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1.
“No.”
Damian denied in all his fourteen glory, staring down with determination with his blue eyes. He would not budge. Cassandra could give him all the puppy eyes in the world, he would not on his right mind let her convince him.
Nope.
“Please.” She mumbled, looking like her heart would break in a million pieces if he didn’t agree with her request.
“Absolutely not .” He reaffirmed, crossing his arms and strengthening his resolve to resist . He. Would. Not . Budge.
“Please, Big Brother…” She pleaded, bringing her water works into play at the same time her lip started to tremble in a cute pout.
Damn it all to hell.
“...Alright. Just this time.” Damian sighed in defeat, feeling slightly betrayed by the way Cassandra instantly had not a single tear trapped on her brown eyes and was sporting a 220W grin with a lot of teeth showing. Little sisters, huh he thought fondly.
The fondness left his body as soon as he saw himself with ballerina’s clothes while helping his little sister to make the most complicated ballet moves - when he knew she could do it all on her own, and definitely without need of his person being in these clothes to begin with. He would have a very important talk with his Father about the option of no more children, Father, two is already too much. Too much, do your hear me? And please explain to me WHY couldn’t I be a single child, Father? Don’t you love me anymore?
Yes, he would. Right after helping Cassandra with a sequence of plies and jumps and feet in pointed positions.
-
2.
As soon as they were inside the elevators and after clicking the accordingly andar button, their mouths were glued together in a heated kiss, their tongues were dancing with each other while their hands held each other faces near, not wanting the other to part even for a little bit. Damian felt his whole body alighted, all his nerves tingling and singing with the rush of being with Jon this way, the newness of their relationship still sending him in a frenzy extremely different from the ones rage induced. It seemed too much to wait any longer, considering they had already proved the taste of how life could be so fleeting, so he jumped with all the certainty of someone that had never been involved in a relationship this way - so yeah, with abandon .
No one could accuse Damian of lacking in eagerness, for sure.
Leaving the lift, their hands started to explore, with nails pressing against broad backs over shirts while little moans were swallowed by eager mouths eating every little sound they made. Reaching the front door wasn’t enough to keep their hands off each other, but they did interrupt the kiss just for a bit - enough for Jon to shove Damian’s front against the hard wooden surface while the younger man tried despairingly to open the door with fumbling keys. Jon immediately glued himself to Damian’s back, kissing all over the younger man’s neck and sucking his skin between his kryptonian teeth to obviously make a love mark. The little moans that left those tantalizing open lips just made Jon suck harder.
(Obviously making it all so much difficult to focus on. Really. Damian felt like it was almost counter-productive trying to open the door while being pushed against it - even if it felt really good)
When the door finally opened the two almost fell through it - if it was not for Jon’s reflexes and inhuman strong arms, rightening Damian’s position to being flush against himself again while attacking that beautiful mouth before he could say Habibi, they would actually had ended up on the floor (Not that it was a bad idea, just one for another day for sure).
Shutting the door with a backwards kick, their hands became frenzied trying to take off coats without interrupting their heated kiss. Damian guided them both without the need to actually see the way to his bedroom, trying despairingly to take off Jon’s shirt without ripping it to pieces or sending buttons to every direction.
“Ew, gross, get a room you two.”
It was like having a car braking brusquely inside his head, or even an ice bucket being turned over them mercilessly. They stopped the kiss with labored breaths, hesitantly giving each other space while staring disbelievingly at each other and adjusting themselves inside their pants. Damian knew whose voice was that, but he couldn’t for the life of him understand why she was at his apartment. Why .
“Actually, we did get a room… My bedroom , for that.” Damian murmured, massaging the bridge of his nose while hearing Jon embarrassingly mumbling Oh my God s. When he opened his eyes and looked at the direction of his own bed, Damian almost couldn’t believe the scene: Stephanie and Timothy huddled together under his covers, with his laptop open over their laps clearly watching Netflix - with Timothy unhealthily pale and subdued, with hard lines of loss of weight that weren’t there the last time Damian saw him. “I shall ask: why are you two here?” The frustration and irritation of being denied what he really had wanted for the night made him a bit more harsh than he normally already was.
Stephanie sent him a look after side-glancing Timothy, obviously thinking herself extremely discreet or something. He had an inkling of what the hell she was trying to say, but it didn’t diminish his frustration. Besides, Damian just couldn’t understand why those two would seek him out for comfort. Seriously. He didn’t even kill the psychotic clown, Timothy weren’t exactly revenged or anything. There was absolutely no difference between his Father and himself on these regards: they were both a bit emotionally constipated and Father was nearer to those two, like, in the same house or even in the same city. Where was Cassandra, anyway? Didn’t they consider her a sister or something?
And for Allah’s sake, it was his apartment, in the most possibly distant city from Gotham without being too far - who knew when the incompetent fools would be over themselves again? Clearly his Father was losing his touch - so why they thought it would be ok to trespass his territory tonight (of all nights)?
Too many questions when he clearly did not want to think in the first place. Jon had been doing such a good job with that.
“... Hi guys.” Jon waved, red faced and clearly uncomfortable. He kind of expected more maturity from the guy, considering he was 3 years older than Damian (who was way better collected, thank you very much), but he was not surprised at all. Jonathan was just the same guy from two years back - and he kind of would not want him any other way.
“Hi Jon.” The teenagers answered quietly, returning their attention to the show on the notebook’s screen, clearly in no hurry to vacate Damian’s bed.
Why. Just, why .
Damian guided Jon out of the bedroom while trying really hard to breath and control his feelings, because the apartment was his for only a couple of weeks and he liked the silly thing - he really didn’t want to destroy it to pieces. Besides, he obviously wanted Jon to come back any other time there were not any Bats around, so, it would be extremely counter productive to destroy it all.
“Do you entertain your abilities a few times a day? Like, your super hearing?” He asked with sarcasm as soon as they were in the living room, ignoring the way Jon stiffened beside him.
“I was distracted!” Jon defended himself, more like whined, while getting his coat from the ground where they had thrown it carelessly. “How should I hear your siblings when you were making the most delicious noises?” He mumbled, kicking weakly nothing but air with one foot while staring at Damian through his dark lashes. Those baby blues would be the death of him someday - another death because, apparently, it was a thing now.
And well…Good point, that. Jon had been doing some fantastic noises too.
“You are so going to pay for this comment next time.” Damian mumbled, ignoring Jon’s tiny smirk and giving him a close mouthed kiss. They held each other close, basking in this new discovery between them and both clearly thinking of Damian’s words of next time .
“Tell me when they leave?” Jon murmured, locking his forehead to Damian’s, breathing together with the man that he thought he had lost forever. One year without him had proved to be already too much, another to finally reach this had been stretching it too thin.
“Yes, habibi.” Damian quietly agreed, and soon Jon left.
Such a loss of good ways to spend his time - after a wonderful date, too.
Damian sighed, hanging his head back, staring at his roof and tiredly thinking about the crisis waiting for him in his bedroom. And, of course, in a mix of anger and exasperation, he could not stop from thinking how he barely considered those two family, and yet they were already all fuzzy on his bed, sucessfully cockbloking him.
Really.
He would so remind his Father how there is already too many children, Father, stop this nonsense, please. You can not adopt or even become a guardian to every child you put your eyes on. No. Absolutely not. Stop this. Ah-ha, no arguments.
Yeah. Maybe it was a sign that he needed to be at home more often. Who knew? Maybe that way he could stop Bruce Wayne from creating a nursery on the manor or something like that.
-
3.
He was, for the first time he could remember in years, speechless.
“Old man, I ain’t going apologize! You rich people can buy this things like bananas… Or whatever you people buy in large amounts, dunno what the hell could that be - BUT the point stands, you’re rich, clearly, having this babe and your other stuff, so sorry not sorry.” The kid complained, looking like a deer caught in headlights (that was clearly feeling a bit confrontational) while being held by the scruff of his neck so easily that Damian really questioned himself if the kid had anything to eat in a daily basis.
“You do know you were trying to steal my bike… Right?” Damian asked anyway, arching an eyebrow with his green eyes staring at the boy completely unimpressed. The black mask, covering the low half of his face including his nose, could hide his identity together with the hood - but could not hide the condescendence. At that point he did not even care about being called old. The night was turning out bizarre enough.
“Dunno what you’re talking about.” The little scowl on the kid’s face should be more annoying than cute, that Damian did know.
But. Well.
“How old are you?”
“None of your business!”
Ok, finding it all cute was such a fleeting feeling.
“You know what is my business? My bike. The one you tried to steal, and let me tell you, it was an absolutely atrocious work. You do not try to steal something you can not hack.” He drawled, still holding the kid so easily that he was almost worried. “It would be easier to ask me to give you the dumb thing.” He added.
“... What.”
Damian was kind of proud of himself for finally shutting up the sassy miscreant.
“Do you even know how to drive it?” He asked curiously, finding it all extremely interesting. It was always a novelty to see someone that didn’t fear him as Shadow - outside his imbecile family (he was not including Alfred on this category, because the man was not an imbecile, he was actually too intelligent. Damian still did not understand why the butler did not ask for a substantial raise with all the things he dealt with the Wayne family, he sure deserved it).
There were a few seconds of silence. The kid was actually thinking about the question, apparently.
“... Uhm, no.” The kid admitted, clearly confused by the way things were going. Apparently he expected more violence or something like that.
“You are hopeless.” Damian declared, ignoring the way the child stiffened in his hold. “What is your name?”
“... Why should I tell ya? Let me go!” He demanded, almost like he just remembered he was being held. He kicked the air, trying to hit Damian with gusto but missing him easily. The impression of finding it all really cute returned, and Damian did not know if he was furious for feeling that way or impressed by someone making him feel that way (the kid did try to steal from Shadow while being a tiny furious energy ball of a teenager - it was kind of impressive, alright).
“Because I need to know how you are called to introduce you to Batman. He can give you a few things if you are really in need.” Damian again drawled, still holding the kid away and ignoring the tiny legs trying to reach any part of his body. Ok, this was getting a bit aggravating.
“Oh my God, please don’t .” And then Damian saw - for the first time since catching a random child trying to steal his bike parked on Crime Alley - fear . “My name is Jason, no need to bring the big Bat to this!”
It was absolutely insulting. Damian found himself feeling extremely offended, at the moment.
The kid was afraid of Batman ? Really?
Unacceptable.
“Oh I am so introducing you to him. Absolutely no regrets.” Damian sniffed, throwing the kid over his right shoulder like a sack of potatoes, ignoring the protests with ease and holding him firmly while mounting his bike.
If he ended up suggesting to Bruce to adopt Jason, ignoring all the talks himself had with his Father about not taking every child he set his eyes upon, it was only because he wanted to teach the child to not fear the Batman.
Priorities. Damn it.
-
4.
“Dami, Dami, Dami, Dami, Dami-”
“Stop it, Grayson.”
“But Dami!”
“I already said no.”
“ Pleaaaase!”
“No. I will not repeat myself.”
Damian committed the horrible mistake of tearing his eyes from his sketch away and staring at a 10 year old Richard ‘Dick’ Grayson, standing right beside him on Damian’s bedroom like he owned the space as much as the older man. Damian wasn’t really surprised, once you met all his siblings you could see how they all found it absolutely impossible to understand the holy concept of personal space .
It was like seeing a little Cassandra trying to convince him of helping her on her ballet classes all over again. The child had his blue eyes filled to the brim with tears together with a little pout that perfected and redefined the ‘puppy look’ definition with mastery.
“Grayson…” Damian drawled, not a little bit whiny, nope. He was not capable of something so humiliating as a whine .
“Please, Dami. Please. ” Richard insisted, holding both hands to his own chest almost like a prayer motion - when Damian knew Richard was not even religious, the little brat.
And that’s how he found himself, a grown adult, the great and formidable Shadow , trick or treating in a Halloween night early enough to not mess the patrol routine while wearing a Superman costume (would he hear the end of it someday? Would his Father forgive him, too?) and walking beside Richard’s idea of an excellent theme for them to follow - Grayson wearing a Superboy costume. Damian felt it was likely wrong in so many levels, but he abstained of saying anything to not make the child cry. Worse than his puppy look was seeing Richard cry.
He was so screwed.
Kind of exasperated and a bit frustrated, but screwed too.
-
5.
“He is going to be sooo pissed.” Stephanie quipped, taking a look around herself with some embarrassment. The playroom they were sitting inside, with bright colors and toys scattered everywhere, made a less than perfect - actually kind of precarious - holding cell. If she moved in a certain way she could hear a squeaky noise that couldn’t come from any other thing than a rubber chicken.
Dignity was something really rare this days, it seemed.
“He always is. It’s his predominant trait and emotion, his whole being feeds on it and I can totally picture it!” Tim groaned while banging his own head against the enormous stuffed Bear behind him, imagining the face Damian would make when he discovered what had happened and how miserably they failed to apprehend the most inane villain possible.
Tim always felt extremely frustrated when they gave Damian older-brother-ammunition. Why, oh why every single time Damian warned them to not do something, and they did that something, it all went to shit?
“... Do you really think he will come?” Dick asked in a small voice, visibly dejected. His shuffling feet sending colorful blocks to the side. The youngest was not really used to the shenanigans of the family yet, even if he was one of the greatest instigators of them as soon as he was part of the Waynes.
“Big brother will come.” Cass answered, sitting with her back straight and legs crossed, not giving space to arguments… Or trying not to. With Dick sometimes it was difficult.
“But we totally ignored what he said, and you know how he gets when it happens.” Dick complains, biting his lip in a nervous gesture and kicking the blocks away.
“Man, and you even called him a Mother Hen Baby Bat, you are so screwed.”
“Jason!” Steph, Tim and Cass admonished while Dick flinched.
“Names on the f iel d.” Jason singsonged, cackling with Steph trying to kick him from the distance and only achieving in hitting a Barbie and sending it directly at Tim (Jason felt extremely vindicated after Tim’s prank of messing with his shampoo and giving Jason the most ridiculous blood red hair. Sure, he still looked really good, but principles ). The boy just kicked it back, totally missing Steph by very much.
“He will come .” Cass repeated, staring at each of them for a few seconds. “Batman will come too.”
“Somehow that doesn’t make me feel better at all. I’m so totally more afraid of Shadow than of Batman, and who do you guys think will come free us: the Old Man or the Big Bad Bro?” Steph added, trying her handcuffs again and concluding that yes, they were magically welded together. Damn. “I really wished B would trade his usual MO and rescue us instead.”
She was already grieving her peace of mind.
“We will never live it down. Seriously. It’s gonna be terrible. Imagine all the family moments from here on out? Shadow will be so over himself, ugh.” Jason complained, maybe more like whined, while Tim shuddered with the prospect.
“You all should have thought about it before disobeying my orders.” Damian’s stern voice interrupted from the doorway.
Jason yelped, but he would deny it for the rest of his life, thank you very much.
The silence stretched with obvious discomfort.
“... Bat-Mite, really?” Damian asked, his arms crossed and feet wide apart, his imposing figure occupying the whole doorway and his face permanently fixed in a constipated way that clearly showed how he was holding a smirk with much difficulty (obvious even with his face mask, it was mystery how his identity was still protected, really). “I do not know If I am more angry or ashamed.”
“See? Insufferable.” Jason huffed quietly, staring at the ground just like all the others - like a kicked puppy .
“What did I say?” Damian continued, ignoring completely Jason’s input. He was so savoring this moment of older sibling gloating. “I told you, Bat-Mite is an asinine villain, he only wants Father's attention and as soon as he gets it he is going away. However, what you all probably heard? Let me see… I shall guess it was something like ‘Bat-Mite is a villain and he wants Batman, we must make him go away. Specially if Shadow does not want us to!’ - Am I right? Why am I even asking? I am absolutely right.” Damian, in all his Shadow glory, stared down every each of his younger siblings enjoying the fidgeting with sadistic glee. Oh, the discomfort.
Beautiful, really.
“... We are pretty, pretty sorry?” Steph voiced, giving him a big smile and an innocent face that fooled a total of no one.
Damian huffed a laugh, massaging the bridge of his nose trying to postpone the headache he knew was coming. Younger siblings, always greying your hair prematurely. “I hope you all learned your lesson. I am really this close -” he made the according gesture with his thumb and forefinger, showing a tiny-almost-null-space between them, “of benching everyone for an entire month !”
“Noooo!” Dick groaned in despair, staring at the older man with horrified blue eyes - eyes that were rapidly filling with tears and were being accompanied by a trembling lip and a puppy face that definitely did not soften Damian even a little bit. Nope. Not at all.
Cass doing the same face? Totally not softening him. It was not like he had an entire history of falling to her tricks.
Nope.
…
“I am so going to regret this.” Damian mumbled to himself, sighing and rolling his eyes while mumbling a simple enough unbinding spell. In a second the soft click of their handcuffs opening and falling to the ground was followed by five grinning siblings and knowing glances.
So. Regretting. This.
“Yay! Free!” Steph stressed, jumping to her feet with enthusiasm. “Thank God Shadow came, really. I knew he was better than Batman to rescue us.” She continued, gaining a giggle from Cass, a huffed laughter from Tim and a cackle from Jason.
From Dick, only the best, really. “But weren't you saying something between the lines that you prefered Batman?” God bless younger siblings.
The purity of soul of a kid, seriously.
The vein popping on Damian’s forehead was only the beginning. And if the miscreants arrived at the manor with a characteristic swelling on their heads, he felt entirely justified.