Chapter Text
Tim only wanted somewhere to nap without being found. Was that too much for him to ask? Baby Charlie was with Kon and the Kents for the day, and Tim was visiting the manor, but right now, he just wanted to sleep.
He thought this particular living room was far enough out of the way that it would probably be unoccupied, and he might have been right, that’s the thing about probabilities, but the room was not, in fact, unoccupied. In his sleep deprived state, however, he didn’t notice this until he was stood pretty much in the doorway and froze, hearing the voices from within.
“-that is, I think I like boys?” Tim recognised the voice of someone not used to saying those words. More specifically, he recognised the voice of Jon Kent, Superboy Jr. aka, someone in possession of both superhearing and x-ray vision. If he chose to pay attention, Tim was made, but if he didn’t, Tim might be able to sneak away. No, scratch that, Tim was in no condition to sneak. His best bet was to wait here silently and pretend he heard nothing.
He was so busy trying not to move, that he almost missed Damian’s reply.
“Ok.”
“Ok?”
“Yes, that’s ok. Is there any way in which you would like me to behave differently in light of this?”
“No?”
“Ok. Is there any particular word you like to use for this?”
“What?”
“Homosexual? Bisexual? Pansexual? I believe there are others with more precision if you desire.”
“Oh, uh, no. Not yet, at least. I don’t know about girls. And, uh, don’t tell anyone? Please? I, um, haven’t told anybody else.”
“Ok.”
“Thank you.” The sliver of Jon that Tim could see showed his posture relax in clear relief. Tim could sympathise, coming out for the first time could suck..
“And you’re really ok with this?”
“Why would I not be? You are welcome to date, or not to date, whoever you like. So long as they are adequate.”
“Adequate?”
“Not likely to hurt you, your family, or the world at large. Too much.”
“I see. They have to be adequate.”
Tim’s small viewing angle didn’t grant him sight of Damian’s face. Despite this, he could pretty much see his tense jaw and furrowed eyebrows in the line of his shoulders. He was tense. Tim hoped that he wasn’t lying about accepting Jon’s sexuality, as that could lead to so many problems. He didn’t think it was likely, but it wasn’t like they had ever had a proper conversation about any of this. They had barely spoken about Tim’s gender, and even that mostly in relation to either uniforms as Bats or public image as Waynes.
It had been several long moments, and then in a very small voice when Damian next spoke.
“I think, Jon, that I have to be ok with you liking boys, because, I think, I have to be ok with me liking boys.”
“Yeah? You do know, don’t you, that that’s alright? That it’s ok?”
“Yes, I think I do. It’s just different when it’s me. I, uh, would appreciate it if you also kept this to yourself.”
“Sure. But surely, your brothers-”
“Are so confident, so sure they know what they are, they would push me to be rid of my uncertainty. And Father has never liked their choice of partners.” It hurt Tim that this was probably a fair assessment, on both counts. In a softer voice, Damian continued, “And also, none of my brothers have my Mother.”
“Oh, Dami, are you so sure that she would care?”
This conversation felt far more intimate now, and Tim was sure that being discovered now would induce either swords or tears, possibly both. He decided to make a break for it, hoping that Jon was focussed enough on Damian, and Damian was focussed enough on Jon, that his subpar sneaking would be successful. He still wanted a nap. And now he had someone else’s secret to hold. Two of them. How had he got himself in this situation? He wasn’t going to be bad enough of a brother not to keep them, or reveal he had them, so it wasn’t like this was blackmail material, just a burden for him. But it did give him some thinking to do about his brotherly relationships. He wondered when and if Damian would make an announcement to the family. He wondered, too, if Jon would be stood beside him as he did.