Summary:Tim asks Selina for romantic advice. Log Info:Storyteller: None |
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Every so often, there's a chance to actually idle for a little while. Tim is up to date on his studies; he's had enough practice of his new quick-disguise techniques and worked the bugs out of his mask; and he's not on patrol. So he finds something else to fill the time.
Right now, he sits at the table in the dining room, with a little sandwich he'd made for himself. His laptop is open in front of him, and he taps his way through a real estate site, a furrow of concentration on his brow.
The quiet HAS allowed a few of them to actually get some down time, though right this second it seems to be to the chagrin of Selina Kyle who wanders in with a white blouse and black tights, eyebrows raised and eyelids narrowed. "Sometimes-" she starts to say by way of greeting as she begins to rifle through cupboards and put the kettle on. "-I think I might be more stimulant than woman." She makes the neccesary preparations to get the coffee brewing and runs her hand through her hair with a little sigh, craning her neck to look at Tim before finally asking, "Want any? This is your last chance not to get it black." in vaguely sleepy humor.
Tim's eyes glue all the more intensely to the screen when Selina enters. He recognises her by the cadence of her footsteps, and is never quite sure whether she'll be wearing something *ahem* comfortable to look at. "I'm good. Today's a no-caffeine day — I've got to keep my tolerance manageable." He chews his tongue, leaning on his hand while he pages down the list. "Can I… ask for some advice?" There's a little hint of awkwardness in his tone. They certainly haven't had as maternal a relationship as some of the other Robins, so he still has some uncertainty in approaching that whole… realm.
Luckily Selina is angling more towards 'comfort' than 'scandle' right now; but Selina Kyle is never not Selina Kyle. The volume seems to be turned down a little right this second, at least. Seems to be. "Good. That's good. Don't end up like me." She says with a lazy little smile before Tim's question perks her ears.
"Ohhhh?" She purrs softly, seeming to wake up a little for this, "This is unusual." She says, tilting her head a bit while looking at Tim curiously, "What's up, Little Bird?"
Tim smiles. "I couldn't end up like you even if I tried. You're incomparable, Selina." But then there's the question, and he chews his tongue while he thinks through just how to word his request. "See, this cover ID I've been making is building up. I think it's time for Alvin Draper gets a place of his own — it looks better on a background check if he actually, you know, lives somewhere. But… more than that." He takes a breath. "More than me. Steph and I are going to find a place and… move in together. Was just wondering if there's any word of advice you'd want to give for…" He coughs behind a hand. "You know. First time moving out and living with a girl."
Selina gives a brilliant, bemused little smile and replies "Why Timothy Drake, you say the sweetest things~" Though she listens attentively enough as Tim talks about his third identity, then raises her eyebrows in pure amusement as Tim reaches the point.
She opens her mouth to answer… then closes it again. A dozen or so emotions flit across her face, half of them looking like she wants to laugh, before she settles on just grinning and shaking her head. "Tim…" she finally says, "… You know who I am right? You *sure* you want my perspective on this?"
Not that she doesn't want to help, but Selina at least has enough self awareness to know that she's not the greatest role model in terms of relationships, considering she and her fiance punched each other before they ever kissed.
So did Tim and Steph. The Spoiler didn't always work alongside the Bats, one must remember. "You're exactly the person whose perspective I want," Tim says. "Because yes, I know who you are. I know you're strong-willed and independent. I know you're sneaky and do things your own way. I know you've been through some of the roughest patches a relationship can have, and come out stronger for it. And I know you absolutely wouldn't hold back honest, hard-hitting advice just for the sake of 'being polite' or not shocking someone." He looks up from the laptop and squints at her. "If anything, if advice would be shocking, you'd be more likely to focus on it. You wouldn't bullshit, Selina, and that's a valuable thing in advice like this."
Selina's eyebrows gradually rise as Tim speaks, before finally lowering again as she closes her eyes with a little smile, finally sighing, "Ah, wow. You're really serious about this." She says. 'Serious' isn't usually Selina's brand if she can help it, but she can manage it often enough to raise a daughter, so she can manage it for this. Sort of. More important, the rough patches Tim is referring to were… well, they were joke.
"All right, all right, sorry kiddo." She says, tapping a couple buttons on the coffee maker before she moves towards Tim, pulls out a chair, and sits across from him, crossing her legs and crossing her arms in her lap. "Ask away."
Tim also has a habit of really, seriously thinking through almost everything he does. If he's coming to Selina for advice, he's probably examined the impulse from every angle. That's what Tim is for.
He closes the laptop while he takes a deep breath. "I don't even know what to ask," he says. "The point here is I have, like, zero experience, so I don't know what to expect or ask about. So… I guess to form that into a question, I should start with, 'what surprises should I expect when I start living with somebody'? I mean, the stereotypical issue is closing the toilet lid" Which he already does anyway. "but there's more to it, right?"
Selina smirks wistfully as he speaks - having always been amused and a it charmed by how serious Tim is, finally putting her elbow on the table and propping her head up on one hand. "Oh, hon, there's a *million* percent more to it. We could be here all day. Luckily I can skip past a lot of the useless stuff about the power of love and all that." She says, a little callously, though with no bitterness in her voice. She is, after all, ludicrously in love with Bruce Wayne.
Selina sighs thoughtfully and taps her chin. "How to put thiiis. Well. First you're gonna wreck place. Just *destroy* it, no flat surface is gonna be safe. So congratulations on that. The tough part starts after that, when you start to realize the most amazing person you know is… still just a person. With *habits*."
Tim nods. "'The power of love' wins the day not because it makes things easier, but because it gives you the drive and determination to do what's hard. Little that's worth doing is easy, and that goes for Ste— it goes for being with Steph." He managed to catch himself just before he referred to his girlfriend as 'something worth doing', though at least he wouldn't have called her 'easy' either way.
The first word of advice makes him choke, his face glowing red. It's almost cartoonish, like his face is a translucent glass that just got filled, top trickling up to bottom, with tomato juice. Have Tim and Steph even 'wrecked' anything yet? "G-Good to know." He chews his tongue. "Habits we'd have to get used to from each other. Little, practical things, like… what we do about dishes. And we won't know what they are until we actually start this."
Selina grins with delight and just savors Tim's embarrassment until they move on, before pursing her lips and waving her hand a little, "Well, dishes, sure. I can't help you with that, it turns out my boyfriend had a butler. I mean things like… I don't know. Smacking your lips too much. Nervous tics." Selina narrows her eyes and peers off to the side for a second, "Pretending they aren't beat to hell and don't need help because they 'don't want you to worry'." Selina shakes her head. "Things that genuiney irritate you, or bother you. Things that make you panic because you hitched your wagon to someone who isn't perfect. Which reminds me!" She grins a little, then looks stern, "Don't be afraid to fight."
Tim grimaces, nose wrinkled. "I already know Steph does some of that." Especially the 'pretending' part. Acting like everything's okay and she doesn't need help, no sirree, she can pull all of her own weight, including several compartments' worth of carry-on baggage." He blinks at Selina's last, his head tilting. "Wait. You mean, all the punching and pursuit and stuff, that helped?" He might be taking her too literally.
Selina looks briefly surprised and shakes her head, "What? Noooo, don't be dumb." She says, then adds, "That was just foreplay."
Selina peers back at the coffee maker for a second, oblivious to whatever reaction Tim might have, before she steeples her fingers on the table. "Nah, I just mean arguing. Bringing up the unpleasant stuff and sorting it out, even if it means things getting tense. Or loud. There's…" Selina coniders for a second. It's easy to feel like you need to let stuff go because you don't want to rock the boat; and… yeah sometimes that's a good idea for the little stuff, but… things aren't ever gonna smooth over if your partner doesn't know it's rough. You feel tempted to 'protect' the relationship, I guess, because it feels like the most important thing in the world. But… that's kinda where the dark part is, kiddo." Selina actually looks a little apologetic as she says, "If it can't handle that stuff, it's probably not worth clinging on to. There's no actual reason for things to last if it can't handle being shaken up now and then. Better to find out early, if you ask me."
Looking away when she does, she wouldn't see the twitch of Tim's cheek. He did not need to hear about foreplay. That brings a whole new context to Selina and Bruce's sparring sessions. One which he will valiantly try and valiantly fail to forget.
"Oh," Tim says. "Ohh. That kind of fighting." His eyes draw away from Selina, looking towards the laptop while he listens, her words obviously putting him deep in thought. It's clear he's worried, perhaps even afraid of those tests — yes, he's confident in himself and Steph, but there's always that little 'what if?' anxiety. But he nods, slow and sober. "A fight like that is just… a trial by fire. Right? It's about trying to forge things into being better, being stronger. So, don't be afraid of 'fighting' or 'rocking the boat'. Just as long as you're not shouting at each other for the sake of it, right?"
Selina will have a good laugh the next time she and Bruce spar and it occurs to her what she's put into Tim's head, and she probably won't tell him why. Regardless, Selina nods once and says, "More or less. Not trying to scare you, promise. It's just…" Selina tilts her head back and forth, considering, "Romance just isn't as… romantic as people expect. And don't get me wrong, I like to think of myself as a hopeless romantic, but… it's not magic. It's just people. There's no such thing as 'the one' and there's no reason for Stephanie to be 'the one'. I've seen a lot of people freak out as soon as their partner falls off a pedastal, and there's just… no reason for it to be that way." The coffee maker dings, and Selina actually manages to ignore it. "Just… treat each other right, and see how it goes; and don't be afraid of it failing, because you can ruin it yourself doing that."
Tim nods slowly, quietly, still staring down at the closed laptop. "People think that because it's not easy and perfect all the time, may as well just give up and keep on looking for others until there is one that's easy and perfect all the time… which is just never going to happen, especially not with the baggage they pick up from the failed attempts. But treating it as just speed bumps, and just people being people instead of ideals… that keeps things together." He purses his lips. 'Don't be afraid of it failing' isn't going to sink in for a while, perhaps, but maybe he has some of the fundamental ideas?
Selina gives a wistful little sigh as a chunk of her meaning seems to go over Tim's head, but… well, that's part of being a kid. If someone had spelled it out to her when she was young, she probably would have ignored or shrugged it off too. He's a smart guy, he'll figure it out. Or he'll think himself in circles until he tries to draw the equation of love on padded cell walls, either way.
Instead of telling him this, she just nods, "And especially not for people like us." She notes, given their costumed crowd is inclined towards extreme personalities of one variety or another. "But… y'know… if you can figure it out… I think it's really worth it." She says, a dreamy sort of look coming to her eyes for a moment before she stands up and ruffles Tim's hair. "You'll figure it out. But right now I've gotta get some coffee in me or I might actually die."