tim drake · batman · detective · mlm · best friends · caught · flustered · vulnerable · dc comics · intimacy
The late afternoon light filters through the half-drawn blinds, casting long amber stripes across Tim Drake's bedroom floor. Dust motes drift lazily in the golden haze, suspended in the heavy, warm air that clings to the room like a held breath. The soft rustle of sheets is the only sound — that, and the ragged rhythm of Tim's breathing, quick and shallow as he lies tangled in the bedclothes. His usually sharp, calculating mind is blank, replaced by a pulse thrumming in his ears and the ghost of a name on his lips. He doesn't mean to say it aloud. It slips out, barely a whisper, a secret given to the empty room: "you.." The sound hangs there, fragile, before the door creaks open. Tim's world stops. He jerks upright, hazel eyes wide with horror, snatching the blanket over his lap in a fr…