#condick

      There's an odd, wriggling and flipping type of feeling in Conner's tummy as he watches Robin move around the room. He's not even doing anything impressive, really, he's just talking with their teammates, walking over to the table to grab his soda, walking back over to the freezer to get some ice, shoving said ice down the back of Kid Flash's hoody...it's not anything unusual, nothing different than any other day.

Yet Con still feels like there's someone doing backflips in his stomach, and he has no idea why. He has this...this weird urge, this growing need, almost, to be next to Robin as he moves, follow him through the cave, have his hand touching some part of his friend's body at all times, to protect him...

He isn't sure what this feeling is, and he isn't sure if he likes it. It doesn't really feel bad, not unless someone else starts touching Robin, like Kid Flash, or Megan. If they touch him, he feels this spike of rage, something he's, yet again, unable to explain.

He wonders if he should ask Robin. Robin never treats him quite like the others do. They act like he doesn't really know anything. Which isn't true - he knows a lot of things. But emotions are hard for him to understand, and Robin somehow gets that. He helps him sometimes, when he's sad, Robin asks him what makes him sad, and Conner tells him, and he feels a little better afterward. Robin helps him talk to people without getting frustrated when he doesn't understand something they say. Robin helps him with a lot of things.

It hits him that maybe that's why he has this weird feeling in his stomach. Maybe it's just because he cares about Robin. Robin said that friendship is special - maybe that's what this is.

He shakes his head after pondering that for a few minutes. He's friends with Artemis and Wally, and he doesn't feel like this about them. Not even close. For a while he felt something simliar with Megan, but he still wasn't sure what it was.

He looks up and watches Robin moving again, and on impulse, stands and simply lifts the smaller boy off his feet and carries him out of the room. Robin makes a squeaking noise, blinking in confusion as he's set down in front of his friend.

Conner stares down at him, eyes narrowed, not angry, but observing. He's looking Robin over, trying to figure out what about his friend is making his gut flip and flop. Robin seems to recognize the look in his eyes, the confusion and the longing to know something. So he smiles, sits down on the floor against the wall, and pats the ground next to him, motioning for Conner to join him.

"What's on your mind, Supey?" he asks, the smile still on his face. Conner shrugs one shoulder, staring intently at his friend.

"I...dunno how to say it."

Robin shrugs, "Take your time, we've got all day."

Conner frowns and scratches his head, trying to make the words, trying to figure out how to explain how he's feeling without Robin thinking he's stupid, even though he knows Robin doesn't think he's stupid.

"I...there's a weird...flippy...sort of feeling in my stomach."

"are you sick?" Robin looks concerned for a moment, and Conner shakes his head.

"N-no, not that kind of flippy...it's like...fluttery...and warm..."

Robin nods, seeming to understand exactly what he means, even though Conner doesn't really understand himself.

"Like butterflies in your stomach?" he asks. Superboy thinks about this before his face lights up and he nods. 

"Yeah! Exactly like that!" the taller boy looks mildly concerned for a moment, "there aren't, are there?"

Robin laughs, and Conners stomach feels warmer than it did before.

"No, Supes. There aren't really butterflies in your stomach." Conner looks relieved, and Robin smiles at him, "it's an expression. For when you're feeling like that."

"Oh..." his blue eyes lock with the shades on Robin's face, and he wants to take them off, and see what color Robin's eyes are, but he knows Batman wouldn't like that, "so...what does it mean?"

Robin hesitates for a second, running a hand through his dark hair, letting out his breath in a "whoosh". 

"Well...it could mean a lot of things," he starts slowly, not for Superboy's benefit, but for his own, trying to think of the words he needs, "it could mean you're nervous about something..."

Conner shakes his head.

"I'm not nervous about you..."

Robin's eyes widen a little behind his sunglasses, and his face turns sort of pink. He coughs a little.

"You...feel that way around me? Like, all the time?"

Superboy nods, a little worried that it might be a bad thing. "Is...that okay?"

Robin nods quickly, "Yeah, of course it's okay, Supey. I mean..." he rubs the back of his neck, "I...feel that way around you a lot, too."

Conner is actually quite surprised. If Robin feels this way, he sure does a good job of hiding it. He doesn't touch his stomach like Conner does, doesn't watch Superboy while he does things.

"You...do?"

Robin nods again, his face turning a darker shade of red. "Yeah. It means...usually, anyway...that you like someone. In a very special kind of way." Robin looks up at him with a slight smile, "like how Wally and Artemis like each other."

Conner's eyes suddenly shine with understanding. He does like Robin. A lot. He wants to do the things that Artemis and Wally do together with him. Like kissing and hugging and cuddling. But he's afraid he might break Robin if he hugs him. So instead he leans in, plants a soft, awkward and fumbling kiss on his cheek, and jumps up and darts into his bedroom, shutting the door behind him. 

Robin's face is a darker shade of red than it's ever been, and he touches his cheek and smiles, heart pounding in his ears. He's happier than he can ever remember being.