Chapter Text
Everything had to be perfect. The food was coming in just a few minutes, right before his parents so that it would be warm when they got home. The house was clean on a microscopic level.
Tim’s parents would come home in less than two minutes, if there was traffic. Tim calculated it out. But there wouldn’t be traffic this late, especially in Bristol–
“Timothy!” A deeper voice called, and Tim launched out of his chair (carefully picking it up when it clunked against the floor). In his excitement, a spark of yellow magic made the chair float.
“Mom, Dad!” Tim smiled, discreetly hiding the floating chair under his back. “You actually made it!”
Janet leaned down and kissed Tim on the cheek. “Of course we did. We would never miss our only son’s birthday.”
Tim kindly didn’t mention the last six birthdays Tim either spent alone or with Ms. Mac. And that one time he was held hostage in the grocery store and Batman had to save him.
“And we got you a few gifts too,” Jack laid two wrapped boxes on the table. “This blue one is from your mother, and this green one from me. Which do you want to open first, sport?”
Jack had never gotten Tim a present before. Janet sometimes got him a book or a pencil. But these gifts were bigger than a book, unless his parents decided to wrap them in a bigger box.
“I-I can open it now?” Tim struggled to keep his magic from dancing out in excitement.
Without saying a word, the green one was placed in front of him. Looking at Jack for encouragement, he carefully tore open the paper, then gasped.
“A new camera?” His last one broke when his leg broke last year. Tim was just going to hack into his parent’s account to pay for a new one, but this was even better than what Tim was going for. “Thank you.”
Tim was hardly aware of the blue present in front of him until Janet cleared her throat. With reluctance, he set down the camera and eagerly opened the present his mom got him.
Inside the box were two metal cuffs, similar in style to what Wonder Woman wore. Tim looked to Janet and the similar cuffs on her wrists. “Magic blockers?”
Jack hit Tim’s ear. “We don’t say that word in this house.”
“S-sorry. Blockers?”
Janet smiled and picked up the two cuffs, carefully clicking them around Tim’s wrists. “To ensure your magic is always under control. We got them specially made so that Jack and I are the only ones who can take it off you.”
“Until your magic is more manageable, of course,” Jack added in.
The metal made Tim’s skin itch, and the cuffs felt like they were a tad too tight. He smiled all the same. “Thank you!”
His parents didn’t like hugs, or any sort of physical affection, so he stood up (cleaning the mess) and went to his room. Once his door was shut behind him, he went to work trying to pull the cuffs off.
He appreciated the gifts, he really did, but the cuffs made his skin itch, and blocking his magic wouldn’t help him learn to control it. Or, so he read. They wouldn’t budge, however, and Tim stopped as soon as he heard his parents leave to catch their next flight. Maybe they’re right. These cuffs will help.