peektuttut | ➹ 88

[David's response is an hour late in coming. He spent most of that hour debating whether or not to pretend he didn't get the message.]

Okay. So talk.

[Tim kind of expected it. So he waits. (And waits and waits and waits and God he never thought of himself as impatient, but he stops stacking paperclips and scribbling notes when David gets back to him.)]

Is this going to be weird? I want to say that nothing has to change, but...a few things will. You've got your powers back. They'll stay that way unless you abuse them. I had the same deal with Sylar.

[All the time David's been plagued by one simple question: who's his warden gonna be? Tim or Robin? (He can't think of him as Redwing, even now.) Tim'll cut him some slack. Robin'll play it like the pro he is. So he's laid on his back for the past hour, tossing his communicator back and forth, until he finally worked up the nerve.]

You're letting me keep my powers? [Naturally, they were the first things he expected to go.] If that's not gonna change, what is?

Not much, I hope. But I'm your warden now. We can still talk, and go for runs, and if you need something you can ask me. [But if you do wrong, I'm not going to go easy on you.That's what he doesn't say.]

... Did you know this was coming? [It's an open-ended question for a reason - he's not just asking about getting paired.]

No, I didn't. [Equally open-ended there, David, you're welcome.]

Fair enough. [He decides Tim wouldn't lie to him. Not about this, at least.] You gonna want me to report in at certain times or something?

No, we don't need to set up a regular time. So long as we don't go weeks without talking, I don't think we have to worry about that.

You know where I hang out, it's not like I could hide from you even if I wanted to.

Point.

Anyway. You doing all right?

Rachel hasn't jumped me in any surprise morphs, so I guess I can't complain.

Bring back anything from Gotham?

I got you a comic book from my world.

Really? I was just kidding...

Definitely. It's called Grey Ghost.

Cool. You want me to swing by later to pick it up?

Yeah, sure, whenever you want. Tell me how you like it.

I'll come by later today then.

Cool.

[And here's David a couple hours later knocking on your door.]

[Tim was actually in his 'cave,' fiddling around, but the knock sends an alarm, and he slips out. The wall seals off as if the cave was never there, and Tim grabs the comic off his desk before opening his door.]

Hey. Come in.

[There's a certain guarded wariness in David's body language as he crosses the threshold into Tim's room. He's known Tim Drake as more than just a comic book character for many months now... he's been an advisor, a mentor, and sometimes even a friend. But that was all before he became his warden. Like an animal in unfamiliar territory, David's feeling out his new boundaries.]

No retinal scanner? You're slipping on security, man.

What makes you think there wasn't one? Tim smirked vaguely, waving David in after him. He saw the wariness, but didn't comment on it; instead, he led David into the living room. He'd had the Admiral change his cabin from his bedroom at the manor to his apartment on Crime Alley months ago, but it was still odd to have all the space.]

Oh yeah - here. [He paused and turned, handing over the comic book.] Grey Ghost used to be Bruce's favorite, when he was young.

[It's the first time David's been in Tim's room since the Bourne debacle - he was in Dick's room before that, so he's had some experience with the vast living spaces of the Wayne wards, but it's still a little breathtaking to a kid who still puts more stock than he should in material things.]

Yeah? No shit? [He looks down at the comic with new interest, paging through it carefully, almost deferentially, like it's a vintage issue of the higher caliber. For a moment he doesn't know what to say.] ... thanks.

[Tim smiles a little to see that deference, and offers a nod and a shrug.] No problem. If you like it, I'll get more next time I'm home. [Actually, he'd ask for them for Christmas for David.]

Yeah, that'd be cool. [David's talking, but his eyes are somewhere else. Like he's looking at Tim, but from far off. Inwardly, he's weighing his next move. He'd never expected to have Tim as a warden, and so far... so far it's the same Tim. He hasn't suddenly turned into a hardass on him.

Maybe... maybe he owes him more than this. Maybe he should be telling him about what he never got to talk to Will about, about what really went down in Paris. About acquiring Arthas. His plan, to raise the souls of Paris's dead. And more, what he's planning now. After all the time's Tim has had his back, maybe it's time he returned the favor. Except... he still needs Arthas, doesn't he? Rachel's still here, still a threat. As long as his worst enemy's right here on the Barge, he needs all the allies he can get.

Wrestling with these thoughts, David doesn't even realize Tim's still talking to him.]

...David? Hey, you still with me? [Tim waved a hand vaguely in front of the blond's face.]

Yeah. [He blinks and steps back, mortified by letting himself space out like that.] Yeah, I'm still with you. Sorry, I just... never mind.

Hey, chill. [He gestures to the couches, taking a seat himself.] You can talk to me. What's up?

[Hesitantly he follows Tim's example and sits down opposite his warden, but he's not even close to being relaxed. By now Tim probably knows him well enough to be familiar with the tells he has when he lies.] Just... haven't been sleeping well. [He forces a shrug.] You know, all the shit with Rachel.

Uh-huh. [Tim's always been good at lies. He doesn't point out that David's full of crap, just arches his eyebrows. Come on David.]

[Lying to Tim's pretty much an exercise in futility anyway, and when Tim just raises his eyebrows and waits, he knows the jig's up. He leans back and sighs.] Look, it's... it's just some stuff I've gotta take care of on my own, you know? It's nothing serious. It's not me going after Bourne again.

Well that's reassuring. [Dry dry dry. Tim leans forward, elbows on his knees.] Am I going to regret trusting you on this?

[That makes him hesitate. He bites his lip.] Look, it's... it's just something weird that happened during that one port. The one where we were in Paris. But the Barge isn't Paris, so there's nothing to worry about. It's not like there's a graveyard on this fucking ship.

...[Well what the hell is that supposed to mean.] Just because something happens in one place doesn't mean it's totally negated in another. What went down?

[It means Arthas asked me to help him raise the dead, but. So not gonna just come out and say that. :|] Someone asked me to help them with something. It didn't even work anyway there, so there's no reason to why it would work here. It was just weird, that's all. That's all it was.

[GDI man. :|] ...Graveyard. [He's just muttering that to himself and lol David secrets are bad things to have around Tim. :| He doesn't have it just yet - there are a lot of possibilities to consider - but graveyard's a good clue.]

Okay. Weird how?

[He already knows he's said too much, but pulling out ain't exactly an option now that Tim's dug into this like a bulldog. So he does the only thing he can do short of spilling his guts - stonewall.]

Weird as in weird. Seriously, what's the big deal? It didn't work there, it wouldn't work here, and nothing happened. So what's with the third degree?

[That actually gets a snort.] This is nothing like the third degree. I mean weird like, show me on the doll where you were touched, or weird like I need some time to think about this but I'll be okay in the end. I just want to know how worried I should be, here.

[And that cools some of David's tension. He lets out his breath.] You don't have to be worried about this. It was just... hell, it was probably just port weirdness. It didn't work, and he hasn't asked me about it since then. He probably doesn't even remember it happened.

And me asking who 'he' is probably won't lead anywhere, huh. [He had his guesses, but he wasn't going to just throw them out. It wasn't his style.]

[He manages a smile at that.] Probably not. It's one of those 'if I told you, I'd have to kill you' kind of things.

Yeah, well. You could try. [Tim shrugs, and there's a little smile in the corner of his mouth.] All right, I'll leave it alone. [For now.]

Edited 2011-12-28 15:51 (UTC)

Welcome back.

How are you doing?

I'm good. [Pffft, sure.] How was Gotham? Other than smelly.

[Yeah okay Cissie :|] Fun. As fun as Gotham can be, anyway.

I brought back cookies, by the way. I promise I didn't make them.

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