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crowned-aeris · 8 hours

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O' Little Fledgling, With Your Pretty-Pretty Wings

This is like, 1.5k words btw

Tim was… he was confused. He thought he might be running a fever, but that lucid thought was quickly chased away by the instincts that slammed into him. He staggered out on his balcony, his mind hazy and clouded as his hands trembled and clutched the metal. There was a creaking sound, but Tim could barely bring himself to care. Tim had been feeling off all week, and the sensation had been growing before peaking a few hours ago.

Without a second thought, Tim flung himself off of his balcony, thoughts consumed by the need for his flock as desperate chirps of distress and flock-flock-where fell from his lips.

He grunted as he slammed into a billboard, hissing angrily as he ripped himself away from it, sharp talons slicing neatly through the material as he flared his wings out. His flying was unstable and shaky, but it was... somewhat serviceable. All he needed to do was get back to his roost, and his flock should all be there. But when he flew a little too close to the ground, an oncoming truck slammed into him, flinging Tim ruthlessly to the side. Tim could feel the his bones creak under the stress, but the hazy avian just shook it off. He was growing foggier by the second, but his mind was occupied by his sole need to return to the manor.

The avian braces himself before taking to the air once more, shooting off into the air as fast as his body will allow him before flashing open his wings and easing into a glide. He angles his wings carefully, subtle muscle memory taking hold to conserve the most amount of energy possible while he beelines straight for the manor.

The wind whistling and whipping past his ears alongside the clear air allowed a brief reprise from the fog and his instincts.

Tim blinks and shakes his head to clear it a little more, but every time he even thinks about leaving his trajectory, his veins fill with panic and he succumbs back to his overwhelming instincts. Tim's sharp eyes zero in on a clear entrance into his roost, and as excitement begins to fill his chest, Tim snaps his wings shut and dives for the manor when-

SMACK!

He’d slammed head-first into a window.

The avian hissed angrily, scrambling at the plexiglass with irritated notes rattling from deep within his chest. He beat his wings and tried for another point of entrance, but when that didn't work either, the avian could begin to feel himself grow frantic, he has to get into his roost- he needs to.

With wings flared wide, Tim once again began to circle the manor, searching desperately for an entrance to the manor. His eyes scanned the manor’s windows, narrowing at the deceptively clear glass with open distrust before his attention locked onto a window with a shadow standing just beyond it. He snapped his wings shut and dove for the window, swinging his legs out at the last moment to land properly. Luckily, the shape had thrown the windows up just in time to prevent Tim from crashing through the windows... again.

“Tim! Babybird- what the hell?!”

Tim’s head snapped up as he focused on the voice and shape... It was flock!

He shot up and snagged Dick’s sleeves with his talons, dragging the older along with wide, dilated pupils and a volley of probing chirps.

Dick was struggling against him, resisting the avian's insistent tugs with an equal parts concerned and confused expression stretched across his face, “Tim, what’s- what’s going on? What happened, are you okay?”

The younger turned around to face his brother, his haze-addled brain registering nothing but the tone of Dick’s voice. Tears began to well in his eyes as his hind-brain churned out a confused rejection-confused-distressed. He clung tighter onto his brother’s shirt, tears beginning to overflow as Tim’s lip began to tremble.

Dick fumbled, staring down at Tim with a panicked and helpless expression, “Oh, shit- Tim! Uh… How- How about I give everyone a call, alright? Let me shoot everyone a text and- and I’ll follow you, okay? Just- just please don't cry!"

As Tim continued to tug and pull insistently at Dick’s arm, curling his talons so as to not harm him, Dick quickly fished out his phone and shot the family group chat a quick text.

[We're All Batty Here]

[Biggest Bird]:

Help!!!

😟 😟 😟 😟

Tim’s dragging me somewhere and I don’t know what to do!!!

[Littlest Bat]:

Richard, what in the world are you blabbing on about???

[Biggest Bird]

No time to ecpaib

Ger jelp!''''?'!!!

Dick yelps as Tim swats the phone out of his hand with a hiss before continue to drag him elsewhere. Dick’s long since abandoned trying to get Tim to respond, but this hasn’t ever happened before... Well, at least not with Tim. Jason has done similar things, but Dick was never really... Present for that... Dick has never really there for Jason, now that he thinks about it...

Tim bee-lined straight for Bruce’s room, where he easily deposited Dick onto the Alaskan King bed. Talons dug into the sheets as Tim stared Dick down, his ice-blue eyes were barely visible rings around the endless pupils as he chittered a shaky yet hopeful flock-stay-please?

“Uh… sure?” Dick replied uncertainly as Tim huffed in a pleased manner before scampering away to search for... something?

Dick, after ensuring that the coast was clear, booked it out of the room to snatch up his phone before scrambling back onto Bruce's bed. He sighed in relief, glad to be once again reunited his his phone. Right as he unlocked it, Dick receive a call from Jason.

“Jason! Jason, I have no clue what’s going on with Tim! I was just visiting the manor to grab something when I saw Tim trying to kick through in a window!!!”

Dick was highkey worried. Jason was an avian too, so maybe he knew what was going on with Tim? Dick had barely interacted with Jason before the second Robin had died, and by the time Jason had returned to them, he and Dick were no longer on that good of terms anymore. Despite Jason’s... tumultuous relationship with the rest of the family slowly mending, the pair’s relationship hadn’t returned to what it once was.

His brother’s voice filtered through the phone, the sound accompanied by the tell-tale sound of flight, “I’m en route, eta... thirty seconds? Did he throw you in Bruce's room or something?”

“Uh, yeah, how’d you know?” Dick winced as Tim as he charged into the room with a triumphant chirp, his arms full of soft blankets, linens, and pillows that he threw haphazardly onto the bed before darting out of the room once more. “He also just shoved a whole bunch of blankets and pillows at me and ran out again... I honestly have no clue what to do, and... I’m too scared to try and leave...”

“Don’t,” Jason warned, “Tim would probably hunt you down, and in his current state you would not like that.”

"Ugh, alright..." Dick sighed and leaned back as Jason hung up on him. He burrowed into the mound of pillows and blankets, swiping through his phone before pulling out a CandyCrush knock-off tile-matching-game Tim had downloaded for him a while ago.

After around twenty minutes of mindless matching, the sound of Tim’s chirps filled the halls as he steadily grew closer and closer. Dick perked up and peered out of the open door, blinking in surprise as Tim returned carrying a disgruntled Damian in his arms while Cass trailed behind him, her expression clear with amusement.

“Uh, Dami? Cass? Did Tim kidnap you two as well?”

Damian huffed, grimacing as Tim sat him onto the bed before racing out of the room once again. Cass spoke up for the two of them, “I followed. Dami was kidnapped.”

“Only Drake would be idiotic enough to succumb to his stupid instincts,” Dick’s youngest brother grouched while Cass climbed willingly onto the bed and shoved herself under Dick's arm.

Dick shot him a sympathetic smile, “Jason should be here soon, and I’m sure he’ll know how to help Tim better. But for now, he just said to stay on the bed and not to go anywhere.”

Cass smiled and smushed her face into Dick’s side, watching the game intently. Damian pouted and decided to join the two, wiggling so that he could stick his head underneath Dick’s other arm, like a reluctant cat.

Not even a few seconds later came the sound of Tim’s insistent chirps and Bruce’s confused voice. Dick couldn't help the amused smile that crept onto his face as Bruce appeared in the doorway with a determined Tim shoving him along.

“Tim, please- I can walk. I-” Tim interrupted the stream of words with a loud, rattling hiss. He pointed firmly at the bed, his irritated expression and splayed wings relaxing once Bruce had sat down. Tim had turned around to try and find something, only to be met with Jason standing behind him.

Tim chirped happily, wings and feathers rustling as he tugged Jason forward, a stream of flock-flock-flock falling from his lips.

Here-here-here Jason replies dutifully, and Tim could nearly cry from the sheer euphoria at a bond reciprocated. He gave Jason a final yank before fluttering over to nestle onto the bed. Tim squeaked and churred, adjusting the blankets and pillows into something comfortable. A hand brushed against his wing, and Tim felt himself tense and bare his fangs, but as the dexterous fingers began to card through his wing and smooth down his feathers, Tim couldn't do anything but melt into a hapless puddle of chirps and purrs.

With his family surrounding him and a gentle hand preening through his feathers, Tim could not do anything but succumb to the thick and welcoming fog of sleep.