A reasonable explanation.
He's an eighteen-year-old big boy now, with.. needs.
Joseph frowned as he watched his son, who was holding a phone in one hand while rummaging through clothes in a suitcase with the other.
Not pajamas.
Aren't you tired? You still want to go out?
I'm still young; a nap tonight and I'll be full of energy tomorrow." Colt put on his hoodie. "I'm going back to check on the progress of the Earth Simulator.
No need to go back and check, I brought this." Joseph took out a holographic helmet. "You understand Quantum Entanglement; even if we weren't on Earth, even if we were separated by an entire universe, the connection between them would never be broken.
It consumes a bit too much Spiritual Power." Colt firmly put on his coat. "I'm also a little worried about Robin Bird; I want to go back and check on him.
A reasonable explanation.
Colt," Joseph said, looking at his son, who was using his eyes as a mirror while combing through his bangs, "Are you..
Colt tilted his head and looked at him, "Is it something?"
It's nothing," Joseph said, opening his mouth, "Go on, just be back before ten.
Colt zoomed out happily on a skateboard, moving even faster than a meteor, vanishing into the horizon in the blink of an eye.
Joseph rubbed the bridge of his nose, saw the empty packaging in the trash can, then pulled that box of Spiritual Power out of Colt's suitcase before taking a deep breath. He logged into the home's Intelligent Protection System and demoted Timothy from Level 1 access to a stranger.
The permissions had only changed for a second, before he had even logged out of the system backend, Timothy suddenly changed from a stranger back to family.
Joseph's breathing was heavy as he directly marked Timothy as an enemy.
Family enemy.
Family and enemies.
Enemies and friends.
Timothy's authorization level kept flickering.
Joseph looked at Timothy, whose permissions were still at Level 1, but whose notes had been changed to [Friend], gritted his teeth, refraining from making any further modifications. Fine, it was rare for Colt to encounter someone who could see him; he would just consider you two friends.
A friend who needs to shower and dress up before meeting!
Colt rushed to Wayne Manor, only to see Birdie.
Birdie rolled around and acted spoiled in Damian's palm. Damian, who loved animals but never spoiled them, tossed the bird into the air, letting that kid named Jonathan lead the bird in flight.
Colt slipped away from the scene before Birdie could spot him.
Timothy was not at Wayne Manor; he was still working overtime at a meeting at the company.
The Super Battery project department was going crazy because of the incentive mechanism, forcing the boss to work overtime for meetings even on a Friday night.
The petrodollar system established by the United States is protected by countless conglomerates. While Stark builds secure reactors in various locations, which involves energy, they have not dealt a fatal blow to the crude oil system; however, adding the Super Battery changes everything. This new type of Super Battery can power airplanes and aircraft carriers, its simplified version applied to new energy vehicles can achieve a range of 1,500 kilometers. If two batteries are used in alternation, combined with a three-minute super-fast charge, they could completely phase out internal combustion engine vehicles and deal a massive blow to oil stocks.
Energy giants would never stand by and watch Wayne and Stark join forces to monopolize the new energy industry; they would try every possible way to squeeze their way in to get a piece of the pie, or simply smash the new energy market entirely.
The theme of today's meeting is to simulate how to deal with the enemy's suppression and framing.
What is the maximum amount for political donations? Which group should be courted? Which group should be suppressed? Which sister companies are needed for assistance? Should we strike first by picking a few from the company's collection of competitors' dirt and sending the group least likely to be swayed to prison? Someone also suggested hiring mercenaries for a decapitation strike, but it was immediately rejected. After all, Wayne is a legitimate, legal corporation.
Timothy reminded the people in the discussion to watch their words, when his peripheral vision suddenly caught a flash outside the window—it was the person who had just poked their head out from the crowd before quickly disappearing again.
Colt drifted in and intentionally brushed against Timothy's hand.
Timothy did not dodge or avoid it, even hooking his fingers with Colt's, showing no fear of suddenly vanishing in front of his subordinate.
Over the past two days, Colt had been being used by Tony like an AI, his Spiritual Power training had made him even more obedient; although he was very excited to see Timothy, he didn't pounce on Timothy in excitement.
Timothy sat properly in the conference room, a dried blueberry placed in his palm.
Colt smiled at Timothy, but didn't disturb him during his meeting, turned to leave.
[139, 0, 255: I'm in your office.]
Timothy made a call on his own phone, using the pretext of having other important matters to attend to, asked for the discussion results to be compiled into a document and emailed to him. Then, with his usual calm and composed demeanor, he stood up and left.
As soon as he stepped out of the conference room, Wayne's calm pace quickened, he began to run directly. Fortunately, it was already after work hours. Gotham's nights are unsafe, there weren't many employees choosing to work overtime for double pay, so no one saw the fast-moving Wayne.
Timothy confirmed that he was only one minute late, rather than ten minutes or an hour.
Colt lay slumped on the office sofa, eyes tightly closed, with dark circles under them and a pale, bloodless complexion.
Timothy used one hand to test Colt's forehead while pressing his other hand against his own, confirming that Colt did not have a fever. The head beneath his palm moved slightly; he did not wake up, but instead, like a small animal that enjoys being stroked, he rubbed his forehead against Timothy's hand.
"If you sleep in this position, your neck will be sore when you wake up," Timothy murmured with experience.
He dragged a small round table next to the sofa, moved the laptop and the documents that needed processing from the desk, then sat on the sofa, letting Colt rest on his lap under his jacket, working while stroking Ghost.
Working overtime with someone by your side makes overtime truly worthwhile!
Timothy let out a satisfied sigh.
Chapter 44
Colt was woken up by the alarm and bolted upright.
Two sharp gasps of breath were heard simultaneously.
Colt clutched his aching scalp, while Timothy rubbed his bruised chin.
Who am I? Where am I?
Colt's gaze was somewhat dazed. He looked down at the pillow he had just been lying on, the hand clutching his head slowly released, gently pressing against Timothy's leg. It wasn't soft or hard, but had better elasticity than the mattress, was warm to the touch.
Timothy gave a light cough, untangling the silver hair from between his fingers.
Colt shuddered, instantly pulling his hand away from Timothy's leg, hurriedly picked up the Quantum Terminal from the small round table and put it on.
Sorry, I'm too late.
Sorry, I fell asleep.
As soon as Timothy's apology left his mouth, Colt's apology also rang out through the communication channel.
Timothy couldn't help but laugh. "You still owe me two good mornings and three goodnights."
Even dark circles under his eyes couldn't hide the sparkle in Colt's eyes. He grabbed Timothy's tie, leaned in to kiss Timothy's lips once, then again, again, then once more.
Good morning, good night, good morning, good night. I've counted, there have only been two good nights.
Including tonight, that makes three.
Timothy cupped the face that was trying to retreat, his thumb moving from the corner of Colt's mouth to his ear, his fingers sliding into the silver-white hair to gently massage the scalp. Feeling the other's complete trust in his embrace, he tilted his head slightly, their noses brushing, paused for a brief moment as their lips met.
Colt closed his eyes and parted his lips slightly, as their lips, only a fraction apart, pressed together amidst the hot breath.
Their lips pressed together at first, neither moving, as if they were competing to see who could stay composed, or as if they were forcing a pause before a delicious feast to prolong the emotional climax. Timothy moved one hand to the back of Colt's head, applying slight pressure with his palm, Colt slid down onto Timothy's lap in response. Grabbing Timothy's clothes, Colt felt the softness of the lips pressed against his rubbing and grazing, then his lower lip was taken into a suckling kiss, he couldn't help but extend the tip of his tongue to say hello.
Ha, his tongue was sucked!
Colt's mouth was soon visited by an impolite intruder, who knocked on the gates of his teeth and inspected the shape of every single tooth, like warm jelly..
This morning and evening kiss, whether in terms of timing, depth, or pleasure, was even better than the previous four, leaving even the powerful Red Robin with uneven breath.
Colt's phone suddenly rang.
This time it wasn't an alarm, but a call from Joseph. Joseph never usually called; he always sent text messages.
Colt pushed Timothy away, his face flushing as red as if on fire. He rubbed his upper lip with the back of his hand, not daring to look at Timothy. "It's one minute past ten; Dad told me to be back before ten."
Timothy took his hand, which was clutching his trousers in nervousness, gave the back of it a gentle kiss, saying with a smile, "Good morning for tomorrow, goodbye."
"Goodbye." Colt rushed out a few meters, then suddenly turned back to grab Timothy's hand, opening the treasure chest as if he were in battle. He handed the file folder containing the suspected documents to Timothy, hugged a plushie himself, leaned down to give Timothy a quick kiss on the lips, then sped away on his skateboard with super speed.
"Good morning for tomorrow." By the time the voice rang in Timothy's ear, the person had already vanished into the horizon.
Timothy sat alone in the empty office. He leaned back, stroking his lips where the lingering scent of Colt remained, let out a long sigh: "Every father is an obstacle to romance."
Colt rushed back at lightning speed, arriving at Avengers Tower in less than two minutes.
Joseph was sitting on the bed reading when he saw Colt nearly crash into the wall. He looked up, greeting him with a thin, mirthless smile: "You're back. Did the Earth Simulator reboot make you lose track of time? Or did playing with Robin Bird make you lose track of time?"
"Robin Bird." Colt said righteously.
Red Robin could, of course, also be called a Robin Bird.
Joseph snorted coldly, "The plushie in your arms and the jacket you're wearing—they were definitely given to you by Robin Bird."
Colt fell silent, hanging up the jacket he had accidentally brought back, then lifted the Cole Duck plushie that was too large for his arms to hold, burying his face in the duck's chest to nuzzle it.
Joseph rolled his eyes, "Don't even think about making me share a bed with it."
Colt lowered the back of the sofa, turning it into a sofa bed, arranged the pillows, found a blanket in the cabinet, then rolled over with Cole Duck in his arms.
Dad, if I..
Sleep!" Joseph interrupted loudly, drowning out the sound of the loudspeaker, which had automatically lowered its volume for the night, pretending not to have heard Colt's question. "Lights out, no more talking, go to sleep!
Fine, if you won't say it, then I won't listen!
Colt took off the Quantum Terminal and the Hearing Aid, placed them together with the phone, closed his eyes while holding Cole Duck.
..
I am Colt, you are Duckie, together we are Cole Duck.
Colt heard his tiny self say that to tiny Timothy.
Since it's our trademark, we should put a detective hat and a presidential badge on Cole Duck.
Colt heard little Timothy say that to his little self again.
He was half-asleep, fumbling in his arms for Cole Duck, feeling a tiny detective hat on the duck's head and a small cape with a circular emblem draped over its back.
So it was this Cole Duck.
Colt smiled and held him tighter. A pleasant rustling sound echoed in his mind, Timothy had also fallen asleep, Colt's consciousness gradually drifted away.
He returned to Gotham and saw Red Robin like a red bird spreading its wings, gliding between the skyscrapers, before finally folding his cape and sitting on the edge of the clock tower rooftop, quietly watching the myriad lights of Gotham.
The direction Red Robin was looking was toward the East End, but the East End wouldn't have so many brightly lit skyscrapers, nor could the East End's nights be this bustling, without gunfights or brawls, filled instead with songs, laughter, crowds of tourists.