#and obviously doylistically the writers are also just ignoring that the house collapsed and got completely rebuilt

[silverwhittlingknife]

snippet: post-Batman 654

(I was reading this and wanted to write the inevitable phone call with Dick afterward sfdsfds)

Tim's calling. Dick snatches up the phone. He's been waiting impatiently for this call. Please let Bruce not have screwed it up, please -

"Hey," Tim says, voice wry.

"Hey," Dick says. And he can't be absolutely sure, because Bruce has been so weirdly nervous about this and dragging his feet, but the warmth in Tim's voice is encouraging. "Any news?"

"Well," Tim says. "Bruce says you would like me to have your room. Even though there are, like, six thousand rooms in this place."

He has to laugh. "I told him - oh, God, never mind. Please tell me he managed to spit out the rest of it."

What Dick had actually said was, Well, offer him my room, then! Bruce, you can't let him live in the stable, come on. I thought you were gonna talk to him as soon as you got back to Gotham. And Bruce said stiffly, 'Stable' is a misnomer, I've had it converted into an apartment and professionally cleaned, and Dick said, I don't care, you have a house, and Bruce said, It's what he wanted, stiffer than ever, and Dick said, Did you actually ask him, or did you psych yourself out, and Bruce was silent.

At first, Bruce's complete inability to talk to Tim about something that Tim would obviously want had been a balm over the old wound of how long it had taken Bruce to offer adoption to Dick. But it had dragged on so long that Dick was torn between amusement and exasperation. It had been several months since the cruise, when Dick had awkwardly broached the subject in private and Bruce had said he was going to offer once they got back to Gotham. Dick had assumed he meant as soon as they got back to Gotham, so it had been baffling to hear from Tim that he'd moved into the stable (the stable!!!) and was apparently planning on staying there indefinitely. So Dick called Bruce, a few times actually, and every time Bruce said that he was planning on it.

"He offered to adopt me," Tim confirms, a smile in his voice. "I mean, he said a lot of other stuff trying to work his way around to it, but, uh, yeah. That was the general point. Spill. What did you say to him?"

"We weren't talking behind your back," Dick clarifies. "I mean, okay, only temporarily. I provided moral support. But somebody had to, Tim. I've never seen him dither so much, it's like he thought you were gonna shout at him."

"Seriously?"

"Seriously."

It's been eye-opening in terms of all the things that Bruce never asked Dick and should have, honestly. Tim used to insist that Bruce wanted to ask Dick to be Batman after the Bane thing, and that he only didn't because he thought Dick wouldn't say yes, and Dick was never entirely sure whether to take it at face-value. But he's been reassessing the possibility that the World's Greatest Detective is genuinely just thickheaded, at least in some situations.

"Explain the room thing," Tim says. "And, um. I mean. Are you sure? Because I'm seriously fine in the stable."

"Are you dissing my generous offer of my room?" Dick says. "I offer you my own personal housing, carefully decorated by a person of the best possible taste - that's me, by the way - and you prefer to live in a stable?"

It isn't, honestly, Dick's room in any meaningful sense. The house got rebuilt from the ground up after the earthquake. Same floor plan, none of the memories. But it's still the-room-where-Dick's-room-used-to-be, second floor at the end of a corridor on the east side, the best spot for sneaking out. Alfred repopulated it with some of Dick's stuff that survived the 'quake, and it's cozy, in its own way. Dick's stayed there overnight a few times, when he visits Gotham.

It's a nice thought, if he's honest with himself. Tim there. It doesn't really matter, Tim could pick a different room if he wanted to, there are tons of them. But. Tim likes hand-me-downs.

"I mean, I'm not dissing it," Tim says.

"Better not be. Don't make me come down there."

"Yeah, yeah." Tim hesitates. "But, like. You really don't mind?"

Oh man. "Tim Drake. I formally bequeath to you my room. By the power vested in me, etcetera. Please move out of the freaking stable."

Tim's laughing. "Okay, okay."

"Now, I do require that you maintain a certain standard of care -"

"Oh my god."

Dick relents. "I'm sure you can pick whatever room you want. I'm just saying. That room is objectively the best one. Also, you didn't hear it from me, but it used to be right next to a wiring hub, so if you open a small hole in the wall you can disable some of the perimeter sensors without having to go out in the hall."

"You make a good case," Tim concedes.

"So you're gonna move in, right?"

He holds his breath. The truth is, Bruce isn't the only one who's been tentative about this. Tim's been skittish, too. And... there's probably all kinds of reasons for that, and it's not exactly Dick's fault, but... he didn't handle it well, when Tim first mentioned the idea of adoption. They've talked about it since, and he's pretty sure Tim gets that he's supportive, but... It'd be good, to be able to offer something. Tim's such a little liar himself that it can be hard to reassure him with words. Dick doesn't really have anything concrete to offer on his own behalf, not like adoption. But ... Tim likes symbols, and this is a silly one but at least it's something.

"I... you're sure?"

"I need a caretaker, Timmy. Think of my poor room, languishing, abandoned -"

Tim's giggling. Victory. "Have you ever even actually stayed there?"

"I feel a profound emotional connection," Dick says. "My room's connection to me transcends space, time, the Richter scale, and Bruce's frankly awful decision to paint all the new walls in a different shade. We're spiritually bonded. I'm counting on you. Also, I ran into Clancy again, and if I have to tell her that my honorary little brother is living in a stable, I may physically expire from shame."

Actually, wait.

"My official little brother," Dick corrects.

Shit. He should've asked that first.

"It is gonna be official, right? Please tell me you said yes." Is that too pushy? "Unless you really don't want to, which I respect, I just-"

"Dick, relax!" But there's a note in Tim's voice that's something like relief. "I said yes."

Oh, thank God. "Good."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

They're quiet for a while. It is good, so good that it doesn't quite feel real yet. Dick's been waiting for this for a few months, but in a weird way, it feels like he's been waiting for it for years. And... it's been a hard year, it really has. But there have been good moments. This is definitely one of them.

"We gotta do something," Dick says, past the lump in his throat. "To celebrate. We can go camping or something. You like camping, right?"

This is an educated guess. Tim once talked his team into a camping trip and then way, way, way overprepared for it, which was probably at least partially anxiety but also seemed to involve a lot of enthusiasm. And Dick used to go camping with his Titans, too.

"I like camping," Tim confirms.

"So I'll take you to the Adirondacks. Tell Bruce. He's gotta get his celebrations scheduled in, because next weekend, you're gonna be gone on a camping trip." Hmm. "I mean, unless you'd like to invite him?"

"No," Tim says. "That sounds perfect. I..." A long silence. "I'm really grateful. I really am. I just... I'd like to do that, Dick, really."

They haven't talked about Jack Drake. But.

It's not like Dick can read Tim's mind or anything. And the situation is different. He knows that. He has to watch himself, and actually pay attention to Tim, and not just project on him. But... he does like to think he can read Tim pretty well. And it doesn't take an expert to guess that an official new brother might be a little easier to handle, to make peace with, than an official new father.

Adoption is the right thing for Tim, the obvious thing, Dick feels sure of it. He doesn't want Tim to be left guessing for ages, the way Dick used to feel, unsure if he was really part of the family or just an incidental ally. But just because it's the right thing doesn't mean it'll be easy all the way through. So maybe Dick can ease that transition, a bit.

Plus. Selfishly. It'll just be nice. To see Tim. To have a bit of time that's just for them.

Officially brothers. At last. For real.

"See you soon," he says.

"Thanks," Tim says. "Really. I'll tell Bruce." And then, a bit impish, "And on the trip, you can tell me about you and Clancy."

Ooh, so he caught that. The best defense is a good offense. "Sure. And you can tell me about your new study buddy. What did you say her name was? Zoanne?"

"Or I can catch you up on cases," Tim pivots.

Heh. "See you soon, Boy Wonder."