No Nuance November

Quiet

 Tim hadn't heard him come in.

He'd been too focused on work. There was always something to do, Tim had long forgotten what down time was.

If it wasn't a case that needed investigating it was WE, and if it was a meeting for WE he needed to prepare for then it was an assignment for school, and if it wasn't school it was for a case and so the vicious cycle continued.

He'd sunk so low in the couch he wondered if it would fuse with his skin.

Tim took a moment to close his eyes and let his head fall back, he isn't sure how long he'd been in this position but based on what his eyes and neck muscles were telling him it'd been too long. Only a couple of seconds before he slipped back into what Steph loving referred to as Zombie Mode. Time when the whole Earth could explode and he wouldn't even blink.

He'd been in the den for hours working, there was always work to do. The den had been quiet, surprisingly quiet. Meaning there was no one home, usually there was an assortment of different people here. Muling about, reading books from the library, hanging out, chattering softly amongst themselves. It was the spot to be in the house. Maybe because the best chairs were in here.

No one had been in here when he'd first come in. Part of why he'd stayed for so long was because no one had been in here.

The sound of cracked knuckles alerted Tim to another presence.

He glanced over the top of his laptop to see Damian in a large armchair looking even smaller than he already was reading.

Catch Damian any other time and he always, ALWAYS, sat appropriately in a chair. His back was always straight, he never lounged and both feet planted firmly on the floor. Not this time. He had two feet braced against the arm of the chair with the book resting against his knees and his head resting against the other arm. It took Tim a moment to see Alfred the cat wedged between Damian's side and the back of the chair looking content.

The whole thing looked uncomfortable but he was hardly one to judge. Damian wasn't bothering anyone and so long as that continued Tim could keep working. At some point he would get ahead and not have to worry about this anymore.

Knowing Damian was there had been enough to knock Tim out of whatever zone he'd been in to block out the whole world. He always needed to be on his toes with Damian.

Damian changed positions once. He went from crammed into the seat sideways to sitting cross legged still sideways with Alfred in his lap.

The cat being there did decrease the chance of something nefarious happening while they were both in the den, that and the lack of an audience. When Damian pulled a prank or whatever he made sure that not only Tim reacted but others saw the whole ordeal.

Other than Alfred downstairs there was no one to see Damian do anything.

It surprised him when Damian stood up and left the room placing the book he'd been reading on a side table.

His leaving allowed Tim to slip back into Zombie brain. It was much easier to work when he wasn't worrying about outside factors. He was almost done, then he would head downstairs to prepare for patrol.

The light sound of china alerted him.

He glanced to his side just after Damian had placed a tea cup next to him before returning to his book, cat, and chair. This time cross legged but facing forward with his cat in his lap and Titus sitting at his feet.

Tim could smell the tea. It didn't smell suspicious but that didn't always mean anything with Damian. Of course if he tried anything he'd risk the punishment of a lecture from Bruce, Alfred, and Dick about needlessly drugging family members. It wouldn't be the first time. And Tim knew how much Damian hated those lectures, most likely because they weren't all at once.

Alfred would sit you down and scold you for a little bit but that would be the end of it. Bruce would not only lecture in his own time but also assign boring work and you couldn't patrol or do anything really until it was complete. Dick on the other hand stretched out his lecture for as long as humanly possible, dropping random bits and pieces of it whenever he felt so you never really knew when it was over.

Damian had already gone through all of that recently due to another offense, he was unlikely to tempt fate like that again so obviously so soon.

Cautiously Tim took a sip. He hadn't really eaten or drank anything since sitting down which had to have been hours ago given how stiff he felt.

It didn't taste tampered with.

He decided it was safe. And if it wasn't Tim would tell Dick first chance he got to double the lecture time.

Finally he finished, closing his laptop so he could walk it to the relative safety of his room before going to the cave to plan his route.

As he stood up to collect his things he'd noticed Damian had also brought himself tea, which he'd finished. Tim felt that Damian's oddly good deed deserves another.

Wordlessly he took the other empty cup from the end table it'd been left on and left the den. Damian had watched him but didn't say anything.

He left the teacups in the sink for Alfred (Alfred did not approve of anyone doing anything more than placing the cups in the sink for him to deal with) before heading down to the cave.

Damian joined him after a while as did Bruce.

They planned their route and went off into the night.

Tim left for his stakeout.

All in all, not bad for a quiet afternoon. 

Thank god it's Friday. Ready for the weekend!!