Tim: Give yourself permission not to be accessible at all times. Ignore that voicemail. Leave that message on read. Turn off your phone. Don't answer emails. Destroy your SIM card. Burn your house down. Disappear under mysterious circumstances.
Tim: Damian thinks it's an important Robin initiation tradition to do a backflip off the manor roof and land in a kiddie pool, and he's up there right now getting ready to jump without any gear
Bruce, having a heart attack: wHY DOES HE THINK THAT-
Tim: because I told him it was an important Robin initiation tradition
Bruce:
Bruce: why would you do that
Tim: somebody has to bully him or he's going to keep thinking there's nothing wrong with him.
Tim, on his 13th attempt to sneak out of the mansion to go on patrol with the flu and walking pneumonia: I didn’t “lose” my spleen. To lose something is to imply you don’t know where it is, and I know exactly where my spleen is; it just isn’t in my body-
Alfred, tired™ and armed with a tranquilizer: Even so, Master Drake, I must insist you get back into bed.
or more like what was he doing at wayne manor when he wasn't busy being robin
pt 1
back in crime alley, he’d go to the one library because it opened late and had air conditioning and heating (a luxury his own home didn’t have)
he’d read basically anything he could get his hands on
mostly he reads stories about fantastical adventures in far off lands, fighting monsters and saving the day
sometimes he read stuff like the little princess and prays that really will be him one day
so when he meets batman for the first time and he doesn’t get beaten up for stealing the tires but instead adopted? he can’t help but want to see where this goes
he tries so hard to make bruce not regret his decision
he makes sure to stay at the top of his classes, even when that means late nights studying in his room even after all of his training
he finds any newspaper articles that he can on robin and marvels at all of his feats
he reads true crime cases, even if they make his stomach churn, so he can improve his investigation skills
he trains until he retches on the floor, and then he cleans it up so as not to bother anyone and goes back to training
sure he acts all confident and happy but really? he knows that his current life was given to him by the whims of some rich guy and he could very well lose it all the next day
he stashed nonperishable food in his room, trinkets he’s been gifted that he thinks he could sell
but as the days go by and it seems like bruce has no intention of making him leave, and in fact he’s being treated almost like a son? it makes jason gain hope
the first time bruce asks him to come to a gala, jason is so excited he can’t sleep
he's stressing out over his suit (it's the first time he's ever worn one, much less had one custom made to fit him)
he checks up on it multiple times a day and will lowkey freak out if he finds a wrinkle (he won't because obviously it's alfred)
he's practicing how to tie a tie in the mirror perfectly
once he gets to the gala, he's buzzing from the nerves and excitement
will he feel out of place amongst all of these rich people who probably see him as a charity case?
sure, but the fact that he’s making a public appearance…surely this means that his stay at the manor will not be short-lived
he gets introduced as bruce’s adopted son and with each greeting he can’t help but puff his chest out just a bit more
as he wanders towards the punch bowl, he hears a group of ladies gossip about whether jason is actually bruce’s illegitimate child
it makes sense. they both have black hair, blue eyes, the same square jaw and heavy set eyebrows
he could probably correct them if he wanted to. but this is one rumour he doesn’t mind floating around
and that night, he has never been more grateful for the colour of his eyes
he thinks somewhere along the way he gets caught up in all of it
he lets himself get comfortable at the manor
he didn't have much in his room growing up. mostly because there wasn't anything to display to begin with, but also because they'd be evicted from their previous place so often, more belongings just meant more things to move
fills his room with personal trinkets. a dagger here, a mask there. he has photos framed. him meeting the justice league, with the titans, his first christmas at the manor (bruce has the same one in his office too)
i personally hc that some entrepreneurial gothamites have made bootleg batman and robin merch (actually is it bootleg if there's no official merch? who knows)
kind of like those i heart new york shirts with the local tourist spots on it
but it's batman lmfao
butttttttt i'm just imagining them coming across a dude selling chibi batman and robin merch while they're on patrol
and bruce hates it because like why is his head so big? why are his eyes so disproportionately large? does he have some sort of illness
but he notices how long jason's staring at them so he breaks the batsona for a bit to buy it for him
and jason has it on display in his room
imagine if they have one of those height markers in the house from when dick was still home
and then they add jason's and he can't help but stare enviously at dick's marking and wonders when he'll get there
alfred assures him he will be as tall as master dick one day, and they'll make sure to add it so that he "wins," as he so put it
unfortunately that day won't come. not because he doesn't grow taller than dick but by that point, it's too late
he has his own personal corner in the library
it's a cozy armchair that's just close enough to a window to get natural light while he's reading, but also close to the fireplace so that on winter days he's not freezing to death
it wasn't like that when he first got there. actually, the chair was much closer to the fireplace, where the rest of the furniture is arranged
but as time went on, he thought it'd be okay if he moved the chair just a littleeee bit more to the right. surely bruce wouldn't mind. and nobody ever said anything, so he'd move it bit by bit until eventually it was where it still is
it looks kind of out of place at this point. i mean, imagine a singular armchair way off to the side. but it's his spot and nobody moves it, even after he's gone
honestly, everybody else never really went into the library before or after, but whenever jason had free time, that's where he would be
he's just always there, even though he's been told that he's allowed to take the books around the house or to school if he wants
he's so careful with keeping the books safe, thinks it best that he leaves them in the library
he doesn't want to give them a reason to think he's a bother
he will bring a few books to his room, the ones he likes to read before he goes to sleep to wind down
i'm just thinking about the little reminders of jason todd scattered throughout the manor
the dining chair that's a little wobbly from the time jason tried to show bruce a trick
a burn mark on a wooden pan handle from the first time alfred taught him how to cook
a window pane that's not quite like the rest of them after he tried to copy dick's iconic quad flip
a bronze dog statue in a hallway because of course the waynes would own one. its head is shinier than the rest of its body from the times he would pet it
and sure, you could call it damage if you wanted to
but it's hard to think about it that way when really, those are some of the last reminders that he really was there
Fics where Batman's identity gets revealed with his death and the robins just keep on doing their shit are so funny.
Tim Drake at his CEO job like: yes, our father Bruce Wayne was batman. No, none of us know the identities of his associates that have our exact built and haircuts. No further questions.
