Chapter Text
Tiredness is something Timothy Drake is quite familliar with. for as long as he can remember Tiredness was with him. he would feel it when he stayed up late for night photography. (no it was not stocking and no he dose not have a problem Dick) he would feel it in the morning while geting ready for school. during PE when the coach told them to do extra laps. when he pulled all nighters to get his homework done after patrol. and especially on the fateful day he met coffeine.
now caffeine and Tim where love at first drink. Tim could reap all the benefits of Sleep without, well sleeping. it saved so much time that would have otherwise been wasted on pointless dreams that made no sense. that was until the side effects started. at first it was small things, a little extra tiredness here and there, then the dry eyes, fuzzy vison, spacing out, feeling jittery, nothing he couldn't work through. that is until sleep decided to play durty.
when the hallucinations started Tim didn't know what was happening one moment there was a full cup of coffee and the next tim was trying to drink out of a empty mug he chocked it up to spaceing out and continued working. the next time Tim noticed something off, (well it was bruce who noticed) was when Tim responded to a question that was never asked, after that Tim noticed it more often, when he would see something out of the corner of his eye only to find no one and nothing there, or when he would hear someone calling his name frome far away it never sounded like anyone he knew but he heard it all the same.
every time it happened Tim would glare. not at anything impartial for the thing he wanted to glare at wasn't physical, it was a concept a idea. the idea in question Tiredness, because for as long as Tim knew Tiredness he's known why Tiredness was there and it was always there because of Sleep. alwas playing messenger between the two not that Tims answers were ever different it was always 'not now i'm busy' or 'maybe if you would stop making my eyes heavy i would have time to lay down' Sleep would respond with a 'maybe your eyes wouldn't feel heavy if you just went to bed' or 'waiting will only make it worse for you' always tunting always trying to waste his time and most infuriating always correct. Sleep knew as well as Tim that it didn't matter if he ignored Sleep, Tiredness would only become more persistent, Tim would surcome to Sleep in the end, because as much as Tim despised Sleep he needed it like he needed air or water, Sleep is something Tim couldn't live without