Colt patted Timothy's shoulder and scrambled down, relying entirely on Timothy's pull to keep from faceplanting.
Tony retracted his armor and strode toward Colt, his gaze sweeping over the two people before him with the sharpness of a sensor, before fixing intently on Colt.
Colt Joseph Freed.
"Yes." Colt tried to stand up straight.
The pressure of Iron Man shouting a full name had already surpassed the disapproving glare of Batman.
Tony stopped in front of Colt: "Why do I have two sets of memories?"
Colt could hear the grit in Tony's voice. While considering how to explain the issue of the two sets of memories, he pushed away Timothy, who was trying to support him, nearly tripped due to the sudden movement, finally resigning himself to leaning against Timothy.
Tony stared at Colt's legs and frowned, "What's going on? Is the evolution incomplete?"
His mouth was so toxic that a single lick could kill you.
Chapter 74
“Being in a low-gravity state for a long time makes one unaccustomed to Earth's gravity, leading to lack of coordination in the limbs and dizziness when moving,” Timothy answered calmly on behalf of Colt. “He has been sleeping continuously and only woke up this morning. He underwent twenty-seven different examinations and hasn't had a chance to rest since returning home.”
Tony fell silent.
Colt pulled on Timothy.
Timothy pressed Colt's hand down and continued to retort to Tony, "The Justice League and the Avengers held a meeting to discuss the issues regarding the two sets of memories the day after Easter. Are you accusing him of giving you special privileges at this time because you want to hear him apologize to you?"
"Tim!" Colt pinched Tim's hand.
See, he respects you, he won't even allow me to be disrespectful to you." Tim raised an eyebrow at Tony. "In order to not make Alisa worry, he's dragging his uncomfortable body to meet you here. Are you sure this is a good time to talk?
Alright, I really shouldn't have come to find you at this time." Tony patted the nano-storage box on his chest and put on the Iron Man armor, his voice becoming muffled: "Colt, no accusations, only thanks. Get some good rest, I'll come see you again in a few days.
Iron Man left in a hurry, just as he had arrived.
Colt let go of Timothy's hand, looking at the finger marks he had left behind. His heart felt a bittersweet warmth, a sensation he couldn't quite describe.
..
The scenery by the lake was exquisite, with lotus roots, water caltrops, water bamboo growing in the water. The emerald waves rippled gently, one could see fish swimming to and fro.
Colt sat on a large stone by the lake, basking in the afternoon sun. His slippers had fallen off on the way, he dipped his bare feet into the lake to play in the water. The water in late April was still a bit chilly, making him hiss and grit his teeth from the cold, yet he was loath to take his feet out of the water.
He liked this feeling of experiencing the world and being experienced by the world.
To be precise, it was the feeling of being alive.
Timothy sat down nearby with a handful of large, dark red cherries, picking one up and bringing it to his lips.
“What are you thinking about?”
Colt bit into the cherry at the corner of his mouth, happily kicking the water. The fish in the water weren't afraid of him at all; instead, they chased after his feet.
I'm using the Holographic Glasses to review the Smart butler's work logs, checking inspection reports for the atmosphere, water quality, other related data. It's mainly inspection reports on the growth of the fruit trees, pesticide residues in the fruit, heavy metal content, radioactive substances, pests, nutritional value..
Timothy sighed, "I thought you were angry with me."
Colt tilted his head to look at him, his eyes filled with the confusion of "why would I be angry with you."
Timothy bumped his shoulder against his, "I just offended your respected teacher, didn't I?"
I know you mean well, I can't be angry because of that." Colt rested his head on Timothy's shoulder, his feet lightly kicking up splashes of water. "Tim, I'm not as fragile as you think. I am indeed afraid of being scolded by Tony, but that's just like being afraid of a mother's tears or a father's sigh—it's the fear of him being sad.
Timothy had a different opinion: "You didn't do anything wrong, why on earth would he scold you?"
Because he considers me family, I kept it from him before doing something big, his scolding me for my incomplete evolution was actually out of concern for my health." Colt nuzzled Timothy. "If you speak about him like that, he'll feel guilty. Tony seems arrogant and rude, but in reality, he's very prone to guilt and internal conflict.
“He is an elder; he should regulate his own emotions and learn to speak properly.” Timothy was skilled at handling family conflicts. “It's fine if it was in the past, but you'll be living with him for decades to come. Do you intend to remain this cautious around him forever?”
Do I look like I'm being overly cautious?" Colt felt that he was merely showing respect to his teacher. "I ruined his experiment and destroyed important experimental equipment. If I don't fix my attitude, I'll be expelled from the sect, won't I?
“You just want to protect your hometown, is there anything wrong with that?” Timothy incited Colt: “You should learn from my brothers and sisters. When the Batmobile is smashed, the Batwing is turned into fireworks, Wayne Tower is smashed from the roof down to the basement, do we treat Batman with such caution? If Batman were to cut ties with us because of this, Nightwing would scold him even louder than he does, Red Hood would fight him so hard it would wake up Alfred, Jester could make seven or eight alarms go off in his room one after another for several mornings.. oh, Superman, who smashes through buildings, doesn't count.”
Colt stared at Timothy in shock.
He knew Timothy wasn't as well-behaved as he seemed on the surface, but surely he wasn't this rebellious?
Timothy continued with his words of experience: "Listen, Colt. If Stark's experiments were sabotaged, it's because his ability was insufficient; if the experimental equipment broke, it's because it wasn't built sturdily enough. He certainly thinks so himself, which is why he's too embarrassed to mention it to you. You've done such great things, he is a beneficiary of them, so you should feel confident in making demands of him. If your Flying Skateboard breaks, make him build you a new one. If you want a collection of Mark Armor suits, tell him. I guarantee his internal friction will turn into external expenditure."
Are you sure?
Timothy pulled out his phone, dialed Stark's private number, held it up in front of Colt.
Tony had already returned to New York and appeared to be drinking. Upon seeing Colt in front of the camera, his expression shifted from serious to nervous, his speech became stuttering: "Alright, kid, I should apologize to you; I shouldn't have spoken to you like that just now. Oh, Edwin is here, do you want to talk to him? Wait, is something the matter?"
Timothy nodded toward Colt, mouthing the words: Ask for what you want.
Colt held the phone with both hands and took a deep breath.
Tony, my old Flying Skateboard is broken. Can you make me one?
Tony's pupils dilated slightly, he nearly dropped his wine glass, but his expression shifted from tension to joy, his tone became lighthearted: "Ah, a Flying Skateboard? You mean a skateboard that uses an Arc Reactor, has a Shield Protector, later had an FTL Module installed, right? Are you sure you only want a skateboard? I think armor is safer, a flying vehicle is also quite good. Do you want to try both?"
Tony talked for ten minutes, after confirming the requirements with Colt, he hung up the phone joyfully. Edwin said he wanted to chat with Colt, but Tony complained that the butler was interfering with the child's rest.
Timothy shrugged. "See, that's how you should deal with parents. Parents generally suffer from a kind of 'child-quietness phobia.' If you let them get moving, he'll be happy, you'll be happy too."
Colt looked as if he had discovered a new world and asked, "Do you do that to Bruce too?"
Timothy gave a meaningful smile. "How should I put this? Of course, I wouldn't do that. But when Bruce finds the house too quiet and starts getting paranoid, which isn't normal, I'll randomly pick a sibling to mess with his blood pressure and get him back to normal."
"Black-hearted Duck." Colt splashed water onto Timothy.
Thanks for the compliment." Timothy pulled Colt up. "You can get sick just like a human now, so just experience it. Let's go back and open treasure chests.
Colt didn't know how to tell Timothy that there were no more treasure chests, the connection between them had also vanished. He could no longer see Timothy's fatigue levels, could no longer know when Timothy went to sleep, could no longer have lucid dreams together.. They had lost all their uniqueness, becoming ordinary lovers.
Colt lay on Timothy's back, having also lost the mood to admire his own masterpiece.
The off-road vehicle roared down from the mountain and screeched to a halt beside the two of them.
Jason rested his right hand on the car window and gave a cool wave. "Hey there, fallen lovebird, want a lift?"
“Put down the wheelchair, you can head back right where you are.” Timothy kicked a tire, not wanting to speak to his brother, because he knew his brother wouldn't have anything nice to say.
Jason gave Colt a whistle. "Hey, see that? Birdie's elegance and politeness are all for show for outsiders. His true self is actually a Black-hearted Duck who loves to nag those around him. Are you considering getting a new boyfriend?"
Is our relationship close enough that we can joke around like this? Or is Red Hood just being incredibly casual with his words?
Colt pulled Tim closer. "Thanks, I think Tim is pretty good."
Jason clicked his tongue. "Fine, you have my number. If you lose a fight to Little Red Bird, look me up, I'll help you beat him."
Tim's expression turned unfriendly; if he weren't hiding it from Colt, Red Robin would be in a fight with Red Hood right now.
“Why would we fight?” Colt suspected Jason knew some secret, implying there would be a major disagreement between him and Tim.
Jason was even more surprised than Colt: "You guys don't fight? There are actually couples in this world who don't fight?"
Colt hesitated, "The fighting you're talking about, is it healthy?"
Jason was stumped by the question and was somewhat uncertain: "If no one dies and there are no broken bones, just some flesh wounds and blood, it should be considered healthy, right?"
Enough! Don't assume every couple in the world is like that just because you've seen so many unhealthy relationships," Timothy said, kicking the car door. "Colt and I don't even fight; we've never even had an argument.
That's terrible!" Jason's face was full of disbelief. "If you don't even argue, how do you communicate?
Normal discussion and communication, presenting data and parameters, analysis and deduction—whoever has the higher accuracy rate is the one who is correct." After Colt finished speaking, Timothy nodded: "Communication doesn't necessarily have to involve arguing.
"Oh, data.. um, parameters.. ah, analysis and deduction.. well, you two really are a perfect match." Jason looked at this, then looked at that.
Jason got out of the car and dragged a folded wheelchair out of the trunk. As he opened it, he muttered about how much of a hassle it was to remove the missile launcher from the wheelchair. He had only partially dismantled the weapons, leaving Colt with two guns, an energy cannon, a flamethrower, a fire extinguisher, a web shooter.
The wheelchair's appearance was ugly, but it felt very secure.
Jason got into the car, then poked his head out again: "Boss, come hang out at the Iceberg Lounge when you have time. See more men, so you won't regret binding yourself to someone too early in the future."
Colt pointed to himself. "The boss called for me?"
Of course it's you. On April 16th, ten years ago, you said you were being extorted by seniors and used a supermarket gift card to hire me as your bodyguard." Jason waved his hand. "100 dollars was a lot of money back then. That deal has lasted until now, enough to keep a Bat on call at any time.
The off-road vehicle roared away.
Colt had Timothy sit behind the wheelchair, then he drove the wheelchair himself, flying at a low altitude up the mountain.
Tim, have all the memories from ten years ago returned?
It seems so. Dick also remembers us giving him a birthday cake when we were little.
Before Colt could even figure out how to tell Timothy that the Dream Treasure Chest was gone, Timothy had already pushed him into the study of Ghost and Red Robin's house.
On the desk sat an exquisite treasure chest inlaid with gold and gemstones; it was not the glowing magical treasure chest from the dream, but an antique treasure chest used by medieval nobles to hold jewelry.
"Come on, let's open the treasure chest," Timothy said.
"You know everything," Colt choked out, tears welling in his eyes.
Timothy knelt before the wheelchair, wiping Colt's face with a handkerchief. "Don't cry, Colt. You came back to enjoy happiness; nothing is worth your tears. I once thought of awakening you through the Dream Station, but Zatanna told me the Dream Blessing had vanished. However, True Love Magic has already taken effect. We have a new connection; we are still each other's most special and only one. We are the legendary soulmates; nothing can separate us."
Colt hugged Timothy, a hoarse sound escaping his throat, as tears flowed uncontrollably, much like the rain that once fell in Gotham.
If he wanted to cry, then he would cry.
The Spiritual Sea broke into a torrential downpour with the weeping, soaking the parched ground. The raging winds brought seeds, the desolate land began to sprout with greenery.
Timothy held Colt tightly, without any lewdness, just holding him close, stroking Colt's head and back rhythmically, telling Colt that as long as he was there, he would always be there.
Colt cried his heart out for the hometown he had left behind, also for the choices he had made that were not wrong.
A long time passed.
Colt finally stopped his tears, feeling much more at ease. He felt that Earth's gravity was no longer a shackle, but a kite string preventing him from getting lost.
They opened the treasure chest together and took out one treasure after another.
An Interstellar Warp Ship model, photos of black holes and Habitable Planets, a new model of phone with a Mars stone pendant, a golden rose wrapped in ribbons, a watch with an added locator, a reprinted group photo, a printed notepad, love letters with handwriting that was slightly different from before but with the same content, a Little Red Bird model, a ring box.
Ten treasures, each one adorned with a small card that read, "Good morning, good afternoon, good evening."
Colt took them out one by one. "You know everything."
Timothy explained, "I checked all your remaining belongings. Based on the shapes of the bulges in your pockets that day, I confirmed which items you took. Fortunately, we are in the habit of taking photos of all notes for archiving, so I was able to reconstruct the notebook. I guessed you took the photos but definitely wouldn't leave behind love letters, so I reconstructed one of those as well."
Colt nodded vigorously, feeling on the verge of tears, yet he couldn't help but let a smile tug at the corners of his mouth.