A/N: Post Happy New Years. Can be seen as DickTim or just brotherly cuddling. Thank you for reading and please review!

Thank You

The finger on the nape of his neck made one last loop before it continued up to twist itself in a small tuft on of hair. Curling it, making it stick out before smoothing it down again against his neck—he would repeat that process over and over again as if it were a habit.

Tim never liked close contact like this, but Dick needed it right now and he was there to oblige.

The TV flickered on some random, old movie that they had put in before sitting down on the couch. Well, it was more like Dick had laid himself on the couch and asked for Tim to join him and basically positioned Tim on top of him. Tim's head rested on Dick's chest while the rest of his body was behind him and pressed between Dick and the couch. Dick didn't bother to move his hands after he had moved Tim.

The position wasn't necessarily comfortable, but as his fatigue wore into him, he found that he didn't mind it that much.

Dick wasn't watching the old movie—Tim knew that much. His mind was somewhere else—someone else.

"Thank you," Dick whispered again before placing another kiss on the top of Tim's head.

Tim didn't respond or do anything for that matter. He understood that after the first three times that Dick wasn't necessarily saying that to Tim. It was more of a statement that had to be made. A statement that was accompanied by other praise about what he had done tonight.

And what he hadn't.

The finger made its way out of his hair and traced the shell of his ear and down his jaw before going back to petting his hair. Tim sighed and all but leaned into the touch.

Tim remembers a time when he didn't like to be held—to be touched. Back when he was always home alone. Back when he had nothing to do but figure out puzzle after puzzle. To think that one of those old puzzles had led him to something like this—that they had managed to change him this much.

Maybe it was because it was Dick who was holding him that he didn't mind being held.

"You handled the mission well."

The praise hung in the air as both of them tensed. The mission had been unexpected on Tim's side and left Dick stressed.

Dick worried that he had lost another little brother.

Tim would never mention it, but he knew—he had seen his face after the garbage facility had exploded. The sheer panic and fear that shrouded his eyes as he stared at the wreckage. The way his shoulder's had tensed like he was about to jump into the water and search. His eyes already scanning for a body.

It had to have been an explosion.

There was an unsaid praise between the two of how Tim had not been like the last. A praise that seemed to out speak everything else that was being said at the moment. It was a praise that was said through the subtle touches and comforts that Dick used. Dick's usual outspokenness was replaced by a new way to convey what he wanted to say.

He wasn't sure which method he preferred.

Tim's eyes were nearly closed when the TV finally turned off.

"Thank you for not dying."