Colt also brushed off the mention of Red Robin: "I followed the Penguin's lead. The Penguin was planning a double-cross, so I went to the Outlaws' Armory. His partner, Red Hood, is the owner of the Iceberg Lounge now, he returned the Vibranium to me."
Joseph went to the basement.
Colt breathed a sigh of relief, but in the next second, he began to feel troubled again.
He was conflicted; he both hoped that the fact that Timothy was living at home could be kept from Joseph, hoped that Joseph would notice something was wrong and ask him why there were traces of an extra person in the house.
Did Dad figure it out or not?
Joseph's expression changed instantly after he turned around.
His son had made a friend, not just any friend, but the kind of friend who was more than just a friend! After all, normal friends don't need to hide things from their parents, normal friends don't stay over at someone's house all the time! It wasn't like Wayne was so poor that he didn't have a house to live in! He could guess who was moving in next door even with his eyes closed! He should have been on guard when he found Timothy's name in his son's notebook last time! His son had never proactively asked him for gifts before; the first time he spoke up, he was asking for Red Robin's cape.
Joseph's head was buzzing.
How did they end up together? When did they get together? Was it really just online communication? The internet creates a barrier; even with a mentor followed for many years, a son would only feel respect toward Stark, so why should Drake be the exception? Red Robin cannot be judged by common sense, just like Batman. Did Drake find a tool to break through the dimensional rift? Or did Colt remember the past?
Joseph patrolled the basement, checking the Quantum Teleportation Device while he was at it.
He had only intended to check if the basement had been broken into by Red Robin, but he didn't expect to find 47 teleportation records in the Quantum Teleportation Device.
He had only teleported things to his home 23 times in total; who was responsible for the other 24 times?!
Chapter 37
9:00 PM.
Colt went to the study with Joseph.
Joseph looked to be in a bad mood; even his face was grim while he was coaxing Birdie to sleep.
The desk in the study was messy to a new degree. A cup with leftover coffee sat atop a wobbling stack of books, a folder bearing the Wayne logo was pressed under a mathematics journal, paper airplanes used the computer keyboard as a landing strip, the Joker countdown timer had fallen near the foot of the desk, a paper cup was placed upside down on the Joker's head.. Despite such a cluttered desk, a single clean corner had been kept, holding an antique vase that seemed completely out of place in the study, with a bouquet of violets arranged inside, interspersed with a few sprigs of Redleaf Heather.
Redleaf Heather is also known as Red Robin; the shrubbery in the courtyard is Redleaf Heather.
Joseph's gaze darkened, he stopped looking at that highly conspicuous Red Robin, beginning to check Colt's homework instead.
Colt quickly tidied up his desk. Taking advantage of the fact that Joseph was still coaxing Birdie, he hid the documents Timothy had left behind under his books, sliding them into the bottommost shelf with the spines facing inward.
Joseph's expression improved after seeing Colt's homework.
The son passed Stark's exam and was granted permission to manufacture mechs; clearly, his IQ hadn't dropped due to suspected romance. There were nearly a hundred newly filled notebooks, showing that he certainly hadn't slackened in his studies due to suspected romance either.
Joseph checked the time. "It's getting late, go to sleep. Children need plenty of sleep to grow tall. When I was your age, I was nearly ten centimeters taller than you."
Colt was unhappy.
At eighteen, 177 cm was already not short. Boys can still grow well into their twenties, so even if he missed his first growth spurt because he became a Ghost, he should have no problem reaching 185 cm, even if he might not reach Joseph's height of 195 cm.
Joseph sent Colt back to his room, then suddenly said he needed to use the bathroom. Once inside, he opened this cabinet and pulled open that drawer.
Colt: "Dad, are you looking for something?"
Joseph searched through the bathroom and suddenly realized, "I forgot that you don't need a razor yet."
He didn't find what he was looking for, his serious expression softened considerably. He picked up the only toothbrush, applied toothpaste to it, filled the only rinsing cup with water, handed them to Colt.
"I can touch things now, I can take care of myself." After seeing off Joseph, who had practically turned into a scanner, Colt lay on the bed without any sleepiness, poking the Little Messenger at the Dream Station.
Little Red Bird rolled over and blew a bubble: [45↑, sigh]
Timothy is feeling annoyed.
[Tim.]
Red Robin knocked down a robber and stepped on him to knock him unconscious, then glanced at the Red Robin following behind him and gave a vague "Mm."
Are you on patrol? No need to answer.
【Yeah. 】
It seems like Dad noticed there's a second person in the house. I think he's conflicted; he clearly used to hope I could socialize more with people my own age, yet today he seems quite unhappy about it.
Red Robin tied up the robber and asked Red Robin, who was still fighting, "Do you need me to do anything?"
Red Robin was so disgusted by his gentle tone that he became even more brutal in his strikes: "Take your misplaced kindness and get lost, I can handle this myself!"
No need, he might just be worrying too much about me; I'll have a good talk with him. You get back to your work, stay safe, get some rest soon.
Colt put down the Quantum Terminal and opened the photo frame on the bedside table, revealing two photographs tucked beneath the stick figure family portrait. One showed eight-year-old Colt and Timothy, the other showed eighteen-year-old Colt and Timothy.
At eight years old, they looked quite normal, but at eighteen, they looked like they might embrace, or perhaps even share a kiss on the cheek.
Colt pressed the photograph to his chest and closed his eyes.
He wasn't sure if he was dreaming, or if the memories were surfacing from the darkness.
Little Colt and Timothy also seemed to have visited the Zoo. They fed bananas to the one-year-old elephant, paid to enter the inner enclosure to hold a six-month-old lion cub while feeding it milk, took photos in front of a four-year-old giraffe, with the giraffe's legs in the background. They also went to Birdwood; the tits were always chubby, the peacocks shook their tail feathers to display themselves. Colt taught the macaw how to say "Gong Xi Fa Cai" in Chinese; the trigger phrase was "Hello, beautiful sir"..
The scenes interweave, the children turning into youths, the baby elephants becoming old elephants, the lion cubs becoming old lions, the parrot still remembering "Gong Xi Fa Cai."
..
Click.
Colt jolted awake, snapping his eyes open and turning his head toward the floor-to-ceiling window.
The floor-to-ceiling window was pushed open, a Red Robin scrambled inside. Red Robin's hair was dripping wet, but the bedroom's water baptism mechanism had long since been dismantled.
"Is it raining outside again?" Colt got up, sliding his slippers on to go to the bathroom to get a towel.
It started raining at eleven, right now it's a moderate rain." Red Robin's uniform was waterproof; he took the towel to wipe his head and face, removed his gloves, with a flick of his hands, produced a milk candy. "It's from Batman's Utility Belt.
Colt had no interest in milk candy, but if it came from Batman's Utility Belt, then a Gothamite simply had to try it.
Red Robin bent down to pick up a photo, his eyes lighting up. "Let me think.. last Tuesday, that eaten cherry? You've been hoarding Dream Station treasures; I think its ownership is still up for debate."
Colt snatched the photo, "I'm in this, it's mine."
Red Robin chuckled, "I'm in those too, they're mine as well."
"You have so many photos, while I only have two." Colt carefully placed the photos back in their original positions.
Red Robin said, "But you aren't in any of those photos."
Colt remained silent.
Red Robin reached out to tuck a stray lock of Colt's hair behind his ear, his fingertips brushing against his cheek. His hand lingered there as he asked softly, "What are you worried about?"
He was wearing gloves, but the leather could not block the warmth of his palm.
Colt unconsciously tilted his head slightly, pressing his face into Red Robin's palm, looking at the person in front of him with a dazed expression.
I don't know either.
Colt..
Red Robin slowly approached.
A knock suddenly sounded at the door, Joseph called from outside, "Colt, there's noise in your room, are you still awake?"
Timothy jumped, Colt's expression changed as well; he instinctively pushed Red Robin toward the exit while nervously looking back toward the door. He didn't have the habit of locking his door, his father didn't have the habit of waiting for him to call before entering.
Red Robin flipped out the window, leaned in close to Colt as he was closing the window, gave him a quick kiss on the cheek, whispering, "Goodnight."
Colt froze for a moment, intending to kiss her back.
The sound of the lock being turned rang out.
Red Robin smiled, pushed Colt back into the room, quickly closed the window.
Oh, this is truly like Romeo and Juliet.
Joseph walked in.
Colt moved with a speed comparable to the full-throttle mode of a Flying Skateboard, flashing from the window to the wardrobe in an instant, before walking toward the living room at a normal pace to meet Joseph, who was coming around the display wall partition.
Joseph's gaze was sharper than a falcon's as he stared directly at Colt's wardrobe and stepped forward to open it.
Colt held his phone up to block Joseph's view, "Dad, I just saw a very interesting video."
On the lit mobile phone screen, an emotional expert was lecturing in front of the camera: [In interpersonal communication, physical contact can convey emotions and build intimate relationships. Starting from a handshake, then moving to hugging, kissing..]
The phone screen went dark.
Colt hated big data. He had searched for too many related terms lately, such as interpersonal relationships, non-verbal communication, physical contact, which caused the big data algorithms to push these kinds of short videos to him whenever he opened them.
Joseph frowned. "Interesting videos?"
Colt's brain raced: "I am learning how to strengthen social connections to prepare for life after being fully resurrected in the future."
Joseph forgot to correct Colt's misconception about "resurrection"; his mind was filled with thoughts of intimacy and the half-finished word he had just spoken.
Intimacy?
What kiss? Kiss what?
Was it a kiss of greeting? Or was it a passionate French kiss?
Someone can touch Colt just like he does; they are engaging in physical contact, exchanging emotions, building intimacy! Theoretically, eighteen is no longer considered a child in a puppy love relationship, but Colt's nine-year-old state has lasted for several years, so his actual age can only be considered fifteen!
His son has definitely been deceived! Drake looks decent enough, with that filter of physical contact, he managed to make his son hide his favorite father from him in such a short amount of time!
It's all Drake's fault!
Joseph forced a grotesque smile, pushed Colt aside, opened the wardrobe: "You've put on a bit of weight lately; you're no longer just skin and bones. Let me see if the clothes I bought last time still fit."
There was no one hiding inside.
Joseph opened all the cabinet doors in one go.
There was still no one, only clothes. Many new clothes, ranging from casual wear and everyday outfits to full suits and even tailcoats; there were not just white ones, but also red, blue, beige, black, white, yellow, pink—a dazzling array of colors in all shades. Old clothes were squeezed into the corner, looking quite pitiful.
Joseph didn't know much about clothing brands, but he could still tell the quality of the clothes. These custom-tailored formal outfits were very similar to what Drake usually wore, the bow ties and accessories paired with the formal wear also possessed the understated luxury style characteristic of Wayne.
How many people are on the bespoke tailoring team you found?" Joseph took out a tailcoat and held it up in front of Colt for comparison. "They made you three suits, seven formal outfits, twelve casual outfits in just over a month.
All of these were products of the Dream Station within four hours.
Timothy probably had some issues with him wearing his father's clothes, as all the clothes provided were custom-made. They were so form-fitting that they could only be worn for a single season; fortunately, the various accessories—such as tie clips, cufflinks, brooches, necklaces, earrings, watches, rings—had no height restrictions.
Colt couldn't explain any of this, nor could he let Joseph know that he had used the Dream Station to bind Timothy, or that he had told Timothy that Joseph would kill him.
Joseph looked at the silent Colt, trying to keep his tone from being too harsh. "I know you have money now—newly rich and prone to impulsive spending. But you can skip the T-shirts, hoodies, casual wear you usually wear, but these custom-tailored suits and formal gowns.. you'll hardly wear them once a year. Isn't that a bit wasteful?"