Caffeine Withdrawal | T. Drake ✔

[44] An Alternate Addiction

Tim hadn't slept so peacefully in a long time. He didn't know whether it was the fatigue that wore him down completely or the relief of being close to Dora. But the fact was that ever since he had upgraded to the title of Red Robin, such peaceful and deep slumber had rarely been inflicted upon him.

He woke up to the feeling of fingers softly curling at his hair then brushing over his face delicately as if cautious not to wake him up.

Opening his eyes, he saw Dora lying close to him with her head resting on his arm, her eyes closed as if asleep but her hand gently playing with his hair.

The clock was striking near afternoon indicating that hours had passed since they had fallen asleep together, both exhausted from the recent incident.

He couldn't say for certain if she was awake or not but with her so close to him, he took his time in observing the innocence of her features. The very innocence which had turned into fear not long before and thinking of it again struck through his heart.

His palm gently glided across her cheek and her eyes fluttered open, brown gazing into blue. Gradually, a smile crept over her face and seeing her smile at last made a burden lift from Tim's heart.

He had been scared that she would never be the same again after going through such trauma. In fact, he had been quite terrified that he would never see her smile or laugh again. But she had shown resilience and was gradually but steadily coming towards normal.

She snuggled closer to him, eyes falling shut again as if the weariness had not worn off completely.

"I think we should get up now," he whispered, fingers running through her hair, "or else Steph would come barging in and kick us out of bed."

Her smile widened slightly, "she wouldn't..."

"Or she would confiscate all the food items as punishment and we'll have to go starved until Alfred takes pity on us."

"Really?"

He hummed in reply, eyes flickering down looking at her peaceful figure.

"She's not that cruel."

"Dora, you don't even know half of what Steph's like because she is surprisingly very fond of you. Cruel is an understatement when it comes to her. I could call her Satan's human incarnation if the title wasn't taken by Damian already."

At long last, the sound of her light laugh resonated in his ears and he drew a sigh of relief.

"Sometimes... You're just as mean too."

"I can't deny that, I am an intolerable nuisance when I don't get my daily caffeine dose," he smiled at her as she looked up at him, her hands cupping his face tenderly.

"The perils of being addicted... What percent is your caffeine rate on right now?"

"Going in negatives."

"But you don't seem like an intolerable nuisance yet," she remarked, an eyebrow raised skeptically, "at least not to me."

He leaned forward and kissed her, then added as he broke the kiss, "because I do have an alternative."

She had lifted her head from his arm, looking down at with with a soft adoring gaze, "and what if you get addicted to me too?"

"Best addiction I could ever have then..."

A short laugh escaped her again as she bent down and kissed him as sweetly as she possibly could, making the moment much longer than any they had shared.

His hands lingered at her cheeks, weaving in to her soft brown tresses as she deepened the kiss, then trailing down to her back as he pulled her on top of him.

Her fingers curled at his hair again before sliding down to his shoulders as she pulled apart at last. Her face was blushing deeper than the shade of beetroot and his expression was no different either.

"Dora... I could go on for a whole day without coffee now."

She smiled, her forehead resting against his as she remarked, "wanna bet?"

"Why not?"

"Think thoroughly, you might regret this later when you'll see Alfred preparing coffee."

He thought for a while, "anything for you, if you ask me to go with the bet I will."

"I remember your first time at the shop, Timmy," she remarked, a knowing look taking over her face.

But his reply was also immediate, "you hadn't kissed me back then so of course I lost the challenge."

A slight gasp escaped her and he laughed at her reaction. "Oh but that was because it was the first time we had met. And though you were smooth enough to flirt right then, I can't say the same for myself."

"I was not flirting," he responded exactly like she knew he would but the words he said later surprised as well as made her smile again, "I was simply stating facts."

"Smooth nevertheless."

"A consequence of being a Wayne I could say."

***

Alexander was back at the shop but his mind was flickering towards Dora time and time again. Stephanie was out at the counter while he was tending to the kitchen work.

Soon as he got a little free time, he dialled Tim's number knowing that he would be with her.

Shortly after Tim had picked up the phone, "hey."

"How's Dora?" His voice had a clear trace of concern as he asked.

"Much better," Tim replied, "we are having breakfast."

His eyes flickered towards the clock, "it's almost evening."

"Yeah... An exception can be made for today, right?"

"Right."

But then he handed the phone to Dora so that he could be convinced fully, "here, talk to Dora."

Alex was a little dubious of what to talk to her about but soon as the soft voice sounded from the other side, the creases on his forehead eased, "hey, don't get so worried about me, Al. I'm doing great."

"You sure?"

"Positive. How's everything at the the shop?"

"Slightly busy," he replied, "but Steph's at the counter so we'll manage."

"Tell her I said thanks and when I come back to the shop I'll bake extra cookies for her."

"Sure." A major portion of his worry had lifted by talking to her and finding her much better than before, "you have breakfast now. I'll stop by before my shift at the Lounge."

"It's not breakfast, it's way past lunch even."

"Likewise."

"And don't overwork yourself."

A smile flickered on his face upon hearing the order in her tone, "anything else you would like to tell me, Grandma?"

The light sound of her laugh struck him and for a second he stilled but then his smile widened considerably out of pure relief. "Not yet but I'll let you know when I remember something else."

He had to cut the call as another row of orders came in but he did feel a lot better after talking to her. And he was much relieved that she was feeling quite better which indicated that it won't take her long to recover fully.

Besides, he missed her presence at the shop and really wanted her to get better soon so that they could go back to normal. And that once he had decided to manage his busy schedule so that he would have more time to spend with her too.

Almost losing her like that had made him realize that he needed her as much as she needed him. They had always been each other's support and he could not let his support go weak ever.

***