go back to normal!" Tim expresses, gesturing forward with his hands to emphasize his point. Because he missed when he could just hang out with Kon without those thoughts in the back oh his mind. He was always watching Kon's behaviors and expression now, always vigilant about his own posture and behaviors while they occupied the same room. And now he's been avoiding him for over a month and he just missed him. Cassie shifts her weight to one leg, her hip popping out slightly as she glares down at him with renewed vigor.

"Oh, so you don't want Kon to ever hold you close ever again."

"Hugs are fine but-"

"You would be totally okay if, just when it's you two, he sat on the opposite end of the couch and never touched your face again?" His stomach dropped, that sickly squirming twisted and he felt cold. But that was the end goal, wasn't it? To find out what was bugging Conner and solve it? Thus, eliminating the subject behavior.

"You don't want him to do that thing where he holds the back of your head then slowly trails his fingernails up your neck into your hair line-"

She might as well threw lava into his face with how quickly it turned scarlet red. Tim abruptly stood from the desk chair, cutting off her sentence. He made a step towards the door, "This was a mistake."

"So Robin can take on Two-Face and the Joker but runs from a little uncomfortable conversation?" She teases. His fingers hesitate over the door knob as something grabs at his heart. He turns to glare at her, Cassie's wears a confident smug as she orders,

"Sit back down."

Gritting his teeth, he turns back to the chair and takes a seat. Her smile does not last long, she is back to scowling down at him the second he's seated. "Answer the question, bird boy."

"That was a low blow." He answers instead. His brain pieces together Kon might have pulled some of those stunts on Cassie when they were dating and he immediately feels nauseous.

"All's fair. You still haven't answered."

All's fair in love and war. Cassie used that particular comment and example for a reason, he knew she did. Because now the main thought in his head was what other things had Kon done with Cassie that he also did with Tim? Had Kon done anything with Tim that he hadn't with Cassie? With Cassie but not him? It was suddenly the largest concept rotating around his brain. That Kon did those things with Cassie, when she was his girlfriend. He was single now so he didn't have have anyone to kiss in particular, but if Kon was just experimenting or messing around with him that would have ended ages ago. And Tim can't deny that he did, enjoy, those behaviors.

"I…would miss the contact."

It felt like an understatement. He wanted to get his laptop and then crawl into Kon's lap. Kon would wrap and arm and his TTK around him while Tim worked. Kon would be chatting with the rest of the team, or maybe playing a game or commenting on whatever was on the TV. Kon would press small kisses to his jaw and behind his ear, soft touches would trace his skin almost like a lullaby, and Tim would be securely wrapped in the worlds greatest combination of a weighted blanket and space heater.

And he wanted that.

"There you go, was that so hard?" Her tone had taken a softer tone and higher tune, like she was talking down to some toddler.

Tim conceded to the fact that his face would just remain on fire for eternity. That was just his life now. Because he wanted Kon to treat him like a boyfriend. He wanted that. He wanted their banter and jokes and video game days. But he also wanted to be held close, to be reminded about his health in the sweetest way possible. He wanted the closets and sweet touches and for their stupid and petty arguments to end up with Tim pushing Conner up against a wall-

"Okay, don't explode." Cassie comments on his new complexion, her hands coming up in surrender, or perhaps to reach out in concern. "Hera help us. But admitting the problem is the first step towards solving the problem."

Well it certainly feels like he just had another problem now. The revelation gives no insight into how to fix the original issue. The last time he saw Conner he literally kicked him across the room and then disappeared for a month. This wasn't like previous tests where Tim carefully monitored Conner's reactions, he had no idea how Kon had taken his absence. It was clear he was being cautious around him, but was that because of guilt or was that because he felt hurt by Tim's actions?

"What if he refuses the apology?" What if he saw exactly what Cassie saw? What if he thought Tim was taking advantage of him? What if that was his way of flirting and Tim had just rejected him? What if Conner felt hurt about their last interaction and Tim had left that hurt to fester until the damage became repairable?

"He has the right to. You'll just have to play it by ear." Tim looks to Cassie and doesn't even try to mask his emotions or thoughts, "Don't give me that look, you're great at improvising. Plus plotting is what GOT you into this mess in the first place."

He watches her cross her arms again before he hangs his head. She continues, "So just bulk up and go apologize. Offer to buy him lunch or something. It's Kon. He'll be upfront and honest with you."

"…Or maybe if I just-"

"ROBIN!"

Chapter Text

The city lights reflect off the dark waters of the bay, creating their own little galaxy to mirror the sky. With the added glow and light pollution from the city itself, they seem to even outshine the stars. His vision blurs, his eyelids falling heavy; relying more on his ears than his eyes to navigate home. A certain steady beat was guiding, like a lighthouse beacon, or a siren's song. Kon finally touches down at the Titan's Tower, a whole day and a half late. He had meant to arrive yesterday afternoon, right after helping Ma out on the farm and finishing his chores. But about halfway over he heard Kara calling for him,sounding urgent. He didn't think twice about changing course and zooming off in her direction.

She met him halfway, almost barreling straight into him and talking fast enough to give Bart a run for his money. He picked out the key information from her speedy explanation; some creature escaped from the Fortress, meaning both it and the population were in danger. Kon had already decided to help based on how anxious Kara seemed about the situation, holding up a hand to pause her rambling and ask which way. She sped off and he followed after.

At first, all is as it seemed. Of course that quickly spiraled out of hand as they both realized this innocent little guy was actually a giant jerk that spread mayhem almost as much as he shed glitter. This thing played rough and dirty; they chased it around the world twice and then halfway around the galaxy. They finally managed to corner it in an asteroid field, it had been looking back to taunt them and slammed right into one of the asteroids. Taking advantage of it’s stunned state and the magic dampers Kara had picked up from the Fortress, they finally caught the imp and locked it back into it’s habitat. Kara bid him farewell at the Fortress. She had invited him to stay, but Kon really wanted to get back to the tower and spend at least a little time there. He had already missed pizza night, and wasn’t that a shame?

The keypad on the access door beeps angrily at him and flashes red after he types the code. He renters the code with his eyes opened a little wider. With a much more pleasant beep and a green light, the door unlocks and he presses inside. As he takes the elevator down, his stomach loudly reminds him that he's missed more than one meal today. His entire body aches for different needs; for sleep, for food, for the warmth of the sun that has long since set. Without the sun or an immediate urgent distraction, his body was starting to ring all the alarm bells.

The elevator dings and the doors slide open. With heavy limbs and dreary eyes Kon steps out and makes his way down the hall. He squints against the harsh fluorescent lights, his head starts to pound and ache. The same familiar beat plays in his head like a melody despite the pain; that sound, and the thought of a nice long nap are the only things keeping him on his feet and pressing forward. Forward and forward until he runs directly into two metal doors. He takes a step back and blinks, subconsciously rubbing his head despite the lack of pain. He blinks again and stares at the doors. They remain. His groggy mind clocks that as being weird, because most of the tower doors are programmed to open automatically for members. The doors scan their features and profile and open for which ever members are programmed into the system. The dorm rooms are the same, only a little more specific, and the occupant can choose who to add to the list or to turn off the feature entirely. Now that he thinks about it, the dorms had single doors, and they didn't-

The heartbeat plays strong on the other side of the doors; Rob's heartbeat. Because this is the surveillance room, and Kon was still following his ear. The dorms were on a completely different floor.

He shakes his head then glances around, getting a better look at his surroundings. The coast is clear, and he is very thankful no one was around to see that particular blunder. Taking a deep breath, he waits for some of the brain fog to clear, waits for the strength to walk back to the elevator. This is exactly why he wanted an access window in his room! It's practical! But something something, security, something something, too risky. Whatever.

He regains enough clarity to focus and extend his aura around the hall, and summons enough strength to pick himself up off the ground and float. That should make moving easier, but it is certainly not helping the headache. Rob's heartbeat is still drumming in the back of his head, something about it picks at his brain and steals his focus. He drops a few inches midair, his toes brushing against the tile before he corrects himself. He tries to clear his head but the drumming persists, tugging at his attention until his feet are back on the ground and his thoughts start running away from him. Again, really not helping with the headache. When trying to shake the sound from his head doesn't work, Kon starts to hone in on it to focus. Rob's heartbeat is slower than usual, accompanied by soft breathing. It dawns on him that it's the absence of sound that's bugging him; no rapid typing, no sound coming from the speakers, no muttering under his breath. Nothing but a slow heartbeat, steady breathing, and soft snoring-

Ah.

Shaking his head again he heaves a deep sigh, then presses his palm to the access panel. The doors slide apart, revealing a familiar green and red clad lump hunched over the main console. Robin is sound asleep, face fallen on to arms that were crossed on the desk just under the keyboard. He looks softer like this, younger, like an actual teenager. Guilt hits him like a tidal wave, leaving a bittersweet taste in his mouth. This is the closest they've been in weeks, the first time he's actually gotten to see Rob without a mission or emergency going on. First Rob was avoiding him after the media room incident, then he and Bart had that talk and…revelations. And maybe Kon kinda sorta started avoiding Robin after that.

Was it the best idea? Oh no, absolutely not. But now he knew what he wanted, had a name for it, that made it SO much scarier. Just the thought of having that talk with Rob left his mouth dry and his stomach overflowing with dread, heavy like tar. Rob wasn't making it easy either; it seemed like after Kon had his revelation, Robin pulled a one-eighty and started to seek him out. Leaving him no choice but bolt out the nearest window or avoid him entirely.

Because he really didn't want to mess this up, okay? He already messed up in the media room and he did NOT want a repeat. Kon has dated before, he knows the drill. Dates and expectations, flirting and showing off. And it's fine, really; it's exciting. But it never stops, never really slows down. It's a dangerous game that has ended in way too many broken hearts, his in particular, if he messes something up. The idea of doing that song and dance with Rob? Of being on his toes all the time or just the thought of letting him down like he'd let-

He's rather go back to Apokolips than let that happen.

Hanging out with Rob has always been easy, even during the early days. They would talk or banter for hours, over big ideas and issues or over nothing at all. He could just… be, with Rob. They could just relax and play video games, he could rant about his favorite TV show, or gossip about other heroes. He could talk to Rob about anything, and never have to worry. Sure, Rob could be bossy and reckless but he would always have Kon's back. Even when Robin drops off the face of the earth for weeks on end, he always comes back.

So everything had to be perfect. Because Kon could NOT lose this. Not him. If he messed this up he could lose that little bit of peace, if he messed this up Rob might leave and not come back; he might leave and-

A particularly loud snore cuts through the room, startling Kon out of his musings. His whole body shivers as he shakes the thoughts from his head. Robin is here, just a few feet in front of him, sleeping soundly and... going to wake up with some serious neck pain if he keeps resting like. Superboy to the rescue once more.

He floats over to avoid footsteps, but it's a vain attempt. As soon as he is within reach, Rob's nose twitches and he starts to stir. Kon freezes mid-air, mission failed miserably already. The moment of hesitation and uncertainty pass quickly, as he steels his resolve. Just as Robin lifts his head, Conner scoops him up from the chair with an arm under his legs, one supporting his back, and a touch of TTK. Rob lets out a squeak as he is plucked from the chair, his whole body tenses, bracing at the contact. Something in Kon's chest tears and cries out at the reaction, and he does his best to keep it off his expression.

Mask or no, there is no mistaking the raised brows and bewildered expression that snaps up at him. But just a second after their gaze meets, Rob relaxes considerably. His mouth falls open, in either shock or opposition; Conner cuts him off before anything can leave his lips.

"Don't, just…" He struggles to find his own words. He wasn't getting a lot of traction in that department at the moment, other than a mantra of 'tired', 'sore', 'pretty boy', 'scary', 'tired'.

"You need sleep Robbie, don't fight me on this, please." Is what he settles on, hearing his own exhaustion ring loud and clear in his tone. It seems to appease Robin, who closes his mouth and thinks for a moment. When that moment is up, the other boy simply gives a tiny nod, before completely melting into Conner. He lets his full weight go and his head rest against Kon's shoulder.

Now his heart is singing at the contact, flipping in his chest as his stomach twirls and twists with both fuzzy warmth and a cold, sinking feeling. The dead weight was a dead give away that he had just, fallen back asleep. In his arms. Just like that. It was a welcome weight, soothing a tight knot in his chest. It felt healing, like his skin knitting itself back together under the suns warm rays. Any lingering dread or tightness in his chest wash away under the weight of Rob's trust. His head turns further into the meat of Kon’s arm, effectively causing his hear to melt. Sweet Rao has he missed him.

Taking in a settling breath, Kon turns back towards the door and makes his way back out into the hall. Robin doesn't so much as flinch. Kon pays more attention to the boy in his arms then the hallway, letting his aura extend, take in his surroundings and guide him. This way he can admire the way Rob's lips have parted just enough for his breath to pass through, how messy his hair is, with some of it falling into his face and other parts sticking out. He is free to notice the new red marks torn into Rob's lips, shining a glossy ruby red as they pass under the lights. There is a little voice in his head, sounding suspiciously like Ma Kent, that tells him it's rude to stare. The voice is probably right, but Kon is too tired to heed the advice at the moment. Too tired to process any guilt or shame. It's not his fault Rob is extra adorable when he's sleeping.

He wonders if it could have been different, if he had gotten back sooner. Would he have stumbled his way to a more awake Robin? If he had a little more energy, would he they have talked about it? Or if Kon had just bit the bullet last week, where would they be now? Would Kon still be able to hold him like this? Would Rob had stayed up specifically for him? Had he been waiting on him? Was he still waiting for him? Or did Kon blow his only chance by running away one too many times?

The situation was a little ridiculous when you think about it. He is Kon El, Superboy! He is charming and charismatic! He’s been on the cover of Teen Beat Magazines! He should totally have this! All he has to do is stroll up and ask "Hey, we good?" and go from there! Plus, this is his Robin. Of course he would hear him out, he'd give Kon an earful about avoiding him but he would still hear him out. Maybe Kon could even suggest they talk over a romantic sunset flight to set the mood, that usually worked…

Except this is Robin. He could spot a corrupt agent a thousand yards away, he could outsmart an entire alien government and come out on top. This is the guy that preferred to hole up in a dark corner somewhere to solve old and gruesome cases. This is also the guy that will grab his skateboard and drop-off anything Bart dared him too. Robin is different than anyone he's ever dated. And also a guy, Rob's also a really cool and bad-ass guy. Prior flirting experience is out the window on this one. He didn't know if his normal charm would even work…Does Rob even find him charming?

The elevator Kon doesn't recall entering dings and opens at the correct floor. Holding onto Rob a little tighter, he steps out of his thoughts and into the hall. He turns at the first corner and dutifully marches towards Robin's room. Glancing back down, he notes Rob is still dead to the world, with his face albeit hidden in Conner's arm. A wave of affection rushes over him, colliding with the brewing emotions of dread and shame. He ignores them all and continues down the hallway. With a fuzzy and light feeling rooted in his chest and a cold pit forming in his gut, they reach Robin's dorm.

Kon presses the access button to unlock the door and it slides open and the light from the hall pours into the dark room. Silhouettes of various piles of junk fill the room, no doubt different gear and clothes and books all thrown about. He feels the corners of his mouth twitch upwards, can hear Rob's voice in the back of his head about efficient work spaces, 'It's not junk, and it IS organized! You just don't get the system'. He feels the weight of Rob in his arms all over again, and holds him even tighter as his feet leave the floor. He glides over the various obstacles and sets down just next to the messy bed.

Stretching his aura over the bed, he shoves different gadgets and junk off the mattress. The comforter pulls itself back while the sheets right themselves and smooth out. His attention turns back to Robin; he is sans the cape but wearing literally everything else, belt included. So Kon has the boots unlace and falls off his feet, scooting themselves over to sit neatly at the foot of the bed. Next is the belt and gauntlets, each with enough latches and traps to ward off any unpowered tampering. They too, fall off and get floated over and set down next to Rob's boots, along with all the other bulky armor pieces he knows are a pain to sleep in.

He then lowers the still sleeping Robin down into his bed. The mask catches his attention, causing him to pause. He's seen Rob without the mask, they had that face reveal years ago, and he knew Robin complained of skin irritation when he wore it for too long. But removing it himself felt more…intimate. He brushes some of the hair out of Robin's face, letting his fingers linger along his cheek. Taking a breath and hoping he is NOT making a huge mistake, he lets his TTK run along Rob's skin, gently prying the mask from his face. It pulls back to reveal closed eyes and a slightly furrowed brow, matching the small pout forming over his lips. Kon holds his breath and waits, the mask hovering between them. But Robin doesn't stir. Some of the tension leaves his brow and he sleeps on. Kon breathes again, and places the mask on the nightstand. Grabbing the comforter, he tucks the sleeping bird in. Robin lets out a deep and content sigh, snuggling further into the blankets as the rest of the creases on his forehead smooth out.

Which leaves Kon standing there, watching over his sleeping friend, unable to turn away. It registers faintly in the back of his mind that he's being a creep. Ma's voice coming back to lightly scold him; he got his friend to bed, now it's his turn. Rob actually looks peaceful; there are bags under his eyes and his hair is a bit of a mess but he is snoring softly. Kon hopes he is having peaceful dreams.

Would it be any different? The question comes back to him. It feels easy now, with exhaustion seeped into his bones and Rob sleeping soundly. Right now it didn't feel so scary. What had Robin been doing up so late anyhow? Was it another case? Research? Homework? He wonders if Rob misses him too, as much as Kon misses him. The idea of changing things terrifies him, but it was happening anyways. When was the last time he got to just hang out with his best friend? Maybe he'll get a chance tomorrow, before Robin heads back home. Maybe he'll catch him in time, sit him down to talk, catch up, or just do something. Maybe he's not too late.

His fingers are in Rob's hair before he knows what he's doing. Dried hair gel makes the strands clump together, making it feel rough and coarse. At this point he'd take any interaction between them, even if it's a shouting match. Rob makes a soft sound as Kon cards his fingers through a knot in his hair, turning his head further into Kon's palm. Kon feels his heart pound, his whole chest heavy. He knows in the morning his confidence will be shot; they'll both sleep in and he'll lose his nerve. He'll let his Robin fly away again.

Those tiny little red spots on Rob's lips catch his attention next. Not bleeding, or very deep yet, but there. Harder to see without the light but still glossy and red contrasting the more chapped skin around it. He catches himself leaning forward, leaning down.

Finally taking heed of the little voice in his head, he decides he is much too tired for this. He straightens up and steps back, already mourning the loss of contact. With a deep breath and a long blink, he turns back towards the hall, towards the light still spilling into the room.

"You forgot the kiss."

Kon freezes in the door frame; every muscle in his body locks up and it's a full stop for his brain. He waits for his heart to start beating again, for his breath to come back to him. Behind him, he hears shuffling of the blankets.

"I don't think I've slept since the day before yesterday, and I definitely skipped dinner. Actually, I can't remember eating anything at all today." Robin admits. Kon's heartbeat comes back sudden and pounding.

"I am totally running on nothing but like, five cans of zesti and a couple cups of coffee. Haven't had much water either."

His boots might as well be spot welded to the floor, unable to move forwards or back. He knows what Rob is doing, can pick out that tone anywhere, and it's making breathing tricky at the moment. He can already picture Rob's expression, fake innocence with just a hint of mischief in his eyes, the corners of his mouth twerked up just a smidge. Like when he'd rattle off the technicality in the instructions or the rules given, and ensure whoever that their actions were technically completely within reason.

"Are you just going to let me get away with that?" Rob taunts and Kon turns around as if on order. Rob is half sat up, leaning against the headboard of his bed against the wall. There are deep bags under his eyes, his shoulders slouched, his head struggling to stay upright. He looks utterly exhausted but there is fight in his eyes, something wanting, almost pleading.

Kon's feet leave the floor and he glides back over to the bed. Robin's breath hitches as he lands, eyes flutter closed as he leans in. Kon reaches out a hand to tuck a lock of Rob's hair behind his ear, and a strong grip pulls at the lapel of his jacket. Rob's chapped lips part ever so slightly, the light catching on a shiny red cut as he does. His mind sputters and trips, guilt and longing clash inside like a raging storm in his chest; he wants. Gods he wants. Just to lean in and forget everything for the moment, ignore the everything about the situation. The little voice in the back of his head stops him halfway, like a tight cord wrapped around his heart; it asks what if it breaks? What if he shatters whatever this is between them? He has to do this right or Robin might not come back to him. He can't lose this, he can't lose him.

Shifting his hand on Rob's face he moves it up, to hold Rob's bangs back and press a gentle kiss to his forehead. Savoring the warmth against his lips before pulling away. He means to float away entirely, but Rob apparently has other ideas. He keeps a strong hold on Kon's jacket, and while he can't really hold him there, he does keep himself attached so as Kon starts to float away, Rob gets pulled along. Kon doesn't get very far away from the bed. Rob opens his eyes, looking at him with confusion before settling on annoyance.

"You didn't do it right." Rob complains, complete with a huff and a frown. Rob keeps himself pulled close to him, grabbing onto his shoulder with his other hand. It gives Kon just enough energy to crack a smile,

"You need rest."

"I need you back." Rob's words are raw and his eyes are bloodshot. Kon's heart continues to ache in his chest, he feels his smile break and his expression fall. He lowers his head until their foreheads meet.

"…We are both to tired for this." He reasons. They need to talk but there is no way either of them were getting through a coherent conversation like this. Kon knows he would end up just agreeing to anything without a second thought and from the looks of it, Robin is likely to doze off at any second.

The hand on Kon's shoulder slings around the back of his neck as Robin keeps himself pulled close, nose to nose, clinging. "Don't leave."

Kon lets out a sharp breath. Rob's eyes bleary and bloodshot, lips pressed into a worried pout. It tugs at his heartstrings and makes his stomach curl. He wants whatever game or dance they've been doing to be over and done with. He wants his Robin back. Rob tugs on his jacket and shifts his weight backwards. Kon keeps hovered halfway over the bed, but on the second tug his resolve breaks down to dust. He lets Rob pull him into the bed, right beside him. While Rob wrestles with the comforter, Kon kicks of his boots. With a little TTK they fall of his feet and move themselves right next to Rob's at the foot of the bed. He tries to shrug off his jacket next, but Rob retains his death grip on the lapel.

Robin wins his fight with the blanket and throws half of it over Kon. Then he pulls himself flush up against him, legs intertwining and his nose pressed into Kon's collar. Kon wraps an arm around him, and they just, breathe. He feels the knot in his chest loosen again, his breathing falling into a steady rhythm. Robin follows suit, letting out a long and deep exhale that tickles Kon's collar as Rob relaxes into his hold. Tucking Rob's head under his chin, chest feeling lighter and breathing easier, he wonders if Robin feels the same.

There is silence between them and Kon's eye lids grow heavy. He starts mindlessly rubbing circles into Rob's back, the repetitive motions adding to the sleepiness. Despite the warmth and coziness however, Rob's form still holds some tension and stress. The bird's grip on his jacket never loosens. Frowning a bit more now, Kon gives him a squeeze, holding him tighter for a beat until Rob lets out another long exhale.

"I'm sorry." Rob mutters into his neck. Kon presses a kiss into his hair,

"I'm sorry too."

The apology feels cheap on his tongue. But it will have to be enough for now. For now he holds Rob close, still tracing nonsense patterns over his back. He TTK's the comforter to tuck them both in snugly, extending his aura to wrap around Rob as well. Using it to trail light touches over Rob's arm, up his neck and into his hair while keeping his arm wrapped around him. The grip on his jacket relaxes and the rest of the tension drains from Robin. Shifting a bit, Kon uses his other mostly pinned down arm to grab Rob's hand from his jacket. He holds it between them and squeezes, Robin squeezes back. A silent promise.

Not minutes later, Robin's body goes limp as his breathing evens out. Kon keeps awake just long enough to hear the soft snores returning, and feels his own heart overflow. He lets himself just, feel the moment; two heartbeats, slow breathing, soft hair under his nose, and a warm embrace under a heavy comforter. In no time at all Kon is following Robin's lead as he drifts off into dreamland.

Robin is calling his name.

Opening his eyes feels like a daunting task, so he just lets his hearing and aura take in his surroundings. Rob is still tucked against his chest, still wrapped up in his arms and TTK, still holding his hand. The room is still messy, their shoes are still neatly placed at the foot of the bed. But now the room is brighter than before, a warm light pricks against his eyelids. Rob feels nice in his arms, warm against him and his heartbeat slow and steady like a melody. This was a nice way to wake up, much better than being vigorously shaken awake by Bart.

Then the poking starts. Rob shifts in his arms, fingers find purchase and jab into his jaw as Rob calls his name again. Conner frowns, groans, and buries his face in Rob's hair, rolling more onto him. He squeezes his arm around Rob's waist and huffs into his hair. The jabbing continues at the side of his face and neck now. He groans again, lifting away from oily black hair and opening his eyes to glare down at his attacker. Rob tilts his head up to meet his gaze, eyes tired and half lidded but focused. He could sees the gears and thoughts turning behind the steely blue and it was honestly giving him a headache already.

"It is, too early for this." His voice is rough with sleep and Rob's nose twitches as his breath hits his face. Rob hums in agreement, then taps the arm Conner has around him.

"Let me up." Rob starts to pull away. Kon valiantly hold back a whine. Biting his tongue before the complaint of 'do I have too?' makes it out into the world. It was a valid question; does he have to? Because he really didn't want to.

He does, reluctantly, let go of his Robin. Pulls back the aura wrapped around him and lets Rob slip out of his hold. Rob rolls away and then off the bed, catching himself gracefully and standing in one fluid motion. Then tripping over something with the next step he takes and almost tumbling down face first. Kon's snickering earn him a quick side eye once Robin finds his balance. Then Rob stretches, lifting his hands over his head and standing a bit taller. Kon's eyes zero in on his now unguarded abdomen, seeing a prime opportunity. Although that would require moving. Or would it? Rob freezes mid-stretch as Kon wraps a net of TTK around his middle and squeezes. He can feel muscles tense under his aura, trying to suppress the tiny shivers that runs up and along Rob's spine.

Robin sends Kon another sharp look over his shoulder, and Kon drops his TTK with a sheepish grin.

The silence is deafening, ringing almost. Robin glides across the room, rummaging around in his closet until he pulls out a hoodie, then he moves over to the desk to inspect his equipment. The bed is warm and comfy, Kon didn't see a reason to move. But the longer the silence drags on the tighter his chest grows, and he swears the ringing just gets louder. There is a tension in the line of Rob's shoulders, the crease of his brow. He never even remotely looks back toward him. It makes his skin crawl, makes breathing difficult. Rob moves on to lazily search for something in his dresser, and Kon feels like he is ready to implode from the pressure in the room.

"Okay I know I said-"

"What are you doing on Tuesday?" Rob asks quickly.

"Uh," He is as eloquent as ever, his thoughts screeching and tumbling to accommodate the change in topic. "What?"

"Two days from now. Tuesday. What do you have planned?" Robin is still rummaging through the drawer, shoulders tense and refusing to turn around.

"I mean, school mostly?"

"Ditch and get lunch with me."

"Uh," Yeah his science teacher is NOT going to be happy about that one. Mind reeling, he tries to recall anything due on Tuesday, of the reactions from Ma and Pa and Clark, of how to respond.

Robin finally turns around, definitely more awake than five minutes ago. His mouth is pressed into a line and he shifts his weight between his feet, playing with his fingers.

"Look. I have to head back soon. And I don't want to leave this" Speaking fast, he gestures between them, "-for any longer than necessary. I have a mission planned tomorrow, but I'm free Tuesday other than patrol. So. Tuesday. Pick me up and we get lunch."

Kon blinks. Robin fidgets. Lunch does sound good, he could go for subs at that one place outside the city. Or they could be cheesy and get tacos. Robin shifts his weight between his feet again. Kon thinks if he explains, Ma and Pa wouldn't have an issue with Kon taking a day off school, especially if there was no tests or anything, and he would still get all his chores done. Rob looks away, his gaze darting around the room. Shifting his weight again he looks ready to bolt. Oh yeah, Kon should probably be talking, out loud and all.

"I know a good sub place just outside of Metropolis." He suggests, and Rob sighs out a breath of relief.

"Sounds good." He turns his gaze back towards Kon, "Pick me up at noon, I'll text you where."

"Deal." Kon is greatly rewarded for his answer, as Rob's face splits into a brilliantly bright smile.

Chapter Text

An overcast blocks out most of the sun's rays, filling the world around them with dulled light. The breeze brings in darkening clouds that promise rain later that afternoon, which seems to keep most people indoors, not wanting to be caught outside once the downpour starts. Still, it was much brighter and clearer than the gloomy gas station on the outskirts of Gotham where he picked up Rob. And considering the bright and clear skies that were overhead earlier that morning, Kon can't help but wonder if Rob had brought some of that gloom with him. It worked in their favor, the small patio area outside the sub shop was empty save for them. They kept to the corner table, furthest from the door and only partly visible from the window. It provided them the perfect amount of privacy to talk, and for Kon to completely lose it over their entire situation and his best friend's explanation.

"Stop laughing you asshole." Robin hisses from across the patio table. He's dressed way down, jeans and a band shirt that is just a tad to large. Not enough to swallow him but enough to make baggy folds as he moves or sits.

Kon could not, in fact, stop laughing. He could barely breathe. Leaning forward he braces a hand on the table just to keep himself from falling out of his chair as laughter continues to bubble out of him. Rob pouts and snatches up his soda cup to take a long sip, glaring down at the table between them. Conner sucks in a breath like a drowning man.

"It's just-" another fit of laughter bubbles up and threatens to steal his breath. It bashes against his ribs and stretches his lungs painfully as he smothers it He forces in another breath. "-that's really sweet Rob-"

And it really is. Rob had been thinking about him, really thinking of him. He'd been paying attention to his moods and events happening in his life. And yeah, it was all in some weird attempt to puzzle out why Kon had started to…behave differently, as Rob put it. But Rob thought something was really bothering him, and the first thing he did was try to solve it. He knows that Rob knows him, he shares basically everything with Rob. It hits different knowing Rob remembers, and puts in intentional effort into remembering and caring. He keeps up with BOTH of Kon's identities; Kon has been unwittingly under a bat microscope for weeks because Rob thought something was up with him. Which…is kinda weird, yeah. But it's his Robin; Rob would never poke fun at him for the small things, he would never spill secrets even on accident, and Kon would freely tell him most of the stuff that usually happens anyways. So it's, different…It makes him feel all soft and mushy and… calm.

"Shut up." Rob hisses over his straw, a pretty blush starting to color his cheeks. Gods he is so pretty.

"You kept like, notes? Is there a murder board somewhere I need to be worried about?" He's picturing a dark room, littered with notes and a cork board standing in the middle. Photos and notes pinned to it in a frantic manner, red string woven between the pins like a spider's web. Robin standing at the center of it all, glaring at the board with that cute focused look on his face, like he's trying to solve his most difficult case yet…While staring at pictures of him...Does Robin have a bunch of pictures of him hung up somewhere? In an office? Workshop? His room???

"Not that you can prove." Rob's whole face is a brilliant shade of red as he goes back to nursing his soda. Kon's heart flips and squeezes in his chest. He knows, okay he KNOWS Rob was answering the question asked out LOUD but gods did it sound like…Okay, Priority One is fixing whatever this is, but priority TWO is finding that murder board ASAP.

Kon clears his throat and plays it off as a chuckle. Heat washes over his cheeks as the air between them grows more tense. Ducking his head, Robin pokes at the remaining half of his sandwich. Meanwhile, Conner internally scrambles for something to say, anything to dispel the tension. He did NOT want to mess this up, he couldn't. Think think THINK! Rob had wanted to explain his side of the story first, rushing through it like it was a painful burden to bear. And yeah okay, purposefully messing with him is kinda a dick move but like, Kon was kinda doing that exact same thing sooo…

So maybe it was his turn to tell his side of the story?

"Okay so like, my turn I guess?" He offers and Rob perks up at the other side of the table. Okay, here he goes, just explain his side of the story…which would be…

He opens his mouth and then balks under Robin's full attention. Intense blue eyes pin him under their focus. It's the same expression Rob wears just before he finds the solution to a case or predicament. Robin waits with bated breath as Kon's mouth snaps shut and he swallows. How was he supposed to explain this again? Man he REALLY should have prepared something for this. He thought it would be easy, just open his mouth and let the words flow. He doesn't need to prepare a speech if it's the honest truth. So why were his words not working?

"Kon," Rob prompts him with a soft tone as Conner starts to sweat. He's sure the shop owner can pick up on his distress from inside. It's nice of Rob to be so patient and kind with him, "Why did you kiss me?"

The million dollar question, wasn't it?

"I really wanted to." The unfiltered and honest truth. His confession does not have the expected reaction. Kon doesn't know what exactly he expected but it was not for Rob to narrow his eyes, brow furrowing as his mouth drops into a firm frown. Rob, did NOT like that one, okay. Okay he can fix this.

"Okay so the first time was like, okay that one was petty. But you never listen when you get like that, you know. And we were teasing and I wanted to get one up on you and it, it worked." Kon begins to ramble, rubbing the back of his neck and catching some stubble on the back of his neck under his fingernails.

"And then you were hurt, and like, it worked before? So, so I thought it would help. No big deal. And then it just, uh…" Yeah okay he definitely should have thought about this speech before hand, damn. "…Got out of hand?"

Rob seemed to be processing the answer, staring at the empty spot on the table, thinking. There is still a healthy shade of red dusted over his cheeks which made Kon feel better about the heat in his… everything really. His own cheeks and neck were burning, sweat starting to gather on his forehead. Rob cleared his throat,

"Alright, but what about the thing with the closet test?" he asks, and Kon's brain draws a blank.

Cocking his head to the side he asks,"Closet test?"

"Uh-" Rob's eyes go wide as his face goes bright red, his brows furrow and his mouth recedes into a thin line. That would be his 'Ah, how do I lie my way outta this one?' face. Leaning back in his chair Kon raises an eyebrow at Rob, who blinks away the tense expression. His face contorts into a more 'caught red handed' look as his shoulders slump down in defeat. The tension leaves Kon shoulders as well, he hadn't realized how tense he had grown.

"So remember that one weekend back when… Woah, it's been a minute, hasn't it? Okay that one weekend when, uh-" Speaking fast at first, Robin suddenly turns his head to avoids Kon's gaze. His fingers fiddle with the sandwich wrapper on the table, it crinkles under his frantic fidgeting. "The first- first- the first time with the closet…"

It seems Rob is the one having trouble explaining now. Which kinda wasn't fair, he's definitely doing more explaining than Kon is. He searches his memory for what Rob is describing, trying desperately to come up with something to help.

"-You were being an ass and Star dismissed you from training." Rob spits out, his shoulders hiked back up to his ears.

Ah, the memory comes to him now. Yeah he was in a bad mood and frustrated out of no where. Did he even apologize to Rob for that? Damn he is bad at this. But they seemed good after…after…Oh. Yeah he remembers that part. Rob takes another deep sip from his soda cup as Kon relives the memory. Yeah he supposes that was the first time they'd closed themselves off in a closet. One of the first times he got to hold Rob close and keep him there, got to savor him. He can feel the heat rush down to his toes, but one thing still doesn't fit in his brain.

"How does the 'test' bit fit in?"

Robin doesn't exactly choke on his soda, but it looks to be a close thing. The styrofoam cup bends under his grip before Rob puts the cup down carefully and takes a deep breath.

"I uh, I was worried about you. And the only thing that had really changed in that time period was…so I waited in the hall to see if you would take the bait and-

…Wait… Take the bait? Waited-

"Wait, you did that on purpose?" His voice rings a little higher than he means it to. Too busy thinking about Rob planning that situation. How he just happened to come across him while sulking around the tower. How there just so happened to be an closet there. How unsurprised and not pissed off Rob had been.

"I needed to see if it was related to-"

"You did that on purpose." And boy is that doing things to him. He thought it was hot before? God he is SO grateful it's overcast, the breeze is a god-sent. He's pretty sure if he was in direct sunlight he would have gone nuclear by now and taken the city block with him.

"You were upset for seemingly no reason and wouldn't talk to me!" Rob justifies, still red as a cherry tomato, "I know it was underhanded and I'm sorry, but you wouldn't talk to me so-"

Kon's laughing again, he can't help it. Holy shit they're both clueless aren't they? Gods, he thinks back to every time he was having a bad day and Rob just so happen to be in the area and biting his lip, or sitting like a shrimp or just doing something that Kon could justify as problematic so he could-

"So many things make sense now. Holy shit you did that on purpose."

"You never answered the question!" Rob argues, his face is still red and his nose is scrunched up. He looks defensive and angry and gods does Kon want to have a picture of that. He's sure Rob would karate chop the phone out of his hand before he could pull up the camera, superspeed or not.

"I have my own…ideas…But tell me." Refocusing on Kon his expression shifts, pinning him with a genuine and questioning look, "What was going on with you?"

Kon's blood is already boiling, the look Rob is giving him is not really helping. So he scoffs and throws him a playful smile, "Wanna see if your theory is correct?"

A strangled noise sounds from Rob's throat and he squirms in his seat. Rob may know him pretty well, but that's a two way street. He can practically hear the weirder side of Rob's brain screaming to know the answer, to know if he got it right or not. Rob recovers pretty quickly, shooting back and a glare and then, waiting. Waiting for Kon to answer. Because he has to answer that. He has to find an answer to that, fuck.

"I just…I don't know how to explain…" Comes tumbling out of his mouth and then it goes dry, parched like a desert. Robin doesn't say anything, just hums and keeps, looking. Full attention, focused, probably taking note of every little thing Kon was doing. He props his elbows on the table and rests his chin against his folded hands. And waits. It gives Kon time to detangle the feelings tied up in his chest, to really think about what it felt like, and why he continued their little game. Rob doesn't start yelling, or guilt tripping him, or anything. Just keeps waiting. Thank the gods for his patience.

"I had gotten, used to it I guess?" He feels like this is a good starting point, "Like, like I started looking forward to it. It was fun. I would catch you, and then kiss you, and then get you to take care of yourself."

Anxiety spikes in his gut, bubbling, frantic like static. "It- fuck this is hard. It makes me feel good? Like, all mushy and calm. Plus we usually get to grab a bite to eat or I get to distract you from your work and we just hang out after so that's pretty nice."

Rob hums again, something shines in his eyes before speaks, "So I have a calming effect on you."

"Uh, yeah. You're my best friend, I-" How could he put it into words? That everything just, stopped when they hung out. Things didn't seem to big, seemed far away and almost unimportant. That talking with him eased his doubts and worries, fighting beside him made him feel larger than life, that everything seemed so much brighter with him around.

"I always feel amazing when you're around, or at least better than usual. I like hanging around you, and- and getting to-" Fuck it. "-And getting to hold you close. I love it when we're close, when I get to kiss you breathless. Or when you push me against a wall and kiss me breathless." Rob chokes on nothing and Kon doubles down.

"I really, really like that we do that. And I would like to uh, continue doing that. If that's okay with you?" They are both practically glowing red and it is much hotter outside than it was a minute ago. But hey, at least they're matching.

"That uh, that's sounds rad, yeah." Rob's voice breaks a little on the answer but it causes Kon's heat to leap and sing, pure energy shoots through his veins and he has to restrain himself from shooting up into the air. He wants to though, to bolt straight up into the clouds and shout out happily over the city.

"Cool beans." he says instead, a little breathlessly. Any remaining weight of guilt drops off him like the rain against his TTK. A whole new kind of buzzing anxiety takes over him, restless and warm. He wants to make good on that deal right now, Rob is way too far away for his liking. Actually-

"Okay hold up, this is getting awkward." Kon announces before standing. He doesn't even bother actually picking up the chair, just leaves his fingers on the seat and floats it up with TTK and brings it along. He shimmies over to Rob's side of the table, setting the chair down as close as possible when he sits back down, shoulder to shoulder with him. "This okay?"

Rob seems momentarily shocked. Though he quickly relaxes, bumping his shoulder into Kon's. "Very."

"Nice." He breathes and has the rest of his lunch slide itself over the table. Rob swats at his shoulder and hisses. Kon shrugs and picks at his bag of chips.

The tension seeps out of the air. Rob huffs and goes back to his sandwich while Kon polishes off his bag of chips. Which he does fairly quickly, giving him ample time to just, lean into Rob. Getting to watch as he starts overthinking again, grumpily taking another bite of his sandwich as he glares down at the table. Gods he's cute. How had it taken him so long to notice? Like, in the field he's hot, like super hot. But in times like this he's just cute and it does something completely different to his heart. He's missed this. Letting out a slow breath through his nose, he stretches his arm out behind Rob's chair and then lets it rest over Rob's shoulder. It's easy then, to pull him a little closer into his side.

"I still can't believe you asked for banana peppers in that." Kon points out, wrinkling his nose at the tangy smell as he leans in. Rob stills for a moment, biting back a sound forming in his throat and choking on his food in the process.

"It was an option, I think it pairs pretty well."

"You asked for the house special, then made like a gazillion changes. You probably insulted that poor man."

"He asked what else. It was an option. And I added two things."

"Banana peppers though?" Kon is close enough to feel Rob's hair brush against his nose. Rob scoffs and takes another bite.

Kon gets to stay there, in Rob's space. His shoulders tucked under Kon;s arm, their thighs pressed against one another, smile hovering just above his ear, close enough to smell the sterile shampoo in Rob's hair. It feels right, feels comforting. He dedicates some of his focus to making sure nothing is floating, that his aura is pulled back to him and in check. Then he lets it stretch over Rob's shoulders. Tentatively, waiting for Rob to react, tell him off, tell him anything. When Rob just calmly takes another bite of his sandwich he lets it spread further down his back, wrapping around his arms and ribs and giving a slight squeeze. That beautiful shade of red starts to creep back up to Rob's cheeks. Oh they are going to have to do this more often. Closing his eyes Conner enjoys the nice breeze passing by. It carries the heavy smell of rain.

It's not long before he hears the the sound of paper wrapped crinkling. He feels Rob's shoulder shift and move under his arm, he must have finished and was cleaning up. He tries to enjoy the last bits of this peaceful moment, knowing it's about to end soon. It's harder once that realization dawns on him. He really, really doesn't want to let Robin go just yet.

"We should get milkshakes or ice cream after this." Is the first suggestion that comes to mind. Anything to keep him around a little longer. Robin hums, collecting all their trash into a condensed small heap of paper.

"I'm up for it. Know any good spots around here or are we flying again?"

He thinks about it for a moment, "Yeah, there is a good ice cream place about three-ish blocks from here, if you're good with that?" Robin rolls his shoulders and nods.

"Yeah, sounds good. Head out now? Or in a minute?" Rob lazily tilts his head to look at him. Kon's heart skips a beat, breath hitching as he meets Rob’s gaze. He sees movement and thought and light hiding just behind his blue irises. Something just beyond the surface of the steely blue shade. He can’t look away, sitting here like this sounded like a much better idea. So he keeps Rob’s gaze and pulls him closer with the arm around his shoulders.

"In a minute."

A small smile crosses Rob’s face, a faint pink tint returning to his cheeks. Kon gets to soak in Rob’s gaze like the sun for a few moments more, before the blush runs from Rob’s cheeks to the tips of his ear and he looks away. Kon doesn’t.

Instead he takes in the shape of Rob’s jaw, of the blush running up his neck, the way his hair brushes over his ear. Robin is a comfortable presence against him, warm and comfortable. It's a bit annoying when Rob starts shifting under his hold again, taking the ball of trash and smushing it between his palms, his shoulders bouncing up as he works. He watches as Rob scans the area, eyes landing on something across the patio. Rob leans back and pulls his arm back, taking aim. Then he throws the ball of wrappers and trash in a graceful arc. It flies across the patio and hits the lip of the trash can. Going rigid, Rob seems to panic for the half second it takes for the trash to fall into the can with no further incident.

Grinning, Rob pumps a fist up in victory before relaxing in his chair. He leans more into Kon, looking over the patio with a proud smile. A familiar warm and fuzzy feeling springs in his chest, one he recognizes now. He wants to taste that smile, feel the shape of it against his lips. He wants to kiss him.

Ask, he should ask. Avoid this whole situation happening again, because apparently it messed up both of their heads real good. It's polite anyways, romantic too. He’d learned the hard way randomly planting one on someone was a good way to get smacked and... Yeah, he can see why this whole situation spiraled out of control.

Had he apologized to Rob about that? Their conversation runs through his head again, he remembers explaining himself, they talked about feelings, Rob apologized for the underhanded manipulation and bat tendencies and Kon…

Kon never actually apologized. Man, he is usually better at this.

“I’m sorry.” He blurts out. Rob’s head whips around, eyes wide and uncertain. “For the whole not asking. Kissing without asking. Thing. That’s uh, not cool. I’m sorry.”

“Uh,” Several things pass behind Rob’s eyes, as his shoulders slowly relax. The surprise fades from his expression but his pupils remain wide open.

“I didn’t mean to like, ambush you or catch you off guard.” Kon continues. Rob’s eyes narrow quickly.

“Kon, you telegraph everything you do about eight steps before you do it. I saw it coming every time.”

Delivered in a level and deep tone, the information hits Kon like a punch to the gut. Luckily he’s used to that, both physically and metaphorically; he recovers quickly, “Okay but like, still.”

Rob’s eyes get shiny and he swallows something in his throat. He relaxes more into Conner, “Forgiven.”

Kon huffs a laugh. “Thanks, man.”

This is nice he thinks, contentment settles deep in his bones radiating a pleasant warm feeling. The sun peaks through the clouds, shining down light to play and dance with the shadows on the ground. Sunspots roam over Rob’s face, causing him to squint when they flash over his eyes. Said eyes come to meet his gaze, expression soft and relaxed with a small smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. Kon’s attention zeros in on his lips, remembering the train of thought beforehand.

“Ready for that ice-cream?” Rob asks, his head tilts an inch or so to the side, a few strains of hair falling over his face.

“Yeah,” Kon breathes, still staring at his mouth. He can’t refuse him anything at the moment.

And then Rob is standing up. Kon scrambles to follow, missing the feeling of him under his arm already. His chair tips over but doesn’t hit the floor, it springs back up and scoots itself back to the other side of the table; thank you TTK. Rob rolls his eyes as he moves his chair back into place. Then he takes the lead, heading towards the front of the store.

“Which way?” It’s almost an order the way Robin says it, looking both ways down the sidewalk. A grin grows over Kon’s face, he catches up and throws his arm back around Rob’s shoulders.

“Just follow me.” He announces and starts to walk, dragging his Robin along with him. Rob matches his stride easily as they make their way down the street.

The breeze that blows through the streets carries a chill to it, it’s much cooler out now than when they arrived at the sub shop. The sky is darker, more clouds gather overhead. Conner makes sure Rob is secure against his side, hoping that will keep him warm. Is he cold without a jacket? He could offer him his jacket if he is, that would be romantic. Or would Rob be too proud to accept it? He didn’t want to like, offend him. Although Robin wearing his jacket WOULD look amazing, he can already picture the large frame swallowing up his shoulders. O-kay yeah, he’s gotta find a way to do that.

Take him somewhere chilly but not cold so he doesn’t get grumpy. If they stay there awhile, Rob can be all proud before eventually accepting his jacket. Near the water maybe? How cold was it in Venice this time of year? That would be hella romantic for their first date. Yeah, he could fly them to Venice, eat at a fancy restaurant, take a walk or a boat ride or whatever down the city streets. Maybe he could get someone to rain flower petals down or something like that...Would Rob be into that? Kon knows what he likes on his pizza (disgusting) and his favorite Star Trek episodes (valid), but he had NO frame of reference for what he likes on dates.

Which...opened up a lot of other questions too. Has Rob been to Venice before? Does he like it? Knowing Robin, he probably knew like twelve different languages and has a favorite pizza spot in the city. But also maybe a surprise wasn’t the right way to go, maybe he should like, clarify with Rob. Try that communication bit out.

“So like, what do you wanna do for our first date?” He asks, coming back to the reality of gloomy skies and paved sidewalks. “I have some ideas that are pretty great but what would make it great for you?”

Robin’s face twists, his brow arches and lip curls slightly as he looks to Kon with confusion. It’s not the reaction he was expecting, his stomach turns as his mind races to figure out what he said wrong this time. Robin’s gaze goes back to the sidewalk, looking down directly in front of him. He looks focused, contemplating. Yeah, Kon must have said something off because now Rob is thinking about it. And not in the good way. Maybe he should have waited until after the ice cream? Or maybe he was supposed to surprise him with something? Or maybe...maybe he read it all wrong? He’s pretty sure it’s not called something else when two guys are together. Hero has always referred to his partner as his date or boyfriend.

“I mean, I think it’s going great so far.” Robin replies. His face is less twisted but still tense, his mouth makes a thin like and Kon can still feel the tension in his shoulders. He's also pretty sure Rob is holding his breath. Conner tilts his head and observes Rob’s face, looking for an answer, or for the boy to continue. Then it hits him like a runaway bullet train.

“This...this is a date?”

“I was hoping it was, yeah.”

“Oh…” He watches Rob sink into himself just a little more, bow his head just a little lower. It was their first date and he was already messing this up! “Is it a good date?”

Thankfully, that gets a snort out of the other boy. “Other than my date laughing at me for ten minutes? Yeah, pretty sweet.”

This is the part where he might say ‘well you just need to grow a sense of humor, wonder!’, but his brain is still catching up on the ‘this is a date’ part. They just, got sandwiches. And now their going to get ice cream. They are just walking down a random street, what about this makes it a date? There’s no music or atmosphere; honestly Kon was just making an excuse to spent more time with him, to keep him around a little longer. He didn’t have like, a plan or anything. He should have offered to fly him for gelato in Italy, or like a bakery in France. He hadn’t even offered him his jacket!

“Is...that okay?” Rob looked so...hesitant yet hopeful. Like he was betting against the odds while bracing for the punch.

“Huh? Yeah, yeah. I’m- I’m having a good time with you so yeah.” He agrees, usually a safe bet to agree. It gets Robin’s expression and posture to soften.

They refocus on their path but Kon is still feeling the jitters, nervous. It just, didn’t add up. He waited for Robin to say something else, to answer his question, to add something to the itinerary. But he remained silent as they took their next turn and continued on their way. Weirdly Kon feels like he’s walking into a trap. Maybe he didn’t answer Kon’s question because he expects him to know, to remember or figure it out or something. The thought made his heart heavy and the buzzing in his stomach grow. Surely this can’t be all Rob expects from their first date?

“You caught me like, completely unprepared though.” Kon starts, the unsettling feeling clawing into his throat, he clears it before it can infect his voice, “I mean, grabbing some lunch and ice cream is kinda everyday stuff. A bit boring for a first date, right?”

He regrets the words as soon as they leave his lips. Robin recoils as if he’d been physically hit, crossing his arms over his chest and hunching over protectively. The worst part? He doesn't say anything back. Kon could see the moment Robin closes himself off, turning away from him. All the alarms are ringing in his head now, he finds himself scrambling yet again to fix whatever he broke.

“I guess.” Robin mutters under his breath. He shifts and Kon’s arm ended up kinda, hovering over his shoulders, it was like having his arm over a particularly spiky cold front. O-Kay, time to back track. Maybe Rob had some twelve step plan for this dating thing and this was step one? Because-...Fuck Robin asked him out that weekend. This was his idea and Kon just-

“That….Okay wait, that come out wrong…” He backpedals immediately, pausing in the middle of the sidewalk. Robin takes a step out of reach before seeming to realize, and turns back to face him.

Conner reaches for the back of his neck again, scratching at the short shaven hairs on the back of his head beings some semblance of comfort. “I’m not used to dates being like, laid back. It is really nice, I’m having a grand time it’s just...unusual? Like we haven’t even been attacked by anything yet!”

“Probably because we are in civvies and not in the middle of the city.” Robin retorts automatically, a reflex. Rob comes back to himself then, studying the sidewalk between them before explaining, “Dating... I don’t think it has to be like that. It be fun to plan something big every now and then but... I like dates like this too.”

The smile is back on Rob’s face when he looks up. Relief floods through Kon’s system, leaving a little off balance. Now, this is the part where he should say something romantic, maybe something a little cheesy but just as suave. See? He can be good at this. He remembers. But looking at Rob’s little grin makes his head go all fuzzy, so when he opens his mouth-

“So you do like it when I laugh at you for ten minutes?” Is what falls out.

“Kon,”

“I’ll make a note of that.”

“Conner.”

Despite the warning tone of his voice Rob is still smiling. He even chuckles a little at the joke, the sound shatters the tension like a hammer to a thin sheet of glass. Conner takes a deep and easy breath before stepping forward. Tim turns to match his pace and they start on their way again.

“This is going to sound stupid,” Conner continues, “But I was really afraid of things changing between us and being like, I don’t know, more awkward? More tense?”

He doesn’t know how else to put it, hoping Robin will understand or at least puzzle it out. The other mulls over his words, brows furrowing as he squints at the sidewalk as if it insulted him. Conner starts to hold his breath as the silence continues. Something seems to dawn on Robin as his eyes widen with clarity. He shoots a very quick glance and meets Kon's gaze, only to immediately look straight ahead and avoid eye contact. The small glimpse of blue still causes his heart to pause, skip, and refuse to beat properly. He is trying to force his organs to function normally when Robin clears his throat and speaks up.

“I thought I’d lost your trust.”

“What?!” Kon’s attention snaps back into focus, wondering how the hell they had gotten to this point. Robin kept his gaze trained forward as he continued, his gait automatic and calm expression very obviously forced.

“You used to tell me when things bothered you, especially if that thing was me or something I did. So when this whole thing happened and you weren’t telling me what was going on I...kinda panicked.” Rob was fiddling with the hem of his shirt. His face starts to crack, giving way to a more anxious look, but he keeps looking straight ahead as if everything would fall apart if he even tilts his head slightly off kilter.

“All my other relationships got really complicated because of the Bat stuff. And not just romantic ones, all of them. People end up losing trust in me.”

It feels like being plunged underwater. Robin lets his dip while Kon’s heart sinks in his chest. Apokolips is the first thing that comes to mind and everything about that mission is painful to think about. Dr. Irons, Granny Goodness, Bart’s scout getting...and the fight with Robin… He lost two of his best friends because of that and he wasn’t sure they would come back. “I, didn’t mean it anything like that Rob.”

Kon shoves his hands into his pockets and looks away, trying to fish his heart up from the bottom of his stomach. Damn it he’d been having a good time! They were just hanging and having fun! Why did this always happen? Why did he have to ruin it?

“Do you trust me?” Robin asks. His response is automatic.

“Yeah Rob, always.”

It’s not in question, hasn’t been for a long time. Sometimes he'll question Robin’s decisions, mostly when Rob downs seven energy drinks within the span of sixteen hours and then tries to plan something. And Kon lives to give him crap about most things. But he trusts him completely, that he knows for sure. Robin’s smile is reserved and hesitant, but still blinding. His hand comes to tug on Kon’s sleeve, fingers hanging on his elbow. Conner practically falls into Robin’s eyes, open and honest and deep like they each hold a universe of their own. Once again everything around them stops and he can’t look away.

“Then nothing is going to change.”

Conner no longer has the sinking heart feeling problem. Oh no, now his heart is pounding against his ribs so hard it might break out, it’s clawing up his his throat so violently his mouth opens as if to set it free. Which leaves him standing stock still in the middle of the sidewalk gaping like a fish out of water. Rob is still staring up at him with eyes more open than he’s ever seen them. Kon can tell his usual defenses are down because he sees such honest hope in his eyes. Features relaxed he looks younger, like his actual age. He’s still barely hanging onto Conner’s arm; his jaw is set in a determined line, his cheeks dusted with pink, his eyes holding galaxies of their own and his lips...

They take his entire focus. He finally decides on something to say, and prays to every god he can think of that he doesn’t fuck up. “I’d uh, it’d be cool if like, a couple things changed though.”

That sounded smoother in his head for half second he thought about it.

Rob’s lips curl into a smile, parting to let a small huff of laughter pass through them. A glance up to his eyes shows they are dazzling in joy and mischief. The fingers on his elbow slide down to curl around his wrist, pulling his hands out of his pocket. Robin tugs. His feet obey. He isn’t paying much attention to their surroundings to notice how they end up in a little nook against the side of the building. But considering Robin is a few inches away from him and still holding on his wrist Kon isn’t about to go asking a bunch of questions.

“Are you going to be shy now?” Robin teases, and it sounds enough like a challenge to kick his brain in to gear. Not full gear mind you, but a gear setting of some kind. Conner clears his throat

“Rob,” It’s barely a whisper.

“It’s Tim.” He whispers back, face inches away from his.

That information clicks somewhere deep in his brain. He feels gears turning, feels the storm brewing, the water rushing from the shores and out to sea just before calamity hits. He has the vaguest idea that he is probably going to die, either from cardiac arrest or something else.

“Tim,” He corrects himself and Rob looks very pleased. Kon’s pretty sure he’s not going to make it through this date alive, but it’s a hell of a way to go. And there IS a thing he kinda wants to do again before he kicks the bucket.

“Can I…?” He brings his hand up to graze his fingers against Rob’s cheek. Tim’s grin grows wider, showing off his canine. He nods and leans forward,

“Better hurry up, I’m getting impatient.”

Before anything could interruptions or distractions could stop them, Conner lets his brain turn off and his heart pull him forward. His hand slides around the back of Rob’s head to hold him steady as Kon closes the distance. All his senses hone in on that single focal point in his arms; of warm cheeks under his palms, the pair of hands that grab onto his waist, the way Tim tilts his head and leans up into him to deepen the kiss. A familiar fuzzy feeling erupts from within and rushes through his veins. It reminds him of the warm smell of the Kent Farm kitchen, the sound of the ocean in the background while laughter plays out. It’s the feeling he’s found himself chasing far too often. It’s the feeling of coming home.

He doesn’t register the thunder at first, only the feeling of Tim’s head cradled in his hands and the tangy taste of those peppers he ate. Until Tim breaks the kiss to catch his breath. The sky roars out again in the distance and their little hiding spot looks a lot dimmer than a minute ago.

“We should probably get going before it starts to pour.” Tim reasons as he starts to pull away.

An involuntary whine leaves Conner’s lips as Rob’s head slips away from his fingers. But he doesn’t go far, letting go of Kon’s waist he grabs onto his hand instead. Then Rob is pulling him out of their secluded little nook and back onto the side walk. The clouds overhead had grown at least three shades darker and the air had grown colder. Despite that, Conner feels warm all over and Tim still wears a more rosy complexion.

They do end up beating the rain. Tim is still holding his hand when they get to the ice cream shop, through the line and their order. Neither lets go until they have to pay.

The buzzing anxiety never really goes away, but it lessens each time Tim laughs. Conner still finds himself holding his breath after a joke or tease, waiting for something to snap or shatter. But Tim, as always, just shoots a quip back at him and the banter goes on. Kon ends up forgetting the whole ‘date’ thing until Tim refers to him as his date while getting them both waters at the counter. It throws him for a loop again, as if the whole world shifts on it's axis. He overhears the cashier call them both ‘cute’ and he smiles to himself. Whatever the feeling is settles into his chest with a light and warm feeling.

It is raining by the time they leave the shop, but Conner uses his TTK to keep them dry on the flight back over to Gotham. Tim insists they touch down at the city limits like earlier. Kon tries to persuade him otherwise, but he is effectively shut up. And delighted to find that the tangy taste of the peppers has been replaced by the sweet of sugary ice cream.