Tim's present for Kadaj (Backdated 4/13)

[no_pixie_shoes]

10 am found a fresh pot of coffee brewing and Beka in Yazoo's sweats hanging low on her hips, her own t-shirt, and her hair - silver because she felt like it - long and in a ponytail while she cleaned the leathers and decided what to do with her day.

It's kind of an impromptu thing, and Kadaj is going to be confused as hell when he gets it, because usually, his gifts are a lot less sophisticated. It'll make sense eventually, but for now, he's cool with Kadaj just thinking he's being weird or whatever.

It's wrapped in kid's birthday paper, bright blue with little bunnies on it. When he'd seen it at the store he couldn't resist. Small and rectangular, it's got Kadaj's new cellular picture phone. The photo quality is excellent and Tim hopes, being able to keep in touch with Kadaj through pictures as well as words will help them worry less, when Tim springs his surprise. He'd fiddled with it already, taking a picture of himself and trying to look cool and sexy, but mostly just ending up kind of pale and goofy-looking, but he thinks Kadaj will like it.

He's in his usual clothing, blue jeans and a long sleeved t-shirt when he climbs up the stairs. He gives a thought to visiting Constance next door, but decides maybe he ought to just leave the present and go. He sets the box by the door, somewhere they're all sure to see it and lays the card, with 'KADAJ' clearly spelled across in block print, against the doorway, before turning to leave.

It was a small sound, subtle, and she probably wouldn't have heard it, except she'd just been moving past the front door. Someone was on the stairs, and they'd been at the door. Wary, and taking her responsibilities toward Mother quite seriously, she tucked a small, thin blade through her ponytail like a hair ornament.

Of course, not being an idiot, she looked out before opening the door. Huh. Cute dark-haired kid, about sixteen maybe, and he'd bent low over the stoop. The grin he wore set her mind at ease instantly. If this kid had come to hurt them, he was the best damned con she'd ever seen. Better even than her bio-brother Rafe. And that boggled the imagination.

So she pulled open the door, and caught the kid just as he turned to leave. "Hey. Can I help-" Her gaze fell on the package at her feet, and Empress alive it might've been the cutest thing she'd ever seen. Grinning impishly, she finished the sentence. "You?"

Some woman opens the door, pale skin and silver hair but... She doesn't really look like Kadaj and his brothers. And Kadaj would have mentioned having a sister, he knows he would have. His eyes narrow a little, but for the most part he stays relaxed, hands going into his back pockets.

"Just dropping off something," he says, and then tilts his chin down at where the card is laying on the ground, face up so the block print is clearly visible. "For Kadaj," he pauses, "Who are you?"

And it's not the most tactful thing he's ever said, but really, strange woman in his boyfriend's house. This? was not of the good. For all he knew she was here to drag him back into the Cube of Death.

When she saw the package, she'd thought maybe he was a delivery boy. But the narrowed gaze, and the hands in his pockets all say no, he was someone who knew the boys. Someone who didn't know about her. That didn't bother her. Most of the people they knew didn't. They hadn't known she'd be back any time soon, or maybe even ever, so it didn't make sense for them to talk about her. Especially since none of them were long on the gene for intimate sharing.

"Could ask you the same question," she said, grin fading but not disappearing. Bangs sliding in her face, she tilted her head to study him. Her chin jutted out toward the package. "Either you're a courier and I should get you a tip, or you're a friend." Another appraising glance and a smile, then, "I'm guessing friend. Name's Beka. I'm Kadaj's sister. And you?" She had a sneaking suspicion what he'd say, and she kind of hoped she'd be right. The kid's wary protectiveness spoke well of him, if he was who she thought.

"Tim," he replies, arms lifting up and crossing in front of him. "And Kadaj doesn't have any sister, just brothers." He doesn't know her, doesn't know anything about her but if she's here to hurt Kadaj or his brothers he's going to kick her ass.

Leaning against the doorframe, she mimicked his stance. The only real difference being, her eyes flashed with good humor. So this was Tim, huh? Cute. Also, definitely tough enough to look after himself. Which meant Kadaj could relax and have fun when they were together. No wonder he smiled so sweet whenever he mentioned his lover.

This alone was enough to keep her from getting too snarky, but it wouldn't do to roll over completely. Kadaj's boy wouldn't be a wimp, and coddling him would be an insult. "So, you know everything about my brothers, then. Whose sweats am I wearing? What did they eat for supper last night? Where did they live before here and for how long, Tim?"

He mentally answers her questions as she asks them. The sweats were clearly Yazoo's, they were too roomy to be Kadaj's and not roomy enough to belong to Loz. They ate something without tofu and Gaia, likely all their lives. But he doesn't tell her that.

He quirks an eyebrow, "Yeah, see, if you are some kind of Cube-serving whack-job, the last thing I'd want to do is give you more info on Kadaj or his brothers," he says, but she doesn't really strike him as the Cube-serving type. After all, who went out kidnapping people in too-big sweat pants? "Furthermore, I don't have to justify the depth of my involvement and knowledge in Kadaj's life to you."

"Cube-serving whack-job, huh?" At that, she had to laugh, if only because if she'd been here during Kadaj's captivity Tim would know damned well who she was - and what she was capable of. On reflection, the last might not have been a good thing.

"Tim, I know you're Kadaj's lover, and I'm inclined to like you. You make Kadaj smile. There's no reason you should know about me. I've been gone a long time, and my brothers didn't know if or when I'd come home to them. C'mon in, bring the package. We can get to know each other." One last bit of wariness, making him pick up the package, just in case, and with those words she opened the door a bit wider and tilted her head toward the interior of the apartment.

It makes sense, what she says, a hell of a lot more sense than the possibility of some one from the Cube coming back in sweats to finish the job. So, blushing at her mention of him being Kadaj's lover, he leans down to pick up the package before, cheeks stained a dark red, he heads inside.

"So, are you umm, are you staying here? In the city, to stay? he asks. Unspoken is the 'with Kadaj and his brothers' but that seems pretty obvious.

Mmm-kay, no, the package wasn't the cutest thing ever. His blush, definitely, out-cuted it. Particularly since it had to be because she'd called him Kadaj's lover. Boys. Then he asked the one question she'd already come to dread.

Barefoot, she padded into the kitchen after shutting the door behind him. ""I'm here for a visit. Don't know how long," she answered neutrally, masking the sick ache in her gut by putting her back to him. Gesturing for him to set the package on the counter, she pulled out the carafe to refresh her coffee. Reassembling her smile, she turned back to him. "Can I get you something to drink?"

He nods at what she says, not sure why the idea of this girl staying at Kadaj's house made his insides twist. Or rather, knowing why and not liking it. He and Kadaj were together, and exclusive and he had a freaking blood test to prove it.

Setting the package down where she indicates he looks around the kitchen. The last time he'd been in the apartment he'd been a bit busy spazzing over Kadaj being missing to really look around. And sure, it was nothing special, but this is where Kadaj lives, a piece of him, here in the home.

Her question pulls him out of his reverie and he turns his gaze on her, blue eyes narrowing just a little in focus, "Do you have any juice?" he asks and then shakes his head. "Of course you do, you have to feed Kadaj after all. I'd like some, if it's not to much trouble." Manners always, especially when meeting someone for the first time, his inner Alfred says. And he seeing as he kind of needs to make up for accusing her of being a Cube whacko, a little extra politeness wouldn't hurt anything.

"It's no trouble." The answer was automatic, and it surprised her for being true. After living with them the first time, it'd become second nature to ask if anyone wanted anything when she got something for herself. In a houseful of men with stomachs bigger than the cargo hold on the Maru, someone always did.

So she pulled a glass from the cupboard and juice from the fridge, then poured him a glass, which she set at the table along with the juice. If he was anything like her brothers, he'd finish that and want more. Conservation of energy came naturally, since flying alone meant tiring yourself out needlessly was a good way to die. Spinning a chair around, she straddled it, then sipped her coffee.

She saw how he watched her. He'd decided she wasn't out to hurt them, but the sister thing still hadn't quite settled for him. It wasn't her way to volunteer information, but if Kadaj had chosen him, there would be very little off-limits to him. Mother, the nature of their weapons, the materia, and possibly some of their less legal activities. "I'm not their biological sister, in case you were wondering. They adopted me about two years ago." Leave aside the weirdness that it hadn't been near that long in this timeframe.

He nods, having assumed that much. The other three looked so much alike, it was unlikely she'd be the exception to the rule. Sipping his juice slowly, he wonders what he should say, how to talk to this girl that probably knew Kadaj better than him.
"Two years huh?" he asks. "Kadaj must have been pretty young then." He grins at the idea of a Kadaj that was actually young, all knees elbows and pretty silver hair, "Is he different now?"

"Mmm. Not really. Kadaj has always been… well, Kadaj-y. At least as long as I've known him. Which…" Her lips curved into a wry sort of smile. "Really isn't all that long." Even if it seemed like her life had started when she met them.

She set her coffee down, prepared to draw finger diagrams for the timestreams if need be. "See, I'm not from here. And, time moves differently where I'm from. It was two years ago for me in my time. Only about…" Tilting her head upward and screwing up her face, she tried to count it out and gave up when she lost track of the multiplication the third time. Math? Not her strong suit. That's what computers were for. "Um, significantly less than a year."

Tim, who again, sometimes really regretted dropping Quantum Physics, can't say temporal anomolies really made sense to him, at all. But it was surprisingly comforting to know that knowing her two years, didn't actually mean knowing her two years. He wasn't that far behind. And stop thinking of this as a competition, Drake.

"Nice to know age doesn't affect how laconic he is," he tells her. "And getting older couldn't have helped him with his pop culture or his skill for humor. If you don't mind my asking, why were you staying with them in the first place?"

Beka laughed at his characterization of Kadaj. He rarely said more than a few words to her at any given time. "No, he's always been one for saying as little as possible."

At the probe, she bridled a bit, but she had invited him to get to know her and it was an entirely fair question. So she answered. "When my dad died, he left me his name, a good-for-nothing brother, a mother who hasn't been seen since I was five, his ship and enough debt to keep me working it off the rest of my life. I'd been here in this timestream for school, so I knew enough about 'pop culture' to know that things we value as collector's items back home could be bought cheap. So, I came back to get," steal, but he didn't need to know that, "some. I met the boys one night at a bar. Loz and I hit it off," to say the least, she remembered with the faintest tinge of a blush, "and the rest…" One shoulder lifted in an eloquent shrug. "Just sort of happened."

It's... a lot of information. Maybe he's just used to dealing with less open people but, listening to her talk is kind of like hanging out with Young Justice, only without pizza. "Take some back, huh?" he asks, notincing the way she says it. "That's handy and yeah, Loz is pretty cool. We umm, we worked together, when Kadaj was in the Cube, so, it's not like there was a lot of small talk. But he's a really cool guy and a huge help in the search."

He feels like he kind of owes her something special, something that's kind of close to him. She did afterall just tell him about her dad dying, but he can't imagine sharing about his dad, or his mom, or Steph or anyone else really, with anyone right now, so this is as close as he can get. Something special, but not too personal.

"So, you were here for school? That's kind of weird isn't it, going back in time for school?"

"Loz isn't usually much of a talker either. None of them are really, but Loz is…well, he's Loz. Just like Kadaj is Kadaj. He's wonderful." It'd be obvious to anyone with the intelligence of a small rodent that she's absolutely crazy about him. "Do you know Yazoo at all? He stole my heart from the beginning. God he makes me laugh so hard sometimes." Like her Dad had, before the flash.

There were only a few things that Beka really liked to talk about. Top on the list? Her brothers. And the fact that Tim knew them and liked them - well, it made her like him. And if Kadaj felt the way he obviously did, that meant Tim could be trusted. He clearly didn't miss much, though, which meant no more loose talk about her own background. Only the stuff that couldn't get her in trouble with the authorities.

"That's one of those questions that I could answer but would probably explode your brain. Let's chalk it up to time travel, predestination paradoxes, and a well-meaning but intermeddling future-self and save you the headache. There were apparently things I needed to learn." Another sip of coffee, then she set it down and rested her chin on her arms.
"I'd love to know how you met Kadaj and caught his attention…"

Not exactly a question, more of an invitation. Kadaj was so particular. The idea of him having a regular lover had taken her completely by surprise, but his sweet smiles had won her over to the idea completely. Now she just wanted to know anything she could learn about the boy who made her littlest brother so much happier than she'd ever seen him.

He shakes his head. "No, I don't really, know Yazoo," he says. And he didn't know much about him besides the fact that he liked to read, Kadaj loved him and he was likely fucking Bruce. He'd kind of decided that it may be best for all involved if he didn't really get to know Yazoo very well. Staying away from Bruce's territory seemed an excellent way to get him to stay away from his. Not that he could tell Beka that.

"Kadaj and I, we're kind of a private type of thing," he explains. "Something... that's more just us, and not a lot of other people. I mean, people know we're together, but we don't exactly make out in public all the time," he frowns, not sure he's explaining it right. "I don't really spend a lot of time with his brothers, because Kadaj and I are kind of something that happens outside of that, outside of where we normally are. Kadaj and his brothers are close, closer than close and they do everything together. He and I... we're kind of the one thing he does alone. Does that make sense?"

He laughs at her question, twirling his juice glass a bit, "He umm, he stalked me actually, in the library. Yazoo and Loz were checking out books and Kadaj stalked me around. I doubled back, snuck up on him and that was kind of it. He asked me out like a week or so later. I crashed my bike and had to get it fixed. Kadaj had mentioned being in auto-repair so... I went to see him and haven't stopped since."

It didn't really surprise her that he didn't know Yazoo. He was her best friend, but so much about Yazoo took patience and understanding and a genuine desire to know him. He didn't give up much about himself, which made it a little odd that they'd hit it off so well. But they had, and she loved him dearly. So she just nodded, and said, "He's not easy to get to know, but it's worth it."

His explanation made perfect sense, even though he clearly struggled over it. "Yes. It's exactly right. All of us have something or someone we don't share. No secrets, but," here she waved a hand, also not entirely sure how to explain, "we're so close, sometimes it's so…big. I get what you mean, even if I can't wrap words around it."

Oh Empress, that did sound just like her brother. Stalking a boyfriend. She laughed. "That's cute. It's so him. And, gods, if you managed to sneak up on him… no wonder he asked you out." No wonder he's crazy about you.

He nods at what she says about Yazoo, not wanting to get into the entire sordid affair with him and Bruce and the Valentine's Ball. "It was, umm, kind of cute really, the stalking thing," he tells her, blushing like mad. "After I figured out that he wasn't going to pull his sword on me or hurt the librarian--" that didn't sound right. "Not that I thought he'd do that. Except for how, I kind of did." He frowns. "But then he showed me his bike, and we talked about fighting and everything was cool.

"He's umm... he's not like anyone else I've ever met, you know? And we do stuff and it's so weird cause he's so jaded, and so... full of wonder at the same time. I umm, I really like him." The blush is threatening to take over his face, but it's important for him that Kadaj's family understand how much he means to him.

Beka sat for a minute, head resting on her arms, head tilted to look at him. He understood about Kadaj, and almost no one did. She didn't even understand sometimes, as much as she loved him. But Tim, he did. After a while, she smiled. A gentle smile. A sister's smile. "He's special, our Kadaj." And from the way she said it, there could be no mistaking that she included Tim in that 'our'.
Maybe her brothers and CJ wouldn't have, but Beka did, because she knew. This boy loved her littlest brother. "I think you're good for him."

"He's good for me," he says, looking up at her. "All I want, is for him to be happy, if I make him happy then... I guess I'm doing my job, right?" He looks down at the table again, not completely certain how to say the next part. "There's something sad about him," he decides on. "Sometimes he's far away and, and I want to take that look out of him, forever. I guess... I ess you know how that is though, don't you? I'll take care of him, don't worry about that."

When he said that, her heart wanted to break for Tim. Because now, more than ever, she understood how that felt. With Loz and Geoff and how much she hurt for Loz and just wanted him to be whole again, as much as any of them ever were. But Kadaj more than any of them could never be whole, not here, and all the love in the world wouldn't make him stop being sad. "If you can make him smile and laugh and forget for the time he's with you, you've given him something infinitely precious."

It seemed like she ought to say something else, but what? She didn't usually speak for them in something like this, but the boy needed to know and her brothers wouldn't think to say it. She settled on: "We appreciate what you give Kadaj. Never doubt that."

Tim got that, he did. He seemed to be physically incapable of relating to people who didn't have some kind of major emotional malfunction. And just like Bruce would never smile, and Dick would never feel complete and Kon could never step out of Clark's shadow... Kadaj had something untouchable inside him. And maybe Tim wanted to help, wanted to fix it, but he knew he couldn't. That some things could never be fixed.

"It works out, really," he answers back. "Because I love to see Kadaj smile."

He wants to thank her, for letting him know that, for dropping the veil of silence on that particular issue so he'd know that Kadaj's brothers... Kadaj's family, understood and accepted and didn't mind his relationship with Kadaj. Because accepting his help when he was missing is one thing, this was another.

He nods, once before looking up. "I should probably head out," he tells her, setting down his mostly full juice glass. "Thank you for the juice and, umm, make sure Kadaj gets that, please."

Beka had a lot of practice at hearing the things left unsaid. Hard not to get it, with Kadaj so laconic, Loz so unable to put his feelings into words, and Yazoo so often about what he meant when he said a thing rather than the words he said. And then there was CJ, who used words to cover everything, but so often didn't say what she really needed to. And before them, her father and Rafe, teaching her to listen for the lies.

So she heard Tim saying 'thank you' and how much it meant to him to know that they respected what he had with Kadaj, that it was good with them. That they wouldn't get between him and Kadaj. Far from it. She, in particular, would do everything she could to see that Kadaj never knew the pain Loz was feeling now, and whatever that took, she'd do.

She might've said any of those things, and more, because of all of them, Beka said what she meant - unless she meant to lie, but even then, it was sort of the same, because you never really had to guess what she meant, only if it was true. But what she chose to say, in the end, was far more simple. "I'm glad you stopped by." A warm, but shy smile curved her lips. "It was nice to have the company."

When she stood, her smile broadened into a grin. "I'll see Kadaj gets the gift. Unopened. Even though I'm dying with curiosity."