once I was seven years old (some open, some closed)

[overlyprecocious]

Who: Tim Drake overlyprecocious
What: catch-all for August; age-changing for Tim
When: August
Where: various locations but definitely Dick's apartment to start with
Content Warnings: tbd



[starters in the comments to be added]

Comments

closed, for those currently staying in the Grayson household

[overlyprecocious]

It doesn't occur to him that anything's strange at first. It feels natural to wake up in the morning and have to climb down off a bed that's too big for him, and have to stretch a little to reach the light switch. It feels normal, and natural, up until he has to find clothes to put on for the day and everything in the drawers is too big for him (even if the pajamas he's wearing are the right size). He finds himself staring at them in confusion for a bit before deciding to go find Dick. (Because that's normal, too, right? He's staying with Dick, he remembers staying with Dick. It doesn't occur to him to remember being Robin right now but it would be there, too, if he tried. It's just that it also feels normal to be this small.)

So, the Tim that comes out of his room this morning is... smaller than usual, sure (six or seven at a glance), but he's fine! He just needs a little help figuring out where the Tim-sized clothing is.

[forceforlight]

There's an inflatable bed taking up some of the small amount of floor space in the main room, though not currently occupied. Neither is the couch. Dick's gotten up and started coffee, contemplating the fridge for breakfast.

His head comes up immediately, noticing the change in footsteps. Much lighter than Tim's, even though ninja training has always made him light on his feet. But there's a difference between them and that's why Dick's not as surprised as he should be when the door opens and tiny Tim comes out of the bedroom. He closes his eyes, takes a deep breath and lets it out. "Of course. Why should I have expected anything different?" he mutters to himself before shaking his head. "Tim? You okay there?"

[overlyprecocious]

“The clothes in my room are too big.”

He navigates past the inflatable mattress and comes to a stop next to Dick, blinking up at him in innocent confusion. “Can you help me find mine? I can’t reach all the drawers.”

[forceforlight]

"Yeah. I think that's going to be a problem, kiddo."

Tim hadn't changed. It had been a few days. So he'd let his guard down.

For now, he goes and crouches so he's closer to Tim's height. "I'm definitely going to have to go out and get a few things for you. You're normally bigger."

[overlyprecocious]

He blinks at Dick, his face scrunching up while he tries to make sense of what Dick just said. It... does make sense? Maybe? After all, he can't think of any reason they would replace all his clothes with bigger clothes. And Bruce changed sizes, too! Tim could've.

"How much bigger?"

[forceforlight]

"About a foot and a half and a good hundred pounds." Muscle being heavy, after all. And they're all muscular. "Well, at least what you were wearing changed with you. So we can at least wait until after breakfast." Dick smiles, reaching out to ruffle Tim's hair. "What do you want?"

[overlyprecocious]

He ducks a little at the hair ruffle, since his body's instincts are a little mixed up and not quite accustomed to Dick's physical affection at this age. "Um. Whatever you were going to make is fine."

[forceforlight]

"Yeah. About that. I hadn't figured that out yet." Dick grins at him and stands, making his way to the fridge again. "Cereal's probably easiest for us both, though."

[overlyprecocious]

“I like cereal,” Tim says conversationally while climbing onto a chair. “Mom and dad don’t like it when I have it cause they say they don’t pay a nanny as much as they do to have me eating out of a box but I sometimes get to have some anyway.”

[forceforlight]

That makes Dick pause a moment, hand reaching for bowls. He closes his eyes, then shakes his head and gets the bowls down. "Well, they're not here right now. And I'm not being paid. So cereal it is."

Honestly, he'd kinda like to go back and punch the Drakes again.

[overlyprecocious]

“Is it fun when I’m bigger?”

He swings his legs in the chair while he watches Dick grab their breakfast. “I remember being Robin. I’m Robin when I’m bigger, right?”

doublemint doubletim (closed to TJ)

[overlyprecocious]

Although he's aware, for the most part, that his current situation is Abnormal and he's not supposed to look like a seven-year-old, his seven-year-old brain has been having... difficulty remembering that. Because he remembers being seven, but he also remembers being newly-fifteen, and his head keeps mixing up the memories and telling him that this, right now, is normal, and there's no reason to interrogate why his memories clash.

So.

Fifteen-yaer-old Tim was supposed to meet with TJ for Brotherly Bonding and Tech Time(TM). Seven-year-old Tim remembers that, and also remembers being allowed to go places on his own, so obviously, he ends up leaving Dick's apartment and heading out to meet TJ on his own. (It's possible that he unconsciously uses a little of his don't notice me power on the way, when he subconsciously realizes he's getting more attention than normal.) The end result being, the Tim who shows up on TJ's doorstep is way smaller than usual.

At least he's on time.

[mostdangerousbird]

Technically, it's not TJ's doorstep. It's Jason's. Tim's just using it liberally. Very liberally.

But he wasn't suspecting the knock. Knocks are for strangers. Front doors are for witnesses. The combination says soliciting, but the one good thing about this dive is nobody bothers to come with magazine subscriptions or cookies.

It's a good twenty seconds before Tim answers the door. He wasn't in uniform, but he also wasn't presentable. He's still fingercombing his hair when he opens the door.

His hand freezes when he looks down. "Oh, fuck."

[overlyprecocious]

Tim’s brain has effectively been functioning on cognitive dissonance since he woke up as a child, so he mostly responds to that greeting by blinking up at TJ and saying, severely, “That’s not very nice language.” Neither Alfred nor his nanny would approve.

He assumes he is invited in after that (why wouldn’t he be?) so he hefts the backpack that is very clearly not made for a Tim of his current size (but was necessary for carrying his laptop) and slips past TJ to find some place he can put it down.

[overlyprecocious]

His head's been a weird place since he woke up in his seven-year-old body, his memories mixed up between those of being a child and those of being fifteen. Mostly, he's managing to keep track of who and when he is okay, though Dick had to have a serious conversation with him about not going out on his own while he's still little because it's not safe and it's giving Dick gray hair. He solemnly promises.

And he means to keep it, he really does.

It's just, he wakes up early, early morning, when even Bats are usually asleep, and his brain is too full of the dream he just had where Jason was Red Robin, and Tim was the Bat, and Jason takes care of him now because he convinced Jason to stop killing criminals and try giving second chances again. And he remembers where Jason is, here, and that he's with Dick, but he doesn't remember why he's staying with Dick, and what if Jason needs him? Which is why he breaks that promise to Dick and ends up making his way to the Descendant, once again semi-unconsciously using his power to keep prying eyes away from him.

(Getting in is another thing, though, given that his body isn't currently in shape for parkour and climbing in through windows.)

[robintohood]

It's not like it was a nightmare. In fact, chunks of it were... pleasant? The dream was also jarring because of how real it felt. After waking up, Jason remained lying on his bed while mentally working out what parts were reality and what parts were from the dream world. He had a different life. One where his rage had been tempered and he still had a family despite the traumas that had happened to him. Bruce was gone but Tim was by his side.

He even had a different moniker and a different costume.

Real world obligations still needed to be taken care of though so eventually Jason gets up, gets ready and heads to Descendant to have it ready for the day. Much to his surprise though, he spots a little boy right in front of his business. The boy looks very familiar.

"Hey," Jason greets tentatively.

[overlyprecocious]

"Hi, Jason."

Tim brightens up at the sight of his older brother and casually tucks himself in against Jason's side in a kind of hug. Not because he was worried or anything. Just because. "I couldn't get in through the window," he says, as if that explains everything.

[robintohood]

Jason hugs Tim back and looks back at him concerned.

"You got here by yourself?" Jason asks.

He wonders if it's a coincidence that Tim's here after he just had a dream about the boy being his sidekick.

[overlyprecocious]

"Yeah. I was having trouble climbing, though."

Seeing as how he wasn't running around the rooftops of Gotham City at the age of seven. (Which is frustrating. He worked hard for those muscles!)

[robintohood]

"How come you're here?" Jason asks as he unlocks Descendant's doors and lets Tim in first.

The business won't be open for another couple of hours as there needs to be time to prep first. They can keep talking for a while without anyone question why there's a child at a bar.

[overlyprecocious]

"I'm not... supposed to be?"

Was he supposed to be staying over with Dick? He doesn't remember why, but then he also doesn't really remember going to Dick's in the first place. Was Jason busy? Sometimes he has Tim stay with Dick or Barbara when they're planning something dangerous...

[robintohood]

That was not a response Jason expected. Something's up.

"Well, I'm glad you're not alone. It's okay," he says. "What was the last thing you remembered before getting here?"

[overlyprecocious]

"I dunno. I woke up?"

When Jason lets them in, he tugs a stool away from a table and climbs onto it, legs swinging gently. "I wasn't home."

[robintohood]

Jason sits next to Tim on another stool.

"You didn't see anyone else?"

[overlyprecocious]

"Uh-uh."

He tilts his head. "I don't remember why I was staying with Dick, though?"