#fun in playing by himself so he forced Dami to play it with him

[hellolulu]

[Damian in the Minecraft server excitedly showing Jon his extensive (and ethical) farms that he made while Jon was banned from Minecraft to focus on studying for tests at school]

Jon: ... yeah, you're so shit at Minecraft. Looks nice though!

Damian: ?! what do you mean? I worked hard on these????

Jon: *sigh* I'll show you what a real Minecraft farm looks like!

[Jon brings him to his "farm" and proudly shows off the fact you cannot tell the pixels apart as there are so many animals in one spot]

Damian: I....... have no words for this. Our friendship is about to end over this. Think of their feelings.

Jon: but this is how you play Minecraft 😭😭 next you're going to tell me you don't even eat the animals at your farm and they're just decorative 😭

Damian: I'M A VEGETARIAN. 😡😡😡😡 I MAKE BREAD. 😡😡😡😡😡😡 LOG BACK OUT. 😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡

[filthforfriends]

Guardian Angel: Deleted Scene

Chapter 11: Ravenous

Forcing himself to keep it together, Dami pulls into his driveway. He sits like he’s got a titanium rod for a spine, both hands remaining at ten and two. It should be 3:18, but his driving on the way home from school had been highly questionable.  

“So…how was your day?” He growls while wrenching his seatbelt off. Damiano climbs over the center console and parking brake to get to you. He leaves your seatbelt on since it helpfully restricts your movement whenever you try to pull away. One knee on the cushion, one across your legs, Dami towers over you. Body pinned in place, you’re at his mercy. 

He starts with a passionate kiss where you’re practically choking on his tongue. It’s invasive, but you kinda like that about it. His hand pushes underneath your coat and onto your bare stomach. Damianos’s freezing fingertips make you flinch and scrunch up your nose in dislike. He does that move with his pinky underneath your waistband, this time underneath your underwear as well. If the cold didn’t make you recoil it’d be sexy as hell, but right now it just feels like tiny ice cubes on your previously well insulted skin.

 You shove his hand away, but he thinks you’re playing since you reacted so positively to this earlier. Remembering how wonderfully you squealed and squirmed in his grip, Dami pinches the soft tissue of your stomach. He doesn’t consider that an area too sensitive to bite would also be too sensitive for this. The way you twist and turn to evade his touch creates rolls above the elastic waistband of your jeans. He thinks your movements make the perfect places to pinch and earn a yip in reaction. Oh, so deliciously warm and pillowy, too. 

“Dam,” you complain, swatting his hands away. Gleefully, he starts poking at the malleable flesh on your hips, admiring the way your whole abdomen flexed in response to his touch. His icicle fingers are still vastly unpleasant. Even if he was a normal temperature, this much podding at the source of an occasional insecure thought wasn’t fun.

“Ow! Dami, stop. I hate that.” He pulls his hands off, looking so genuinely worried that you decide to just show him the issue. You shove your equally cold hand under his sweatshirt and onto the bare skin of his abdomen. He hisses and recoils.

“Yeah, exactly! And hows this feel?” You find his briefs and pinch just above the waistband a couple times. Dami ends up back in his seat, balled up against the driver’s side door. No wonder you kept shoving him off. He’d thought this was play fighting, but actually you’d asked him to stop repeatedly and he ignored you. In his eyes, you can already see self-loathing on the horizon, over such a tiny mistake.

“No, no, no. Hey, Frosty the Snowman, we’re not doing that shit today.” His eyes refocus in surprise at your immediate, astute observation of his internal life. “Yes, I can read your mind. Why don’t we go inside where its not fucking freezing, hmm?” You pair your words with a light-hearted smile so he knows everything is okay. Dami insists on checking for ice first while also carrying your backpack. If only they would see this man with his pink nose, a bag over each shoulder, shuffling along the walkway to make sure you didn’t slip.   

@mortyandem @icarodamiano @harryssshouseee @lizzylynch1 @maneslut @slavicgoddess13 @bright-shiningstar

[lgbtqforeverything]

Duke is the Queen of Skiddley Wiffers

It’s Duke Week!!!!!! Day 1’s theme is game night and yes, the title is a phineaas and ferb reference.

@duketectivecomics

The day was the second saturday of an even month of the year. And that meant it was the Official Bat-Boys Game Night™. Of course this was not to be confused with the Official Wayne Family Game Night™ or the Official Bat-Girls Game Night™ or even the Official Bat-Family Game Night™.

Duke had only been to a few since getting fostered by Bruce, but the routine seemed fairly simple and on brand for the family. Duke, Cullen, and Tim would show up together to Dick’s Blüdhaven apartment around seven o’clock. Dick would have already picked Damian up from school and brought him over that afternoon. When Luke was visiting, he would join them and thusly drive the trio over instead of Alfred.

 Once they had arrived, they would draw straws for who had to call Jason and convince him to come. A feat that changed in difficulty depending on who he was most pissed at at the time. Once that was done and they were all present, they moved on to the next challenge of the night: Choosing the game.

They all had certain ones that they preferred. Dick had over ten different kinds of Monopoly, Jason was favorable to Cards Against Humanity, Cullen to Pokémon Battles, Tim to Exploding Unicorns, and Damian to Uno. Duke had a favorite game of course, but he hadn’t brought it up to the other yet, as he was still slightly uncertain of the night’s procedure.  

Which is why when Dick asked what they wanted to play that night and Damian pulled Candyland out of his backpack, it seemed like a blessing in disguise. 

“Candyland”, Jason stated skeptically. “Ain’t that a little young for you demon brat?”

“Tt,” Damian scowled. “It was recommended to me by Kent, you imbecile. He practically forced me to bring it. I would never chose such a plebeian game myself.”

“Suuure”, Jason drawled in reply.

Damian bristled but before they could come to the first blows of the evening, Dick intervened.

“Well it looks like fun Dami!” He exclaimed while putting himself between the two. “Let’s set it up, ok?”

“Very well, Grayson”, was Damian’s terse response.

And so, the game was placed opon Dick’s rickety and unstable coffee table and they all gathered around to begin.

“It looks like each person has a character,” Tim explained from where he was reading the instructions, “and when you draw a card you move to the next nearest square with that color on it. Expect for when you get a double card, where you move to the second nearest square, or a character card, where you move to the square that the card represents.”

“Sounds pretty simple,” Cullen shrugged.

“Maybe we’ll even be able to make it all the way through this one with no problems!” Dick enthused.

His only response was skeptical stares from all of them.

“Yeah you’re probably right’, he sighed.

“Enough of dickwing being annoyed at our dysfunctionalness, let’s get this over with and play”, Jason said.

The game play was standard for a while, everyone just taking their turns and learning the game. But then on Duke’s fourth turn, it happened.  

Duke picked from the deck of cards, and lo and behold, drew out a card with a ice cream cone and a princess on it.

“How the hell did you get the first character card?” Jason accused upon seeing it.

“Good luck I guess”, Duke shrugged.

“I don’t know”, Cullen said. “Getting a card that puts him that close to the castle this early? It’s a bit suspicious.”

“It’s the first time we’re playing this, guys”, Dick said with a roll of his eyes. “Why don’t we give him the benefit of the doubt just this once?”

“Fine, but I’m watching you Glowstick”, Jason said threateningly.

Duke looked at him with a deadpan expression. “I’m terrified.”

Jason growled at him, but thankfully Damian took his turn then and Jason’s attention was redirected away from Duke.

Until a few turns later, when Duke became the first one to get to the castle and won the game.

Upon his amazing victory everyone groaned in annoyance, but Duke remained optimistic.

“We should play again”, He suggested with a seemingly sincere smile. “I’m sure that one of you will win this time.”

And because they were all proud bastards that didn’t know how to back down from a challenge, they agreed and the game began again.

And Duke won again. In almost the exact same way.

That time Tim was the one to encourage them to go again. He then spent the whole game carefully watching Duke, as he won. Again.

By then they were all getting more and more suspicious. See, once is dumb luck and twice is coincidence, but three times? Three times is cheating. And they all knew it.

So they played again, but this time someone else had to draw for Duke. The round took longer that time, but Duke was still the first to reach the castle. 

Then it happened again and again and again.

When Duke won for the eighth time, even with everyone conspiring against him and multiple handicaps, Cullen flipped the coffee table.

“Well that was entertaining”, Duke said calmly, looking down at the pieces and cards of the game now spread out on Dick’s floor.

He looked up to see everyone glaring at him. “What?”

“How the hell do you win a kid’s board game eight times in a row?!” Dick questioned hysterically.

“I don’t know”, Duke replied with a shrug. “I’ve just always won when playing Candyland.”

“Exactly how frequent is ‘always’?” Asked Tim.

“Uhhh, every time that I can remember, I guess.”

”And you didn’t think to tell us that before we wasted two hours playing with you?” Cullen accused.

Duke scoffed. “Why would I when it’s so much more fun seeing you guys gradually get more and more pissed off?”

Damian, of course, then screeched and tackled him.

As the two wrestled on the floor with Tim, Cullen and Jason cheering Damian on, Dick simply smiled and looked forward to the future banning of Candyland from game nights.

[batstorm93672]

Jason was going to pick up Damian from school (he didn't want to but everyone else was busy so Alfred forced him to) then they were hit from behind.

A kidnapping to which Jason awoke to Damian basically spitting out any insult.

"You insufferable imbeciles! What is the point of even doing this?" Playing the citizen in peril card while sprinkling in his own ways of insulting, Jason was rather impressed.

The men weren't amateurs, if they were then they wouldn't have managed to kidnap them without any cameras around. They're phones were taken and everything.

Damian's watch was taken which means his tracker was off as was Jason's plus he could tell they were searched, no weapons at all like a knife or something useful. So now it was only up to how long it may take for anyone to notice.

"Shut up kid, God does he have an off button?"

Jason smirked "I wish, sadly the kid has a big mouth" He could feel Damian's glare on him. Maybe not the right time to make fun of Damian, but the man did ask a question and as a citizen who is kidnapped he kinda has to answer.

"What do you want from us anyways?"

"Just gotta give us some good money is all, bet your dad would pay a lot for you two"

Of course it was the ransom card, why wouldn't it be?

Damian grew annoyed and kicked the man in the shin, causing more people to appear as the scrawny man in front of Damian almost doubled down.

"Damian, cut it out"

"No! These morons think they can take us then they'll have another thing coming!"

"Alright that's enough, you think those bindings are bad? Seems you get an upgrade little guy"

One burly man walked in with chains, Damian grew tense and Jason watched his brother. Damian's hands were held by chains alongside his feet.

Another man came in, might be the boss from the way everyone moved away for him to come in.

Hello?

Bruce's voice rang out on speaker for Jason and Damian to hear.

"Bruce Wayne, we have your sons with us, we'll send a pickup site for you along with our demands and if you do it well, then you'll get to see your sons safely home. Do we have a deal?"

Let me talk to them, see if their okay

Good idea, letting the call last longer so they can trace it.

"Hey B"

Jason, are you alright? Is Damian with you?

"Yeah we're all good, Damian is with me"

Damian, are you alright?

Jason looked at Damian who had grown eerily silent and seemed lost in his thoughts.

Damian?

"I'm fine father"

Alright I'll do as you ask, please just don't hurt my children

The boss smirked "Good"

With that they all left, leaving Jason and Damian alone in the barely lit room. There's no reason to escape cause with Bruce on the way everything will be fine (I mean and losing all weapons and not knowing how many people were here didn't exactly help). Except Jason couldn't keep his mind off of his fellow captive, once the chains were put on he got silent and didn't even move an inch.

"Damian. We'll be okay, no reason to be worried"

"..."

"Damian come on talk to me what's the matter? It's okay if you're scared"

"I- No"

Clinking of the chains around his wrists got loud. "Damian you're gonna hurt you're wrists if you do that, stop"

"N-No"

Damian wasn't listening and Jason could hear how his breath quickened with every tug. "Damian stop it"

"No! No no"

"Damian talk to me, tell me what's wrong"

"No no!"

"Damian, look at me tell me your listening. Whatever is going on it's not real"

Damian looked at Jason and it took Jason a second to process the utter panic in his eyes. Something was bothering him, might be the chains, too tight?

"Are the chains tight? It won't feel so tight if you stop moving your hands"

Like a caged animal, Damian got restless and twisted his hand in an odd angle, with that angle it cracked and Jason could tell that now Damian's right hand was broken. How the hell did he not even care?

"Dami stop it now!" He's hurting himself badly, he needs to stop it!

Damian's breath grew ragged and he grit his teeth as he kept trying to squirm his broken hand out of the chains.

"STOP DOING THAT!"

Damian didn't say a word as he kept struggling under the chains a mantra of "No" under his breath. "Shit Dami you're hurting yourself for no reason, Bruce will come for us"

At that notion, noises came from afar, if Damian knew he didn't seem to care as he kept struggling. Nightwing opened the door, looking at the two happily "You're okay!"

"I am, but Dami is freaking out, help him now!"

Nightwing rushed to Damian and unlocked the chains around his hands and feet. "Damian, you're gonna be okay"

Damian felt the release go away and stood up knocking his chair back, moving as far as he could from Nightwing. What the hell was wrong with him?

"Damian, it's Nightwing, your father asked me to come get you"

"No no no no no no!"

Nightwing undid Jason's bindings next as both kept a careful watch on Damian. "What happened to him?" "Mouthed off too much and they put chains on him when he kicked a guy in the shins. After that he got quiet and started going crazy, broke his own hand in attempt to escape" "His hand? Jeez, we gotta stop him from whatever is going on and get a look at the hand" "Got something to knock him out?" "Yeah, question is how do we give it without him attacking?" "Funny you think there's a way to do it without being attacked"

.

.

Chains are terrifying, it holds you and doesn't let go. That's what Damian remembers in Hell, most of all the heat and chains that held him down. No matter what he did or how he changed, the chains were there burning into his flesh.

Damian opened his eyes, there were no flames and nothing holding him down... except what feels like pain killers. His right hand is in a cast... it's broken, how did that happen?

"Hey Dami, you alright there?"

"Todd? Is that you? What happened to me? Why is my hand broken?"

"I was picking you up from school, we got kidnapped though. You broke your hand when the guys put chains on you in what I'm assuming was an attempt to escape. I couldn't get through to you... I'm sorry"

"...It's not your fault, it... well when I died I told you all I was in Hell. The chains were... a constant reminder burning into me"

"Oh, damn"

"Yeah, I couldn't think afterwards, when the man put me in chains... sorry for that"

"Don't say that, you were having a flashback, how do you feel?"

"Like crap I'd say"

"Yeah I bet, your hand isn't severely broken, you managed to break it without causing too much damage"

"I can thank my mother for that I suppose"

"B man said about a few days of recovery until the cast can come off"

"Now what do I do..? Tt how boring to remain like this"

"Yeah, happens to the best"

[unmotivatedwrit3r]

College Work in Quarantine

Damian x reader x Jon

poly college series- blurb 1

A/N: this is like 99.9% self indulgent; I was indeed in an intro to linguistics class and it was so confusing, and I wish that I had someone (or someones) to just be there for me when I'm tired at the end of a long day. This was inspired by this fic of @quillsareswords‘s, however different it may be, and I’m thinking this might be a whole mini-series about dami x reader x jon in the quarantine era and in college together. I already have a few mini fics (and a set of headcanons) planned for this series: one to introduce the apartment and the situation a little bit more and another couple additions. I can’t promise consistent updates, and any at all will likely be short like this one is, but I’m excited nonetheless.

warnings: reader has med-long hair

wc: ~650

~~

It’s about halfway through your third (and thankfully last) lecture of the day when you hear whispers behind the door of the room you’re in. If you had the energy, you might have yelled out that if they wanted to talk, they could do it anywhere else besides where you’re working, but it’s 4:30 in the afternoon and you haven’t eaten anything all day. Besides, your mind is more focused on trying not to get distracted away from the intro linguistics class you’ve been thoroughly confused in for the last half hour. A minute or two later, the door opens quietly—Damian, your mind notes absently; Jon somehow opens almost every door with some sort of noise, no matter how hard he tries—and Damian walks in, followed closely by Jon, who closes the door behind him, the doorknob squeaking as he turns it. You only spare them a glance as you try to copy down the notes on the most recent slide on the computer in front of you, hunched over as you write in your notebook. It's balanced precariously on your legs as you sit cross-legged on the bed, computer in front of you. Various other notebooks and writing utensils are scattered further across the bed.

You sigh as your professor once again speaks so quickly that you barely had enough time to read the slide, much less copy it down, and slap your pencil down on the page as he switches to the new slide: a diagram that illustrates the point he was talking about. You’re not sure why there are so many diagrams in linguistics, but there apparently are. At your pause in writing, you feel the bed dip on both sides of you, and an olive-toned hand reaches out to press your right shoulder back, forcing you into a better posture. On the other side, Jon’s red hoodie (a favorite to steal by both you and Damian) enters your line of vision. The person attached gives you a quick kiss on the cheek before pulling your hair out of its ponytail and towards himself, working through the knots that you didn't brush out that morning before pulling it back so it wouldn’t get in your face as you were writing. Damian nudges your shoulder and you turn your attention back to your computer screen to see a new slide of writing. As you scramble to write it down, you can feel his solid presence at your right, looking at your screen, eyes alert. Damian's focusing on your work so you can too, though his hand is rubbing up and down your back. Jon, on your left, is playing with your hair, and you think he’s attempting to braid it now, though you haven’t really tried to look. It warms your heart, how they’re willing to sit with you and just be there as a silent presence of support while still respecting your need to work.

The first time they intruded into your classes, you chewed them both out very loudly and very vigorously. You think they got the message, because their respect for your desire to put school above fun when necessary has been nothing but absolute since, and you love them all the more for it.

It’s 5:00 when your professor declares that he’s out of slides for the day and you log off of the class, leaving the Zoom as soon as people start saying goodbye. You close your laptop, sliding every so slightly onto Damian’s shoulder, careful not to pull the hair that Jon is still holding. The sigh you pull in feels like breathing for the first time since you got up that morning.

“Hey, is anyone willing to go out and get me a soft pretzel? They have deals on Tuesdays."

Damian's soft snort and Jon’s answering giggle are music to your ears.

[robinrequiems]

hey any1 want some superman jon and batman Damian hcs? too bad cause you’re getting them

• damian realized why no one wanted to be batman when he turned 18 and Bruce decided to give him batman when he was 22.

• jon realized why jon didn’t want to be superman when he also turned 18

• oh and right, by gave, I mean bruce sorta can’t be batman anymore. medical reasons…

• damian sorta uh. persuaded clark into giving jon superman.

Damian: look. I don’t wanna be worlds finest with you, old man.

Clark: im- im not old—

Damian: listen here, jon and i? we are gonna surpass you and my dad. so give it to jon and let me prove it.

Clark: this doesn’t seem like a good idea— you aren’t ready— neither is jon

Damian: wait- wait, you don’t believe in your son and i??? wow. WOOOW. okay. i see.

Clark: that’s not it!-

Damian: sure. sure. don’t worry. I see now.

Clark: wait I do!

Damian: no, no you don’t.. it’s— it’s okay, I get it, it’s me, huh?

Clark: no!

Damian: I get it

Clark: please i do! I’ll - oh my rao, you’re playing me

Damian: i am. i cant do this without jon though. please, Clark.

Clark: *sigh, how did he get manipulated by a kid he used to babysit* okay.

• okay so now jon may be a little overwhelmed because one day he’s flamebird, the next, he’s becoming superman? huH. it’s extremely uh. worrying. and really just? wow.

• does Damian feel bad? oh yeah. he does. so bad. but he really can’t do it alone. they always dreamed of being their parents. or being better than them. but they grew up and realized that they really didn’t want to be their parents.

• but here they were, getting fitted for their suits and adding their own details to it.

jon: hey, you look hot

damian: please. shut up.

• they could do this. they could do this. shoot they can’t do this.

• damians own anxiety was going 50 mph. look, okay? remember before heretic when Bruce thought that Damian would become a satanic batman and basically rain hell all over gotham? yeah. that’s what is going on in damians mind.

• he doesn’t want to be that. ( “you won’t be like that, cmon, d, we’re gonna be better.” ) and how Damian wants to believe jon so bad..

• he doesn’t want to become obsessed with Batman like his father did, he still wants to have a life. he doesn’t want to isolate himself away and adopt kids as a coping mechanism. that’s why he needs jon to be superman. jon helps him, he helps him not go off into his own little world and stay there. he believes that with Jon, he’ll be okay. he has to be. maybe he uses jon as his own coping mechanism, but that isn’t the point.

• together, they will outshine their parents. the supersons can do this. they are the next generation, and it’s not like they are alone. they have so many other people to help them. they’ll be okay.

• they have been preparing for this their whole life, but they both feel like they got it too soon. they thought they had more time. Damian does feel guilty when he hears jon talking about how stressed he is about superman and not living up to whatever the hell he has to live up to, but Damian does fear what would. or could. have happened if he didn’t have jon with him. becoming batman took a lot out of him, more than he would like to admit. he just got constant flashbacks to heretic and that whole fiasco he thought he put behind him a loong time ago.

Jon: are you sure you’re okay?

Damian: yes idiot, quit worrying.

Jon: I’ll always worry about, d.

• jon somehow becomes MORE sappier when he becomes superman.

• okay, also, funny story. ( Clark and Bruce don’t find it funny AT ALL ) superman and batman? yeah they sorta kissed after an almost alien invasion. in their suits. uh. in front of an alien who they were arresting for the green lanterns. most people believe that when people say it, it’s a lie, kidding. no they don’t. there were pictures.

bruce: you want to explain this?

damian: not really, no.

• the public knows there’s a new Batman and Superman since yk. Jon’s face is public and was seen as superboy flamebird and now superman, and batman was slightly smaller and had some different moves

• but here’s their main line up: batman ( dami wamie, obvi ), superman ( jonnyboy kent ), nobody ( maya:)) ), green lantern ( tai pham, my baby boy ), lace ( wallace west 2, he goes by lace instead of flash because i said so. ), and shazam ( billy b ).

• fun fact, they have a den mother even though they are all in their 20s. poor dinah.. yeah black canary is their den mother. ( stole it from from yj )

• dinah makes sure they get their injuries checked out, train regularly, and you know. don’t blow up a building.

• again.

• ( when damian and jon were younger, in their teen years, they stupidly accidentally blowed up a building. in their defense, the building was owned by the penguin. and there were no civilians in the area. but they also got a lot of men sent after them.. oops. )

• they are very chaotic. they are the definition of dumbass energy sometimes.

• damian tries to keep the pda down whenever he’s batman, BUT JON DOESNT KNOW HOW TO DO THAT

• hence the amount of photos of jon hugging Damian or kissing him

• damian has never once initiated one in suits

• ( that one time jon almost died does not count )

Damian: thought you were gonna be batman.

Tim: nah, i don’t wanna be bruce. i saw what it did to dick. I would’ve became just like him.

Damian: am i like him??

Tim: god no, bruce would never kiss superman or date him or spray paint the new justice league logo— nice logo, by the way— onto villains bases

Damian: is that a good or bad thing?

Tim; good, that means you probably won’t be a total emotional stunted person using crime fighting as an outlet for unresolved childhood trauma.

Damian: you do realize why i became Robin right

Tim: .. not the point im trying to make. I mean now, brat.

• sometimes you can see some of the heroes dropping by to surprise kids, they heard that their old mentors used to go to children’s hospitals to visit sick kids, so they did that too. on a rare day where there isn’t any crime, which is really rare, they go to a school and talk if it’s a weekday, or they drop by an orphanage to hang out with kids.

• they have gotten into a lot of trouble though. they’re still learning how to work as a team. jon and damian are used to being solo and working with each other, Tai had tagged along a few times when they were younger and knows how they work, along with maya, but billy and Wallace do not.

• they often all get into arguments.

• damian lacks a filter and will criticize everyone if they mess up. and he often goes off alone or is too blunt.

• it takes a long time before they all realize that Damian is just: Damian, he doesnt mean to be mean. ( surprisingly )

• billy is used to being the big kid stuck at the kids table, it’s funny that he’s actually the second oldest when he used to be the youngest. ( lace is like.. 27? shazam is 25.. nobody 24. & the supersons 22. pulled all those ages outta my ass. you’re welcome. )

• dinah is also their therapist. poor dinah.

• like really giving pity to dinah. but dinah loves those kids, she has known some since they were kids. she used to take damian out for ice cream and train with him, and also babysit him. ( AUNT DINAH IS MY FAVORITE GOODBYE ). and she did the same with Jon.

• dinah actually does help a lot of them get over their trauma, not completely, but most have finally spoken about it. they began talking after they all got hit with fear gas.

• that was a bad night.

• they had almost disbanded before when they thought lace had died by the hands of captain cold. they had been arguing all day, and if they didn’t, they might’ve saved him:

• but turns out he wasn’t dead.

• but the argument was still there, and it was strong. it took a while for them to actually work together without dinah forcing them.

• then soon came another new member after maya left to go do some undercover mission for the justice league regarding some alien tech being distributed some place. it was a sad goodbye, but she would be back and she would have a place here.

• welcoming: yara flor. yara was a bit headstrong and wild. damian has screamed at her a lot and almost got into a fist fight with her before being dragged off by his boyfriend 💋

• but she settled in fine. minus the fact damian really wanted to shove a batarang up— anyways. she just had to learn teamwork and shit, she was used to being a solo and she was somewhat new. so they helped her out and she became a solid member of the team.

• sometimes damian and jon just go and sit on a rooftop like they did as kids togeyher. just alone with each other. thinking about how their life changed so quickly.

Damian: i thought we’d ruin our fathers’ legacies and plummet to the ground.

Jon: *he coughed* ..what?

Damian: yeah. i didn’t think we’d get this far, but here we are.

Jon: of course we got this far, and we’re gonna get further.

Damian: i know.

• oh yeah. so. superman. fucking proposed after they defeated darkseid. ( the battle was long, so many people were left injured and on the brick of death, Damian and jon had been separated when it all started. Damian had stayed on earth at first before going to apokolips. Damn he hadn’t seen it since he got resurrected.

Darkseid: oh. I remember you.

Damian: mhm?

Darkseid: ah yes, the little boy who was resurrected here.. the chaos share, your father used it on you.

Damian: i know. i remember what happened. I was there afterall.

Darkseid: I wonder if you are as smart as the original batman.

Damian: i am.

• damian was buying time. he was waiting for reinforcements, namely the people who had powers and could take him down. damian wasn’t stupid. he realized darkseid liked to talk. his friends were fighting off the female furys or whatever they were called. he just had to wait and entertain.

Darkseid: quite the ego there.

Damian: i saved the justice league when i was 13, i deserve to have an ego.

Darkseid: oh, you are by far more talkative than the original.

Damian: thanks.

Darkseid: not a compliment, you fool.

• yeah so. darkseid tried to kill damian, with a beam thing. Damian was about to flip away like the baddie he is, but. jon. went out and yk. took the hit. dumbass.

Damian: you have such a big hero complex.

Jon: wow I just saved you and that’s what you say?????

Damian: yes.

• anyways, after they defeat darkseid, jon pops out a ring from his pocket and asks damian to marry him on apokolips.

Damian: you seriously couldn’t wait til we got on earth?

Jon: dames you almost died. what if- what if something happens, I’ve been putting this off for so long. cmon please?

Damian: you’re seriously asking me to marry you here where, I’m pretty sure, a lot of shit happened to our parents here.

Jon: no time like the present.

Damian: fair. okay.

Jon: just okay???

Damian: im sorry, do you want me to cry or something?

Jon: ughh, you can be so extra and petty sometimes.

Damian: i am not being petty.

Jon: just because I ask you to marry me here you wanna be like “okay” and that’s it

Damian: you’re so dramatic. I’ll marry you. I wanna marry you. Better?

Jon: yeah:)

[batwngs-archive]

i’ve missed this blog as well! good to see you on here 💖 thoughts on how any of the batfamily members like to spend their days off? what’s self-care for them? ✨

vani🥺ilyyyy

ima b honest I dont think any of the batfam know how to like actively take care of themselves or spend a day off, mostly because they're constantly doing something like if a case is closed, there's another to work on

but I think in their slight moments off, where they don't have to do anything or be anything other than themselves: 

I think dick would just be with his friends, even if its just to catch up with them on what's going on in each other's lives. he might visit donna and they can spend the day just having fun together, or maybe his friends all meet up together and just get lunch :’) dick treasures his friends dearly so I think anytime spent with them is a reminder to take care of himself (mostly bc donna reminds him to like sleep and stuff)

bruce..I think he would need to be forced on vacation or something but he probably would also maybe just fake a whole situation or something to get to be with clark and diana or even his kids. he might train with them or do a small (small for him that is) mission with jl. the grind dont stop for this man..

for damian, his off time is engaging with things that children do! I think the fam (especially dick and steph) would be big on helping him live out his childhood, and helping cass live out the one she didn’t get. I think dami and cass might end up spending some time together because of this, either playing video games together or her dancing, and him drawing out her movements

I also think the fam might just hang out together; damian might spend the day with dick, drawing portraits and sketches of him or things in dick’s place (the decorative bowl sitting on the coffee table, the shoes left by the door, etc.), cass might be there too, dancing with dick (maybe playing just dance!); steph, cass, duke, and damian might go to an arcade together and get dinner together at steph’s favorite place; everyone watching a movie together, probably marathoning jurassic park so that duke can provide his commentary 

ik I didn’t talk too much about Jason but I think he probably wouldn't spend too much time with the fam at first (like early on when the family relationship is a bit severed; eventually he would but with time) he might try and spend it by himself watching tv/movies, running errands, cleaning, reading, etc. but I also think on the days he is alone, he might chat with his neighbors or to the kids who hang out around the corner.  

tl;dr they spend their off time just being with others-- filling up that empty space not doing work with the reason why they do their work :’)

send me questions or headcanons bc im bored <3

[xaphrin]

Damian was fighting to keep his eyes on the road and his heart in his chest. Next to him sat Raven, looking so damn pretty it hurt to breathe, and he found himself wanting to stare at her the whole ride to the animal shelter. He glanced at her from the corner of his eye and saw a lock of hair had fallen from her bun, brushing against the curve of her cheek. His fingers itched to brush it away, but… right. They weren’t those kinds of friends. 

For the hundredth time that night, he silently promised himself he was doing to keep his heart intact. He might have been head-over-heels in love with her, but that didn’t mean she loved him back, and he wasn’t willing to risk his own feelings just yet. Damian cleared his throat and shifted in his seat, his hands gripping the steering wheel so tight that his knuckles turned white. 

“So.” He needed to talk, if only to fill the silence that was growing between them. Otherwise the rest of this night was going to be painfully awkward.

Raven turned and looked at him, her lips pulling down into a frown. “What?”

“How’s your senior thesis coming along?” School seemed a safe topic, so he’d stick with that. “What was it on again? Emily Dickinson?”

Raven’s face fell and she turned to look at him, obviously insulted. “Do you think every female literature student does their senior thesis on Emily Dickinson?” 

“I don’t know. I’m not a literature student.” Damian tried to sound nonchalant, as if he didn’t really care, but mentally he was kicking himself. Honestly, he couldn’t remember what she said she was working on, because every time she started talking about it, her eyes lit up and she got this excited almost dreamy expression on her face, and Damian got lost in her. She was easy to get lost in. He bit the inside of his cheek and looked over at her, forcing his expression to remain neutral. “You’re applying to grad school, right?” 

“Yeah, actually.” She looked surprised that he remembered, and fidgeting with the strap on her purse, as if suddenly nervous. “I submitted my application last week. But, I have a few more weeks before I find out if I got into the program.” 

“You know you’ll get in.” Damian stared up at a red light, refusing to look at her. If he did, he knew he’d forget everything he was supposed to say to her. How in the world could she break him like this? “I don’t know why you’re so worried. You’re the smartest, most inspired student in the whole program.”

“Was that… a compliment, Damian Wayne?” Her voice was teasing, almost playful, and it made his stomach twist. Raven shifted and stared out the windshield, a small smile playing on her lips. “We’ve been fighting each other for the better part of four years, and you actually complimented me. Well, shit. I guess I owe Conner ten bucks.” 

At the sound of Conner’s name, Damian frowned. He remembered Conner’s soft touches and soft, lopsided smiles at Raven, and Damian shifted in his seat. Maybe there was more to their relationship. “Are you two… together?”

Raven snorted. “With Conner? No.” She glanced back at him, her dark eyes searching his face. “I mean sure, he’s fun and cute, and he almost out-bid you at the auction-”

Damian gave her a flat stare. Of course she was going to bring that up.

“-but no.” She paused, as if suddenly realizing that was a very personal question. Her eyebrows knitted together and she stared at him. “Why do you ask?”

He shrugged, hoping he looked unaffected by her or her suspicion. “No reason. I just noticed you were a bit more chummy with him over the last few parties.” Jealousy, thick and viscous spilled into his chest, and Damian forced himself to breathe just to ignore it. “I thought maybe you two had hooked up or something.”

“Oh, god no.” Raven shook her head, color leaving her face as she forced out a bark of laughter. “Trust me. I made the mistake of dating a frat boy once. Never again will I wander down that road.” 

Damian jerked and looked over at her, surprised. “What? Who did you date?” 

“Gar. For all of six weeks during freshman year.” She lifted an eyebrow. “Do you not remember? You teased us relentlessly. I think half the reason we broke up was to get you to shut up and leave up alone.”

Memories flooded his thoughts, and Damian felt heat crawl up his neck. Ah, no. He remembered. It was definitely not one of his finer moments, but it had been before he understood what his feelings really were towards Raven. He remembered being angry and jealous, and he didn’t want to see them together, he just didn’t understand why. It wasn’t until months later that he realized he liked Raven. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Yeah… I’m sorry about that.”

Raven seemed surprised by his apology, but she chose not to tease him about it. Instead, she shrugged and glanced away. “It’s fine. It never would have worked out between us anyway. That relationship was doomed from the start. Gar is still getting his life together, and I can’t wait for that. I don’t want to wait for that.” She paused as if realizing something, and looked back at Damian. “Why did you join the frat in the first place? I mean, you’re a legacy student, rich as all get out, and could have rented a swank apartment just off campus. You don’t need to join a fraternity.” 

Damian shrugged. “Father belonged to the same one when he was in college, and he thought it would be good for business connections and my… social skills.” He rolled his eyes. 

Raven laughed. “Social skills. Ah. So you’ve always had this stick up your ass? Good to know it’s not a recent development.” 

Damian glanced over at her and tried to glare, but her smile melted whatever annoyance filled him. He blinked and looked away, turning down a side street towards the animal shelter. He swallowed and felt the confession bubble up before he could stop it. “I’m going to grad school too.” 

Raven hummed, but the sound was playful. “Are you telling me I have at least three more years of you? Three more years of you harping on my reading choices?” 

“At least.” He smirked. “I’ll make sure to bother you whenever I get the chance.” 

“Are you going to stay in the frat house?”

“Probably not. I’m getting a little too old for that. The freshmen parties keep me up way too late.” 

“Careful, Dami. Otherwise I’m going to start thinking you’re an old man.” 

He gave her a flat stare, but tried not to crow at the playful nickname she offered. “What about you? Are you staying with Karen and Donna?”

“No.” Raven shook her head. “Karen is taking an internship in San Francisco, and Donna is going to Europe to work with her family’s company.” A pensive, sad expression filled her face. “If I get accepted, I’ll have to find somewhere to live before I start.”

The offer fell out of his mouth before he could stop it. “You could stay with me.” 

Oh god. No. Panic filled his chest and tried to think of a way to make it a joke, but nothing came to mind. Instead he sat there and watched as several expressions of confusion colored Raven’s face. 

Raven snorted. “As what? Your maid?”

“No.” Why did his mouth insist on talking? He couldn’t stop talking, and he needed to right now. “I mean… as roommates. I have the money and the space is easy to find. You need somewhere to stay. You’re clean and quiet, and you’d stay out of my business.” Damian finally breathed. Safe. “You’d be the perfect roommate. Like having a cat you never see.” 

She rolled her eyes. “Gee, when you put it like that, how can I refuse? Be still my beating heart.” 

He shrugged. “The offer stands. If you can’t find a place before fall, let me know.” 

Raven laughed. “You know. I’ll do it. I’ll be your roommate just to annoy you.” She smirked and looked over at him, finally tucking that stray lock of hair behind her ear. “Put flavored creamer in my coffee every morning.”

“How many times do I have to say that you don’t sully good coffee with cheap creamer?” He seethed and pulled into the parking lot, shoving the car into park. “It’s a waste of good coffee.” 

She laughed again and unbuckled her seatbelt. “I’ll make sure I have every single flavor in the fridge. Even down to the disgusting seasonal flavors. Pumpkin Spice. Egg Nog. Mint Chocolate.” 

“That’s it.” Damian flung open his car door and stepped out, glaring at her over the roof of his car. “The offer has been officially revoked. You are no longer allowed to be my roommate.” 

Raven laughed and followed him into the animal shelter, her steps uneven. Damian glanced down at her and realized her clothes didn’t fit quite right. Which meant she was probably wearing Donna’s shoes as well as Donna’s dress. His heart did something weird in his chest, and he realized that Raven had dressed up for him. Something like excitement and pride mixed together, and he found himself wanting to kiss her. Of course, he always wanted to kiss her, but right now… he was ready to throw caution to the wind and make out with her right on the animal shelter steps. 

“Kittens.” 

Her voice was soft and strained, as if she was trying to contain her excitement, and it pulled Damian deeper into his internal struggle to not fall in love with her any more. He glanced up to see Raven taking a shy step forward, looking through the window at the kitten and cat room. They lounged on trees and in beds, watching her with a curious expression. For a moment, he stood there and let this memory burn in his head. Raven’s eyes were wide and bright, and a soft smile played on her lips. She looked… cute. Too cute. His heart twisted even more in his chest and he guided her to the front door. 

He smirked and held open the door for her. “You can pet them, you know.”

Raven glanced up at him, and Damian was pretty sure his insides were now permanently mush. She looked so eager, and he wanted to get her whatever she wanted just to keep that expression on her face. 

“It’s gonna take me a bit to get the paperwork completed for the donation.” He was trying not to look completely and utterly enamored with her, but knew he was probably failing. “Go play with the cats.” 

Her eyes widened for a moment, before her face fell back into a stern expression, poking him in the chest. “This stays between us.”

“That you turn into a small child at the sight of a kitten?” He forced a sarcastic smile. “You think I’m not going to take a picture of you and put it all over the internet.” He wasn’t, but she didn’t know that. “I can see the headline now: Resident Hardass, Raven Roth, Actually has a Soft Side.”

Before he could blink, Raven reached into his pants pocket and yanked out his cell phone, holding it up in front of his face. “I’ll keep this until we leave. Consider it collateral.” Sticking out her tongue at him, she shoved his phone into her bra and out of his reach, before turning around and heading to play with the cats.

“Your girlfriend is cute.” 

Damian turned and looked at the office worker who had come out to meet him, and he didn’t bother correcting the assumption. Raven was cute, and he desperately wanted her as his girlfriend.

He finished up with the donation, writing out the check and posing for a few promotional photos with workers from the animal shelter. But his thoughts were thirty feet away, with Raven as she moved around the room, playing with cats. Damian stood there for a few minutes and watched her, all spread out on the floor, cats and kittens crawling over her and making her light up and smile so damned bright. Damian stared at her, his heart so heavy and so full that breathing hurt. He didn’t understand how he could protect his heart anymore. 

He was irrevocably in love with her, and it was only going to hurt him to keep denying it. 

Raven looked up and saw him standing there. She picked up a kitten that had been crawling up her back, and set it on the floor before stepping out of the room to meet him. She was covered in cat fur, and that somehow only made her cuter. He was so damn gone for her. 

“You’re a mess.” He said, shaking his head with a laugh. “And you desperately need a lint roller.”

Damian went and borrowed one from the front desk clerk, taking time to roll off the back of her dress and her skirt. The whole act felt strangely intimate, but Raven didn’t seem to mind. Instead she was laughing, twisting away when he found a ticklish spot near her side. Forgetting who he was, Damian wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her back to him, running the lint roller over her stomach and letting himself bathe in her joy. She felt like liquid sunshine in his arms, happy and honest, and so unlike the usual studious hardass she was. His world was shifting even more, and Raven was standing in the center like a beacon. 

“Careful, Dami.” Her voice was soft and breathy from laughter, and she smelled of lavender and vanilla. God. He could feel her heat spilling through his clothes and warming him in the best way possible. She turned in his arms and plucked the lint roller from his hand, tilting her face up to meet his own. Her lips shifted to the side, and she poked a finger in his chest. “People might get the wrong idea about us.” 

His mind was filled with one thought: Let them. 

[pl-panda]

To Marry a Vigilante: Part 6

MASTERLIST || First || Previous || Next

------------

Even if she tried to downgrade her reaction to learning that the class was held hostage, Marinette was still nervous. No amount of rationalizing that they were mean or that they didn’t care one bit about her helped. She just couldn’t help but worry about them.

Damian tried his best to understand her, but he really didn’t feel any empathy toward them. Idiots brought it upon themselves. He wouldn’t cry after them. Instead, he took it upon himself to distract his beloved from her stress. They were in the middle of the second Disney movie when she finally dozed off in his arms. Given his luck, that was the moment Selina decided to enter the room. 

“Oh. I’m sorry to interrupt.” She said with a face that clearly meant she wasn’t even a bit sorry. 

“Tt. You’re lucky Angel’s asleep.” He scoffed, making sure not to be too loud. 

“Angel huh? The best I ever got from Bruce was ‘Kitty’, and even that was only out of the suit. You’re moving fast.” 

“Shut up.” The scowl on his face was evident. 

“Why aren’t you roof-running with the rest of them?” She asked, dropping the teasing (for now).

“I told father I would no longer carry the mantle of Robin.” He revealed. It wasn’t much of a secret, but beyond Bruce, only Alfred knew. Their butler knew everything and then some more. 

“Whoa!” Seline looked genuinely surprised. “What brought this on? Don’t tell me you’re planning on settling down with a wife.” Her grin returned. 

“Tt. Will you people stop?”

“No. Now answer the question pip-squeak.”

“For the record, I’m almost your height now.” He sighed before taking a sneaky gaze at his wife. “Did Bruce tell you about Paris?”

“Not really.” She made a pensive face.

“Then I am honor-bound to withhold any more information.” 

She looked at him, trying to judge what it was really about, but Selina kept getting distracted by how cute the two teens looked. If she didn’t know, she would assume they were dating for at least two years, not barely a semester. There was this trust that Damian refused to show anyone else, maybe beside Dick sometimes. 

“Fine. But I hope when the time comes, you’ll speak to us.” She was about to leave, but something stopped her. “And if you want to avoid more teasing, try not to have your ‘beloved’ fall asleep in your arms where the cameras can see.” She smirked and left the teens alone. Damian groaned. He was really digging his own grave.

“Dami…” Marinette murmured. For a moment, he thought that he woke her up, but she just snuggled closer and returned to sleep. 

--------

A cloaked figure was making strides through the city, trying to keep to the shadows. The streets of Gotham were mostly empty at that hour, but those who still dwelled usually didn’t have good intentions. And even in a city where a group of people in fancy suits was more efficient than the police, someone in a full black cloak with a hood to boot would attract attention sooner or later. 

“Hey! Look at that, boys. Someone’s trying to play bat.” A group of burly men stepped their way. 

They received no answer.

“What? Bat’s got your tongue? What say you drop the costume and we can see who’s there,” the supposed leader taunted.

They received no answer.

“Oh come on! We can play too!” One of them smiled. He was more perceptive and noted that the figure’s body was not only small but slightly more curvaceous. “Come on, don’t be shy.” 

Still, no reaction.

Angered by the lack of any reaction (and slightly tipsy), one of the men tried to push the cloaked person. Their supposed victim reacted by stepping to the side. What happened next froze all of the onlookers’ blood. 

With one swift motion, the figure brought a blue weapon down on their companion and it went right through his neck. When she pulled it out, the fancy fan unfolded. From under the black hood, a blue face looked at the would-be attackers. It was definitely female, but it was impossible to make out the age.

“You’re not worthy to even lick my boots, peasant,” she sneered before looking at the others. “Neither are you.” 

She folded her fan and rushed forward. 

---------

The next day started mostly normal for Marinette. She did wake up curled into Damian’s side, which was nice. Her mother then showed her at least twenty pictures of them sleeping cuddled together, which was embarrassing. She promised to save them for when she was older, which was a dreadful image. Damian brought her coffee in the morning, which was great. He was so thoughtful.

“Mari? Mari? Sweetie?” Her mother waved her hand in front of the girl. “When you stop daydreaming about your lover-boy, can you pay attention?”

“Sorry, Maman.” 

“Don’t worry. I was once young too.” Her mother nodded understandingly. “But could you please pay attention? That goes to you too, young man.” She raised her head to send Damian a light glare. 

“I apologize for my lack of attention.” 

“Today the class is having a trip to the mall, to buy anything they did not bring with them. Caline forced this when it turned out that several girls had nothing to wear for the Gala, which they were apparently ‘not informed about’,” Sabine scoffed.

“Tt. They were. It was that Angel refused to give them free clothes,” Damian interluded. 

“I offered to make them the dresses. I even caved and offered a discount.” She grinned. “It’s not my fault all my prices are adjusted to my usual clients.” 

“And the fact that your usual clients are celebrities who deemed anything lower an insult to their persona is irrelevant,” Chloé added, walking into the room. She barely managed to get to the chair before collapsing. Whatever possessed her to ask Cassandra Cain for training?

“They didn’t!” Mari protested, but she didn’t put much heart into it. 

“Shush! I’m your agent now.” 

“I know Chlo. You don’t need to flaunt it.”

“You’re kidding? I’m the girl behind MDC. Suck it, mother!” She shouted at the ceiling, even though it was physically impossible for Audrey to hear her. 

“Tt. Moving back to the subject?”

“Oh! Don’t mind me now. I’m having fun.” Sabine smiled at the kids. “But yes, the class is going to be visiting the mall. In theory, you three should be joining them.”

“But?”

“But I would prefer if you kept your distance from them,” Sabine responded harshly. “I don’t want you mixing yourself with a bad crowd Sweetie.” 

“Got it, Mom. We will be visiting a smaller shopping district then. I need to fashion masks for all three of us.” 

“Won’t masks be provided at the gala?” The woman asked, surprised.

“Tt. Only for those who don’t bring theirs.” Damian clarified. 

“Good. One more thing.” She turned to the only boy in the room. “Damian, I trust you to keep both of them safe today. Otherwise, you will have three angry assassins on your neck for the rest of your short life.” She threatened, ignoring the exasperated expression on Mari’s face and Chloé who was checking her nails. 

“Three?” He asked with a raised eyebrow.

“I told you that Sandra adores Marinette. And Cassandra shares our feelings toward her newest cousin.” 

It took all of Damian’s willpower to remain calm. The idea of Cass, Lady Shiva, and Sabine chasing him was terrifying. “Of course, Madame. I will guard them with all my strength.” 

“Then have fun kids! Tom promised to drop you off when he goes to the market and Bruce let him take one of the cars.”

“I’ll go pack up,” the two girls said at the same time. They giggled before running to their respective rooms. Damian just stared after them for a moment, shrugged, and left for his room  to get dressed. 

When he opened his wardrobe, a line full of ready sets consisting of black turtlenecks and dark-gray jeans, all already ironed and fresh. Together with the morning toilet, it took him a total of seventeen minutes and forty-three seconds to get ready. When he arrived in the main hall, he saw Tom sitting leisurely and reading through the newspaper.

“Tt. Sir, shouldn’t we be leaving?”

“Oh! Damian!” The baker lightened up. “Why would we need to be leaving? The girls left to get ready only a… fifteen minutes ago.” He looked like he was looking for another word, but changed his mind when he couldn’t find it. 

“Closer to twenty,” the boy couldn’t help but correct, “but it means they will be ready soon.” 

Tom laughed loudly. Damian sent the older man a questioning look, but he had to wait for him to calm down. “You never had to wait for a girl to get ready in the morning, did you?” Tom questioned once he calmed down.

“I do not see the relation…”

“Find yourself somewhere to sit. Most likely we won’t be leaving in at least an hour.” The baker cheerfully suggested. 

“But…” 

“It’s how the universe works and the sooner you get used to it, the better. A piece of advice: don’t rush them or it will get worse.” 

“Um… I still want to know why…” 

“Everyone does, but some questions don’t have answers.” Tom laughed. 

----------

“Damian! Look at that fabric! I’ve never seen it in stores before!” Marinette dragged her beloved toward the wall of various bales. She showed him yet another fabric, that he couldn’t really separate from three previous ones. Unless you count the color that is. 

“It is indeed interesting…” He tried to find the word, but Mari was too far gone to pay him any attention. When he used to listen to his brothers whining after shopping trips with the girls, he always dismissed it as fairy tales. Now, he regretted that he didn’t listen to Tom’s warning and hadn’t brought a wireless earset. The kind that only uses one ear so he could still hear what Marinette and Chloé talked about. 

“Mari! Look at that one!” The blonde in question pointed to one that was placed quite high. It was black and when reflected light, seemed to glow purple and dark-gold. Interesting, but it held little tactical value. 

“Perfect. Dami, could you reach it?”

“Sorry, Angel, you’re the one with wings here.” He said the first thing that came to his mind. 

His beloved blushed. Chloé just shook her head and muttered something about diabetes. 

After shopping for fabrics, a new sketchbook, several sets of sketching pencils, and some wires, Damian finally got them to go grab a bite. The whole way he kept skulking. Marinette had forbidden him from paying for any materials or clothes. He wanted to!

Of course, the moment their order was brought had to be the moment a villain made an entrance. Firefly zoomed into the calm street and immediately started to set things on fire. The girls immediately jumped into action, herding the panicking crowd and accelerating the evacuation. Damian took cover and sent a quick text to Oracle before joining Marinette and Chloé with crowd control. It was quite impressive to see the blonde grab the guy twice her size and force him to run the other way. Marinette focused on gathering as many stray kids as possible and guiding them away. There went his hope of not ending up like Father. 

It was going okay, the villain seemed more focused on making the buildings burn than attacking the defenseless civilians. Up until he flew over the entrance dropping napalm and cutting them off. Marinette immediately jumped between Firefly and the group of kids she was leading. Damian and Chloé were by her side faster than one could say ‘wedding dress’. 

“I told you Katana is a viable accessory.” He grumbled. That reminded Mari. He noticed that her red dress (his favorite) gained a broad red sash tightly wrapped around her. It had no noticeable clip holding it in place, so he assumed she just made some adjustments. Now he watched her unroll it to reveal her Christmas rope dart wrapped around her. She quickly grabbed the end and allowed it to fall loose on the ground.

“At least now we aren’t entirely defenseless.” She stated confidently. This was not Marinette the Parisian girl. This was Marinette the Ladybug, with or without a suit.

“And what do we have here?” Firefly floated not so far away. “A whole collection of new…” He didn’t get to finish. Marinette immediately attacked, hoping to attract his attention away from the kids. Damian cursed loudly. He wanted to leap into action, but he knew that Chloé stood no chance to protect the kids alone. 

The rope dart stuck Firefly in the arm, making a deep cut and letting some blood out, but the heat of his surrounding cauterized the wound. It didn’t seem to bother him. Instead, the villain aimed his flame gun at the girl who was already away from the group. 

“I will make you burn!” He shouted and opened fire. The girl he was aiming at used her rope to pull herself away faster and avoid the flames. 

In the distance, one could hear the sound of sirens, announcing the arrival of the police and fire department. They were still several minutes away and even then Firefly was probably too hard to capture without specialized gear. Or a rope dart. 

Marinette spun it several times in circles before releasing her weapon like a deadly projectile. Thanks to a quick flick of her wrist, the rope wrapped around the criminal’s ankle. He didn’t expect it, and when she yanked hard, he lost control over his jetpack for just a moment. It was enough for her to release the ties and gather the rope back. By the time Firefly managed to regain stability, she was already launching another projectile. This time, the dart flew straight and went right through his gun. There were several sparks, but as the rope was isolated she stood her ground. Yanking on the rope, she made him let go of the flame thrower before it exploded. The item fell on the ground and she pulled the now-free dart back while dodging for cover. 

Damian saw the gun sparking and without thinking picked the loose sewer cover and jumped in front of the kids. Chloé used a nearby trash can to form a wall between them while the lid served as her shield. The barricade would be useless if someone aimed at them, but it did a fine job shielding the group of eight kids from exploding a flamethrower. They had to drop their defense as soon as the explosion passed, and their hands still got hurt regardless. But they probably saved eight kids from heavy scarring. 

Firefly did not have the same luck. The explosion caught him in the middle and the knockback pinned him to the wall. When he got over the daze, he was met with several police guns aimed at him. 

-----------

Watching the reunion of kids caught in the fire with their parents was heartwarming for Marinette. She was proud of her husband and best friend. Their quick action definitely saved several lives. 

“Excuse me, miss?” A policeman in a long brown coat came to her. The paramedics already cleared her and one gave her the number of a trusted therapist if she needed to talk with someone. “Commissioner Gordon.” He introduced himself. “I was told you were the one that took down the villain…”

“It was an accident.” She spoke quickly. “I mean I didn’t try to take him down. He came over to where I was hiding with the kids. I thought he was about to burn us so I just acted on instincts. Get attention, move away from the group, keep attention, strike with everything at your disposal.” She recited. 

“That… Where did you learn that?” He stared at her. She was very young but spoke with the experience of someone who dealt with this on a daily basis. 

“Paris was dealing with a supervillain for the last four years. My class was a hotspot for his possessions.” She took a deep breath to calm down. “Even before the attacks started, I was taking martial arts classes. I upped the intensity after that.”

“Hm… I see. And your weapon…?” Commissioner asked, pointing at the rope dart now wrapped around her waist. She didn’t yet have time to put the sash back on. 

“Oh! Rope Darts are my weapon of choice. Easy to carry around, fast, good for non-lethal takedowns, and can be made into a fashionable accessory.” She smiled.

“Indeed. Even before that, you and your friends were herding the stray children and directing adults to the nearest exit.” 

“Same. I’m not sure how it works in Gotham, but in Paris, it was important to get people away from the ak… possessed person.” She corrected herself for the sake of not explaining everything. “Some of them tended to make civilians into puppets.”

“It was still brave of you. I didn’t get your name.”

“It’s Marinette, Marinette Dupain-Cheng. Nice to meet you, Commissioner.” She gave him a bright smile.

“Thank you for your service, Miss Dupain-Cheng.” He saluted the girl before walking away, muttering about reports. Now she only had to explain things to the adults at the Wayne Manor.

--------

Masterlist // Next

[red-hood-redemption]

SO I know I’m like, super late to the party, but I finally got my hands on Robin 2021 and there is literally no one for me to talk to about it so now I’m just screaming my thoughts into the void ✌

First off, before i even bought the first two issues, I read through a lot of other people’s opinions on it to kinda get an idea of where it was going characterization-wise for Damian, and because of all the mixed reactions, I figured I should just read it myself and find out. Now I am the FURTHEST thing from a comic book authority, so like, this is truly just an opinion piece but if it convinces anyone to give the run a chance, then yay!!! Honestly, I’m really glad I gave it a shot because I’m genuinely hooked! I’m actually excited about this series (and it scares me lol)!!!

I'm gonna separate my thoughts into two sections: characters, and story, mainly for my own ease, but also if anyone cares more about one thing or the other it's easier to distinguish. But,  the line is a little blurry so if I end up getting a little too much into the characterization in the story section, just bear with me lmao. OH and I'm going to try and keep this as un-spoilery as possible but we'll just have to see. SOOOOOOOO

Characters

I think it goes without saying that Melnikov's art is absolutely gorgeous, and really does show how much Damian has grown up. It makes me want to sob its so beautiful, everyone is so pretty, even the guy that looks like a washed up, high as fuck Tony Stark lmao. But moving on to the actual characters,

Rose Wilson

I honestly don't know too much about Rose, I haven't read enough about her to say anything about her characterization and how it compares to her other appearances, or whether or not she is OOC, but so far, I'm enjoying her taking up the "big sis" role, like, immediately lmao.

I don't know how much I trust her yet, but I definitely get the vibe that even if she does betray Dami in any way, she's probably gonna stick her neck out for Dami again and he's probably gonna do the same.

I'm really intrigued about her motivations for being here. Obviously, Respawn has something to do with it, but I want to know what's up with that. I've seen a lot of theories and I'm so excited. Also side note, that Black Swan chick is hot, and I can't wait to see more of her in action!!!

I feel like Ravager knows a WHOLE lot more than Dami does about the interesting things going on on the island, mainly because she's been doing a lot more sitting and waiting than he has as of yet, but I'm hoping to see more of the two of them doing detective-y sleuthing together. We love a mysteryyyy

Flatline

Okay but real talk, why does she look like a character straight out of Monster High

Honestly tho, I dig it. It's cute! She's cute! She isn't annoying (yet) but I don't know if I care too much about her other than she would make a cute friend for Dami.

I think the problem with DC is that they know people LOVE Harley Quinn and they try so hard to make characters just like her but it always falls short, so honestly I am a little wary of her character development in this run, but I'm willing to give her a shot since her little coffin purse on the cover of the second issue is so damn cute. I'm a slut for character design, okay?

Oh speaking of Flatline and Dami, I don't ship it and I don't want them to force a romantic relationship into Damian's "coming of age"/"soul-searching" moment okay? Because that's what this run is about, at least to me! More on that in the story section!

They're literally 13/14 years old. That's 8th-9th grade, babes lets think about that for a minute

Also let's stop the whole "lets introduce a female character just to make her a love interest!" bullshit okay?

Basically, Flatline is interesting, or at least has the potential to be, but I don't want to get my hopes up because DC is notorious for disservicing their female characters 😕

I think the mixed reaction to her is valid, I don't think she's had much time to make a solid impression yet, so I guess you'd have to read it for yourself. Personally, I don't understand why people immediately hate her, especially because she's like, 14, and what kid that age isn't annoying? like at least a little bit lmao! But, yeah. I don't trust her either but literally everyone on this island is sketchy at least and a murderer at best, so hey 🤷‍♀️

Damian

His new outfit lmaoooo at first I was like "WHaT is this child wearing? You'd think Dick would have rubbed off on him and taught him what good taste looks like" but then I saw the later outfit, with the gold patterning and those sleeeevessssss ugh and I take it all back. A Fashion Icon TM. Truly stunning. A sight to behold. So proud, look at him go 😪

I think there's a lot of different opinions on Damian's characterization in this run, and I can definitely see where its coming from, but I disagree with the notion that Damian has been done dirty and reverted to a blood-thirsty, feral child.  And I have a LOT of opinions on the whole "feral" thing regarding Damian period (but that's for another time).

I don't think of Dami's rampage as a regression for his character. He's letting of emotions right then and I think its very similar to him venting. Its just not verbal, its physical and he knows he's not going to have to grapple with the consequences of his actions on the first kill. He knows he's technically not doing anything wrong.

He is clearly upset at Bruce and his failure to protect Alfred, and while Dami and Bruce are really often described as being very similar personality-wise, they are still distinctly different individuals who came to their current moral codes in vastly different ways. Bruce came to his "no killing" rule on his own; he made that decision for himself. It wasn't taught to him, it was a moment-of-truth kind of situation. Damian, on the other hand is in a vastly different situation.

Dami is, I think, at the beginning of the climb to his own moment-of-truth. He is in his rebellious phase like Dick, where he's gone off to spread his wings. It's not his conscious intention (at least that's not the vibe I got from reading the first two issues), but its directly underlying his "mission".

Damian is growing out of the expectations of his parents and into his own person. We all know he's been thrown from one moral code to another, both drastically different from each other. I don't think its a regression for him to lose his way a little, because realistically, he's going to have to in order to find it, specifically a moral compass that he forged on his own. He's just what? 14? Like hell a kid his age wants to listen to any form of authority. He's as stubborn as it comes. Damian needs to come to his decision regarding the path he takes in life on his own. It can't be made for him. He's seen and lived both sides of the coin, and I don't think he should be forced just yet to choose a side or pave a middle ground, but I do think that he should get the opportunity to see and experience all the gray areas on his own.

I think I'll transition from characterization to story here, because let's face it, this story is about Damian dealing with his confused emotions right now, in the wake of losing Alfred, a man that kind of acted like a grounding presence, a voice of reason, or a moral compass for him (and honestly Bruce and the rest of the bat crew if we're honest).

Story

So there's a lottttt going on in the story that is really enticing and exciting, and I'm really interested to see how it all plays out.

All the rules to the tournament are so, sketchy? Like they don't sound like they are meant to be sketchy, its basic safety and guidelines or whatever but with all the glowy green shit and the stakes of the tournament? Yeah, you can bet your ass its the "no fighting at night" and other shit is gonna be broken, and that's likely when the fun begins *insert evil laughter*😈

I was slightly put off by the whole "let me teach you to have fun" thing with Rose, because it's not like Dick, Steph, Jon, and like the Titans haven't done that with him too, but eh, not something I'm too concerned about. It's definitely just a segway to get us introduced to more characters that might become Damian's friends which will be interesting considering what Mother Soul said about fraternizing.

And that's another thing! I want Damian to make some friends! I know he already has some, but here's the thing: I think he's already been struggling with belonging, and he's definitely been feeling the disconnect between his life and other kids', whether they're supers/vigilantes or not. I think it'd be nice to see Dami have the experience of meeting people who he at first thinks are just like him!! and then realizing that maybe he doesn't really fit in here either, and that it's okay to feel like you don't belong, as isolating as it may feel at times. It just means you have a set of values. I want him to realize that its not always a bad thing, and you learn more about yourself and your own heart this way.

And from there,,, lets talk about the thing that stuck out to me the most in these two issues! GUILT!! It's mentioned SOO many times already, and I think its going to be a really fun, heartbreaking, and interesting aspect to explore about Damian. Is it guilt about his actions? Leaving behind family? Not being able to save Alfred? Not being a perfect example of Robin? He may call himself Robin but he doesn't sport the OG look or symbol like before. I love that his guilt takes on the form of Alfred though, or at least his conscious. I think it'd be really interesting to see this conscious disappear when Dami strays too far from his center, and when he finds it again, it reappears.

I really think that seeing Damian's actions in this run as a failure of character development is an unfair assessment, though. You can't do everything right in order to grow! You have to screw up, lose your way, experiment with life to find your fit, right?

Something tells me he doesn’t care for the tournament itself, but the end result, and the people behind it and more about WHY it was hidden from him. I mean he finds out the tournament TRULY begins once everyone has died once and tHEN he kill everyone? Felt to me less like a “killing spree” as everyone put it to a calculated decision to get the tournament going. He literally cuts Mother Soul off in the middle of her speaking to start fighting at the beginning

Anyway, just my thoughts lol. I do have some issues with the past two issues, and I might make a separate post about that, but honestly not enough for me to dislike Robin 2021 so far. I mean, besides the very obvious white-washing in the second issue, because DC can absolutely do better. And they should. It’s like they thought we wouldn’t notice???? But besides that, story and characterization-wise I’m looking forward to more. Here’s to hoping it stays that way, just with a better colorist!

[peppersonironi]

12, 21, 19

(Is this late? Oops. Sorry!)

12: Favourite character to write about this year

Stephanie Brown, easy. She's my spirit animal, so I might be doing a touch of projecting, but I honestly don't care. She's just pure chaos in the best way. Some of my favourite lines that I've written are for her. Such as:

"What's up bitches? I brought donuts!"

"My waffles await!"

"FEAR ME!"

"Welcome to Steph’s Glitter Bomb Palace, Where Snitches get Stitches™! So don’t tell Bruce or I’ll sic Jason on you."

She's also the character I've gotten the most comments on. People really seen to enjoy how I write her!

A close second would be Duke Thomas. Bliss, a fic I wrote for the 2020 Duke Week, was one of my favourites! Or maybe Damian? His dialogue just comes easy to me.

21: Most memorable comment/review

the batfamily exist:

everyone: is,,is that allowed?

On Code Orange (Batfam/Young Justice Crossover)

*Or*

I have wanted to read a DCU/MCU crossover for a VERY long time. This story is such a delight. Your characterisation (and for me an introduction to The Signal) was fascinating in the extreme. I loved the game playing and the fact that I could watch (open-mouthed) as Bruce Wayne enjoyed childlike fun with his children and Alfred(!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) was the cherry on top of the icing on top of the cake. I look forward to your updates in a way that you wouldn't believe.

On Batfam/Avengers Crossover

19: Any new fics to start next year

Oh boy. So many. You know what? Here's a list. It'll be good to get these ideas out. Plus, you guys can tell me what you'd rather see first!

Gen/just Batfam

Crack fic based off this piece of dialogue (came from a convo between my sister and I): Tim reached forward and poked Duke's face. "You're right!" He exclaimed. "You really *do* squish like a block of wood!" Duke Centric.

Based on THIS Incorrect Quotes. Talia moves into the Manor because she's sick of Ra's. Featuring a bunch of good mom!Talia.

Based off THIS Incorrect Quotes. Jason runs for President as Red Hood. I have so many ideas! This'll be really fun.

Loosely based on THIS post. It explores Jason and Cassandra's relationship, and how it evolves.

Duke Thomas Big Bang Fic (can't say much, but it'll be great!)

Platonic (need to be certain you understand that. There were some misconceptions w/ my Discord server) Slow Burn between Tim and Damian. At the beginning the absolutely despise each other. But over time they realise their own insecurities, and how they don't actually hate the other. And by the end they fully admit and embrace their being brothers.

Reverse Robins with Damian as the oldest (I made THIS post talking about it a while back. But I've highly revised it.)

Reverse Robins with Duke as the oldest (I wrote THIS fic, but I think I want to change this into a series!)

Cassandra as Batman. Stephanie as Catwoman. Carrie Kelley as Robin.

5 Times Bette Kane was the mastermind behind the batkids' pranks without Bruce's knowledge, and 1 Time her brilliance was brought to light.

5 Times Duke thought that he couldn't possibly get any more siblings and 1 Time he met the cousins (AKA: Duke meets the extended family)

Birdflash

Birdflash in the JL/JLU universe (based off that one hexagon by @novaviis ! Super fun!). The league is inviting potential members to the Watchtower one day. Except Wally wasn't there during the choosing of said members. So he's completely shocked when his husband Nightwing shows up. They have to act like they don't know each other, which basically involves Dick flirting his butt off with Wally, Wally trying desperately to remain professional, Bruce digging in the corner, the rest of the League in varying degrees of disapproval and confusion (at least a couple have seen Wally's wedding ring. So that adds a while 'nother layer).

Young Justice soulmate au. Dick, and eventually everyone else, knows that Wally is his soulmate. Wally is oblivious. Lots of pining and angst in this one. Slow burn to an extent (depends on how long I make it). But definitely a happy fluffy ending in sight!

Batfam Meets Young Justice

THIS fic.

Duke gets yeeted into the YJ universe, and promptly passes out. He wakes up in the Watchtower, and breaks out of the confinement the Team has set up for him. Pulls shenanigans (some unwittingly) and used his powers. The Team and JL are confused, and panicking. Because this guy keeps muttering things about the Batfam. And he has a bat on his chest.

The Team break into some ancient temple after getting info on a new Supervillian plot. They find purple clothed woman draped across a throne. She talks, and they panic, as she knows all their secret identities. The only one who isn't, is Tim. He looks bored. Alternatively: Steph needs Tim's credit card to take his sister out on a date, and absolutely refuses to text.

While the Team is on a mission to stop Lady Shiva, a dimensional portal opens up and spits out a strange Robin (Damian) and what seemed to be a female Batman (Cass as Black Bat). This new dynamic due promptly defeats Lady Shiva and all the goons. The Team is freaked out, and 'apprehends' the dimensional anomalies, bringing them back to the Watchtower. Where the due promptly break and and start chaos. Featuring "Toxic" by Britney Spears. I will not explain why.

The Watchtower gets a sudden emergency message from the Batcave. They accept, to find a stranger calling himself Signal panicking about Robin being missing. They all look at Tim, who ignores them, and says that he doesn't know where Robin is. Some naming shenanigans occur.

(Not sure if this fits here, oh well) Set in Season One, Bruce is tired of Clark's attitude towards Superboy, and adopts the clone himself. Not sure how far this'll go, but at least goes through Dick's time as Robin. (Based on THIS Tumblr post)

(Also iffy on placement) a continuation of one (not sure which? Probably Damian as older) Reverse Robins fics. It's a retelling of Season One of YJ, with Dick as Robin. Nightwing (Damian) feels protective of his brother, and so takes on the role Black Canary had in the show, training the Team. But as time goes on, he ends up being more of a big brother to the group. Cameos from the rest of the Batfam as well! And an Identity Reveal (including finding out Dick and Dami are brothers) at the end!

Batfam Meets the Justice League

Cass takes over being Batman for a bit, because Bruce was an idiot and broke his leg. This happens to line up with when the Justice League reach out to the Dark Knight, in order to extend an invitation to the league. They eventually meet Bruce as Batman, and are confused as to why he is so tall. And male.

Joyfire

Lian accidentally reveals her three parents' relationship by calling Bruce 'grandpa' over dinner.

Museum Heist

THIS fic

Operation: Seduce Nightwing. Based on a post for an ATLA ot3, Wally and Artemis realise silumaneously “Hey, we kinda have the hots for Dick” and decide together to see if he likes them back. Which involves a heck ton of over the top flirting, and shenanigans. The Team is sighing on the sidelines at their idiocy. Dick is internally combusting and thinking “Do they like me back? I’’m not sure.” 

5 times Dick and Wally fought over being the middle spoon, and one time Artemis had had enough.

Set in Season 3 (but ignores some canon), Bart is kidnapped by some mad scientist obsessed with the Speed Force. The Team mobilizes, and gets Bart back from the evil base. But when they get there, they find Wally West freed from the Speed Force. He and Artemis reunite, and everyone is happy. They prepare to leave. Then the Pick-up Squad arrive in the bioship, and Dick gets out. Everyone is expecting Dick to give Wally a hug, because hey, he's his best friend! What they weren't expecting was him to run forward and pull the speedster into a passionate kiss. They go back to the Watchtower, and some more stuff happens.

Soulmate AU where the first thing your soulmate says to you after they fall in love with you is tattooed on your body.

Post Season Two Get Together. Starts with Artemis living with Dick as opposed to Will. Might be Slow Burn? (They come pretty close to kissing) Eventually Wally comes back. Arty and Wally are back together. They both live in the same house as Dick, for convenience. Then some more Slow Burn happens. Maybe some Birdflash moments. Arty tells Wally she kinda had a thing for Dick. Wally admits the same. Maybe a touch more Slow Burn. They Eventually get together.

Batlantern

AU where Bruce met Hal back when he first came back to Gotham. Fic goes through how their relationship evolves over the years (up until current time, when Damian is 13). I'm considering a relationship reveal with the Justice League.

Hal's interactions with Bruce's kids.

Green Lantern Corp acting protective of Hal when Bruce comes to Oa. This was an ask that I got, and I'm holding off on writing it till I get as much into on the GL's as possible, as all I know if their characterization comes from that animated series, and Guy Gardener's (Hilarious!) parts on Young Justice.

Marvel

Like 3 different versions of the Peter Parker Field Trip to Stark Tower Trope.

2-part Crossover with the Batfam (they exist in the same universe), where the Avengers go to a Wayne Gala, and interact with the family. The second chapter involves them heading out the next night to try and contact Batman.

THIS fic.

[fearfulkittenwrites]

With one last breath in me (I’d die before I’d let you leave)

Word Count: 8053

Notes: Hey @river-bottom-nightmare! I hope you enjoy this! I tried my best to make it angsty but I always go overboard with the fluff on these two. I had a lot of fun writing this, so I hope you’ll have fun reading it too!

“Superboy, to your left!” Robin says.

Jon uses his laser eyes to destroy the robots, before moving back to Robin’s side, running with him for the exit.

“You have the data?” He asks.

“Who am I, Red Robin?” He shoots back, smirking as he shakes the flashdrive in front of him “Of course I have the data.”

“That was fast.”

“I am fast.” Robin says, using his batarangs to make a hole on the wall ahead of them.

“Careful,” Superboy smiles, picking him up by the armpits and flying them out of the twentieth floor “You almost sound like Flash now.”

“That’s preposterous.” Robin rolls his eyes as his feet carefully reach the ground, patting the dust out of his costume.

“Are you alright?” Jon asks, scanning his friend like his father had recently taught him to.

“I’m fine. Are you?” Damian grunts, rearranging his cape.

“Yeah, I’m okay. But I think we should go before that becomes a problem.” Jon points at the building they just left, with a reasonably sized burning hole on it’s side.

“Great point.” Robin raises an eyebrow at the mess they’ve made.

Jon picks him up by his armpits again, over Damian’s protests.

“Put me down, you wild beast!” He flails around “You’re going to dislocate my shoulders!”

“What do you suggest then? We need to get home!” Jon says. Damian thinks for a second, before sighing.

“Fine. Put me on your back.” He says, resigning to his fate.

Jon doesn’t need to land to throw him over his shoulders, going faster now that Damian was more secure. Robin blushed with the ease that he had been placed on his friends back, wrapping his arms and legs around Superboy’s torso. They still had fifteen minutes to go, so he rests his head against Jon’s back, examining the flashdrive. Jon blushes when he feels Damian’s hair ticking the back of his neck. They reach their HQ after twenty minutes of a comfortable flight. Robin doesn’t complain about the added travel time.

Damian walks to the computer, analyzing the data they had just stolen, downloading whatever seemed interesting and relevant before he could take it back to the cave for further research under his father’s critical eyes.

“Hey, Dami,” Jon calls. Damian freezes at the nickname, and tries his best to disguise it as he feels Jon’s hand on his shoulder “Do you think you have it covered? I kinda really need a shower right now.”

“Go ahead.” Damian’s voice comes out a bit higher than normal. He clears his throat “You wouldn’t be of much use for me right now anyways.”

Jon takes a deep breath and rolls his eyes.

“Whatever.” He pulls his hand back “If you need me, you know where I��ll be.”

Yes, he did. In the shower. And Damian was trying really hard not to picture him there. And he was trying really hard not to think of how nice Jon’s hair must feel when it’s wet and being shampooed. And he tries even harder not to think of how even nicer it must be to have Jon’s hands massaging his scalp for him. And he tries really hard not to think of how much he wants Jon to tangle his fingers into his hair and play with it as he drifts off to sleep. And he doesn’t even know why it is that he needs to try so hard not to think about it.

“I won’t be needing you, Kent.” Damian says “Have a nice shower. You stink.”

“Whatever.” Jon says again, rolling his eyes one more time.

 ...

 “What’s with the face, D?” Jon asks, sitting across his friend at the lunch table.

Damian takes another bite out of the sandwich Alfred had carefully crafted in the morning and frowns harder as he watches a girl sit down next to Jon, followed by her friend. He was almost sure one of them was Delilah, but it might as well be Janet. Jon is – as always – smiling, but the two girls aren’t. Understandably so. Damian didn’t exactly make an effort to be liked.

“So, which class do you have next?” Jon insists.

“Chemistry.” Damian answers.

“Oh, I hate chemistry.” Jon says, overreacting, trying to keep the conversation alive.

“I used to find it rather fascinating. Of course, that was back when I was with mother and being taught something actually useful and challenging, and not now, when I’m forced to go through this with a bunch of functional idiots that can’t even remember the formula for the air that they breathe.” Damian says.

“Huh.” Jon says, tapping the table and bouncing his leg. Damian rolls his eyes.

“Yeah.” The girl – maybe her name was Jessica – says, turning to Jon “Hey, have you seen the soccer game last night? Man, I could barely stay still!”

“Me neither!” Jon says, enthusiastically chattering on about a game Damian had neither seen or been interested in with the girls.

He tunes out the conversation until he finishes his sandwich and leaves without a word, but enough noise to catch a few eyes. Not that he cared.

“Excuse me for a second.” Jon says to the girls, before sprinting after Damian “Hey, D, wait up!” He says, placing his hand on Damian’s shoulder again, forcing him to turn. He wills himself not to blush when he faces his blue-eyed friend “What’s going on? Did something happen? You seem a little down today.”

“Nothing happened, Kent.” Damian spits out “I have a class to attend. Go back to talking about football with your friends.”

“It’s actually soccer, but-”

“Doesn’t matter.” Damian turns around “Americans” He rolls his eyes as he makes his way through the halls, leaving Jon very confused, a little worried, and a little angry.

Damian keeps rubbing and scratching his right shoulder through the day, remembering Jon’s hand forcefully spinning him on his heels. He can’t understand why he wishes it was still there.

The rest of Damian’s classes go by at an agonizingly slow pace, and when he’s finally free to go home, he once again feels a hand grabbing him on the hallways. Jon holds him by his left forearm, and Damian stares down at his friends grip in surprise. His arm is covered by his clothing, but it still feels like it’s on fire under the other’s fingers. Surprisingly, Damian finds that he doesn’t really want to pull away. He drags his eyes up, meeting his friend’s.

“Dami, did I do something? You haven’t talked to me all day.”

Damian frowns.

“You didn’t do anything, Kent.” He pulls his arm back, harsher than he needs to be “Leave me alone at once, I need to go home.”

“Oh, c’mon Damian.” Jon walks beside him. Damian wants to punch him in the face “Don’t be like that. We’ve been friends for such a long time, you can tell me anything.”

“Great. I’m telling you to leave.” Damian shoves his hands in his pockets.

“You’re so rude, Damian.” Jon says.

“Oh look, there’s Pennyworth.” Damian says, monotone and sarcastic “I would hate to keep him waiting. Goodbye.”

Damian walks faster, getting away from a huffing, frustrated Jon, while waving at Alfred. He replies with a polite nod and a small smile. When Damian gets in the car, ready to cuss up a storm on his way home, a friendly face greets him.

“Hey Dami.” Dick says, smiling, sunglasses on “So, I take it school sucked today.”

“Very much so.” Damian dares to open a small smile as he settles in next to Dick “What are you doing here?”

“Hello, missed you too, happy to see you’re safe.” Dick teases.

“Yes, sure, I’m glad you’re back from your mission, alive and in one piece.” Damian rolls his eyes “Not like I had any doubts you’d come home safe.”

“I’m here because I missed you.” Dick says, reaching out to ruffle Damian’s hair “But Bruce wouldn’t let me come alone, says there are too many bruises to be questioned, so I had to stay in the car.” Dick removed his shades to expose a nasty black eye, so swollen Damian could barely see the blue in them. He was taken aback by that, finally noticing all of the other injuries Dick hid so well; there was a healing cut close to his hairline, a splint in his left hand and a deep purple bruise poked out of his collar, probably hinting at a much bigger nightmare underneath.

“I can see why.” Damian says as Dick puts his shades back on. The boy stops for a second, thinking “Can I still hug you?”

Dick has the biggest smile on his face at that.

“Of course you can, little D.” He says, opening his arms “Just mind the hip, I think I might’ve fractured it.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.” Damian replies, already burying his face in his brother’s neck. He hadn’t realised how much he missed Dick when he was away.

“Now,” Dick starts as they separate “Wanna tell me what’s gotten you so down?”

“I’m not-” Damian gasps, outraged for a split second, putting up all of the walls he always did before he remembered this was his brother. He sighs, shoulders falling as he does so “I... Jonathan is getting on my nerves.” Damian rubs his left forearm, curling protectively over it.

“Did he hurt you?” Dick asks, reaching out for his arm.

“No, it’s not that.” Damian answers, sighing, letting his brother check under his sleeve for bruises “It’s his friends, that Denise, or Jennifer or whatever. Following him around talking about ‘soccer’.” He makes a face “And of course, since he insists on following me, I am forced to listen to that... annoying little voice, blabbering on about meaningless subjects.”

“Hm.” Dick listens with a smirk “Y’know, it sounds to me like you’re jealous.”

Damian huffs.

“That’s ridiculous.”

“Is it though?” Dick squints a bit.

“Yes.”

“You hesitated.”

“I didn’t.”

“You did.”

“I did not!”

“Yes you did.”

“Kids, please, no more yelling.” Alfred says.

Damian huffs.

“Alright, I’m sorry, I was only teasing you.” Dick says “But, um, just in case I was right, then... you do know it’s okay, right?”

“You were not right, so it doesn’t matter. Now leave me alone already.” Damian looks out the window, frowning.

“Okay, okay, I’ll back off.” Dick says, putting his hands up.

“Good.” He shoots back. There are a few minutes of silence before the kid speaks up “When will you be able to go on patrol with us again?”

Dick frowns.

“Tonight?”

And there it is, the string of curses Damian had been holding back on, bullying Dick hard enough to get him to stay at home for at least a week.

 ...

 “So... the school dance is coming.” Jon says over Damian’s shoulder.

“And you are bringing this up because?” Damian grunts, searching the room for any other crooks that could be hiding.

“Because this is boring.” Jon replies, grabbing a hidden guy by the back of his neck “And I was wondering if you’re going.” He shoves the guy to Damian, who hits him with a perfect nerve strike to keep him down for a while.

“-tt-.” Damian rolls his eyes, walking to the next room “As if I would be willingly joining those stupid peasants for an evening.” He takes down two men while Jon leans against a door frame.

“Wow, okay.” He says “Forget I asked anything.”

“Why? Are you going?” Damian scoffs.

“Yes.”

Damian looks at him in disbelief and disgust.

“Why?”

“Because it’s fun.” Jon rolls his eyes “And there are three more guys coming from the hall, I can hear their heartbeats.” Damian attacks before they reach the door “And Elise invited me. I think I might say yes.”

“What?” Damian scowls “You can’t-” He dodges a punch “A little help?” He growls at Jon, who sends a laser beam into the man’s foot “As I was saying, you can’t go.”

“Why not?”

“Because! It’s preposterous!” Damian yells, knocking down the last guy.

“Well, I don’t think so. I think it will be fun.” Jon says, making his way out of the place “And the police are near. We should be on our way.”

“I’m not allowing you.”

“You’re not the boss of me, Damian.” Jon rolls his eyes.

“You have patrol.” Damian shoots back.

“I can miss a day of patrol.” He crosses his arms “Just stay with your family for the night. Besides, hasn’t Nightwing just gotten back from a long mission overseas? Just spend more time with him, I’m sure you two miss each other a lot.”

“That’s besides the point!” Damian stomped his foot “You’re gonna leave me all alone for that... weird football girl.”

“Once again, soccer.”

“Ugh! Whatever!” Damian exclaims “I’m going home. Since you can’t take this seriously enough, I believe we should call it a night.”

“Robin, c’mon, don’t be such an ass.”

Damian clenched his jaw.

“Go back to Metropolis, Superboy. Gotham clearly doesn’t have a good enough soccer league for you.”

Damian shoots his grapple gun, letting it pull him to the top of a random building.

“Agh! You’re so frustrating sometimes!” Jon yells, shoving his hands in his hair.

After Damian sees the boy leaving, he sits on the edge of the building, feet dangling down. He picks up his comm, switching it to a private line.

“Nightwing,” He calls “Are you awake?”

It takes a while, but after a small static noise, Dick picks up. Damian sighs in relief.

“Hey.” He answers “I’m up. Is everything okay?”

“It’s... fine.” He sighs “I think...” He blushes “I think that you were right.” He looks down at his dangling feet “I think I did hesitate.”

There’s silence for a short while. Dick knows this is as close as Robin gets to crying.

“Where are you?” Dick asks “I’m picking you up.”

 ...

 Back home and under weighted blankets, Damian held on to a cup of hot cocoa Alfred had made for him while Dick ruffled his hair.

“Feeling better little D?” He asks, sitting down next to him. Damian sniffles a little.

“Not really.” He admits, staring at the steaming liquid in his green mug “I don’t understand. Why does it feel like I’m... like I’m dying?” He looks up at his older brother with watered eyes.

“I don’t know, Dames.” Dick replied gently “Maybe if you talk to me about what happened, I could help.”

Damian sighs, putting the mug down and hugging his knees.

“Her name is Elise.” Damian starts “The annoying girl I was talking about. And... he’s taking her to the school dance.” He closes his eyes for a second “I don’t understand. He’s... above her. Why would he subject himself to such a humiliating situation?”

“Why do you think he’s above her?” Dick frowns a little.

“Isn’t it obvious?”

“I think you might be forgetting that his mom is human too.” Dick replies “I don’t think he-”

“No. God no. You misunderstand me.” Damian interrupts “It’s not the human part that’s the problem. It’s the way she is. Such an annoying waste of space and matter.”

Dick tries his best to conceal his smile.

“Little D... you feel like you’re dying because you’re jealous.” Dick says. This time, Damian doesn’t protest “And it’s fine. It’s part of life.”

“But I don’t want to feel like that.” He says, hiding his face in himself.

“Unfortunately, I don’t think that’s a possibility.” Dick smiles.

“How do I make it stop?” Damian asks.

“You could try asking Jon to go with you instead.”

“Never!” He hisses back “I’m not taking part in such dreadful events.”

“Oh, c’mon, what could be the worst that could happen?” Dick responds “Some harmless fun?” He teases “Oh no! The mighty Robin is afraid of music and watered down poncho!”

“Quit it Richard.” He growls “I’m not going and that’s final.”

 ...

 “I don’t understand.” Jon says, burying his face in his hands “He’s just so... difficult.”

Clark watched attentively as his son stared at his slice of pie, waiting for him to continue speaking.

“It’s like he doesn’t want me to be happy.” He frowns “I had no clue he hated me this much.”

“He doesn’t hate you Jon.” Clark says, gentle eyes scanning his son “We both know that Damian’s family life is... complicated. He cares about you very much, but has a hard time expressing it. He never really learned how to express it.”

“Yeah, well, remind me again of why I put up with it.” He complains, shoving a bite of pie into his mouth “It’s not like it’s my responsibility to teach him how to be a decent human being.” Clark waits patiently as his son finishes chewing “I mean... it’s so unfair. Why do I have to keep on... getting hurt by his mean words and he gets to just... walk away and have fun with his siblings? He was the one being rude and now I’m the one that’s upset.”

“Uh, I’m sure Kon would love to patrol with you, if that’s the issue.” Clark tries, unsure on what to say. God, he wished Lois was home. She was the one that knew what to do in situations like these.

“Ugh, dad, no.” He presses his temples with the palm of his hands “I mean that like... I have to carry around this weight that he puts on my shoulders! And it’s not fair.” He sighed “Why did I have to fall for someone who treats me so badly?”

Clark blushes at the words, unsure on what to say. These topics always made him a bit uneasy. But there was his boy, his little miracle, teary eyed and hurt, and for once in his life, there was nothing he could do about it. He reaches out a hand to his son.

“I don’t know, son.” He starts, holding Jon’s small hand in his “We can’t really control the desires of our hearts. Especially not at your age.” He smiles.

“I wish I could.” He mumbles, letting tears fall out of his eyes.

“I know.” Clark replies “We all do.”

“It feels like the world is ending right now.” Jon sobs “Like nothing matters anymore.”

“I know.” Clark moves to sit next to his son, hugging the boy “But I promise you it’s not ending.” He gently rubbed his arms as silent tears fell from his boy’s eyes “Everything seems so much bigger when we’re young. But this bad feeling will fade away, I promise you. Just give it time.”

Jon nods, wiping his eyes with his sleeves.

“Do you think I should talk to him?” Jon asks “I could... tell him how I feel?”

“I think that could be good.” Clark swallows “But... remember who he is. Damian might not be as kind as you would if he doesn’t feel the same.”

“Yeah, I know.” Jon sighs “But it’d be nice to put something of mine on his shoulders for once.”

 ...

 The next day, Damian doesn’t go to school. Jon spends the entire day anxious, wondering why his friend was allowed to skip class. Was he sick? Was he upset? Was he sent on a mission away from home? Was he dead? Oh no. If he was dead, then how was Jon supposed to confess his love? Wait. No, this wouldn’t be the worst part of him being dead. Jesus, Jon, come on.

At night, he can’t contain himself anymore. They weren’t supposed to patrol together, but Jon suits up and flies to Gotham regardless, heart beating desperately in his chest as he lands close by the cave’s secret entrance. He walks in, hoping he’d need to ask for Robin’s whereabouts, but instead he finds him as soon as he walks in, analyzing fresh samples in the batcomputer.

“Damian?” He calls “Are you okay?”

“What are you doing here, Superboy?” Damian growls in response.

“I was worried.” Jon says “You weren’t at school today.”

“Very perceptive of you.” Damian rolls his eyes.

“I thought you were sick.” Jon crosses his arms, walking towards his friend “But clearly that isn’t the problem.”

“Stop scanning me.” Damian scowls.

“Stop being such an ass!” Jon shouts back “I’m here because I care about you, and you still say rude and mean things!”

“I didn’t ask you to come!”

“Well, but I’m here! And you could at least try to be polite!” Jon stomps his foot down.

“Did you come here to yell at me? Are you done already?” Damian asks, finally turning his entire body to face the boy, walking towards him as well.

“No! I came here to see if you needed help.” Jon replies “But you can’t help yourself, can you? You need to push away people that care about you.”

“Great. I don’t need help.” Damian replies, walking back to the computer “You’re done around here. Have a safe fly home.”

“What is wrong with you? Why are you acting like this, Damian?” Jon asks, frowning.

“Because I still feel your touch on me!” Damian shouts, turning around to face the other, ripping away his mask. There are tears gathered in his jade eyes. They break Jon’s resolve and they break Jon’s heart “Because even after you leave, your scent is burned into my nostrils and I can still feel you, everywhere!” Damian shoves his gloved hands into his hair “And for the first time in ages, I don’t know what to do, and I don’t know what this means, and I don’t know why I keep on feeling like my entire body is on fire when I’m next to you, why it feels so cold when you’re away, and why every bone in my body feels like they are breaking simultaneously when I see you next to someone that isn’t me!”

And then, the unthinkable finally happens.

Damian sobs.

He covers his mouth just in time, but the pained, loud sound still reaches Jon’s ears, and he feels it; the pain Damian just talked about, shattering every unbreakable bone in his half-kryptonian body. He watches as Robin falls to his knees in front of him, crying, crying so much it scares him. Because to this very day, Jon was certain that Robins didn't cry. Superboy had been warned of that several times.

No, Robins don’t cry.

But Damian does.

“D, I...” He reaches out a hand, crouching in front of him.

“No!” Damian yells, slapping his friends hand away “Don’t. Stay away from me! I don’t want to keep on getting hurt.”

“Dami, I don’t-”

“Don’t call me that!” Damian pushes Jon back, forcing him to stand up “Don’t call me that when you don’t mean it!”

“Please, just listen to me!”

“Leave me alone! Get away from me! Get out of here before I make you!” Damian keeps shouting out over Jon’s words.

“Damian, please-”

“Leave!” Damian reaches into his boot, pulling out a shard of kryptonite “I will not stand in your way any more, Kent.”

Jon puts his hands in front of his body, staring at him and at the green stone and he feels sick. He’s not sure if that’s on the kryptonite or if that’s on... everything else. Finally, he flies away, whispering his goodbyes and his apologies. If he cried on the way home, no one had to know. If he cried on his father’s shoulder when he got home, no one had to know. If his mom had to help him out of his costume and into bed after he calmed down, no one had to know.

And if Damian broke down and cried until his voice was hoarse and he ran out of tears, no one had to know. And if Dick rushed downstairs and held Damian’s small body against his own, no one had to know. And if his father had found them and caressed his hair and cupped his cheek with concerned eyes, no one had to know.

Because life would go on, no matter what. It had to, no matter how much pain there would be. It had to keep moving, no matter how heartbroken Jon was when he didn’t see Damian at school for the following week, only to find out he had been transferred to Gotham High. It had to, no matter how Damian’s body seemed to refuse to move on his first day in his new school. It had to. It simply had to. There were things to learn, people to protect, dances to attend, a world to save, and none of those were willing to wait on Robin or Superboy.

 ...

 “I can’t go.” Jon says “I’m sorry, but I really can’t go to the dance with you Elise.”

“What?” Elise says “The dance is tomorrow Jon! Who am I supposed to go with?”

“I’m sorry.” He says again “I know that I should’ve said something sooner, but... something came up.” He scratches the back of his head “Something that I can’t miss.”

“And what exactly is that?” She crosses her arms, upset.

“Well...” He shoves his hands in his pockets “A chance to make some things right.”

 ...

 Robin sits on the highest tower in Gotham. Nightwing sits by his side. He looks down at his own dangling feet. The dance in metropolis high was happening as they sat there. Damian couldn’t understand why he still felt a knot in his guts. He hadn’t been able to eat properly before patrol, but he also wasn’t hungry at all. He hasn’t been hungry since the night of the screaming match in the cave.

“Robin,” Nightwing speaks up “Since there’s no way he’ll ever be able to sneak up on you, I think I should tell you that Superboy is on his way here.”

“What?” He exclaims. Dick pulls him away from the edge “How do you know that? Did you invite him?”

“Yes.” He says.

“You-”

“Before you insult me, let me speak.” Nightwing interrupts him. Damian grunts, but crosses his arms and waits for an explanation “After that night, Clark came to me.” He sighs “He was worried about what happened, because it seems that Jon had been crying so much he wasn’t able to explain what happened and for a second he worried about your safety.” He joins his hands, intertwining his own fingers as he speaks “I explained the situation giving as little detail as possible. Clark told me that... he said you two needed to talk. And that he could convince Jon to come, but he’d need my help getting you to be there.”

“So you tricked me into it.”

“Would you have come if I had asked you to?”

“...No.” He grunts.

“There we have it.”

“I don’t have anything else to say to him.”

“Apparently, he has a lot he wants to say to you.” Dick massages his own gloved hand “Just hear him out, okay? I think it might at least alleviate your suffering.”

“How can you possibly know that?” Damian asks.

“Look, if I didn’t have some sort of certainty that this would help and not hurt you, I wouldn’t have agreed to this in the first place.” He sighs “Last time you two spoke, it wasn’t good. Leaving it at that is killing you inside, baby brother.” He smiles at him “Just try, okay?”

Jon lands on the rooftop as Dick finishes speaking.

“So, you didn’t go to the dance afterall.” Robin says, walking away from Nightwing and closer to Jon, arms crossed.

“Alright, there’s no easy way to say this, so here it goes.” Jon says, taking a deep breath.

Damian braces himself for the worse.

How could Dick possibly think that this would be good for him? Had he really been brought here just to be painfully rejected?

“I love you.” Jon says. Damian’s eyes widen “I have always loved you, I think. But now, I love you more than I ever have. More than as a friend.”

Damian doesn’t know how to respond.

“I...” He tries “Me too.”

“Yeah. I kinda figured that out in the bones breaking part.” Jon smiles awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck.

“So now what?” Damian asks, looking at the ground.

“I don’t know.” Jon says “What do you want to do?”

Damian's stomach growls.

“Well, we’re in Gotham.” Jon grinned at him “I think a vegetarian Bat-burger would be nice.”

“Yes.” Damian smiles shyly “I believe so too.”

 ...

 Jon lands next to Damian, on top of a Metropolis building.

“How was school today?” He asks.

“Awful.” Robin answers, removing his gaze from the street to look at his partner “I shouldn’t have asked father to change schools. Now not only do I have to put up with annoying commoners, I also have to spend the day missing you.”

Jon blushes and giggles, looking down. Damian smiles at him.

“It’s a quiet night.” Damian says “But then again, I suppose Metropolis is a lot quieter than what I’m used to.” He examines Jon’s face “You could... do the thing again.”

“The... thing?” Jon asks, frowning.

“Yes.” Damian stares at him “Like... the sky thing.”

“Oh! Oh, that thing.”

“What else did you think of?” Damian crosses his arms, smirking.

Jon blushes violently.

“Nothing! I was just confused!”

Damian laughs.

“Yeah, alright, Superboy.” He walks forward, wrapping his arms around the other’s neck “Now do it.”

“Bossy.”

“You like it.”

“And cocky.” Jon says, wrapping his arms tightly around Damian’s waist before taking off, pulling them both up to the air.

Damian smiles, looking down at the now small city under them.

“Aren’t you ever afraid of falling?” Jon asks as he stops on the highest spot possible before the air got too thin for Damian “My mom said she was always scared to death when my dad would do this.”

Damian stares into his eyes, bright blue sapphires that seemed even more alive from up close.

“I know you won’t let me fall, beloved.” Jon swallows, reactionless for a moment. Damian allowed himself the smallest of smiles “God, I love you so much.” He cups the other’s cheeks “But I’m getting cold, so I think it’s time we go down.”

Jon chuckles.

“Can I kiss you first?”

“You can kiss me whenever.” Damian smiles, pressing their lips together “Just not in front of my team. Or my family. Or yours. Or-”

“Okay , I get it!” Jon stops him, giggling, stealing another kiss “Just when we’re alone.”

“Yeah.”

“But you’re gonna have to patrol with me more often then. Since we don’t go to school together anymore.” Jon argues.

“I thought that was a given.” Damian replies “As long as you keep doing the sky thing.”

“I’ll do it as many times as you want.” Jon nuzzles into Damian’s neck.

“Jon?”

“Yes?”

“I’m still cold.”

 ...

 Jon is cuddled up to Damian on the couch while the fireplace crackles and Alfred the cat is curled up at his feet. He is reading a book about Gotham’s economic history while Jon scrolls through his instagram feed, eventually laughing softly at some joke that pops up on the screen. Damian mindlessly plays with his hair.

“Dames?” Jon calls.

“Hm?” Damian responds, not taking his face out of his book.

“What are we?”

“What do you mean, beloved?” Damian puts his book down, gently brushing Jon’s hair back.

“What are we?” Jon sits up “We’re not friends. But we...” His words die inside his throat.

“Boyfriends?” Damian asks, raising an eyebrow. Jon’s eyes widen.

“We are?”

“I... isn’t it obvious?” Damian looks at him with concern “We go out together, we hold hands, we kiss, we cuddle... I told you I love you multiple times. Why the question? Don’t you... want to be my boyfriend?”

“No I do, it’s just...” Jon scratches the back of his neck “We never... said anything, I guess. I was afraid you didn’t want to be my boyfriend.”

Damian shoots him an exasperated look.

“I swear Jonathan, you are so confusing sometimes.” Jon rolls his eyes, looking down “But fine. I don’t have a ring on me so I hope a kiss will be a good enough substitute.”

“What are you...”

Damian gets down from the couch, kneeling in front of Jon.

“Jonathan Lane Kent,” Damian says, holding the other’s hand “Will be my boyfriend?” He gave his ring finger a feather light kiss.

Jon blushes intensely.

“Yes.”

Damian smiles, sitting back up on the couch and picking up his book again.

“No, put the book down.” Jon pouts climbing on Damians lap “I need kisses from my boyfriend.”

Damian rolls his eyes.

“You are so childish sometimes, beloved.” He sets his hands on Jon’s waist, rubbing his thumb in gentle circles. He kisses Jon regardless of his complaining, and when he pulls back, he gazes into the other’s blue eyes “How could you think that I didn’t want to be your boyfriend, you idiot?”

“I don’t know I guess... it’s just that... it’s a big deal. Right?”

Damian makes a face.

“I never thought it was.”

“I guess we just have very different views of love.” Jon whispers. Damian nods, biting his lips.

“I’ll...” He sighs “I’m sorry. I’ll try to... see things your way too.” Damian grabs Jon’s hand, staring at their intertwined fingers for a second “But you have to understand that I might let you down at times. I wasn’t raised to be a romantic. I don’t know what is normal and what isn’t in a relationship. I don’t understand the rites of passage properly. I didn’t know that the title boyfriend required a formal request. I might not know many other obvious things. I’ll try, I swear. I’ll try to learn and I’ll try to... be a good boyfriend.”

“You already are a good boyfriend, D.” Jon says softly “I’m not upset at you, I promise. I just really needed the clearance, that’s all.” He cups Damian’s cheek gently, giving his hand a light squeeze “And I’ll try to be patient. I won’t take silly things to heart and I promise to tell you when something bothers me.” He kisses the tip of Damian’s nose “And you promise to do the same?”

“Of course.” Damian smiles.

“Good. Now, I’m not done with kissing my boyfriend.” He sings out the last word, pulling giggles from Damian.

“So childish.” Damian mumbles against the other’s lips.

 ...

 Damian throws the ball as far as he can again.

“Go fetch!” He exclaims, watching as Titus clumsily runs after it, giggling as he jumps up to catch it mid-air “Good boy.” He scratches his chin when the dog brings the ball back to him.

Jon openly stares at them, grinning like a fool at the fact that he could call that boy his, forgetting that they were surrounded by their combined families for a barbecue at the Waynes’ huge garden.

“You really are as lovestruck as they come, huh?” Dick smiles, settling next to him.

“Oh, um...” Jon blushes, embarrassed.

“Don’t be embarrassed, it’s adorable.” He places a hand on the teen’s shoulder, shaking him slightly “I’m not really the overprotective type. That’s Bruce.”

“Yeah, I figured that out pretty quickly.” Jon scratches the back of his head, remembering the expression on the billionaire’s face when he heard the news of their relationship.

Dick laughs at the boy’s shy reaction.

“Don’t worry too much about him. He’s more talk than action when it comes to that.” Dick reassures him.

“Still...” Jon looks over at Bruce, who’s standing next to Clark as he handles the grill, shuddering, before redirecting his gaze to Damian, biting his lips nervously “Y’know, sometimes I struggle a lot to understand him.” He admits, and feels Dick straightening his posture by his side “Don’t get me wrong, I love him, I really do, but... he somehow over explains everything and still leaves doubts in my mind. I feel like I’m always looking at an out of focus picture, and no matter how much I try, I can’t get the image clear in my eyes.” He chews on his fingernail for a second “Does that make sense?”

“Yeah, a little.” Dick crosses his arms “I gotta say, sometimes I felt like that with him too. He’s too... reserved. Dangerously so. I had to constantly push him for little bits of information that may be crucial to my understanding of who he is as a person.” He tilts his head from side to side, considering “But in time, it got easier. Dami is... he’s not much of a talker, I guess. It’s easier to perceive him if you look at him, instead of just listening. After all, we are talking about a picture, right?” He smiles, charming and understanding.

“I guess so.” He ponders “Wait...” Jon frowns at Dick “He lets you call him that?”

“Call him what?”

“Dami.”

“Yes?” Dick raises an eyebrow “Why?”

“That one night... the fight...” Jon shakes his head lightly “He told me not to call him that when I don’t mean it.”

“Oh.” Dick smiles “Of course.” He chuckles a little.

“I... was it a bad thing?”

“No, no,” Dick smiles softly at him “It’s just that... when you pronounce it like I do, more like ‘duh-mee’ than actually ‘dami’, you’re kinda saying my blood in arabic.” Jon seems confused and scared “I heard once that in arabic, people say things like, ‘my heart’, ‘my lungs’ and stuff to their loved ones. I tried it with Damian once and...” He shrugs “So that’s probably what he meant for you not meaning it. I’m sure that he’ll be over the moon if you call him that now.”

Jon blinks at him.

“So that’s why he gets so mad at being called that?”

“I mean, if someone you’re not close with called you sweetheart, wouldn’t it feel super invasive too?” Dick shrugs.

“Yeah.” Jon chews on his bottom lip again, looking back at Damian “Dami.” He whispers under his breath, trying to say it like Dick did “Dami. Dami.”

“Yeah, like that, but maybe say that to him instead of me.” Dick taps his back as he leaves, and Jon is suddenly startled by the man, having completely forgotten that he was standing next to him.

“Dami.” He says, louder this time, running for the other teen “Dami. Dami!”

“Jon?” Damian frows, startled as his boyfriend nearly tackles him to the ground with a hug and a kiss.

“Dami. I mean it. I’ve always meant it, you dumb bird. Even when I didn’t know what it meant.”

“You’re an idiot Jonathan.” Damian smiles, cupping his cheeks “Such a huge fucking idiot.”

“Your idiot.” Jon corrects him.

“Yeah, whatever.” Damian blinks some tears away, laughing as he presses their foreheads together “God, I missed hearing you say that. I was wondering when you’d say it again.”

“I would’ve said it sooner if you had explained what it meant and why you said what you said back in the cave.” Jon says.

“Whatever.” Damian rolls his eyes “Say it again.”

“Dami.” Jon presses their lips together.

“Again.”

“Dami.” He kisses him again “Dami. Dami, Dami, Dami.”

“I love you, Jon.” He lets a tear slide down his cheek.

“I love you too, Dami.”

 ...

 “Hello!” Bruce greets the salesman with a wide smile, best dumb, kind, billionaire like grin that he can muster.

“Good afternoon, mister Wayne.” He replies politely “How may I help you?”

“We’re here to look at some promise rings?” He joins his hands “They’re for my son.” He looks over to Damian, who is sporting his typical frown paired with over-analytic eyes. Dick walks right behind him, smiling enough for both of them.

“Oh, surely. If you’d follow me, please.” He walks them to a table they can sit down at, and pulls out a bunch of rings “These are the most popular ones at the store. What do you think your girlfriend would like?”

“Boyfriend, actually.” Damian shoots back, examining the rings with a frown “And none of these will do. I don’t believe either of us would enjoy wearing a...” He twirls one of the rings between his fingers “Silver butterfly or a...” He frowns at a second one “Is that supposed to be a rose?”

“I think it’s a carnation.” Dick says.

“I-It’s a rose.” The man interrupts, smiling awkwardly “We should have more discreet options, if you give me a second.”

Damian crosses his arms and leans back on his chair.

“Little D, you should try to lighten up a little.” Dick ruffles his hair.

Damian glares at him. It would make a weaker man nervous, but Dick simply chuckles.

“It has to be perfect, Richard.” Damian answers, looking forward “I already messed up once by not doing this sooner. This time I can’t let him down. Besides,” He turns around, coming closer to his brother and whispering “He’s enough of a lovable idiot that he might wear it out on patrols so... it can’t be recognizable.”

Dick laughs at his concern.

“And what makes you think that the world will be deeply interested in Jon Lane Kent from Metropolis, to the point of checking his rings?”

“Other than the fact that his mom has a Pulitzer?” Damian grins wickedly “What do you think?”

“You’re going...?” Dick’s eyes widen “Oh my God, you’re going public with your relationship?” He smiles “Dami, that’s great!”

“Shhh. Keep your voice down. And yes, that’s great, if he agrees to it.” Damian settles back “We haven’t discussed it yet. I was hoping that the ring would help him with that decision. So it has to be perfect.”

“It will be, son.” Bruce says, smiling “We’ll find something perfect either here or somewhere else. You know that money is not a problem.”

“Yes, which just makes this even more stressful.” He shoves his face in his hands “If we were on a budget, it would already make whatever I found special. But no, you had to be a billionaire. That’s just my luck.”

“Well I’m so sorry that I have enough money to buy you a luxury car to give Jon if you want me to.” Bruce replies, amused.

“Can we do that?”

“No.”

“Can I have a luxury car?” Dick asks.

“I thought you didn’t want my money.” Bruce smirks.

Dick shrugs.

“I don’t want your money, but I think that I’m ready to start accepting gifts again.” He smiles, and the trio can’t help but laugh.

“I brought you some more discreet options.” The salesman smiles.

Damian twists his nose and scowls at every single one of the rings.

“I might as well give him the ring Timothy found in a cereal box.” He frowns, crossing his arms. The man is sweating, staining his dress shirt.

“Damian, don’t be rude.” Dick sighs, rubbing his forehead.

“I-I... I could bring you the engagement rings we have.” He swallows “But they are a bit more expensive.”

“Money is not a problem.” Bruce says, finding it difficult to keep up his happy and silly facade already.

The man comes back with boxes full of rings, having trouble to properly balance all that he’s brought down. Damian set his eyes on a pair of white gold rings.

“Let me see those, please.” He stretches out his hand in the direction of the rings.

Damian analyzes them for a second.

“If I need them in different sizes?”

“That can be arranged.”

“Can you engrave our initials inside?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Then I want this one.” He says.

Dick breathes out in relief.

“Oh, thank God. Fucking finally.”

 ...

 “Beloved,” Damian says, sitting up on the couch “I need to talk to you about something.”

“What is it Dami?” Jon puts down his book, looking at him with worry.

“You know how... you always talk about going to a restaurant or something, for a change, but father’s concern for the cruel public eye of Gotham stopped us?”

“Yeah?”

“Well, I... I’ve been thinking.” He puts a hand in his pocket “I would quite like to go out with you. Take you out of the manor for once, when you come over to Gotham.” He swallows “But if we’re doing that, then it means our relationship will most likely be on every Gotham’s newspaper, and every single gossip site that bothers with the romantic endeavours of d-listers.” He looks up at Jon expectantly “Would you be okay with that?”

“Yes.” Jon says, immediately “Yes, yes a million times yes.” Jon hugs Damian.

“Alright, alright.” Damian smiles, pulling himself free “That’s good. Because our six months aniversary is coming up and I have a place where I’d love to take you, if you let me.” Jon is already nodding “But before anything else, I need you to close your eyes.”

“What?” Jon frowns “Why?”

“Close your eyes.” Damian says.

“If this is going to be like, a prank, Damian, I-”

“It’s not a prank. Just close your goddamn eyes, Jonathan.” Damian sighs.

“Okay.” Jon does as he’s told.

“Now give me your hand.”

“It’s sounding a little too much like a prank.”

“Give me your fucking hand.” Damian presses the bridge of his nose.

“Alright, alright!” Jon smiles, placing his hand on Damian’s palm.

Damian gently slides a ring into his finger.

“Oh my God.” Jon whispers, eyes still closed “Is that-”

“Yeah. You can look at it now.” Damian says, blushing “It’s white gold. If you don’t like it, I can always buy you a new one.”

“Damian this is perfect.” Jon covers his mouth with a hand while he admires his new promise ring.

“I’m glad you liked it.”

“Give me yours. Let me put it on you.” Jon demands, stretching out his hands. Damian hands him out his ring and lets him slide it into his finger, smiling “Perfect.” He whispers, bringing his hands to his lips and kissing it delicately.

Jon giggles, pulling Damian closer to his chest, getting them both to lay down as he admired their hands.

“Dami...” Jon starts, pulling him closer with one of his arms “You make me so happy.”

“You make me happy too.” He whispers back, tracing little patterns on the exposed skin on his lover’s arm “I can’t even fathom how painful and dull my life would be if I had to live without you.”

“You have to stop outdoing me with your declarations.” Jon smiles, wrapping both of his arms around Damian’s body now, nuzzling into his hair “It makes me sound stupid.”

Damian giggles.

“Well, you are a little bit stupid.”

“And you are a little bit rude.” Jon laughs too.

“Oh yeah?” Damian laughs, turning around to face him.

“Yes, very rude.” Jon pouts “So rude to me.”

“Let me make it up then.” Damian whispers, admiring the other’s face as he pushed his raven black hair out of the way.

“How are you going to do that?” Jon asks.

Damian pushes forward and gently kisses his lover.

“Yeah, that works for me.” Jon smiles.

Damian blushes and hides his face into his chest. The blue eyed teen lets him, pulling him closer and resting his chin on his head.

“I love you.” He says “I love you so much, Damian.”

“I love you too, Jon.” Damian smiles “And I’m glad you liked the ring, because if I ever catch you without it, you’re done for.” He looks up at him “I’m sure Elise is still dying to put her hands on you, and I need to make sure my territory is marked.”

“I’m not a tree and you’re not a dog.” Jon teases.

“But you’re mine.” Damian jabs a finger into his chest “And now everyone will know. Especially her. Hear me?”

“I hear you.” Jon smiles. Damian settles back down.

“Good.” He mumbles “Because who does she think she is? Is she Robin? No. Does she smell as good as me? No. Did she buy you a white gold ring? No. Is she-”

“Babe. I got it.” Jon stops him “And you don’t have to worry about her. She’s not even my type.”

“And... what is your type?” Damian frowns at him.

“Hmm...” Jon pretends to think “Dark haired, green eyed boys who smell good, punch criminals and buy me white gold promise rings.”

Damian smiles.

“Good to know, Superboy.” He buries his face in his chest again “Good to know.”

Hey! I hope you liked this! Please consider rebblogging it if you did, it helps with spreading my works and makes me super happy! Also, I gotta thank @3ambird for telling me about Dami’s name thing, hahaha! Go check out their fics, they are an amazing writer.

[whereflowersbloom]

Special Mission

Friday evening finds Raven sprawled on the floor of one of the empty rooms in the Titans Tower. Dick had given them permission to convert one of the rooms into a hang out spot since it wasn’t being used for anything else, and tonight the female Titans joined forces with a little help from the guys, to transform it in the biggest, softest, ultra-cozy pillow fort in existence. Tonight was an special occasion. Mar’i was staying over tonight for the first time.

There’s a mountain of pillows, a few bean bag chairs, and soft blankets in light colors covering every inch of the floor. A couple board games are stacked to the side, such as: Chutes and ladders, Race to the treasure, The floor is lava, which isn’t practical if you are playing with a speedster, half-kryptonians and other meta humans, if you asked Rose or Tim. Not too far from there is a television and gaming system Jon and Beast Boy set up. Gar brought some games Mar’i enjoyed last time she visited.

There are a couple of bedsheets hung overhead to give off the effect of a tent, soft fairy lights in pastel colors strung along the edges with adjustable brightness, illuminating the enclosed space. It was Rose’s brilliant idea. The new Titan member claimed to be not good dealing with children but proved to have a gift for decorating.

As soon as Raven stepped inside the room, she thought it definitely contrasted if compared with her room, designed around a dark colors palette. She was completely positive the little girl would like it though. Truth be told Raven was tired and wanted nothing but wrap a blanket around herself and sleep for the next two days. The only thing keeping her from doing it was just little Mar’i standing close to her and looking at everything with wide dreamy eyes, her bare toes wiggling into the softness of blankets. She let out a high-pitched, girlish giggle. The mission tonight was to make certain Mar’i was entertained and safe her first night away from her parents. Piece of cake.

The half-alien girl liked soft and cute things, Raven has noticed. It’s not hard to when she had spent the entire time running her little tanned hands through the fluffy blanket she had been given, wrapping it tightly around herself, calling herself a purrito proudly, needless to explain it was something Beast Boy had taught her.

It was rather enchantingly adorable Raven admitted, a smile curving her lips, meanwhile Donna was snapped a couple of pictures to send to Jon, who immediately replied with endless crying emoticons, unfortunately he was away on a mission with Damian. Quickly Jon sent a text saying they’d probably be home after dinner. Raven was sure Jon showed the picture to his partner, so Robin made proper arrangements to make sure he was at the Tower before his niece’s bedtime. Damian would never acknowledge it, but he secretly relished Mar’i’s attention and adoration.

Mar’i isn’t looking too happy now, she’s looking around as if searching for something or someone, and Raven wonders what went wrong. She replayed the events of the day. Rose entirely disregarded the planned, detailed schedule Robin left for Mar’i’s Grayson visit, declaring it was bullshit and it was time to be spontaneous and have some fun. They all agreed.

They played some of the board games, setting some elementary unbreakable rules, no cheating or using powers. Donna braided the girl’s long dark hair into something overcomplicated but cute. Karen had suggested to watch Netflix, the platform contained a variety of shows appropriate for children. At the end Mar’i had chosen to watch an old cartoon called Adventure Time, that had all of them looking attentively at the television with the same rapt attention all five year olds have, Donna was even gasping and cooing along with Mar’i.

Raven had zero experience babysitting children. They did save children on daily basis, citizens, not her friend’s children. The interaction was limited, this was different to a whole new level. The first time Kori and Dick brought toddler Mar’i, Raven was a bundle of nerves. Thankfully Kori patiently taught her everything she needed to know to look after a child.

And because she’s a organized person, who is little by little becoming a part-time babysitter apparently, she’s fully aware of the the importance of keeping to a schedule as closely as possible. It was also something Damian had repeatedly reminded all of them.

They’re halfway the second season, waiting for the girl to wind down before bed with little success. Raven immediately noticed she wanted something so she patted the little girl’s back, soothing her anxiety away.

“Is there anything you want, Mar’i?” Raven asked in a whisper.

Little Mar’i looked at Raven with teary eyes, tugging her shirt down. “Mar‘i wants Dami.” Oh it made sense. She was looking for a familiar face. Someone that reminded her of his father. Family.

The little girl clung to Raven, clutching onto the fabric of her shirt, she was burying his face in her chest. She obviously missed her parents. But Damian was on the mission with Jon, she doubted they would be back before dinner.

Raven chewed on her lower lip and tries to explain the situation to the five year old. “Damian is away fighting bad guys, like your dad but he will be back after dinner.”

The girl shyly rose her head, the slightest hint of hope sparking in her eyes. “He’ll be back? Really?”

“He promised and Damian always keeps his promises, right?” She smiles warmly at The little half-alien. Thinking of way to stall time before Damian and Jon get home.

Mar’i shook her head, she was wearing a pink dinosaur onesie, curled up on herself, hands in loose fists pressed to her chest, and an apprehensive little frown on her face. “But Mar‘i wants Dami now.”

Raven needs a workable emergency plan. Mar’i hadn’t shown signs of Starfire’s powers but she couldn’t risk upsetting a five year old and unintentionally awake them. This called for backup, a momentary distraction.

Hey Mar’i, would you like to play with someone else?” Raven asked gently, and the girl chewed on her lip and looked down and away. “Do you want me to call Conner?” The Titans pushed and it’s worth it, Mar’i’s head snapped back up to her, glowing green eyes wide with hope, before she looks away again. “I want to play with flyboy.”

“I already texted him. He’ll be here any mi-“ Rose waved her phone at them with a pleased smile on her face only to be abruptly interrupted before Faye could finish speaking.

The door to the room slammed open, making them all jump and jerk their heads towards it. Raven is surprised but already has her shield up, protecting Mar’i who is behind her, her heart hammering in her throat. It took her thirty seconds to recognize the bold invaders.

“What’s wrong with Mar’i? Rose said it was a red code.” Conner urgently demanded, standing in the doorway, a completely destroyed door beyond repair next to him, his electric blue eyes shifting around wildly as if looking for a threat, body braced in a battle stance. “Dude, You didn’t have to destroy the door.” Beast boy appeared, an annoyed expression on his face.

Raven blinks several times, recovering from the shock faster than everyone else, processing Conner’s words. Red code. She gave Rose a reproachful glance.

“What? Could have been one.” Rose said indignantly, and shrugged uninterested. “She wants to play with you, Supernerd.”

“Oh. That’s the emergency?” Conner said in surprise, and straightened up, his face embarrassed, turning red. He shifted a little in place, looking away from them, rubbing at the back of his neck self-consciously. “Um. Sorry for barging in like that...and breaking the door.”

“Well prepare for trouble.” Gar said with a wide smug smirk on his green face, standing next to Conner, elbowing his partner’s side. “And make it double.” Conner mutters playfully. Well, at least the dynamic duo would keep Mar’i entertained buying them time.

Karen broke the tension by laughing. “Damn Kon-El, that was faster than I expected.“ The rest of them started laughing a little too to shake off the nervous energy in the room. It’s not the first time Conner jumps to action and damages the building, but it’s kind of unsettling to have the intensity of Conner usually reserved for criminals and other threats turned on them. Conner kept apologizing nonstop until he locked eyes with Mar’i.

“Do you like the Superheroes, Mar’i?” Conner said smiling at her and instantly wanted to smack himself, of course the kid liked them, her parents were heroes and the rest of her family. He was still getting used to interaction with children. What would Clark do?

The small girl nodded enthusiastically in reply. “Mar’i likes Titans. I’m going to be like mommy and daddy!” She exclaimed, bounding in excitement. Well, at least Conner had managed to break the shell.

He climbs over the mountain of pillows and blankets and sits down on Mar’i’s other side, and the girl immediately scoots a little closer to him, gripping the hem of his baggy shirt, which has Superman’s distinctive Symbol printed across the chest. Conner instinctually put a hand down on the floor behind her back, giving her more space to press against his side. “Why don’t you tell me what you did with the girls today and after Gar will let you ride him while he’s in his dinosaur form.”

“Mar’i watched Totoro and Adventure time and played Race treasure.“ She spoke struggling with the difficult words and looked up at Kon-El, her eyes shimmering with eagerness and excitement.

“Hey! Don’t talk for others.” beast boy complained, looking at him with squinted eyes.

“Come on, BB. Do it for Mar’i.” The little alien approached Gar, opening her arms for a hug. Looking at him with expectant green eyes. “Dactyl.” She kept muttering the word over and over, tugging at Gar’s pants insistently. Gar’s lips turned up ever so slightly, slowly. He looked at her with unsure eyes, and it compelled her to offer a sunny charming smile. When she did beast boy’s face softened, and his shoulders relaxed as he sighed in defeat. “Pterodactyl got it.” He shape-shifted into the flying dinosaur.

They spent around an hour playing ‘catch me’, Mar’i sitting on Gar’s back, Conner flying around the room carefully not to destroy anything else. After ten minutes playing, Donna joined following Raven and the rest of the girls. It was their only chance to act like children, the childhood some never had the opportunity to experience, letting it loose, enjoying at their hearts content. Mar’i was truly a blessing. They decide to take a break when Raven noticed her phone is vibrating. She automatically answered.

“Robin here. Mission was a success. No damage or casualties to report.” Damian said quietly into the phone in his ear, observing the traffic slither along below. “What is the status?” Damian asked tentatively. Part of him was concerned what could happen if he left the Titans looking after Mar’i while he was away. He didn’t doubt Raven was skilled and intelligent, capable of handling the situation. Perhaps he was too alarmed for nothing.

“Under control. We are about to have dinner. Mar’i did ask for you though.” Raven whispered faintly, chewing in her cheek.

Damian took a shaky breath and didn’t hesitate to reply “I’ll let Jon know we are leaving right away. You’re in charge, Raven.” There’s a long silence before Raven realizes Damian hung up. She ran her fingers through her hair. Nothing could Damian Wayne. “It’s time for dinner everyone.” She announced loudly, quickly pulling her attention back to Mar’i.

Everyoone walks towards the kitchen and discussing what they would like to have for dinner: Gar and Conner pizza and she heard Mar’i mention pancakes and mustard.

~~~

That night, dinner was fun. After a few minutes, everyone’s chatting cheerfully, Conner loosened up enough to joke around ever so slightly. He was cautious still, of course, but so was Raven, watching closely Mar’i, she was her responsibility. She seemed to be comfortable with all the Titans. Conner warmed her dinner with his heat vision, making her look in awe. Raven scolded him saying it wasn’t necessary to and it was dangerous. Everyone else laughed merrily. Conner didn’t speak too loud like some of the others, and he wasn’t intimidating, like Damian. There were only few people who could see through Damian’s tough facade. Raven liked his gentle and kindhearted soul. She was sure Mar’i could see them too. When they are almost finish they heard the sound of footsteps approaching. And they were home.

“Where is Mar-Mar? Uncle Jon is here.” A high-pitched voice resonated in the Tower. Followed by a ‘shut your mouth, Kent. You aren’t her uncle.’ Mar’i tilted her head curiously.

"Dami here?" The girl asked, bouncing a little. She cheered when Raven nodded, smiling, thoughts of her uncle Dami whereabouts disappearing from her mind as he walked in, picking her up carefully, she wrapped her small arms round his neck and buried her face in his chest. “Dami.”

“I am here Mar’i.” Damian pats her back affectionately, placing her right on his lap. Damian promised to read her stories until she fell asleep. Jon stood beside him, claiming it was her turn to play with Mar-Mar, and how unfair Damian was being to him, but Damian refused to let go. He had a promise to fulfill and he kept his word.

~~~

It’s dark and comfortable. Raven delighted nights like these the most, when everything feels quiet and unhurried, no drama to deal with. When she can lay down with Damian and just breath, taking comfort in each other’s presence without the need to fill the silence with conversation. It was a much needed break after a long day. Damian for someone who's so tightly packed with muscle, his solid chest, makes an excellent pillow, she decided. A pillow who was currently running his hands through her dark hair. “Did you miss me?” Raven asked teasingly.

“I’d rather be here enjoying your refreshening and warm company than Kent’s” Damian said smugly, voice already rough with sleep. The low sound rumbled through Raven and she finds her mind shutting down without her consent. They were both exhausted.

“It isn’t the same when you aren’t around.” She murmured quietly. Her eyes fluttered, body relaxing as tense muscle melts into jelly.

The door creaked and Damian half twists, lifting his face to look at the door, finding Mar’i in the doorway, standing there in her pajamas, looking unsure and a little scared. “Uhmm. Mar’i wants to sleep with Dami and Rae.” Raven immediately softens and moves making space for her.

“You wanna join us, Mar’i? Come here, it’s snuggle time.” Raven pats the bed, the gesture makes the girl realize it was a sign to get into bed with them.

She pulled the door shut behind her and quickly crawled on the bed, slowly wedging herself under Damian’s arm between Raven and Damian.

“Are you okay?” Damian asked worriedly, sitting up a little. Ready to jump to action if she needed anything. He learnt he couldn’t let his guard down not even when he was relaxing with his soon-to-be girlfriend.

“I couldn’t sleep. I want to watch tv.” Mar’i whispered, her eyes on Damian as if asking for permission. Damian nods approvingly.

“Anything special you want to watch?” Damian questioned, looking over at his niece, as he gets up to get his laptop, placing it in his lap, lifting an arm and putting it over Raven’s shoulders so she can lean back more comfortably and have that little extra space. Mar’i half turns and scoots into a more comfortable position, stretching her tiny legs. “Kiki’s delivery service.” She instantly answered with enthusiasm in her voice.

“Good choice.” Raven grabbed a blue blanket she brought from their new fort room, unfolding it over the three of them.

Mar’i watched the movie with undivided attention, eyelids slowly drooping as the movie flies by until she falls fully asleep pressed against Damian, who was breathing steadily, sleeping peacefully. She felt safe between Raven and Damian, protected, it reminded her of her parents’ warmth and love for her.

~~~

The next morning Damian wakes up to an empty bed. That was not what he excepted. He gets up slowly, mouth uncomfortably dry and with a dull headache from sleeping more than usual. He looked at his phone it read ‘9:00am.’ Tsk. He overslept that was strange but considering how hectic the last weeks has been. It was a possibility his body was suffering extreme fatigue.

Blinking blearily, he made his way downstairs, he stopped when he hears voices from the living room and debated to just say a quick greeting to everyone on his way to the kitchen, or focus on his objective, Raven and Mar’i, but startlingly he gets caught with his mouth half open to speak at the scene in front of him.

“Why is my precious niece floating on a broom?” Damian asked skeptically, not sure of it was a dream or his mind was hallucinating. He finally rubbed the tiredness out of his penetrating keen eyes, watching as Mar’i weightlessly sat on a worn broom, both hands wrapped tightly around it and smiling widely, excitement in her growing green eyes. Raven’s has one hand on the broom, controlling it. So it was real. He reason if she was with Raven she was safe.

“I am a witch like Rae.” She squealed breathlessly.

“Mar’i, I’m not.” Raven shuts her mouth, sighing softly. “You’re a witch. Yes.” She had no idea how Dick and Kori had the energy to deal with the unstoppable hurricane Mar’i Grayson. She supposed it was something she’d find out one day, she told herself. Her violet eyes glancing up to Damian for a second.

It’s here @chromium7sky @andthendk @ravenfan1242 @quoth--the--raven @deep-in-mind67

[poepoe-thebunny]

Damien The Littlest Brother

Or: Stuff Damian does with his siblings.

Dick

Dick in some ways was another form of idolization for Damian. Damian was so very young when they first met, younger still when Ra's and the league sunk their teeth into his heart and tried their best to tear it to shreds. Dick's role, part sibling part guardian, was the first major form of stability Damian had. Little Damian had been born with the mythos of The Bat hanging overhead, and the hope of measuring up to first his grandfather's and then his father's standards had nearly broken him.

Like a lot of children Damian didn't necessarily understand or appreciate what Dick was trying to do for him until he was older. But just like other children Damian clung to the emotional support and care Dick gave him, the care he had so often been deprived of.

Damian wasn't necessarily there for the events that shaped Dick and the rest of their family, but he is growing up in the aftereffects of it. Dick chose to give Damian the love he deserved, Dick chose not to punish a child for the situation he was born into. But Dick isn't perfect. He loses his temper, he gets frustrated, he gets things wrong, he makes mistakes, he bleeds. Dick, at least initially, was real and human in a way Bruce wasn't to a little boy who already had his future decided for him.

While he may not admit it, Damian looks up to Dick because in a lot of ways Dick is a better person than most. Dick is a good man, a better man than Bruce in some ways. He shows Damian what a hero actually is, and that the concept of being a hero isn't tied to the suit. Dick shows Damian that he can and is a good person, that he can make those decisions for himself and that his own emotional needs are not anything to be ashamed of. Damian is a boy first, not a weapon.

So Damian leans into his affection. There are shared naps after patrol, and days out getting ice cream or going to the zoo. Damian wakes a tired Dick up with a pillow to the face, and pillow fights and laughter ensues. Dick comes along to the school showcases, where an embarrassed Damian has pictures and paintings of their family up for all to see. He never once mocks Damian's desires, instead listening with seriousness to every moment of Damian's vulnerability.

That's what sticks with Damian the most. That Dick wholeheartedly believes Damian is a good person, that Damian can be good and kind and soft. He sees Damian fumble with his cool demeanor, growing shy and embarrassed when chatting with students his own age. Damian knows the names of most of his classmates, takes down random details that shouldn't be important to a stranger "We're NOT friends Grayson," but Damian talks to the youngest students about animals, and how to properly hold puppies. Damian has lists of underfunded animal shelters and regularly sends them to Bruce and Tim when preparations for the Wayne Foundation charity events come up. Damian knows most of the officers in Bludhaven since he occasionally stops by with something for Dick, a late lunch or hot drink or Dick's spare clothes in case he needs out of his police uniform. After many coos, head pats and cheek pinches, Damian is occasionally "babysat" by some of them while Dick is out on patrol of the police variety. He does not realize how much he has charmed Dick's co-workers, talking about his pets or his brothers.

Dick is the kind of hero, the kind of person, Damian was told wasn't real. That heroes were childish nonsense, that mercy and love were weak. The concept that someone could love him, that he was deserving of love instead of being forced to earn it, was foreign. But Dick Grayson was all of that. So Damian puts up less and less of a fight over the silly pictures they take together. Dick buys books about animals, and Damian grudgingly wears the cute stupid animal ear headbands Dick buys him. While part of Damian knows he won't be, the part that viciously beats "heroes" and "love" and "ice cream" back with a vengeance, another part of Damian, a very small fragile part, thinks that maybe if he grew up becoming like Dick Grayson the Person (TM) it wouldn't be so bad. "Awww thanks Dami!"

Jason:

Next to Tim, the Cain Instincts are strongest with Jason. Jason is constantly ruffling his hair, calling him names, and sitting on him. Jason does not give a single iota of a damn for any sort of authority except Alfred. Jason is not afraid of Damian.

So when Damian latches onto Jason's neck ready to strangle him, he laughs like it's the best thing he's ever seen, and a wrestling match ensues. They bond over it, over the goading and the competition.

They bond over books too, over stories and musicals and words Damian shouldn't care about but he does. Damian says he's too old for fairy tales even though he never had them to begin with, never had stories told when tucked into bed unless it was for a harsh life lesson. And yet Damian will find books as gifts for Jason, and Jason will read them aloud after Damian annoys him by pressing his feet into Jason's side. He swears up and down that the exaggerated voices and accented narration from Jason are done purely to annoy him. Damian constantly interrupts him, always asking questions and Jason tells him to shut up and be patient, "learn to listen demon brat."

They watch Disney and Ghibli, Laika and Illumination, and after a very enlightening conversation with one Tim Drake, Jason introduces Damian to theater. From Antigone to Romeo and Juliet, from West Side Story to Hadestown to Heathers the Musical. Bruce has walked in on them recreating various iconic sword fights too many times to count, quoting lines while dressed in blanket robes and crowns made of craft feathers and stick on jewels. Alfred thorough enjoys their riveting performances.

Like a lion teaching his cubs through play, Jason teaches him that he's never too mature for anything and screw anyone else who doesn't like it. Jason teaches him fun in a way Damian never allowed himself to have before, to look past his mission, and do things for enjoyment. He teaches Damian defiance and rebellion, two very important things for him to learn even if it's only interrupting rude rich people and disagreeing with his father over whether he needs to attend another gala.

Damian and Jason have a strange relationship, and initially aren't quite sure how to act around one another. Such large parts of their identity and experiences were formed by an indirect overlapping influence. Jason's death and the effect it had on the family and how they treat Damian, Jason's time with the league and the lazarus pit. But at the same time they understand each other in a way some of their other siblings don't. The strength and struggle in establishing their independence and identity means that their grudging respect turns into fondness with time.

Tim:

It appears that Cain Instincts don't particularly care if one is related or not, given the sheer amount of times Tim and Damian are at each other's throats initially. But with time they settle and grow more comfortable with each other, the words turn from anger to a grumbly sort of discontent, like irritated puppy's more than anything.

They bond over pride. They bond over failure. The two aren't that different really. They've seen each other at their worst. Missions with too many close calls, where the knife wounds cut too close and the bullets bit to deep, when the snap of Gotham's jaw came to close to closing over them and the only thing saving Gotham's Rogues from the collective wrath of two angry Robin's was the weight of their family's morals.

They had to learn to trust each other. But they do.

The insults are more to fill the silence, partially affection and partially with the need to annoy. They watch reruns of Star Trek and play Legend of Zelda in pajama pants (Tim) and hoody's (Damian), half draped over each other with his feet in Tim's lap. When Damian couldn't find one to his satisfaction, he gifted Tim a new skateboard with his own hand drawn and painted design. He sends a video to the family group chat of him laughing when Tim faceplants.

They are the DEFINITION of annoying to each other. Damian chucks clothes at Tim to make him shower, they get into slap fights over breakfast, they sneer at each other's drinks. "With all the coffee it's no wonder you don't grow Drake," While handing a sick Tim herbal tea for his throat.

It's an underlying trust that rarely needs to be affirmed. But when it does Damian won't hesitate to let his opinion be known. Whether it be high school bullies mocking his gangly brother, reporters trying to pit the "blood son" against the "Boy CEO", or shady members of the Gotham elite with too much interest in his family and his company, Damian's blunt attitude comes back with a vengeance. There will be no Wayne Charm, no shop talk, no backhanded compliments, when Damian Wayne gets between them and his brother. It's "I trust my brother," and "No business with the likes of you," or even "When I said you two weren't on the same level, I meant that you were the incompetent one."

Tim always tries to scold him, tells him he shouldn't be petty, I can protect myself demon, but he smiles while he says it.

Stephanie

She teases him mercilessly, will smile sweetly while "blackmailing" him and challenges him to do things he has never done before. Damian won't admit he enjoys any of it even upon threat of death. She's loud, annoying, and demanding and unapologetically so and Damian is convinced she was dropped on her head as a child. Stephanie is his sister and he loves her as a younger brother would, hurling insults at each other while fighting over french fries drinking smoothies in some fast food restaurant at 2 in the afternoon on a day out.

What strikes him about Stephanie is that she demands respect because she knows on a fundamental level that she deserves it, that all of her hard work was her own and she knew she could do it even when everyone else thought she didn't belong. As he grows Damian comes not only to admire her, but finds this a very important lesson to learn for himself.

Stephanie pushes him, she encourages him even if it's hidden under mutually shared insults. On days where she "babysits him" (she does not, Damian tells himself he doesn't need a babysitter he doesn't) she's perfectly happy to work on their motorcycles together, or have random picnics in the park with bags of fast food, or challenge him to rounds of ping pong. They learn eventually that they make a very good team together. Either destroying Tim and Jason in video games, the occasional local ping pong or DDR tournament when visiting Gotham U, or spur of the moment plans in a night time fight. Stephanie is crazy enough to believe it will work, and Damian is crazy enough to believe Stephanie will follow.

Stephanie understands what it feels like to constantly have to justify yourself, to be told you can't measure up and that you're place isn't here, even though you know it is. To have the weight of your family's decisions hanging overhead for the judgment of others.

So they learn to love each other through healthy competition and teasing remarks. Stephanie shoos him off to "talk to kids your own age, don't be so serious!". It's normal, in some ways the closest to normal Damian has had in a long time. And though they won't say it out loud, it's nice to know someone else agrees that they are entitled to these moments of happiness, these moments they were stripped of and denied for so long. They believe in each other and their right to happiness. Damian will never doubt Stephanie's strength, as spoiler or Batgirl or robin or Stephanie, and in return she will never doubt him or his place in their family.

...

Even if that means trying to escape when she wants to play dress up. "I am not your doll Brown," "Fine fine, whatever you say short stack."

Cass:

The moments between Damian and Cass are silent, but if you believe nothing is said then you are entirely wrong. They speak to each other quite often even if they don't use words.

He watches her dance, and thinks she is so strong. Damian swears she could have been a princess in another life, if life had not sunk its fangs in and poisoned her with pain instead. Just as he would have been a prince. While he initially tried to hide it, Cass always knew he was there. Damian watches her. Damian hears her words, her joy and her tears, and puts it down on to charcoal and paper. I hear you, and he shows them to her, how her form litters his pages as she pats his head. There is, Damian thinks, a poetic irony in seeing something so dangerous create something so beautiful. She is art and deserves to be heard, and Damian is grateful that she hears him too. He lets her look at pages of charcoal and ink, at canvases of paint full of everything Damian can't put into words quite yet, and finds understanding.

But while he is a Wayne, he was an Al Ghul at one point and his mother gave him the training every prince should have, skills beyond his sword. So one day, as she stretches, he brings in a case and sets it down with a clunk. He tunes the strings and plays Tomaso Albinoni's Adagio in G Minor, as she watches him with eyes that understand far too much, eyes that say I know, I hear you baby brother. Damian almost wishes she didn't, partially due to the struggle of his own pride, but also because no one should ever have to understand that kind of pain.

Moments with Cass are quiet, but they are never silent. Cass teaches him understanding, helps teach him empathy. And while Damian knows he can never dance the way she can, he can play and sketch and paint and between them their secrets can no longer be secrets. Cass doesn't teach him how to feel ,no, he's always been too good at that. Instead she teaches him ways to coax them out when the words won't come, to look around him with the wonder he wasn't allowed to have before, to let him be defined by a different set of skills that shows he can create something beautiful too.

Duke:

Damien thinks Duke is "cool", like the kind of cool you see in movies and TV shows, the average teenage boys in jeans and sneakers who fight for the underdog and stand up to bullies in a 3-on-1 fight even if they know they won't win. There is a conviction in Duke that rivals Damian's own, and Damian can't help but admire someone willing to strike out on their own and do something when they felt others were failing.

Duke is "Chill" as Jason likes to say, he's low pressure and not pushy in a way that Damian appreciates. He's calm, not in the stoic way of some of the others, but in a way that doesn't put Damian out of his comfort zone with expectations.

Time spent with Duke often consists of puzzles and card games, or movies. Duke is very good at using Damian's own pride against him to "trick" him into playing, but together they do everything from DnD to Yu-Gi-Oh Duel Monsters. It's relaxing.

Duke tells him about school and if Damian is having trouble with the more normal things of being a tween, like worrying whether other kids like him, or wearing something embarrasing, Duke brings him out of his own head. Duke plays along with his competitive nature, challenging him to races the few times they patrol together. He finds Damian outside drawing, and teaches him soccer. Other times they sit there together, Duke writing whatever comes to mind while Damian sketches. Damian gifts Duke a detailed portrait of himself; standing in the center of the crowded streets, body spliced into neat clockwork-style segments with patches of his Signal uniform, the red jacket from his time in the "We R Robin" crew, his sports uniforms, and casual clothing, the bright light of his powers bursting from within in a halo under the Gotham smog. He is Gotham's daylight protector, unique and gifted, and Damian respects that.

It's not easy, Damian is still young and cocky, still isn't very good at saying what he feels. But Duke sees right through his attempts to play it off, and it's always met with head pats and a "Whatever you say lil' D." Damian won't say it out loud but he thinks that the sheer conviction Duke has for doing what's right bleeds into every aspect of him, and that maybe with time it will do the same for himself. Damian admires his strength of will and determination, and the work Duke is willing to put in to get what he wants.

[pattonsperfectfamily-asks]

Chapter 18- What’s in a Name

TW: forcing someone to throw up, lying, yelling, manipulation, 

Masterpost

1st day of vacation

“C'mon Virgil, hurry up!” Damien says anxiously, hurriedly pulling the fourteen-year-old behind him as he tried to run through the woods.

“Where are we going?” Virgil says worriedly, looking down at Sela, who kept pace at his side, occasionally snapping at the flowing fabric of the white sundress he was wearing. “Dad said the berry bushes we on the other fork in the trail.”

“We’re not going berry picking Virgil, now come on!” Damien rolls his eyes, beginning to sprint when he saw the unattended beach on the other side of the island. “Here, help me get some sticks!”

“What are you doing?” Virgil asks, tilting his head and stopping at the treeline as Damien began to rush around picking up sticks. Sela sat down next to him, licking his palm and letting out a small yap.

“We’re gonna spell Roman’s last name out with sticks. He’s famous.” Damien explains tiredly, grabbing another stick.

“Why are you gonna do that?”

“So that someone in a plane might see it and think ‘hey, that missing author’s last name is spelled on that beach down there’!”

“So?”

“So then they’d rescue us, Virgil!” The nineteen year old snaps, “Now help me!”

“Why would they want to rescue us? Nothing’s wrong. And since when is Uncle Roman famous?”

“God damn it, Virgil!” Damien groans, hiding his head in his hands.

Virgil pouts, moving to the sea and pulling off his shoes.

“What are you doing?” Damien asks tiredly.

“I’m going swimming!” Virgil says excitedly, seemingly forgetting the argument as he wades into the water. Sela follows him happily.

“I’m supposed to be watching you, get back over here!” Damien orders.

“You’re not that good of a babysitter. I wanna swim, not make some dumb sign.” Virgil whines, crossing his arms and staring back at his brother.

Damien throws up his arms, looking at the sky. “God? Anybody, for crying out loud!”

“Come swim with me!” Virgil whines. Damien sighs.

“First Patton takes my yarmulke, and now he takes everyone else’s sanity. Fine!” Yanking off his shoes, Damien angrily throws them down on the sand and runs into the water.

Virgil smiles at him, diving under the water and swimming a few feet away before surfacing. “There’s shells!”

“Just don’t get bit by a shark.” Damien sighs, before his eyes light up with an idea. “Do you want to do something fun?”

“What?” Virgil asks, giggling when Sela began to swim out towards him, her head bobbing in the water.

“Let’s make a raft!” Damien suggests. “We could paddle it around.”

Virgil pauses, looking unsure. “I don’t know. We’re supposed to be picking berries.”

Damien bites back a snarky reply and smiles as brightly as he can. “Dad and Papa are spending time together. They won’t even notice we’re gone. And with the way you eat, they won’t question any missing berries either.”

Virgil laughs, diving underwater again and disappearing.

Damien waits until Virgil resurfaces, beginning to play fetch in the water with Sela before he goes back to shore.

Without Virgil’s help, it takes Damien a lot longer to make the sign, but he eventually makes a sizeable Sanders in the sand with sticks and rocks.

“Come on Virgil, it’s getting late!” Damien calls. The younger boy looks over at him, then begins to swim for shore.

Virgil shivers once he catches up to Damien, obediently following him on the trail back to the summer house.

“Look at you two, you’re soaked to the bone and freezing!” Patton comes out when he sees the two approaching, holding two fluffy towels.

Virgil giggles as Patton aggressively begins to dry his hair off. “Dad, my purple is fading out again, can we dye my hair soon?”

“Ohh, but honey, you look so pretty with your dark hair.” Patton pouts, ruffling the still-wet hair. “Plus, we’re on an island right now. We can’t go to the store until vacation is over. Can we leave your hair black for a bit kiddo?”

Virgil’s bright smile falters slightly, before turning into an all out pout. “Okay…”

Patton smiles, kissing his son on the nose before looking down at the empty basket. “Did you eat all the berries already jelly bean?”

“We went swimming instead.” Damien cuts in truthfully, not giving Virgil any time to speak about the sign.

“That sounds fun!” Patton smiles, grabbing Virgil’s hand and straightening. “Let’s get you out of that dress and into a nice, dry nightgown. It’s getting late.”

2nd day of vacation

“Damien!”

A hard shove.

Damien grunts, rolling over and trying to pull the covers back over his head, only to be stopped by some force.

“Damien wake up!” That voice again!

“Remy stop it.” Damien mumbles.

“Dami stop it!” The voice whines. “Who’s Remy?”

Damien’s eyes shoot open.

Virgil.

Groaning he rolls over and stares at the god awful ocean-themed room.

“Damien dad’s yelling…” Virgil whimpers. “Please get up, I don’t want him to be more mad…”

Damien sits up, looking at Virgil wearily. “Why’s he mad? What did you do?”

“Nothing! He was mad at Uncle Remus, and then he and Uncle Roman started arguing…” Virgil crawls into the bed next to Damien, wrapping his arms around Damien’s waist and hiding his face in their chest. “I don’t like when they yell…”

Damien rolls his eyes, reluctantly wrapping his arms around Virgil and picking the smaller boy up, carrying him downstairs.

“-to have made it, it’s his name!”

“Look at him Patton, he can’t do anything because of you!”

“So you did it then?”

“No! I was here all day!”

Damien’s eyes widen, setting Virgil down as the two adults look over at them.

“Morning kiddos!” Patton greets peppily, forcing a smile onto his face. “Uncle Roman and I are just having a little disagreement, why don’t you go play outside?”

“Why are you fighting?” Damien asks, grabbing Virgil’s hand and squeezing it.

“Patton think I made a sign on the beach.” Roman glares. “Which I didn’t. I’m not an idiot.”

“Or Remus did it.” Patton retorts.

“He just sits around all day! How the hell could he make a sign?” Roman yells.

“How do you know it wasn’t Logan?” Damien asks, a wash of anger and guilt settling in his stomach.

“Because he was here with me. Are you saying that you did it?” Patton asks, grabbing Damien’s chin and forcing the teen to look him in the eyes.

“No.” Damien says, his voice steady. “I was with Virgil all day.”

“So it’s settled then?” Patton smiles sickly sweet. “It was either Roman or Remus, and if Remus can’t walk without someone telling him to…”

Patton cuts off, turning and moving to storm back over to Roman.

“I did it!”

Patton stops and turns, Roman looking at Virgil in shock.

“What?” Damien looks down at Virgil, trying to hide his panic.

“I…” Virgil sniffles, his eyes watering as Patton kneels down next to him. “I jus-just made it be-because I thought it would cheer Uncle Remus up…I didn’t know you’d be mad…”

“Really honey?” Patton asks, his voice scarily calm.

“Mhm…” Virgil nods, staring at the ground and shrinking into himself, trying to look meek.

“There!” Damien announces. “It was an accident.”

“Dami, my little baker, if a chef accidentally puts peanuts into an order of someone that was allergic to peanuts, would they still get sued for physical endangerment?”

“Uhm…” Damien shifts. “Yeah, but what does that have to do with-?”

“If the chef has to suffer the consequences of their mistake, and learn to be more careful when preparing food, then Virgil should too.” Patton harshly grabs Virgil’s arm and starts to pull them into the room he shared with Logan.

“Pl-Please, I’m sorry dad!” Virgil wailed as Patton’s nails dug into his skin.

“Patton stop!” Roman tries futilely.

“I did it!" 

Patton stops just outside the door to the bedroom, looks back at Damien and then grins. "Nice try, Spartacus.”

“Patton-!” Damien rushes forward, pounding his fists on the closed door. “Patton please, it really was me, don’t hurt him!”

There’s silence from inside the room, then a loud cry from Virgil. Damien hardly noticed his knuckles getting bloody until Roman grabbed him by the waist and pulled him away from the door.

Virgil sobbed as Patton leaned him forward again and he emptied his stomach into the toilet in front of him.

“There we go baby…” Patton gently cards his fingers through Virgil’s hair and dabs at the sweat on his face as he heaved. “You won’t be making that mistake again, will you?”

“N-No!” Virgil manages to get out before puking again, the gross taste embedding itself in his throat, and even his nose.

“It’ll only last a few more seconds Virgey.” Patton gently kisses the side of Virgil’s head. “Then I’ll make you a nice big breakfast. You’re staying inside with me and Papa all day today, m'kay? Maybe I’ll trust you on the beach in the morning.”

Virgil sniffled, his eyes watering, as his stomach finally settled. Sitting still, he allows Patton to clean off his face and help him rinse out his mouth, before collapsing into his arms with one last sob.

“It’s okay sweetie, I’ve got you.” Patton murmurs, gently rocking the boy.

Virgil let’s his eyes drift shut.

Words: 1,515

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[iphoenixrising]

Hi, no idea if you are still active or writing but if you are I was wondering what your take is on a verse kinda like fracture except instead of only Tim being left by home self none of the JLA show up for clean up. I feel like if they JLA stoped showing enough to disasters the titans would start to plan for zero back up.

Babe, fuck yes I’m active, just very, very busy, sadly.  The last two days and next two have been awful, filled with meetings and needs that will have to be met quickly. I have too much work in the next three months that will make writing very hard to do, tbh. I mean, fun writing like this. The number of tasks and needs I’ll have to address is utterly fucking staggering.  (Last minute bullshit fail. My. Fucking. Life.)

Anyway.

Tim left by himself. No JLA support, no Bats. It’s him and his team. Let’s set it somewhere, like Tim is almost nineteen, and Bruce is back, has been Batman for a minute. After Dami’s year of the Blood redux in which he has Goliath and hangs out with Jon (who may not necessarily be Superboy since Kon is still in the picture but maybe just goes by something else), Colin, and Nobody. Dick is Nightwing, moving through Gotham when needed, hanging out with the Outlaws sometimes, moves where he needs to go.  Red Hood is back communicating with the family, Babs and Cass more than anything. I love him having a love/hate broship with Dami, like Robins that died is such an exclusive club.

They’ve been coming closer as a family, making Alfred all kind of happy about it.

The JLA has been pretty great after the UN finally recognized them as a force for good and give them more freedom than before. Public opinion is positive for a change, and the usual array of bad guys has been less manic and insane lately so they have time to just have lives once and a while.

The Titans...well. Let’s just say after Dick hands the cowl back over and the OG Bat returns to the League, the members have already given their sidekicks plenty of space since most of them are 18 now and have been in the superhero gig for long enough they don’t call for help often. Their mission success rate has been incredible, so a few injuries maybe, a team member on the screen telling the JLA everything is fine.

So, it’s just a normal progression. Crime never ends, bad guys never sleep, and the universe is vast. 

Clark doesn’t realize he hasn’t spoken to Kon-El in months. Diana has no idea Cassie was badly hurt in the last mission and has to spend five days in the Tower’s med-lab. B hasn’t kept up with Red Robin, not with another Robin and Gotham on his hands. Flash is always, always moving, but even so, Kid Flash has his own life so a few five-minute check-in calls aren’t followed-up with a real face-to-face. Beast Boy might have hung out with his old buddies from the Doom Patrol over the JLA because his main man, Vic, is always busy scanning and moving so they game console they love to play together is dusty from lack of use. Raven has been dealing with Trigon and the demon world well enough that Zatanna hasn’t felt the need to check in.

The Titans have it all handled, so the JLA doesn’t need to give fly-bys and weekly check-ups.

They move with their own motivations now, no longer taking tasks from the Bat, so really, it just kind of happens.

Kids grow up, right?

It’s a pity later when Superman happens to come on a nice fight between The Titans and the Terror Society. It’s bloody and absolutely awful, the Titans absolutely outnumber, out-gunned, and still fighting with every ounce of might.

Without even thinking, Superman jumps into the fray, throwing his strength in with theirs, beating back the baddies shoulder-to-shoulder with Kon-El, whom is taller, broader than the last time he’d seen him. Just older. 

While the dust is settling and the human authorities are rounding up the beaten bad guys, Supes lifts himself up for the mother of all lectures –

– when he realizes no one is even looking at him or paying him any attention while he’s talking. They’re taking care of each other, tending wounds and talking with the authorities, coordinating the clean-up effort, checking on civilians caught in the crossfire.

He realizes when he tries to say something to Red Robin about contacting the League and the leader literally laughs at him. He realizes when Raven merely turns away from his well-meaning speech with a sneer. He realizes when Cassie cuts him off in the middle of his sentence and demands to know why the hell he’s even here. He realizes when Gar doesn’t give him a high-five or turn into a monkey and climb over his shoulders, no chatter, no catching-up, just a brief ‘thanks for the help, now go away’ speech on his way to do other things. 

Sure, he might feel just a wee bit guilty that Cassie seems more mature, Red Robin is taller and broader, less baby fat on his cheeks, Kon-El looks past him instead of at him, Gar absently waves good-bye without a backwards glance, Raven completely ghosts him.

He might go back to the JLA and rant to the core four about how odd it was that no one bothered to call for help or even let them know how bad the situation was. He might be upset enough about it that B takes note and gets curious about how many other pretty bad fights there have been. Diana picks up the phone just to see, and is incredibly hurt when it goes straight to voicemail. Wally tries to stop at Jay’s and Bart’s apartment, but somehow his little dude keeps ducking and dodging him. 

And I mean, it could go the way we all would love for it to go. The JLA in a joint agreement to put in some effort and earn back their former sidekicks’ trust and friendship. 

Clark coming by on Wednesdays with Lo and Jon, making Conner take a break from patrol to go to a movie or have a game night, making him be a person rather than the always hero.  

The Bats pretty much stalking Tim into coming back to Gotham more, working him into thinking of the Manor and Cave as home again.

Diana using excuses like Amazonian laws or traditions to make Cassie go back to Themyscira so they can try to reform their old bond. Donna might jump right on that boat and have a girl’s night already planned out for the three of them.

Constantine and Zatanna totally have fun times messing with the Carnivorous Beast Dimension with Rachel, coming to her with different spells to help the immense pressure her demon blood wrecks on her control.

Vic is such an asshole, BB, and compadre, can we please break out some old school Dr. Mario and just beat their old high score? No...? What about for old time’s sake, buddy, I miss you, man.

Wally might fake an injury when Zoom makes another terrible appearance in Central City to draw his little dude out to pretty much save him. Of course it works, and KF saves his former mentor, is actually caught when he tries to speed away without saying a word.