Tim could not be grateful enough for the barista running his favorite coffee place—they were kind enough to keep it open late, just for him! He made his stops here and there during patrols. The cute barista made his coffee the way he liked it too. Those simple conversations couldn’t last long, not forever, and sometimes Tim felt pretty bad for holding them up at times. He sure apologized a lot. But they were just… So nice about it. About everything.

They already did a lot more for him than they realized.

So… Maybe Tim got a little curious. About who they were outside of work hours. What they liked. What they disliked. The network of people they knew. Any social media. He wanted to find a way to thank them, y’know? Leave them a present. Or make sure they were safe. From danger. Any kind of danger.

No, he couldn’t just send a DM. Or ask them out. Not now. No, he’s not telling anyone else in the Batfam. Tim knows he shouldn’t. Tim has reasons, okay? He’s…

He’s possibly got a crush on a civilian.

A research montage later—yes, Tim located where they lived, mapped out a rough idea of their schedule so he could drop by, maybe set up a few surveillance cameras (in places like the living room, in discreet outside locations), bug the walls, and then go unnoticed…. Ideally.

Hopefully.

Until that flew out the window. Tim was just seconds away from slipping out when said barista opened the door, and…

Sh*t.

Right as he was making his exit. Really? Why did it have to go wrong at the last minute!? So he didn’t allot the correct amount of time it would take them to make a grocery trip and come back. Of course. All this planning, and $of$ $course$—

“Hi, uh. S… Sorry.” SO not a good look. He’s screwed. “I just wanted to confirm, I’m not a serial killer. I swear,” Red Robin splutters, proceeding to make it worse. Held back on mentioning the cameras, at least.

Tim intakes a desperate breath, gloved hands up and frantically waving, “I mean—I mean, I can explain!”

… ~~Please let him explain.~~