#kon really can't catch a break

[mamawasatesttube]

ooooo timkon w “Can you just hold me?” or “You look like you need a hug." for the ficlet thing :3

Kon's hair is a frizzy mess.

That's the first red flag. Kon is ridiculously vain when he wants to be, with a whole hair care shower routine, silken pillowcases, and an array of curl creams and whatnot that he had to explain to Tim twice before any of it stuck in his head properly. Tim teases him for it now and then, but he knows it's because Kon doesn't like people seeing him at anything but his best. Kon got too used to being picked apart on camera for that.

So the fact that his hair is unkempt and mussed as he lets himself in from the balcony is... concerning.

Even more concerning is the way he barely even looks at Tim before he throws himself at the bed, flopping face-down with an oof. The balcony door closes itself behind him like an afterthought, and he heaves a huge, melancholy sigh.

"Kon?" Tim pushes away from his desk, trotting over to the bedside. Kon's legs are sticking off, and Tim shakes his head fondly as he reaches down to tug Kon's boots off. "Long day, huh?"

The first boot comes off in his hands; the second follows almost instantaneously. Kon lifts his head from the duvet to give him a slightly sheepish look over his shoulder, apologetic, before he drops his face back down with a thump.

"I'm tired," he mumbles. And he sounds like it. There isn't even a hint of a smile in his voice.

Tim crawls onto the bed next to him, rests his hand comfortingly at the small of his back. "What happened?"

Kon hisses out another sigh into the duvet. "Someone tried to—and don't get your knickers in a twist, I'm fine—but someone tried to dissect me today. Again."

Alarm jolts through Tim's whole body; his hands immediately start roaming Kon's torso, probing for wounds. "What?! Are you hurt—"

"I just said, I'm fine, Rob." Kon sounds a little wry as he rolls onto his back. "Jeez. What happened to your listening skills?"

He catches one of Tim's wrists and holds it to his chest, over his heart; Tim can see the sliver of an incision, cut right into the center of the S-shield emblazoned on his chest. He can't tell if it cut the skin beneath or not, but at least he doesn't see any blood.

The tiny smile on Kon's face fades, and Tim softens, studying him. Now that he can look properly, he can see the telltale signs that Kon cried, earlier; his cheeks are a little blotchy, his eyes slightly reddened. An eyelash is stuck to the delicate skin just below his eye.

"Some... ugh. They were some, like, Cadmus-wannabes. Total bozos, though. They had a red sun lamp, but no metagene suppressant, so." Kon shrugs, discontented. "They didn't even use the energy restraints like that time with Amanda Spence, like—c'mon, at least do your basic research if you're gonna try to vivisect a guy, right?" He snorts humorlessly. "I got out fine, took it down, called the S.C.U., it's whatever. I'm just... I'm so tired, Tim," and his voice cracks on Tim's name.

"Kon," he murmurs, leaning down. He presses their foreheads together, his chest aching. He'll have to check the news, find out from reports who exactly was behind this, because... it shouldn't matter, since it's already taken care of, but something inside him burns at the thought that anyone, anywhere, could put such a bone-deep sorrow into Kon's eyes.

"I'm so tired of people acting like I'm—like I'm not a person just 'cuz I hatched outta some stupid tube in a lab." Kon's eyes are too bright. He squeezes them shut and takes a shaky breath. "Like—what do I gotta do, y'know? How do you just—how do you even get through to people who're so convinced clones aren't people? I'm a person, too! I just... I..."

Tim very briefly debates the ethics of breaking into Stryker's just so he can hit someone with his staff. Or his car.

"I'm... really sorry you had to deal with that," he says instead, lamely. It's cold comfort, and awkward, and—

And it makes Kon laugh, watery but real. He blinks his teary-bright eyes up at Tim, brushes a gloved hand to his cheek. "You're mad as hell right now, aren't you?"

Tim smiles ruefully and presses his lips to Kon's jaw. "You caught me." Another kiss, to the corner of Kon's mouth. "I just—I hate that I can't do anything to fix this kinda thing for you. You don't deserve it."

"Mm." Kon takes a second to collect himself, swallows hard, and breathes out slowly. "You do more than you realize, I think. Can you just—can you just hold me? For a little while?"

Tim flops down on top of him immediately, wraps his arms around his head and neck, and smushes his face into Kon's hair. It would probably be more comfortable if they were side-by-side and facing each other, but the advantage of this position is that—

Kon laughs again, soft and fond. His voice is still a little thick, but he's smiling now. "Is that comfy for you...?"

"Kinda." Tim kisses his temple, too. "You smell like smoke."

"Mmf, sorry." Kon sighs again. "And I got it all over the bed now, too, huh..."

"S'okay. We can just grab a different blanket later." Tim scrunches his fingers through Kon's hair until they hit a tangle. "...Want me to wash your hair for you?"

Kon's arms tighten around him, and suddenly he seems like he needs a moment before he can respond. Tim doesn't rush him.

"Yeah," Kon croaks out after a moment, his voice suspiciously wet. "Yeah, Robbie. I'd like that a lot."

[dairy-farmer]

You ever think about how Tim has NEVER had normal sex in his life?

Has only known superhumans and Peak Physical Condition trainwrecks?

Think about it. Who would he have lost his virginity too? Some grabby, gross, civilian he can't relate too? That reeks of B.O. and would ask QUESTIONS about his battle scars? Or his BROS? Who he trusts. Who love him and understand him. Who where THERE when he got those wounds.

Who would stop if he told them too.

He totally, after working up the courage, siddles up to Bart and asks if he... you know... could help him with something. Because Tim's NOT about to risk his first time to SuperStrength and complexe FEELINGS. And Bart is from the future. He's much more chill about this.

But he's? Also a fucking SPEEDSTER? They VIBRATE when they get excited. That same stamina that can let them run for what TO US, OUTSIDE the Speedforce, seems like hours? It's literally DAYS to THEM. Fuckers are stamina BEASTS.

But Tim is still learning, hasn't figured that out yet. Bart is his Fun Friend. Light hearted and chill. Good first time material.

So they fumble out of their clothes. Bart getting more and more hyped. Vibrating. Trying to stay in slow time with Tim. They fumble about, learning what touches feel good. Vibrating fingers on his clit? Feel REALLY good. The same for inside him. A little lubricant, because he read you're supposed too, aaand? Oh. Oh god.

And look, Bart DID try! It just felt... *incoherent noise*

Which leaves Tim getting fucked at superspeed. Nerves lighting up and muscles trying to react to something that's already moved on. Getting gushed into again and again like a stream that keeps coming, ruining his sheets. Feeling hands everywhere as the sensations catch up.

He can't possibly keep up. Gets offs so many times his brain decides its NAP TIME now. Wakes up to Bart panting into his neck, his puss full and gushing cum down into the PUDDLE under his hips, and another orgasm.

Tim learns that Speedsters tend to marathon their sex.

His everything feels bruised.

Bart has to fix his bed as Tim steals Bart's. But! No longer a virgin. And when he recovers? He TOTALLY gets the "deal" with sex now. (No he doesn't. Speedster sex is an outlier.)

Thing is? No one thinks to correct this misinformation. Why would they? OBVIOUSLY somebody ELSE gave Young Justice "The Talk", right? Nope. Individuals got it, but not as a team. Tim never got SHIT. He RESEARCHED.

Figured out "safe sex" is birth control and NOT letting the Half Kryptonian with super strength be "on top". You have to ride THEM or you risk bruises in delicate places and potentially broken bones. Luckily, Kon has TTK. So he can help.

When Tim doesn't want to do all the work or is tired, Kon can just... wrap him up in that full body hug of a telekinetic field. Lift him and slide him back down, as fast or as slow as feels good. Tease everywhere that feels good at once. Even if Tim drifts off, while Kon is teasing himself after making Tim orgasm, his whole body is supported so he can just sort of relax. Drift and feel good.

Let Kon use him for a bit.

It takes so LONG for Kon to cum, but Tim thinks they're getting better at it!

Of course, Batman would NEVER. Is distant. But Tim tries his best to be a good Robin. Bond in any way he can. It all falls short. Bruce brittle and hurting. Then? Some idiot tries to recreate Ivy's Pollen. She catches word. Does NOT appreciate that. It's a shit show.

Their masks hold. But in the fight, Batman is sent crashing into a crate of experimental samples. It wouldn't be a problem, if not for the metal joints of the crate stabbing JUST enough to break skin, though a weak point in his Armour.

They don't notice until the fights over. Long after an emergency counter-toxin would be effective.

Tim manages to get him to the Batmobile. Get them back. Agent A, has a fever and is upstairs. Fast asleep in bed. Can't help. The emergency Ivy counter agents will only go so far. Luckily, Tim knows where the napping couch is. It has a pull out bed.

Bruce doesn't put together his plan until he's already half removed the suit, his brain already sluggish and overheating. He tries to object, but it is strangled into a groan when Tim leans forward and tries his hand at using his mouth. Because to be honest, Tim isn't sure Bruce will FIT.

He barely fits a few inch in his mouth.

He's gonna have to try though. Pollen really only has one cure. And if Bruce had groaned at his mouth? He nearly sobs for air when Tim carefully rocks over him, lines up and breathes into the strain as he let's himself slide down. Bruce's hand shoot up to catch his hips, flexing like they want to slam him down and lift him off, like they a warring and can't decide.

But Bruce's hips know what they need. Are desperately rocking up. A little deeper. A little deeper. Impaling Tim on the biggest cock he's ever taken. Tim let's Bruce control things. Take what he needs. Rubs his clit to try and help with the strain. And then? He's so, SO full.

Bruce is rolling them. Hiking up his hips and leaning forward to rest his sweating forhead on Tim's shoulder. Holds him possesive and close as he fucks him. Slow at first them faster and faster. Harder. Until it feels like Tim's insides are being battered. Growling in his ear, his, his. His robin. Good boy, his.

Like something finally snapped and all the desperation finally fell out. The lust and greed.

It's like Bruce is trying to drain him of every orgasm he can possibly HAVE. Too much. He's so tired. It's good. Overwhelming. Goes on and on and ON. Surely he's cured now? Right? Tim drifts. Wakes up in Bruce's Bed. Weren't they in the cave? But Bruce is still inside him, rocking, gently and just to feel it. Shhh, shhh, go back to bed. Yeah. Okay.

Bruce is a lot nice after that though. They're closer. Tim has definitely found his bonding activity.

It works on Dick too. Who was between relationships. Depressed again. Lonely. And... well, Tim is so WARM. Feels so good to cuddle. Too bend in half in a good ol mating press and just? Get as close as he CAN. It's fun to eat him out until he sobs. Sit him in his lap like a cuddly little buddy and split him open, carry him around all day like that. Maybe Dick gets a little bit obsessed too. A little attached. Who's to say?

But! Each and every person? Who wants a piece? Not normal! Super human or frankly human outliers with intimacy issues that make them backed up! Tim who thinks Sex=Railed Into Oblivion! That you gotta SCHEDULE around it, because OBVIOUSLY you won't be able to walk or move after. This is normal and to be expected, right?

What do you MEAN "no"?

-🐼

tim being completely out of touch about what normal sex is supposed to be like 😭😭😭😭! the only people he's ever fucked has been people who are so beyond what could constitute as normal and all have conditioned tim to believe that sex is just LIKE that 😭

[002yb]

how abt an au where the villains of the month steal dickjay's dna and make a clonebaby :O

Okay, but what if it's a scenario where the Superfam and Batfam come together on some mission. They save the day, but in the wreckage of everything is this dark haired, bright eyed clone baby and all of them just stare because two of them are daddies but they don't know who.

So they all take turns caring for the baby until they can figure out what to do; whoever's DNA was used will have ultimate say, but they need to consider risks and the liability of it and-

SuperBat

Clark understanding where Bruce's concerns are coming from, but getting prickly regardless because Bruce is treating this clone baby like a threat. Clark has one clone son and he's perfect; they would be so lucky to have another. )<

To which Bruce shuts himself up because he's 1) not fool enough not to recognize that Clark will throw hands and Bruce is woefully under prepared for such a fight and 2) per his therapist, Bruce needs to make active efforts to 'be more sensitive to others.' This is a prime opportunity.

Also, Kon overhearing Clark being protective over him and getting all timid over it. Just scuffing his boot over the ground and acting like he doesn't care but really he's feeling so warm and loved and Tim rolls his eyes before bumping his shoulder against his friend and offering him an assuring and soft smile and ahhhhhh

Anyway, Clark and Bruce taking first watch of the child

And Clark isn't surprised by it; he's seen how Bruce is with kids of all species/creeds, but it still takes him by surprise to see how good Bruce is to this baby

He might be endeared, too. Because there's something really sweet about catching Bruce sat back in a chair, baby on his chest as he works, hand large enough that it spreads to support the babe's back and head - a protective stance

Or rather, Clark is definitely endeared. Because when Clark offers to tend to the baby, he only gets as far as reaching out to take them before Bruce is shuffling away, grunting as he goes to do the task himself because the old bat is attached after no time at all.

Clark does eventually get to hold the baby (which he loves; he gets all nostalgic about back when Jon was this small and how children grow up too fast, which Bruce can only grunt in agreement to because they really do).

But anyway, Clark gets to hold the baby and it's sweet. He supports them, holding them close to his chest and bouncing as he walks around, turning his head to smell the top of their heads and smiling at the baby smell

Bruce might feel just the slightest endeared by the sight, even if Clark being gentle and kind is nothing new.

Dickjay

Reluctant caretakers!dickjay, but only because Batman looks especially grim as he hands the baby off to Dick. Like this man is not keen on letting this child go

There's nothing to be done for it though. There are JL matters at hand and Superman and Batman can't skirt their responsibilities for too long at a time, so.

Even still, Bruce lingering in the shadows and being this foreboding presence in the background for a time while Dick and Jason take their turn with babysitting.

Things only settle once Superman herds Batman away. A comical sight that helps break some of the tension once Dick and Jason are alone.

Maybe they aren't anything to each other in this AU yet, either. Not really friends, hardly brothers. And it's not that they're estranged, but they don't seek one another out, either. Not unless it's for work.

Which is why babysitting together is weird.

Something something where Dick encounters the same problem as Clark had with Bruce, because while Dick tends to the baby, Jason keeps a distance and just sort of looms in the shadows. Wandering to the fringes of Dick's peripheral before pacing back away, arms crossed tight and scowl looking very much like a pout.

Because Dick is capable of watching a baby on his own and takes on the responsibility because Jason didn't/hasn't/has never seemed keen about kids in this way. Making sure they're safe? Of course. Having them drool and snot and vomit all over you? Not so much.

But the more Dick watches Jason and how fidgety he is, the more Dick realizes that it seems like Jason really wants to hold this kid.

So Dick asks Jason if he'd like to [hold the baby]. And of course because Jason is Jason, he won't admit outright that he wants to. It's clear with how his eyes light up, how he has to bite back a smile, that Jason is so eager though.

It's unexpected, to say the least.

What's more surprising is Dick's introduction to caretaker!Jason and how much of a mother Jason is.

It takes him out at the knees.

It's all Dick can do to stare in awe and wonder as he watches after Jason and the baby. Because Jason is so soft and gentle and sweet with them. The baby cuts through Jason's prickly exterior and on so many occasions Dick catches sight of the most devastating smiles.

And Dick has something of a domesticity kink always and forever so at some point he starts to get flustered by Jason being all kind and caring and delicate. Which Dick knew Jason always was, but to be confronted by it in such a darling way? Fuck.

But Dick tempers himself because it's still Jason.

So they go about their time babysitting.

Something something Dick playing with the baby a lot and keeping them engaged. Jason happening upon them because he hears baby laughs. So he wanders out from wherever he'd gone to find Dick and baby playing peekaboo. And the baby is thrilled by it. Their titters are so sweet that even Dick smiles - more wide and genuine (biting, Jason recognizes) than he's allowed in a long time and ahhhhhh.

And something to take Jason out at the knees: coming home from running errands or working a case to find Dick reading to the baby. Not even a baby book. Just straight up case notes and censoring the graphic bits as he goes and Jason is so damn endeared.

That feeling only gets worse when he comes back from showering and finds the both of them napping.

Jason gets a blanket over them and starts dinner. And when Dick wakes up to the noise, he flusters worse than ever before because Jason. Apron. Cooking for the family them.

Something something they're working on the couch together. Jason's got the baby cradled to his chest. Dick looks over occasionally because it's cute. But between one glance and the next Jason fusses and Dick looks over and oh.

The baby tries to nurse off of Jason through Jason's shirt and Jason tuts at them and Dick just stares because omfg. Jason scowling and Dick being genuinely flustered although he still laughs because it's funny and cute.

He still goes to get the baby's bottle though.

And when he comes back Jason jokes about how Dick would be surprised how often that's happened.

Which. What? <- an internal thought with an envy that rears itself in a startling way.

Externally though, Dick plays it cool.

'You've done this before?'

'With Damian.' What? 'He'd always bite, too.' What? 'Hah, he didn't change.'

Which leads into a conversation about how Jason cared for Damian way back when. And grumbles about how he should have stayed longer if only to have raised the brat with some proper humility and manners.

Dick minding his tongue over how Damian might have internalized plenty of Jason's ornery qualities, but a lot of his best qualities, too.

It becomes very clear how Jason missed out on being there for Damian growing up. So Dick fills him in starting from the point where Damian came to him, at least, and what an ornery punkass brat he was and how Dick loves him anyway

And from there they just talk. And they laugh. They taunt and challenge and jibe and get recklessly close to flirting as they exist in this domestic bubble with one another.

Oh. Something with Dick taking the baby to shower. And he has a towel around his waist but he's very much a wet and glistening dream as he pokes himself part way through the bathroom door to hand the baby off to Jason and Jason just about combusts because he was wholly unprepared.

Anyway, Jason's had a crush since forever and Dick falls in love over the span of their babysitting duties.

So when it's time for Conner and Tim to take over, Jason is more intense than Bruce ever was because no. Fuck off, losers. The baby is theirs. His. Uh.

The baby is eventually coaxed from them (despite Jason's snarls and scowls; despite even Dick's disappointment) though because vigilantism doesn't lend itself to this sort of normalcy, this form of goodness

But Dick tries anyway by at least holding on to Jason. And asking him out on a date and moving in together getting married having a circus trope of kids and-

KonTim

For flavor and funnies: Tim and Kon struggling to babysit the baby. They've overcome any number of hardships together, but child care might be their undoing.

Just two very young adults with no aspiration for having a family being confronted with family life and not jiving with it in the least. Like they're absolutely the sort that hold this baby beneath their arms and at arm's length as there's a two v one stare down because like...what now?

Spoilers: chaos.

But before that, Kon and Tim jinxing themselves because for a while the baby is just chill and not doing anything and just...it's so boring? They honestly don't understand baby fever or the hype of new parents; this is miserably dull.

Famous last words between them, because right after it's all crying and hiccups and blowouts and just all the nasty things those who aren't ready for parenthood tend to fixate on hahaha.

Like, one of them absolutely gets peed on while trying to change a diaper. And they screech about it while the other laughs. But it's okay because karma exists so the other party definitely gets puked on after changing their shirt for the third time.

Tim develops some sort of system for troubleshooting baby problems; manic first parent energy dialed up to 1000

And by the end of the day they're both exhausted and they just got the baby down and they're ready to sleep, but then there's more crying and they just smack at each other because, 'it's your turn.'

But it's Tim and Kon, so of course they get into a routine and get everything sorted.

Anyway, abrupt cut to:

Where Tim is working and has the baby in one arm against his shoulder while he types away with the other. Just patting the baby's back to burp them since they just ate while attempting to catch up on a case he's fallen behind on.

Tim distractedly grabbing the baby's bottle instead of his coffee cup. And when he goes to drink it, the rubber nipple pokes him and he scowls because ugh, come on.

Meanwhile Kon is just there, staring intensely and being wildly jealous because it's been days of nothing. So Kon makes a dramatic gesture to his chest/nips and Tim cackles because omfg, shut up stop.

Which only makes Kon snicker and smirk and take the challenge for what it is.

Basically everything devolves into Kon trying to seduce Tim

Another abrupt cut:

Where Tim is debriefing with Batman over something and Bruce hears the baby crying in the background and visibly straightens and leans forward, shifting left and right to try and get a better view while asking after the baby and Tim is just ._. because the baby is fine, no they don't need help and Bruce don't you dare zeta over-

DamiJon

Damian standing there with hands out ready to receive the child into his care, only Bruce is being stubborn about it again.

Bruce making all manner of excuses for how Damian doesn't need to babysit and that Bruce can cancel his plans and-

But Damian is a dutiful son through and through and is wildly obtuse so he misses the obvious with Bruce wanting more time with the baby and insists that his father resume his duties and responsibilities because Damian can be trusted with this mission

And Bruce is just a big sad boy about it because baby

Meanwhile Clark is just fond as he looks after his partner before turning back to Jon to assure him that Jon can call for him if anything happens.

Which Jon rolls his eyes at because it's just for a few hours; they'll be fine. And then a little hair ruffle moment because yes, they will be fine they've both grown so much proud dad feels ;3;

But also they'll be fine because DamiJon spend their babysitting time on the farm with the grandma and grandpa Kent supervising lol

Anyway, Damian holding the baby and being so calm that the baby is just zen af, dozing and drooling on Damian's shoulder.

Damian swatting at Jon's hand when Jon goes to poke the squishy baby cheeks

So Jon smirks and pokes at Damian's cheeks, too. Because they're still round with youth.

Damian retaliates by pinching Jon's cheek. Doesn't matter if Jon is grown now; Damian can fuck him up - watch it. )<

Since it's only a few hours of babysitting, they'd pass the time wandering the farm. Introducing the baby to all the farm animals.

Just baby pats for the cows and sheep and Damian mindfully taking the baby's hand when Jon brings them a chicken because he's not risking any bird pecking at the babe.

The chickens pecking at Jon instead lol

The baby being snuffled at by a horse and the sound/feel of it making the baby laugh and Jon beams about it because this baby is a Kent through and through; a total farm baby.

Damian commenting on how that might be. Because the baby has Jon's nose. Which makes Jon fluster a bit because what? Really?

Jon scuffing his foot over the dirt and mumbling about how maybe the baby is theirs, after all? They have Damian's eyes.

Damian refusing this, because it's clearly his father's eyes.

And Jon just about gags because no, nope. Damian or nothing.

But anyway, an easy day spent babysitting on the farm.

Jon being surprised by Damian's grace with looking after babies. And Damian gets to share some of the experiences he remembers with the nanny that looked after him. It left such a lasting impression on Damian and it's so clear that he's fond and tender towards the memories and Jon is both glad and jealous because it's nice to know that Damian had some kinder childhood memories, too (even if Jon wasn't a part of them).

Martha showing them both how to properly feed a baby and burp and change and bathe them.

Come the end of the night, they're all tuckered out. Jon and Damian passed out on the couches in the living room. And the baby nestled up with grandma Kent who is so happy to have another grandbaby. Great grandbaby? Doesn't matter.

And then of course there's a clamor (or as much of a clamor as Bruce makes) as Bruce charges up to the house to fetch his clone baby because Bruce is always and forever an intense father

Bruce taking the baby but forgetting Damian at the farm

The way this man reverses the car all the way from the main road back to the farm ahahahaha

And Clark is there with Damian passed out in his arms and Bruce is so flushed with embarrassment because 'not a word, Clark.'

[incorrectbatfam]

Can we get some Timkonbart sharing one braincell?

They have 4 YouTube channels

Tim does in-depth unsolved mystery theories with compelling evidence and field visits. His most viewed video is visiting the Zodiac Killer site with Bernard

Bart's has detailed explanations of quantum physics and debunking scientific misconceptions. His most popular video is him (figuratively) ripping apart a flat-earther

Kon candidly talks about the ups and downs of superhero life and gives advice to younger vigilantes, including his most famous one where he puts on a Justice League drag show for Pride

Their joint channel? Tortilla slapping, grenade football, meat smoothies, 3-person sweaters, duct tape leg waxing, blindfolded biking, stair sledding, plugging in a suspicious USB…

They get in trouble after saving a city

Tim receives intel about an alien attack in Paris and comes up with a complex battle strategy on the flight there

Kon takes out the flying drones in a single calculated laser zigzag while catching a falling citizen

Bart clears the area and uses his powers to shoot the bad guys back into the prehistoric era after distracting them

Post-battle, they get stopped by French police who ask for their passports and they're like "uh…"

Tim falls asleep on the break room couch. Kon comes in and puts a blanket over him. Bart adds a blanket on top. Kon adds another. Then Bart adds another. They keep adding blankets, forgetting there's someone underneath until Tim rises like a zombie

They sneak alcohol from Wayne Manor, forgetting Kon and Bart can't get drunk. So it's just Tim half-asleep and stumbling after several drinks and they have to cover it up before any adults figure out, so Kon controls Tim's limbs like a marionette with his TTK while Bart does a ventriloquist trick he learned at circus camp to make Tim seem like he's talking

Every year, they have a Young Justice picnic. And every year, there's zero coordination. Which means all of them bring paper plates and no one brings food

Bart asks for a hot dog. Kon suggests they make it a footlong. Tim then adds double of each topping. Then it's spilling everywhere so they wrap it in a tortilla. But then the tortilla starts coming undone so Tim texts Alfred who suggests using egg ad a binding agent. But they can't leave it raw so they dip the whole thing in egg and bake it. Then for fun, Kon adds salsa and melted cheese. And that's how they get cheddaregghotdogurrito

Tim and Bart start a group chat for Kon's surprise party… with Kon

The same thing happens for Tim's birthday

One time they see a subway train out of commission so they're like "can we have it" and the city's like "sure" so they take it and convert it into one really long bed

They try to fish in the desert. They're convinced (in part by Bernard) that there's a lake under the desert with New Secret Fish so they drill a small hole for a fishing line and wait

The first time washing blood out of their uniforms, they go on google and get a whole list of things to remove bloodstains then make the Ultimate Turbo Stain Remover by mixing detergent, hydrogen peroxide, vinegar, ammonia, Coke, cornstarch, and baby power in a hot tub. Then they climb in and regret everything

They talk about what they wanna name their kids. Kon says he wants 3 kids and he'll name them all Tim Jr. and Tim's like "they can't be Tim Jr. if I'm not their dad, that's not how it works" and Kon's like "can too" and they go back-and-forth, meanwhile Bart says he wants to name his Snorlak

[suzukiblu]

WIP excerpt: mirror mirror. tw: clonecest, unnegotiated scene including praise kink/dirty talk and roleplay/genderplay. (( chrono || non-chrono ))

Match chokes and comes all over the mirror and the broken-off pipes in the wall. He tries to jerk back for more of Kon’s cock, and Kon really can't bring himself to stop him–if baby brother wants his whole damn dick to come on, well, he's spoiling him tonight, isn't he? 

So he lets Match jerk back into him, and braces himself with his TTK on reflex, and Match takes him all the way and then chokes again, harder, and moans his way through the rest of his orgasm with Kon’s whole damn dick buried to the hilt inside him, just like he apparently wants. He doesn’t move at all, otherwise; just enough to get Kon fully hilted, and just enough to shake and shudder his way through coming. 

Which–they both come a fucking lot, so their orgasms usually take a little longer than a baseline human's, Kon's pretty sure. Like, on average, anyway. Coming is one of the only things Match ever makes a mess doing, in fact. Kon doesn't know if it's a Kryptonian thing or a hybrid thing or just a “them” thing, but watching Match with his face and hands pressed up against the mirror and his ass taking all of him shudder his way through every single pulse of his aftershocks is a real, real good feeling. 

As is just how tight his hole’s clenching up through it. 

“That's my girl,” Kon barely manages as he forces himself to hold still, and strokes both hands down the other's ribs. Match makes another strangled noise, his shoulders jerking, and his cock spits one last pulse of come onto the fucked-up tiled wall to drip down it with all the rest of the kind of mess he'd never make otherwise. 

Match would never break anything accidentally. Never get flushed and out of breath. Never make a mess. Never look like this. 

Kon wants to fuck this fucking bastard ‘til he's fucking stupid. 

“You're so cute when you're gagging for it, baby girl,” he murmurs down the other's throat, stroking down to his hips and back up to his ribs. “You come so pretty, every time. Prettiest little bitch I know, with the cutest little tits and the tightest little pussy.” 

Match groans into the mirror. Kon’s still buried to the root inside him, so he misses literally nothing of the way Match clutches up all the harder around his cock when he tells him how tight his “pussy” is. It is exactly as fucking brain-melting and inconceivable as he would've expected it to be, as an experience, and he has to stifle a groan of his own. 

Still can't bring himself to shut up, though. 

“So tight,” he rasps, and grips Match’s hips as gently as he can make himself. Still doesn't move, though, just–“You're so good at this. Only cunt I ever wanna fuck. She's hugging my cock so sweet, baby. Does she still need more? Still want him to come in her?” 

Match's fingers just barely curl against the mirror, and he pants against the glass. Kon can see it fogging up, close as they're pressed together, and exhales hotly against Match’s neck in half-mimicry of the other’s panting. 

Match’s hole clutches up again, and Kon feels duly rewarded. 

“Well?” he asks, voice still low and raspy and fingertips just barely stroking Match’s hips. “Tell me what you want, princess.” 

Match turns his face just enough that Kon catches a glimpse of his dazed, half-focused eyes, looking absolutely fucking cock-drunk, and then slurs out, “Harder, Daddy.” 

Kon does not actually have the self-control not to fuck him into the wall for that. 

Not even a little bit does he have the self-control for that. 

[o-kaythislooksbad]

@ailesswhumptober day 4: hiding an injury / betrayal / lying [does lying by omission count as lying? maybe. does clark hate that bruce knows about his past with lex? of course. does bruce think their relationship is a betrayal? absolutely. aka bruce finds out about kon's origins, and is not having a good time right now. adjacent to the titans fic, mostly just an exercise in writing m and dick as bros, and angsty superbat sharing a braincell]

"does supes know?" m asks, watching his husband throw kon into the air and catching him like it's the most natural thing in the world.

"yeah. he's visiting the cave, though the bat's barely talking with him. guy can really hold a grudge." dick yawns, then takes a sip of his coffee. it really is too damn early for this conversation, especially with the amount of people in the tower who can overhear them, either by sound or by thought.

"what's the bat got to do with anything?"

"superman's dna was used to make kon," dick starts, looking into m's eyes to try catching a glimpse of his brain at work. "the man of steel. the guy whose skin cannot be pierced with anything short of kryptonite, which neither luthor nor his associates possessed at the time of the kid's conception."

m's eyes light up. "and batman keep records and contingencies of all potential 'threats' in the cave," m nods. "so he must've sold out our boy in blue. that's cold."

"sure, we'll go with that answer," dick says, pointing at apollo with his mug, then raising it to the man's husband.

"no fucking way," m replies gleefully, "no. fucking. way. people call us the world's queerest as an insult to us and the world's finest, not as a comparison."

"to be fair, a lot of bigoted assholes do refer to you two that way."

- - - -

"a toothbrush? brucie, batsie, baby. love of my life. a toothbrush. one of the most disposable items in existence, as a gesture to your commitment. 'here, take this cheap plastic -"

"- it was three hundred dollars, clark - "

" - as a reflection of my devotion to you. and, as a bonus, i'll sell it to your worst enemy.' thanks a lot, b, i really appreciate it." clark hasn't raised his voice, not once, since his unexpected appearance at the cave, but his disappointment and rage is palpable. he's hovering a few feet above the ground, staring down at bruce, with the red in his eyes a fraction away from turning into laser beams and disintegrating him on the spot.

"it's in your favorite color, and your teeth are much stronger than any human's, clark; i designed it specifically for you." bruce's voice isn't breaking, it's not, because he's the batman and he doesn't get emotional over trivial things like this.

"bullshit!" clark swears, and really, it's almost a shame no one else is hear to catch the big blue boy scout uttering a no-no word. "it was one of your ploys to get my dna, for one of your end-of-the-world plans, and i was a fool to trust you."

"omaha." bruce barely exhales to form the word. clark can hear him, of course, he always can. but clark, bless his heart, is so caught up about the goddamn toothbrush that it takes him a beat to recognize that bruce said the code word.

"- could justify a high price point on a dental - wait. omaha?"

"omaha, smallville. ring a bell?"

"what?" clark asks softly as his feet connect with the stone floor. heat pools in his belly and burns his irises and he can taste the sweat on lex's upper lip.

"come on, clark. you can play the big dumb oaf all you want, but you can't look me in the eyes and tell me you really thought that your dental records would be enough to make him. there's still so much i don't know about your biology, but we both know that it takes more than saliva off a toothbrush to create a child."

[pseudo-hero]

So I Just Read Superman Issue #8...

(I think it came out right after my predictions post for it. I'm hoping, because otherwise, that was just clueless of me.)

OH. MY. GOODNESS. SO MANY THOUGHTS.

Did this issue seem like a short one to anybody else?

2. I thought about the first interaction shown in the above image here between Clark and Lex since Lex got shanked. It's just so cute to me (even though Lex doesn't have a right to be that cute). Especially considering how we just saw him last issue, literally rushing to try to get to Superman so he could help him. Like, I think he's just being pouty and difficult here so Clark will feel compelled to apologize (probably because it reassures Lex that Clark does care—even if no one else does—and that he didn't willingly leave Lex on his own die). No one else in-universe understands because they're not Clark or Lex.

3. Conner: "Sorry for what? It's not like Lex didn't have it--"

I wanted to believe that Kon (who is called by his Earth name this entire issue for some reason, despite being in hero mode not civilian mode) was about to say "have it under control" but that's just too nice for Lex, right? Of course he was probably actually going to say "have it coming".

Conner: "Hope you know you're not worth all this, Lex."

Ouch, another jab from he and Clark's unclaimed son. Why not just tell him you wish he was dead, while you're at it? (I know, I know. Almost happened not too long ago.) Also, Mercy's name makes for a good joke a lot of the time.

(Side Note: I'm glad he called him Lex, at least. [Meanwhile, Clark's back to calling him Luthor. I wonder what triggers it. Maybe it's when he knows a bad deed is connected to Lex?] And this is, I believe, the first time in years since he and Lex have even spoken! Over a decade if you don't count the Nu52 version of Kon-El as being the real deal. Also, do Lex and Clark still have some paternal feelings left for Konner like they more or less did at times in past comics from the 2000's - 2010's? Doesn't seem like it in this run—but I'm still taking what I can get!)

4. He sprints in for the catch...aaand...he's caught her!

Oop, he lost her.

(Side Note: Umm... Nice glove, Lena? Not a bad fashion statement/reference to spontaneously appear out of nowhere. Really screams "Daughter of Lex Luthor".)

So yeeep. Everyone (except Clark) in Lex's birth, created and by-proxy families despise him. Even his daughter (who I guess was told about all the things he's done, including to her) now seems disgusted by him. I get it's him and all and that many of his past actions have been horribly despicable and unforgivable (and spoken of or hinted at in this issue and acknowledged by him, too) but DAMN. The guy just finished healing from an attempt on his life. AND his mother came to visit! Guy can't catch a break or breath (which means anyone in close proximity to him won't be able to, either). Still, he's stronger than me.

5. Luthor: "I did it because Sammy killed his father. He KILLED Sebastian Stryker."

Superman: "Then you should have had him arrested! Not kept him in some dungeon to rot! (emphasis mine)"

Luthor: "[]...He's a monster."

HAHAHAHA. SUPERMAN AND LEX LUTHOR ARE SUCH HYPOCRITES HERE!!!!!!! WITH EACH OTHER AND IN THEIR VIEWS OF OTHER PEOPLE!!!!!!!

Seriously! How many times has Lex been found to have killed his father or even both parents? Even if the excuse is that there's been a change in continuity, it still comes across as unintentionally hypocritical to those out of the loop! Hopefully they'll explain what happened to "this version" of Lex's father (if they haven't already) to help clear things up. As for The Superman himself? Uhhhh, Phantom Zone villains?? (There's even an on-going miniseries involving Clark and Lex right now that has the Phantom Zone in it, fwiw!!) This is at least the second time now in this run, that Clark has been blatantly hypocritical; and on the same subject. Here he even mentions and excuses himself for using the PZ:

So it's okay for Clark to permanently lock up his species' criminals in a distant, cut-off-from-society place with little to no stimulation, but humans can't do the same with theirs?? (Or is it just because it's Luthor?) Also hilarious how in this recent issue, they were so far in the game, yet Clark still wouldn't so much as admit that Lex may have been justified in thinking this was his only way to stop Sam/my! Or somewhat acknowledge that the situation they're in is largely happening now because Clark WOULDN'T LISTEN TO LEX AND RELEASED SAM.

However:

He seems to have finally conceded to obeying Luthor's advice here. But...was it worth it in this case, considering how this issue ends? Is Lex just destined to be harmful to all no matter how hard he tries to be beneficial, or is it just the current situation that he's put himself in making it seem that way?

6. Yes!! They reconfirmed that Conner is "a bit of [Lex] and a bit of [Clark]". It was said very "quickly" and in an almost clinical manner, but this still did the trick for me! All three of them seem to have already been aware of this, too.

Yep, and Superboy's powers are indeed based on Sam's but he DOES NOT (as far as I can tell, based on the wording) get any of his DNA from him.

7. Another reference to Lex's Smallville past from Superman Lore.

Why is the watch separating their sections in-panel and why is this perfect? (It looks so beautiful here, too. Almost as much as during its debut.)

Now I understand why Clark was concerned here. I assumed earlier that it was a case of hindsight being 20/20 and him not realizing yet that Lex was right to make that his weakness (not sure how that's possible if Sam is only a human, but oh well). But it was actually Clark thinking about the risks involved, for him and/or others that have the weakness.

8. The different types of art in this issue were overall on point! However, this style (above image) was...interesting. Not bad, just interesting. That large MOUTH of his.

9. (Wish I knew how to shrink images. This one should be wayyyyy smaller, imo.)

Yes, yes, yeeesssssss. SUPERMAN. SAVE ME. He knows Clark will (and does)!!

10. YEEEAAAAHHHHHH!!!!! That's our Superman!! Risking his life for those he technically risked the lives of to begin with!! (I forgive him and give him a pass here. His heart was in the right place and he doesn't usually screw up like that anyway.)

11. *whispers* The use of/dependence on kryptonite in 2023 is kinda lame. Arguably always was. However, it really helped push the story forward here, so I see nothing wrong with its presence. Plus:

It often adds to the DRAMA.

Seriously though, this upsets me greatly. I know he'll be fine but the damage looks severe. 🥺

12. So, Lex was down. Now Clark is. (Kon and Kenan were too, before Clark. If you count the events of Action Comics.) Looks like it's becoming a pattern. Like the LL's and K's in either families'/teams' names.

Anyway! As usual lately, I can't wait for next issue!!

[mocksterling]

I was making a Tiktok about Kon-El with the audio that says, "stop! She is engaged with someone else, okay," as a reference to Tim and Barnard and it corrected 'konel' to 'lonely'!! 🤣

[planetwaynez]

A headcanon that's been surrounding my mind lately is the headcanon that the YJ core four has a band. Like they have a band with their civilians identity.

Cassie and Kon created civilians identity just for this band.

Note that I understand shit about music but I have thoughts and opinions

Kon-El plays the electric guitar, you can't change my mind on this. He uses a leather jacket that is totally different from his leather jacket as Superboy. AND HE USES GLASSES like Clark on stage, is pretty hot bc he looks like a idiotic nerd. He's also one of the vocals. Kon is really good at playing the guitar, he always seems super chill when playing and knows how to play actually super difficult and professional guitar arrangements. His voice is naturally deep but when he sings his voice is a baritone and sometimes it leans into a tenor, depending on his technique. But is very rare to happen, he likes his baritone voice too much, it complements Cassie's perfectly.

Tim plays the bass bc my boy can't sing for his life so he is very happy to just play his bass in the corner. Uses his hair tied all the time but sometimes the hair tie snaps and he has his hair all over his face. Everyone is shocked that one of the Wayne's is in a band and that he actually is good at playing the bass. Damian is the one that instructed Tim on how to play the bass in a more difficult and professional way.

Cassie is, in fact, the vocalist. She can totally rock the drums but she is such a great singer that would be a crime to not have her upfront singing. She has a beautiful mezzo soprano voice, and Cassie really enjoys going for a technic that can make her voice more deep. She thinks it's sexy but she CAN and WILL hit really high notes if necessary. Has a lot of stage presence and everyone is mesmerized by her. Often steals the scene, she is very eye-catching.

And Bart is on the drums. Boy is so full of energy that he has to be playing the drums. And he is GOOD at it. Gives his life when he is playing and never misses a beat and is always in synchrony with the bass. He breaks a lot of drumsticks in the begging but now he knows how to not break them anymore. Also Tim designed a special type of drumsticks for him that are unbreakable. He looks super cute when playing, his hair is everywhere and sometimes people wander how he plays if he's not seeing the drums. Well my boy is vibrating in the same frequency as the drums, his body is also in synchrony with how he plays. Definitely feels the rhythm of the music bc of his powers.

They are a very famous local band. Like they are in Uni and everyone on the campus and around that area knows them but the moment that they realize that the bassist is Tim Drake-Wayne they go viral famous. It's actually super funny bc they don't want the fame, they just wanted to play and have fun but hey since we are here might as well make money out of it, right?

But even being know they have really private lives thanks to Bruce's influence. Lois definitely threatened some sensionalist journalists around the USA bc she is not letting anyone talk shit about Kon-El and the Kent's.

Their band name is a inside joke about some mission that they had that went downhill. Like, I don't know, Poised Flower (bc they ran into Poison Ivy and and they got poisoned by flowers without realizing what was happening).

After they get bored they disbanded and made it seems it was all a big scandal and they definitely had a lot of fun with the caos that they installed in the world with the vague reasons of why they disbanded. But the YJ is still thriving and Wonder Girl and Superboy constantly get things like "you look so much a like with Cassie/Kon from Poised Flower!" They pretend they don't know whom these people are but once it's just the four of them they are laughing their assess off.

After the disband they kept being a band but only for themselves. The often get together to play and sing just the four of them. Sometimes other people from the hero community likes to watch them. Their Number one fans is definitely Dick, before and after the disband. Once Nightwing was caught singing one of their songs on patrol.

[radioactive-earthshine]

Stoooop wait a sec. 🥺 Conner has another solo series from 2011? Why haven't I heard of it before? 🧐😒😳

I'm not sure WHY you haven't, but it's worth a read if you're into creepy farmcore, creepy cults, dystopian futures (again) and general teenage fever dreams.

It came out in 2011 and is one of the final solo runs of Earth Prime before the N52 Reboot happened.

It also more or less follows directly after the events of Action Comics Superboy: The Boy of Steel and it follows along with characters introduced in this mini series in Smallville.

One of the things that stuck out to me that I appreciated the most was that Simon Valentine found out pretty fast that Conner Kent was Superboy and interjected himself in his life as his close friend and confidant. He was a great character and I miss him greatly and I hope Kon gets him back as a friend because I believe in strongly that these heroes NEED civilian friends.

Superboy 2011 #1. Why is Simon more yassified than Kon?

Pros? We get new characters, awesome displays of TTK (really, it's cool), Kon has great moments with Bart, we have character development from some awesome side characters, and letters to the editors are back in a few issues (hey this is important to me personally).

Cons? Kon just can't catch a break when it comes to writers wanting to pair him with girls he really should not be with, while calling out that it is problematic in the actual dialog, but then flirting with it anyway (just like with Tana Moon), DYSTOPIAN FUTURE/EVIL FUTURE, Kon's friends all want to kill him, cishet white dude.

It's less gross than the fair majority of his original 1994 run, but still has not aged the most spectacularly compared to what is expected now. It also defaults back on some common writing tropes that were beaten to literal death in Teen Titans v.3.

Still it's worth a read for any Kon fan.

[mamawasatesttube]

hiiii i would be very curious to see what you do with "you're so, so, so pretty" for timkon :]

Tim is staring.

He's not even making much of an effort to hide it; his eyes have been fixed on Kon for the last ten minutes, with all the piercing, vaguely-creepy Bat intensity that entails. Normally, Kon wouldn't mind (he does love Tim's attention, after all), but this evening, he's hard-pressed not to fidget uncomfortably.

Where's Bart, and why did he have to abandon Kon to go polish off everything left in Cissie's casserole dish? He was the one who encouraged Kon to wear this stupid dress tonight, to "try out a new look in the safety of a potluck with the homies", and he said Kon looked nice in it, but...

Tim has been staring for eleven minutes now. The clock on the wall over his shoulder makes it real easy to keep track.

When it comes down to the two of them, it's inevitable. Kon cracks first. "Okay, what?" he huffs, folding his arms across his chest. His face burns. "Take a picture, why don't you? It'll last longer."

Tim's eyes widen, and he takes a hurried sip of the cocktail Anita made him, as if it'll disguise the sudden rosy stain on his cheeks. "Oh. Well—could I? Would you mind?"

Okay, wait. Hold the phone. What?

Kon eyes him skeptically. "Why? I mean—" He breaks off, because he already knows Tim isn't gonna make fun of him; it's his own self-consciousness talking. Tim is way too sweet to be cruel like that. He just... well...

"Because," Tim says, as though it should be obvious. "You're pretty."

Kon's face heats. Tim? Calling him pretty? That wiggles its way into his chest and kindles a warm, fuzzy light in his heart. He tries to stave off the giddiness, dropping his gaze and rubbing the back of his neck. "Are you—how much alcohol have you had, dude?"

"I'm not drunk." Tim rolls his eyes. He sets the half-finished cocktail down, crawls across the bit of sofa between them, and flops over to lie down, his head in Kon's lap; Kon's skirt is short enough that a bit of Tim's hair tickles just above his knee. "Maybe a lil tipsy. But not drunk. What, can't a guy call his best bro pretty while sober? Ish?"

The look on his face, though... God, that look is so soft and earnest and adoring that Kon's breath catches in his throat. "But you..."

"You're pretty," Tim insists, smiling up at him. "You're so, so, so pretty. Got it?"

"Now I know you're just pulling my leg," Kon tries to joke, because the alternative is acknowledging just how hard his heart is pounding in his chest, or how good it feels to hear Tim say that. "That is definitely not one of my good angles."

Tim rolls his eyes again, harder this time. "As if you have bad angles."

Oh no. Kon's heart doesn't just flutter; it does a whole hop, skip, and a jump routine. "...You really think I'm pretty in this, Rob?"

Tim's face goes all soft again, and he reaches up to touch Kon's cheek. The pad of his thumb brushes over Kon's lower lip; Kon has to remind himself to breathe. "Yeah," he says. "I really do."

Kon's brain officially can't handle the amount of tenderness on Tim's face, and abruptly shorts out. Pretty rudely, too; the least it could've done is offer a two-week's notice or something.

Autopilot takes over: Kon pumps a fist and cheers, "Booyah!"

It's probably not the stupidest way he's ever responded to a compliment. Probably. But hey, at least Tim seems to find it funny.

♥ soft sentence starters ♥

[iphoenixrising]

For 700 Followers!

Hi babe.

That is terribly angsty and now I’m intrigued.

(Just a note for babe not familiar with No Home for Dead Birds or Fracture: I write a scene in which Tim literally has a gun to head. This is not lighthearted angst, please be warned if you read this.)

**

At one time, his colors had been red, gold, and green.

At one time, he’d been part of something bigger, something important. A legacy.

At one time, he’d been able to fly without being afraid of falling.

Being Robin had been the epitome. Even with all the terrible things he’d endured, all the injuries, all the catastrophes, all the insane megalomaniacal baddies breathing down his neck, he wouldn’t have traded the tunic for anything in the world.

(Dick had known it, had known how painful it was for Tim give it up once his Dad found out.)

He would have died with the R on his chest and never had a single regret.

Realistically, he couldn’t have been Robin forever, and he’d known that someday he would have to give it up and either move on with his life as a regular person, or take on another name, another mask, to keep fighting the good fight.

He hadn’t expected Dick would take it without a thank-you or fuck you to mark the end. That hadn’t been in the plan.

But it’s fine because Dick was the first and Robin had been his anyway, right?

Right.

Wrong.

Staring down the .45 in hand, the gun his father hadn’t had the chance to use to save his own life, Tim Drake wonders how it all came down to this.

(Last one left standing. Of fucking course.)

How it had all come out so badly, how he could barely step foot back in Gotham, how he had to avoid the Manor, the Carriage House, his own family home. How he couldn’t pick up the phone or answer texts coming from his former team. How he could barely keep himself the fuck together now that Bruce was back. How his hands would start to shake when the Manor phone number popped up (Alfred). How his mind’s eye would go back to Dick at the Big Computer in the Batsuit, telling him they were still equals. How he would imagine what would happen if he hadn’t caught himself when that zip line was cut. How he would sit in his safe house, off the Bat radar, and mourn the times when he was actually–

(happy)

–part of a family.

The pictures from an old Vans shoebox, the ones he’d taken back when he’d had the run of Gotham, following Batman and Robin (Jason), are burning in the kitchen sink. He watches Nightwing’s blurry face melt away and pretends there aren’t tears in his eyes.

The old memorabilia from Haley’s Circus is in a storage unit outside the city, along with a box that has his last Robin suit.

The lawyer has strict instructions to deliver the key and a letter to his former adopted father, Bruce Wayne, upon news of his death so anything incriminating can be properly disposed.

(They wouldn’t need any of it anyway. They could just shred all of it and wash their hands of him. The Robin that never should have been.)

A map with all his safe houses would be send to Conner Kent, along with a letter of apology.

His favorite nerd shirts would go to Ives.

The sundries in his Perch would be for Steph, and the penthouse itself would go to Babs in case things in the theatre went sideways.

Bart would get a zip drive with all their old shenanigans on video, the only copies left once his systems uploaded relevant data to Titan’s Tower and his electronic footprint would be–

gone.

The box with the Red Robin costume he wore was already sealed and addressed to Jason Todd. The note on top was short and sweet: You were right. It never should have been me after all.

He’d already arranged for his share in Wayne Enterprises to be returned to Bruce Wayne immediately, handing him his family’s company back without any strings attached.

Months ago, he’d returned The Red Bird to the Cave when he was sure no one would be around to catch him. The implication that Robin would need the car one day right there in the fact he’d brought it back because honestly, it was never really his in the first place.

Alfred would get his pick of antiques from Drake Manor, and the house itself would be given to the city to be used as a halfway home for runaway teens. He’d made sure the funding would be there to run it for a few years. The donation was made in his mother’s name.

The hilt molds to his palm, the barrel glinting bright in the night. To his credit, his hands aren’t shaky when he slides the clip home and pulls the slide back to put one in the chamber.

(The team had been working fine without him for a while now. Even if they did need someone, there was another Robin to join the roster and keep them moving forward.)

An abrupt light in the darkness, his phone screen lighting up with a missed call notification.

Missed call: Dick the OG

Ironic since the last time he’d come this far, it had been him calling out to the last person he thought could pull him back.

(Not this time. He has a new little brother, a new Robin.)

Slowly, without putting down the .45, he presses the ignore when the phone starts buzzing against with another incoming call. He thumbs the button on the side to turn the phone completely off without listening to the voicemail.

The clip makes a difference, but the absurdity of it, of the last time he did this, was when his future self was a murdering, gun-toting Batman, and the only way he could see to stop it was to stop himself.

The press of the barrel is familiar, and not in that soothing kind of way.

He blinks, just blinks, and his face is wet, which is really stupid because no one is going to miss him any damn way.

His chest gets tight when he fingers the trigger guard, giving himself the time he needs to do it right. In the final moments, he inanely thinks about the time he was huddled against Dick, right after he'd almost tried cloning his dead best friends in an insane attempt to bring them back. It's really the last time he remembers being held, being warm, feeling like he still fucking mattered. It was Dick holding him tight with restraining, breathing against the top of his head, fingers buried in his hair.

It's when he could be weak while still in the mask, babbling to Dick about how he can't do this, he can't lose them all. He was crying then, too, when he told Dick about his mom and dad leaving, leaving, always fucking leaving. About how he got used to seeing their backs more than their faces. How he was left standing on his own for too damn long to just let it keep happening. He couldn't keep losing them, couldn't keep seeing people walk away, how it fucking breaks him.

And in the here and now, his chest hitches, eyes fluttering, hand tightening down because he'd said...and Dick had...

"But I'm here, Timmy. I'm always going to be your big brother!"

It had been the last time he'd been surrounded by the famed octopus hold.

(It was the last time for a lot of things.)

He laughed, smothered in Dick shoulder, something further away from a sob. "Then I guess you'll at least never leave me, right?"

"You will never be able to get rid of me. C'mon. We're going the hell home and having a movie day. Screw the Lazarus Pit, Robin. It's time for some R and R."

Dick had half-carried him to the waiting Batplane and talked him down out of trying to use the Pit for his own gain ever again.

The first knuckle rests on the smooth curve, a six-pound trigger.

(In the end, they all leave.)

(Not again.)

Conner's terrible mohawk and leather jacket.

Bart racing Wally at a hotdog eating competition.

Cassie running full tilt to throw herself at him when he'd come to Titan's Tower to ask them for help when Ra's was going to kill everyone Batman ever loved.

Raven nuzzling Gar out of plain sight so no one would think she was totally gone for him.

Jason coming to the Tower, alive good God, and the Robin he used to be super-imposed to be his hero and enemy in the same ghostly figure.

Bruce putting a hand on his shoulder on a ride back to the Cave, chasing the dawn, the Good work, tonight tired but sincere, and his whole body lights up.

His mother looking at peace in her coffin, a lily in her folded hands.

His eyes close on the out-of-the-way safe house, the plain beige walls, stripped and soulless. He keeps the team in his mind, the times he was happy.

Now.

Instead of a resounding boom followed by his grey matter splattering his personality, intelligence, imagination, him all over–

the wall to the safe house caves in under a super punch.

Conner is white as a sheet on the other side, brick and mortar crumbling under his hands. "No! Tim. Tim. Put. The. Gun. Down."

His mouth is dry and his brain pan full of nothing but pain and disappointment.

(But you brought it all on yourself, didn't you? The Robin nobody wanted. The son nobody asked for.)

He isn't numb enough to be calm, cool, and collected. "All...all you have to do–" a hitch in his breathing "–is walk away."

The meta floats in a little closer, hovering over the flooring instead of outside. His hands stretch out, gaze focused and intense.

"Can't do that, buddy. Looks like I should have been more of an asshole after all the League of Assassins shenanigans. Sorry, my bad."

Kon knows he's in trouble when Tim Drake doesn't laugh.

"Tim," he goes to serious in about two point five seconds because the hand holding that shiny automatic tightens enough for him to hear the screws in the hilt strain, "Tim. It's me here, okay? It's just you and me, just like it's always been. We’re besties, whether you're Robin or Red Robin or Tim fucking Drake because that guy is so damn cool." He inches closer, wondering if he's fast enough, wondering if he can really get to Tim in time–

Like the former Robin can read his mind, those violet-blue eye give him a blink.

"I’ve always wondered if you really are faster than a speeding bullet."

“No!”

(...as it turns out, he isn’t.)

[xyliane]

half the world away by aurora! "My body feels young but my mind is very old/So what do you say?/You can't give me the dreams that are mine anyway/You're half the world away" annnnnnnd gon :') (congrats on the following my dude!!! >:O)

aaa thanks buddy! I don’t know what it was but this was frustrating as hell to write. I think I have five versions of what this might’ve been, and it’s an unedited disaster. which is the opposite of fun, because I love this cover. but now it’s done! I hope you like it. gen, gon and killua and not a whole conversation but maybe it’s a start, post-election arc. 800 words. I’m using manga ages so gon’s only been back on whale island for a bit (maybe a few months). 

—

“You can’t use nen anymore?”

Gon frowns, unsure of how to respond, and dangles his feet in the air and his head off the roof of Aunt Mito’s house instead. It’s a nice day, rare in the middle of winter, where the rains have stopped and the power is stable long enough to get everything charged and the internet working at home. Aunt Mito wants him to finish with the laundry, but it’s too nice to worry about that, with the smell of sun seeping into his skin and the sounds of life echoing out of the forest. It would be nicer if Killua were here, maybe.

There are so many maybes on Whale Island. Maybe he was too focused to notice them, before. Maybe he’s fourteen and fourteen year olds are supposed to be full of maybes. Maybe he’s changed.

Half the world away, Killua sighs. “We don’t have to talk about this,” he says. The words are careful, tip-toeing around a roof made of paper, like he’s worried this will break the weak barrier they’ve put up against everything that happened.  

Gon shakes his head, wriggling his toes in the warm breeze. “No, Killua! It’s important, and I couldn’t tell you before. I want to tell you.”

“If you say so.”

“I do! Although I guess there’s not much to tell.”

A breath of a laugh echoes through the phone. He doesn’t sound convinced at all, but in a tone that Gon knows means he wants to be convinced. It would be easier to tell if they could talk face to face, but it’s Killua. Gon knows him by sound, by smell, just as well by sight.

“I can feel energy, from the forest and the trees and Aunt Mito and Kon. But it’s more like before I learned about nen, although maybe it’s a little different. I’m not sure.” He looks at his toes splayed out against the blue sky. No aura, no once-familiar ripples of power, just…brown skin and freckles. It’s just him, on his own.

He expects Killua to ask how, or why, or even when, all questions he’s prepared for but doesn’t want to face right now. Killua’s always interested in the details of things, to plan for contingencies based on previous data and his own intuition. It’s fascinating to watch, and Gon can’t help but admire how good Killua is at that. But none of the questions come, not even a sound.

“Killua?”

“Do you want it back?”

The question is so unexpected Gon nearly drops his phone off the roof. His heels thunk against the roof, shingles spitting up splinters against his skin. But Gon barely registers it. “Do I want…?”

“Your nen. I can ask… Maybe Nanika can help?”

Gon sits upright, shaking his head fiercely. “No! No, Killua, don’t ask her.”

“Why not?” 

The question is sharp, almost harsh. How can Gon explain that it feels like it’s his fault? That he has to fix it himself? That he doesn’t mind not having it, most of the time? That he’s not ready yet? “Don’t. Please, Killua.”

The silence he gets back weighs about a thousand kilos on the phone, heavy enough to break. Maybe Gon should have done as Killua said, waited to talk about this until they meet each other again, or until they’re ready. But ready is too uncertain, with too many things unsaid to make it understandable. Maybe Gon will never be ready, will never be like he had worked so hard to become.

Maybe that will be okay. He just has to find out what he wants.

“And if you don’t get it back?” Killua finally asks, voice quiet and small in a way Killua never is. “What do you want to do then?”

“I’ll figure out something. I know I want to travel with you again.”

“Idiot. What if I don’t want to travel with you, Alluka’s a way better travel partner. She doesn’t leave her dirty socks on my face.”

Gon smiles. “Because I miss you, and you miss me.”

“Idiot,” Killua says again, although now his voice twinges and pops, like he has to force the word out through the blush on his face Gon knows is there even if he can’t see it. It would be easier to see the words Killua doesn’t say if they were together. But it would be easier to do a lot of things. And Gon wants to do this alone, if only for a little while.

There’s a soft rustle, maybe fabric or a blanket. How late is it wherever Killua is? He can’t say what adventures he’s having now, to keep his sisters safe, but Gon can imagine. It’s probably in the middle of the night. Gon should maybe feel a little bad about keeping him up late.

He doesn’t. Killua doesn’t, when he calls instead, so why would it be a bad thing?

“Are you really sure, Gon?”

“Yeah. I’m sure.”

“Then when you catch up, you’d better be ready. I won’t go easy on you even if you don’t have nen.” And it’s when, not if, and Gon feels his heart pound in his chest, knowing Killua believes in him. Somehow, it makes all of the maybes feel less important. 

“You can try!” Gon says, and Killua laughs.

[mamawasatesttube]

"you're a terrible liar" for fic prompts?

vaguely set after this ficlet but should stand alone!

Hours after the battle is over, when the dust has settled and the injured have been tended to, when the night has drawn on so late that it's circled back around to daybreak, Kon finally gets a few minutes to breathe.

Weariness settles deep into his bones. The fighting was exhausting enough—it'll never be easy, dealing with fuckin' Superboy Prime—but even after that was over, there was the cleanup. So much destruction wrought in so little time... he's going to crawl into bed and close his eyes and dream of TTKing people safely out of collapsed buildings. He knows it.

Still better than dreaming of the ones he couldn't save, though.

But now it's over. And that means he can finally, finally go find his fiancé and rest.

Tim's heartbeat, faithful as ever, leads him to a quiet hallway in the hectic hustle and bustle of the field shelter and hospital. Tim's holed up in one of the makeshift bedrooms here; he's not asleep, though, so Kon has no qualms simply opening the door and letting himself in.

The door clicks shut behind him. Sunlight streams in through open curtains; Tim is sitting on the air mattress on the floor, knees tucked to his chest. His head whips up the second Kon enters the room, and for a moment, he just stares, his eyes wide and his heart beating faster, like he can't quite comprehend what he's seeing.

Kon holds out his arms slightly, exhausted. Being near Tim means he's home. "...Hey."

The spell breaks. Tim scrambles to his feet and flies into Kon's chest, throwing his arms around his shoulders and holding on tight. His breath shudders through his body; he buries his face in Kon's collarbone and clings to him like a lifeline.

"You're okay," he whispers. Kon knows it's more to himself than anything; he has to convince himself that he can relax, that it's really over. That Prime didn't take Kon from him again. "You're okay."

"I'm okay," Kon agrees softly. He bows his head, presses his lips to Tim's hair, and lets out a deep sigh, weary and content. He's in Tim's arms—he's home.

Tim loosens his grip, his hands running down Kon's back to circle his hips, then back up to his chest. "You're not hurt? You're—did he hurt you?"

"Nothing major," Kon promises, catching those wandering hands in his own. He rubs his thumbs over Tim's knuckles, leans in, brushes a kiss to his brow, his chest aching with tenderness. "Buncha bruises, some scrapes, but nothing major. I'm okay, sunshine."

Tim stares up at him for several seconds, searching his face for any omission. When he finds none, a little of the tension melts away from his shoulders. Kon smiles at him softly, drawing him back into his arms; Tim leans into him, arms wound snug around his waist.

"What're you doing holed up back here?" Kon asks, after a moment. "Wait, don't tell me, lemme guess. You were helping Oracle coordinate relief efforts, but you were too antsy and freaked out and she got fed up with you and told you to go take a nap, but you were too wired to actually sleep, so you've been stuck here pacing a hole in the floor. Am I right?"

Tim makes a tiny noise that, on any other day, would probably be more indignant than the huffy little peep it is. "I'm fine."

Kon snorts, running his hand up his back into his hair. "You're a terrible liar, babe."

That makes Tim's head snap up. He gives Kon a dirty look, clearly offended—while still clinging to him, of course—and wrinkles his nose like an annoyed bunny. "I'm literally not. You are. I'm literally the best liar you know!"

Kon can't help it. He kisses him.

Tim melts instantly, warm and pliant in Kon's embrace. He kisses back desperately, his body belying all the anxiety and terror Kon knows have been drowning him since they last saw each other hours ago; Kon wraps his TTK around him, too, strokes his shoulders and caresses his hair and presses tiny telekinetic kisses all over his back.

"See?" Kon kisses him again, tender as can be. "Terrible liar. You've been a wreck." Another kiss. "Mm..." What was he going to say, again? He kind of forgot, what with all the euphoria of kissing his Tim. Uh... oh, yeah! Right. He nuzzles Tim's nose, leaning their foreheads together, and smiles down at him, exhausted and achy and so, so content. "I'm tired. Nap with me?"

Tim cups his cheek in one callused hand. He gazes up at Kon with so much unbridled adoration that Kon can't quite handle it; his cheeks grow warm every time Tim looks at him like this, even now.

"Of course I will," Tim says. He kisses the corner of Kon's mouth, then admits, as if it's some sort of secret, "I'm pretty tired, too."

Kon scoops him up and carries him over to the air mattress. Tim, more than accustomed to being Kon's favorite ragdoll by now, simply snuggles into his chest with a tiny smile. Kon doesn't miss the way he rests his hand over his heart.

"Hey," he murmurs, brushing his lips to Tim's brow. "I'm here. We're okay."

Tim lets out a slow breath. "Yeah," he says; Kon knows he's not lying this time. "I know we are."