there's a vivid, adorable ghostbat image stuck in my mind that makes me wish I could draw. it's after patrol and the kids are debriefing as they clean up for the night. they don't like khoa and khoa does not like them, so their interactions so far have been minimal to keep conflict down and bruce happy. one of them starts in on a story from that night where they pulled off a fairly dangerous, reckless stunt. it wasn't even necessary, but sometimes when the adrenaline is pumping and you're so close to your goal you just forget all caution. bruce, predictably, pinches the bridge of his nose and starts reprimanding them.
and khoa, halfway, grins and makes eye contact with bruce. he doesn't particularly want to defend the kids, but he does want to tease bruce.
"hypocritical to lecture them like this, don't you think? I seem to recall a string of cases in Algeria when we were 14..."
khoa doesn't get to finish his sentence because Bruce already shot up out of his seat, laughing and embarrassed, and is covering khoa's mouth with one palm, the other arm hooked around khoa's shoulder.
bruce’s momentum has him stumbling into khoa’s arms, a graceless move he allows because he knows khoa will keep him upright. and he does; khoa’s hands find themselves around bruce’s waist, just above his hips, in an instant.
"I would like to maintain some dignity among my kids," he huffs, but there's a twinkle in his eyes and a fondness to his gaze as he looks at khoa and thinks of their past.
and, god, the JEALOUSY emanating from behind bruce. dick especially hates that he doesn't know about the string of cases, didn't know bruce when he was 14, that he's left out of the loop like this. every robin is possessive of batman, it's built into the love and trust and partnership of the dynamic. but dick prided himself on being the oldest, the first, the trailblazer. khoa is a painful reminder that he's not.
but bruce looks so fond, and his eyes are curved in that delighted way and there's a flush on his cheeks and the back of his neck. bruce is leaning his body into khoa's, still covering his mouth as he murmurs something, and dick hates that the lightness in his shoulders was caused by someone else.
jason is making fake retching sounds, but dick can tell he's jealous too, they all are, at ghostmaker knowing a version of bruce they'll never meet. gritting his teeth beneath a performer's smile, dick calls out, "you can't just leave us high and dry like that, B! What happened when you were 14?"
"you don't have to tell us," tim adds, "but we'll find out anyways. so it's best if we just hear it from you."
bruce groans and finally removes his hand from khoa's mouth, glaring at the man while he wipes his palm on his shirt.
"we were mastering high-speed motorcycle chases on the back roads..."
