The Sound of Laughter
Pairings- Tim Drake X Reader
Requested by anon- Oof I loved your recent Tim post! Could I please get a spin on it where he hated the reader at first because of how loud/outgoing they are?
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His vision was blurring- his cue to get off his computer, maybe do some eye exercises.
Tim sighed, slouching in his seat, his head buzzing with drowsiness.
Yep, time to get some coffee.
It took him an embarrassing amount of time to push his chair back and get up- his body resisted movement of any kind, and he knew he should get to bed...but work.
Not Red Robin work, no, not the kind of stimulation that kept him going- schoolwork. He briefly considered asking somebody to type up his papers for him, but if Damian heard, he would never hear the end of how he was too "dull witted" for his homework.
Grabbing a large pair of sunglasses, he trudged outside to his car.
....
Loud noises were loud. By this time, Tim had a pretty good mechanism for tuning out peripheral noise, but his head was heavy and at the moment, everything was too loud. He made his way to his favourite coffee place, a tiny little thing tucked into a corner. Quaint, quiet, and relaxing.
Usually.
He pushed open the door and stepped into the sound of a high pitched giggle, and then group laughter.
Scanning for the source, he saw a group of six girls sitting round a table and threw them a dirty look, which went unnoticed.
Oh, well.
He placed an order for the most caffeinated, sugary drink on the menu, and found seat to wait.
"And you will NEVER believe-"
More laughter.
"-anyway so I told him-"
Laughter.
There was only one voice talking, telling some kind of story, it seemed. The other girls seemed to find it hilarious.
Tim looked with a silent fury at a girl with (h/c) hair, her expression vivid and bright as she recounted some event.
Her voice was irritating the hell out of him.
His head was ringing with tiredness, and he almost missed the call for his order; as he got it and made to leave, he glanced at her again, this time catching her eye.
She stopped talking for a second, and the corner of her mouth perked up.
Immediately looking away, he made for the doors.
....
The problem with being Tim Drake- okay, one of the MANY problems of being Tim Drake- was having a general aversion to bustle. Not that he minded energy, or music, or people (he was not, and did not want to be, like Bruce in that aspect), it was all just...tiring. So he when he found his little cafe, found it had excellent drinks, he stuck to it. It was a way for him to both get his caffeine, and get out for a while without gearing up for a fight.
Unfortunately, it seemed as if the girls, too, were sticking to it.
Every time he went there in the afternoon or evening, he glanced around for any sign of (h/c) hair girl and her gang of gigglers. More often than not, he found them.
Found them infuriating, that is.
The other customers never seemed to mind them, though, and it looked like they were there to stay.
Today, she was in line in front of him.
"(Y/n), hurry up and just get our regulars!" Someone from her group yelled from their place at their usual table.
(Y/n), huh?
She placed their order, and then, she turned around and glanced at him.
Giving him a soft smile he could barely return, she went over to her friends.
Not noticing that he did it, Tim kept glancing at her the whole time he was in the cafe, but she didn't happen to look at him again, and hence, did not happen to smile at him again, either.
His head was buzzing again, but he felt anything but tired.
...
It wasn't till he found her alone, that he realized how much he'd gotten used to the sound of her, laughing and talking with her friends.
There she was, all alone, sitting quietly on a pouffe with a drink clutched with both hands.
Tim didn't have any options, of course. He had to go home and finish working on that case Bruce was handling before he got called away on league business. Big case. Important case. Batman stuff, top priority.
He got his drink.
Found himself shuffling in the general direction of the table where she sat.
Why?
He didn't know. He didn't even think about it. His head was buzzing again.
She looked up as he approached, and gave him that same, soft smile- not too wide, not unnatural or fake- just warm, and friendly, and full of life.
She reminded him of coffee.
"I like coffee."
Whoop.
Didn't mean to say it out loud.
As soon as the words left his mouth, all exhaustion seemed to dissipate from his body, to be replaced by awkwardness and embarrassment.
"Shit, I- did not mean to say that, I-" he gasped, as she let out a laugh.
"I like coffee, too," she said.
"I meant to introduce myself," he said. "Just..."
"Lost your train of thought?" She suggested, and he nodded.
"Would you like to join me?" She offered, and he sat down opposite her, setting his drink down on the table.
He took off his sunglasses to get a clearer look, blinking at the lights.
"Let me guess- a nocturnal animal," she grinned.
"Like my father before me," he said. "I'm Tim."
"I know," she said. "I read the papers, you know."
Listening to her now, he wondered why her voice had annoyed him so much in the beginning. It was nice. Soothing, even.
It wasn't long before he was sitting straight, pushing his mussed hair off of his forehead, giving her his full attention. She asked questions, and he asked questions, and he was starting to understand how she had so many friends.
Everything about her was...alive.
With energy, and passion, and excitement.
The world had clearly not ruined her. Yet.
He liked that.
After all, what's life without the sound of laughter?
(The Batcave. Life is the Batcave without the sound of laughter.)
Points for trying? I'm just as tired as Tim rn