(no subject)
Title: Sparks
Author: kingburu
Rating: PG-13
Pairings/Characters: Bart/Tim, Kon, Titans, etc
Warnings: none
Notes: Flash: Rebirth #1 - 6, Red Robin #20, Teen Titans #93
Summary: Bart's in love. Kon helps.
Bart didn't come back until sunset. He was apparently weirded out now from that hug, but the fact he was still his smiley, dorky self was just weirder. Kon probably had more self-affliction in his damn pinky than Bart's entire essence, who proceeded with bouncing off the walls, assisting Cassie with baking a cake, and…other stuff. Bart beat him three times playing video games, but Kon blamed it on being incredibly worried, otherwise he so would have dominated. Apparently when Gar traded remotes with Kon and Kon left the room, Bart had lost badly, unable to concentrate and was absent during suggestions for dinner. Gar, however, gave him the stink eye, and Kon wouldn't have been surprised if he woke Sunday morning covered in Tyrannosaurus poo.
So that meant Bart already had a wingman. Or, someone who wasn't Kon that wouldn't srun off to Tim/s accidentally blab that Bart liked um. Sausage. Or was bi. Actually, he wasn't even supposed to know about this, which was why Bart volunteered rather Bart-ishly after the Grande Hug to take his temperature and drop him off at the nearest hospital in Oklahoma before Bart went to get bologna in Kansas.
Bart. Made things…confusing. And Tim wasn't helping by being a freak and keeping secrets. Tim, wanting to reconnect with Bart? Kon was more of a heartless bastard to forget Tim had feelings. But the fact Tim was so tense about this friendship, to the point yelling in Kon's face? That was totally not the expected reaction.
So there he sat, staring at the four-tier cake Bart had gotten so bored Cassie and he made (it apparently weighed like, seventy-two pounds) that was decorated with the emblems of all their mentors. In fondant. "Bart?"
"Yup?" The yellow blur halted for a moment, Bart reappearing in a hoodie and pair of jeans, which-was. Really. Weird, considering ever since they got back from the future, Bart had gotten into the ridiculous habit of wearing muscle shirts and his shorts. Did Bart even own a pair of jeans? Off-color eyes arched an eyebrow of amusement. "I don't need to drop you off in Oklahoma again, do I? Or maybe we should take a trip on the Cosmic Treadmill and visit Freud. Your psychological health is all out of whack."
"Dude."
"What?" Bart blurred from his spot in the kitchen, opened the fridge, and returned with some…icing-thingie like they used on Food Network.
"You're wearing pants."
"That…would be the point, yes." Why wasn't Bart more upset about the whole Tim thing? Kon had been the one to break it off with Cass this time, but even on his side he was getting bitten by the Emo-Monster. Bart was being…Bart-ish about this. And staring at him weird. Before he knew it, Kon's shoulders became occupied with speedster shoes and Bart was precariously icing the top tier. "Stay still."
"What's the point of this?" Being who he was and Bart weighing like, what-twenty pounds?-it wasn't hard to keep still. "And why are you wearing pants?"
"Because I'm not a girl? Conner, you've got some serious dandruff up here." Bart squeezed the icing-thingie tightly and made flowers on the second tier. Flowers.
"Why are you dressed up?" Kon looked back at the cake, eyebrow arched, and Bart proceeded with drawing some complex design on the third tier.
Bart jumped off his shoulders, zipped to the refrigerator, then zipped back. He arched an amused eyebrow and put his hands on his hips. "Me wearing pants is considered dress up? Gee, Conner. Living at a farm must have seriously gotten to you-"
"Do you have a date or something? Did Rose finally crack? You're being considerate about her eye patch, right?" Kon's brain was fried. Bart scoring a date with a girl? He kind of imagined the guy the awkward, naïve type-especially after how nervous he kept acting around Tim. Bart was flashy and showy whenever it came to flirting with girls-Lorena, Bombshell, Kory, Rose-but when it came down to it whether it was spastic Kid Flash, impulsive Imp, or the newly-sarcastic, sly, and mischievous Bart, he was still blissfully innocent. To. Some degree. Rose purposely flirted back when Bart had become especially annoying and 9 out of 10 times it rendered Bart speechless and lost of thought.
"I-uh." Bart grinned. Not, 'how did you figure it out' grin, but 'Wow, Kon is seriously losing it tonight.' He leaned against the counter, picked at one of his pretty, yellow icing flowers and licked his fingers. "I'm going out tonight, yeah. And these pants are restraining, but they're um. Evidently required?"
"Dude." Kon wasn't the only one there, right? Tim turned Bart down about five hours ago, right? "Um. Have fun?"
"Right." Bart said the word as if he were speaking to a two-year-old child, then began his normal stretches that signified he'd be bolting out the door in a second or two. Kon watched, uncertain of what to say, and Bart continued with a hum before taking a runner's stance. "Don't eat all the cake. Cass wants to take pictures first."
It was an impressive cake. "Don't you?"
"Photographic memory." Bart tapped his noggin, then sniggered. "Bye."
And with that, all Kon needed to do was look out the window to see his yellow blur of a best friend speed off the island toward…wherever. Kon scratched his head, took one look at the cake, and made the walk toward the dorms and Tim's room.
Who wasn't there. Confusion. And. Rose was at the Tower, which meant she wasn't Bart's mystery date. Kon's eyes darted anywhere but her long legs, sweat-dampened hair, skin-tight sportsbr-"Bwuh, Rose? Have you seen Rob?"
Rose looked over to him and her lips curled into a knowing smirk. She jutted her chest out, just for emphasis, and hummed. "In the gym."
"Um…thanks." 's. Oh, god, he did not just have that thought.
Kon soared through the hall, ignoring extra rooms in favor for the concern that swelled in his chest. It wasn't that he didn't trust Bart. Bart, he trusted with his life. Bart was just…a little more unpredictable than usual. He entered the gym to find Tim and Cassie sparring, just like old times. Cassie managed to deliver a kick to Tim's jaw, sending him flying backward into a somersault recovery. She looked at her handiwork, grinning smugly to Tim's wary smirk, and helped him off the ground.
"Hey," Kon waved. So the date wasn't with Tim, either. Kon wasn't sure if that was more or less reassuring.
Cassie's grin turned into that smile of hers: soft, but filled with strength that always managed to turn Kon's brain into mush. "Hey."
"You've gotten better," Tim remarked, then turned his attention to Kon. Which reminded Kon that while Gar was apparently acting-wingman for Bart, Kon was kinda-sorta confidant for Tim. Which, made sense in its own little fucked up way. "Finally done eating pizza?"
"It helps when the dude you're sharing it with has hyper accelerated metabolism," Kon said wryly. He studied Tim carefully to see if he'd get a reaction, but knew he wouldn't. Tim wouldn't have gotten so far as the partner of Batman if he didn't have a highly trained poker face. So he tried something else. "Speaking of Bart, I caught him wearing jeans."
Cassie cracked a grin, laughed, and shook her head. "So? It's not a big deal. San Francisco gets cold, Conner."
"But Bart doesn't." Tim crossed his arms and shook his head, slightly frowning. Good. "He vibrates so fast that any human would his temperature to be warmer than most. Jeans aren't the most reflexive material for a runner, so if Bart isn't in uniform he always wears shorts.."
Kon blinked. That made a lot of sense, actually. "He…told you that?"
"Educated guess." Tim stared at him wryly-the same way Bart looked at him when Kon asked if the little guy had a date. Only less smiley.
Cassie tapped her chin, frowning in concern and hand on her hip. "Bart…has been acting a little strange lately. Stranger than normal."
"Don't worry about it," Kon said awkwardly. Knowing Tim, he wouldn't want his first week back to be filled with Tower gossip that Bart was totally in love with him. Tim's lips were pursed in the way that meant to drop the subject, and if anything, it was someone's bad side Kon couldn't afford getting on. In the world of Batman and his freakity-freak children, Bart's feelings and Tim's response would make the case closed. Or at least, make it a cold case. Or. Something. Bart and Tim were the ones who knew about forensics, after all, he was kinda just the big guy with x-ray vision. Kon frowned.
Now, if only his ex wasn't so damn perceptive. Cassie stood higher, hands on her hips and blond eyebrow quirked suspiciously. She had that same expression when they were younger, too, as Young Justice when Kon said something stupid. Now unfortunately it went from cute to downright sexy, and Kon was ready to barf his brains. Gah. "So if I don't need to worry about it, then why don't you tell me?"
Kon opened his mouth. Tim's voice came out. "Bart's in love."
Cassie stared at Tim. Like, really stared at him, and Kon's eyes were suddenly fascinated with the pink blush that decorated craftily hair-hidden ears of their former leader. She opened her mouth, attempted to speak, then closed it. Then, a broad grin spread across her lips. "I knew it.
Huh?
"You knew?" Kon's jaw slackened and he stared at their leader in surprise. "You can't know; I didn't even know!"
"Last I saw, he was in denial." Cassie shrugged. She was doing a lot better job of keeping things not-awkward between them than Kon was. Guh. "Gar said it was complicated."
"You asked Gar? Before me-?" Um. That was a pretty bad question. Crisp blue eyes from both sides stared at Kon and he bit the inside of his mouth, pretending he didn't notice. Getting back together after Dakota had been difficult, and Cassie was pretty set on being the leader. And when Kon managed to get her to loosen up, it normally led to sex. And after Super-Cuddling there was more leadering, and usually the second time 'round, Kon didn't always get as lucky. "Eheh."
He just wondered how much Cassie had told Tim while they were in the gym, or…in general, really. Cassie nudged Tim in the arm playfully, lips curling into a grin and a soft laugh. "Can't wait to meet him, then."
Kon blinked. "So you know he's gay."
"Considering when I got to the Tower this Friday afternoon, and Gar's greeting was, 'Bart's got puppy love and we made out on my bed'?" Oh. That wasn't a detail Kon had actually told Tim. Rob's expression faltered into horror, eyebrows rising in surprise, and then an analytic frown in Kon's direction. Cassie smirked, looking between the two of them before shaking her head. "He just thought I should know, being the most well-adjusted on the team and non-judgmental. I'm assuming, however, that Gar either told you or you figured it out yourself."
"He's not that smart, Cass." There was definitely some underlying hate in Tim's voice. "I'm sure Gar told him."
"He didn't tell either of you," Cass said a little too self-righteously. She chuckled, grinning in the way Kon hadn't seen in ages, and gestured between them. "Amazons aren't particularly innocent-"
"So that rumor could be true?" Er. Kon bit his lip from his outburst. "That, um…Amazons are…?"
"Lesbians." Cassie smirked. She didn't do much of that bellowing anymore-Cass was a bit too mature for that nowadays. She did look incredibly amused to Tim's stoicy-ness and Kon's…Kon-ness. Cassie stared at them, still amused, before crossing her arms in that, 'I'm a smarty-pants' fashion Tim did a lot.
"He's less likely to overreact if it's a girl that knows," Tim finished for the both of them. His ears were still that color of pink-maybe a little darker, even, and Kon had to wonder if they'd been like that all day. He hadn't noticed. "And Gar was taking into consideration that if Conner or I knew, we could overreact and feel uncomfortable about Bart's sexuality."
"If anything, he's still into girls." She nodded and snorted. "I'd almost pin him as asexual. Somehow I'm not surprised. The 31st Century is most likely a lot less judgmental than we are and-a lot more touchy-feely, based off Bart's hugs."
"Yeah…well." Kon grimaced. Tim looked like a cross between being sick to his stomach and absolutely amused, And Cassie-while no doubt she would have been accepting about little Bart, it felt like overkill. "Bart's kinda…on a date. I just saw him off."
Tim stared at him in surprise, genuine and concerned and Kon met it with his own tentative nod. Bart tended to…not make sense. A lot. But this was the 'weird' not-make sense, not the…general.
Cassie cooed, one eyebrow arched high in the air. "How cute!"
"How…very. Cute." Tim's eyes flickered with unease.
It wasn't necessarily that Kon was taking sides when it came to his best friends. He felt terrible for Bart, and he thought Tim was kind of being a douche, but…no normal douche still look that worried after turning someone down. Tim turned Bart down. He was a good guy, he was also just…exhibiting some douche-like tendencies and also being incredibly…not-Tim-mish. Freaky on a whole new level.
"Wonder who it is, then," Cassie carried on, looking between both of them with wistful blue eyes. Kon wanted nothing more but to pull her in his arms and kiss the wispy curls that surrounded her forehead. "Gar says it was complicated, but Bart isn't particularly…judgmental." She tapped her chin. "You think it's someone we know?"
Tim's eyes flickered carefully, eyes narrowing back to Kon's, and Kon pretended not to notice the two holes that were currently being burnt into his skull. "Er, maybe."
"That's probably why it's complicated then. Who it is." Cassie shook her head, snorted, and even chuckled. "So long as it isn't Rose…I think I'm alright."
Evidently Rob wasn't going to give Kon the benefit of the doubt.
"Yeah," Tim said finally. "Good deduction skills, Cass."
--
Sunday was spent semi-peacefully transporting supervillains to Alcatraz. If Kon hadn't heard it enough times before spending a thousand years inside the Fortress of Solitude, then he definitely had enough now hearing a man well past his golden years with a one-point-too-many above average IQ promise to someday rule the world. Cass and Tim were doing that thing where they were speaking again, which put Bart on "fix the leaky faucet on the back of the javelin" duty, and Kon on the "make sure Bart doesn't cause the javelin to explode" duty.
"So, uh-about your date-"
"Shh!"
"But you fixed the leaky faucet ten minutes a-"
"I'm updating the javelin now-it's so slow. Oh, Conner, could you lift this for me? It's kinda heavy."
"Uh. Alright."
Which was sadly the highpoint of Sunday before Bart challenged Kon to a race home. Bart hid it well that he was avoiding Tim, and either Tim was clearly obvious about avoiding Bart or Cassie and he were discussing something of great, great importance. It wasn't until Thursday that Kon had a conversation with Bart again.
He sighed, looking at the clock through his last ten minutes of detention and waiting less-than-patiently. Bart was forced out of his mind early in the week thanks to his stupid teacher's pop trig quiz which he miserably failed, his history test that he forgot to study, Lori, who was just-well. Lori, trying to understand Simon and make sure he stayed out of trouble, and a heck of a lot of other stuff.
Ma wasn't going to be too pleased with his grades in a few weeks. He was going to have to ask Bart to actually explain the work to him next time instead of doing all of it. Or maybe ask Tim. Tim would spare his feelings for the first ten minutes and be more subtle with Bart's, wow-you're-kind-of-an-idiot eyebrow arch.
Kon's thought process normally juggled school, farm work, then at the very end of the day, Bart and checking up on the little guy. For about ten seconds before collapsing in bed and falling directly asleep.
It was right before detention, actually, when Bart crossed his mind again. Simon mentioned something about a leaky faucet-
"Oh. My. God. Bart!"
"What? What is it, Kent? Wait is that who Red Robin is? …wow, that's kinda anticlimactic."
-which led to the apparent vandalism of the principal's favorite bush (who the heck had a favorite bush?) and earned Kon the current, painful and absolutely boring time sitting still at a desk and staring hard at his incomprehensible trig homework.
Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. "Alright, Mister Kent, you may-"
"Thank God!" Kon quickly zipped out of the school (as quickly as Conner Kent could manage without looking suspicious), found the nearest clear area, and ripped the flannel shirt off his chest. It was stuffed thoroughly in his backpack (the one time in Smallville where his shirt wasn't torn to shreds) and made the beeline toward…
Kon paused. Bart told Tim he went to Central City High, but not long before that he'd also said he lived with the Wests.
And then there was Max Mercury. Goddamn.
Then another idea crossed his mind. Superboy grinned and cupped his mouth with his hands. "KRYPTO!"
--
Kon could have sworn that by now Kyrpto was housetrained. He could have sworn he told Krypto not to lift his leg next to the radiotower, and that they were trying to be sneaky. Maybe it would have helped if he kept Krypto on a leash, because the woman Krypto's dog loogie did not look appreciative.
"I used to think you were better-trained than Imp. Now I'm not so sure."
Krypto offered him a grin, ears flopping back and forth haphazardly as they passed the, 'Welcome to Keystone City: Home of the Flash!' sign and soared through the more suburban areas of the town. Keystone was much bigger than Smallville, but it was nowhere near the size of Metropolis or Gotham. It certainly had that homey feel Smallville had; which was pretty different from Bart. You didn't expect Bart on a farm staring at tumbleweeds. He'd probably be fascinated with the chickens and blurt some random fact, like, 'Did you know chickens have a kajillion-thousand-hundred feathers?'
Oddly enough it wouldn't be any weirder than when Simon had one of his, 'I must teach my frogs to do this!' days. Oh, god, Simon was Bart and Bart was Simon.
Headache. Kon was getting a headache.
He scratched his head, groaning at the thought while Krypto led the way to the small two-story house of the West Residence. A shiny new car was parked out in front of the garage, but considering how fast the Flash ran, Kon wouldn't have been surprised if it was just for kicks.
Plus, the only car Bart ever had the patience to ride in was the Batmobile. At Mach 5.
A yellow blur delved up the hill to get to the West Residence and came to a scalding halt at the front door.
"Stay here, boy," Kon whispered to Krypto. Krypto whimpered and moaned, eager to tag along, but Kon made the effort to tie Krypto to a tree before making his descent and innocently listening into Bart's conversation with Wally's wife.
"Don't even fret about it, Bart. You know the room upstairs is always yours."
"Er. Thanks, Linda."
'Linda' jutted the door wider, lips curling into a smirk as she looked Kon's way. Oh, shit. "You can invite Superboy if you want, too."
Bart did that thing where he blinked too fast for people to notice, then turned around. Somewhere in all of the commotion he had changed into his civvies and now looked over to Kon in surprise. He stuffed his pockets, grinned fully, and let out an impish snicker.
Kon speedily reached for his glasses, then stopped. Linda stared with amusement and Bart mimicked the same expression fairly well. "How'd you know I was here?"
"Mother's intuition," Mrs. West smirked. She pointed in the air. "Plus your dog is peeing in our neighbor's petunias.'
"Oh…uh…heheh."
"Krypto can play with Dox," Bart offered helpfully. Kon blinked and once he opened his eyes again, a little brown and white dog was wrapped under the other teen's hands. Dox stared back, eyes pervading the area with a highpitched yawn before nuzzling his owner affectionately. Bart grinned. "Morning, Dox."
Krypto happily landed by Bart's side and touched his nose to Dox's. He licked Dox, and Dox licked him back, tail wagging.
"Oh, cool." Bart grinned. "They like each other. Hey, Kon, you wanna eat with us? Linda, could Conner eat with us?"
"Uh…" Mrs. West was kinda hot. "Sure?"
Mrs. West smiled. "Sure."
Dinner with the Wests turned out to be the oddest Kon had ever had. Jai kept playing videogames even when flipping through TV channels (no doubt where he got that habit from) and Irey was just as spastic as the first Impulse. She clung to Bart's leg whenever his attention was divided. Wally finally came home at about seven with a casual smile and greeted his kids and wife with a wet kiss. Kon watched from the kitchen, glasses on his face and flannel shirt rebuttoned over his torso.
Bart and Wally?
Bart continued what he was doing in the kitchen, Kon watching helplessly as the little freak switched from fixing the legs on the table to the precise nanometer to monitoring the meatloaf in the oven.
He looked up when Wally entered the kitchen. Bart didn't.
"Hi, Wally." said casually.
"Hey." Wally's eyes flickered warily between them. "Trouble with Iris?"
Bart halted midway from fixing the faucet and polishing the table. "Nah. He's not even home."
Um. Evidently Bart and Wally had developed their own language. Kon looked between them, saw Wally's obvious frown to Bart's indifference and decided to wave. "Mrs. West said I could, uh, stay for dinner."
Wally turned his head, eyes steady before they sparked in the way Bart's always did when he was amused. "Good to know…Conner. Bart, did you-?
"Fix the clock in the hallway? Yeah, it's running now." Bart stopped, revealing himself in a bright yellow apron with a lightning bolt. Cheeky little bastard. Really, Bart had no shame.
Wally smirked. "Did you finish your homework?"
"Did I finish my homework? Well. Yeah. It's sitting at the house with Iris." Bart tapped the spatula to his cheek and ate a long string of melted cheese that dangled into his mouth.
"And they know you're here?"
"Well. Iris knows."
"…alright." Wally stared at him carefully. Bart grinned.
At that moment, little Irey zipped into the kitchen in her Impulse costume and giggled. She jumped into Bart's arms, which was kinda funny since Bart was pretty much a midget. "Can we go on patrol while you're here?"
"Um…" Bart fidgeted. Kon had never seen the little guy actually at a loss for words.
"I think Bart wants to hang out with Conner before he goes home, sweetheart." Wally collected his daughter and smiled gently. "Why don't you go play with Jai?"
"Aw, okay." Irey pouted and Kon was given a dirty glare.
Wally continued his conversation after Irey teetered away. "You got dinner-?"
"Just about done." Bart grinned. "Fifteen whole minutes, Wally. Can Superboy and I hang out in my-the guest room?"
"So long as you set the-" Whoosh! "-table."
Kon was then immediately dragged up the stairs and into the so-called guest room. It was clean, neatly made, and…had a lot of sticky notes alongside Bart's laptop. You really didn't expect it to be so…hygienic.
Bart collapsed on the perfectly made bed and smiled brightly. "So…uh. What's up?"
Er. He had weirded Kon out with how he'd gone straight to the kitchen to help with dinner. Bart zipped out of the room and returned with two juice boxes. He tossed one to Kon and-finally, Kon just couldn't take it anymore.
"Aren't you heartbroken?" he blabbed.
Gold eyes blinked at him rapidly. "What?"
"You! And Rob! Red Rob!" Gah, Bart was getting another headache. "Don't you like him?"
Red bloomed across Bart's cheeks, for once replacing the smug, naughty-little-boy smirk he usually had. He was blushing, and looked flustered. Big time. "Of course I like him."
"Not like that, Bart." Kon crossed his arms. "Don't you love Tim? Aren't you like, miserable from the rejection?"
"He outed me? He outed me?" Bart was a hell of a lot stronger than people gave him credit for. Golden eyes looked frantic, wide and so childlike Kon suddenly wished he'd kept his mouth shut as Bart violently shook him back and forth. At best they looked like a little kid who just got snitched by the other kid, but-how Bart looked right now at this very moment, he was totally scared. And devastated. He peeled away, hands wrinkling in his hair at he spoke at super speed. "Ohmygodheoutedmehe-he totallyoutedme."
Oh, damn. Bart was frustrated enough trying to deal with rejection. Tim supposedly 'outing' him was like pouring salt on the wound. Kon stared as his best friend paced back and forth and grimaced. "Er, well. Technically, I'm the one who told him."
Which was a bad decision to tell. Oh, so very bad.
Bart stopped pacing at lightspeed, eyes wide and freaky like a bug's and mouth curling…kinda scarily. At first he stood still-two whole seconds without an outburst before-"You. Did. WHAT?"
Kon thought he'd seen Bart angry. Bart got angry if someone took the last donut from the fridge. He got frustrated if Wally belittled him. This was a totally different level of anger that tied into Bart's, "It's complicated" and, "Why can't I do anything right?"
"Conner, I'm going to-"
"Now, uh, Bart, let me explain here-"
Bart looked very close to vibrating his hand into Kon's chest before calming down. He breathed, seethed, and probably was making a mental note of all the anger-management books he read at the San Francisco library about nirvana and. Stuff. "I'm waiting."
"Well…you see…" Kon made a run for it.