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࿔.ᐟ summary When Damian comes home after a difficult patrol, he finds something he does not expect: A bath that is meant to be yours alone and yet, it does not stay that way for long.
࿔.ᐟ tw non-sexual nudity, bruises/injuries, kissing of bruises/injuries, slight angst, loooots of fluff
You cannot remember the last time you allowed yourself to simply sit still.
Warm water laps gently against your skin as you sink deeper into the bathtub with a content sigh. The bathroom glows with soft candlelight, the flickering flames casting dancing shadows across the walls. Scented bubbles gather around you while steam curls lazily through the air, fogging the mirror above the sink. It is peaceful.
You rarely have an evening to yourself, rarer still one that allows you to slow down and enjoy it, but tonight, you made it a point to do exactly that.
A book sits abandoned on a stool beside the tub, forgotten in favor of simply existing in the warmth. For the first time all day, your mind feels quiet. Then, from somewhere downstairs, comes the familiar sound of the front door opening.
Damian is home.
A small smile finds its way onto your face. You expect him to take a while when he gets into the bedroom, likely to change out of his uniform and then go to the spare bathroom, to shower away the grime of patrol before seeking you out. It was a routine the two of you had fallen into long ago.
So when the bathroom door cracks open only a few minutes later, you can't help but lift your brows in surprise.
You move to sit up in the bathtub and watch as Damian lingers in the doorway for a moment.
His domino mask is gone, leaving his dark hair slightly mussed from the night’s activities. Though he has shed some of his gear, enough remains to tell you that he hadn’t bothered stopping anywhere else before coming to find you. As your eyes rake over his figure, you noticed a bruise forming along his jaw and another disappearing beneath the collar of his suit.
“Hello, beloved,” he greets.
“Hi,” you respond, while turning your body to lean your arms against the side of the tub and rest your head on them.
His gaze sweeps over the room. The candles, the bubbles and the steam curling through the air, before setting on you. For a moment, neither of you speak. Then he steps fully into the room. You expect him to say something but instead he turns right around, disappeared from view, and returns moments later dragging one of the dining chairs behind him. The legs scraped softly against the floor.
“Damian?”
Ignoring your obvious confusion, he positions the chair beside the bathtub and sits down. You ask again, looking up at him from where you head rests, “Can I help you?”
“I was under the impression that I was allowed to sit in my own bathroom.” The slight teasing tone is evident in his voice but you can tell it was overlapped by tiredness. You sigh and playfully roll your eyes, “That’s not what I’m asking.”
“And yet I answered.” Always very smart mouthed. He is being difficult this evening but you know that only means he was trying to dodge the questions you haven’t yet asked.
You study him for a moment. Beneath the usual sharpness in his expression is something softer. More tired. His shoulders are tense beneath the remnants of his suit, and while Damian would sooner launch himself off the roof of the Manor than openly complain, you know him well enough to recognize when a patrol had been particularly rough.
“Long night?” You ask, carefully. He lets out a short sigh, more of a huff, “I’ve endured worse.”
He just always has to be so defensive, so like always you just give him the look. The one that said, “Stop being difficult with me, I know you far too well, for this.”
It is clear to you now that Damian had come here immediately, seeking out your presence. He would never barge and in and just unload his feelings but he would simply sit beside you in silence because your presence always makes him feel better.
You allow him the silence, neither of you speaking for a while. He sits with one arm draped over the back of the chair while you remain resting against the edge of the tub, examining his features. The flicker of the candlelight softens the sharp angles of his face and, little by little, some of the tension seems to leave his shoulders. You observe him as he watches the candles.
For someone who insists he preferers solitude, Damian has always been strangely fond of sharing it with you.
Eventually, your gaze drifts back to the bruise along his jaw. In the years that you have known him, you have become accustomed to seeing the occasional scrape or bruise after patrol. It never stopped bothering you, but you’d learned that fussing over the injury only earned you an exasperated look and a lecture on the realities of vigilantism. But tonight is different, he looks too tired.
Not physically tired, because Damian could push through physical exhaustion out of sheer stubbornness alone. No, this is something else. The kind of tiredness that settles behind his eyes. Difficult for anyone but you to notice. An idea comes to mind.
“You know,” you say softly, “most people take a bath when they want to relax.” You are looking downward, swishing the bath water with your hands.
One green eye cracks open, “Most people weren’t trained to function under considerably more demanding conditions.”
You roll your eyes, “Yeah well you’re sitting in my perfectly crafted cozy space over here so you’re basically- well almost, in a bath filled with scented bubbles.” He shakes his head, “I’m sitting beside a bath, and it is no way the same.”
If you could roll your eyes any further back into your head you would, but he did make a fair point so you only huff in response, “Mm.”
Damian lets out a small smirk at your annoyance, “There is a difference.”
You decide to ignore his stubbornness and continue pushing, “Right.” You hum unconvinced, “And that’s why you came straight here?” This is when the smirk on his face falters, “I fail to see the connection?”
You continue, “You didn’t shower.”
Silence.
“You didn’t change.”
More silence.
Your eyes drop pointedly to the boots he still wears, “You didn’t even take your boots off.” You are looking right at him now.
He looks away and then back at you again, “Beloved.” The warning in his tone only makes you smile more.
“Damian,” You respond giving him the sweetest smile you can muster, knowing exactly what you are doing. He sighs, “You are being insufferable,” but there is no real malice in his voice. You drag your words to sound extra sweet, “Learned from the best.”
The corner of his mouth twitches up despite himself. For yet another moment, neither of you speak. The candles flicker softly around the room while the water shifts gently, as you adjust your position in the bathtub. Damian leans back in the chair, resting his head against it.
It is such a small action, most people wouldn’t think twice about it, but you do. Damian rarely ever so brazenly shows that he is tired and yet now his eyes drift shut for a few seconds. His shoulders sink and the tension that he had carried into the room seems heavier than before, as though simply sitting reminds his body of how exhausted it actually is.
When his eyes open again you are already watching him, “What?’
“You look tired.” You finally admit to what you have been thinking this entire time.
“I am not.’ The response comes far too quickly. You raise a brow and he looks away from you.
You sigh, fed up of the banter and then your mouth curves into a mischievous smile. Damian immediately notices, “Do not. Whatever it is that you’re thinking. Don’t.”
You can't help but laugh, wanting to respond that you were not thinking anything but you saw the way his brows raise already, in anticipation of your fib.
“Fine,” you relent. “I was thinking that perhaps a certain stubborn vigilante might benefit from relaxing for once.”
He glances over your figure in the bathtub, shrugging his shoulders, “I am relaxing now.”
He nearly sends you over the edge, as you dramatically flop backward into the water, causing a small splash. You frantically gesture to the steaming water around you, “No Dami, this is relaxing! Not sitting in a chair, fully dressed in you uniform.”
You watch his gaze follow your hand that gestures to the water. That is the final push for the words to casually leave your mouth, “Join me.”
At that he scoffs, and you expect an immediate refusal. Instead, the words never come. You watch as he leans forward resting his forearms on his knees, thinking. That alone is enough to tell you that he is considering it. You to fight back the smile that threatens to appear on your face.
“You are not allowed to look so pleased with yourself.” He let out a long sigh and pushes himself to his feet. A grin now spreads across your face. But you wisely choose not to comment. The last thing you need is him changing his mind out of sheer stubbornness. So instead, you just watch as he removes his gear.
His gloves are the first thing to go, tossed unceremoniously onto the counter. The cape follows shortly after, draped over the back of the chair he had occupied.
You try not to stare but fail miserably. His warm tan skin is sculpted so perfectly. You notice a fresh bruised darkened the skin near his shoulder while several smaller cuts and scrapes decorate his arms. It isn't anything serious or unusual for him, yet seeing the evidence of his nights out never gets any easier for you.
Damian senses your attention on him but continues undressing. He knows the exact way that you are looking at him, with worry. Your face adorning the same look whenever his body showcased new injuries.
The movement of the water finally pulls your attention away from the bruises scattered across his skin. You look up just in time to watch Damian step into the bath. A laugh immediately bubbles in your chest which earns you a look, the grin on your face only widening at that.
Despite all of his earlier resistance, he settles with surprising ease. The water shifting around him, gentle waves brushing against your arms as he carefully lowers himself into the space behind you. The bathtub was certainly large enough for two people and yet that did not stop your knees from bumping his.
“Move forward.” He says like it’s obvious.
“There it is.”
“There is what?” He stops his movement.
“That attitude.” You respond and his expression remains entirely unimpressed. Though, you comply anyway, shifting forward to give him more room. Only for him to immediately slide an arm around your waist once you settled again. A smile, yet again tugs at your lips. The hypocrisy is astounding.
Slowly you lean back to get more comfortable. Damian’s chest feels warm against your back despite already being in warm water. His legs barricade around yours. The arm around your waist tightens slightly, not enough to restrain you, just enough to keep you close. And for the first time that evening, you feel him relax. The tension that had clung stubbornly to his shoulders seems to melt beneath the warmth of the water, a quiet breath leaving him. Then another. His chin coming down to brush briefly against the top of your head.
You smile to yourself, closing your eyes as you lay against him, “There he is.”
Damian, whose eyes are also closed in comfort, cracks an eye open at that, “I’ve been here the entire time.”
“You know what I mean.” Your response causes his arm to tighten a fraction more around your waist. He knows exactly what you mean.
The both of you sit in a comfortable silence. But that doesn't last long because you cannot help yourself.
“So, do you want complete silence or can I tell you about what just happened in the book I’m reading,” You began, the words spilling out before you could properly organize them. “But silence is fine, if that’s what you want. If you’d prefer not silence, that can also be arranged-” You ramble on
“Beloved.” You stop mid-sentence. Damian’s hand at your waist shifts slightly, his thumb beginning to trace slow, absent circles against your skin. The motion is steady and grounding, not just for you but for him too. “You may do as you please,” he says quietly. “Your preference is mine.” The words are spoken with absolute certainty.
For a moment you forget what you were even saying, “…right,” you murmur, softer now.
Your thoughts suddenly feel too loud in contrast to the quiet warmth around you. All at once you become too aware of him. Of how close he is. Of the steady rhythm of his breathing behind you. Without really thinking about it, you shift, slowly turning in his arms. Damian’s hold loosens just enough to allow it. You adjust yourself until your cheek goes to rest lightly against his firm chest.
“Mm.” You hum absentmindedly, as if confirming something to yourself.
You listen to the steady beat of his heart. The warmth of the water, the softness of the candlelight, the arm still resting loosely around you. It all blurs together until it feels impossible to separate where you end and he begins.
And then, as your head tilts slightly, you see it. Just beside where your cheek rests sits a bruise, darker up close than it had been before. It stretches faintly along his upper chest, partially hidden by the angle of the light and the fading remnants of tension in his muscles.
Your fingers lift before you can fully decide to move them. Carefully and almost hesitant at first, you trace the edge of the bruise with the lightest touch. Not pressing, only acknowledging it.
Damian’s breath hitches, barely, “It is minor.” Your thumb pauses for only a second, at his dismissal, before you lean in. And then, gently, you press a kiss to the mark. It is soft and barely there, but the effect is immediate. Damian goes still beneath you. He doesn’t tense or pull away. Just stills as though the entire room narrowed down to only that point of contact.
You don’t move back. Instead you linger for a moment longer, your lips resting lightly against his skin as your hand remains where it is, steady against his chest. Then, just as quietly, you press another kiss on a bruise slightly higher.
Damian still does not move. You linger there for a moment, sensing how aware he is of the presence of your hands where moments ago there had only been tension and exhaustion. It makes something warm settle in your chest and slowly your fingers shift again to follow the faint line of another mark. Then, another smaller bruise nearby. Each injury receiving the same response from you. You lips meet the skin of his shoulder to press a kiss there. Then another just below it. You kisses are unhurried and careful, as though you are mapping out proof that he had come home again. That he is there. Safe. Within your reach.
Damian exhales slowly and you feel it more than you hear it, “Beloved.” The words come out softer than before. They’re not a warning at all. “Yes?” You murmur against his skin. There is a pause that is long enough you begin to think he might tell you to stop. Instead, his arm around your waist tightens, pulling you in as close as you can get.
“Continue.” The single word sends a quiet warmth through you.
And you do continue. Another kiss, and then another until the action becomes something almost absentminded. As though you are simply breathing.
Damian watches you at first. His green eyes are entranced on your careful movement. Eventually, he relaxes and closes his eyes to fully bask in the tenderness of your care.
When you’ve finally kissed each and every bruise, scrape and cut , you pull away as though you are admiring a piece of art you had just created. Instead of art you admire Damian. You suppose he can could be considered art, the way the candlelight softens his features and his skin glistens from the water.
You look up at his eyes and notice just how close he is to falling asleep. A small spark of mischief returns where softness had settled. Your finger skim lightly through the water behind you and then, without warning, you flick a small splash towards his arm.
He cracks an eye open, “Did you just-”
Another splash. Slightly more water this time and aimed at his pretty face.
His scrunches his face and then brings a hand up to wipe his face. There’s a beat of silence before he gives you that look, “You are testing my patience.”
You giggle, “You were falling asleep on me.”
“I was not.”
“You were!”
His eyes narrow faintly. Then, without hesitation, he returns the splash. Except his is way sharper and precise, all things about him considered. It hits you shoulder causing you to gasp. At that he lets out a laugh. A warm laugh that comes straight from his chest. You smile wholeheartedly and send another splash his way.
Soon water scattered across the bath, rippling against the sides as the calm from earlier dissolved into something lighter and playful. The silence from earlier is also completely gone and instead filled with the rhythm of both your laughter.
Eventually, Damian lets out a long, resigned breath. “I think it’s time we get out.” You huff dramatically but make no attempt to argue, and the two of you begin getting out.
The bathroom is warm and steam clings to the mirrors, blurring the edges of the room as towels are gathered. The both of you move to the bedroom, rummaging for clothes, in quiet routine.
You turn around from where you stand by the drawers, wrapped loosely in a towel, as Damian reaches for something small on the dresser.
Your engagement ring.
He makes his way over to you, towel hung loosely around his hips. He takes your hand in his and slides the ring carefully into place.
“There.”
You smiled.
“There?”
His gaze meets yours, “Back where it belongs.”
You looked down at the ring before lifting you gaze back up to him. The ring wasn’t the only thing that was back where it belonged.
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zuko wouldn't take too kindly to other men telling him how to handle his wife.
an unfortunate situation arises where this happens; you're chatting happily with zuko before being playfully mean, reaching up to tap nose. zuko's smitten, his smile affectionate as he teases you back, causing you to laugh.
all the while, the men around you are watching you in disdain. their looks judging, almost scathing, as you and zuko remain blissfully unaware. a friend of yours catches you attention and you excuse yourself, placing a quick kiss on zuko's cheek before leaving. there's a brief moment of silence that zuko is about to relax into when one of the men clears his throat.
"pardon me, my lord, but don't you think you're too...lenient with your wife?" he asks and zuko blinks, looks behind him, before gesturing to himself.
"are you talking to me?" zuko replies and the man nods. "i don't understand."
another man speaks up. "well, women are supposed to be seen and not heard, right?" he adds. "unless they're in the bedroom moaning like a bitch in heat then that's acceptable."
the men laugh loudly but zuko doesn't join in, the resting fever of his anger spiking.
"we understand she's the fire lady," another man chimes in. "but she should have some decorum around us and her husband. daring to be so playful with him in public. if she was my wife, i would have slapped her."
the reaction zuko has is visceral, his expression darkening like thunderous clouds. steam begins to stream from his nostrils, his temperature raising as his hands curl into fists. to think that they feel comfortable insulting you in front of him, to degrade his wife because she doesn't conform to their ancient and horrid ways.
they're telling him to be less lenient with you, to snip your wings and lock you in a cage because, apparently, you aren't your own person. apparently, they see you as a piece of property that belongs to him and the very thought makes him horribly ill. it makes him want to scream because why on earth would he silence you?
silence your wonderful voice and amazing opinions? take away your spectacular personality and your fearlessness? he fell in love with you because of you were yourself and now these men think they're entitled to tell him how to love you? no, not love you.
control you.
"i see none of your wives are here," zuko says, after cooling the most of his rage. "how come?"
"oh, i'm divorced." the first man says.
"my wife ran away with the stable boy," the second spits out. "heartless bitch, after everything i did for her."
"i'm not married." the third adds.
"ah." zuko smiles humourlessly. "well, forgive my rudeness, but i don't think i'll be taking advice from two men who can't keep a healthy marriage and one who can't even find a spouse."
all three men go still at the insults, noting the sudden change in zuko's tone—it's dangerous.
"talk about my wife in such a way again and i'll personally see that your lives are made less than pleasant." zuko's gaze is deadly, his power imposing as he stands tall above the three of them. "do i make myself clear?"
the men quickly lower their heads, faces blanched in fear as they stutter, "y-yes, fire lord zuko!"
perfect.
zuko looks towards you, his expression softening when you meet his gaze. you beam happily, waving at him and zuko waves back, smiling.
why would ever think about trying to change the amazing person you already are?
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─── ❨ 𝐚𝐝𝐣. ❩ smoothly charming and confident , often in a polished or sophisticated way :: you secretly love the way he attracts you and he knows too well !
content ⸝⸝ aged up . damian al ghul-wayne x fem . reader , oneshot , suggestive , shorter . reader , 1.47wc , this was a request 𓈒 𓈒 𓈒
It's not like you are dirty-minded or anything — after all, you are a grown woman and capable of controlling yourself for some decorum, someone you should pay your high respect to and as well honour.
People and the world in general shall never know of that one dark side of you, including your fiancé. You are in denial yourself, claiming that this side does not belong to you.
No, never. No one should know. No one shall face.
(Still, no one is surprised when he knows.)
But you couldn't help but feel a little guilty whenever you watch your fiancé do his things — stuff that is considered normal and part of his daily life yet there is this intimate ring around it that you quite weren't able to figure out.
I. — PRETTY RINGS AND PRETTY FINGERS ,
Damian was doing it again, after adjusting it numerous times already. You counted and it actually has been a handful of times. It's not like you minded that much — it was just a little distracting for you.
"Especially because the Wayne foundation is such a great funder for those charity events and..."
The longer you listened to their words, the more you wanted to bury yourself into the ground. You blocked out their voices from your mind, a polite smile playing on your face while nodding.
And then — your gaze fell short on your fiancé, how he was barely listening. His attention solely fixated on his hands, pulling his pretty ring off his slender fingers before pushing it back on.
It's shamelessly shining into your eye, the ring around his finger and how he was rubbing against it so slowly.
Wow, I need some alone time right now—
"Focus." he murmured under his breath, blank expression written all over his face as he caught you staring.
You bit back a loud, exasperated groan from leaving your lips and threw your head back, feeling a tinge of anxiety and also partially exposed as soon as he caught you staring at his hands.
This couldn't get more embarrassing, right?
"Is everything alright, Mrs. Wayne?"
"O-Of course... Everything is fine."
Everything was fine. You tried to cover your own flinch the second Damian's hand rested on top of your thigh under the table, fingers tapping a soft rhythm before it slid further.
Stop playing you breathed out shakily, hand grasping his wrist.
Make me he chuckled at your weak grip.
II. — SHIRTLESS SPARRING ,
It was actually part of your life now after you spent so many years being together with Damian Wayne, or sometimes, in moments like these, you preferred to call him Damian Al Ghul instead.
Not to forget, you don't even understand when it started to bug you so much. Because the first time you watched him sparr without a shirt, you were only grinning and cheering him on. And now it was bugging you immensely.
Bug you in not a necessarily bad way.
You are staring once again, watching how his body moved with fluidity and flawlessly within the air, manoeuvring in the silence and without breaking the rhythm.
Every step is a careful and planned out approach.
Every skill is polished throughout day and night since his childhood days.
He does not hesitate to move like the wind, lets himself get carried and follows it like a lifeline.
It takes a while until he breaks into sweat, the first droplets of them forming on his neck — gliding down his collarbone before it reached his chest. And you noticed that the entirety of him is well built.
His body is not a symbol of beauty but rather one of dedication and hard work, reaching the extreme and fulfilling the best someone can.
Your gaze wander from his toned chest to his arms, seeing the muscles flexing through his movements. His golden brown skin started to glisten under the trail of sweat that accompanied his body like a true companion.
"—Careful now before your eyes end up at the wrong place." he paused his training, gaze set on you.
The heat immediately rushed up to your neck as you got caught another time. "Is that so..?" you trailed off awkwardly and threw a towel into his direction that he caught in ease.
"I would be more than happy if you sparred with me." he wiped off the excess sweat with the towel, "I figured you might want to join."
Wrong, wrong buddy. You don't want to join in his sparring at all.
"You are always free to leave if this bores you."
Very wrong.
III. — INTIMIDATING HEIGHT DIFFERENCE ,
You do remember the days when you were the same height as him. Or hell, when you were a few centimetres taller than you. You remember how you were teasing the shit out of him.
Truth to be told? It was fun, seeing how he narrowed his eyes ever so slightly in annoyance. It was adorable to see him inwardly fuming, while telling you that you will see in the future.
It was nice while it lasted. The moment he was taller than you by an inch? You knew it was over for you. And he grew taller than you both had anticipated, standing almost a head taller than you. You have to crane your neck to meet his gaze — crane your fucking neck. It's the biggest humiliation of your whole life, entire existence but it's a loss you will forever cheer for since it makes you feel certain things.
"Hayati, you seem lost." you don't seem lost, you are lost — lost in the way the endearing term rolled off his tongue so easily, lost how he stares down at you. "Shall we move out of the busy hall?"
"No wait—I'm right where I want to be." you choked out, almost tripping over your words.
Even if the room was filled with socialites and high rich people. But they didn't matter as you stood in the very corner of the room, all noises and background sounds.
The proximity draws you in unbearably hot, the way he gazes at you is making you sweat, he makes you nervous — makes you feel sixteen again when your crush has first developed. It was unfair, it was killing you.
Your lips formed a thin line as you suppressed a groan from leaving your throat, head falling forward and your forehead leaned against his shoulder, your grip around the glass tight.
"It's unfair. You are unfair, I hate it."
It enticed a chuckle out of him, voice low and rich — god, it made your knees weak.
Actually, you do know he doesn't do it intentionally. He doesn't even know what effect he has on you and this makes you tweak. You are so sure that you could bet your life on it.
He doesn’t do it intentionally.
Right, keep telling yourself that.
Yet the way he eyes you tells a different tale. It’s not the possessive and selfish kind of eyeing — but the one that forces you to tell the truth, that makes your heart stutter and your breath hitch.
“Stop.” you avert your gaze from him, heat leisurely crawling up to your head.
“Hmm?” there’s this underlying smugness under that hum, breaking you. “With what?”
“Staring—obviously.” you hissed before covering your face with both of your hands. “It’s so unfair!”
“Pray tell, what makes anything so unfair? You’ve been mentioning it since the very start.” he titled his head slightly.
“You—! You, you…”
“Lost your words? Poor you." the mock sympathy.
Silence settled, your eyes set on his fingers for a while, then drifting to the shirt that barely covered anything (it covered him whole) before they landed on his eyes.
“I noticed.” he whispered.
“N-Noticed what?” you played dumb.
Damian grasped your wrist before you could make an attempt to flee, fingers curling around your wrist and raising your hand towards his lips — leans close to your hands and sharp breath fanning against your skin.
A shiver ran down your spine at the cooling sensation.
He doesn’t smile, doesn’t smirk — nothing to feed your suspicions.
“Do not play coy now.” the gentle pressure of a touch, lips ghosting over your wrist.
“What…” you were looking everywhere but him.
“To be frank, I did not expect you to enjoy me in such an intimate way.”
“I do not..!”
“No need to be shy now.”
Suddenly — he pulled you close with one swift and steady movement, pressing your body close to his while his free hand snaked its way behind the small of your back, burying his face deep against your neck.
“Ack—!” you yelped out in surprise, hyperaware of every touch now.
The way he interlocked your fingers, the way he breathed down against your shoulder, the way he refused to let go.
author’s note — what if i open a taglist is someone interested erm or never mind haha also PLS i’ve been on a writing trip recently but only post short ass boring drabbles . yet lately? those damian wayne requests bring the longer fics out DAMN (sobs in i could never write a +5k wc fic) vro I wanna write about cass so bad she makes me giggle ⸝⸝
summary: post-mission, you land yourself in the hospital with a concussion. in your daze, you plead for someone to tell damian so he won't tear the hospital down to find you, for him not to worry. only problem? you and damian are supposed to hate each other.
pairing: damian wayne x fem! reader
The faint beeping, the low hushed voices—it's an annoying, distant commotion that's disrupting your sleep, enough to rouse you from the heavy, dark haze enveloping your senses. Your heavy lids peel open, blinking slowly as your vision adjusts to the sight of the hospital ceiling.
The striking scent of disinfectant hits you, and your nose instinctively wrinkles. A low rasp escapes your throat, just enough to stop the whispers.
"—She's awake!"
It’s a familiar voice, you think. Dick. It wasn’t the voice you wanted to hear, no matter how reassuring—not when the one you're familiar with holds a much more begrudging tone.
"I need..." Who? There's an urgent pressure building up in the back of your mind, an important request hanging right off your tongue. "To tell him."
"Hey-hey, you're okay. Just a little disoriented." Dick’s face comes into view, his messy locks covering the fuzzy halo of light above you. “You have a minor concussion, but no fatal injuries.”
"No. You need to tell him." Your face contorts, straining with visible effort to rack your brain for a name, trying to fight past the thick fog. "I am okay. It's him you have to worry about."
The corner of Dick's mouth tugs down briefly, confusion lighting his features. "Who?"
There's that damn question you're trying to answer. The fluorescent lights are much too oppressive—overly bright and sharp. You needed a shadow, someone who would know what to do when your teeth grinds together in discomfort.
"...Damian." You mutter. Ah, there it is. You don't notice the abrupt confused glances exchanged around the room, of how Damian's name was the last thing they expected to hear.
Your lids fall shut not a second after your job was done, body screaming to rest. At least you won't have to deal with Damian tearing down the hospital to find you.
"They despise each other." Tim reminds for the fifth time.
"I am aware.” Dick mutters, thumb scrolling through his contacts list. "What did I say about hacking my contacts list, Best Robin?"
"You didn't say anything about that specifically." Tim's foot taps impatiently against the tiles. “And why'd you think that contact name was meant for the demon spawn—never mind, that's besides the point right now. She's clearly disoriented.”
“I just have a gut feeling.” Pressing the phone against his ear, Dick runs a habitual tug over his locks whenever another situation pops up that he has to solve. Being in this line of work is bound to give him early greys.
"A gut feeling." Tim huffs, shaking his head in disagreement. “We better hope this doesn’t start another scuffle. Wouldn't want to toss another bone to the press. 'Blood son of Bruce Wayne attacks hospital patient'. I can already smell the print.”
Dick's frown sticks as he eyes you through the open door frame, laying in a hospital bed—unconscious ever since your first waking. The dots aren't connecting, not when the soot from the explosion still singes the edges of his jacket and his mind is all fuzzed up from a lack of sleep and endless documents. Still, the world had a knack for surprising him whenever he least expects it.
The ringing on the other side stops after two seconds.
"Damian." Dick addresses, re-running his fingers habitually through his hair. "There's been a situation at the hospital..."
Here's the thing, Dick knows Damian. He understands the passing trait of impatience among their family, which is why he's already summarised the facts down to twenty seconds. The call abruptly ends at ten.
"Huh." Dick mutters, brows pressed together as he looks back to Tim. "He hung up."
Dick barely got to explain anything beyond the mention of your name and their current location. Your voice echoes in reminder as he stares at his screen, the duration of the call staring back at him. It's him you have to worry about.
Damian's anything but subtle. Of his frigid attitude—his blatant dislike towards you. Putting the two of you in the same room, it was guaranteed disaster. Yet, Damian was the first name that came out of your mouth.
"Told you it doesn't make sense." Tim shrugs. "Logically, he's the last person we should've called."
"We'll see." Dick answers, head leaning back to rest against the wall. "He's surprised us both plenty of times."
"Yeah, by attempting murder on us both. Your point being?"
Dick restrains a much-needed sigh.
Barely fifteen minutes later, Dick stirs at a loud commotion beyond the walls of the waiting room. His neck is cramping from this unergonomic chair, and his feet are nerved with pins-and-needles. Tim's ears are plugged in with wired earphones, jammed high with Green Day as he concentrates on his tablet, opting to work through his insomnia instead.
There’s a slamming of doors, rapid footsteps thundering against the tiles, coming closer and closer. Dick barely has time to nudge Tim’s shoulder before the hallway door slams open.
Damian comes through like a storm, movements overly controlled in the way a person would seize up before a fight. As if he's expected the worst, and is prepared to battle whatever he might encounter.
“Where is she?” Damian commands, voice echoing off the tiles.
Staring back at Dick are frantic, darkened eyes pinpointed on locked targets—searching for his answer. It's so abruptly intense, almost inhuman, that his mind stutters in regaining its grasp on reality. He hasn't seen that look in a long time, not since their first meeting where one wrong answer would make Damian your enemy.
“She’s asleep.” Tim answers for him, one side of his earphones still plugged in throughout this entire mess. “She needs the rest.”
Damian disregards his words, brushing past him. “I have to see her.”
Dick must’ve subconsciously shifted his glance to your room, towards the shine of the metal carvings of 78 placed in the centre, as Damian doesn’t hesitate in heading for the door.
Dick catches Damian's arm right before he enters, and the glare he receives? Murderous. As if everything in his way of getting to you has become mere obstacles he has to overcome.
"Grayson." Damian's voice is all wrong, shortened and taut, syllables used to convey only what was needed. "Unhand. Me."
"Dames." Dick tries to make sense of this adverse reaction, but nothing from that brief phone call provided him any clues. "She's still unconscious, and I don't think it's a good idea for you to be in there—in this state."
Damian's chest heaves once, but the storm in his gaze has only darkened. "She called for me, didn't she?"
Dick blinks once. "Well, yes but—"
"Then, I will be there for her."
Damian disarms his grip with an alarming quickness, and Dick doesn't even have time to recalibrate his mistake before he's slipped through.
Dick's palm splays onto the door right before it closes, pushing it fully open with a warning ready on his lips to not disturb your recovery, only to find that—Damian hadn’t moved from his spot since he entered. Dick feels Tim pressing into his side, curious eyes flickering at the situation, but Dick is too busy watching to care about how they're practically hanging onto the doorframe.
When Damian catches sight of you, his entire frame freezes into place. He's watching you, and Dick's watching him—and he sees it then, and realises what an idiot he's been.
Damian's entire expression immediately shifts. Loosening in relief at the sight of you mostly unharmed, at the sound of a calm beeping from the heart monitor. It's frighteningly out of place, the tenderness softening his wrath-like panic mere seconds ago. He moves almost mindlessly towards your side, forgetting the presence of his two brothers gawking at him from outside the doorframe, peering into what must be a fever dream.
"Idiot." Damian mutters, but it sounds more like a prayer answered.
"We've got it all wrong, didn't we?" Tim mutters, staring at the sight in awe.
"Told you." Dick whispers, his lips tilting upwards into a smile. "Gut feeling."
You stir not long after Damian’s arrival, as if your body is already attuned to his presence. Lids peering half-open, you squint at the shadow towering over you. For a moment, there was nothing but held breaths and a long pause as you familiarise yourself with forest green.
Then, the most miraculous thing happens. You smile, completely unaware of the turmoil and confusion you've caused.
“Dami.”
Dick decides today is an absolute possibility for the world to be at its end.
“You're an idiot.” Damian hurls the practiced insult out like he’s been running it off in his mind for the past few minutes, but his weakened voice holds no bite against the sight of his overwhelming relief.
Under the sheets, Dick swears he sees his brother’s fingers intertwining with yours.
“I told them to tell you not to rush.” You mutter hazily, still readjusting to reality. “At least—I think I did.”
Damian sucks in a breath, low, undistinguishable mutters whispered. Your lip twitches up slightly, which could only mean another insult you're brushing off.
“Yet, you’re still here.” You tease. “Fretting.”
The thin line of his lips creases deeper. “I do not fret.”
“Arguing with the patient?” Your body shifts, tilting closer to Damian.
“I prefer arguing with you unharmed.” Damian mocks lowly. Dick sees the stiffness bleed out of Damian’s expression the longer his gaze is locked onto you, as if materialising your talkative state in his mind.
"I am unharmed."
"A mild concussion, a hospital bed." Damian's frown deepens. "At least attempt at a reasonable lie."
Damian’s body tilts just slightly, lowering to match yours, and the light catches your features once more. Your lips tilt downward for a single second, the sting of the fluorescent lights irritating your vision.
In a sudden movement without words exchanged, Damian adjusts. His shoulders block the light over your face once more, covering you with his shadow.
You can't help the grin that escapes. "That is what I was thinking about, before I passed out again."
Damian's expression contorts, as if his mind can't decide on hyper-focusing on the details of you falling unconscious again or on what you were imagining about him. You decide for him.
"The lights were all in my face and—" You suck in a breath. "I kept trying to remember your name. I tried so hard to find it, this person who knows that I hate hospital lights without me needing to say it. Then, your name just slipped out."
“Oh.” Tim murmurs from afar.
“Oh.” Dick agrees.
“Don’t do that again.” Damian mutters in the quiet buzzing of the machines.
“Save people?” You tease.
“Put yourself in harm’s way.” Damian pushes back.
"Hey, what about the two of us?" Tim calls out, and Dick's quick to shove his elbow into the idiot's stomach. "Ow—what? We never got this treatment and all the fretting."
Damian's gaze shifts at the disruption, the softness creased into the corners of his eyes fading into annoyance. "Leave us."
"Woah." Tim holds a hand to his abdomen, still feigning hurt. "That's just cold."
Damian's eyes narrow further, and Dick's reminded instantly of how the press is probably waiting outside the hospital for any hints of a scuffle. It's already news enough for not two, but three members now of the Wayne family rushing to the emergency ward. Grabbing Tim by his hoodie, Dick tugs roughly. "We'll leave you two be to—catch up. No attempted murders, if the reminder's still needed."
It had slipped out so easily, the old warning, but it feels strangely out of place with this tender atmosphere. Dick's most definitely intruding on something he's not meant to see, but questions can be reserved for later.
You snort, a sheepish expression caught between your teeth, watching for confirmation as the door shuts with a click. When you have a shred of confidence that they're at least out of hearing range, you turn your attention back to Damian with growing excitement.
“You know they’re probably freaking out right now?” You mutter conspiratorially. "They'll never buy into us hating each other anymore."
“That is not my concern.” Damian frowns. “You are.”
“That might be the sweetest thing you've ever told me.” You coo. "I matter enough for you to deal with family dinner interrogations now."
Damian's stare remains unimpressed. “I will smother you with pillows.”
“That’s unhygienic—and cruel.”
His tongue clicks softly as his hand comes up behind the pillow, instinctively propping them up higher as you adjust your neck, an action completely unrelated to his threat. “Only you would be concerned of bacteria before attempted murder.”
“Yeah, I’m a piece of work." You murmur distractedly, choosing to gaze intently at him instead. His hair's fallen into different directions, all un-Damian-like. "That’s why you rushed all the way here, didn’t you?”
He stiffens, hand shifting away from the pillow, but still lingering near you. After a moment, the inner workings of his mind battling between his logic and his emotions must've finally faltered, as his fingers delicately cup the back of your head. He doesn't move you towards him, choosing to come over to you instead, his body hovering halfway over yours before finally letting his weight topple gently over you.
His arms wrap around you gently as his comforting weight falls over you, and the first thing you feel is how quickly his heart is racing. He needs this, you realise, as he settles with his arms wrapped protectively around you. To be physically present as your shield, even when there is no danger present.
He is more affected than he seems with his tightly concealed expressions, now that you physically feel the effects on his body. There's the slight twitches of his fingers when he's still afraid, waiting for the noise in his head to calm down. You know Damian, that he needs time to process before he reveals his cards.
“I didn't want you to worry.” You mumble into his embrace.
“Impossible.” Damian huffs softly, tracing his other hand over your wrist, feeling the soft thudding of your pulse. “You're my problem to handle."
You feel a soft, imperceptible kiss pressed onto your temple, and your eyes flutter shut. This is the side of Damian only you get to have, the proof of its existence ghosting your skin. You have to force your eyes open, the lure of sleep already trying to dig its claws into you—and that's something you absolutely refuse. You don't want to miss this rare side to Damian, all soft and disarmed.
"You scared me." Damian admits after a long pause, barely audible.
You blink, surprised. "You're never scared."
"For you, I am." Damian confesses, his grip tightening slightly. "You tend to render me painfully exposed to weakness."
"Weakness, huh? You haven't got rid of me yet." You hum lightly.
"No." His tone is decisive, stern. "If I haven't decided that I've had enough of you, the world doesn't get to."
"I'm starting to think threats are your love language, Dami." Your hand lifts, struggling twice before you manage to run your fingers through his hair, resting its weight over the nape of his neck.
His body shudders slightly, and his nose buries itself deeper into the crook of your neck. If anyone were to look into hospital room 78, they'll encounter the strange sight of Damian Wayne embracing you as if you were his lifeline. No one would believe them, but the truth remains.
He was yours. Completely yours.
He was also definitely sentenced to a long interrogation the moment he steps out of this room.
"Who was the perpetrator?" He mutters after a moment.
"Damian." You're stuck deciding between a snort and a sigh. "It was an accident."
"You don't know that." He huffs. "I sincerely doubt in your ability to detect an attempted murder while you're unconscious."
Your grip tugs at his hair playfully, a pretty effective way of shutting him up. "Argue with me later."
You feel his lashes flutter against your skin, processing. "...Fine."
He breathes you in, his heart rate finally starting to calm the longer he hears your voice so close to his eardrums, your touch grounding his senses.
"It was torture." His voice is too still, stating the facts without the emotion that's driven behind them. "The drive here. I kept envisioning the worst, that you had called out for me—and if I didn't make it in time—"
His grip tightens with his words, and you're pressed into his chest, feeling what his words refuse to convey, starting to thud again below his ribcage.
"Damian." Your hand traces reassuringly over his neck. "I'm right here."
He listens, his rampant thoughts slowing in pace at the reminder. "I had never been so terrified." His voice remains level, his attempt at reinforcing his reality over his fears. "To receive a call from Grayson, hearing your name—I couldn't let myself think of anything else other than finding you."
"You did." You mutter reassuringly. "You found me. I'm safe."
He lets out a low breath, a slow exhale at the sound of those two words he'd been needing to hear. "Sometimes, I think you've ruined me." He murmurs in truth.
You think he's unused to this. Letting down his walls, experiencing the blatant terror for another person's life that is completely out of his control—that he's left with nothing but pieces to readjust, to compromise. By letting you into his life and allowing you to be his person, he has abandoned his need to preserve himself, to be above fear.
"You're not escaping the argument." He notes down distractedly. "I still have my reservations."
"Anything you need, Dami." You reassure.
"Anything?" He murmurs, head shifting out of the crook of your neck to face you fully.
His green eyes are narrowed with intent now, gazing at you with unhidden intensity.
You swallow, nodding slightly.
When he leans in, the palm of his hand slips from the back of your head to over your jaw. His thumb traces over your lips softly, and he leans in replacing the ghost of his touch with his own mouth. It's tender, a separate language to convey the emotions he hasn't learnt to spell out, on what you do to him. Yet, with the way he's handling you, nose brushing against yours, in a way so precious it makes your heart ache—you think that impending argument's worth it.
likes, reblogs, and comments are highly appreciated! <333
so, i'm in a bit of a financial bind at the moment and, unfortunately, i have some bills that i need to try and pay off among keeping myself somewhat float. it's been quite a hard month and i try my hardest to kind of...keep it together and find joy in the little things—like this blog filled with you wonderful people.
if you happen to like what i do on here, i do have a ko-fi and would appreciate any support! no matter how small, even a reblog helps a bunch!
but also please don't feel like you're obligated to help! i know we're all going through our own issues.
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🗯️ 内容 established relationship, tooth-rotting fluff, married couple dynamics, parents!au, lots of domestic intimacy, skinship, kisses, yumi is jay and rea's family babysitter, haneul and dohyun are cuties !
EL’S ✷ BUBBLE : double update for today woooow (i need to get these over with i'm so sorry) anyways goodness gracious this was so cute i'm actually giggling i need jay in my life as my husband !!!! thank you for the request ♡ lovelots
The alarm doesn't wake you. Jay makes sure of it.
He's been awake since 5:43 AM — not because his body doesn't know how to sleep in on a Sunday, but because he set a backup alarm on his phone and slipped it under his pillow the night before, vibrating like a secret against the cotton.
He kills both alarms with his thumb before the second one can even think about ringing, and then he lies there for exactly eleven seconds, looking at you.
You're on your side, one hand curled under your chin, the other flung over the duvet like you'd reached for him in your sleep and found empty air. Your hair is a mess. There's a crease on your cheek from the pillowcase. Your lips are parted the tiniest bit, and your breath is so quiet he has to lean in to hear it.
He leans in. Presses his mouth to your temple, just barely, just enough for you to feel warmth if you were awake to feel it, and then he rolls out of bed.
The floorboards in the hallway are the enemy. He knows which ones creak: the third one from your bedroom door, the one at the top of the stairs near the linen closet, two consecutive ones outside Haneul's room. He's mapped them out over years of late nights and early mornings, and he navigates them now in his socks, stepping over the worst ones like he's walking through a minefield of sound.
Haneul's door is cracked open. He eases it wider and peeks in — his daughter is starfished across her toddler bed, one foot hanging off the edge, her stuffed rabbit crushed against her chest. She's three and sleeps like she's fighting a war. Jay crouches next to the bed and brushes her bangs off her forehead.
"Haneul-ah," he whispers. "Baby. Wake up."
She doesn't.
He tries again, this time with a gentle hand on her shoulder. "Haneul. Come on, my little bear."
She makes a sound like a grumpy cat and swats at his hand without opening her eyes. He almost laughs, he can see where you get your morning disposition from, but he swallows it and tries once more, softer this time, his thumb rubbing her tiny shoulder through her pajamas.
"Mama's special day," he murmurs. "We gotta make breakfast, remember? You said you wanted to crack the eggs."
That gets her. One eye cracks open. Then the other. Her face does something magnificent, confusion, then remembrance, then pure, incandescent excitement, and she's sitting up so fast her rabbit falls off the bed.
"Eggs," she whispers, but it comes out like a scream that's been stepped on.
"Shh, shh, shh—" Jay claps a hand over her mouth, grinning. "Quiet. Mama's sleeping."
She nods against his palm, eyes huge, and he lifts her out of bed. She weighs almost nothing. She always wraps her arms around his neck when he picks her up, always tucks her face into his shoulder, and he's never once in his life gotten tired of it.
Down the hall, the nursery. Dohyun is standing up in his crib, hanging onto the railing, already awake — he always is at this hour, like his internal clock knows dawn is his territory. When he sees Jay and Haneul, he opens his mouth and Jay says, very calmly, "No," which makes Dohyun's face crumple in offense before it can even become a wail.
"I know," Jay says, lifting him one-armed while Haneul clings to the other side. "I know, buddy. But Mama's sleeping. Quiet voice, okay?"
Dohyun is twenty months old and does not have a quiet voice. But he seems to understand the gravity of the situation, or at least he's distracted by Haneul's pajama sleeve, because he reaches over and grabs a fistful of it and doesn't scream.
The kitchen is dark when they get there.
Jay settles Dohyun into his high chair, the one with the faded dinosaur sticker on the tray that Haneul put there six months ago and nobody could bring themselves to peel off, and crouches down to look Haneul in the eye.
"Alright. You remember the plan?"
She nods, bouncing on her heels.
"What do we do first?"
"Flowers!" she says, too loud, and claps her hand over her own mouth this time. He can see you in her, the way she catches herself, the way her eyes go wide like oops — it's so exactly you that it knocks the breath out of him for a second.
"Right. The flowers are already on the table. I got them yesterday, remember? After work." He tilts his head toward the dining table, where a bouquet of white peonies and soft blush ranunculus sits in your grandmother's old ceramic vase, wrapped in brown paper he hasn't untied yet because Haneul wanted to be the one to do it. "What's next?"
"Eggs."
"Eggs. And what else?"
"Pancakes with the—the—thingy, um—" She frowns, searching. "The faces."
"The faces, that's right." He grins. "Alright, let's do it."
He cracks two eggs into a bowl and lets Haneul whisk them with a fork.
She's meticulous about it, her little tongue poking out of the corner of her mouth the same way yours does when you're reviewing case files, and she only splashes a tiny bit onto the counter. Jay wipes it up without comment.
The pancake batter is from the container in the fridge, he made it last night after you fell asleep, standing in the dark kitchen at midnight in his boxers, stirring and then washing every single dish and putting it back so you'd never know.
He pours small circles onto the pan, and Haneul stands on her step stool next to him, watching with her chin on the counter, whispering "flip it, flip it, flip it, flip it, daddy," every time the bubbles appear.
Dohyun gets banana slices. He mashes them into the high chair tray with both fists, and Jay lets him.
That's what the dog is for, Miso, their old golden retriever, who materializes under the high chair like she has a sixth sense for falling food and sits there thumping her tail against the floor.
When the pancakes are done, Jay lets Haneul arrange them on the plate. She puts two in the center, banana slices for eyes, a strawberry slice for the mouth, blueberries in a zigzag that she apparently says is hair. It looks like a happy monster. It looks like something you'd frame.
"Perfect," he says, and he means it.
He pours your coffee into the mug that says Attorney in gold lettering — the one your law partner got you as a joke when you made partner yourself, the one you use every single morning even though it's chipped on the rim and the gold is flaking off the R.
He adds exactly one sugar and enough cream to turn it the color you like, the color you described once as "cloudy" and he described as "the exact shade of your skin in winter" and you threw a pillow at him for.
He plates everything. Pancakes. Eggs, scrambled the way you like, soft and wet. Fruit. Coffee.
A single white peony, stem trimmed, laid across the napkin. And the envelope — the one Haneul drew on for forty minutes yesterday while you were on a call, the one she insisted on gluing glitter onto even though Jay said it would get everywhere, which it did; he's still finding glitter on his dress shirts.
Under the envelope, wrapped in tissue paper printed with tiny hearts: the earrings.
He found them three weeks ago. You'd been scrolling on your phone in bed, half-asleep, and you stopped on a photo and turned the screen to him. "Aren't these pretty?" you said, already half-distracted by something else. "The droopy kind. Teardrop shape. I've always wanted a pair in gold."
You forgot you showed him. He didn't.
They're fourteen-karat gold, delicate, teardrop-shaped drops on fine chains, the kind that caught light when you turned your head, the kind that moved when you laughed.
He'd had them gift-wrapped at the store and then unwrapped them at home because the store's wrapping job wasn't good enough, and then wrapped them again himself with the heart tissue paper and a ribbon he had to watch a YouTube tutorial to tie properly.
He puts the wrapped box behind the plate, props the envelope against the coffee mug, and looks at the table. Haneul is vibrating with excitement. Dohyun has a few banana slices on his eyebrows.
"Ready?" Jay whispers.
Haneul nods so hard her whole body wiggles.
"Okay. Go get Mama."
You wake up to a small hand patting your cheek and a voice saying "Mama. Mama. Mama. Mama."
"M'awake," you mumble, and Haneul's face blooms into a smile so bright it could replace the sun.
She grabs your hand and pulls, and you let yourself be dragged out of bed, through the hallway, past the family photos on the wall you keep meaning to reorder, down the stairs with Miso bounding ahead of you like this is the best day of her life too.
And there's Jay, standing in the kitchen in his socks and the grey henley you stole from him last week and he stole back, leaning against the counter with Dohyun on his hip and a smile on his face that is so soft, so unbearably fond, that you stop walking.
"Happy Mother's Day," he says.
The table. The flowers. The food. The envelope with glitter everywhere. The small wrapped box. The coffee in your chipped mug. The pancake monster with its blueberry hair. The morning light through the kitchen window catching the edges of everything like it knows this is supposed to be golden.
"Oh," you say, and your voice cracks on it.
Haneul tugs your hand. "I cracked the eggs, Mama. Both of them."
"You did?"
"Both. And I didn't splash. Only a tiny splash. Daddy wiped it."
"That's—wow—you did so good, baby." You crouch down, and she throws herself into your arms, and you hold her and look up at Jay, and his smile hasn't changed, not even a little — he's looking at you like you invented the concept of morning, like the sun came up because you walked into the room.
"Open it," Haneul says, squirming out of your arms and pointing at the envelope. "Open it open it open it."
The envelope with glitter everywhere.
Inside, a card — construction paper, folded crookedly, with a drawing of three stick figures: one very tall, one medium, one very small, and a yellow blob that might be Miso. Above them, in Haneul's wobbly handwriting, the words MOMY I LUV YOO SO MATCH and below that, in Jay's handwriting, smaller: And I love you more than my vocabulary could ever be able to encapsulate. Every day. — J
You stare at it. Your eyes are burning.
"Open the box!" Haneul says.
You open the box. The tissue paper crinkles. The ribbon falls away. And there they are — gold teardrops on fine chains, delicate and warm and exactly what you pointed at on your phone screen three weeks ago and forgot about.
"Jay—"
"You showed me," he says, shrugging, like it's nothing, like remembering things you forget about yourself isn't the entire point. "I figured you'd forget you showed me. You always forget."
You're going to cry. You can feel it building, the heat behind your eyes, the shake in your chin. You haven't even had your coffee yet. This isn't fair.
He must see it, because he crosses the kitchen in two strides, shifts Dohyun to one arm, and cups your face with his free hand. His thumb brushes your cheek.
"No crying," he says, quiet, just for you. "It's too early for crying. We have a whole day."
"I'm not crying."
"You're about to cry."
"I'm not." You are. "These are—they're so, so perfect."
"I know." He kisses your forehead. "Come on. Eat your monster pancake before Dohyun decides to share his banana with it."
After breakfast, he doesn't let you touch the dishes.
"Jay, I can at least—"
"You can at least sit on the couch and drink your coffee."
"It's cold now."
"I'll make another one."
"No? I can still drink it, besides I can make my own—"
"Sit." He says it gently, with a kiss to the top of your head, and you sit, because sometimes the only thing to do with Jay in this mode is surrender.
He does the dishes. He does the dishes while Haneul sits on the counter "helping," which is basically just rinsing the same spoon over and over, and Dohyun plays with a plastic cup on the floor. He makes you another mug of coffee. He cuts up an apple for the kids. He wipes down the table. He puts the flowers in the vase properly, unties the brown paper, fluffs the peonies with his fingers like he watched a florist do once.
You sit on the couch with Miso's head on your lap and watch him move around your kitchen like he was built for it, like being a CEO is his job but this, this is what he actually is.
When the dishes are done and the kids are set up with crayons at the coffee table, he sits next to you. Close. His arm around your shoulders, your feet in his lap. He rubs your ankle with his thumb, absent and warm.
"What do you want to do today, sweetheart? Anything? Any plans?" he asks.
"I don't know actually. Anything, really. This is already—"
"No," he says. "Not 'anything.' What do you want? Specifically."
"I don't—Jay, you already got me the earrings, and breakfast, and the flowers—"
"That's the kids' side. That's for this morning. I'm asking about the rest of the day. Afternoon, evening, you name it."
You look at him. He looks back at you. His eyes are steady and certain, the way they are in boardrooms, contract negotiations, and every single time he's decided something is going to happen.
"Whatever I want?"
"Whatever you want, sweetheart."
"Like—shopping?"
"Like anything. Shopping. Appliances store. The park. A different store. Four different stores. I don't care. Today you point at things and I get them, got it?"
"You're absolutely absurd, Jay."
"Hey! No, I'm consistent. There's a difference, you know?"
You laugh. You can't help it. He grins, and it's the same grin he gave you six years ago across a bar, when you were a second-year associate too tired to function and he was a stranger who bought your drink and then argued with you about tort law for an hour and a half.
"Okay," you say. "Shopping. But I'm not going crazy."
He doesn't say anything. He just smiles and kisses your temple.
He drops the kids at Yumi's at two. Haneul clings to his leg and he crouches down and promises three times that he'll pick her up before bedtime, that she can stay up late if she wants, that he and Mama are just going out for a little while. Dohyun doesn't care; Dohyun is already trying to eat Yumi's cat's tail. Miso stays home with the back door open to the yard.
In the car, you put your feet on the dashboard. He doesn't say anything about it. He never does. He reaches over and puts his hand on your knee instead, and drives.
The boutique you've been eyeing for months, the one with the silk blouses in the window you always slow down for, he pulls into the lot before you can say anything.
"I saw you looking," he says, turning off the engine. "Every time we drive past. You press your foot on the brake just a little, every single time."
"That's—what in the world, how do you even catch that? I don’t, end of the story."
"Yes, you totally do. You brake-check me for silk."
You get out of the car so he can't see you blush, but he catches up and laces his fingers through yours, and you go in together.
He sits in the armchair by the fitting room. Every time you come out in something new, he gives you a real answer, not it's fine or whatever you want but actual opinions, specific ones, the kind that mean he's paying attention.
He tells you the sage green dress makes your shoulders look incredible.
He tells you the black one is too stiff, you'll hate it by noon.
He tells you the cream blouse with the tiny buttons is very you, and when you ask what that means, he says "it means you'd wear it to court and think about me when you button it."
You buy the cream blouse. You buy the sage dress. You buy a linen maxi-skirt you don't need and a pair of sunglasses he picks out, silver frames, slightly cat-eyed, because he says they match the new earrings, and you're already wearing them, the teardrops catching the store's warm light every time you turn.
He pays. You tell him you can pay. He pays anyway, card already out, already sliding it across the counter, already taking the bags before the cashier can offer.
"Jay—"
"It's Mother's Day."
"It's not—you don't have to—"
"What’s the harm in spoiling my queen? I know I don't have to. I want to." He says it lightly, but he's already steering you toward the door, bags in hand, one arm reaching for yours.
The second store is makeup. You don’t actually need anything, but the sight of glossy tubes lined up like candy makes you drift toward the lip section anyway.
He follows close behind, hands tucked into the pockets of his hoodie while you unscrew tester after tester, swiping colors onto the back of your hand until your skin looks like a paint palette.
“You’re running out of space,” he says.
“I’m conducting important research.”
“You’re smearing six shades of pink on yourself.”
“There are differences.”
He hums like he doesn’t believe you for a second, then suddenly reaches over and flips your wrist gently to inspect the chaos of colors. His brows pinch together in exaggerated concentration.
“This one’s too orange.”
“You don’t know what orange undertones are.”
“I know when it makes you look like you ate spicy noodles.”
You snort. “Oh my gosh.”
Before you can grab another tester, he holds his hand out between you both, palm up.
“Use mine.”
You blink. “What?”
“You’re out of skin.” He wiggles his fingers impatiently. “C’mon, makeup artist.”
“That’s literally not sanitary, Jay, I got this.”
“You just used three testers directly from the display.”
“…fair point.”
Trying not to smile too hard, you drag a mauve shade across the back of his hand. The color looks absurdly delicate against his knuckles, and he watches with the seriousness of someone signing legal documents.
“Hm,” he murmurs. “Not the one.”
“You can’t reject it after one swatch.”
“I absolutely can. Next!”
You laugh under your breath and swipe another color beside it, then another, until his hand is covered in glossy streaks of pinks, berries, roses. He studies every single one like he’s on a judging panel.
Finally, he taps one shade with his free hand — a soft warm rose.
“That one.”
“You picked the most normal color here.”
“Because it’ll look good on you.”
“You say that with a lot of confidence for a man who used to head out in baggy hoodies and skinny jeans twenty-four seven.”
“Hey! Sweetheart, they were the thing back then. Now? I’ve left them behind. Besides, I have no distractions. My judgment is pure.”
“You’re insane.”
He closes his fingers carefully so the swatches won’t smear and looks at you completely deadpan.
“Consistently insane. There’s a difference.”
You buy the lip color. And a new setting spray. And a tiny pot of highlighter he picks up and says "this one, you always run out of this one," and he's right, you do always run out of that one, and the fact that he knows that makes your chest hurt in the best way.
The third store is jewelry. Not because you need more, but because you both see a bracelet, a simple gold chain with a single tiny disc, and he picks it up and turns to you and says, "Haneul's birthday's in three months."
"She's three. She doesn't need jewelry yet."
"Not for her. For you, of course. So you have something of hers that you wear." He pauses. "I'll get her name engraved on the disc. Or—a star, or a heart, or something. Whatever you want, sweetheart."
You stare at him.
"What?" he says.
"You’re literally going to make me flood this whole jewelry store with my tears."
"You've cried in worse places, it’ll be fine."
"That was your fault too."
He buys the bracelet.
He tells the sales associate he'll come back for the engraving.
Outside, on the sidewalk, he hands you all the bags and cups your face with both hands and kisses you, slow, deliberate, right there in front of the store window and a woman walking her dog and two teenagers on skateboards, and when he pulls back, you're both flushed.
"Where next?" he asks.
You're smiling so hard your face hurts. "What about… oh my gosh, the park! The one with the big willow tree."
He doesn't ask why. He just takes your hand and walks you to the car.
The park with the willows is the one you found on your first year of dating, back when he was just a sharp-suited guy with a nice car and way too many opinions about your brief writing, and you were just a lawyer who couldn't believe he'd argued a motion and won and then texted you about it like a kid with five golden stars. You'd wandered here after dinner, both of you, still buzzy from wine, and sat under the biggest willow and talked until the streetlights came on.
Nothing's changed. The willow is bigger, maybe. The pond still has the same ducks. The bench by the water has been repainted but it's in the same spot, and Jay sits down and pulls you next to him, and the shopping bags go on the ground at your feet, and his arm goes around you, and it's so exactly like that first night that you feel time fold.
“You know,” you say, “you’re annoyingly good at this.”
“At what?”
“Making me feel loved without making it a big thing.”
He smiles a little. “That’s because it isn’t a big thing.”
He's quiet for a second, looking at the water. Then he turns to you, and his face is different — not the easy grin, not the playful certainty. Something deeper. Something he doesn't bring out often, not because he's hiding it but because it's too real for small moments.
"I think about it sometimes," he says. "The way you move through the world."
You blink. "Huh?"
"The way you—" He stops, starts again. "You argue in court like you're building a house for someone. Brick by brick. You take cases that eat you alive and you carry them anyway because somebody has to, and you come home and you're so tired you can barely keep your eyes open, but you still read Haneul two stories instead of one, and you still rock Dohyun even though he's getting too heavy for it, and you still—you still find my shirts in the laundry and fold them the way I like, even though I've never once asked you to."
Your throat is closing. You can feel it.
"I think about what it would be like if you weren't here," he says, "and I can't. I can't think about it. It doesn't compute. You're the whole structure. You're the thing everything else hangs on. And I know—I know I'm not always good at saying it, absolutely terrible even, and I know I work too much, and I know sometimes I come home and my head is still in the office—but I notice. I notice everything you do. I notice every single thing, and I don't say it enough, and today—today is just me trying to make a dent in what I owe you."
He looks at you. His eyes are steady. His voice is steady. His hand on your shoulder is gentle enough to break something.
"You're the best thing that ever happened to me," he says. "You and Haneul and Dohyun. The three of you. And I'm going to spend my whole life trying to be worth it."
You're crying. Full tears, silent, rolling down your cheeks, and you can't stop them, and you don't even want to. He sees it and his expression shifts — the deep thing tucks itself away, and the other Jay comes back, the one who makes you laugh, the one who knows exactly how to catch you before you fall too far.
"Okay, that's enough of that," he says softly, and thumbs the tears off your cheeks. "I wasn't trying to make you a mess. I was trying to be romantic."
"You were romantic. You are romantic, Jay. I'm just—"
"You're crying on Mother's Day. That's a violation."
"A violation of what exa—"
"Of the official Mother's Day rules. Section four, paragraph two: no tears allowed on the designated day of spoiling." He wipes another tear with the pad of his thumb. "I'm going to have to issue a citation."
You laugh. It comes out wet and messy, and he smiles, and the smile is so warm you can feel it in your bones.
"There she is," he says. "Come on. The ducks are judging you."
You look over. A duck is, in fact, looking at you from the pond with a sort of flat judgment.
"That duck has nothing to say about my emotional state."
"That duck is a living being. Therefore, that duck is capable of forming its own opinions, and he has some about you."
You lean into him, and he pulls you closer, and you sit there under the willow until the light goes amber, until the shopping bags have tipped over on the grass, until the duck loses interest and swims away.
Dinner is at the Italian place situated at the heart of the city. The one with the bad lighting and the incredible pasta and the owner who knows both of you by name because you've been coming here since before Haneul, since before the house, since before anything except the two of you and the feeling that this might be real, might be.
Jay orders your wine without asking. The carbonara. A chocolate mousse for dessert, two spoons. He eats half his rigatoni and then swaps plates with you like he always does because the carbonara is better and he knows you'll want it but won't order it for yourself.
You tell him about a case you're working on. He listens the way he always does, fully, completely, like what you're saying is the most important thing in the room, and asks questions that are smart and specific, because he's been listening to you talk about law for six years and he's learned enough to be dangerous.
He tells you about a deal that fell through. You tell him it's fine, it happens. He says it's not fine, he wanted it, and you tell him the next one will be better, and he looks at you like you've just handed him the answer to something.
The chocolate mousse comes. You eat it with two spoons. He gets cream on his lip and you wipe it off with your thumb and he catches your hand and kisses your knuckles, and the couple at the next table smiles at you both like you're something worth looking at.
The drive home is quiet.
The windows are down, just a crack, and the night air is cool on your face.
His jacket is over your shoulders, he put it there when you got in the car, didn't ask, just draped it and adjusted the collar and turned back to the road.
In the cup holder between you: two ice cream cups from the place you remembered your childhood friend dreamily talk about, the one that stays open late, the one you discovered when you were pregnant with Haneul and craved mint chocolate chip at eleven p.m. and he drove forty minutes to get it.
He'd driven forty minutes tonight, too. Without you asking. Because he remembers.
You lean your head against the window. The gold earrings shift against your neck. On your wrist, the new bracelet catches the streetlights as they pass, gold chain, tiny disc, blank for now but not for long. On your finger, your wedding ring. On the seat beside you, bags from four different stores. In the cup holder, ice cream. In the driver's seat, your whole entire life, one hand on the wheel and the other reaching over to rest on your knee like it belongs there.
Because it does.
"Hey," he says, not looking away from the road.
"Hey."
"Good day?"
You look at him, the line of his jaw, the henley sleeves pushed up to his elbows, the way his hair is falling after a full day of you running your hands through it, and you think about all of it.
The eggs Haneul cracked. The pancake monster with its blueberry hair. The flowers. The earrings. The cream blouse and the sage dress and the lip color he chose for you. The bracelet with the empty disc. The bench under the willow. His voice, low and sure, saying you're the best thing that ever happened to me. The tears and the duck and the way he made you laugh exactly when you needed to. The chocolate mousse with two spoons. The jacket on your shoulders. The ice cream in the cup holder.
"Good day," you say.
He squeezes your knee. You close your eyes.
The road unspools ahead of him. The city blurs past. The car hums. And you are so full — of him, of the day, of the kind of love that doesn't just hold you up but builds the ground under your feet — that you don't think you could fit another single thing inside you.
Then he says, quiet, almost to himself, like he's checking: "More than Father's Day?"
You open your eyes. He's smiling. That smile — the one that's only for you, the one that makes you feel like you invented the sun.
"So much more than Father's Day," you say.
"Good." He looks at you, quick, then back at the road. "Because I've already got next year planned."
"You're impossible to deal with."
"A better way to word it is that I’m consistent, sweetheart, there's a—"
"Difference. I know."
He laughs. You laugh.
Miso's going to lose her mind when you walk through the door, and Haneul is going to want to show you the crayon drawing she made at Yumi's, and Dohyun is going to reach for you the second he sees you, and tomorrow is Monday and there are briefs to file and deals to close and the whole ordinary machinery of your life waiting to start up again.
But right now, you are the most spoiled woman on the planet, and you're not even a little bit sorry about it.
⭐️ ⋆.ೃ࿔*:・
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💿 ࿐ . . every summertime by niki
✷ NOTE : thank you all so, so much for reading ! i hope you enjoyed this little world for a while ♡ all of this is purely a work of fiction & doesn’t reflect reality at all . . likes, reblogs, and feedback are deeply cherished and very, very appreciated on here !
characters bruce wayne here, dick grayson here, jason todd here, tim drake, damian wayne, duke thomas, stephanie brown here, cassandra cain here
masterlist
tim drake
nerdy tim drake, tim has no chill, curious, nerdy, soft, slow-burn, oblivious mutual pining, science-meets-romance, tim accidentally flirts academically, oblivious tim, oblivious reader, mutual oblivious pining, friends to lovers, alien biology, tamaranean biology/physiology, academic flirting, soft angst, medical/scientific curiosity, emotional overthinking, consent around medical/data questions, misunderstandings due to cultural differences
Tim knows some things about Tamaraneans before he meets you.
Not enough to be confident. But enough that when Bruce says there’s a Tamaranean staying at the Manor, Tim immediately goes very still and says, “Oh.”
Then disappears into a research hole for twelve hours.
Classic Tim behaviour.
He knows the basics from Titans files, Justice League records, and whatever information exists about Kori.
Tamaraneans absorb solar energy. They have enhanced strength, durability, speed, endurance, and flight. Some can project starbolts. They experience emotions intensely. They can survive under conditions that would absolutely kill a human. They age differently. They can learn languages through physical contact.
That last detail sits in his brain like a blinking red light.
Because Tim has read the files. He knows how Kori traditionally learned languages.
So when he meets you, he is very determined to be normal.
Painfully normal. Tragically normal.
He introduces himself with a polite little nod and says, “Tim Drake. Welcome to Earth.”
You smile, warm and bright.
Then you gently take his hand.
Tim’s entire nervous system leaves the chat.
You tilt your head, eyes glowing faintly for half a second, and then say, in perfectly understandable English, “Thank you, Timothy Drake. Your language has many sharp edges.”
Tim stares.
Not because he’s offended. Because his brain just watched a theory become reality in under five seconds.
“You can speak English now?”
“Yes.”
“From touching my hand?”
“Yes.”
“Just skin contact?”
You look amused. “Was there another method you expected?”
Tim’s ears go red so fast that Jason nearly chokes laughing from across the room.
Tim, fighting for his life: “No. Nope. That’s—scientifically fascinating. Completely normal. Great. Cool.”
You decide immediately that Timothy Drake is interesting. Tim decides immediately that he needs to ask you approximately four hundred questions and also maybe lie down.
He is fascinated by you, but in a very Tim way. Which means he tries to be respectful while vibrating with curiosity at a molecular level.
He keeps saying things like, “You don’t have to answer this if it’s invasive,” and then asks the most carefully worded alien biology question you’ve ever heard.
You appreciate that. A lot.
Because Tim doesn’t treat you like a specimen. He treats you like a person with knowledge he’s honoured to receive.
That distinction matters.
So you start answering.
At first, cautiously. Then more openly. Then, with genuine delight, because Tim listens.
He really listens. He writes things down, but only after asking permission. He checks if certain topics are private. He asks whether Tamaranean cultural knowledge should be treated as personal, communal, sacred, or diplomatic.
You beam at him. “You ask questions like a scholar and a warrior.”
Tim blinks. “Is that a compliment?”
“Yes.”
“Oh. Then thank you.”
He thinks about it for three days.
You tell him about Tamaranean physiology, about the way your body stores and uses solar radiation, about the way emotions and energy can feel connected in ways humans don’t always understand.
Tim is obsessed. Respectfully obsessed.
He wants to understand enhanced physiology and self-sustenance in particular.
The first time you casually mention that Tamaraneans can go extended periods without food or rest, Tim freezes mid-sip of coffee. “Define extended.”
You do.
Tim slowly lowers the mug. “That’s deeply unfair.”
You laugh. “You say this as a human who avoids sleep as if it were an enemy.”
“Sleep is inefficient.”
“Sleep is healing.”
“Okay, rude.”
“Accurate.”
Tim cannot argue.
He is also fascinated by decelerated ageing.
Not in a creepy way. More in a “this has massive biological, social, psychological, and cultural implications” way.
He asks how Tamaraneans experience time. Whether friendships feel different when lifespans stretch longer. Whether grief changes when ageing is slower. Whether childhood lasts the same number of years or is measured differently by development, training, emotional maturity, or solar cycles.
You answer what you can.
Some things are easy. Some things make you quiet.
Tim notices immediately when a question touches something tender.
He closes his notebook. “We can stop.”
You study him. “You do not wish to know?”
“I do,” he says honestly. “But not more than I want you comfortable.”
That is when you start trusting him more.
Because Tim’s curiosity has teeth, but he keeps it leashed.
You also love returning the favour.
The first time you ask him about Earth species, Tim lights up as if someone plugged him into WayneTech’s mainframe.
You expected a simple answer. You do not get one.
You ask why humans have so many different skin tones, hair textures, eye colours, and body shapes. Tim gives you an anthropology-adjacent explanation involving genetics, geography, melanin, adaptation, migration, and environmental pressures.
You are delighted.
You ask why humans blush. Tim begins explaining blood vessels and emotional stimuli, then realises halfway through that he is currently blushing.
You smile. “Your body reveals you, even when your mouth attempts secrecy.”
Tim shuts his laptop. “I think that’s enough biology for today.”
You ask about birds. Tim gives you birds.
You ask about cats. Tim gives you domestication history, predator behaviour, and why Alfred the Cat is “not representative of the whole species, because he is personally evil.”
You ask about octopuses. Tim disappears and returns with three documentaries, two papers, and what Jason calls “the haunted nerd gleam.”
You love it.
You start trading knowledge like gifts.
You tell him about Tamaranean customs, body language, star navigation, court etiquette, battle training, food, childhood games, mourning rituals, and the ways your people express affection. Tim tells you about Earth animals, human social evolution, urban legends, vigilante ethics, detective work, caffeine, memes, and why Gotham is “statistically insane.”
You are fascinated by Earth.
He is fascinated by you.
It becomes your thing.
Late-night knowledge exchanges. You sitting cross-legged on the floor of the Batcave while Tim pulls up holographic diagrams. Tim listening, chin in hand, as you describe the way Tamaraneans can sense heat and light differently.
Neither of you noticing how close you’re sitting.
Everyone else notices. Obviously.
Dick notices first and looks smug. Steph notices second and immediately starts a betting pool. Jason looks at Tim staring at you like you personally invented gravity and mutters, “Baby bird is cooked.”
Tim is especially interested in your unique physiology.
The way your strength does not map cleanly onto human muscle density. The way your body processes solar energy. The way your endurance works. The way your immune system responds to Earth pathogens. The way your senses differ from human baselines.
He is very careful with medical data, though.
He never assumes access. He never tries to run scans without asking.
Bruce respects that. Alfred approves.
You notice too.
Once, after a training session, Tim asks if he can compare your recovery rate to human data.
You agree.
He gives you three consent forms.
You stare at them.
He winces. “Too much?”
You smile. “No. It is strange. But kind.”
Tim blushes again.
You learn quickly that Tim’s version of care often arrives disguised as preparation.
He asks about your allergy to metallic chromium and immediately updates every relevant file.
Not just Batcomputer files.
Everything. Safehouse inventories. Medical alerts. Emergency field kits. Armour compatibility notes. Known enemy weapon materials. Gotham industrial maps where chromium exposure could be a risk.
He goes full Tim Drake about it. Within forty-eight hours, every Bat knows that chromium is a problem for you.
Jason says, “Did Drake make a whole chromium threat matrix?”
Tim says, “It’s a vulnerability profile.”
Jason says, “That’s a yes.”
You are touched.
Tim tries to downplay it. “It’s just basic risk management.”
“You mapped an entire city for my safety.”
“That’s what I said. Risk management.”
You touch his hand gently.
His heartbeat spikes. You pretend not to notice.
He knows you notice.
This becomes a problem.
For him.
You are physically affectionate in a way Tim is not used to, and because touch can carry language and emotional nuance for Tamaraneans, it feels meaningful every time.
A hand over his. Fingers at his wrist to get his attention. A palm to his shoulder after patrol. A gentle press of your forehead to his when you’re grateful.
Tim handles this with all the elegance of a laptop overheating during a system update.
He doesn’t dislike it. That is the issue.
He likes it. A lot.
But he keeps telling himself it is cultural. You are Tamaranean. You’re affectionate. You’re expressive. You touch people. This is normal.
Normal, normal, normal.
He is being normal. His pulse is just… academically elevated.
Totally fine.
Then one day, he starts asking about Tamaranean romance.
It begins innocently. Or at least that is what Tim tells himself.
You mention that some Tamaranean gestures are romantic rather than platonic, and Tim’s brain immediately goes, Research opportunity.
Terrible idea. Beautiful disaster.
He asks, “How do Tamaraneans distinguish between friendship affection and romantic affection?”
You answer.
He nods, taking notes. “Is courtship usually direct?”
“Yes.”
“Do Tamaraneans date casually, or is romance typically more formal?”
“It depends on the person, the region, and the bond.”
“Interesting. Are gifts common?”
“Yes, though not always objects. Sometimes shared experience. Sometimes battle-oaths. Sometimes food, sunlight, stories, touch.”
Tim writes that down very seriously.
He does not realise he is basically collecting instructions. You do not realise he is asking because he wants to know how to love you correctly.
Because Tim phrases every question like he is preparing a diplomatic report.
“What would be considered disrespectful in a romantic context?” “What signals romantic interest?” “How does one avoid misinterpreting affection?” “Are declarations preferred early, or only after mutual emotional certainty?”
You answer all of it because you think he is simply being thorough.
This is Tim. Tim once made a spreadsheet about everyone’s preferred comm settings. Of course he would ask forty-seven questions about alien courtship etiquette.
Meanwhile, Tim is sitting there thinking, This is useful in case someone on the team needs to know.
Someone. The team. Definitely not him. Definitely not because he wants to take you somewhere quiet and show you the city lights and maybe give you a book about Earth constellations annotated with Tamaranean comparisons.
Nope. That would be absurd.
Steph catches him later staring at a list titled “Tamaranean Romantic Customs — Working Notes.”
She reads over his shoulder.
Then looks at him.
Then looks back at the screen.
“Tim.”
“What?”
“Timothy.”
“What?”
“You are building a dating manual.”
“It’s cultural research.”
“It has a section called ‘Potential Gift Ideas.’”
“For diplomacy.”
“One of them says rooftop picnic.”
Tim closes the laptop.
Steph’s grin becomes lethal. “Oh my god. You like them.”
Tim, instantly: “No.”
“Tim.”
“I respect them.”
“Uh-huh.”
“As a person.”
“Sure.”
“And a cultural knowledge source.”
“Gross. Never phrase it like that again.”
Tim spirals after that.
Because once Steph says it, the thought becomes impossible to unthink.
He does like you. Romantically. Not just as a fascinating alien diplomat-warrior-scholar. Not just as a friend. Not just as someone whose smile makes the Cave feel less like a tomb with Wi-Fi.
He likes you.
He likes the way you say his name. He likes the way you call him out when he mistreats his body. He likes the way you trade knowledge like intimacy. He likes that you don’t laugh when he overexplains. He likes that you ask questions back.
He likes that when you touch him, it feels like being chosen.
Cue Tim panicking in the most Tim way possible.
He makes another spreadsheet. This one is titled something boring like “Interpersonal Variables.”
Jason sees it and immediately says, “Is this about your alien crush?”
Tim nearly throws the laptop at him.
Dick, unfortunately, also finds out.
Dick is gentle about it, which somehow makes it worse. He tells Tim that if he likes you, he should talk to you honestly.
Tim says, “I don’t want to misread cultural affection.”
Dick says, “That’s fair.”
Tim says, “I don’t want to make them uncomfortable.”
Dick says, “Also fair.”
Tim says, “I don’t want to compromise our friendship, battlefield synergy, knowledge exchange, or interplanetary trust framework.”
Dick pauses. “Okay, that last one sounds like you swallowed a Wayne Enterprises HR memo.”
Tim groans.
The funny thing is, you are equally oblivious.
You know Tim cares. Of course you do. He makes sure your safehouses don’t contain chromium. He remembers which Earth foods you like. He explains jokes when you look confused. He brings you articles about animals because you once said Earth creatures are “small miracles with teeth.” He stays up late translating scientific terms into simpler English when the language transfer doesn’t cover technical nuance.
But romance? You don’t assume.
Because Tim never says, “I am interested in you.”
He says, “For comparative purposes, what would a Tamaranean consider a meaningful shared activity?”
That is not flirting. That is a research question wearing glasses.
So you answer sincerely while Tim slowly dies inside.
The breakthrough happens during another knowledge exchange.
You ask Tim about Earth's courtship.
He starts explaining dating apps, flowers, dinner dates, movie nights, flirting, labels, exclusivity, and the extremely cursed concept of “situationships.”
You look horrified. “Humans have created a word for romantic uncertainty?”
Tim sighs. “Unfortunately.”
“That is bleak.”
“Very.”
Then you ask, “How do you show romantic interest, Timothy?”
Tim’s brain goes blank.
Absolutely nothing. No thoughts. Just dial-up tone.
He says, “Me personally?”
“Yes.”
“I… don’t usually.”
You soften. “Why?”
And because it’s late, and because you’re looking at him like truth is safe, Tim answers honestly.
“Because I overthink. Because I don’t want to pressure someone. Because I’m good at information and terrible at timing. Because sometimes I don’t realise what I’m feeling until I’ve already made three contingency plans about it.”
You are quiet for a moment.
Then you say, “Have you done this recently?”
Tim stares at you. You stare back. Somewhere in the Manor, Steph’s matchmaking senses start tingling.
Tim could lie. He really could.
But you have always given him honesty.
So he exhales and says, “Yes.”
Your expression changes.
Not dramatically.
Just enough.
Softness. Realisation. Wonder.
“With me?”
Tim nods once. “Yeah.” And then, because he is still Tim, he adds, “But I don’t want you to feel obligated to respond immediately, or positively, or at all. I know Tamaranean affection can be broader than human romantic signals, and I don’t want to confuse gratitude or friendship for—”
You take his hand.
He shuts up instantly. Very effective.
You smile. “Timothy. I have answered many questions about Tamaranean romance.”
“I know.”
“But you have not asked the most important one.”
His voice goes quiet. “What’s that?”
“Whether I wish to share it with you.”
Tim’s heart goes absolutely feral. “And do you?”
You squeeze his hand. “Yes.”
After you get together, Tim becomes both the most attentive boyfriend alive and still, somehow, a complete nerd about it.
He asks what romantic gestures you prefer. He learns Tamaranean terms of endearment and practices the pronunciation until you laugh yourself breathless. He plans dates around sunlight because he knows it makes you feel energised and homesick in a gentler way.
He gives you Earth knowledge as gifts.
A private museum tour. A night at the observatory. A folder of Earth animals labelled “creatures you may enjoy.” A book of poetry with notes in the margins explaining idioms that might not translate.
You treasure every bit of it. And he treasures your knowledge in return.
Not because it is useful. Because it is yours.
The two of you become the couple everyone regrets asking questions around.
Someone mentions birds, and suddenly you and Tim are explaining migration, wing structure, Tamaranean aerial combat, and whether flight changes how cultures conceptualise borders.
Jason leaves halfway through. Dick is charmed. Bruce is quietly impressed.
Steph says, “You two are flirting in academic conference.”
She is correct.
Tim still gets flustered when you touch him.
Even after you’re together. Especially after you’re together. Because now he knows what it means when your hand lingers.
He knows which touches are affectionate. Which are grounding. Which are romantic. Which are very specifically for him.
You once brush your fingers along his wrist and murmur a Tamaranean phrase he recognises as deeply romantic.
Tim drops his phone.
You smile. “Your body reveals you.”
He groans. “You’re never letting that go, are you?”
“No.”
“Yeah, I deserve that.”
Tim Drake falls in love the same way he solves a case.
Slowly. Carefully. All the clues there from the beginning, obvious to everyone except him.
But once he sees the truth, he holds onto it with both hands.
And with you, love becomes one more language he wants to learn properly.
Not to master it. Not to dissect it.
But to speak it back to you, clearly and honestly, beneath whatever stars Earth has to offer.
damian wayne
aged-up damian (20), teen titans/starfire/kori mention, soft/protective damian wayne, tamaranean animals, animal bonding, slow burn, friends to lovers, mild emotional repression, emotional honesty, canon-typical violence, misunderstandings due to cultural differences
Damian meets you when Koriand’r introduces you. Not dramatically. Not in the middle of battle or a diplomatic disaster or some grand cosmic omen. Just a quiet meeting at Titans Tower, sunlight spilling through the windows, Kori smiling warmly as she gestures between you.
“This is Damian Wayne,” she says. “He is very disciplined. Very intense. But his heart is noble.”
Damian’s expression does not change.
“Koriand’r,” he says, “your praise is both excessive and strategically unhelpful.”
Kori only laughs.
You look at him with immediate interest.
He is twenty now. Older. Sharper in different ways. Less explosive than he once was, though still unmistakably Damian: straight-backed, controlled, observant, and speaking like every sentence has been edited by a medieval prince with a law degree.
He no longer lashes out just to prove he has teeth.
But the teeth are still there. He simply chooses when to show them.
At first, Damian is polite to you in the formal, slightly intimidating way he uses with diplomats, instructors, and animals he respects.
“You are newly arrived from Tamaran?”
“Yes.”
“Then Earth will likely prove inefficient, contradictory, and loud.”
You pause. Kori sighs.
Damian adds, “But not without merit.”
You smile. “That is comforting. I think.”
“It was intended to be.”
Kori pats his shoulder like she is proud of him for attempting warmth.
Damian looks deeply offended.
Kori has been something like a mentor to him for years. Not in the obvious sense. Not in the way Dick or Bruce or even Raven have shaped him. But Kori has always been there: bright, powerful, emotionally direct, impossible to intimidate.
They have clashed before, absolutely. Damian used to find her openness excessive. Her optimism is suspicious. Her affection undisciplined. Kori found him arrogant, guarded, and far too young to be carrying himself like a weapon with a pulse.
They argued. Often.
But she also taught him things he did not realise he was learning.
How strength can be warm. How honesty does not have to be cruelty. How pride and tenderness can live in the same body.
So when Kori introduces you, Damian takes it seriously.
If Kori trusts you, that matters.
He does not say this. Obviously, that would be far too emotionally efficient.
Instead, he says, “If you require assistance navigating Earth’s customs, I can provide instruction.”
Kori raises an eyebrow.
You beam. “I would be grateful.”
Damian nods once, as if accepting a solemn oath.
And that is how Damian Wayne becomes your extremely intense Earth tutor.
Unfortunately, he mostly teaches you to speak like him.
This is not intentional at first. Probably.
You ask how to address someone who is being rude.
Damian says, “You may say, ‘Your conduct is unbecoming.’”
You repeat it perfectly. He looks pleased.
You ask what to say when someone is wasting your time.
“Your inefficiency is becoming burdensome.”
You repeat that too. He looks even more pleased.
Dick overhears you telling Jason, “Your inefficiency is becoming burdensome,” and nearly walks into a wall laughing.
Jason points at Damian. “You teaching the alien to talk like a tiny Victorian assassin?”
Damian, twenty years old and still somehow radiating offended youngest-child energy, says, “I am teaching them precision.”
You start picking up his phrases.
“Unacceptable.” “Do not be absurd.” “Your logic is insufficient.” “This is a poor use of resources.”
Bruce hears you say, “Father, your self-sacrificial tendencies remain strategically unsound,” and just closes his eyes.
Damian looks almost proud.
Almost.
The thing that truly captures his attention, though, is when you mention Tamaranean animals.
It happens casually. You are describing home, and you mention a creature from Tamaran—a winged predator with jeweled scales, heat-sensing whiskers, and a hunting call that can shatter thin stone.
Damian goes utterly still.
Not bored-still. Not Bat-still.
Interested-still.
His eyes sharpen. “Explain.”
You blink. “The animal?”
“Yes. It's anatomy, habitat, temperament, social structure, and whether it can be domesticated.”
You light up. Because finally, someone is asking about the creatures of your home with the proper level of reverence.
Damian is hooked immediately.
Tamaranean animals become the first thing you bond over.
You tell him about sun-serpents that coil around warm cliffs. About small nocturnal creatures with translucent ears that sing in groups during eclipses. About massive horned beasts used in old ceremonial processions. About bright-feathered scavengers clever enough to steal jewelry and tools.
Damian listens like you are handing him classified intelligence from heaven.
He asks detailed questions. Very detailed.
“What is their bite strength?” “Do they form pair bonds?” “What is the average clutch size?” “Are they venomous, poisonous, or merely unpleasant?” “Could one survive in Earth’s atmosphere?” “Could one defeat a crocodile?”
You answer as best you can.
Sometimes you laugh.
He pretends not to enjoy that.
He absolutely enjoys that.
The first real crack in his composure comes when you describe a Tamaranean animal that bonds for life and brings its chosen companion polished stones as offerings.
Damian goes quiet.
Then says, very seriously, “A respectable creature.”
You smile. “I thought you would like that one.”
He looks away. “You assumed correctly.”
That is basically a sonnet from him.
You become friends slowly, though you do not always realise it is happening.
Damian is not like Dick, who opens doors with smiles. He is not like Jason, who hides softness under sarcasm. He is not like Tim, who turns affection into research.
Damian’s care is quieter, sharper, more hidden in action than expression. He walks beside you on unfamiliar streets without saying he is guarding your flank. He corrects people who speak down to you before you can even decide whether you are offended. He remembers which Earth foods you dislike and silently moves them away from your plate. He learns which lights in the Manor make you feel closest to Tamaran and chooses those rooms when you visit.
You never think Damian cares all that much. Even after you become friends.
Because he does not gush, he does not cling.
He does not say, “I enjoy your company.” He says, “You may accompany me if you have no more pressing obligations.”
He does not say, “I missed you.” He says, “Your absence was noted.”
He does not say, “I was worried.” He says, “Your recklessness created unnecessary variables.”
You think he is simply being Damian.
Which he is.
But that is also the problem. Damian cares deeply. He just makes it sound like a military report filed by a judgmental cat.
And he covets information about you.
Not in a possessive, invasive way.
In a careful way. Like each fact is a rare thing he has been trusted to hold.
He remembers your favourite Tamaranean fruit. He remembers the first Earth song you said sounded like “rain with a heartbeat.” He remembers that you dislike being called “exotic.”
He remembers that certain shades of orange make you homesick. He remembers the Tamaranean word you use for grief that does not have a perfect English translation.
He remembers your battle preferences, your sleep patterns, your expressions, and your silences.
Not just Tamaranean culture.
You.
That is what matters. He does not collect facts because you are alien.
He collects them because they are yours.
And Damian Wayne, despite all his sharp edges and inherited damage, is very good at devotion once he decides something is worth protecting.
You only notice by accident.
One day, someone offers you a drink with an ingredient you once mentioned, which makes your throat burn strangely.
You have not spoken of it in weeks.
Damian intercepts it before it reaches your hand. “No.”
The server freezes.
Damian’s tone is flat. “They cannot consume that.”
You stare at him. “You remembered?”
He looks at you as if the question itself is offensive. “Of course.”
Of course.
Like it was obvious. Like remembering you is the simplest thing in the world.
After that, you start seeing the pattern.
The way he angles conversations away from painful topics when he senses your mood shift. The way he corrects your English only when he knows you want help, never to embarrass you. The way he makes sure you understand sarcasm before Jason can accidentally hurt your feelings. The way he gives you books about Earth animals, not because you asked, but because you once wondered if every planet had creatures that loved warmth.
The way he asks about Tamaran less like a student studying a subject and more like someone trying to understand the shape of your heart.
And still, Damian never makes it easy.
You tell him, “You are kinder than you wish to appear.”
He frowns. “That is an inaccurate assessment.”
“It is not.”
“I am appropriately considerate.”
“You are kind.”
“I am disciplined.”
“You are both.”
He looks away first.
A victory.
Kori notices the friendship before either of you speaks of it.
Of course she does. She sees the way Damian listens to you. The way you brighten when he enters the room, even when he immediately says something like, “Your posture indicates poor sleep.”
She also sees the way Damian becomes calmer around you.
Not softer, exactly. Damian’s softness is not a melting thing.
It is a blade lowered by choice.
Kori is pleased. Deeply pleased.
She tells him so once.
“You are good for each other.”
Damian stiffens. “That is an oversimplification.”
“It is also true.”
He does not argue. Which, for Damian, is basically a confession written in fireworks.
As your bond deepens, he becomes very particular about teaching you Earth customs correctly.
Because once he realises Steph has been teaching you nonsense, he is outraged.
“Brown is not a reliable cultural source.”
You blink. “She said that throwing bread is courtship.”
Damian goes very still.
Then turns slowly toward the hallway.
“Stephanie.”
Somewhere in the Manor, Steph starts running.
Damian teaches you formal dining etiquette, gala etiquette, combat etiquette, museum etiquette, art etiquette, animal shelter etiquette, and—unfortunately—insult etiquette.
Especially insult etiquette.
He insists there is “value in precision.”
You become terrifying at polite verbal takedowns.
At one gala, a socialite says something condescending about how “difficult” Earth customs must be for you.
You smile and reply, “Your concern is unnecessary, though I acknowledge your attempt at relevance.”
Damian’s mouth twitches.
Jason whispers, “Oh my god, Demon Spawn taught them murder.”
Damian says, “I taught them clarity.”
You also teach him Tamaranean phrases.
He pretends this is purely practical.
It is not.
His pronunciation is very good because Damian refuses to be bad at things.
But he is oddly careful with your language.
He asks which words are sacred. Which words should not be spoken casually. Which names should be offered only with trust.
You appreciate that more than you can say.
So you teach him a Tamaranean phrase used between close companions.
Not romantic. Not familial exactly.
Something between “trusted blade,” “chosen shelter,” and “one whose presence steadies the heart.”
Damian repeats it quietly. Perfectly. Then says nothing for a long time.
Later, you hear him use it under his breath before a dangerous mission.
For you.
You almost miss it.
Almost.
On the battlefield, your friendship becomes undeniable.
Damian trusts you with his back. That is no small thing.
He gives commands and expects you to understand them.
You do.
You call warnings in Tamaranean and he learns those too.
He adjusts his fighting style around your flight patterns. You adjust yours around his speed and precision.
Together, you are brutal and elegant. Sunfire and shadow.
After one mission, when you take a hit that knocks you out of the sky, Damian reaches you before anyone else.
He is calm. Controlled. Efficient.
Terrifyingly so.
But his hands shake when he checks your pulse.
You wake to him scolding you.
“You were reckless.”
You groan. “I was saving you.”
“I did not request saving.”
“You required it.”
His jaw tightens.
Then, quieter, “That is irrelevant.”
You realise then that he is angry because he was afraid.
So you touch his wrist gently. “I returned.”
He does not pull away.
“Yes,” he says, voice low. “See that you continue to do so.”
It is the closest he comes to begging.
You understand anyway.
Damian’s affection is not loud. It is not easy. It does not arrive wrapped in obvious tenderness.
It arrives as remembered details. As corrected translations. As sharpened blades. As a seat saved near the window. As a hand steadying your elbow in a crowd.
As a young man who once used arrogance as armour now choosing, carefully and deliberately, to let someone bright stand near him.
And he does choose you. Again and again. Even before he knows what name to give it. Even before you understand how much he cares.
He chooses you in the small ways.
The Damian ways. The ways that look like discipline to everyone else but feel, to you, like trust.
And maybe one day, when you ask him if you matter to him, he will look genuinely offended.
“Your importance to me should be self-evident.”
You will smile.
“Damian.”
He will sigh, because apparently honesty is something everyone insists upon eventually.
Then he will say, very quietly, “Yes. You matter.”
And because he is still Damian, he will add:
“Immensely.”
Like the word costs him something.
Like the truth is a blade he has finally decided to lay at your feet.
duke thomas
homesickness, soft, slow burn, confessions, soft angst, mentions of patrol/combat, canon-typical-violence, misunderstandings due to cultural differences
Duke is one of the easiest members of the Batfamily for you to adjust to.
Not because he understands everything immediately.
He doesn’t. The first time you casually lift a motorcycle out of the way with one hand, Duke just stares for a second and says, “Okay. Cool. We’re doing casual god-tier strength before lunch.”
But Duke has a gift for making strange things feel normal.
He doesn’t make you feel like a diplomatic incident. He doesn’t treat you like a science project. He doesn’t act like your confusion about Earth customs is a personal failing.
He just accepts that Earth is weird, Gotham is worse, and you’re doing your best.
Honestly, that puts you ahead of half the city.
Duke meets you after you’ve already spent time with some of the others, which means he has heard stories.
Many stories. Stories about you accidentally taking sarcasm literally. Stories about you terrifying rude gala guests with sincere compliments and terrifyingly accurate observations.
Stories about you asking Bruce why humans call emotional repression “being fine.” Stories about you picking up Damian’s vocabulary and telling a mugger, “Your tactical choices are disgraceful.”
Duke is prepared to be amused.
He is not prepared to like you so quickly.
But then you smile at him like sunlight breaking through Gotham smog and say, “You carry daylight differently than the others.”
Duke blinks. “That’s… actually kind of accurate.”
You tilt your head. “Is it improper to say?”
“No. Just unexpectedly poetic before coffee.”
You and Duke click because he understands what it’s like to be the one whose powers don’t fit neatly into everyone else’s expectations.
He isn’t an alien, obviously. But he knows what it means to have abilities people misunderstand.
He knows what it means to be watched a little too closely. He knows what it means to be connected to light in a family built around shadows.
That matters.
With the others, you sometimes feel like you are learning Earth from people who have forgotten what normal Earth is.
Bruce teaches you Gotham survival like every grocery trip may involve a hostage situation. Damian teaches you how to insult someone with aristocratic precision. Jason teaches you which diners are safe and which alleys are definitely cursed. Tim teaches you twelve layers of context when you ask one question. Dick teaches you emotional survival, which is lovely but occasionally overwhelming.
Duke teaches you how to exist. How to walk through a farmer’s market. How to order food without accidentally sounding like you’re challenging the cashier to ritual combat.
How to ride the subway. How to understand street performers, small talk, neighbourhood gossip, and why people in Gotham will complain about the city for twenty straight minutes but still threaten anyone who insults it.
You ask him if this is loyalty.
Duke considers it. “Yeah. Kind of. Gothamites hate Gotham like it’s family.”
You brighten. “Ah. Like Jason.”
Duke laughs so hard he has to sit down.
Duke becomes your unofficial “normal Earth” guide. Which is hilarious, because his normal includes vigilante work, metahuman senses, cursed city politics, and Batman as a mentor.
But compared to the rest of the family? He is practically the brochure.
He takes you to places that aren’t galas or rooftops or training rooms.
Parks in the daytime. Food trucks. Libraries. Community centres. Basketball courts. Thrift shops. Street fairs. Tiny hole-in-the-wall restaurants where the owner knows him by name and absolutely clocks that he is bringing someone important around.
You love all of it.
You love Earth most when Duke shows it to you.
Not the polished version. Not the suspiciously expensive Wayne version.
The living version. Messy. Loud. Warm. Human.
You try street food for the first time with him, and Duke watches you experience a loaded falafel wrap like it is a religious event.
You close your eyes and say, “This food has many arguments within it, and yet they are all correct.”
Duke points at you. “That is the best food review I’ve ever heard.”
He starts keeping a list of foods you describe dramatically.
Pizza: “bread carrying molten joy.”
Ice cream: “sweet cold that should not be trusted but must be loved.”
Hot chocolate: “a warm apology from the universe.”
French fries: “small golden spears of comfort.”
Gotham bodega sandwich: “chaos folded into bread.”
Duke sends that one to Jason, who immediately replies, “They get it.”
Because you’re Tamaranean, sunlight matters to you.
Duke understands that better than most. His own relationship with light is complicated, powerful, instinctive.
So he notices when you linger in patches of sun. He notices when grey Gotham weather makes you quieter. He notices when the Cave starts to feel too much like stone and secrets.
He doesn’t make a big deal out of it.
He just says, “Come on. Day patrol.”
You ask, “Is there such a thing?”
“There is when I do it.”
Duke takes you across Gotham in daylight, and it changes how you see the city.
At night, Gotham is teeth and sirens and old grief.
In daylight, it is still wounded, but you can see the people patching the wounds.
Kids walking to school. Shopkeepers sweeping glass from sidewalks and reopening anyway. Murals painted over old crime scenes. A woman feeding stray cats behind a laundromat. A teen helping his little brother tie his shoe at a bus stop.
You go quiet.
Duke doesn’t rush you.
Eventually, you say, “This city survives loudly.”
Duke smiles a little. “Yeah. That’s Gotham.”
That is when Duke starts mattering to you differently.
Because he doesn’t only teach you Earth customs.
He teaches you why Earth is worth the effort. Why people keep choosing each other in places that make tenderness difficult. Why Gotham’s darkness does not get to be the whole story.
Duke also has the best patience when you misunderstand things.
You once ask him why humans ask, “How are you?” when they do not want a complete emotional inventory.
Duke says, “Sometimes it’s a greeting. Sometimes it’s real. Context matters.”
You frown. “That is inefficient.”
“Deeply.”
“How do I know which kind it is?”
“If it’s a stranger walking past you, greeting. If it’s Alfred, real. If it’s Bruce, trap.”
“A trap?”
“He’ll use your answer to determine whether you need medical attention, sleep, or a lecture.”
You nod gravely. “He weaponises concern.”
“Exactly.”
Duke teaches you slang more responsibly than Dick and Steph, but not completely responsibly.
He does teach you useful phrases.
He also teaches you “that’s above my pay grade,” mostly because he thinks it is hilarious when you say it to Bruce.
Bruce asks why there is a scorch mark on the training room ceiling.
You say, “That is above my pay grade.”
Duke has to leave the room.
Duke is very good at helping you separate “Earth customs” from “Batfamily dysfunction.”
This is essential. Because you keep assuming the Bats are representative of humanity.
They are not. Not even a little.
You see Tim drink coffee instead of sleeping and ask if humans require stimulants to survive.
Duke says, “No, that’s a Tim problem.”
You see Bruce disappear from a conversation instead of expressing discomfort.
Duke says, “No, that’s a Bruce problem.”
You see Damian feed a stray cat while insulting its bloodline.
Duke pauses. “That one might just be a Damian thing. Honestly, don’t worry about it.”
You appreciate Duke’s honesty because he never makes you feel foolish for asking.
Even when the questions are strange. Especially when the questions are strange.
You ask why humans keep plants indoors if they cannot speak to them.
Duke says, “They make the room feel alive.”
You understand that.
You ask why people watch horror movies if they do not enjoy fear.
Duke says, “Some people like controlled fear.”
You say, “Like patrol?”
He pauses. “That is either very wrong or too correct.”
You ask why Earth has so many songs about heartbreak.
Duke goes quiet for a second, then says, “Because sometimes people need somewhere to put pain where it won’t hurt anyone.”
You remember that.
Duke is funny, but he’s not shallow. That surprises you a little.
Not because you underestimated him. Because he carries himself with such ease compared to the others that it takes time to realise his warmth has depth.
Duke has seen loss. He has lived through chaos. He has had his world rewritten, too.
He just refuses to let darkness be the only language he speaks.
That is something you admire.
You tell him once, “You are gentle without being weak.”
Duke looks away, smiling like he doesn’t know what to do with that. “Yeah, okay. That’s going in the emotional damage folder.”
“The what?”
“Nothing.”
Your friendship with Duke becomes one of steady comfort.
He is the person you go to when you want Earth to make sense without becoming a lecture.
He is the person who explains why people say “bless you” after sneezing.
He is the person who tells you which social rules are important and which ones humans made up because they enjoy being complicated.
He is the person who sits with you on rooftops in the morning when Gotham is still soft and blue around the edges.
He is also the person who notices when homesickness hits you before anyone else does.
You try to hide it at first.
You smile brighter. Ask more questions. Make more jokes. Offer more affection.
But Duke sees light. He knows when something is dimming.
One afternoon, he finds you standing in a patch of sun by the Manor windows, very still.
You are staring up at the sky.
Not crying. Just aching in a way that has no easy shape.
Duke doesn’t ask if you’re okay. He knows better.
Instead, he stands beside you and says, “Tell me about the sky back home.”
You look at him.
His voice is gentle. “Only if you want.”
So you tell him.
About Tamaran’s colours. About heat like a living thing. About skies that seem close enough to touch. About the way sunlight felt different there, not better exactly, but familiar.
Duke listens.
No fixing. No interrupting. No trying to compare griefs.
Just listening.
When you finish, he says, “I’m sorry Earth feels cold sometimes.”
And that breaks something open in you. Because he understands it is not just about temperature.
After that, Duke starts creating small pieces of warmth for you.
He finds the best sunny rooftops in Gotham. He sends you pictures of beautiful skies when he’s out during the day. He brings you bright fabrics from street vendors because he noticed you like colours that feel alive.
He introduces you to Earth music that sounds warm.
He even makes a playlist called “For When Gotham Is Doing Too Much.”
You treasure it.
He pretends not to be shy about that.
He is shy about that.
Duke’s powers fascinate you, too.
Not in the same way Tim studies you.
With Tim, curiosity becomes data. With Duke, curiosity becomes wonder.
You ask what light feels like to him.
He has to think about it. “No one really asks that.”
“I am asking.”
So he tries to explain.
How light is information. How shadows have shape. How movement leaves traces. How sometimes the world feels layered, like he can see the echo of what just happened and the suggestion of what might happen next.
You listen, entranced.
Then you say, “Your eyes speak a language of light.”
Duke goes quiet.
He tells you things about his abilities he hasn’t fully put into words before.
Not because you ask perfectly. Because you ask like the answer matters.
The two of you begin comparing how you experience light.
For you, sunlight is fuel, memory, warmth, power. For Duke, light is pattern, perception, warning, truth.
You tell him that on Tamaran, light is often associated with vitality and emotional openness. He tells you that in Gotham, light feels like resistance.
You love that.
“Then you are resistance,” you say.
Duke exhales a laugh, but it’s softer than usual. “Guess so.”
On patrol, you and Duke work beautifully together.
He is steady. You are radiant.
He sees things before others do. You move fast enough to act on them. He calls directions, you trust him. You draw attention, he finds openings.
He can read the motion of a fight like light bending through glass, and you learn to follow his instincts without needing long explanations.
There’s a moment during a warehouse fight where he says, “Left, now,” and you move before you even see the threat.
A hidden shooter fires exactly where you had been standing.
You turn, starbolt bright in your hand, and take the shooter down.
Afterwards, Duke looks at you. “You trusted me.”
You look confused. “Of course.”
Like it was obvious. Like trust came easily.
Duke has to look away for a second.
Because trust does not always come easily in this family. And yet with you, sometimes it does.
That trust is mutual. When you overextend yourself, Duke is the one who talks you down without making it feel like criticism.
“You don’t have to prove you belong here every night.”
You stiffen. “I was not—”
He gives you a look.
A very calm, very knowing look.
You sigh.
Duke says, “Yeah. Thought so.”
He doesn’t shame you for it.
He gets it. He knows what it’s like to want to justify your place on a team full of legends, monsters, geniuses, and walking trauma responses in capes. He knows what it’s like to wonder if being different means you have to be useful every second.
So when he says, “You’re allowed to just be here,” you believe him more than you expect to.
Duke’s care is practical but warm. He brings you sunglasses when Gotham’s winter light hits weird off the snow. He keeps snacks around even though you can go longer without food, because he thinks eating together matters. He explains when jokes are affectionate instead of insulting. He checks in after crowded events because he knows too many people asking questions can feel like being surrounded.
He texts you photos of weird Earth animals with captions like, “Explain this design choice.”
You reply with increasingly serious analyses.
He sends you a possum.
You respond, “This creature has the soul of a weary monarch.”
Duke wheezes.
Your bond edges into romance so naturally that neither of you notices at first.
It doesn’t feel like falling. It feels like walking into sunlight and realizing you’ve been cold.
Duke starts saving stories to tell you. You start looking for him first when something about Earth confuses you.
He notices which colours you wear when you’re happy. You notice that his smile changes when he’s tired versus when he’s actually amused.
He starts taking the long way back from patrol because he likes hearing you talk. You start timing your visits to catch him after day patrol.
Everyone else notices.
Dick smiles knowingly. Steph makes kissy faces behind Duke’s back. Tim quietly updates an internal mental chart.
Jason says, “Signal, you and sunshine gonna figure that out, or do we need to send a memo?”
Duke says, “I’m ignoring you.”
Jason says, “That’s not a no.”
You ask Duke later, “What did Jason mean?”
Duke nearly trips over absolutely nothing. “Nothing. Jason talks for sport.”
You accept this because it is true.
But the question stays with him. Because Duke has been so focused on helping you feel at home, he hasn’t let himself consider what you have become to him.
Home, maybe.
Not in a heavy, frightening way.
In a morning-light way. In a “save this joke for them” way. In a “the day feels better when they’re in it” way.
The realisation comes during something ordinary.
You are both at a community garden Duke sometimes helps with during the day.
Nothing dramatic.
No villains. No rooftops. No emergency comms.
Just soil, sun, laughter, and you kneeling carefully beside a tray of seedlings.
You are listening to an elderly woman explain tomatoes with the solemn focus of someone receiving ancient wisdom.
Duke watches you ask whether the plants enjoy music.
The woman says yes, absolutely, and starts telling you about her favourite jazz records.
You nod with complete seriousness.
Sunlight catches in your hair. Your smile is soft. Human and alien and entirely yours.
Duke feels something in his chest settle.
Oh.
Oh, okay.
He likes you.
Not just as a friend. Not just as someone he wants to protect. Not just as a fellow light-bearing oddity in a city addicted to darkness.
He likes you. Romantically.
Duke handles this better than most of the Batfamily, because the bar is buried underground.
He does not make a spreadsheet. He does not vanish for three days. He does not pick a fight with a punching bag. He does, however, go very quiet and accidentally overwater a basil plant.
You notice. “Duke Thomas, are you distressed?”
He blinks. “You used my full name. That’s terrifying.”
“Your emotional light shifted.”
“Yeah, that’s also terrifying.”
He doesn’t confess immediately.
He takes time. Because he cares about you, and because you are still learning Earth relationships, he wants to be clear.
Not vague. Not flirty enough to confuse. Not joking enough to hide.
When he does tell you, it is gentle and honest.
He takes you to one of your favourite sunny rooftops, the one with the view of the river, where Gotham almost looks peaceful if you squint and believe in miracles.
He says, “I need to say something, and there’s no pressure attached to it.”
You turn toward him.
He continues, “I like you. Romantically. Not because you’re new here, not because you need help, not because I want to be your guide. I just… like who you are. How you see things. How you care. How you make the world feel bigger.”
You are very still.
Duke lets the silence breathe.
Then adds, softly, “You don’t owe me the same feeling. I just didn’t want to hide it from you.”
You study him for a long moment.
Then your smile blooms.
“You have been showing me Earth,” you say.
“Yeah.”
“But I think I began caring for Earth because you are in it.”
Duke’s face does something complicated and beautiful. “Oh.”
You step closer. “Is this a moment where I may offer touch?”
He laughs, breathless. “Yeah. Definitely.”
Your first kiss is warm and careful and sunlit.
Duke smiles into it like he can’t help himself.
After you get together, Duke is still your guide, but now the teaching becomes tender in a new way.
He takes you on real dates.
Not “accidentally romantic outings that everyone else clocks immediately.”
Actual dates.
He explains what a date is, and then immediately gets embarrassed because explaining dating while asking someone on a date is peak awkward.
You find it charming.
Your first official date is a daytime walk through Gotham. Murals, food trucks, a bookstore, a park, and a tiny bakery where Duke knows the owner.
You ask whether all dates involve this much walking.
Duke says, “Only the good ones.”
You take his hand. He pretends to be normal about it.
He is not normal about it.
Duke loves introducing you to Earth’s small joys.
Not because he wants to make you less Tamaranean. Never that. He loves you as you are: bright, direct, affectionate, fierce, strange by Earth standards and completely yourself.
He just wants to share his planet with you the way you share memories of yours with him.
He shows you rainstorms. You show him Tamaranean storm songs.
He shows you fireflies. You tell him about glowing sky-creatures from home.
He shows you old Earth cartoons. You laugh too loudly at the slapstick and become emotionally invested in every animal sidekick.
He shows you community basketball. You accidentally dunk from a height that is definitely not regulation.
Duke says, “Okay, so we’re not doing that again unless we want to start a religion.”
You also become extremely popular in Duke’s daytime Gotham circles.
The kids at the community centre adore you.
Partly because you are kind. Partly because you can fly. Mostly because you once lifted Duke one-handed after he teased you, and now they consider you a legend.
Duke learns more about Tamaranean customs from you, but he never treats them like trivia.
He asks about your home because he wants to know what shaped you. He learns greetings, holidays, mourning practices, romantic gestures, food traditions, and the emotional weight of certain words.
He mispronounces things sometimes.
You correct him.
He practices.
Not obsessively like Tim. Not competitively like Damian.
Just earnestly.
The first time he calls you by a Tamaranean endearment correctly, your entire expression softens.
Duke almost combusts.
Worth it.
He becomes especially careful with your homesickness.
Some days are harder than others. A smell, a colour, a sound, a memory of a creature from Tamaran, a holiday Earth does not share.
Duke does not try to replace your home. He knows better.
He simply makes room for the grief.
He says, “Tell me what you miss today.”
And you do.
Sometimes he holds your hand. Sometimes he just sits nearby. Sometimes he brings you outside to sit in the sun. Sometimes he asks if there is a Tamaranean custom for the feeling, and if there is, he does his best to honour it with you.
You once tell him that on Tamaran, when someone misses home, loved ones gather around them and speak memories aloud until the loneliness becomes communal instead of solitary.
Duke says, “We can do that.”
So he does. He listens to your memories. Then he adds his own memories of Earth.
Not to compete. To meet you halfway.
You speak of Tamaran’s skies. He speaks of Gotham sunrises after impossible nights.
You speak of alien flowers. He speaks of weeds growing through cracked pavement.
You speak of your people. He speaks of community.
The loneliness does not vanish. But it becomes held.
That is Duke’s gift. He does not always fix the dark. He makes sure you are not in it alone.
In the Batfamily, Duke becomes your soft landing place.
Not soft as in weak. Soft as in safe.
As in warm hands and clear explanations. As in laughter in the middle of impossible things. As in daylight with a backbone.
He will absolutely tease you. He will absolutely teach you memes. He will absolutely tell you when you are about to accidentally insult someone’s grandmother by misunderstanding a phrase.
But he will also stand beside you with quiet, unshakable loyalty.
If someone treats you like you are too much, Duke says, “They’re not too much. You’re just under-equipped.”
If someone calls you strange, Duke says, “Strange is not an insult in this city. Try harder.”
If someone assumes he is your handler, Duke’s smile disappears. “They don’t need a handler. They have a name.”
You love him for that.
And he loves you in the way light moves through a room.
Steady. Revealing. Warm without demanding attention.
He does not ask you to become more human. You do not ask him to become less shadow-touched.
You meet somewhere in the middle: two people shaped by light, learning that brightness can be a home, not just a power.
With Duke, Earth becomes less confusing. With you, Duke remembers that Gotham is not only a city of grief.
It is also a city where impossible things arrive from the stars, ask sincere questions about pigeons, fall in love over street food and sunlight, and make even the darkest skyline look like it might be worth saving.
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ONESHOT, REQUEST: damian smitten, or just a collection of three different stories where he is just utterally in love with you.
a/n: sooo it was a little later than tuesday morning...
In Damian’s world, every second without you became another cruel reminder that even time itself could wound. Gotham had taught him many things: how to fight, how to survive, how to carve fear into the hearts of men twice his size. Yet nothing prepared him for the ache that settled in his chest whenever you were gone too long.
You had rooted yourself somewhere deep inside him. Somewhere beneath the sharpened edges and practiced control. Dangerous, really. To love someone so entirely that the thought of losing them made his lungs forget how to breathe.
He would burn Gotham to ash for you if you asked sweet enough. And unfortunately for him, this was not a well-kept secret.
The manor buzzed with idle chatter, silverware clinking against porcelain as another suffocating family dinner dragged onward. Bruce spoke of patrol routes. Dick laughed too loudly at something Jason muttered beneath his breath. Tim looked half dead over a cup of tea, carefully brewed to his liking.
Damian, however, heard none of it.
His pencil glided across paper with the precision of a surgeon’s blade. Every line deliberate. Every curve memorized. You lived inside his mind so vividly he no longer needed reference photos. He knew the exact shape of your smile, the way your eyelashes kissed your cheeks when you slept, the slight tilt of your head whenever you teased him.
“Damian.”
Nothing.
“Damian.”
Still nothing.
“DAMIAN.”
His head snapped upward, emerald eyes narrowed sharply toward Dick.
“Holy shit,” Dick laughed, leaning back in his chair. “You’re gone gone. I called your name like five times. What are you drawing?”
Damian’s expression flattened instantly. “Nothing that concerns you.”
Jason, ever invasive, leaned over his shoulder before Damian could shut the sketchbook.
“No fucking way.”
Damian’s jaw clenched as Jason snatched the book fully from beneath his hand. Pages flipped one after another, each sheet revealing you in different forms. Smiling. Sleeping. Reading. Just existing.
Entire pages dedicated to the slope of your lips alone.
“You’re drawing them?” Jason asked, somewhere between amused and disturbed.
“I draw many things,” Damian answered coolly, though the slight twitch in his brow betrayed him. “They simply occupy my thoughts at the moment.”
Jason barked out another laugh, flipping faster now. “Dude. This whole sketchbook is about them.”
Damian finally looked irritated. “They are my muse. I fail to understand why this conversation persists.”
A dangerous pause.
“Can I have that back now?”
The table fell quiet as Jason slowly returned the sketchbook. Damian placed the sketchbook carefully before himself once more, fingertips brushing over the page like it contained something holy.
The manor frightened you the first few times you stayed over. It groaned at night like something ancient lived beneath the floorboards. Endless hallways stretched into darkness, swallowing light whole. Portraits watched from the walls with unmoving eyes, and every creak sounded like the beginning of a horror film.
Yet none of it seemed to matter once Damian wrapped himself around you. His chest pressed firmly against your back, warmth seeping through the cold air of the room. One arm draped over your waist possessively while his breathing ghosted against the nape of your neck.
Safe. That was the word you associated with him most. Safe enough to fall asleep to the sound of rain striking the windows. Safe enough to melt entirely into his hold.
Unfortunately, your bladder did not care about romance.
You shifted slightly, grimacing as Damian’s grip instinctively tightened around your waist.
“Dami,” you whispered hoarsely. “Damian, I have to pee.”
A low grumble vibrated against your spine. Half asleep and deeply offended by your attempt to leave him.
“Beloved,” he muttered, voice rough with exhaustion, “ignore it.”
“I physically cannot.”
Another irritated sound escaped him before his hold finally loosened. Though not without one last squeeze, as if reminding you he expected, wanted, your return immediately.
You slipped quietly from the bed and padded toward the bedroom door. Yet, The second it creaked open, regret settled into your bones.
Darkness. Endless, suffocating darkness stretched through the hallway, interrupted only by a few dim lamps flickering near his siblings’ doors. You stared into the corridor. The corridor seemed to stare back.
Absolutely not.
Slowly, carefully, you shut the door again before turning toward the bed. Damian remained half sprawled against the mattress, dark hair messy from sleep as he blinked at you through heavy eyes.
“Damian,” you whispered.
He hummed softly in response.
“My love.”
One green eye opened further at the name.
“The hallway is dark.”
Damian stared at you for a long moment. “It is two in the morning,” he replied flatly. “It is supposed to be dark.”
You shifted awkwardly. “Dami… I’m scared.”
Then, without another word, Damian pushed himself upright from the bed. Exhaustion clung to every movement as he stood, grabbing the nearest sword from beside his dresser purely out of instinct before realizing where he was.
You blinked. “Why do you have that beside your bed?”
“That is not the current issue.”
Damian stood there for another second, sword still loosely hanging at his side while sleep fought to keep his eyes shut. The sight would have been intimidating if not for the fact his hair pointed in six different directions and one side of his shirt sat crooked on his shoulder.
You tried not to smile. Tried. Failed miserably.
“You are laughing at me,” he accused quietly.
“You grabbed a sword to walk me to the bathroom in your own home.”
“And?” His expression remained painfully serious. “If the manor decides to unleash horrors upon you at two in the morning, I will be prepared.”
A laugh slipped from your lips before you could stop it. Soft and warm and enough to make something gentler flicker briefly across his face.
Damian sighed dramatically as he moved toward the bedroom door. “Come. Before your paranoia convinces you the wallpaper can eat you.”
“You say that like this place doesn’t look haunted.”
“It is gothic architecture.”
“It is a vampire convention.”
His hand wrapped around the doorknob before pausing. “That was one time. And Dracula was surprisingly polite.”
“DAMIAN.”
A ghost of a smirk touched his mouth as he finally opened the door. The hallway remained just as terrifying as before. Darkness swallowing the endless corridor whole while old wooden floors creaked beneath each step. Somewhere deep within the manor pipes groaned like a dying animal.
Immediately, you latched onto the sleeve of Damian’s shirt. He looked down at your hand. Then at you. Then quietly shifted closer.
“You mock me now,” you murmured.
“I am adapting to your irrational behavior.”
“Mhm.”
The two of you walked slowly through the hall, Damian slightly ahead as though shielding you from shadows themselves. The dim lamps cast golden light across his features, catching against sharp cheekbones and tired green eyes. Even half asleep he moved like something lethal.
Another creak echoed somewhere downstairs. You froze instantly. Damian stopped too, gaze narrowing toward the darkness ahead. His grip on the sword adjusted automatically.
“Probably Father,” Damian muttered.
“Probably?”
“Or Grayson attempting to make midnight cereal.”
“That does not help.”
A smaller hand suddenly shot from one of the side hallways. You nearly screamed. Damian physically recoiled backward while instinctively lifting the sword.
“Woah! Jesus Christ!” Tim whisper-shouted, both hands raised immediately. “Why do you have a weapon?!”
Damian looked genuinely offended by the question. “Why are you emerging from shadows like a Victorian child with the plague?”
Tim blinked slowly. “I live here.”
“An unfortunate decision.”
You pressed both hands over your mouth trying desperately not to laugh as Tim’s exhausted eyes shifted between the two of you.
“…Did you seriously escort them to the bathroom?”
Damian’s face hardened instantly. “You will speak carefully.”
Tim stared for another long second before sighing deeply. “I’m going back to my room.”
“An excellent choice.”
“You are both insane.”
Tim disappeared back into the darkness just as suddenly as he appeared, leaving silence to settle once more.
You looked toward Damian, barely holding yourself together now. “You almost stabbed him.”
“He should not lurk.”
“He was walking.”
“Incorrect. He was skulking.”
Another laugh escaped you, softer this time.
Damian looked at you for a moment too long after that. Something in his expression gentling so suddenly it nearly stole the breath from your lungs.
“There,” he said quietly, nodding toward the bathroom door ahead. “Safe from the horrors of Wayne Manor.”
“You’re making fun of me again.”
“Only slightly.”
You moved toward the bathroom before pausing at the doorway. “Will you wait for me?”
Damian looked almost offended.
“Beloved,” he said, voice low and certain, “I would wait lifetimes for you.”
The city bled neon beneath Robin’s boots. Rainwater clung to the edges of rooftops, turning Gotham into something slick and silver beneath the moonlight. Patrol had dragged longer than expected. Two separate break-ins. A car chase through Burnley. One extremely irritating encounter with Killer Croc in the sewers that left Damian smelling faintly like mildew.
He was exhausted. Worse, he missed you.
The realization annoyed him more than the bruising ache settling beneath his ribs. Missing someone should not feel this consuming. This distracting. Every glimpse of warm apartment windows made something deep inside him ache with the memory of your laugh.
Damian landed silently against the fire escape outside your apartment building, cape fluttering behind him. He told himself he was merely checking on you. Gotham had been increasingly dangerous lately. Drake had mentioned heightened gang activity near your neighborhood.
That was the only reason he was here… obviously.
Your bedroom window slid upward easily beneath practiced fingers. Darkness greeted him first. Then warmth.
Your apartment always smelled like you. Faint traces of your favorite perfume and laundry detergent and something softer Damian could never properly describe without sounding absurdly poetic. It hit him instantly the moment he climbed through the window.
And there you were, asleep. A small lamp near the couch cast golden light across the room, illuminating the mess of blankets tangled around your body. One of his hoodies swallowed you whole, sleeves hanging past your hands while the Gotham Knights shirt he’d lost three weeks ago clung loosely against your legs. His clothes.
Damian went still. Something dangerous flickered low in his chest.
You had fallen asleep waiting for him. Your phone rested beside your cheek, screen dark now, though several unread messages from him remained visible in notification previews.
Dami: Patrol ran late.
Dami: Do not wait awake for me.
Dami: I mean it.
His jaw tightened faintly. You had ignored him. Like you always did when it came to him coming back late.
The sight should have irritated him. Instead, warmth spread slowly through his chest with enough force to make him uncomfortable. You looked impossibly peaceful like this.
One leg half hanging off the couch. Hair messy across the pillow beneath your head. Lips parted slightly as soft breaths escaped you. Completely defenseless. Completely his.
Damian removed his domino mask quietly before stepping closer.
The floor creaked beneath his boot. Immediately, your face scrunched slightly in your sleep.
“…Dami?”
His entire expression softened, “Yes, habibti.”
Your eyes barely opened. Heavy with exhaustion. “You’re late.”
“There was a situation downtown.”
“Mhm.”
You shifted deeper into the blankets before blinking at him slowly. “Did you get stabbed?”
“Not tonight.”
“Good.”
The simplicity of your concern nearly killed him.
You reached blindly toward him then, still half asleep. Damian stared at your outstretched hand for exactly one second before taking it immediately. Your fingers curled weakly around his glove.
“There you are,” you mumbled.
Damian exhaled quietly through his nose.
Ridiculous. You had reduced the grandson of Ra’s al Ghul into something unbearably soft.
He crouched beside the couch carefully, gaze scanning over you with clinical precision despite the tenderness threatening to ruin him.
“You continue stealing from my wardrobe,” he observed quietly.
A sleepy smile appeared instantly.
“You like it.”
“That is irrelevant.”
“It smells like you.”
His pulse stuttered.
You were too tired to notice the way his shoulders locked instantly beneath the suit. You were dangerously unaware of the effect you had on him.
Your eyes drifted shut again slowly. “Was waiting up,” you murmured. “Wanted to make sure you came home okay.”
Home. Not back. Home.
Without another word, he stood carefully before lifting you from the couch with effortless precision. You stirred only enough to curl instinctively against his chest, face pressing into the space beneath his neck.
“Tired,” you whispered.
“I know.”
Your arms wrapped lazily around him anyway.
Damian carried you toward the bedroom in complete silence, footsteps impossibly gentle for someone trained to kill before he could properly read. Moonlight spilled across the sheets as he lowered you carefully onto the mattress.
Yet the second he pulled away, your fingers caught weakly against his sleeve.
“Stay.”
The word came out barely audible. Damian looked down at you for a long moment.
Then, with all the devotion of a man utterly ruined by love, Robin climbed into bed beside you.