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“Sometimes I worry I go too far in the other direction,” Tim admitted. “Too cautious.”
“...what?” Dick couldn't see Tim through his blindfold, but he tilted his head toward the new Robin all the same. “What do you mean?”
“Well, I mean, B's always saying…” Tim stumbled over his sentence. “You know, like, cautioning me not to be too much like the last Robin. Be more careful, more thoughtful, or-”
“He's saying what?!” Dick pulled up his blindfold, too surprised to say anything more coherent as he looked at Tim in disbelief. “Why… why would he say that? Why wouldn't he want you to be like Robin?”
“He doesn't want me to be reckless,” Tim said quietly, as though realizing he had made a mistake.
“Reckless?” Dick shook his head. “I'm gonna have to talk to him about his, what kind of garbage- no, Robin. He wasn't reckless. He wasn't careless or anything like that. Batman is feeding you a pack of lies if you believe that.”
“I'm… sorry?”
“No, no, it's not your fault. This is entirely on him and I will be dealing with him later. He can't just slander my little brother because he doesn't want you getting hurt.”
“Slander?”
“Jason was one of the most thoughtful people I've ever met,” Dick said. “Both in, like, a caring way and also in him being just the biggest nerd ever. He was really clever too - Batman probably won't tell you about this, but Jay once told me about how, on one of his first Robin missions, he talked Two-Face into taking him hostage instead of an old lady, then stopped the car and escaped before B even caught up with him.”
He reached out and removed Tim’s blindfold. “He really was a nerd, though. Did musical theater and liked historical dramas. I mean, do you know how many times he managed to con me into a movie night featuring, I dunno, Little Women or something? You best believe I know half of Pride and Prejudice by heart and, I mean, don't get me wrong, Keira Knightley is gorgeous , but she’s not why I've seen that movie five times.
“He was so smart, and so, so clever. You know he met B when he was trying to steal the tires off the Batmobile? I laughed so hard when I learned about that. He did well in school too - 3.92 GPA, if you can believe that. He was so proud of that, he had had to drop out in fifth grade but he managed to get his grades high enough to make up for that and then some, and that was while he was Robin, too!”
Dick’s smile faded as he stopped talking, letting the only sounds be the rush of wind around them as he looked at Tim.
“I miss him,” he said softly.
“I know,” Tim said, and Dick felt horrible about the expression on his little brother's face.
“I'm glad I get to have you in my life, Tim,” he said. “I just wish the price of meeting you wasn't losing him.”
“I’m sorry.”
The wind whipped Tim’s cape around, flashing the yellow underside, and for a moment Dick could see dark curls and scattered freckles.
“It's not… you don't have to be sorry. It's not on you. It's just how things are,” he said, shaking off the mental image of Jason. “Just… don't believe Batman, okay? Not about not being like Jay. I see him in you in some ways, and those are all good . Don't let Bruce tell you otherwise.”