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This wasn't supposed to go like this. This was NOT supposed to be this. hard.
When Bruce came to him yesterday crying begging on the ground asking if he could "babysit" Damian last minute for the day because of some stuff with WE, Tim thought: Wow Bruce, what the fuck was everyone else doing that you had to resort to me out of all people?
Of course, he still said yes, partly because his and Damian's relationship has been getting better, and partly because he wanted to know why the demon needed to be supervised for the day in the first place.
So with a nod of his head and a wave of his hand Tim set out to finish the case file he was working on while opening a a new file called "Alpha - Codename : Best Day Ever" and he set out to absolutely plan the shit out of the day because damn him if he was not going to gain something out of it (read: Damian was going to allow him to use the barn again by the end of the day, he had experiments to run damn it.)
By 8a.m. Tim was up, running, and had already prepared everything he needed for the day. He checked the weather three times just to assure himself all the activities he meticulously picked were weather appropriate, and also just to pass time.
The moment his clock hit 08:30 he was already halfway down the main stairs on a direct route to their family kitchen
The delicious smell of avocado toast and scrambled eggs had already permeated the corridor in front of the kitchen door, so when Tim arrived, he steeled himself to set his plan in motion:
[Open New Entry]
[Codename: Best Day Ever]
Step 1: Soften Damian by getting Alf to cook something he likes, good enough to make a good start to the day but not enough to make him suspicious.
He opened the door without much ado, greeting Alfie who was finishing up another round of scrambled eggs, making his way to the seat he meticulously assigned himself that morning (one seat away to the right of Damian). The moment he sat Alfred came and put a steaming cup of coffee in front of him, his tense bones minutely relaxing when he took the mug in his hands and sipped at the steaming beverage.
Tim looked at Damian from the corner of his eyes, noticing how Damian was frowning slightly at his plate. That wasn’t uncommon, but Tim did hope Damian would be at least more content right now given his breakfast choice. Unless something unaccounted for happened that decreased Damian’s mood- Which if it did happen then Tim would have to shuffle some things around and maybe potentially add a step 1.5 or step 2.5-
“Drake, I have been informed that I will be under your watch today. I see no need for this arbitrary supervision, but father was adamant that I did not spend the day alone… So I… Look forward towards what you have planned.” Damian said methodically, as if he was repeating a script.
Oh. “Oh.”
Step 2: Gently break the news of Tim being the one he has to spend the day with.
[New Entry] Step 2: Share plans?
“No yeah, um...” Tim won’t lie and say he didn’t get thrown off by Damian saying that. He was expecting much more pushback, but it seemed Bruce had told him beforehand and Damian was much more amenable to the idea than Tim thought. Maybe their relationship had improved more than he guessed, which was a plus because then it means that some of the later steps will be easier to achieve than previously thought. “…I was meaning to get some new highlighters from that art one art shop and thought, why not take the opportunity and take you too.”
Damian’s frown deepened for a second, his head turning to Tim and his lips stretched on a line. Tim’s mind almost (almost) started going off on how maybe that wasn’t such a good idea and how he maybe misread the situation and how maybe he should think of new things, but Damian answered “That is acceptable, I did not think we would be getting out of the manor but… That is a pleasant surprise.” And Tim’s head screeched to a stop.
“Yeah,” He smiled at his little brother, because that’s what Damian was, and if anything he got reminded on how Damian was, at the end of the day, just a kid who was still trying to find his place here, “The day is really nice from what I checked, so it would be a shame to just stay inside.”
“Have you told father?” Damian murmured, still clear but silently enough that something in Tim’s brain tingled. Tim looked over to Alfred, who had his back turned to them, and then back to Damian who had a pensive look in his eyes.
“Alfie heard us. He knows where we are going and Bruce has my number if he has any questions.” Tim just shrugged. Damian’s own shoulders relaxing a bit, “Besides if he had any complains he can raise it to the ‘He should’ve been here in the first place and has no right to complain’ council.”
Damian ‘tsk’d and pointed his nose up “Father will have no standing before that court.”
Step 3: At 0946 leave for Artisan Painting's Supply Shop - Take the Bentley. Make do.
Tim was down in the garage already when the clock in his phone turned to the planned minute. Great, they were steady on schedule, and this was going way better than Tim anticipated. If they continue like this he could even skip step 16 to 20 and Damian might offer the place for Tim to use without any bribes!
Tim was happily humming to himself while adjusting the rear-view mirror of Bruce’s convertible Bentley when Damian dropped a bag on the back seat and opened the door to the passenger side to get in.
“I apologize for the wait,” He buckled himself in and turned to Tim “I seemed to have misplaced my list of materials I need to replace, it took me an embarrassing amount of time to remember where I put it.” Damian’s eyes frowned slightly, looking across Tim’s face.
“That’s fine, I was just sorting out what songs to blast while I drive.” Damian visibly tensed at that and Tim had to hold back a snicker “Since today is such a rare nice day I was thinking of something more relaxed, so I’ll give you two choices you pick, yeah?”
Damian frowned, his posture still rigid, but nodded nonetheless.
Tim looked down at the two choices he has separated, then on a moments notice decided on one “Actually, too late, I just queued seven songs which is exactly how long it’ll take us to get there- You buckled?”
“Drake the store is at the other side of Gotham what do you mean. Drake. Drake- DRAKE- TIMOTHYYYYY-“
It took them exactly the amount of songs (and one sneaky requeue of Snake from the arcane playlist from Damian) for them to reach their destination.
“Well that felt great, I don’t know why I don’t go out more just for a drive.”
“I’m going to throw up.”
“No you won’t. You’re Robin, stop being dramatic.”
Tim activated the retractable roof back over and closed the car before turning towards the door of the store and guiding Damian inside by his hands on his shoulders and a little bit of force as Damian wobbled his way in.
The shop was a little artisanal piece of heaven in the grimness that was Gotham, ran by an elderly couple that started their business by selling handmade art supplies of high quality. Tim came across them one time when their bank account was being used as a dupe by some local gang, Tim finding out that they were being drained of their money and left with only the bare minimum to keep afloat, the couple not even noticing that the money was gone and chalking it up to cost of local supplies and rent, which, fair enough.
He had solved the issue in the end, obviously, but unfortunately solving it did not involve getting the couple their money back, so as an alternative he… Gave them a contact that could constantly source them with fresh high-quality supplies to keep their craft up.
Ivy had been ecstatic when Tim had told her about the couple and about their work, so she was the one who offered herself up. Tim could not and would not be charged with aiding and abetting a known criminal, if at the end of the day the three of them end up like, crazy or something (Two. Ivy is not off the hook yet.)
It had been a good couple of months since then, so if something was meant to happen it should have happened already by now. That’s why he had no qualms in telling Damian about the shop when they first started to properly get along (lack of anything to say can lead to these scenarios), and he also figured, it wouldn’t hurt having someone else keeping a look on the place from time to time.
A soft chime sounded out when they entered the place signalizing new customers to whoever was manning the register. A soft voice greeted them from the back room, Tim and Damian making themselves comfortable while browsing the different selection of products around.
It was a comfortable silence that they usually found themselves in whenever they hung out. Even if it was too few to properly pull enough data to properly form a correlation, Tim wasn’t about to complain if it did end up showing positive between their time together and silence.
Although, Tim knew the boy was quite talkative when with other friends, like John for example. Whenever the boy came over to the manor, or whenever they ended up in the same battlefield, Damian would not hold back in his insults and chatter and name-calling towards the boy, the other throwing the same energy back maybe two-fold. So here lied the question:
Was their time silent because it was their dynamic, or was it because there was just nothing for them to talk about without throwing actual hurtful insults at each other?
Tim didn’t want to think too much about it. He had a plan to go through.
“Sorry, my husband was just having some difficulty with the grinder.” The elderly woman on the register said, once he surfaced from the back room, “You know how old men get. Can’t work a pestle for their life.” The woman shook her head, her laugh lines prominent against her eyes as she smiled in a fond manner. “How can I help you?”
Tim took Damian by his shoulders and pushed him towards the register “My little brother was looking for some materials, we were hoping you could point him in the right direction.”
“Drake, I assure you-“
“Oh! That’s no problem!” The woman clapped her hands, making way around the register, “What exactly are you looking for? We got different types of paints with different bases and if you’re looking for canvases we just got a new order in for-“
Tim tuned them out, satisfied by the small glimmer in Damian’s eyes the more the woman explained about their products, opting instead to look at the artisanal boxes that were lined by the register.
He took a small one in his hand, the carvings made the top of the box to look like waves in a beach and it was absolutely beautiful. Distantly he thought about maybe asking them for a custom piece, but that would be for another day. Right now, he had a plan to get through.
“Here you are, come back anytime and if you want to make your own paint sometime im sure Robert will be more than happy to teach you!” The woman smiled, handing Damian the bag with the stuff he brought.
“Definitely.” Damian nodded, his face serious “I will have Drake regularly bring me here from now on when I need to restock.”
They bid the lady and her husband, who had popped out midway through her and Damian’s conversation to excitedly input some stuff of his own, goodbye and left the store with their supplies.
After settling back inside the car Tim picked his phone up and feigned looking at something. He then offhandedly turned his head towards Damian, eyes still on his phone and asked “So, hungry? Good for Batburger? I think there’s one near here.”
Damian hummed, he was sifting through his newly brought brushes, “That seems like an acceptable decision, I have been meaning to try their new vegetarian burger for some time now.”
“Great, buckle up.”
It took them less than five minutes to get to the place, and Damian gripping the overhead handle like a lifeline was entirely unnecessary in Tim’s opinion.
As soon as they entered Batburger, Tim was on the hunt, looking at every booth to find the one they were supposed to sit at. Not there, not there- Where are t- Ah. Found you.
Step 4: At 1200 Unintentionally bump into Kon and John at Batburger on the corner of 9th.
“Tim!” Kon waved at him from the furthest booth in the place, John’s head popping out from the seat facing away, “What a coincidence man! What are you guy’s doing here.”
“Coincidence..” Damian sneered. Tim ignored him, taking the boy’s arm and dragging him over to the booth.
“I think the better question is what are you guys doing here.” Tim countered Kon, smiling coyly at the boy.
Tim already knew why. In fact, Tim made Kon send him a selfie of them both sat there just for confirmation a few minutes ago.
“Dad had some business at WE today and asked if we wanted to come with.” John said from his seat, “We’ve just been going around Gotham for the past few hours until Dad comes and gets us.”
Oh… Tim… Did not know that. Maybe Bruce did have some actual grounding as to having to go to WE so last minute.
“Yeah, some stupid PR stuff.” Kon rolled his eyes, scooching over so that Tim could sit next to him. “Something I think being a journalist isn’t really that worth it but then again, we get free travel like this and I’m not one to bite a hand that feeds.”
Tim moved to sit but Damian was quicker than he was, startling both him and Kon when he took Tim’s offered seat. The boy crossed his arms and looked straight ahead, “Drake, I want number 13 on the menu. No pickles. Orange juice.”
Tim took a while to react to that, stealing a quick glance off Kon who seemed equally puzzled and then looking at John, who had his chin in his propped hand and sported the most bored look a child his age could have.
“Sure thing Dames.” Tim answered confused, turning to Kon, “Have you guys ordered yet? It’s on us. And by us, I mean Bruce.”
“Never say no to a Wayne’s offer” Kon grinned, John finally reacting to the situation and smiling.
They rattled off their orders and Tim went to get them from the digital terminal.
Did something happen between Damian and John? Just a few days ago they seemed fine at the Tower. As fine as those two could be when being chastised by both Batman and Superman about the ethics and professional conduct of booby-trapping communal toilets.
Tim was never going to say it out loud, but that was a proud big brother moment. Especially since he recognized Dam’s and Johns prank, one that he had designed himself back when he first entered Young Justice.
He still had questions as to how Damian was able to access those files in the first place.
As with B and the situation with WE… Maybe he should send him a message offering help. If it was media wise, Tim could definitely help.
He finished up the orders and put it on their table, before turning and walking back.
Kon and John were animatedly talking about an episode of a series they watched, while Damian was just gazing out of the window or humming whenever Kon addressed him regarding a question. Tim noticed John had sat more to the side, so he took the seat next to John.
“Tim, my man, my Robin-“ (“tsk”) “Tell my annoying little left arm over here that I’m right and that Stormfly is better than Hookfang-“
“Are you guys arguing about How To Train Your Dragon-”
“LIES!” John countered, slapping the table “Hookfang literally breathes fire that’s so much cooler than spikes.”
“Stormfly is faster than your stupid fire breathing lizard”
“Well that’s because of size, my stupid fire breathing lizard is bigger, thus stronger”
“Your argument is invalid.” Damian finally contributed to the conversation, John turning to the boy with a frown on his face “I regularly beat you in combat. Taking that regrettably you started to grow before me and thus could be considered ‘bigger’ than me.”
“That’s a stupid comparison and you know it spikehead. And that’s only because my powers haven’t fully developed.” John grumbled.
“What did you just say, haybrain? I could beat you with or without powers anyway-” Damian made a motion to stand up but Kon blocked him with his arm.
“Woah boys, calm down yeah, let’s eat something first and see if the hangry stays yeah? If it does I’m sure we can arrange some sparring somewhere-“
“Kon”
“What?” Kon looked at him incredulously, “We had the same arguments back when we met, It’s part of growing up between a Bat and a Super.” He shrugged at Tim, Damian huffing next to Kon, “Wanna bet another meal that Superman and Batman also had this exact same conversation when they met?”
“Not fair how I have super-metabolism but not super strength” John groaned, his forehead on the table now.
“Maybe it’s a progressive thing,” Tim said towards John, the boy turning his head sideways to look at him, “Who knows, maybe as you grow up your strength also gradually grows. We need to take into account that you’re a growing child that is half human half kryptonian.”
“Father said stressful moments might trigger his powers.”
“Well a moment with you is an incoming headache so really its up to the universe why I haven’t developed all my powers yet with the amount of time I spend with you.”
“Listen here-“
“Guys!” Kon intersected again, his hand going through his curly hair and messing up his previously tidy curls. “How about we eat first compete later yeah? Food’s here.”
And like a blessing their food arrived, Tim splitting the different portions between them.’
They ate in relative silence, with the occasional groan from Kon or John regarding their selected burgers. And while Tim was glad everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves, (even Damian, who was contently eating his burger.) he was getting to the point where he was starting to get annoyed at Kon.
He very subtly tried to get Kon’s attention by kicking him underneath the table, and Tim was very annoyed at the boy’s invulnerability and wished he could at least feel one of the kicks (and in turn, feel his annoyance) but the returning grin he got from Kon was enough to tell him he knew Tim was trying to get his attention.
The moment they made eye contact, Tim nodded his head towards John, then towards Damian, then scrunched up his face in hopes of signalizing exactly what he was asking to Kon. Kon who just blinked dumbly at him and tilted his head in question. Kon who apparently did not meticulously study Tim’s plan like he had asked him to and was about to be beaten to a pulp. Somehow. Tim was going to find a way, don’t test him.
Why does he have to do everything himself?
“So John, have you had the opportunity to see anything in Gotham?” Tim asked as innocently as possible, “I know you haven’t been much here outside of missions and just the manor overall so, do you have any places you want to go? We can take you guys somewhere before you need to go.”
John piped up at being addressed, wiping his mouth with the sleeve of his shirt, “Oh yeah! Me and Kon were looking at what we could do here and there was something about a seasonal fair?”
Bingo.
Step 5: have John mention the Fair.
“Ah!” Tim smiled, “Yes the Gotham fair, although it isn’t seasonal but it’s still a nice place to go to. It’s in the piers so it’s quite a drive, but Luckly I have a car and a license.” Tim laughed.
At his little quip both Kon and Damian froze in their seats, a completely different reaction from John’s starry eyes that looked up at him “Really?” John turned to Kon “Can we go with them Kon? Please, Please!”
Kon gave them a strained smile, “Um, I’m sure we’ll get there quicker and safer if I fly us over-“
“Nonsense.” Tim retorted. Damian was strangely silent, “Besides, you don’t want to be caught flying in a city that has a very public mandate regarding metas from other cities, right?”
“We wouldn’t be caught.”
“Wouldn’t you?”
“…” Kon blinked once, twice, then he squinted “You wouldn’t”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.
Kon groaned in his hand. Giving Tim an opportunity to shift his attention towards his own little bird “So Dames, what do you think? Up for some games?” Damian looked up at him with a bored look. Tim knew what his next words were going to be, as Damian ‘tsk’d and opened his mouth to say something. But you see, Tim was a step ahead of him. Like always.
[5.1 Note] If needed, spark Damian's competitive nature.
“Ah, yes my bad.” Tim smiled coyly, tilting his head in a way that conveyed false innocence at his next words “I forgot John beat you at whac-a-mole, wouldn’t want to lose again now would you?”
Damian’s eyes sharpened and Tim absolutely reveled in the way that it was just so easy to make Damian do certain things if he just pushed specific buttons. He wasn’t a saint, let’s be real, and buttons are meant to be pushed. Even if they are metaphorical and could possibly lead to attempted decapitation.
“Tsk, clearly only a red herring in my perfect record. We shall fix that today.”
“And when you get beaten again then what huh? Gonna stomp away with your cheeks scrunched up like this again?” John made his cheeks full in a very poor imitation of Damian, who sneered at him, “Maybe I’ll let you win this time just to get you to-”
Damian stood up, his fists hitting the table and eyes trained on John, “Car. Fair.” He turned to Tim, “Now.”
Taking that they were two islands away from the pier, they were surprisingly quick in getting there on the Bentley, this time with Damian queuing specific songs that made Tim’s blood race with the wind in his hair, both brothers ignoring the screams and pleads to slow down from the back seat as Tim just shifted gears and pushed his feet on the accelerator.
Tim drifted into an empty parking space, just outside the public bathrooms. A little outside of the line… Hm, Tim should practice more on his drifting- He had a perfect drift on the batcycle but cars were a bit harder to get straight since the body is larger and-
“If only that man didn’t stop on the yellow light, we would have been here forty-five seconds earlier than we did.” Damian sneered as he closed the door to the car.
“Yes, but we did gain three seconds by taking that alleyway shortcut.” Tim added as he clicked the button to get the hood up on the car.
Kon and John stumbled out of the car, both leaning on the back of it and holding their stomachs, John groaning out loud and leaning over. “Oh god, I think I’m going to vomit.”
“Me too” Kon mirrored his sentiment.
“No you won’t. You’re a super. Stop being dramatic.” Both Tim and Damian said in unison, not even sparring the Kents a glance.
“Come, Drake. I need to practice before our duel.” And Damian wandered off towards the entrance, not bothering to look back to see if Tim would follow him.
Tim started to walk, turning back to Kon who was now patting John on the back and telling him something, making John’s eyes bulge and look over at Tim with terrified eyes. Tim laughed, guessing what Kon said “Hey hot-stuff,” Kon looked at him like a puppy that’s just been called, “meet over at the arcade in half an hour.” Then it was Tim’s turn to turn and walk.
He caught up with Damian soon enough, the boy stomping his way across tourists and visitors walking around in such a way that told Tim he was ready to win the imaginary whac-a-mole competition or break the machine trying.
“You going for speed or force? We could do some target practice to begin.”
Damian didn’t say anything, but his steps did take a sudden turn towards where Tim knew the shooting booths were at.
Overall they went across six booths: shoot the target, throw horseshoes, knock the towers (Rigged to absolute shit, by the way), piano tiles and one last round in the whac-a-mole machine just to time Damian.
He finished with a score of 76, being that this specific version of the game was that you competed with your neighbor as to who can get the higher score in 100 seconds.
“Not good enough” Damian huffed at the blinking score in the machine, his frustration clear.
“Relax” Tim said from his leaning position on the side of the machine, Damian sending daggers through his glare at him, “Time’s running out anyways, but if you’re up for another rematch with him then I could try naming something specifically for training regarding this…” Tim hummed at Damian’s responding pensive face “Maybe we could also do like, some experiments and stuff if you’re up for it. I just need to find a big enough space…” Ha “When I do, I’ll tell you.”
Step 6: Covertly mention experiment 22B and include D.
“Perhaps you are not so useless, Drake.”
“Hey guys!” Kon called from the entrance of the arcade, walking over to them with John in tow who was holding three plushies and munching on a cotton candy. “All good for the ultimate showdown?”
Tim smirked as Kon stopped in front of him, “Oh, he’s about to beat John to a pulp.”
Kon grinned and leaned in “Oh? You seem so confident sweetheart… I’ll enjoy the look on defeat on your face.”
“Uhhhhh guys please” John groaned from behind Kon, “Get a room.”
“Damian,” he turned to his little brother, who was looking away with a blush dusting his ears “Let’s do it.”
…
John absolutely destroyed Damian.
Damian, who got so frustrated when his points started staggering that he hit so hard the handle snapped, effectively cutting his points at a whooping 56, with John ending up with 125.
Tim didn’t say anything, and held his hand up when Kon started snickering next to him.
John, just to add another nail to the coffin, got his name as the top scorer overall in the machine by 12 points.
John turned to Damian, opening his mouth in order to say something, Damian’s head snapping to the boy with a violent stare that triggered Tim’s reactionary talk in order to try and dissolve any coming conflict “So, John, have you ever been to Gotham’s national park? We should go. Like right now.” He sent a look towards Kon, who laughed silently and dragged John out of there before Damian had the ability to do anything.
Before they followed the Kents Tim turned to Damian who had his fists balled by his side, and put a hand on his shoulder “Hey, don’t sweat-“ But then Damian brushed his hand off his shoulder in a harsh manner and just stomped out.
Well… Time to add another fifteen steps to his plan then. Fuck.
The drive and walk to the Park was… Awkward wouldn’t be the right word to use. Uncomfortable? Discomforting? That’s the same thing… Well, it was something.
No one talked, no music was played, and Tim somehow followed most of the signs and driving laws, which, by itself was already a pretty telltale sign that something was extremely wrong.
Inviting Kon and John over to spend the day with them was supposed to make things better! It was supposed to make Damian’s mood more malleable to Tim eventually asking for the barn space! It would have been easier because after a day with John, Damian always, always, returned with a loopy smile on his face because he secretly enjoyed spending time with his friend, even if he, at every opportunity he had, said otherwise.
He was supposed to be enjoying John’s company, so what happened?
Why did Bruce ask him specifically to look after Damian today? Why did Damian even need to be looked after? Did something happen?
Did he fuck up somehow?
He had to at least salvage the day a bit, and probably plan better and get more context next time so that he can make sure the day goes by without Damian getting annoyed (If a next time does come. Tim feels like after today, Damian wouldn’t be so keen in hanging out with him.)
He could lick his wounds later. Right now he had to keep going, even if only to use up his previously brought baguette.
Step 7: Walk around Gotham National Park’s Lake (feed the ducks)
“Uggh, are you going to keep being cranky for the rest of the day? It’s just a game Damian”
“Shut up- Shut up Shut up!” Damian screamed in John’s face “You don’t get it! You’ll never get it!”
“That’s because you’re too hardheaded to ever tell me anything!” John screamed back, and Tim… Tim was at a loss on what to do. “You always shut me out and then blow up because you’re tiny and theres not enough space to keep your angry inside” John pointed in Damian’s chest,
“Take. Your. Finger. Out. Of. My. Chest.”
John retreated his finger, only to press on Damian’s cheat again, “Or what?” then again.
Damian screamed and lunged at John, aiming for his head and moving in a way that was supposed to make the boy fall over. But both Tim and Kon were faster and got in between the boys before anything serious could have happened, with Tim holding Damian from behind and Kon floating a few feet in the air with John hanging from his hand, the boy flailing and trying to get to Damian.
“Let me out Drake! He needs to learn-”
“Damian! Calm down!” Tim tried to reason, struggling against the flailing child in his own arms.
“That’s it Damian!” John screamed from Kon’s hold. “I want a divorce!”
Damian froze in Tim’s hold, and so did Tim and Kon because… What?
Step 7: Walk around Gotham National Park's Lake (feed the ducks)
[New Entry] Step 7: STOP THEM FROM GETTING DIVORCED??????
“Woah John calm down yeah?” Kon tried to reason, his face painted with confusion mirroring Tim’s own. “I’m not sure you know-”
“No!” John interrupted again, his finger pointing in Damian’s direction “You’re annoying, you’re a brat, and you never listen to me when I ask you to do stuff! You always have to come first in everything!” Damian stayed quiet and tense in Tim’s hold “I get on the school’s team, you have to get on the school’s team. I get a prize for a project, you have to get a prize for a project. I get top score on a game, you have to get top score on the game. I get a girlfriend and suddenly you’re pissy because I want to spend time with other people! I’m done!”
The air that flowed after John’s one-side screaming match was heavy and the lingering silence was even worse, as it gave Tim enough focus to notice Damian’s small intaking breaths that were beginning to speed up. So, he took things in his own hands in the form of making eye contact with Kon and hopefully relaying to him his next plan.
[Close Previous Entry]
[Open New Entry]
[Codename: Super-sons]
Step 1: Identify the problem
Tim had taken Damian to the lake, hopefully to make him less anxious and stressed by feeding the Ducks and relaxing on the grass.
They were sat in front of the lake, a couple of ducks and their ducklings swimming near them as Tim picked apart bits of the baguette and threw them in the water, making the ducklings swim closer to eat the bits.
Damian was still silent, albeit his breathing had gotten better. He had his knees close to his chest and his chin on top of them, his face with no emotion as he gazed across the lake.
“Baguette?” Tim tried to coax the boy to say something. A hopeless endeavor as Damian did not react at all and just continued to stare.
He got halfway down the baguette when Damian finally spoke, “Do you think…” his brother gulped, pursing his lips “Do you think what John said is true? Am I really that selfish?” He turned to Tim, a frown on his face as his lips wobbled “I… I don’t understand why… I don’t get it Timothy.”
Tim smiled, handing the baguette over to Damian and looking over the lake, thinking over what he could say that would help Damian understand what John was feeling. He really wasn’t the best option to give emotional counselling, but he’d rather get himself thrown in Arkham before he gave up trying.
“Dames… John is just confused and probably hurt because he might not know what your intentions were.”
“I only wanted to do the same things as him so that we could hang out more.” Damian whispered, throwing some bread to the lake “I thought that by providing a valuable challenge to him it would make him want to do better and thus we would naturally form a competitive bond.”
“Sometimes people don’t want to have to compete for everything, it gets tiring after a while and… Sometimes you just want to be able to enjoy something you’re good at, without having someone constantly saying they’re better than you.”
“But, that someone drives you to better yourself, isn’t that what friends do?”
Tim sighed, “It is, but it’s also the friends job to make the other feel good about themselves sometimes.” Tim cringed at his own memories, not liking how close this hit to home, “And, there are other ways to prompt people to better themselves that does not involve belittling their… conquests.”
“That was not my intention.” Damian answered ruefully.
“And I’m sure you mean that, you just need to make sure John also knows that.”
Step 2: Produce a solution involving both parties
“You should go tell him that.” Tim offered as a solution. It wasn’t much and honestly he was not 100% sure Damian would be able to properly explain what he meant and not escalate the situation.
“I’m not sure he would listen to me anymore. He asked for a divorce.” Ah, yes, that. Tim was still confused what John meant by that in the first place. They were both kids- like- 12 and 11 respectively. “You only ask for a divorce when you never want to spend time with someone ever again. When you can’t stand someone.” His brother sighed heavily, his face now ducked.
“That’s… I’m not…” Tim tried to think of some explanation for Damian as to what exactly divorce meant because, while he wasn’t right… He also wasn’t wrong. He settled for a question to better understand the information “You… Don’t want him to divorce you?”
“Obviously not Drake, what kind of question is that?” His brother huffed indignantly, “He is… My friend. And I do not want to lose him.”
“Great!” Tim piped up “Just literally, quite literally, tell him that!”
Damian pursed his lips again. Damn the world and Damian’s pride.
“Damian this would go so much easier if you just pushed your pride a bit and just said what you actually mean every once in a while,” Tim shook his head “can I ask, and don’t worry about not answering if you don’t want to. Why was I asked to spend time with you for the day?”
Damian untucked his head. The baguette left forgotten by his side, “John… Had revealed to me a two days ago that he had gotten... A girlfriend… And I did not… React well to the news…” Damian scratched the back of his neck, a little show of remorse and embarrassment that was surprising but welcome in the kid, “Father caught me in my mishap and…” wait “Said that I shouldn’t be alone for the day.” Wait.
Did Bruce…
Did Bruce fucking plan this?
Oh he was so going to get him back for this. He totally did, didn’t he. Holy shit, of course.
“Ah, I know how hard it can be when a best friend you adore gets a new partner, but Dames, you both are young, and believe me when I say that both of you will meet new people, have new fights, and fight and make up so many more times its not even an exaggeration when I say that this, the right now, is just a rock in a road.” Tim stood up and extended his hand for Damian to take, “Now cmon, let’s get things sorted out, yeah?”
Step 3: Get them to meet in the middle
Kon floated back over to them with John hanging off his shoulders, his proud smile making Tim’s insides turn in a way that he was definitely going to address later.
The four of them stood there in silence for a small while, broken by John’s ‘oof’ as Kon jabbed him on the side with his elbow.
“I apologize-” “I’m sorry-” Both tried saying at the same time and comically pursed their lips at the same time too, with John shuffling on the ground and Damian portraying a small kicked puppy.
“I don’t want to divorce.” John said quietly.
“And I’m sorry for making you feel like you’re not good enough. It was not my intention to belittle you, only to gain more common ground between us.”
“I know Dames.” John smiled, “You’re too stubborn and soft to ever be actually mean to me.”
Tim melted slightly at that, but his brain complained at the fact that with anybody else (read: him) Damian could be a straight up devil whenever he wanted.
“And I’m sorry I lied about having a girlfriend.” John sulked.
“What.”
“What.”
“What.”
Tim, Damian and Kon all blinked at John, who now had a very dark blush across his cheeks.
“Yeah, I got kind of jealous of you and that one girl from the library… When she asked if you were free to hang out and read, and you said you had nothing better to do, I kind of… I don’t know… Thought that you’d feel jealous too if I also had a girlfriend.”
“She is not my girlfriend. John I don’t even know her what are you on about?”
“I’m sorry okay!” John tried defending himself, “It’s stupid, I know! And I made up a person so that you would turn and say that you did have important stuff to do and that was hanging out with me!”
Holy shit these kids were so stupid. Both him and Kon looked at each other.
“I do want to hang out with you!” Damian retorted, “You’re my friend!”
Both got quiet after that, awkwardly looking at each other not knowing what to do. Kon rolled his eyes and shoved John forward, Tim doing the same.
“Just hug it out already guys.” Kon said, an exasperated sigh leaving him as he walked over to Tim to stand next to him.
John raised his arms slowly, but Damian surprised them by taking the initiative and hugging John tightly across the torso, the boy then hugging him back.
“Holy shit this is all so stupid.” Kon said lowly next to him, his sincere smile subverting the meaning of his words.
“It’s like its meant to happen through all generations.” Tim answered equally low.
“Yeah, I remember our one.”
“Shut up Kon.”
“Anything you say, beautiful.”
Step 4: Leave them to finalize the situation and sort out their problems.
Step 4: Bond with Damian over whatever happened later, they will definitely laugh at this in a few years time.