<-- back to main or review this story Title: Five Times Tim and Bart Cuddled on the Couch Author: Cero AteFor: Secondbatgirl Characters used: Tim, Bart, ensemble. Summary: Five glimpses into the relationship between Bart and Tim "Can I sit herepleaseIwon'tbugyou?" Impulse asked, gesturing to the seat beside Tim. "KonandCassieandCissiewon'tletmesitnearthem." Robin took a moment of attention away from the movie and translated Impulse's speedster talk. "Sure. Why won't they let you sit near them?" "I don't know." Impulse shrugged, taking his place on the couch, sitting too close for normal humans. Robin shrugged. He knew from Dick that speedsters needed a bit more contact than others, especially during their teenage years when they didn't control their powers so well. Since they went so fast, they generally felt like they went longer without touch, subjective vs. objective time. With a teammate like Dick, as touch addicted as they came, that wasn't an issue. However, their team didn't have anyone like Dick. So Bart probably was simply being a normal speedster and craving a little human contact. He hypothesized that Bart needed it even more as he had more than likely never gotten a lot from when he went into the virtual reality that he'd grown up in. "Isthisokay?" Impulse asked, squirming around trying not to distract Robin from watching the sword fighting scene. Movies were so slow. "I'mnotbuggingyouamI?" "No, you're alright," Robin answered. He let Bart squirm a little more until the squirming started to distract him from the best part of the movie. He always had fun trying to figure out the trains of logic in the iocane poison scene. They didn't make sense, and yet, in an odd way they did. He wondered if he could ever use something like that with a villain and resolved to start gaining an immunity to various poisons. He wrapped his arm around Impulse and pulled him close, letting Impulse cuddle against him, for the good of the team. ~~~ Impulse looked worriedly at Robin. He knew Robin had to be cold, there was a blizzard outside, and the power had cut out. He was starting to get a little cold, but the hotel had lost power, and the back up generator had run out of juice an hour and a half ago. The hand held radio said that the blizzard was going to last for another day or two. He wondered how long Robin's suit heaters would work…he hoped Robin had suit heaters. He was okay, they always made sure he had enough food for a month on hand, so even if he was burning energy at an accelerated rate, he wouldn't starve. He and Robin were staying in a windowless room right now, and he kind of wished they had a fireplace. It was getting really cold in the hotel. They'd moved a lot of the food into the room, so he wouldn't have to keep leaving to replenish. After a couple hours of trying to occupy themselves, Bart had read every book in the room, played a couple hundred games of hangman against Tim, and they'd resorted to twenty questions. Robin was shivering now, and Bart was cold just looking at Robin. Finally deciding that Robin was going to be stubborn, Bart moved closer under the blankets. Robin sighed and gave up trying to stay warm on his own, moving closer to Bart and closing his eyes as he let his head rest on Bart's warm shoulder. He hoped the snow stopped soon, but there were worse heaters than a speedster radiating heat.
~~~ Bart looked up curiously as Tim came into the room. It still felt weird calling him Tim, but then it still felt weird to know the real name behind the mask. Sometimes he wondered if it really was Tim's real name or just another one like Alvin Draper. It also felt really weird to have to follow Cassie's instructions. It didn't feel right. Robin was supposed to be the leader. That's what the Flash had said, that's what Troia and Arsenal had both believed too. Not Wonder Girl. Wonder Girl was awesomness but not the leader. Tim stared back steadily. He kind of liked not being leader, but he felt like he failed the legacy. Failed Dick. He sat in the couch, and started doing the crossword puzzle. He didn't have to think about it if he didn't want to. Bart frowned. Tim was brooding again. He brooded a lot, well, Wally said all Bats did, but Tim was really good at it. Bart knew something that would at least make Tim brood less, it had worked before anyway. Moving quickly, Bart sat on the couch next to Tim and leaned against him, waiting to see if Tim pushed him away, or let him stay close. Tim was a good person to lean on. He didn't move away usually, and yup, wrapped his arm around Bart, made him feel safe. He hoped he made Tim feel like he still mattered, even if Cassie had been voted as leader. He wondered if the vote would make Tim less stressed, but it seemed to have made him more. That was a bad thing. He nestled closer to Tim and started to try to figure out the crossword with him.
~~~ Bart glanced up from his video game. "Finished with whatever secret you and Kon have for the day?" He'd thought, when they became Titans, they'd be Titans Together, the way it was supposed to happen. Not Titans Vic Gar and Kory, or Tim and Kon, or Kon and Cassie. Bart was left alone. He hated being alone. He was trying to grow up, become someone his Grandpa would be proud of, but he missed being Impulse, missed his friends who didn't keep secrets from him, or at least he didn't know they kept secrets or care. But now they didn't tell him anything. Half the time he didn't know why he showed up anymore. Beating Gar and Vic's video game scores was fun, and Kory was nice, but it wasn't enough. He wanted Kon and Tim back, like they used to be…or at least like they remembered they were a trio. Id, Ego, and Superego. Not Ego and Superego. "Bart it's not…" Tim sighed. It was like that that. They'd been neglecting Bart. He slumped into the couch. He knew they weren't the best Titans, they couldn't be, but they'd been forgetting their best friend. "How's your knee?" "The one Deathstroke shot out from under me?" Bart asked. "It's fake, thank you." Tim winced. He deserved that crack. They hadn't really spared any time to see how Bart was doing, besides the obvious not well, that had made him change his code name. Tim was a crappy Titan. Titans were supposed to care about their whole team, especially if they were Robins. He sat on the couch, and hoped Bart hadn't changed so much that a hug didn't fix most of their problems. He sighed when Bart remained stiff, but smiled when Bart relaxed into the hold, and leaned his head on Bart's shoulder. "I'm sorry."
~~~ Bart held Tim as they watched Newsies. Bart had found the movie at the bottom of the bargain bin and it had looked interesting. He was glad he'd bought it now, Tim seemed to be enjoying it. As much as Tim enjoyed things these days. Kon's death had hit Tim hard. He'd had to work hard to get Tim to come out to visit him, and then get Tim to relax on the couch. Luckily some things were instinctual, even for Robin, and that including cuddling on the couch with them. They might not be Young Justice, or even Titans Together now, but they were still best friends. And they still curled up on the couch together to watch movies. Tim was greedy for touch in his completely Tim way now. "I miss him, so much," Tim murmured as the credits rolled. Bart tugged Tim closer, wrapping his arms around Tim. "I just…I want him back." "I know." Bart nodded. Tim tilted his head up and kissed Bart on the lips, startling Bart, but he remembered in time not to let go. "I'm sorry," Tim said. "It's okay," Bart replied, kissing Tim back. "I understand." Tim sighed and closed his eyes. Bart tilted Tim's head up. "Do you want this? Or is it to make things not hurt so much?" "Yes," Tim answered softly. Bart could deal with this. They were teammates, and that was deeper than any other bond he had found anyway. He kissed Tim again, letting Tim respond at his own pace. They could take things slow. He was a lot better at slow now. <-- back to main or review this story |