Puppy Love
Tim Drake x GN!Reader
author's note: just thought this up and couldn't get it out of my head, and yes the dog is based off of my fluffy dog, I'd die for him summary: Damian forces Tim to watch over his dog while he's gone, and it might be one of the best things to happen to him. CW: fluff, Dick being a dick and the family being nosy, also Tim is down bad and desperate for the reader WC: 3.8k
“You will be watching Titus while I’m gone,” Damian tells Tim as they both are in the Batcave, as the others are out on patrol.
“What?” Tim is caught off guard by the question, “No, why would I do that? I have a life, you know.”
“No, you do not, Drake,” Tim feels himself deflate at the insult.
“Why can’t Cass or Duke watch him?” Tim grumbles, chair turning away from the computer to face him.
“Don’t flatter yourself, you are not my first option. However, all the preferable options aren’t able to, so you’re watching him next week while I’m on a mission with Kent.” Damian’s reply seems almost like a command, scarily mimicking Bruce’s matter-of-fact, leaving no room for arguments, tone.
“What? You can’t just–”
“He will need to be brought daily to the dog park for socialization and exercise,” Damian continues, completely ignoring Tim’s protests, “he also needs his joint supplements daily, for breakfast…” the boy keeps listing off details of Titus’ care.
Tim just internally groans accepting his fate, as he sinks lower into his chair.
Great.
—
The next day, Tim is walking to the dog park with the instructions Damian gave him, haphazardly shoved into his coat pocket as he shivers at the cold. His only reprieve being that one hand is wrapped around a hot cup of coffee while the other grows red from the cold air biting it as he grips onto Titus’ leash, who keeps tugging harder the closer they get to the dog park.
Finally, once at the entrance, he lets the large beast through the gates as it dashes off to greet other dogs. Tim grumbles in annoyance, locking the gate as he wraps his cold fingers around his cup, taking a few sips.
Once he follows the dog for a bit, he heads towards one of the benches in the vast park with a sigh as he looks around him. The cold biting at his face, turning his nose and cheeks a slight shade of pink. As he takes another sip of his unflavored coffee, he starts to curse Damian in his head as another gust of wind blows through, ruffling his hair.
“May I sit here?” The sudden sound of a voice catches him off guard as his head snaps up.
Once he makes eye contact with you, his breath catches in his throat at the sight of you. Noticing you patiently waiting for his reply, he quickly scoots over.
“Y-Yeah sure,” he hears his voice pitch slightly internally, cringing at the sound.
“Thank you, it’s super cold today,” you say as they sit down beside him.
“Yeah.”
‘What the hell is wrong with me?’ he groans internally at his lame one-word response.
You sit side by side in silence as you both watch the dogs run around chasing each other playfully.
“So which one is yours?” Tim asks, trying to start up a conversation.
“Oh, that one over there, the big fluffy white one,” you point to the large Great Pyrenees running happily across the field, being chased by a small Aussie. “Which ones yours?” you ask politely, looking to him only to already see him staring at you.
Tim’s eyes divert as soon as you look his direction, and he points towards Titus, who is currently on his back, rubbing himself into some dirt.
“Aww, he’s adorable,” you smile, endeared by the dog's antics before looking back to him, “I haven’t seen you here before did you just move here?”
Tim is slightly shocked at you not knowing who he is, though he does know he doesn’t usually see the light of day, nor would he ever be expected to be at the dog park. “No, I’m just watching my dog for my brother.”
“That’s nice of you.” Your smile keeps making him flush harder at the sight of it.
“Yeah.”
‘Jesus, could you pick a lamer response?’ He personally wants to wrangle his own neck at his social inadequacy.
“I just recently moved from Coast City, just transferred to GU.” You continue trying to keep the conversation up with him.
“Oh, really?” If Tim’s heart could take flight, it probably would at the information you just told him, “I also go there, I’m a junior. Majoring in Engineering.”
“That’s great, I’m a junior too, I’m trying to make friends around here and probably join some study groups!” Your smile could probably melt the frosty ground around you, as he can’t help himself from a small smile tugging at the corner of his lips in response to your enthusiasm.
“Yeah, I mean I could help with, uhm, anything you need,” ‘Fuck did that sound desperate?’, “I can also introduce you to some of my friends, maybe some of us share a class with you.” ‘Good recovery, Drake.’
“That would be great, thank you so much.” Your smile hasn’t left your face as you talk to him. You feel your phone buzz in your pocket, “time for me to go, I’ll see you nice meeting you,” You say goodbye with a wave as you call your dog and leash it.
Tim just gives a slight wave hand still up as he dreamily watches you walk away.
It takes him till he gets back to the manor to realize two grave mistakes. One, he doesn’t know your name. Two, he has no way of knowing how to contact you. His best hope is to show up at the dog park the same time tomorrow, hoping that you have it as part of your daily routine.
—
The next day, he gets to the park at the same time he did yesterday. Same coffee order in hand, sitting at the same bench. His eyes keep darting around, trying to find you or your dog. His hope was crumbling with each passing minute as he couldn’t seem to spot either.
“Hi, stranger,” that familiar voice rings through his ears from behind him, making him jump as he turns around being met with the sight of you standing behind the bench with that sweet smile on your face again.
“Hey,” he tells you breathlessly, caught off guard more by looking at you than by your startling greeting.
“How are you liking the dog park?” you easily fall into conversation as you move around to seat yourself next to him, “I don’t know who put all this money into the park, but it’s amazing.” Tim knows exactly who put money into it as his eyes subconsciously move to the placard giving thanks to the Wayne Foundation for donating to the park.
“Yeah, it’s really nice, do you not have any like it back in Coast City?”
You shake your head no, “Not like this one.”
Your attention is pulled away as you hear your dog barking, trying to bait Titus into playing with him. That smile again graces your lips as Tim keeps watching your side profile. He really should stop staring, but he can’t help himself. He should also probably get your name.
“I’m Tim, by the way,” he tells you, making your head turn back to him.
Your hand reaches out to shake his, “I’m (Y/N).”
He could now safely say he could die happy knowing he got to touch your hand and see you smile at him like that.
—
The next day, he’s putting on his coat and getting ready to go to the dog park again. Thankfully, the snow has settled from last night, but this time he actually remembers to get gloves and a scarf.
He’s almost ready to bolt out the door when he puts the leash on Titus, before he hears a voice from behind him.
“You seem excited.” Tim freezes at the words and looks behind him as he sees Dick, and he feels his face drain of color. “Where are you heading to?” Dick is more curious now.
“Dog park,” Tim replies simply as he then deflects, not wanting his oldest brother to pry anymore, “What are you doing here? Why aren’t you with the Titans or in Bludhaven or something?”
Dick feigns hurt, though his smile that seems more like a smirk never leaves his lips, “Is it so hard to imagine that I’d want to come by every once in a while?”
“Yes,” Tim states flatly as he makes to leave.
“Can I come with you? It’s been a second, Tim. We should catch up.” Dick’s enthusiastic personality makes more dread creep into Tim’s mind as he would rather die than let his brother tag along and see him get flustered like an idiot over someone he met at the dog park.
“No.” Without a word, he quickly shuts the door in his brother’s face before being on his way.
—
At the dog park, his previous feelings caused by Dick’s nosiness are washed away as he sees you already sitting at the bench, now a steaming cup also enveloped between your hands as you idly watch the now few dogs running around in the snow.
He makes his way to you and greets you as he sits down beside you.
“So do you come here often?” Tim’s face practically turns beet red as he realizes how dumb that sounds.
‘Do you come here often?! That’s some shit Jason would say,’ as Tim’s mind starts to run a mile a minute, you let out a soft laugh.
“Yeah, actually. I come here every day, usually after work or between classes. We’ll see if my schedule changes once I’m back in class,” that pulls Tim out of his catastrophizing. “You know it’s good for the pup, and he gets me out of the house,” you explain as Tim is now elated at knowing this piece of information. All he needs to do is come back here same time every day for the rest of his life. Easy and simple.
“How long are you watching your brother’s dog?” Your eyes turn up to meet his, and he can’t believe how infatuated you have him in a mere few days.
“Just for the rest of the week,” he sees your eyes turn away as a pang of disappointment hits your chest, “b-but I like bringing him out here, so I’ll probably keep doing it for him.”
Your previous disappointment is washed away completely at this. You’ve come to enjoy his company, so you’re glad to hear his rushed-out response. Plus, the blush that dusts his cheeks is endearing to you, and you can’t help wanting to know more about him and see him more often.
“I’m glad it’s nice talking to you,” you sincerely tell him, another smile gracing your lips.
Yeah, this might be the best chore Damian has forced him to do.
—
The next few days breeze by as almost every moment he’s not at the dog park, he’s anticipating his next meeting with you. With each detail he learns about you, he holds it close and makes sure to keep it guarded in his memory to recall for the future. He even memorizes your favorite coffee order, bringing you one on Saturday, and he feels the air get hot when your fingers brush as he passes you the hot beverage. Watching you smile and enjoy it made his week.
Now it’s finally Sunday, the last day he has to watch Titus, which means he needs to ask for your number today. He’s working himself up all day till it’s time for him to leave. As he opens the door, he nearly walks straight into Duke.
“Whoa, there, where the hell are you going in a hurry?”
“Dog park,” Tim gives a short response, not wanting to delay meeting up with you any longer.
Duke rolls his eyes at Tim's response, blocking his exit. “You literally whined to Stephanie for a whole hour about Damian forcing you to do this. Where are you actually going?” Duke's eyes narrow suspiciously at the shorter male looking down at him.
“Just want it over with,” Tim tries to shrug off Duke’s question as he tries to brush past, only for Duke to block his path.
‘Great first, Dick, now Duke.’ Soon, the whole family will try and interrogate him.
“Yeah, sure,” Duke responds flatly, “You know you’re acting strange, right? Even Dick noticed earlier.”
Tim wants to shove Duke out of the way as he raises an eyebrow at him, expecting a reply.
“Just wanting to get to my coffee ASAP,” neither of them believes Tim’s response, but Duke moves out of the way with a sigh as he shakes his head, moving past him into the warmth of the manor, leaving Tim outside in the cold once more, heart pounding in his ears. Fear at the thought of any of them getting a hint that he could be interested in someone. He dreads the thought more than having to return to classes next week.
—
His foot keeps tapping on the ground as he anxiously waits for you to arrive. His hands are both occupied with his and your order in each hand. In his head, he keeps repeating his rehearsed words and playing out almost every scenario he can, trying to fill up the time as anxiety builds in his chest with every passing minute.
He’s more frantic as he searches for you or the fluffy big ball of white fur that has accompanied you each time you’ve shown up. But each minute keeps ticking by as snow starts to fall.
His mind starts to race at every possibility; however, his mind focuses on the worst ones. Maybe he was too obvious, and you knew he wanted to ask for your number? Maybe you weren’t interested in talking to him anymore, so you specifically came here earlier?
Tim’s mind quickly spirals as it does so often, each minute the anxious pit in his chest growing larger as he realizes you probably aren’t showing up today.
He sat there waiting for nearly two hours, your coffee now cold and his completely finished. He wanted to kick himself for his pathetic thought that you’d be interested. His mind reeling at the thought of how he should’ve asked for your number yesterday instead of waiting till today to do so.
He sighs, mind and body exhausted, as he gets up and calls Titus over. He leashes the large animal before hesitating as he throws your drink away. Walking towards the exit, his eyes search around for you one last time, but his hope crumbles as he can’t find your familiar face anywhere.
He hears Titus make a whining sound, and Tim glances down at the dog, “Yeah, me too, buddy.”
—
That same night, Damian returns, marching into Tim’s room without so much as a knock.
“Your care for my dog was satisfactory; he seems to have been happy while I was gone.”
Tim groans as he takes the pillow off of his face, trying to make himself fall asleep for hours now, “You can just say thank you.”
“I have no reason to you, merely did what I told you to do,” Damian said matter-of-factly, making Tim want to throw something heavy straight at the boy’s head.
“Now that you’ve thanked me in your own weird fucked up way, can you leave?” Tim groans out, putting the pillow over his face, wanting to bask in his sorrows by himself.
“Your presence irritates me; you should feel honored I stopped by.”
“Prick,” Tim mumbles, sitting up and glaring at the 12-year-old.
However, once Damian makes a move to leave, Tim’s eyes widen with an idea. He quickly runs up and blocks Damian’s exit.
“Get out of my way, Drake, or I will make you move.” The glare the small assassin shoots at him almost seemed like a physical dagger flying from his eyes into Tim’s neck.
“Wait, let me take Titus to the dog park tomorrow.” Tim will probably regret the pleasing tone of his voice later, but he’ll regret it more if he doesn’t at least try and see you again.
“No,” Damian replies flatly, crossing his arm, “he doesn’t need you contaminating his airways with your carbon dioxide.”
“Contaminating?” Tim almost bristles before he shakes his head, focusing back on the youngest Wayne. “Just one extra day, that’s it.”
“Why are you so desperate for this? What stupid motive do you have?” Damian doesn’t seem the least bit curious contrast to his questions. He wants to side-step his brother and be on his way.
Tim gives a defeated sigh, “Don’t ask any questions, I’ll owe you, I promise…please?” At this point, Tim is nearly begging him.
Damian stills as a wicked grin makes his way onto his face for a quick moment before he stills his features, “Alright, Drake, but you owe me.” Damian reaches out to solidify their deal.
“Deal, I owe you,” Tim promises, relief washing over him. He’ll probably worry over what favor Damian will call in the future, but for now, he’s just happy about the possibility of seeing you again tomorrow.
—
His heart is racing in anticipation, in hope you’ll be there today, he’s putting his feet into his shoes, trying to get put together as fast as possible so he can leave. As he double-checks, he has everything. He pats his pockets only for his heart to sink. ‘Where the hell is my phone?’ He frantically turns his pockets inside out, trying to look for it as he kicks shoes aside, seeing if he may have dropped them in between.
“Looking for something?” Tim’s head whips over to see Dick and Tim’s phone in his hand, but what makes anxiety rush into his veins is the mischievous smirk and the not-so-subtle glint in his blue eyes.
“Yes, actually,” Tim grits out, making a move to get his phone back, but Dick moves it out of his reach, wagging a finger at him playfully.
“You can get your phone back, little bird, once you tell me what’s going on with you?” Tim can’t help but have the urge to smack the teasing grin off of Dick’s face.
“None of your business,” Tim can’t delay any longer as he swiftly feints a punch to Dick’s right side, and just as expected, Dick dodges to the left only to meet Tim’s other fist. As Dick lets out a groan, the second his attention is taken off keeping the phone away from his brother, Tim snatches it from his grasp and quickly rushes outside, leaving Dick even more curious as he rubs his side.
Stephanie leans through a doorway into the hallway as she stares at Dick in confusion, “What the hell was that about?”
“No idea,” Dick says, staring at the now closed door, before another grin makes its way onto his face. He turns to the blonde still peeking at him from down the hall, “Wanna find out?”
—
The familiar feeling from yesterday creeps back tenfold into every corner of Tim’s body as he approaches the gates and lets Titus in before latching them closed behind him. As he makes his way around the park to where the familiar bench was, he feels his heart leaps into his throat as he freezes.
Your familiar frame is sitting there silently, seeming to be waiting for someone. You haven’t noticed him yet, and Tim takes time to let his eyes look over your frame. His eyes land on the two cups of coffee in your lap. Your legs sweep the dirt underneath you, your eyes searching before they finally land on him, and you give him a wave and a smile.
He returns it sheepishly, his legs finally giving in to move again towards your direction.
“I’m so glad I caught you today,” your smile is almost infectious as you hold out the cup towards him, “an apology for yesterday, I was sick with something and basically slept through the whole day.”
Tim is ecstatic at the familiar warmth from before that washes through him as your fingers slightly touch when you hand him his drink.
“I hope I got it right, straight black coffee?” Tim nods as a blush covers his cheeks and a slight smile makes his way onto his lips. You pat the space next to you, inviting him to sit down, and he does so without a word.
Caught up in the warm feeling your interaction has given him, his brain zeroes back in to focus on you beside him, “Uh, are you doing better, then?”
“Oh, yeah, much better. I think it was some weak cold that I slept off.”
“That’s good,” Tim replies as his hands twitch with the anxiousness building up within him. His eyes are focused on the Styrofoam cup in his hands as his eyebrows furrow.
He has to ask you today, he has to. His eyes look up to meet yours, and he has to take in a deep breath to stabilize himself.
“Could I get your number?”
The world stills around you as your cheeks heat up at his question, almost not believing the cute dog park guy is actually asking for your number. You look down at your pockets bashfully, fishing out your phone.
“Yeah, sure,” you smile back up at him, and you could practically see a physical weight lift off his shoulders.
“Cool, yeah, cool, okay,” Tim honestly hadn’t expected you to agree. He had been going over worst-case scenarios all last night and the night before about your rejection. His hands are shaky, but quick as you exchange phones and put in contact information for each other.
As you two ease into conversation again, exchanging laughs in between sips of coffee, you’re both unaware of the two pairs of eyes across the dog park, hiding in a bush, observing you two.
“No way that loser has a girlfriend,” Stephanie says as she takes out her phone and zooms in on you two, snapping a picture before her thumbs glide over the screen, sending it to the group chat.
“I am so proud of him, I taught him everything I know,” Dick wipes a fake tear from his eyes, clutching his heart dramatically at the sight of the two of you.
“I doubt that,” Stephanie mumbles as she brings up her phone to take more pictures.
Tim feels his pocket buzz over and over again as it keeps interrupting his chatter with you.
“Seems important,” you say, pointing to his phone that keeps showing blank message notifications.
Tim picks up his phone in slight irritation as it keeps going off, “let me just–” he cuts himself off as his eyes widen at the messages and then the spam notifications from his family.
His head snaps directly towards the direction at which the picture was taken, and he gives a glare as he hears an “oh shit” and scrambling as he watches Dick and Stephanie book it.
You look in the direction he’s staring at before glancing back at him, confused, “Do you know them?”
“Unfortunately.” Tim sighs as he brings his attention back to you. dreading the thought of returning to the manor later today. “Do you wanna grab something to eat after this?”
