Stephanie had not forgotten her bet to Tim, much to his disappointment. So when he turned up in the coffee shop at last after days of purposefully avoiding it, a camera flash greeted him right as he stepped in.

"Rise and shine, sleepy bird!"

The glare from the camera had disrupted Tim's vision for a slight moment, "whose camera is this? Your grandma's?"

"Just because we all have phones now doesn't mean you can go about insulting my camera. It's way better."

"How much megapixels exactly then?" His fingers rubbed at his eyes as he blinked again to see clearly.

She shrugged, "none of your business."

"You taking pictures of me is my business though," he remarked before grabbing the notepad and jotting down his preferred flavor, "where's Dora though?"

"Ah I see, missing her already?"

He looked up at her with a weary yet pointed look, "seriously, Steph?"

"Oh there she is," her green eyes twinkled in amusement as Tim straightened immediately, "look Dora, the coffeeholic is still alive!"

"Pleasure," Isadora smiled back, taking the order, "how are you doing, Tim?"

"Great," he mumbled, fully aware that Stephanie was noticing each and ever movement of his, "could have been better if your best friend left me alone for a while but the fates have never been in my favor."

"Poor you," she laughed and a small smile crept over to Tim's face as well.

But the moment was short lived for another flash went off as Steph took a picture again. "Evidence number 7," she smiled triumphantly at him, holding the camera out of his reach.

"Stop," he hissed hoping Dora wouldn't notice the peculiarity of the situation.

But as he had mentioned earlier, the fates were never in his favor for Dora asked, "is something wrong?"

He was still glaring at Stephanie who shrugged nonchalantly as the two replied in unison, "no..."

There was a brief silence in which Tim's order arrived and he could have left for his seat if not for Stephanie blocking his path with her arm placed around his shoulders, forcing him not to escape.

"Then why do I get the feeling that you two are up to something but don't want me to find out?" Her brown eyes flickered in suspicion as she looked at them both.

"Has anyone ever told you that you're way better than Dora the Explorer?" Tim mumbled, "like y'know how you find clues to everything? Resourceful and smart but a little unnerving."

"Number 8!" Steph's hand had collided with his back in a rough but much familiar gesture that almost made him spill his coffee. That was exactly what Jason did each time he saw Tim having his daily caffeine dosage. And the reaction ensued then was not much different either.

"Stephanie, cut it out," he spoke up, eyes glaring threateningly at the girl who was laughing as if he had told him a joke, "or you'll be paying for my coffee for the rest of my life."

"Heaven forbid. I'm already broke."

Isadora had no idea what was going on for like eighty percent of the time whenever she was in their company. But by then she had learnt to ignore their weird antics and instead found their arguments quite amusing. "What's so funny?"

"He was flirting again," she looked over at Dora and remarked as if it was the most obvious thing ever.

Tim's jaw dropped open in surprise, "what in the marvelous world of cocoa beans... I am not, I was not... I was just stating..."

"A fact? Go on, Timbers, I can see you justifying this all day."

"I'm not in the least accountable to you," though a rather prominent scarlet had tainted his usually pale features.

Stephanie turned to face her as she asked, "hey Dora, red suits him right?"

She glanced at Tim who was quite visibly red in the face, "come on..."

Tim did not withdraw the pointed glare from Steph, "no, it doesn't."

"Yes it does," by then even Isadora was laughing at how flustered he had gotten abruptly.

"I hate the color red."

Steph spoke up, "oh really? And why is that?"

Tim finally managed to twist her arm off him and got free from her hold, "reminds me of all the bad things. Traffic lights, blood, the receding backside of the bus when I miss it, empty coffee bottles, Damian, Jason, the list is never ending."

"And the color of your cheeks whenever I mention Dora?" Stephanie added in a clear teasing tone.

His blue eyes widened before focusing back on the coffee cup in his hands, "shut up."

Isadora however couldn't help but take pity on him as she addressed her friend, "stop teasing him, Steph. It feels as if he'll start bleeding if someone pinched his cheeks right now."

"So true... Wait can I try?"

Tim stepped back as if terrified, "nooooo. Stay away from me, you terrible tornado of chaos!"

Both Steph and Dora had burst out laughing and despite himself a small smile tugged up on to his features as well.

He mumbled softly, "remind me again why I'm still here?"

Isadora replied, "because no other place in Gotham has Alex's coffee."

"Ugh... Right."

"And also because you would rather be where the recent center of your attention is," Steph chirruped, nudging him by her elbow at which he almost winced out in pain for his ribs hadn't fully recovered yet.

"What is wrong with you?"

"Nothing," she shrugged, "I just need two more evidences. Then I'll win the bet and you will have to accept it."

His eyes met Dora's brown ones nervously before he looked back at Stephanie, "right have it then. Number 9; I prefer the company at this shop as much as I love the coffee. Number 10; I accept it. Now for the love of God, Steph, please do not create any scene here."

Her green eyes twinkled and he definitely wasn't ready for the camera flash that followed.

"Case solved," Steph held her hand out to Dora for a high five who obliged even though she had literally no inkling of what the two were up to.

All she could see was that Tim got flustered very easily whenever Steph mentioned him flirting with her. And even though she had never thought much about it earlier, she couldn't help but admit that he looked twice more adorable with the crimson splatter on his cheeks. "Red really suits you, Timmy."

The shade on his cheeks deepened as he stepped back but was saved the trouble of replying as a few customers entered the shop so Dora got busy in taking their orders. He was shaken out of his reverie by Steph's voice, "stop daydreaming, Timato. And pick up the guts to actually ask her out."

"I was not..."

"Shush, I will keep your secret only for a limited time and I will tell her if you don't do so first."

"No, not yet," his blue eyes were widened in a pleading expression that she knew too well by then, "please, not a word to her. You've already done enough without straight up blurting it out."

"I know," she nodded, "just me wasting my time on helping you out. And if this won't work then I will have to resort to my methods."

"Stephanie, please..."

However their conversation trailed off once again as Dora spoke up, "you do realize I'm right here, don't you?"

"Yeah..."

"And I may not know what you two are up to but please don't do anything stupid."

Steph touched her forehead in a short salute, "of course Dora, no worries." Then turning to Tim, she added, "you better keep in mind what I just told you. If you won't confess yourself, I'll let the cat out of the bag."

Tim nodded as he could clearly see that out of all the times Stephanie had threatened him before, that once she wasn't going to let him off easy. And even though she had a variety of colorful threats up her sleeve, that one by far seemed the most terrifying to him.

***