#largergulp

[mamawasatesttube]

for the prompt thing, what about #15 with tim?

15. "My mom used to do that."

A hand smooths gently over his hair, warm fingers stroking strands back from Tim's clammy forehead. It hurts, his... his... everything, but the gentle touch helps.

"Robbie?" A soft voice. Familiar, though he can't place it. "You awake?"

Robbie is him. Right. God, his head hurts. "Nngh."

"Shhh." The hand caresses his cheek. It’s warm. Tim presses into it, groaning. “You took a pretty bad hit. Stay still. Don’t force yourself.”

“Whuh?” Tim vaguely remembers a battle. There was some… rogue magician. Colorful beams and lights. Something.

“Psychic blast from a drunk wizard.” It’s nice that the voice attached to the warm hand knows what he was trying to ask. Tim sighs, turning his face further into his pillow. It’s a little firmer than pillows should be, but it’s warm, at least. He’s cold. And his head hurts.

“S’a stupid way t’get bonked,” Tim mumbles.

The voice chuckles warmly, and finally a name slots into place. Kon. That’s Kon, petting his hair. He’s… oh, he’s lying on the ground, his head on Kon’s thigh. That’s why he feels safe despite getting walloped.

“Don’t worry. I’m in the stupid bonking boat, too. Sucks to be vulnerable to magic, huh?” Kon’s fingers twine gently through his hair, and his fingertips scrunch gently against Tim’s scalp. That feels so nice against the pain. “Bart ‘n’ Cassie are handling it.”

“Mm.” Tim honestly doesn’t really care about the wizard. He’s still kind of struggling to put two and two together, and he hurts all over. Kon’s hand in his hair is nice, though. “…Tired.”

Kon coos sympathetically. “Yeah, not surprised. Rest. I’ll be here.” He scrunches his fingers tenderly through Tim’s hair again, and Tim sighs.

For a few minutes, they sit in silence. When Tim briefly opens his eyes, he catches sight of the edge of the rooftop, and beyond it the city skyline stretching out into the distance. And Kon, the wind riffling through his curls, gazing up at the stars.

He keeps stroking through Tim’s hair. It’s soothing. Tim closes his eyes again and drifts, letting his tired, battered body take a breather. He feels almost like a kid again, limp and exhausted and safe in the knowledge that someone else will take care of him.

Kon’s hand stills for a moment. Tim whines.

Kon chuckles softly. “Sorry,” he murmurs, and starts carding through Tim’s hair again. Tim curls into his side, pressing his face into his hip. It reminds him of a hazy, distant memory, one he nearly forgot.

“…My mom used to do that,” he mumbles, his fingers curling into Kon’s jacket. “When I was little. If I was sick. She’d…” He wiggles his fingers, his exhausted equivalent to flapping a hand at Kon’s hand in his hair.

“Oh.” Kon’s voice is soft. He tugs Tim’s cape up and over him, covers Tim in it like it’s a blanket to ward off the night chill. “D’you want me to stop…?”

“Nnh.” Tim presses into his touch. He feels safe. “S’nice.”

“Oh,” Kon murmurs again. Tim can hear the smile in his voice. “You got it.”

[mamawasatesttube]

no wait your jack drake lives au is so interesting. time being robin while his parents were still around was such an interesting concept that couldve been explored more

yeah!! especially in that era when jack knew and was for the first time in his life like... actually trying to put effort into their relationship. i think tim saying "dad, i know it scares you, but i am going to do this because i'm needed, and you can't stop me," was such a wake-up call to jack that he doesn't, like. actually know his son anymore. the way he and tim talk to each other in that one rooftop convo is SO different from how early in the run, jack didn't even notice tim's injuries, shipped him off to boarding school as punishment, threatened him and took away his stuff and yelled at him and never listened to him.

i think a jack who lived would've had to realize that tim is growing up and very independent. and tim loves him so much, but like... he's already losing him. he's been pushing him away for so long without even realizing it.

to be clear i generally read jack as fairly emotionally abusive towards tim. not intentionally, but he's just... really emotionally immature + written with dixonesque Machismo™ aka toxic masculinity that comes out in how he treats tim. and tim certainly would never admit that his dad treats him kind of poorly because he loves him! he wants them to have a good relationship so bad and he hates lying to him. he doesn't even admit it to himself, honestly.

but if jack stayed around longer, i think the cracks in that façade would have started to show through. and it would have been pretty bittersweet for both of them. because, like, a tim spending more time with the kents would get to see a family where communication is prioritized. the ariana situation would Never have gone down like it did with his dad, if it happened to chris or jon kent. tim's an observant and introspective person. he wouldn't be able to just... not notice these things. and once those seeds got planted in his head, it'd only be a matter of time until he was forced to confront what he really, really didn't want to: that not all of the issues in his and his dad's relationship are his fault.

(also i still just think it's really funny if bruce, in a very emotionally constipated attempt to let tim know he's supportive of him after tim awkwardly mentions having a date so he can't go on patrol that evening, and, uh, yeah, it's with a boy, buys tim a bi flag mug, and jack sees it and goes Where did you get that. and tim's like oh haha bruce gave it to me after i told him i'm bi. and jack is FUMING bc now his choices are Be Less Homophobic or Lose "Supporting Tim" Points To Bruce.) (but also it's still tragic because the thing motivating him to do better by tim isn't tim. it's his jealousy and insecurity about bruce.)

[mamawasatesttube]

idk if you know but on ao3 if you go to a relationship pairing tag (like tim drake/conner kent) and open the filters, under "search within results" type in "otp:true" and it'll only show fics that are tagged with that relationship alone and exclude fics tagged with other relationships. basically it almost exclusively shows you fics where the relationship is the focus, rather than being a minor side thing. might be helpful to avoid psychic damage when venturing into the timkon tag (but also a pain in the ass to get there)

yeah i do know that but ty! i usually don't use otp:true bc it also filters out all the & relationships though and i really like strong friendships and familial relationships and also longer fics in general, so it doesn't really help me that much.

[mamawasatesttube]

have you ever read The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells? it seems like a book series you would enjoy

HELP i haven't yet but i KNOW i need to!!! one of my best friends has been telling me i'll love it for months at this point i just havent yet gotten around to it yet hjdlfjkds