dfordangerous: (you in so much fukkin trouble)
Damian Wayne | First Son ([personal profile] dfordangerous) wrote in [community profile] dreamsanddisasters2014-08-21 12:12 am

Age Reversal AU (For Batfam)

[ His father is dead, and he's still reeling from the shock. Alfred and Tim both know he's barely keeping it together, for all his standoffish composure. Years of preparing for this moment--

(steeling himself, to watch his father be laid to rest next to his grandparents)

--have done little to offset the grief. He wouldn't be seen at all if it weren't for his brother; if Tim hadn't coerced him out of his room in the hours following the funeral, hadn't confessed his worries for Cass (retreated, to the attic of all places), Jason (god, Jason, Damian's own cunning little húlí, he'd adored the man), and his father's newest stray, Richard. Dick. His father's Robin.

His Robin, now. As strange as the thought is. But the cowl is his, and so is Robin.

His Robin, who Alfred has informed him is currently making his roost up in the ballroom's chandeliers. Refusing to come down.

Damian, briefly, contemplates leaving him up there in favor of finishing reviewing this case file.

('He'll come down when he gets hungry,' he tells Alfred.

'He's in mourning, Master Damian,' Alfred points out, with all the dry chastisement his stiff upper lip can give.

'I'll get the broom.')

And here he is. He finds himself squinting in irritation up at the boy monkeying around on the fragile, expensive crystal. ]


Richard. [ Prim, clipped tones. Damian hardly raises his voice unless his fuse is blown; usually only when he's locked in a shouting match with Tim or with his father.

He doesn't know Richard that well. The boy is a relatively fresh arrival, and the past few months he's been here have seen Damian on longer missions; international and galactic trips alike. Before Bruce's death, they had maybe spent only a few hours in each other's company, and the boy was clearly not overly fond of him. ]


What are you doing?
graysondive: (graceful landing)

[personal profile] graysondive 2014-08-26 11:53 pm (UTC)(link)
[He watches Damian with foggy bewilderment for a moment, but the sides of his mouth turn upwards when the man starts to settle into the bed with him. Dick wastes no time closing his eyes and burying his face in Damian's side in return, movable hand clinging loosely to the material of the man's shirt. He takes in a deep breath, and there's a slight quiver to his breath like he might actually start crying despite his own mental gymnastics; but the feeling passes, and his breathing steadies again, and he relaxes his muscles to relieve them from the stress of effort.

As much as Dick is unendingly chatty, as much as he needs the verbal confirmations and reassurance, the physical communication is more than better right now. Less confusing or worrisome. Damian was safety, and he would always be safe, and any paranoid thoughts or assertions otherwise were utterly ridiculous.]


No. [Very insistent on that no, too. If his face weren't half hidden in Damian's torso, it'd be easy to see the blush that's already creeping onto his expression again. Which Dick would absolutely insist was just because of the medication. Again.

(Though Dick had never quite been in that phase of thinking that girls were gross, for better or worse.)]


Maybe I like him more 'cause he doesn't say stupid stuff.

[Because that idea was totally stupid.]
graysondive: (pic#7056941)

[personal profile] graysondive 2014-08-27 05:49 am (UTC)(link)
[Dick isn't even aware that this was a subject up for debate. With Bruce's impersonal demeanor, Dick had refrained from seeking out the same comforts-- but he had never once been denied it from Damian, even when he'd had to work up the courage to seek it out again.

It made it a lot easier to deal with everything. Especially his entire screw up.

He cracked one eye open, barely angled to look up at Damian as the blood kept rushing to his face (the idea that she might like him back just made him even more embarrassed not that he liked her at all or anything--), and he lifted his hand up in order to let up the balled up and bandaged fist fall on the spot just below Damian's sternum. He didn't really have much of his own strength to put behind it, so he'd mostly had to let gravity do the work.]


Shut up. [Totally the picture of a capable threat.]

He wouldn't let her come over if you asked anyway because you're always a bigger jerk than Khan.

[Also clearly the picture of an appreciative younger sibling. If he cared you would be totally ruining his life right now, Damian, which he didn't care but you were still a jerk.]
graysondive: (heeeee)

[personal profile] graysondive 2014-08-27 09:21 pm (UTC)(link)
[He made a halfhearted attempt to pull his fist free of Damian's grasp, but that was a pretty futile effort even when he wasn't bedridden, and simply let his arm fall slack again.

Even if Damain totally deserved a punch because god the thought of Barbara seeing him all beat up and messed up like this was awful and absolutely unacceptable. He would probably die where the surgery and the beating ha failed to kill him.]


Wally already knows how to get into the kitchen. [Spoken with a scoff, and yet somehow with some sort of pride-- it was great when your best friend could sneak into your house and you got to correct your big brother.] I showed him how to get in when he could smell Alfie's cookies down the street.

[Smug and grinning. Though it didn't mask the hint of excitement Dick always got at the very mention of his friends (he hoped they weren't too worried about him being bedridden, in retrospect. Roy was a worrier, even if he didn't want to admit it.)]

I've never had a sleepover at the manor before-- [Top Secret Security Breach, he could already imagine Tim complaining now. He'd never even had a sleepover before period, if you didn't count the times they'd gone camping.] Is that even allowed?
graysondive: (pic#7056935)

[personal profile] graysondive 2014-08-28 03:05 am (UTC)(link)
[A horrible and cruel plan, really.

Although he'd... actually kind of believe it if Damian knew everything. It's probably about as true as Damian being invincible but it was kind of Batman's job to be obsessive and creepy like that.

(Hopefully he hadn't heard all the jokes he'd made Damian and Titus starring in their own Disney movie.)]


...You need a better hobby. [Was his grumbled response. Even Tim didn't sit around watching every monitor in the house.

But still, he chuckles lightly (the only one who could ever overrule Tim was Alfred), and nuzzles back into Damian's side sleepily, even if Damian was still a total super jerk.]


I told them all about what happened when you bled all over the couch and made Alfie angry, so I they'll be too scared to touch the cupboards while he's awake.

[Hehehe.]
graysondive: (pic#7056930)

[personal profile] graysondive 2014-08-28 05:51 am (UTC)(link)
[(He regrets none of them. He and Donna already have a whole basic storyline figured out.)]

Hobbies that don't include updating security systems. [The mumble precedes a small yawn, and even with all the ridiculous topics of conversation, there's a small smile settled permanently on his face.

He loved going to the zoo, even if the idea that they couldn't bring one of the elephants home hadn't quite made it into his head yet. The fact that the only pet they had was Titus was possibly one of the weirdest facts of all to him, and he'd instead taken to naming all the Bats in the Batcave in lieu of a herd of circus animals. But he'd caught the slightest glimpse of an old sketchbook, when he'd been shadowing Alfred while the older man was cleaning-- Damian was good, and sometimes he was worried Damian didn't get to do anything fun for himself.]


Yes, 'cause it's the best story, Roy didn't believe that an old man like Alfie could be scary.

[A personal offense. He'd made sure that Roy in particular had been terrified by the story. Anything Batman was afraid of, he was sure to be scared of tenfold.]
graysondive: (hmmmmmm)

[personal profile] graysondive 2014-08-28 08:40 am (UTC)(link)
[Hey that was a great hobby. Especially when that boy was Batman.

He made a meager noise of protest, and shrugged his shoulders and squirmed in his spot like the tweak was more of a mosquito bite.]


No one ever tells me those stories.

[The sentence was a mere slip, probably from a combination of sleepiness, warmth, and the effects of the drugs. He wasn't complaining-- it was mostly a matter-of-fact statement. Getting anyone around here to talk about anything that happened before Bruce died was next to impossible.

He doesn't entirely mind, but Dick and his incessant chatty curiosity simply can't stop him from at least trying on an off week. He'd yet to have very much luck.]
graysondive: (pic#8210455)

[personal profile] graysondive 2014-08-28 08:22 pm (UTC)(link)
[Dick angles his head up at the change of tone, the interest and curiosity on his face laced with a childish awe. He looked like he fully believed that this was some kind of well-guarded secret; knowing this family, it probably was.]

That's-- Where you and Cass are from? [It was about the full of extent that Dick really knew about either of their lives that didn't have to do with Batman.]

A bunch of highly trained assassins that work for Ra's al Ghul. They're really good.

[Scary good. Dick was hardly allowed near them, though he'd just about pored over every file they had about them on the Batcomputer.]
graysondive: (pic#7298997)

[personal profile] graysondive 2014-08-29 01:35 am (UTC)(link)
[His face grimaced at the thought of the man-- Ra's al Ghul sounded for all the world like a boogeyman. A man who lived forever, and wanted to kill the mean and naughty people of the world. It felt like a story to scare kids with, except Dick has the keen idea that maybe Ra's' idea of 'worthy' wasn't something he would agree with at all.]

Alfred fought off assassins? [Completely shocked. If Ra's al Ghul was like a boogeyman story, then this sounded like something out of a fairytale.]

How'd he do it? Were they attacking the Batcave?

How come-- were they trying to attack you?

[Far too many questions. And he was far too excited to hear what the answers would be to think about the repercussions of asking.]
graysondive: (oh boy oh boy)

[personal profile] graysondive 2014-08-29 03:08 am (UTC)(link)
Whoah.

[He can imagine it now; legions of angry, deadly ninjas, swarming the Manor, leaking in through broken doors and windows like a flood, trying to get to the Batcave-- and Alfred and the kid, barricaded in the Batcave like it was some kind of medieval siege.]

A fire extinguisher? [That thought is one of his favorites; the idea that a super trained and deadly assassin could lose to a fire extinguisher wielded by the elder English butler of the house.

(He hopes Alfred isn't too old to pull something like that again, he'd give anything to see something like that.)]


So wait-- what happened then? [He's almost trying to sit up now, trying to prop himself up to look at Damian with a new energy-- and gets a few coughs for his effort and a reactive shudder in his shoulders. But it's just not important right now, and he bats the various tubes out of his way before his prodding continues.] What did Ra's and the League want with the kid? What'd they do?
graysondive: (doyyyy)

[personal profile] graysondive 2014-08-29 05:46 am (UTC)(link)
[His nose scrunched up his face at Damian's clicking (staying still was so hard), but silently complies with the nudging and settles back down-- mostly in the interest of getting to listen to the rest of the story.

He decided he didn't like Ra's al Ghul. Not at all. It wasn't much of a jump to make before, but-- the man was willing to take over his own grandson's body so he could keep living even longer so he could kind of basically destroy the world?

His expression sours in distaste at the impromptu turn back to completely sucky at the ending. And Dick isn't so out of it to not connect the dots-- he was pretty sure the story was about Damian. He's kind of amazed that Damian would tell him that story if it was about him. But he is a bit too out of it to remember to voice his thoughts, and instead burrows back into Damian's side, a small attempt at a hug when the man was simply far too large for Dick to give a proper one.]


His mom sounds mean. But I'm glad everyone got away OK.

[Hmph. He really didn't like Ra's al Ghul.]
graysondive: (graceful landing)

[personal profile] graysondive 2014-08-29 06:47 am (UTC)(link)
[Come on Damian, you just mentioned how Alfred had saved you when you were younger, and that there had been no other adults, and he knew Damian had started woking with Bruce when he was still a kid. Plus Damian had been super avoidant about mentioning himself-- maybe he couldn't be absolutely certain, but he could assume with all the conviction of a child convinced he was right based on even less evidence.

(It seemed pretty obvious to him right now, and yet it didn't even cross his mind that if Damian was the subject of the story, that mean he would be Ra's al Ghul's grandson. Hopefully he'd remember when he was able to move around, and think to take another look at the files in the computer. Before freaking out about it.)]


But Batman helped save him. If Ra's wanted to do that, then I think he was kind of already an enemy of the League anyway. 'n' if he wanted to be Batman's partner, that means Bruce would be able to teach him to defend himself from ninjas too if Ra's wanted to try and steal his body again.

[Maybe Dick was a bit biased and didn't quite realize how dangerous and stupid it was to volunteer to be Batman's partner.]

Letting him stay with Batman would be the best way to keep him safe from the League. If I were her I'd be scared of what the League would do next and get all the help I could get.
graysondive: (oops)

[personal profile] graysondive 2014-08-30 01:13 am (UTC)(link)
[If Damian had been a kid at the time then clearly he was the only kid given details in the story. His logic was the most impeccable ten year old logic ever.]

If she had an army, why did she need Batman's help?

[It's said with an audible scoff to his voice. The man may as well have saved his life, taken him in, and disappeared almost just like that. It still hurt to think about, but the more he heard, and the more he dwelled on the man's memory, the more Dick's imagination would fill in the blanks; the more infallible the man became in his own memory. And he didn't particularly like the sound of the League of Assassins, so it just convinced him more.]

And why would he want to be prince of the organization led by the guy who wanted to go alien body snatcher on him? [So dumb. He didn't understand politics very well, least of all between freaky assassin ninja corporations.] If I were him I wouldn't have wanted to go back at all.

If she loved him, she should've asked what he wanted. [So. She still sounded pretty mean to him.]

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