#Bruce popping in just so we could get that Bruce-Tim hug splash page

[fantastic-nonsense]

insane how Red Robin is "the loner Tim Drake book" when he had friends and family just popping out of the woodwork like daisies asking him to come home and enjoy hugs like he used to 😭

[reddhoodie]

Supersunned: Part 1

A/N: That’s right I did it. Based on this post by @preciousthingsareprecious .

It is I, your friendly neighborhood fluff dealer~

In which Bruce invites Clark and his family over for a cookout.

***

**

*

    Damian sat at his desk in his bedroom, hunched over his sketchbook. The soft sounds of his pencil scraping over the paper was the only thing to disturb the otherwise silent room. His drapes were closed, his door shut. He didn't want anything to disturb him.

    It was the second day of 'summer vacation', which according to Dick and Tim was 'the most important part of the whole year, Dami, come on'.

    True, it was nice to not have a daily distraction from training and patrol, but otherwise Damian didn't see the point of treating an extended break from school as a national holiday.

    His door opened suddenly, surprising him. His pencil shuddered on the page and messed up one of the lines he was so carefully laying down.

    “Damain! The Kents are here!” Dick announced, bright and much too loud. He was shirtless and barefoot, wearing only a pair of swim trunks, dark with streaks of bright blue.

    “I know.” Damian grunted, grabbing his eraser and carefully rubbing at the incorrect line.

    Dick frowned, taking in the dark room. “What are you doing all shut up in here? You might as well be down in the cave.” He stepped inside the room and went to the window, pulling open the drapes.

    Damian scowled and hunched farther over his desk and page. “I'm working on things.”

    A large, gentle hand rested against his back, and he tensed up. “Come on, you can draw later. Get your swimsuit on-”

    “I will do no such thing.”

    “-and come downstairs. Jon wants to see you. You're his friend, aren't you?”

    He sat up in his chair and turned to regard Dick's face with a frown. “We are...acquaintances. At best.”

    Dick smiled and strolled towards the bedroom door, tossing his words over his shoulder. “Then come make friends.”

    Grayson was out of the room before Damian could properly respond. He snorted at the empty doorway.

    Jon Kent was not what Damian would call a friend. He wasn't an enemy, necessarily, but...he much preferred spending time on his own to spending time with that child.

    He got up from his chair and went to the window to pull the drapes closed again, grumbling under his breath about Grayson and his need for things like socialization and sunlight. But standing at the window, movement caught his eye far below.

    Most of his family, plus the Kent's, were milling around the pool.

    Father stood at the large, seldom-used outdoor grill, prodding it to life. Clark stood with him, wearing an obnoxiously brightly patterned shirt and poking at the grill as well. They were then joined by Pennyworth with a platter of uncooked hamburgers, and a small plate of what Damian assumed was the veggie burger patties he preferred.

    He scoffed at the idea that he would be joining.

    Drake was there as well, wearing a bright yellow swimsuit and a t-shirt, curled on a poolside chair in the shade of one of the standing umbrellas. He was occupied with something on his phone.

    Cassandra was on the chair beside him, in the sun. She wasn't in a swimsuit but wore one of Grayson's old t-shirts and some shorts while she watched the others mill about by the pool.

    Finally he spotted Jon, following his mother to the pool from the main house.

    “Tt.” Typical, a little boy sticking close to his mommy.

    Grayson hurried out of the house behind Jon and Lois, dashing past them with Titus hot on his heels.

    Damian paused. Blinked. Glanced at his bed. When had his dog left? Hadn't he been sleeping on the bed just moments ago?

    Titus barked, the sound faint and muffled by distance and the window's glass, while he sped around the yard, circling around Grayson, hopping around, dashing for the pool area.

    “Titus doesn't like to swim.” Damian mumbled to the window.

    The huge black dog galloped around the pool, leaping on the chairs and practically trampling Drake, getting a quick drive-by hug from Cass, being scolded by Alfred for running towards the burgers. He ran back to Dick, who happily scratched the dog's head and rubbed his ears.

    Damian frowned at his reflection in the glass and pulled the drapes closed emphatically, plunging the room back into silent darkness.

    He stood there glaring at the drapes, frustration tightening his stomach.

    He didn't want to go downstairs. He didn't want to talk to people or have fun. He didn't want to be forced out of his planned day of solitude.

    But the manor suddenly felt achingly silent. He got the same sensation of  'missing something' that he got on the nights he wasn't allowed on patrol. But he wasn't missing anything, just his family goofing around at the pool. He could swim in that pool anytime. They had burgers practically every night in the summer. There was nothing special about today.

    He turned and sat down stubbornly in his chair, pulling the hood of his hoodie over his head, grabbing his headphones off the desk, and starting his 'focus' playlist while he went back to his drawing.

    Moments later, his phone buzzed loudly against the desk. It was a text from Cass.

- - -

    Jon had been to pool parties before, but they were usually with kids his own age, and not at billionaire's mansions. This pool was easily twice the size of any pool he'd ever seen, with a wide, curved sort of shape unlike the uniform rectangular pools he was used to. Fake rock formations edged it in spots, with water jets shooting into the main pool. On one end there was a large formation, with a waterslide running down one side into the pool, a waterfall dribbling down the center of the formation itself.

    It was a little intimidating. Like he should look at the pool and appreciate it but not get in. It seemed like some kid of art, instead of a something to play in.

    Damian's dog Titus was barking, dancing around Dick Grayson, Bruce Wayne's oldest son.

    Jon wondered where Damian himself was. He knew of the rest of the Wayne family, but wasn't really familiar with them, and would have felt a little bit more comfortable if his...friend was there.

    He followed his mom around to a spot beside the pool where she set their things down.

    “Are you getting in?” She asked him with an encouraging smile.

    Jon hesitated, glancing once more at the gorgeous pool and the family around it. He shrugged, nervously scratching at his arm, and turned back to her. “Yeah, I will. In a minute.”

    His mom raised one eyebrow slightly, but didn't argue.

    A sudden shout made Jon flinch and spin around to look back at the pool, just in time to see Dick being tackled into the water, he and a slightly larger man hitting the water with a massive splash while Titus ran in circles, barking.

    They separated in the water and the new arrival popped up, laughing and shaking water from his hair.

    “Jason,” Alfred commented from beside the grill, “I thought you said you weren't coming.” His voice didn't sound surprised at all, Jon thought.

    Jason coughed, brushing some hair out of his eyes. “I wasn't but then I remembered I'm the only one in this family who knows how to have fun, so-”

    Dick burst out of the water and shoved Jason down, smothering whatever he was starting to say.

    The two older boys started a vaguely savage, partially submerged battle that Jon was glad he wasn't a part of. Water splashed all over, sloshing onto the poolside and almost hitting Tim and Cass on the chairs they'd perched on.

    Titus stood on the edge of the pool, facing the boys in the water and barking, occasionally pausing to hop around, wanting to play too.

    “Tt.”

    Jon turned, startled yet again. “Oh, hey Damian! Are you...going swimming?”

    The thirteen-year-old stood by the entrance to the pool area, arms crossed, frowning at the ruckus in and around the pool. He was barefoot and wearing a pair of swim trunks that looked a little too big for him, but with a hoodie on top, the hood over his head.

    “Jon.” He greeted while he approached, his voice almost a growl.

    “Is half of you in summer and half of you in fall?” Jon asked, tilting his head and squinting at Damian's outfit.

    The older boy shuffled in place in a way that might have looked self-conscious if it were anyone else. “I'm only down here to appease Grayson. I haven't decided yet if I want to swim.”

    It wasn't really an explanation but Jon shrugged. “All right.”

    “Damian!” Jason shouted from the pool, where he was awkwardly half-sitting on Dick's shoulders like some clumsy game of chicken while Dick sputtered underwater. “Do you have a harpoon? I found a whale!”

    Dick's arms flailed out of the water, grabbing at Jason's arms to try and pull him off.

    “No weapons in the pool.” Bruce called from the grill without looking up.

    Jason made a loud fart noise in Bruce's general direction, and was immediately flipped back into the water by Dick.

    Damian's frown had faded a little so he just looked vaguely puzzled by his brothers' behavior. Did he even know what it was like to have fun? Did he ever roughhouse with his brothers? It was hard to tell. He didn't seem to realize he was a kid and was supposed to do stuff like what his brothers were doing.

    Titus bounded over to the boys, tail wagging so hard his whole body was wriggling, and bumped up against their legs, stepping all over their toes.

    Jon laughed, scratching the wiggly dog's back. “Aww, we should have brought Krypto with us. He and Titus could be friends.”

    “Titus doesn't associate with lower class animals.” Damian snorted, scratching the dog's ears.

    “Titus ate batcow's poop this morning.” Tim called from his spot, making Jon laugh.

    Lois came up behind Jon and tapped his head to get his attention. He'd almost forgotten she was there, and jumped before turning around to face her.

    “Did you put your sunscreen on before we came out?”

    He heard Damian snort, and tried to ignore him. “Yeah Mom, I did.”

    When Lois stepped away, Damian snorted again. “Yeah Kent, make sure you put on your sunscreen. And do you need Drake's water wings while we're at it?”

   “Shut up.” Jon grumbled, scowling. “Like you don't have to put on sunscreen too.”

    The older boy pulled a face like the very idea was offensive. “I most certainly do not. I don't burn.”

    Jon rolled his eyes. “Yeah, because you're invincible, right?”

    “Aren't you, Superboy?” Damian's tone made the question a challenge, and Jon glared back at him while he smirked.

    Dick and Jason seemed to have finally tired themselves out and broke away from each other. The oldest approached the edge of the pool where Damian and Jon stood, and rested his folded arms on the sunbaked stone around the pool.

    “Are you guys going to swim or stand around talking like old people?”

    Behind Dick, Jason climbed out of the pool without the ladder and approached Tim's chair silently and purposefully.

    Jon slowly pulled his eyes away from Damian, and toyed with the hem of his shirt self-consciously. “Yeah...I'm gonna swim.”

    Damian smirked. “Don't worry, we fed the shark this morning, it should leave you alone.”

    Jason leaned down to grab Tim around the waist, while Cass silently plucked his phone from his hands. Before Tim could protest much, Jason dashed back to the pool and dove in, the smaller boy still in his arms.

    “You don't have a shark.” Jon snorted. He was reasonably convinced they didn't, anyway. He'd never actually swam in such a fancy pool. Maybe rich people did have sharks.

    “Believe what you want...” Damian shrugged.

    Dick raised on eyebrow, hesitating briefly like he wasn't sure if he should intervene.

    Tim surfaced, coughing and spitting out water and shouting at Jason, who surfaced moments later laughing.

    “Don't let him tease you too much, Jon. We don't keep our exotic pets in the pool. Except for Jason.”

    As if on cue, Jason turned to look back at Dick. “What? I heard my name.”

    Dick pushed off from the edge of the pool, swimming to the other end as casually as possible. “Oh, it was nothing, don't worry about it...”

    “Grayson, c'mon. Dick? What were you saying? Dick!”

- - -

    The sun was going down, but the lights around and in the pool kept that fact from meaning much.

    Bruce lounged in a chair well out of the splash zone. Lois was nearby, reading, while Alfred quietly collected discarded plates, cups, and napkins from around the pool before the cool evening breeze could blow them all over.

    “Marco!” Clark called from the center of the pool, eyes shut tight and arms held out.

    “Polo!” The rest of the family shouted from their various positions in and around the pool.

    “Magellan!” Jason called from where he sat on top of the waterfall.

    Lois frowned over her book while Clark lunged for Tim, who was sitting on a pool noodle like it was a horse and frantically trying to paddle away.

    “This seems a little unfair. I mean, Clark has super hearing.”

    Bruce grunted. “They cheat anyway so it evens out somewhat.”

    “Hm.”

    Dick leaned against the side of the pool, laughing. “Tim...Tim get off the noodle!” He gasped.

    “Never! Ol' blue rides eternal!” Tim cried, paddling with one hand, the other fist raised to the sky in triumph.

    Clark lunged and grabbed the noodle, yanking Tim close, and wrapped him in tight, one-armed hug. “Gotcha!”

    “I told you!” Dick laughed.

    “You need to rethink your noodle-boat building strategy, Tim.” Jason sighed. “Learn something from Damian over here.”

    Damian was laying on his stomach on three noodles, his feet free to kick at the water behind him. “Observe and be humbled, Drake.”

    Tim snorted, squirming a little in Clark's grip.

    The man let him go and he plopped unceremoniously underwater, rising moments later with a cough.

    “Sorry, Tim.” Clark smiled.

    “I'm fine.” Tim shrugged, water dribbling out of his nose.

    Lois lowered her book again, glancing at the time on her phone resting on the chair beside her.

    “Boys, I hate to do this, but I have to give you your ten-minute warning.” She called.

    Everyone in the pool groaned loudly.

    “I was talking to my boys, not all of you. You kids are free to stay in the pool all night if you want.”

    Jason moved to stand on top of the waterslide. “That's right, we're adults, we can do whatever we want.” He pushed off and slid down the slide.

    Lois shook her head and glanced at Bruce, who hadn't said or moved much in the last few minutes. His eyes were closed, his breathing even. She smiled.

    “Aw, mom, can't we stay a little longer?” Jon called from the poolside, sitting on a noodle and giving her the best puppydog eyes he could muster.

    “Jon you've been swimming for almost five hours, you can't tell me you aren't tired.”

    “I'm not!” He protested. “And besides, it's not like I have school tomorrow...”

    Tim tried to climb on Damian's noodle-boat, earning loud protests and struggles.

    “Nine minutes, Jon.”

- - -

    Jon sat beside the pool while Lois towel-dried his hair briskly, so it wouldn't drip in the car on the way home. He was mostly dry everywhere else, and was wearing his t-shirt again while he sat, moping, in the chair watching the others in the water.

    Damian had left the pool at the same time as Jon, and was sitting farther up on the chair, dripping, staring ponderously at the pool where Dick and Jason were taking on Tim and Cass in a game of chicken.

    “Are you going to swim more once we leave?” He asked, slipping his feet into his flip-flops.

    “No. I have things I was working on earlier. And it'll be time for patrol pretty soon.” Damian answered with a shrug.

    “You're going on patrol after all this?” Despite telling his mom he wasn't tired, Jon could feel a vague heaviness in his limbs. He was almost looking forward to the peaceful car ride home after all this commotion. Almost.

    “Of course.”

    Cass shoved Jason off Dick's shoulders, leading to more shouting rising from the pool.

    Jon watched, scratched at his neck and felt a vague burning sensation that made him wince. “It's cool that you have so many people here all the time. For me it's pretty much just me and my parents.”

    “They aren't here all the time.” Damian shrugged. “But...I guess it's not too bad when they are.”

    “Jon!” Lois called from nearby where she and Clark stood by Bruce. “Say goodbye to Damian, and come thank Mr. Wayne for having us!”

    He nodded and stood up, glancing at the older, smaller boy sitting cross-legged on the deck chair. “See you later, Damian. It was fun.”

    Damian stared at Jon's offered hand for a moment before accepting the brief handshake. “I suppose it was...enjoyable.”

    Jon smiled, accepting that as high praise, and turned to meet his parents.

    “Jon...” Lois commented while they walked along the backyard path towards the driveway, “Are you sure you put on sunscreen? You look a little red...”