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[ There’s that. Of course there’s that. Before he was face to face with him again he’d jumped to the idea that he was lying on the phone, because that’s what he would do when faced with someone making an observation they shouldn’t be.

But now...

He can’t ask him. He can’t ask for the answer he needs when it's a question he knows he isn’t willing to answer himself. They need to work their way there. ]

So let’s start with an easier one. [ While his heart pounds away in his ears. A brother? He could be a brother. That would explain the discrepancy away, another Grayson on another world that just isn’t Dick.

A brother. He can't imagine a world where he has a brother. ]

What’s your favorite color?

[ though, all in all, it's not too much of a stretch to assume he was lying. thinking back on it, he probably should have. but a year of hanging around haven and realizing that in some universes, he's nothing more than a comic book character?

secret identities and facts related to them were a bit further down on his priority list.

but he's rolling through worlds. things people have told him. another robin could just be another person, who took his place in another timeline. it could be someone who is similar but not him, or- ]

Blue. Favorite food? [ will they even match? is it worth asking? he doesn't know, but he keeps going. ]

[ His mouth twitches once at blue. ] Okay, that's a match.

[ But still just coincidence, just conjecture. He hesitates on the next question, tapping his chin with one gloved finger. ]

...Man, that one's hard. I have to pick one? [ Is there just one answer for this Robin or is it a deliberate misdirect? ]

[ rob's caught for half a second on the mouth-twitch. does he usually give things away like that? wouldn't have batman caught onto it?

okay, no. issues for another time. he waits, and then the other robin shoots back his own question and his mouth twitches in a very similar fashion. so he caught on. ]

Okay, favorite Alfred meal. [ and oh, wow, he regrets bringing that up the moment it leaves his mouth. he flinches a little, but covers it up enough with a blink, waiting, and suddenly more homesick than he has been in months.

nevermind possibly breaking the secret identity rules. it's hanging in the air between them now. ]

[ The name catches Dick in the chest, surprise and no surprise and a sudden ache of homesickness all at once. He covers it with a quick breath out instead, because once this line is crossed on both sides they can’t ever take it back.

Of course it would be Alfred. ]

...Turkey sandwiches. [ Softly, almost guiltily. His eyes drop to the roof, cheeks flushing red. If it's a trap, he's walking in blindfolded. ]

Gotta be on rye bread.

[ and that's all the answer they really need, don't they? because he's look almost guilty and rob opens his mouth to add the bit about the rye when he says it himself and...

he deflates, watching the look pass over the other boys face. the silence that hands between them is heavy but somehow better than whatever there was before. ]

Did you want to ask another? [ he says, already convinced. ]

[ He's never once seen it when he looks in the mirror, that those are his mother's eyes. His father's cheekbones. Even hidden by the mask, he can see it now. He nods as if the answer comes easily. ]

...Just one. [ The hardest one. ] So where were you when-

[ -he stops again, stuck on the words. He can't think of a way to put it, a way that doesn't hurt, a way he'd want it put to him, if their positions were reversed. ]

...How did you meet him? [ He's already rushing ahead to quantify: ] I don't need details, just- [ enough. ]

[ rob's eyes go wide at first, feeling like he's punched in the gut the moment the question comes out. which, really, is an overreaction and he shouldn't be that upset about it. it happened, and it's a very good question.

he stands there in silence for a few moments following, just looking at him.

because it's not fair that it still hurts. it's not fair that he still, at times, feels like he's that kid standing at the bottom of the circus ring. it's not fair.

the other boy would know.

so rob takes a breath, blinks, tries to pull himself back into a semblance of someone who was not grappling with the memory. ]

That night. [ does he need to go into details? ] At Haley's circus. He was in the audience when- [ that's when he cuts himself off, watching to see if he has the same reaction. if it actually happened to him too. ]

[ Asking was a mistake. Dick flinches as if he'd been struck, hating himself for the pain on that face, for the way seeing it reflected in someone else can start the invisible feed of the memory in his head before he's even ready for it. The fall that lasted a lifetime. Their blood soaking through his leotard. His eyes sting behind his mask, and he drops his eyes again. ]

Yeah... [ His throat is tight. ] That's, um. [ The answer. The reason. With clumsy fingers he reaches up and tugs the mask off. The last piece he can offer. ]

[ it's almost worse, seeing it play out on the other's face, rather than feeling it himself. worse, because it is someone else feeling it. he doesn't want to focus on what it was like in the moment, but he also doesn't want to see the other boy struggle with it himself.

it's almost like he can't watch it, like he's seeing something private, but then he's reaching for his mask and rob's eyes go wide again.

oh. oh. it's...weird. whelming, in more ways than he thought possible. like looking into a mirror without realizing there's a mirror there - awkward, tense. his eyes stay wide for a moment, breath caught in his chest, but it's-

it's true.

another moment or two pass before rob feels his chest start to work again, his brain screaming don't be freaked out this happens here but his body unable to move. another moment, then another two, before he swallows. nods. okay

he hasn't taken his mask off since he got here. almost a year, and he's always managed to keep it on - even around his friends, even around wally - who knew his identity - and all the other's who knew through haven's weird info dumping. it had been his one real link back home, but in watching him pull off his mask, rob feels his stomach turn.

he reaches up, peeling the mask off from his eyes. dick had been the first one to offer it up, and now rob is matching him. ]

[ He sucks in a rough breath, quick and heavy before he means to. He'd been expecting, he'd be ready.

And yet...

He takes a step closer at last, closing in on the chasm of open space in between them. His eyes flick back to the roof for a moment; an instinctive desire to spare the other boy's dignity. Then his eyes are on him again. His fingers reach out for a moment and then stop before they touch the unfamiliar fabric of the sleeve. He blushes again and steps back. ]

...So this is weird.

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