IN-CHARACTER QUOTES FROM DISCORD
UNHINGED SENTENCE STARTERS FEATURING THINGS SAID BY MYSELF AND MY FRIENDS WHILE WRITING AS OUR MUSES IN A CRACK-BASED NONCANON GROUP CHAT. This post is dedicated to Em, Liz, Tanny, Nellie, Mel, Ange, and everyone else in the server who recognizes these quotes — you know who you are 😈
CHANGE gendered words and in-universe phrases as needed.
SPECIFY muse for multimuses.
“ Have you forgotten that you should not steal someone’s property? ”
“ I could slap that smug look off his face right now! ”
“ Your ears are a lie. ”
“ Woah woah that's - that's a bad word. ”
“ I don’t know if it’s allowed and quite frankly I don’t care. Fuck the rules. ”
“ Time for gremlin activities! ”
“ I hate this man. Let's prank him. ”
“ We are all going on strike today I swear ”
“ Looks like I need to invest in a kid leash. ”
“ DONT BE COWARDS!! JOIN THE STRIKE!! ”
“ I support her saying what needs to be said! I am done with the silencing of women!!!! ”
“ I like the dramatics. ”
“ I did not ask for a second opinion. ”
“ You seem to be doing a great job at being a nuisance. ”
“ NO BITING MY EMPLOYEES! ”
“ do you want me to bring you cheese? ”
“ Next move, start chewing on the door frames ”
“ I like crumbs. They are like a little midnight snack in my bed at night. ”
“ if he wants to be a worm, LET HIM BE A WORM ”
“ the rest of you suck my toe ”
“ To be fair I am simply vibing. ”
“ I am going to commit a war crime! ”
“ I am manifesting being happy. ”
“ Am I gonna talk shit WITH you guys? because im down to talk shit about pretty much anyone ”
“ Who says? We shall revolt without question. ”
“ Let's just start burning stuff. ”
“ Did you just call me... small? ”
“ Can I convert you with my kazoo propaganda? ”
“ We were radicalised by The Little Mermaid. ”
“ Penny in the swear jar, now. ”
“ My last words are, bros before hoes. ”
“ The old men are trying to be trendy. ”
“ I can do whatever I want too! ”
“ Can we go one day without an interruption from an American? ”
“ I am so sorry. He enjoys conflict. ”
“ Why is he so tall? ”
“ For legal reasons, kids, that's a joke. ”
“ Would you like to fight the adults? ”
“ You're not meant to bite people, it's frowned upon. ”
“ He’s a fun killer, don't listen to him! ”
“ Ow! Stop kicking me! ”
“ I have quite literally begged you not to kick, hit, or bite today. ”
“ BUT I thought we were buds, pals, amigos, chums, friends. ”
“ Oh shiiiii someone’s in trouble ”
“ How much caffeine have you had in the last hour? ”
“ I'll be honest they wouldn't be so bad if they didn't speak. ”
“ Is this goof meant to be dead or what? ”
“ I am a witch. ”
“ This one reeks of self confidence when he clearly doesn't think before opening his mouth. ”
“ I call bullshit on that rule! ”
“ The point is I have a cane and I’m not afraid to use it. ”
“ If you slap me, I’ll cane you. ”
“ Yippee for women. ”
“ FUCK THE PATRIARCHY ”
“ Sorry for being British. ”
“ Oi who's playing that ominous music? ”
“ I'm strong because I eat carrots. Oh wait or is that to see in the dark.... it's for something. ”
“ I will say sorry when i'm caught, don't you worry. ”
“ AND YOU CALLED ME UP AGAIN JUST TO BREAK ME LIKE A PROMISE! ”
“ ... He's done for. Broken beyond repair. Someone play Taylor Swift. ”
“ Please refrain from punching one another. ”
“ He is becoming one with the spider I believe. ”
“ If anybody asks I will say I made you, then you will not get in trouble! ”
“ Can I be a girlboss too? I am not rude to women and I do what i like ”
“ Yippee for patriotism! ”
“ … i could make you guys rat costumes ”
“ Do you think if we started stealing bread we would lose our jobs? ”
“ why do British people ”
“ … you all need therapy. ”
“ Do you ever feel if you breathe the wrong way he will bite you? ”
“ I actively avoid whatever this is. ”
“ CARRY ME. ”
“ What if, and hear me out, they both promise not to do it again? ”
“ I wanna steal all his socks. ”
“ My socks were stolen! ”
“ Hey, watch it now. Only I'm allowed to insult me. ”
“ You couldn’t whisper to save your life. It’s pitiful. ”
“ Both of you are insufferable. ”
“ The law is overrated. ”
“ I’m afraid. Miss, you aren’t my type. ”
“ No. I swear on my life. I am being a gentleman ”
“ I support women’s wrongs. ”
“ ONE FOR ALL AND ALL FOR ONE!!! ”
“ GET YOUR ASS BACK HERE RIGHT NOW ”
“ He bites? Are you .. joking? Please say you're joking. ”
“ If you like piña coladas and getting caught in the rain ifyou're not into yoga if you have half a brain if you like makin' love at midnight in the dunes on the cape then I'm the love that you've looked for write to me and escape 🎶🎶 ”
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3 birds 1 stone - chapter 1
‘Dick, Jason, and Tim. Supposed brothers 'till the end, until all three fall in love with you. Who wins your heart?
The man who earned it, the man who stole it, or the man who always had it?’
A/N: Having a different approach to my formats. I’ve never been so nervous in creating something so difficult to do for you guys, especially since I’m here writing about the THREE HOTTEST MEN IN THE PLANET. Hoes and bros, I present to you a very indecisive reader and three assholes in a WWE ring.
WORDS: 6483
WARNINGS: NONE
MASTERLIST | 3 BIRDS 1 STONE MASTERLIST
-----
You were there when it happened.
You didn’t want to be there.
But you were.
It would have been an eventful enough day, one of those you’d never live to forget, perhaps even in death. As dramatic as that would sound, it was true. The tears had already beaten you in awakening that dim morning and you knew it wasn’t in any way going to get any brighter, no matter how much of the sun was going to show up. You could, in detail, recall the sting in your muscles when you pulled on that bright orange dress, fixed your hair up in a bun and unenthusiastically put on your makeup. Bruce picked you up and you tried so hard to hide how you were practically dead on arrival to the Richard Grayson and Koriand’r Wedding.
Smiles. Even when they were uncalled for. It was so much more painful to do when it hurt every minute that ticked away, every second that carefully tore out every other smidge of hope you always thought there was. It was on you, then. For thinking there was any at all.
Kory looked stunning down that aisle, of course. Like all the other people in the room were rubbish. You couldn’t even watch her. Or him, standing at the end of that aisle with a smile so bright you wished was caused by anything else but her. But it was.
So you had your eyes closed. Or at least tried to.
Until it happened.
The sister. She looked exactly like Kori, except her flowing mane of hair was jet black and her skin burned red. Eyes were white, everything else she had on was dark. Blackfire.
Then the cheers turned into screams. Flower petals turned into broken glass. The fairy lights and décor turned into fire beams and lasers.
If it weren’t in a room full of superpowered heroes and vigilantes, they all would have died right then and there.
In the end, the wedding got called off. Everything was destroyed. Blackfire was sent to space prison and Dick and Kory had to reschedule the wedding.
Three months later, they still weren’t married.
After four months, Dick broke off their relationship entirely.
Five months passed, Kory went back to Tamaran.
At six months, Dick moved to Gotham from Bludhaven.
You never got to talk to Dick about it, or talk to him at all beyond the small exchanges and light conversations over the dinner table at the manor or the chatter by the fireplace. He never mentioned it. You didn’t want to pry. At times, you’d see how he’d stare at the carpet for a minute too long, how his knee suddenly stopped shaking or fidgeting all of a sudden when he got too deep into his thoughts like how he often did when he was bored, and how his laughs felt just a tad bit softer even when the jokes were hysterical.
Everyone told you to let him be for a while, since not even he could get too close to the subject. They told you what he was up to, how he was feeling that day. You tend to ask a lot. Because if there was anything worse than seeing him with someone else, it was seeing him almost destroy his own life part by part over the loss of his love.
No. You weren’t thrilled over what happened. It didn’t give you hope, or let your mind wander over the endless possibilities of what could happen to you, to him, to you both. And even if you had to try so hard, which you didn’t, you couldn’t possibly allow yourself to have some kind of satisfaction over the tragedy, not even when it supposedly served you, what you wanted.
This wasn’t what you wanted. You didn’t want him to lose himself. You didn’t want him to be sunken into an abyss he was trying so hard to come out of.
Eventually, you’ll learn to let go. Properly. On your own pace. Not on anyone else’s.
Almost a year since the incident happened. He was okay now. Made the same jokes he always used to. Brightened up every room he went to. Went out with a few women every now and then. Saying you were used to that last one to the point where it didn’t even bother you anymore was both unnerving and understandable.
Everything was lighter now. Better. Dick was okay.
So why were you so nervous today?
Two pm. He was going to arrive any minute.
Dammit. That canvas. Lying on the floor like you were some kind of slob in a swamp. You went over and placed it against the wall. Plop, it fell right off. Cursing and fixing it up against all the other canvases up in the corner, everything just started to topple down like fucking dominos. “Shit. Shit. Shit.”
You grabbed all the canvases with as much as your arms could carry, frantically looked around your little studio for some kind of rope you could tie these together just so they wouldn’t explode in anyone’s face.
Ding.
“Shiiiii-“
The fucking doorbell, and you didn’t even have any arms to open the door with. You looked to your bedroom, then to your kitchen. Fuck. There was a drawer-shit, it fell to the floor-a drawer right by your bed. You scrambled with your knees shaking harder than the San Andreas fault.
Ding.
“Just a minute!!!”
You stacked them on top of each other, shoved them under your bed, then fixed the mess of a cobweb that was your hair. The mirror must have been kind to you ‘cause you could have sworn you looked like a hobo by now. But there wasn’t any time for that.
Foggy throat cleared, face calm and cool (you hoped), you ran to the door and shook off the nerves.
“Hi, Di-” The door slammed open, only for it to almost pull off the hinges with the chain lock still on. Frantically, you closed it , took off the lock, then swung it again.
“Hi.”
Dick had his hands in his pockets, jacket as blue as his eyes and as bright as the glimmer in its irises. His smile brought both calm and chaos within your veins.
“Sorry. I, uh-“ your thumb pointed to your apartment. “I was cleaning.”
Cleaning?
“That’s okay. Can I come in?”
Poor thing was shivering. “Of course!”
Dick stepped into your apartment and dusted off his clothes. You took his jacket. “Thanks.” Then he ran his long fingers along his black strands.
Putting his coat over the rack, you pulled out the pillows from your lounge chair. “Sit here.”
“It’s fine.” His smile lightened up the room. “Thank you though.”
“Can I get you anything?”
“Just water. Thanks.”
While you went into the kitchen, fumbling with the glass and water pitcher from the fridge, you called out to him. “You can go ahead to my studio!”
“Thanks,” you heard him call you back, then you followed him into the room, handing him the glass.
You already had the paintings lined up for him. Three canvases. Sitting up against the wall in a laid back, almost effortless looking arrangement when in fact, it was a lot of effort. You didn’t want to look like you were trying too hard.
“Christ,” he walked over to the one in the middle. The most recent one you did, one of a birds eye view of the ocean right by the Gotham City docks. “How did you even get this shot?”
“I-uh,” you stood beside him. “It’s a shot from the Batwing. Bruce gave me the footage.”
“And that one?”
Times Square. The building was the only thing on the canvas, but there was so much detail on the windows, on the balconies, and even the neon lights right at the top.
“I took pictures from the street across. They wouldn’t let me stay there with an aisle and all my tools.”
His one knee laying on the ground, Dick took an even closer look at the tower. “Is that a person in the window?”
You looked down. “Yeah…”
“These are incredible.” Dick looked up at you. “I think I’d insult you if I tell you I’m surprised.”
“Well. It was your idea to focus on painting. The blames on you.”
“Nah,” he shook his head, marveling over the canvas. “This is natural talent right here.”
You wished you could bite back the smile as much as you would have liked, but at least his head was turned away.
“How much for these?”
“No. Actually,” you swallowed. “Those are just samples. I wanna make something for you from scratch. Really personalized, you know?”
“Seriously?”
You nodded. “Since you’re permanently moving back to the manor, I thought it would make a good welcome back present.”
His smile was the most beautiful thing you’ve ever seen, looking over to you bashfully even when he’s most often the most confident person in the room. You smiled back, but you doubt it was as addicting to watch as his own.
“If it’s not too much trouble-“
“Not at all.”
“I’m really liking this one, though,” He pointed at the third one. One of Bludhaven. From a shot of the city he sent to you himself. Most of the time, you had to work with pictures, and the moment he sent that to you, you just knew you had to paint it. Not for him. For you.
“I’ll make you another one.”
“Y/N-“
“And you don’t have to pay-“
“That, I won't agree to.”
“Dick, it’s a present.”
“This is my way of supporting you. Artists should never do this for free.”
When he placed his hand on your shoulder, you knew there wasn’t any use arguing. He didn’t even know. He’s given you so much support no monetary value could compare to. You didn’t need money.
That, or he didn’t think this present was anything more than a favor or an item to purchase. It shouldn’t be. You knew that. And still you wanted it to be more than that.
Yeah. You were probably making a goof out of yourself if you wouldn’t submit.
This wasn’t a rejection. Telling yourself that should make you feel better.
“Thank you.”
You didn’t look into his eyes when he started walking around the room, at all the other paintings you had laid out. You had a few portraits. One of Bruce, from when he asked you to do one for him a month ago and you still hadn’t finished until now. Who knew his usual scowl was so hard to do? Then there were more landscapes of the city.
“Gotham’s your muse, huh?”
“She’s beautiful when she isn’t so full of shit,” you laughed.
One of more skyscrapers that you laid out to look like Van Gogh’s Starry Night. Another of your works in progress. “I like this one.”
You were right behind Dick as he walked around, taking closer looks at each of them. A few drawings were up on the walls.
“Is that us?”
You went over to his side. “Yeah… It’s a painting I want to do.”
A rough sketch of the whole family. Bruce standing at the top most of the manor’s grand staircase. Dick on the step below. Then Jason leaning against the railing, the only one who wasn’t smiling. Tim sitting with his knees up. Barbara looking beautiful in a bright smile on the same step as Tim. Then Steph sitting on the railway. You standing right beside Steph, arm wrapped around her. Cass with her arms crossed. Duke at the bottom . Then of course, the kid who practically owned the whole manor, little Damian on the ground, at the center with a smug grin and his arms up his chest.
Even if people were to take a second look, they’d think you were a normal, functional family.
“This,” Dick’s jaw was on the ground. “Deserves to be up in the fireplace.”
You snorted. “I haven’t even started on it yet.”
“Oh, I don’t mean the painting. This drawing alone is fantastic.”
You rolled your eyes. “Thank you.”
Biting his lips, he had that same simper of disbelief radiating through even more compliments you couldn’t answer to. You let it get to you. For a while.
It wasn’t exactly going to get any better.
Though your definition of better, shouldn’t be at there all.
“Y/N, I can’t thank you enough.”
You held up your hand. “You’ve been gone from home for too long. I’m just glad your back.”
He walked down to the three paintings you had out for him. “So these paintings are just samples?”
“Yeah. I wanna know which kind you prefer, since you only asked of one of the city. It can be neither of them. Just something that you actually want in your room.”
“Y/N, these are all so amazing as it is.”
“Still.”
Were you doing too much? Were you asking too much? Were you giving too much?
Most fucking probably.
But then he gave you that smile again, the one you dream about for years. One that’s driven you to do so many good things, for others and for yourself.
Your response was with a smile of your own, though it carried with it some remnant of pain from his wedding day.
“So… which one would you like?”
He looked at the paintings again.
“Bludhaven. I guess it would be nice to have some part of it in my room.”
You nodded. “Of course.”
“Trust me. Don’t feel any pressure. I can promise myself this will be the best thing ever.”
Your eyes were stuck to your feet, because if you looked up at his own, you weren’t sure what you might end up saying.
“Thank you. It means a lot. Coming from you.”
His eyebrows were up to his forehead. “Really? I don’t think there’s anyone who doesn’t like your work.”
Yeah. But it’s not the same when it’s coming from you, you asshat.
“I’ll uh-“ You rushed over to your sketchbooks, pulled out your pencil and went over beside Dick. He was smiling at you. “What do you think about the skyline looking like this? Like it was taken from eastern bay.”
You did a quick outline of skyscrapers and a bridge extending to one side, a lone island and clouds on top of it. He nodded. “That looks great.”
“Alright,” you looked up, saw the slight lines at the corners of his eyes and the even more miniscule details on his face that was staring back at you.
“Nice sketchbook.”
“Oh,” you grinned at it, looking over the knitted covers and the expensive looking paper that had hundreds of leaves within its spine. “Thank you. I get one of these every year.”
“You buy them yourself?”
“I don’t. They’re way too expensive.” You placed it on the table. “I get them as a gift.”
“From who?”
“I, uh...” you didn’t want to get into this. “Anyway, would you like to stay over?”
Dick shook his head. “I’d love to, but I have to get going. Some other errands to run. Sorry.”
You nodded. “Of course.”
Hands fidgeting, then stopping when you realized they were fidgeting, Dick stood in front of you and beamed with his million dollar smile. You tried not to look back up at him.
“How are you, Y/N?”
You chuckled. “I’m okay.”
“We’d all love for you to come back to the manor…” He rubbed the back of his neck.
Lips in your teeth, he didn’t look like he was expecting much of a response other than a bashful smile and a shake in your head.
“I mean… I’d love for you to come back to the manor.”
Eyebrows up, you stared back at him. “You would?”
“Of course. It’s been a long since we just hung out. Stop over every once in a while.”
“I, uh-“ you swallowed. “I actually do have to go there next week. Bruce is asking me to send over his pieces.”
“Cool. I’ll see you then.”
You went with him to the door, watched him put on his jacket. “I’ll call”
“Come on, don’t act like I’m some stranger, Y/N.”
It was sad, how casual it was when he pulled you with his arms. His embrace wasn’t so tight, but it was warm. Nose stuck to his shoulder and masking your other raging emotions with a light laugh, you closed your eyes and let the split second last longer than it actually did.
Yeah. You still had it bad. No matter what you seemed to do, it just wouldn’t go away.
He swayed about, patting your back. “Thank you, Y/N.”
“You’re welcome.”
“And,” he pointed his hand at you, then scrunched it up to a fist. “Send me a list of movies you wanna watch. We’ll go through a few of them at the manor. Like we used to.”
“With everyone else?”
“Nah,” he placed his hands in his pockets. “Just us.”
He walked out the door. You closed it behind him and placed the chain lock back.
That encounter lasted ten, fifteen minutes?
It felt both longer and shorter than that. Like a thousand years and a millisecond were the same length.
You were just thankful you didn’t mess up or do anything as embarrassing as you worried it might be.
But it wasn’t as if it was new, or that the nerves and the chills and the blood rushing about was anything you weren’t already used to. Careful around him, sure. You had been since you first met him. But terrified? Nah.
You can be so used to walking around coals and fire and not be afraid of getting burned, yet still have it in you to wear something to protect your skin. Just for the sake of surviving. To get through it smoothly. So it wouldn’t hurt as much.
You slumped onto the lounge chair he didn’t take and closed your eyes. You let the hours pass. You let the clock tick away.
Then you jumped at the buzzing in your pocket. Blinking away the beginnings of a nap, you took your phone.
“Tim?”
“Y/N. You free tonight?”
Two hours had passed since Dick left.
“Yeah. What are you up to?”
“Work. I need company.”
“You sure Bruce is okay with you not going to patrol?”
“He has everyone else. Come on. I’m spending the night at the office.”
“Why me?“
“You can bring your sketchbook. ‘Sides. You haven’t been out of the house for a while.”
“The pictures you send me are good enough source material.”
“You draw a lot better when you’re seeing it with your own eyes.”
Standing from your chair and moving over to get your sketchbook and pencils, you scoffed. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“You know where to meet me.”
He hung up, then you scurried around to get your coat.
-----
“Ms. Y/LN.”
You nodded at the doorman, bag over your shoulder. A number of people were already rushing out of the elevators even when it had only been a minute after office hours, so you had to wait a while before an empty one came down for you.
50th floor. A few minutes of silence in the elevator, then you walked out into a dimmed-out hallway where the other employees had already deserted. The farthest end was a door, unlocked just as Tim said. You stepped inside his office and shrugged yourself off your jacket. “Hey.”
“Hey.”
Tim had his reddening eyes glued to his laptop screen, not even giving you a glance up. Tapping away at the keys, you stretched out and basked in the blowing warmth, at the heater that was running at the side. Holding your hands up at the whiff of air, Tim fell to the back of his seat.
“Christ, my back.”
You snickered. “We do tend to get arthritis even when we’re barely into our twenties.”
“No. We usually don’t.”
“Not if you’re Tim Drake.” You walked over to his desk. “What are you working on?”
“Stuff that Bruce shouldn’t be asking from me in two days. A report on why and how we’ll be able to extend to the west coast, if it’s even possible.”
“Wow. Are you endorsing it?”
“I invented it.”
You brushed back the hair he hadn’t even noticed had fallen into his eyes. One of the reasons why it was almost bulging red. Your exhausted best friend took your hand away and snarled, though it wasn’t without a smirk.
“Then quit complaining. If it’s your idea, it’s your job.”
“I complained about back pains, not the work.”
You leaned back against the table and watched him type.
“Are you really spending the night here?”
“As long as I have to. Then I head back to the manor.”
“And you want me to stay?”
He stopped typing and looked up at you, eyes wide. “Please.”
“Fine.”
You settled yourself on the couch near his desk. “What have you been working on lately?” he asked.
Shrugging, your eyes were on the ceiling. “The portraits for Bruce, mostly. And the portrait of Bruce.”
“I assume that must be dreadful.”
“It’s hard painting his jaw and not give away the fact that he has Batman’s jaw.” You held your hand out. “You just need to cover his eyes and squint. And boom, his identity’s given away. Can’t do that in person but you certainly can to a painting he wants on his foyer that everybody’s gonna see.”
“I never actually thought Bruce wants that.”
“Neither did I.”
“What are his other requests?”
“One of Thomas and Martha. One of the manor.”
“The man wants a painting of the manor in the manor?”
“Yup.”
“When you have the money, I guess.”
“I know. He’s paying me five months’ worth of rent.”
Tim rubbed on the corner of his eye, his hands hovering motionless over his keyboard for a second. You looked over to him.
“You don’t have to, you know. If you just move back with us.”
“I know.”
“You sure you don’t want to? With Dick around now?”
Mouth ever so slightly curving up the side, a long breath escaped your nostrils. “I’m over him.”
“You sure about that?”
When you turned back up to the ceiling, closed your eyes while you had your arms hugging your chest, you heard him tapping on his keyboard after a few seconds of you not answering his question.
“He came over to your house today?”
“Yeah. I’m doing a piece for him.”
“What of?”
“Bludhaven. For his room.”
“Welcome back gift, ey?”
“Yeah. I hope he likes it.”
It almost seemed like he snorted at that. “He’d be stupid not to. I was also gonna ask you to do a piece for me.”
Your eyebrow raised even with your eyes closed. “Really?”
“Yeah. For my office.”
“Tim, I’m doing just fine. I’m not exactly surrounded by butlers and limos but it doesn’t mean I’m struggling.”
“Hey, don’t take it that way,” he said. “We all just love your work.”
“A bit too much, if you ask me.”
“You get better everyday. We’re appreciating it just enough. Like how you deserve to be appreciated.”
You didn’t take that to heart.
This painting all started as a way to let out the trauma, to get out of a life that had taken its toll on you the worst way it possibly could.
This was them feeling bad for you. This was a charity.
It didn’t, however, mean you were going to say no.
You hated it, but you weren’t stupid enough to refuse the cash. You liked having nice things.
“What piece would you like me to do?”
“Your call. You know what I like.”
‘Almost everything then, that’s what you wanted to say back.
A while of lounging around on the couch. A few hours, perhaps. You might have taken a nap, because your head had gone foggy and your eyes were salty when you awoke and the sky had gone completely dark.
“Tim, you should take a break.”
Was that his third cup of coffee sitting on his desk?
Again, with his hair covering his eyes, he had his one hand over his lips, eyes narrowed onto the blue screen that looked painful staring back at him so brightly. He sighed, then rubbed his eyelids with his fingers.
“Come on.” You took his jacket and threw it at him. “Take me up the balcony. Get some air.”
He looked too exhausted to speak. But after you’d gone over to his side and pushed his shoulder, he hissed and closed his laptop. “Fine, jeez.”
Tim looked like a polar bear pulled out of his iceberg when you had him off his desk. He shuffled into his coat, then you both walked out of the room and into the elevators. You held onto your sketchbook and a few pencils.
The balcony at the 70th floor. You haven’t been there for a while. You actually haven’t been in Wayne Tower the past few months at all. So when you stepped out, walked down the hall until you reached the balcony, the heights, the winds, the lights, and the stuttering noises went straight through you, gave you that static-like image that usually resonated within your senses when you sketched out Gotham City.
You sat on the marble railing, swung your legs up on the ledge and placed your sketchbook against your knees.
“You sure you wanna do that?”
You rolled your eyes. “Stop acting like I didn’t use to jump across rooftops.”
Tim was stifling a laugh, not sure if he should. So you pulled out an empty page and started with LexCorp a few blocks away from you. Tim went to sit next to you, then pressed his back against yours while pulling his feet up the same position. He was warm, leverage enough so your back wouldn’t end up hurting after a few minutes. He let you have your silence.
A wide balcony. Half of the page should be of it alone. Though it was just the silhouette, you traced out how the railings looked like if you were standing a few feet back.
Your head tilted to the left the way it does when you went on with your work.
You felt Tim’s back rise, then slowly soften.
“You alright back there?”
“Yeah. I am.”
“You don’t feel like it.”
“I am.” You felt his shoulder slightly brush against yours. You just shook it off then let the edge of the pencil flow lightly over what should be the sky.
A few more minutes, then a helicopter flew over your heads. When it went away, Tim’s head suddenly fell back to your shoulder.
Warmth. Like what he’s always given you. You stayed as still as you could and let the smile that was eventual and gradual creep up your lips.
“You’ll fall off if you fall asleep on me.”
“I think all that coffee’s not going to make me fall asleep for the next few days.”
Laughing, you just let him lean against you. then his head shifted so he was looking over your shoulder.
“That’s looking good.”
“You think?” You held up the notebook. “That’s us.”
Two kids sitting on the railings, with the view of the city right at their feet. Backs up against each other, shaded with the darkest black. The girl was leaning against the boy’s shoulder, quite the opposite of what was actually going on.
You felt Tim smile his mouth off. “Can I have that?”
“Hold on. Lemme finish this.”
The bat signal. Shining right at the horizon. Then you went over more of the details. The tiny lights on the windows. The helicopter that just passed by. The ocean far off.
Tim was watching you.
Not your hand. Or the drawing.
You.
A few more minutes, then you carefully ripped the page off the book. “Here.”
“Thanks.”
He folded it up, then carefully put it into his pocket. Then he placed his head against your shoulder again.
You did the same.
“I missed you.”
You laughed. “It’s not like we don’t see each other often.”
“I know. I miss seeing you everyday.”
Your head up at the sky, heart in your throat.
“Me too…”
Then you found yourself closing your eyes.
Legs dangling off the ledge on opposite sides, you both spent the next hour in silence, leaning against each other.
You and Tim on the rooftops. Just the two of you. Laughing. Sharing a drink. Doing homework even.
They were always the best times.
“Shit,” he looked at the time on his phone. “Come on. If I can finish half of it in three hours, we might actually get to go back to the manor to get some sleep.”
“Tim-“
“Just a night,” he slipped off onto the ground, then everything felt so much colder around you. “Please. Everyone’s out anyway.”
You shut your eyes.
But even when you expected yourself to decline, you ended up nodding and sliding your torso to turn back towards the building, . “Fine. But only because you’re taking me- Fuck…”
You moved too fast. You fucking moved too fast. Shit.
“Y/N, don’t move-“
Tim rushed to your legs, held his hands over the back of yours that was touching the metal where flesh and skin was supposed to be.
You tried to flinch away how you always do when someone does so much as lay a finger on you or your fucking limb when it was uncalled for, but Tim’s hands were soft and gentle. And you were also 70 stories above ground so jumping away wouldn’t be the best idea.
“Tim, I’m fine-“
“Let me help.”
“I’m fine… shit…”
Stinging nerves, all the way up your thigh when you tried to move it yourself. That’s when Tim ignored you and went ahead to hold it himself.
It was too late into the night for you to argue. So you pulled your hands away and let him slide your leg over the railing, dangling it onto the edge towards him.
“May I?”
Now facing him, both legs hanging just inches away from the ground, you placed your weight on your hands and nodded.
Tim knelt in front of you, then pulled your loose jeans up to your knee.
You felt disgusted at yourself, and you hated how he wasn’t, hands over the silver steel that replaced your skin, at the rods and wires that replaced your bones, where tiny stubs of metal stuck out in place of actual toes. You held your breath, then Tim looked up at you, hands soothing just below your knee.
He didn’t look like he pitied you. There was that.
That, or he just mastered the art of hiding his pity and instead, look at you like he was just trying to take care of you.
Which he was. You weren’t about to rob him of that credit.
Tim unlatched the bionic limb, then pulled it off of what was left of your leg. A stub of skin, where it had healed about three inches down from your knee, was burning red.
“Must have caused a bit of stress.”
You shrugged. “I’ll be fine. It happens a lot.”
Tim’s fingers over the marks of pink, you felt how gentle he was, the callous that had formed over the years, at the warmth that came with his palms rubbing over your skin. Your eyes were all on him.
Then he looked up at you, without stopping his hands.
Another set of blue eyes, quite different from the last pair you saw earlier that day. Though it must have been because of the dark, his reflected the light from the city skyline just a bit better.
Tim looked at you the same way he always did for years. It didn’t make your skin fluster, or your stomach churn.
You felt at home.
You smiled at him, then he smiled back before he looked back down at your leg.
Tim was the only one you’d ever let do this.
After a longer while of massaging your knee, he placed the bionic leg back into place and latched it up.
“Try moving it around.”
This limb costed millions of dollars and only you had a robot leg as good as fucking Cyborg’s, and still it pained when you moved two seconds too fast. You moved your toes about, swayed your ankle. Still with a slight sting, but you could brush it off. Tim pulled your jeans back down and helped you off the railing.
He didn’t speak much on the way down back to his office, and he let you have your nap on his couch for a few more hours while he worked away.
Though, you couldn’t exactly sleep.
You weren’t sure if you were bothered, anxious, or pleased, and you hated how you still considered that last one.
It was in the way he looked at you, touched you so gently. You could tell. You could definitely tell. You told Tim years ago to promise you that he’d stop. And he said he would. Turns out he couldn’t keep that promise.
Tim still loved you.
Carefully, without him noticing, you looked back over your shoulder and watched him crouch over his laptop the way that was going to strain his back for the next three months. And you weren’t sure if you liked that it made you smile, when you took too much time watching his eyes and his lips and even his nose scrunching up like a rabbit’s.
You’d think years after you decided to be just friends, and ended up being best friends would let you both move on completely. He dated Steph for a while, even. And still, he wasn’t friends with her now the way he was with you.
It wasn’t at all awkward. It didn’t have to be.
But maybe it wasn’t for the reason you thought.
The sketchbook. The really expensive one you always used up after a few months. It costed about a hundred dollars per piece, and you get one every single year along with other art materials like charcoal pencils and canvases and paint.
And they always arrived right at your door every Valentine’s morning.
No name. No tag.
You thought it was from Bruce at first, like how he continued to spoil you with just about everything else with commissions and pieces he didn’t even need but claimed to want for his new mantle at the office or a wall in one of his condos.
But it was all too intimate and personal.
After the third year, you found out it was from him.
You could tell with how it was all wrapped and carefully arranged. Only from his hands, and how gentle they can be when he held you…
You fell asleep on that couch, clutching the sketchbook to your chest.
----
It was past five in the morning when Tim finally stood up from his desk. You were well into your sleep, then you felt his hand on your shoulder, shrugging you awake.
“Huh?”
“Come on. Let’s get some sleep at the manor.”
Groaning into the couch’s fabric, Tim took fifteen minutes pulling you to stand until he finally got you on your feet. He helped you with your coat, then on the taxi home you fell asleep on his shoulder, and he fell asleep with his cheek on your head.
You got to the manor, stretched out, then just as the sun had fully greeted you, you both walked into the foyer. Alfred was still freshly awoken.
“Master Tim, where on earth have you been?”
“The office.”
“The off- never mind. Miss Y/N, I’m happy to see you.”
“Hey Alfred,” you yawned and gave the butler a hug.
“Will you be sleeping in your room?”
“Yes please.”
He nodded, then you and Tim walked over to the steps.
“Wait.” You backed away. “I want water. You go ahead.”
The zombie that was Tim Drake didn’t even turn his head to you as he lugged himself up the stairs. You dragged your feet to the kitchen, stretching out your arms. It was way too fucking early for this.
You reached into the fridge and grabbed the ice-cold pitcher of water, held up an empty glass, then poured it in.
You brought the glass up to your lips.
You closed the fridge door.
Then felt the freezing cold surge up your nose, your eyes pop open from the crust and saltiness that had formed over your eyelids, then your throat started to close up and you coughed the water out of your hacking mouth.
“J-Jason?”
A towel covered his face when he first walked in, which meant his arm was up and his muscles were flexing when his bulked up bare chest was practically screaming into your eyes. Eight pack abs. Pecs stronger than steel. Ripples on his sides. And his fucking arms that could tear apart a block of wood in one pull.
It was too much of a convenience that he was rubbing the sweat off his hair so much that he couldn’t see you with your jaw on the ground. Every muscle in your body tightened, screamed, then just as Jason looked up at you, drenched hair flopping onto his eyes, you immediately looked away and pretended your own throat wasn’t choking you right then.
He walked towards you. Fuck.
“Hey, pretty bird.”
That low, husky voice…
You nodded. “H-hey,” you choked. “What are you doing here?”
“What are you doing here?”
You drank the whole glass in one gulp, then you opened the fridge once again to pour in even more water.
“I came with Tim. I was with him in the office.”
“Oh,” he leaned against the counter right beside you, and all your eyes that were fucking defying you right then could look at were the veins popping out of his biceps.
“Why are you here?”
He pouted. “I always train this early.”
“You come here all the way from your apartment at five in the morning?”
“Since a few days ago, yeah.”
“Why?”
He scoffed. “No gym on earth has Bruce’s equipment.”
“Ah.” You went through the whole glass again. The sweat was starting to pour down his chest.
Placing it onto the kitchen counter just inches away from Jason’s body, you were practically floating out of the kitchen. As fast as you could. “I’m going back to sleep.”
“Bye, pretty bird.”
Up the stairs. Into your old room. Away from anyone else.
You fell to your bed, but you couldn’t sleep a single wink.
And you weren’t even sure why.
Or who.
-----
MASTERLIST | 3 BIRDS 1 STONE MASTERLIST
-----
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