Tomorrow is yours, today is mine." Colt leaned in and gave Timothy a parting kiss quite naturally. "Goodbye, have a good day at work.
Now that's fair!
Colt cheered silently, his schoolbag slung over his arm and a statue clutched in his arms, as he turned and bolted, running as fast as lightning.
Hmm, it seems I didn't kiss the center of his lips just now, but rather the corner of his mouth. If it wasn't right in the center, it doesn't count as a kiss on the lips.. right? In common kissing etiquette, you kiss both cheeks, the Belgian custom requires three consecutive kisses.. In ancient Rome and ancient Persia, people of the same social status would kiss on the lips.
A wealth of knowledge regarding kissing etiquette flashed through Colt's mind, helping him find more reasonable excuses for being close to Timmy next time.
Birdie was chirping with friends in the yard.
Colt approached to say hello, checked the bird's nest in the oak tree to make sure last night's wind hadn't left any little bird homeless, then walked around to peer outside Joseph's window.
Joseph wasn't in his room, nor in the study, nor in the kitchen.. perhaps in the basement.
Colt hummed in his head as he landed on the bedroom terrace. The lettuce and green onions planted along the wall were lush and green; the lettuce was ready to be harvested again!
He happily carried the statue through the glass.
"You're back." Joseph's voice suddenly rang out.
Colt nearly jumped to the ceiling.
Joseph sat on the sofa in the living room, holding his notebook.
Colt slowly descended, his feet touching the ground, reminded him earnestly, "Dad, from now on, you need to get my permission before entering my room."
Joseph nodded noncommittally. He put down Colt's notebook, looked at the statue in Colt's hands, wore a wry expression: "Has your ability evolved to the point where you can find treasures in reality too?"
Colt carried the statue back and forth between the bedroom and the living room, saying, "Tim gave it to me."
A Dream Gift is still a gift.
Joseph cleared his throat: "Colt, there are some things I didn't have the chance to teach you before, so I'll tell you about them today."
"Go ahead," Colt said, stopping in front of the floor-to-ceiling window.
When accepting a friend's gift, one must be careful; you can't accept anything too expensive.. Are you listening?
Colt moved the beanbag chair aside a bit and placed the statue next to his usual favorite seat. This way, whether he was in bed or sitting by the window, he could see the prince at a glance. "I'm listening. Anything too expensive can't be accepted, what else?"
Joseph said, "Things like gemstones, luxury watches, custom-made formal wear are all too precious; I can't just accept them casually."
He did it voluntarily.
Colt took a few steps back to admire it, then stepped forward again to adjust the angle of the statue. Whether he was willing or not before the Dream Binding is anyone's guess, but he was certainly willing after the binding; only treasures cherished in dreams could become a Dream Gift.
Joseph crossed his arms, his face full of displeasure: "This statue, looking at the gems alone, could be worth over a hundred million. Even if it were voluntary, it wouldn't matter."
Colt hugged Joseph, "Dad, I gave him a piece of Vibranium too, Vibranium is even more expensive."
Joseph frowned. "You gave him one, only gave me one?"
Colt reacted quickly: "The one in the safe is yours; I saved another one for you, so you have two."
Joseph nodded, wearing an expression that said it was about time, got down to business: "The laboratory has a partnership with Stark, I'm leading a team to New York the day after tomorrow. This research focus is on Interstellar Warp Ships, so it might take quite a while."
Interstellar Warp Ship?
Colt's heart skipped a beat. "Can I go with you? I can handle the data processing; you can just treat me like an AI. Anyway, Tony likes treating me like an AI anyway."
Joseph let out a laugh, but suppressed it the next second, asking intentionally, "What about your school classes?"
Colt knew the moment he heard Joseph agree, "I go to school to meet more people my own age; there isn't much left to learn at school. I can continue as I did before, homeschooling at home and taking final exams."
Yeah, there's a Spider-Man in New York, a bit younger than you. He's a very energetic young vigilante; you two will become friends." Joseph paused before adding, "Of course, Gotham has young vigilantes too—Jester, Black Bat, Beacon, Red Robin, even Red Hood, Armory often comes to Gotham too..
"You forgot Red Robin," Colt reminded him.
"Right, I forgot Red Robin. Cosplaying as Red Robin and going on night patrols with Red Robin is very interesting, isn't it?" Joseph said in a weird tone.
Colt swallowed hard. "I'm not interested in becoming a Vigilante; I prefer studying. There is still so much knowledge in this world that I need to learn."
Joseph asked seriously, "Going to New York isn't like going to school; the workload will be very intense. Are you sure?"
"I'm sure." Colt nodded. The distance between New York and Gotham was only a few hundred kilometers; if the skateboard was set to hypersonic flight mode, it would take one or two minutes at most. He could easily go in the morning and return in the evening, or even have lunch together at noon.
Joseph stood up and gave Colt a hug. "Alright, I'll go negotiate with Stark. Don't regret it."
Researching the Interstellar Warp Ship alongside a genius was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity; why did Joseph think he would regret it?
Colt felt puzzled.
Joseph didn't explain, he just said, "Change your clothes and get ready for breakfast. I'm taking you out today. We'll go to the museum in the morning, eat at Iceberg Restaurant at noon, go to the Gotham Aquarium in the afternoon to see the Merfolk."
Colt was no longer nine years old, but he still had the speakers play applause and cheers.
Wayne Headquarters.
Timothy inspected each department, smiling and nodding to every employee he encountered, occasionally adjusting his sleeves to subtly showcase his gem cufflinks and his understated yet luxurious watch, until Lucius raised a question.
Tim, you look very energetic today. Did something good happen?
Timothy straightened his shirt collar and replied seriously, "Perhaps it's because the red shirt complements my skin tone, making me look more vibrant."
The secretary scored full marks in the art of social graces, nodding in agreement, "Mr. Drake's outfit today is very sharp; everyone is saying how good he looks."
Regardless of why the little boss wasn't clinging to his computer with a cup of coffee today, but was instead strutting around like a peacock, the point was that the praise was correct.
Lucius found it a bit hard to understand. He felt that Timothy was still young and didn't need to dress so maturely, or rather, sexily. A red shirt seemed a bit suggestive for a business meeting, though it suited Bruce just fine.
Timothy stared at Lucius with wide eyes. "You think so too?"
"It is indeed very good," Lucius praised.
It wasn't a lie; Timmy had long limbs and an upright posture, with a delicate yet calm countenance. Formal wear fit him well, not giving the impression of him wearing an adult's oversized clothes, but rather fitting him perfectly.
"I remember today is a Wayne family day, aren't you going back?" Lucius asked.
Timothy raised his hand to pull back his sleeve, revealing his wristwatch, checked the time seriously.
If anyone else had made that gesture, they would have been suspected of showing off their watch to flaunt their wealth. Young Master Wayne's wealth doesn't need to be flaunted, but it still felt a bit strange.
The secretary continued to flatter him, "Wow, I haven't seen that watch Mr. Drake is wearing today before. Is it custom-made? It looks fantastic; it suits you perfectly."
Timmy gave a subtle smile, his tone casual. "Mm, a gift from a friend."
Even though it was a product of his dream, since Colt had personally given it to him, it counted as a gift. What mattered was that the watches originally came as a pair, imbued with a magical power that allowed one to locate the other even across different worlds. He and Colt each had one; no need to round down, these were definitely a couple's set.
"It's getting late, goodbye." Timmy waved his hand with uncontainable joy, showing off his watch once again.
Lucius also waved: "Goodbye."
Does Bruce know that his son might be in love? A watch from an ordinary friend isn't worth Timmy showing off like this!
Wayne Manor.
The first Sunday of every month is Family Day at Wayne, a holiday designated by Alfred that even Jason must obey; everyone returns to Wayne to attend a family meal.
Gotham was a bit congested this weekend. Fortunately, Timothy had a flight requested by his assistant as soon as he arrived at the office, so he could take a helicopter home and didn't miss lunch.
Oh, Timmy, today is family day. You can put work aside; the company won't go bankrupt without you for one day," Dick said, clutching vegetables he had just picked from the greenhouse as he tried to stuff them into Timothy's arms. "The person who arrives late is responsible for washing the vegetables.
Wait," Timmy jumped back, "I'm going to change my clothes first.
Dick tilted his head, watching his younger brother's back, his eyes narrowing as his gaze turned sharp.
It's normal to go home and change clothes; even Bruce would change into casual wear when he doesn't have guests to meet. What isn't normal is that Tim rejected his hug. He even used the extreme speed of Red Robin dodging bullets just to dodge his hug! Dick seriously suspected that Tim had injuries he didn't want anyone to know about; it couldn't possibly be because he was afraid of getting his clothes dirty, right?
Jason walked past with a sour expression, tapping Dick's head with a muddy carrot: "Dickhead, stop slacking. Are you tilting your head to pretend you're an owl?"
“Hey! You got mud on my head!” Dick shouted, then went to hug Jason pitifully, "Jay, it's Timmy, he actually rejected my hug."
You're welcome, I refuse too." Jason ran even faster than Timothy. "Go hug the Demon Brat then; he's the only one who can satisfy a hug-monster like you.
Wayne Manor was very lively today.
Tim changed into a hoodie and jeans and headed downstairs, where Dick was going around asking every family member for a hug.
Only Cassandra and Duke satisfied him. Cassandra was kind-hearted, while Duke was just too shy to refuse.
The hug monster spotted Timothy, abandoned Duke, came rushing over, shouting, "Timmy, we agreed to prepare lunch together for Family Day, why are you taking so long to change your clothes?"
Timothy proactively hugged the protesting Dick: "I discovered your small apartment was behind on its management fees, so I went ahead and prepaid them for you until the end of the year."
Dick was moved to tears.
Damian, who was seriously tossing the salad, shot them a glance and clicked his tongue in disdain, "Tsk."
Stephanie pointed a rolled-up piece of tin foil at Damian: "Don't spit in the food."
Damian roared in fury, "I didn't, you idiot! Your eyes need to be gouged out and washed!
Cassandra instantly flashed between Stephanie and Damian, giving each a piece of cookie to prevent the two from fighting.
Today's chef, Jason, was searing steaks while simultaneously kicking Bruce, who was trying to open the oven, all while letting out a sharp, piercing cry: "Don't touch it! If it explodes today, I'm going to blow up your Batcave! Someone, get this troublemaker out of here!"
"Coming, coming!" Dick lunged forward, grabbing Bruce and dragging him out.
Bruce said aggrievedly, "I just wanted to see if it was ready, I wasn't causing trouble."
Timothy looked around and chose to walk over to Barbara to help peel the fruit.
You look great," Barbara said, sitting in her wheelchair and looking Timothy over closely, her finger brushing under his eyes as if conducting an inspection. "You don't even have dark circles under your eyes?
Timothy said with a hint of pride, "I've been sleeping very well lately, getting at least four hours of deep sleep every day."
Barbara pinched her younger brother's cheek. "I'm so jealous; I need hints to get deep sleep."
"Tim has been doing very well lately. Because of his efficiency, Lucius hasn't called me in half a month." Bruce teleported over to them, crouched down, began munching on the apples they had peeled.
The two of them looked at him, primarily at the apple in his hand.
Bruce put down the apple and pulled out a Batarang to use as a fruit knife. "Oh, I'll help."
Timothy placed the half-eaten apple back into his hand and requested, "Could you go to the conservatory and pick out a few flowers? Alfred loves you most, you're the only one who can touch his flowers."
Bruce walked away, biting into the apple.
Barbara shook her head. "Tim, you know perfectly well that with the right excuse, we could all pick Alfred's flowers. But Bruce has been getting on Alfred's nerves lately; if he picks them, no matter how many excuses he gives, Alfred will still make him drink vegetable juice."
Timothy shrugged his shoulders. "Do you think he prefers staying in the kitchen, or going to the greenhouse?"
Barbara laughed, "I guess the conservatory. That way, when Alfred sees the messy kitchen and gives that disapproving look, he can confidently answer, 'I wasn't there,' and avoid the job of being a referee at the same time, because Jason is about to get into a fight with Damian."