Chapter Text
Tim was aware that many of his chosen activities could be considered stalking, but in his defence, the ability to learn how to do gymnastics from the actual Nightwing was a once in a lifetime experience.
His parents were always harping on about the importance of having a large list of extra-curriculars to go along with his good grades, and so Tim had always followed through on it, hiring private tutors to teach him karate, chess, piano, violin, and gymnastics. They were never in a group setting, just him and a cold professional, alone in that mausoleum of a home.
Then, he saw that Dick Grayson had started working as a gymnastics instructor in Bludhaven, and Tim practically became the Flash in his rush to put his name down for the summer program.
Sure, it was far away, a whole hour’s trip south, but it was even cheaper than his private tutor, and Dick was a world class acrobat. His parents wouldn’t even notice the price difference if Tim accounted for travel costs . He could go there every Friday afternoon for a two-hour lesson and be home before Mrs Mac even noticed he was gone.
It was perfect.
Except for the fact that it was a busy gym, and Tim didn’t know how to talk to other kids.
He was the only boy in the 10-13 age group, and the talkative girl that introduced herself to him the second that she realised that he was actually in the class and not someone’s brother would not stop interrogating him.
“Fritha!” Another girl bounced over to them, beaming as she zeroed in on Tim. “Wow, are you new? We never have anyone new!”
“I’m Tim,” he shyly said, feeling a bit uncomfortable.
“I’m Tanja,” she introduced, blonde ponytail bouncing. “You’re the only boy this summer, the gym is doing half-price taekwondo lessons downstairs right now, so all the boys are in the Tuesday lessons instead. But that’s okay, they’re all doofs anyways.”
She was rather matter-of-fact about it, which was a strange contrast to her bubbly demeanour, “What gym did you go to?”
“Uh, I had a private tutor?” Tim was stiffer than a board, rubbing his bare arms to try and stop any goosebumps from forming. “I’m not from this area, but it was the only gym doing Friday lessons, and the instructor is supposed to be really good.” Or so his excuse was.
“You know who the instructor is?” Fritha leaned forward, making Tim take a step back. “How? Maxie, she was the last instructor, said she didn’t know who was replacing her. How did you know? Do you know them?”
“It’s on the website,” Tim answered, uncomfortable at the eye-contact that she seemed insistent on making. “I saw when I signed up.”
“Kayleigh! Marta! New boy knows who the instructor is!” Tanja waved over two more girls, effectively trapping Tim.
“New boy?” a brunette asked, frowning at him.
“Tim,” he corrected.
“Marta,” she introduced herself. “Horse girl is Kayleigh.”
Kayleigh was indeed a ‘horse girl,’ wearing a leotard with a rainbow horse on the front. “Hey! Horses are really intelligent creatures.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Fritha ignored the introductions. “What’s the instructor’s name?”
“Dick Grayson.”
That hadn’t come from Tim’s mouth.
Dick Grayson, The Nightwing , was standing behind them in a blue leotard and black pants, looking amused at the gathering of curious girls around a nervous Tim. “You can call me Dick, I’m the new instructor. Are you five my entire class?”
Marta shook her head, “Fatima and Renata are saying bye to their brother downstairs, and Gina is always ten minutes late, you can start warm-up without her.”
“What kind of name is Dick?” Fritha asked, “Did you know it’s a rude word?”
Dick just smiled, “I didn’t when I started learning English, but it’s my name now. Do you girls want to line up on the mat for me? I’ll go get the attendance list, and then we can start.”
Tanja stuck her hand straight up in the air, “Excuse me, Mr Dick, but it’s girls and boy. Tim is here, he’s the new boy.”
Dick seemed a bit surprised as he looked at Tim. “Sorry about that, kiddo, I got told that all the boys were in the Tuesday sessions. You can go join the girls on the mat.”
“It’s okay,” Tim mumbled in embarrassment at being singled out. He could hear his mother telling him off for mumbling, but he was too awkward to speak up any louder. He knew if she was here, she’d be making a fuss about him being mistaken for a girl, even if he didn’t mind.
Fatima and Renata, a pair of identical hispanic girls, ran in just as Dick came back with his clipboard.
“Here!” Fatima yelled out in response to her name, followed promptly by an “Oof!” when she ran into Marta.
Renata was far more coordinated, and neatly slid into line beside Tim. “Sup?” she grinned.
“Hi?” Tim replied. He hasn’t talked to so many kids his age, like, ever.
“Renata, what’s your name?” She held her hand out for him to shake.
“Tim.” He definitely feels like a broken record, repeating his name so many times. “I’m new.”
“Cool.” She turned back to Dick, who was finishing off with the list.
“...And Gina is not here,” he said, about to put the clipboard away.
“I am!” Gina, still throwing off a jacket towards her father shouted as she entered. “Sorry!”
“Ah,” Dick corrected something on the paper. “Full house then.”
Gina gave Tim a curious look as she joined the line, but Kayleigh seemed to fill her in, because her look changed from curiosity to friendliness.
“Okay then!” Dick returned to the front of the mat. “I’m the new instructor, Dick Grayson, you may call me Dick.” He paused to let Fatima giggle and Gina to look at him like he’s insane. “I know, weird name, but it’s mine. I’m 23, and I’ve been doing gymnastics my entire life. In fact, I used to be in the circus!”
The girls all started to whisper excitedly at that, the idea of doing gymnastics in the circus too cool to stay silent about.
“So this is what you meant by ‘really good,’” Tanja said to Tim. “This is awesome.”
“Yeah,” Tim agreed quietly, looking at Dick.
“Okay! So we’re going to start with some warm-ups, I just want everyone to stretch up to the sky. That’s it, up on your tippy toes!” Dick began their lesson, a gentle grin on his face.
Tim enjoyed the lesson, even if he kept jumping in surprise every time one of the girls would lean over and share her commentary with him. They were all very friendly and seemed to think his shy startled look every time they addressed him was cute (or so Fatima said), so they kept pulling him back into the group every time he went quiet and tried to step away from their loud laughter and chatter.
Dick seemed to encourage the girls with this behavior, trying to make small talk with all of them, especially Tim, who would very much like to stop being perceived, thank you very much. But surprisingly, Nightwing didn’t glare down at Tim and out him as some sort of imposter, nor did he seem to be upset when he stumbled while doing a flip off the beam. Instead, he kept praising Tim, and helped fix his posture, a direct and sunny opposite to his last gymnastics instructor, who would have probably snapped at him and told him to do it ten more times so he’ll be perfect at it.
All in all, this was probably Tim’s best gymnastics lesson ever. He couldn’t wait until next week’s lesson!