Work Text:
Can someone DIE of boredom?
Jon has been zoned out for…well, since the class started, basically. For the last 15 minutes he's been focusing on a concert in Europe. (Spain, probably) It's one of the bands Kon likes. They're not his favourite, but they are pretty good.
It's Physics class. Last period of the day. And it drags on FOR -EVER. Jon has trouble sitting still, doing nothing for more than 5 minutes, on a good day. But it's like as soon as Physics class begins, he can barely contain himself for more than 5 milliseconds.
He's GOOD at it. The best at it by far. Which is why it's so boring. He knows this stuff! So, why is he even here?!
…Why is he even here? The door’s right there.
Wide open.
His brain provided him with a crystal clear image of his parents’ faces.
Right. He promised not to skip class without reason.
Where was an excuse when you needed one?
Because the stars love him, apparently, he suddenly picked up a noise. Or rather, an irregularity in a familiar noise that was always on the back of his mind. One of his favourite noises in the universe.
DING!
But, oh. Oh , that was bad. No, he didn't need a reason that badly. He could handle one scolding.
He turned to the boy sitting beside him. Suddenly, it was as if the room froze in time, the hands of the clock seemingly not moving at all.
“Hey, don't wait for me after class.”
The boy, who had dark skin, not tan, like Jon's, but a light brown, with dark brown hair and had also been dozing off, immediately snapped his head around to stare at him. He could hear him just fine and he responded in kind.
Jon held in the frown that was threatening to form in his face as he stared into the boy's amber eyes. They looked so… human. Wrong . He was starting to miss the bright gold with the completely white pupils.
“ Dude ! Are you serious!?! The class just started fifteen minutes ago.”
Jon just shrugged.
“ Again? You didn't even try.”
“Oh, come on , we knew this stuff since we were, like, five. Don't tell me you aren't bored out of your mind too.”
The boy sighed.
“Of course I'm bored out of my mind! But you know how- mom and dad want us to have at least a semi-normal academic life.”
Jon snorted at the irony of talking about ”normal”, while only barely avoiding calling them with the honorifics that property fit their relationship in a language that was born 500 light years away and finally having to settle for ”mom and dad” because there was no equivalent in the English language.
His eyes (with the assistance of x-ray vision) kept going from the trimmed claws on the boy's hands and to the slightly too pointy teeth in his mouth and the fangs and extra rows of teeth that remained retracted inside his upper jaw.
Jon licked his own fangs that he kept unsheathed. He picked a bit under his claws that he stubbornly refused to trim.
“Normal”.
He stared at the other boy with otherworldly ice blue eyes. The iris an ombre, the pupil dark blue with a white ring around it.
Normal was overrated.
“Yeah, I don't really do normal…not anymore , now that you and Kon are finally back”.
“Oh, poor you. Having to act like people do.”
“I'm not a people.”
Chris rolled his eyes.
“ Why are you like this?”
Jon smirked and gave him an once over.
“How do you believe I should be?”
Chris looked at his dark blue Superman shirt. Then back up at him, clearly unimpressed.
“Oh, like you don't have any.”
“Um…yeah I do. That is my House Crest. I'm supposed to be wearing it.”
“You also have merch.”
“OG Superboy merch. Not Superman.”
“ You do have Superman merch.”
“When I was nine . We're fifteen.”
Chris composed himself and stared at his ripped baggy black jeans, custom Jordans (red, dark blue and black, with the white being replaced by a blue that matched his eyes), red tank top and dark blue letterman jacket.
“Well, what are you gonna do about it? Take my lunch money and shove me into a locker?”
Jon looked at his outfit and started sputtering.
“I don't- what? Why would you say that-”
Okay. MAYBE Jon was a bit too into sports, being the captain of the football, baseball, soccer and basketball teams in the school and all. And maybe he was popular and confident and sometimes a bit aggressive.
But he was not just some dumb jock who went around terrorising other people like the types that targeted (or, tried to) him back in the day.
Well, at least not innocent people. He was known for getting into fights (and winning them) against bullies and giving them a taste of their own medicine. Which did sometimes involve shoving one of them into the open locker they were planning on stuffing another kid in-
Oh fuck, oh shit, he did shove people into lockers.
“HAH, did you actually break him with this?”
“Jon being appalled at his own level of Jock will never get old.”
Jon shook himself out of the dark pit he was spiraling into and rolled his eyes.
Unfortunately, moving in with Aunt Kara on the other side of the country was not something the twins were willing to allow to come between them and being his annoying cousins. They insisted on using super-hearing to overcome the distance barrier.
Well, it was never going to affect them, actually, they have superspeed and flight, they were over constantly anyway.
Whatever. It's been two years. He's used to it.
And it was kinda his fault. He was the one who brought them to Earth in the first place.
“Anyway. Look, I've got places to be. And it's not an excuse. This is important.”
“What?! But I didn't hear any attacks, what did you-…seriously man?”
Jon just returned his flat stare.
“Ugh, fine. It's not like there's changing your mind on that one.”
“Yup.”
He got up, swung his backpack over his shoulder and trotted out the room until he reached an empty hallway, from where he disappeared in the blink of an eye.
He reappeared floating in front of a grandiose building of gothic architecture. It looked cold and uninviting and, if you looked closer (you shouldn't. It's honestly gross) it was filthy. Just like the rest of Gotham.
Now, cities were loud and obnoxious and gross in general, but Gotham had somehow managed to create a whole nother level of how much cities can suck ass.
Yet, here he was, floating before the Academy… Something, he couldn't remember. Look, it was something pretentious for sure, like any school with the word “Academy” in it.
He entered from the window of the bathroom his important business was currently in and knocked on the locked stall.
“Damian?”
He heard the heartbeat, which until now sounded mildly distressed, pick up and settle into something more joyful.
The stall opened and a boy with short black hair, dark brown skin and the most gorgeous green eyes you'd ever seen stared up at him.
“Jon?”
“D…what happened?”
The upper half of his best friend was completely drenched and his eyes were slightly red.
He felt rage building up and really wanted to know who was responsible for this, but he tried to calm himself. There were more important things to be done first.
“-Tt-. Some idiots thought it would be funny to throw a bucket of water on my head as I was walking under the staircase.”
“ Who?”
Damian chuckled at the sight of his pupils turning red.
“Well, you can go ask the nurse, I never bothered to learn their names. There wasn't much talking during our confrontation.
Jon laughed.
“Well, they were asking for it.”
Damian stared at him for a while.
“You're here?”
“What kind of question is that? You were upset, of course I'm here.”
Damian pressed a little closer to him.
“Jon, you can't keep skipping classes. Especially for me. I can wait.”
“D, I would skip this class for a stack of pancakes. You? Not even thinking twice.”
Jon saw his best friend's cheeks darken a tiny bit as he went for a hug.
“Thank you.”
He happily hugged back, squeezing him reassuringly.
“Of course, D. I promised. We have eachother’s back. That's how it is.”
Damian didn't move from his arms. In fact, he pressed a little closer.
It was Jon who pulled away once he realized something.
“Holy shit , you must be so cold.”
Gotham weather was harsh. It was wet and cold. They weren't even in the cold seasons and yet, for a human, it would be uncomfortably cold.
And Damian hated the cold.
Jon took off his jacket and put it in his hands.
“Here. You can change into this. I've been wearing it all day, I've warmed it up a lot. Take your shirt off. It's not drying any time soon and you can't go out like this.”
Damian didn't hesitate. Which was a sign that he was extremely uncomfortable. He just closed the stall door again and then reopened it almost instantly. Changing clothes fast was apparently another extremely important skill for a warrior to have.
“Thank you.”
He was basically trying to hide inside the oversized jacket. Damian wasn't that small anymore. 5’8” at sixteen isn't bad at all. And while he wasn't buff like his father, he was still quite well built.
But Jon was still an alien whose species humans had first described as “Superman”. He looked like he was spending all his free time at the gym, had reached 6’3” and, judging by the fact that his dad was 6’9” and his brother stopped growing at 7’1” he still had a way to go.
So, currently, Damian was drowning in a jacket that reached mid thigh and he looked anything but bothered by it.
Jon stared at him, a warm feeling in his chest.
“... I'm not getting that back, am I?”
“Mmh, no. What did you do with this? Being worn by a living furnace all day or not, a jacket like this shouldn't be this warm”.
“I, uh, I've actually only reinforced it to withstand my powers. Guess that's a side effect of that.”
Damian hummed and burrowed his face deeper into the collar.
“I do still believe you shouldn't skip class so much.”
This again.
Okay, fine, maybe his attendance sheet was beginning to look like something Batman would wear, but he really wasn't doing bad.
“D, it's fine. My grades are perfect, Mrs Lake cares either about attendance or test scores. Not both. I'm right on track for graduation and, hey, there's NO way they're going to leave behind their star player. Not to toot my own horn, but we haven't lost one game since I joined.”
“-Tt-, the basis our education bodies place on sports is absurd.”
He returned to Jon's embrace, trying to absorb even more of his body heat.
“But I guess it would be nice to go home early.”
That was dire.
“D?”
“I don't want to stay here longer.”
Jon held him protectively. This was bad.
“Bad day today?
“Bad week.”
Yeah, Jon remembers. D got grounded from patrol after a crook with a gun got lucky. And this was not the first incident. Damian had pissed off the school's main guy or something because he was better than him and now the idiot was sending his lackeys to make Damian's life difficult.
What's more, the asshole had connections to the school so nothing would be done.
Damian was fighting back, of course, but it just ended with him in trouble.
Jon would like to know more about that guy. He really hoped he'd get to meet him one day.
“Sure.”
“... Sleepover today. My place. And we continue from there for the rest of the weekend.”
“Sounds like a plan to me”
He chuckled to himself when he remembered how 13yo Damian repeatedly refused to say “sleepover” because it was “childish”. But 16yo Damian was way more comfortable with himself than 13yo Damian and he had started to demand the things he needed.
Nowadays, there were usually more people at their sleepovers. They usually had them at their base to avoid meddling parents and older siblings (minus Chris and the twins, who were sometimes invited) But Maya and Kathy were who knows where on a mission, Maps was in Europe with her parents (and was flooding the group chat with sad emojis because she was banned from investigating anything) and Colin was undercover.
They should probably try to discreetly reach out, just to make sure he was fine. He had the means to call for help if anything went wrong, but you never know.
Jon lowered Damian to the grass field around the school. They would fly, but first they needed to find a discreet enough place to take off. Damian couldn't withstand the force of a take off quick enough to not be noticed, no matter what he said. Jon didn't want to turn his best friend into jam.
They made their way towards the back of the school. This wasn't the first time Jon had to fly off with him. They were very much aware of that perfectly secluded spot behind one of the storage sheds.
Jon had his arm around Damian who was pressing more into his side. The wind had picked up and Damian's hair was still wet. The faster Jon took him home the better.
“Bit of a bad day for a shower Wayne, don't you think?”
Both boys turned to face the owner of the obnoxious, mocking voice.
The best description of the guy Jon could come up with was “Blonde guy #26”. There was literally nothing noteworthy about his appearance. Just a guy with blonde hair and wearing the school uniform tightly buttoned up.
If he had to guess, this would be the one responsible for D’s shitty time at school. So, he gave him the appropriate look.
The guy stopped dead in his tracks and furrowed his brows. Right. Red pupils. He agreed to at least try to hide them when he was out as a civilian, but it was more natural to him to leave them red and sometimes he forgot.
“Who the hell is this punk?”
Uh, “ punk” ? Really? Was this guy 16 or 60?
Because Jon never had anyone under 60 comment on his ripped jeans and unruly hair with the one curl falling on his forehead dyed red or the black bands around his wrists, dark blue metal ear cuffs and eyeliner.(He was surprised with himself too on that one. But after that one time he used it when he and Damian swapped costumes for Halloween, he just couldn't let it go. He didn't start using it regularly until after he got back though. Just a thin line around his eyes. Nothing crazy. He didn't have the patience for anything else. Mom and Kon were both ecstatic. As was Aunt Kara. Apparently makeup was way more of a thing back on Krypton. Another reason to wear it.)
Okay, Damian's dad was under sixty and had commented on it, but he was 100% sure it was because it was Jon. He never commented on Kon's style and he was way more out there than Jon.
Anyway, not the point right now.
Blonde Guy was now eyeing Jon's jacket on Damian with a smirk on his face.
“What are you wearing, Wayne? Did you really call your boyfriend to come get you?”
Jon blinked once. Twice. His what now?
He could see Damian standing unwavering beside him, even if his heart picked up and his cheeks darkened just a bit.
“I am not in the mood for this.”
“Who asked?”
Jon walked up to him and pulled him to his eye level using just one arm. He was taller than Damian but still four inches shorter than him.
“I think it's time for you to leave.”
Apparently, the guy wasn't really used to being picked up cause his expression turned into something resembling “I am extremely uncomfortable but still trying to look tough and failing”.
“O-or what? Huh? What are you gonna do? There are cameras. And he's in enough trouble already. So why don't you call off your guard dog, Wayne?”
Jon was no fool. He knew there were cameras. He also knew how to scramble them. Which he had done already so he wouldn't be caught flying in.
So the guy was very much screwed.
But, again, wind picking up, sun was setting and Damian was increasingly trying to curl into a ball, so he'd better wrap this up quickly.
He settled on…making the guy more aware of what he was dealing with. Just a peak under the human-looking exterior. One second flat. Nothing much.
That was an unexpectedly high pitched scream.
He let the guy fall unconscious to the ground like a sack of potatoes.
Bullies are always such wimps. That was barely anything.
He let the guy lay there and immediately went to pick up Damian to fly off.
“I'm sorry you had to deal with this imbecile.
“S’ okay. I mean, you said you were done and I was done with him since the moment he appeared, he should have backed off. He was asking for it.”
“Mhm. Yes, he was.”
Damian curled even more into his arms.
Right. Flying means cold wind hitting them. Bad for a freezing human.
He turned around, making Damian kinda lay on him as he continued to fly with his back to their destination.
Damian seemed shocked for a second before laying down, getting comfortable.
“You better know where you're going.”
“I can see fine. Almost 360° field of vision and all.”
Damian just hummed and went back to leeching off Jon's body heat.
Jon bypassed Bruce's increasingly more absurd alarm system (Batman was good with technology. But so was Jon and the kind he used was a few thousands of years more advanced) and hovered outside Damian's bedroom window.
“I thought you agreed to stay?”
Jon tried not to laugh at the way Damian suddenly resembled a wet kitten.
“I am! I just have to get back home real quick to leave my backpack and get some stuff.”
“Oh. Okay. Well, I'll be informing that you'll be staying here as well.”
“M’ kay. See you in a bit.”
He let Damian jump into his room and when he turned around, he was standing in front of his apartment door.
“I'm home!”
Mom and dad were on the kitchen table, dad reading a newspaper and mom typing away at her laptop. Kon was making some kind of milkshake and Chris was sprawled on the couch in front of the TV.
Dad placed his cup of coffee down.
“But you won't be staying.”
Good. There was not going to be the whole “why did you leave class early” talk. It was about time they understood it wasn't going anywhere.
“Nope. Just dropping stuff and picking up other stuff.”
“All your chores and homework done?”
Mom didn't look up from her laptop.
“Yup”
Kon looked at him over his little mountain of whipped cream, smirking.
“Well, hurry up. Don't wanna leave your little boyfriend waiting.”
“....Who?”
Chris and Kon immediately stopped what they were doing to stare at him.
“Uh, Damian? You know, the guy you ditched me for just now?”
“Oh. He's not my boyfriend.”
You could hear a pin drop.
“ What?”
“I said, Damian's not my boyfriend. We are not dating.”
Kon set his cup on the counter.
“You cannot be serious?! What do you mean you aren't dating? You've been at his beck and call like a lovesick puppy. He's been clinging to you every chance he gets.”
Jon shrugged.
“He gets like that sometimes. And he deserves to have someone he can depend on.”
Kon looked personally offended.
“Kid, one time he was staying over and when you got up to check on the kitchen because you heard me coming in, he came in three seconds later asking you why you left like you had abandoned him on the side of the road”
“He…he gets nightmares. He says having me around helps”
“ He was wearing your shirt”
Dad spat his coffee out and started coughing.
“ Calm down . He has always been stealing my clothes. The others do it too, but he is the one who refuses to return them. I'm working on reclaiming them. Also, how did you even choke? We don't need oxygen.”
“Son, there are some things that when a father hears them, the laws of physics are not the most important thing at the moment.”
Jon looked wildly unimpressed.
Kon looked even more perplexed.
“The others? Who else is stealing your clothes?”
And Chris found the perfect opportunity to chime in.
“The rest of the team. Every time I go there and they aren't in costume, each of them is wearing at least one thing that is either Jon's or used to be Jon's.”
The boy in question groaned.
“They all like them because they're “oversized” and “comfy” and “usually warm”. I'm missing almost all of my closet.”
Kon just stared at him with wide eyes.
“Kid, how many people are you dating?”
“NONE last time I checked. I have more important things to focus on.”
“Like what?”
“ I don't have clothes to wear.”
Chris just burst out laughing.
Kon had a solemn expression on his face.
“You are getting boyfriend zoned pretty hard there, kiddo.”
“What the fuck does that even mean?”
“ Hey!”
“It means that, dating or not, your little birdie sees you as a boyfriend.”
“Riiight, okay.”
“Oh, please, like he could be any more obvious. We've all seen him drag you around in rigged carnival games so you can win him plushies, or trying to sick you onto people who annoyed him, or-”
“Hey, cut it out. He’s my best friend. That's it.”
“Ah, yes. And one of these days he'll platonically drag you into a jewellery store and demand you get him one of those pretty rings they have on display.”
Jon rolled his eyes and disappeared in a blur only to return with a bag packed. He hugged his mom, who gave him a kiss on the cheek before walking towards the window.
“I'm leaving.”
“Okay. Call me when you land.”
“Be careful, son.”
“Sure.”
“Have fun on your date.”
Dad called him back because of what he retorted to his older brother’s tease with, but he had places to be right now.
Damian changed out of the pants of his uniform, putting on some sweatpants but remaining in Jon's jacket. Jon had dropped off his bag beside the window.
He immediately went to crank up the heat in his bedroom and just basked in it for a second before mentally checking off the things he needed to do.
He was 4 months ahead in his schoolwork, he had just dropped his laundry down the shute, his pets were already fed by Alfred since he was supposed to return late on Fridays.
And he didn't have patrol to attend to.
All he had to do was inform his family Jon would be coming over for the weekend.
It would be a family dinner today, but he would gladly endure father's pointed looks if he got to have someone at the table he could actually talk to for more than 5 minutes to without wanting to resort to violence.
He had learned to love his family, but they remained annoying as ever.
…Actually, they had started to act even more annoying recently, for some reason.
“Jon will be coming over for dinner tonight. And we will be spending the weekend together.”
Like right now.
Richard and Jason were arguing about something and Tim was talking to father. Duke was hotly debating whether jumping off bridges was a viable tactic in a fight with Cassandra (the disagreement was over the technique) in the corner while Stephanie was intently listening.
But they all stopped to stare at him like he had just announced that he was terminally diagnosed and only had less than a month left as soon as the words left his mouth. (Well, actually, Cassandra looked uninterested in the information, Duke just nodded in affirmation and Stephanie was smirking at him.)
Three of his four older brothers plus his father were sporting the aforementioned expression.
“That's wonderful, Master Damian. I understand we will be needing another plate on the table tonight.”
Damian can always count on Alfred.
“Yes, thank you Alfred.”
“Damian, this is a family dinner-”
“Well, father, Cassandra got to bring Stephanie, so I don't see how I can't also bring a guest.”
It was like all four of them were stabbed in the liver.
“Dami, you know Cass and Steph are a little more…well, they are…”
“Speak up, Richard, I am not a mind reader.”
Stephanie was holding back laughter at this point while Duke looked mildly amused.
It was Tim, ever blunt, who managed to complete the sentence.
“Well, Steph is Cass’ girlfriend, not a friend, so it is different.”
“Cassandra got to bring Stephanie along before they were dating. Your point is still hollow.”
For some reason, their expression darkened even more.
“Yes, but eventually they did date. It is still different.”
Jason looked at him like he should be getting some kind of hint.
He wasn't.
“Jon is coming over and it's final. You don't have any real reason to ban me from bringing him.”
“Damian- ”
“I think you should learn to live with it, Bruce. Banning him would be unfair. We've all brought other people over the years.”
His relationship with Duke had started off rocky, but he turned out to be one of the most tolerable people in his family.
Duke came over to him and he pointed up the stairs with his head.
“You said you had some sketches you wanted to show me?”
“Yes, I would like your opinion on the shading.”
Bruce watched his two youngest kids retreating to Damian's room.
Steph turned to Bruce.
“Maybe you should learn to live with it.”
“No.”
“Dude-”
“No, I will not be accepting this. I won't accept Damian being with, with… him ”
“And the brat is getting shameless, too. It was him who got the little demon here, didn't you see the jacket? Probably carried him. And not a peep from the security system again.”
Jason turned to Tim.
“Shouldn't you be working on that? Or at least get your Super to keep his menace of a brother in check?”
“I am working on that. Give me a break, I'm not a miracle worker, this time. He's got, like, a thousand years of technological advancement over me. At least . Have you tried beating a battleship with wooden sticks?”
“It's not impossible, so try harder. And what about talking to your alien?”
Tim shrunk into himself a bit.
“Me and Kon…we don't really talk much these days.”
“Well, this is important. Try it!”
“What's up with you guys? You used to like Jon.”
Dick sighed.
“Yeah, but he was different back then. I love Uncle Clark, but I really don't understand where he went wrong with this one. Or, at least, why he doesn't even try to set him straight.”
“He's violent, he's volatile, he refuses to adhere to protocols, he should not be around Damian. Especially with his increasing immunity to Kryptonite and his efforts to revive Kryptonite-proofing technology. He's too dangerous.”
“He's also really good at making Damian happy.”
“So what? The demon is going after that punk because he can sweet talk well? We shouldn't have let him read those stupid romance comics. Of all the rebellious phases he could have!”
“Damian isn't after Jon because he got corrupted by shoujo.”
“You don't know that.”
“You're acting like Bruce.”
Jason started choking.
“Steph, he's going about this wrong, but he has a point. We liked Jon because he helped Damian open up, but now…”
“He is still helping him open up. He's actually treating him really well and he's visibly very protective of him.”
“Yeah, but, he doesn't…the way he does things now is not something Damian should aspire to emulate. Damian needs someone he can trust-”
“Earth to Dick? He does trust him. He feels closer with Jon than anyone.”
Dick looked hurt by that.
“Little hard to trust someone when they can turn you into ash any time they want and you have no means to protect yourself.”
“The contingency, or lack thereof, thing again? You didn't use to have contingencies about your friends either.”
Tim tensed.
“Do you really think Kon or Cassie or Bart have the same danger levels as the Kryptonian with the criminal record, violent tendencies and the worst temper we've ever seen?”
“Okay, now you're plain villainizing the kid. And we all have criminal records.”
“His is different. There’s a good reason he’s wanted in multiple dimensions.”
“That’s objective. Plus, Damian has some of those charges too.”
Tim tried to retort, but Steph shut him down.
“Damian's growing up and he has a crush on a guy. Stop being so suffocatingly overprotective and deal with it.”
Bruce looked at her like she had said something utterly heinous, but then the doorbell rang.
So, here's the thing. Most people would say that the youngest son of Superman is pretty well behaved. Or, he used to be.
That was because most people only met the youngest son of Superman only after he became an only child.
Jon…never really saw eye to eye with his dad. He was impulsive, he was hot-headed, he was rowdy, violent, quite a bit selfish, always down for some mischief, too alien.
And, he used to act like it. But that was okay. Because first his dad had Chris and then, when Chris left, he had Kon.
Jon was never expected to be like his dad. His dad had other people to pass his mantle to. (Kon. It was always going to be Kon.)
Jon was just a spare heir. He was never meant to inherit anything. (And he was MORE than okay with that. Jon was glad. Jon knew his dad loved him and that was enough for him.)
Until he was. And he loved his dad too much to not, at least, try to behave.
He was…pretty bad at it. (He was terrible at it) And he was miserable.
But it's okay now. Chris is back. Kon is back. (He knew he missed his brother, but, Rao, he had never realized just how much he had missed having another one like him around.)
Now everything was back to normal.
He knew his parents would prefer otherwise, but he was oh so tired of pretending to be something he wasn't. And at least they understood that and adjusted their expectations of him accordingly.
Other people, though, were being dicks about it.
He was fine with that, honestly.
He didn't really give a shit about what Batman thought of him. He didn't like Batman much himself, either. He didn't like Bats much, in general. In his opinion, they have been power tripping too hard for way too long because they had somehow convinced the people around them that they knew better and they were something more than just humans in Kevlar.
The only exceptions were Steph, Duke…Cass?
Jon…had complicated feelings about Cass. Even after all these years, Cass still had problems with seeing the grey areas. Jon was basically made from the grey areas, which made her conflicted and him standoffish. But most of the time, they were pretty civil.
And there was Damian, of course. But Damian wasn’t all that good at being a Bat, himself.
Jon liked that.
Of course Damian himself was taking it pretty bad. That he could never be Batman without being unhappy. It must feel pretty disheartening to know you couldn’t fit in either of the roles you were made to take up.
But Damian was strong, he always has been. He was healing, slowly. And Jon would be there with him, always. They would find their own path, together.
It was with these mushy thoughts in mind that Jon rang the doorbell and Alfred immediately opened the door, because of course he did.
“Master Jonathan, it’s good to see you again.”
“It’s just “Jon”, Alfred.”
“Well, then, it’s nice to see you again, Master Jon. What have you brought there with you?”
Jon brought the box he was holding in one arm in front of him.
“Oh, uh, it’s just some chocolates Damian likes. He’s had a rough day, so I took a little detour before coming here.”
Alfred raised an eyebrow, looking the stoic British butler equivalent of mildly amused.
“How “little” of a detour are we talking about?”
“Um…”
“Sweden”
Damian rushed down the stairs to greet him, with Duke calmly walking behind him with his hands in his pockets.
“Hey, D.”
“Jon!”
“Hey, it’s not my fault that you have ridiculously fancy tastes. I wouldn’t insult you with anything less. Plus, I owe you for the shoes.”
“This is highly unnecessary! Just because I painted some shoes for you-”
“Oh, shut up. You didn’t let me pay for them, I needed to repay you somehow. Mom and dad didn’t raise a deadbeat.”
“Bu-”
“Hush, I’ve already gotten them. You’re gonna eat them.”
Damian blushed and averted his eyes, knowing there was nothing he could do.
“...Well, it would be an insulting waste to throw them away…thanks.”
“Don’t mention it. Seriously, don’t, we’ve talked about this,”
Damian pouted and Jon wanted nothing more than to squeeze him till he pops.
“How nice of you, Master Jon. Why don’t you give the box to me so I can store them in the fridge? Dinner will be served in a minute, so I suggest you make your way to the dining room.”
When Alfred said “a minute” he meant one minute exactly, so they rushed to sit down and only barely made it before Alfred started serving.
For the most part, Jon and Damian were in their own world, occasionally exchanging a word with Steph or Duke, who were sitting on either side of the pair. Cass was sitting beside Bruce, opposite of Steph (Bruce may have had something to do with not letting them sit side by side) and the rest of Damian’s brothers were sitting beside her.
There were questions from them or Bruce directed to Damian, but he usually answered in short, measured sentences, despite their persistence.
Bruce suddenly set his knife and fork down, signaling that this was gonna be an important talk.
“So, Damian, I wanted to ask you something about the gala we attended last week.”
Damian remained composed. He had rehearsed his cover very well about how he had definitely stayed there for more than 20 minutes and he had in no way sneaked out to go meet his friends for a night out, only sneaking back in to convince Bruce he was there the entire time.
“Yes, father?”
“Well, I saw you talking to this girl for quite some time. She’s the daughter of one of our partners, a very nice young lady. I would like to ask you, what did you think of her? If you’d like, I can arrange another meeting.”
Damian looked horrified and Jon had to take a sip of water so he wouldn’t burst out laughing.
“Perish the thought, father! She was just someone I could talk to in there without wanting to hang myself.”
“Well, yes, but, you are growing up Damian and I would just like you to find someone, like other kids your age.”
“Yeah.”
Steph nudged a still laughing Jon with her elbow and immediately rubbed it. Her nudging hard was supposed to be other people’s problem, damn it.
“Preferably, someone we know is safe.”
Dick added, in this honeyed tone, like his intentions were innocent. Unfortunately, his tone didn’t distract from the fact that he was sporadically glancing “inconspicuously” at Jon.
Jason didn’t bother to hide his glaring.
“Yeah, you never know what kind of people are out there. Don’t wanna have to bust you out because you were dragged into the wrong crowd.”
Damian’s face turned red. Quickly glancing to see if Jon was still laughing.
Jon had stopped laughing and sent a smile with too much fangs Jason’s way.
“Well, you would know about the wrong crowd.”
Damian laughed and Jason clenched his fists.
Bruce wasn’t happy.
“Damian.”
Tim looked unimpressed.
“Damian, we’re just looking out for you. Making sure you won’t make choices you’ll regret.”
“I am quite capable of making choices myself. And, if I choose to date, you won’t be having a say in who I’ll choose.”
Bruce, Tim, Dick and Jason were in silent panic mode. Nobody missed the split second glance Damian sent Jon, who definitely noticed.
“Damian, I am your father, I absolutely have a say over who you’re seeing-”
“Dami, we’re your family, we do get a say-”
“You’re 16. Nobody can be trusted with dating at 16-”
“YOU WILL NOT BE GOING OUT WITH THIS MENACE, I WILL NOT ALLOW IT.”
Jason practically launched himself over the table while pointing at Jon.
“And you? Wrapping him in your clothes like you’re claiming territory and bringing him gifts to get him to lower his guard. You will keep your hands to yourself or I will cut them off, you hear me?”
Damian suddenly stood up from the table, visibly shaken.
“The food was lovely, Alfred. I will be in my room if you need me. You better not. Come, Jon.”
Jon also complimented Alfred’s cooking before retrieving the box of chocolates and following Damian up the stairs.
“Damn, you literally couldn’t have done worse. That’s kinda impressive.”
Duke put another bite into his mouth. Why waste perfectly good food?
Jason paid him no mind.
“Did you see the look on that little shit’s face? He was ready to back sass me. I believe we should visit him during the night, set some things straight.”
Steph was placing the leftovers into Tupperware, which prompted Duke to chew faster.
“How are you planning to get past Damian?”
“Damian?”
“They always share a room when they have sleepovers.”
“But he didn’t bring a sleeping bag with him. And Alfred didn’t bring another mattress in Damian’s room.”
Duke swapped his plate with Tim’s abandoned one.
“What’s not clicking?”
Gotham almost lost Batman to his own spit that night and the only reason he survived was because of his daughter, since his eldest was hyperventilating and murmuring about how “he is just a baby”, his second oldest was screaming gibberish, his third son was staring stunned and horrified, his future daughter in law, either he likes it or not, was on the floor laughing and the news addition to the family didn’t even bother, because “Cass got it.”
Again, Jon was not an idiot.
He was very much aware that he is in love with his best friend. Has been for a while.
He doesn't remember when it happened exactly. One day he just looked at him and realised that there was a new feeling along those he already had for him.
But the point is, it's not important.
Jon…has a complicated way he experiences romance. It's only when he can be bothered. A lot of people like him, he knows this. And he has found that giving them something is kind of fun.
Just a kiss, no strings attached. If they're agreeable, of course. He'd never lead anyone on.
But he's got more important and more enjoyable things to do than invest time and energy into a relationship.
Damian, of course, as always, is the exception.
Jon doesn't need Damian to like him back. He doesn't need to date him. He likes his feelings, he's comfortable with them and, sure, he'll be over the moon if he got to date him. But he's very much comfortable with what they have. He'd be glad to stay as Damian's best friend. He'd cheer Damian on if he wants to be with someone else, but they'd have to wrestle the title of “Damian's best friend” away from him.
Jon doesn't feel awkward staying friends with his crushes. He's done it many times with no issues. Kathy, Georgia. He can do it again.
He just wants Damian happy.
Thing is, Damian, very obviously, DOES like him back.
It happened sometime during the past few months.
The last year has been difficult for Damian. One year ago or so, his girlfriend dumped him.
Jon genuinely likes Nika. She's a really fun person to be around and actually they have a lot in common. He can easily call her a friend. And she was a great girlfriend to Damian. He adored her.
That said, he could see why they didn't work out. Damian needed stability. Nika needed the freedom to move around. It was only a matter of time.
The last few months of their relationship were very strained. Damian was obviously getting more and more upset every time she needed to go and she was feeling more and more guilty. Unfortunately, Damian was too scared to pull away, staying attached to her. So, she had to do it herself.
It was tough on both of them. There were many times Jon had to fly to see her because she was feeling down. But mostly, he was trying to comfort Damian.
Hard as it was, it was better this way. After the initial wave of grief, a weight was visibly lifted from Damian's shoulders.
At one point he confided to him that, towards the end, he believes he stayed more because it was familiar and less because he liked her.
Moving on from a one year relationship was hard and Damian was even more distressed that his first serious relationship didn’t work out.
But his friends were there for him and he slowly got better.
Jon wouldn’t say that the whole thing brought them closer. Yes, he spent even more time with Damian, but they did what they always did. Nothing was different from before. They weren’t closer after it. If you asked him, it was impossible to be even closer to a person.
He guesses that the romance that didn’t work out made him realize what he wants from a relationship. What he wants his partner to be like. How he wants them to treat him. What a future with them would be like.
For Jon, it was a slow fall that he didn’t even notice. For Damian, it was a sudden explosion. The realization that Jon was the person he was looking for in a partner hit him like a train going full speed. Damian got too used to the warm, safe feeling he got when he was around Jon and, one day, he just exploded with these emotions.
Jon found out the exact moment when it happened. The change in Damian’s scent, his heartbeat spiking, the change in breathing and brain activity. He knew from the start. Not that it would be hard to find out later.
“- IMBECILES. Jon? JON!”
“Wha- huh? Oh, sorry D, I got distracted.”
Damian pinched the bridge of his nose.
“It’s…it’s okay. I was just-...I’m so sorry you had to deal with them. We should have gone to your place or our base. There is a reason it is the norm for us and I should have remembered why.”
“Hey, hey. It’s okay. It’s not your fault your family needs an attitude adjustment.”
“Still…”
“I can handle your family, D. They don’t scare me.”
“Yeah, I know. They hate that. It’s quite amusing.”
“Heh, yeah, it is.”
“But, knowing the woman who birthed and raised you is ten times scarier than they ever hoped to be, they should really know better than to try to intimidate you.”
“I wouldn’t say ten times-”
“Ten times. You’re just used to her. And, you know, have an identical attitude to.”
Jun chuckled. Yeah, fair.
“Okay, okay. So, what about a movie?”
“Anything in mind?”
“Yes, actually.”
“Very well. You can change in my bathroom.”
“I know, I know. Please, this isn’t my first time here.”
He quickly changed into a black pajama set, a simple T-shirt with sweatpants, and returned to join Damian for the movie.
“Finally, what took you so long?”
Jon just stared at Damian, who was wearing a dark navy sweater over a pair of short shorts, who weren’t even visible due to the length of the shirt, sitting next to the laptop hooked on his giant TV with an already opened box of chocolates beside him.
“...D…I’ve been looking for that sweater for MONTHS. ”
Damian just rolled his eyes.
“Yes, how unfortunate. Now, come here, I’ve put on the movie.”
“...Via a streaming service? Paid? Legally? ”
“Uh…yes?”
“Nope. Gimme that.”
Honestly, he should know better by now.
Damian remained curled up in his side during the whole movie, only moving to grab a chocolate from time to time, despite Jon’s loud excitement.
“I must say, for a movie about giant robots, this was surprisingly interesting. Maybe I should pick up a series or something…Jon?”
“Just…just give me a minute man…wow.”
Damian chuckled and put the last piece of chocolate into his mouth.
“I take it, you find it acceptable?”
Jon could only let out a choked sound.
“Mhm…so I was thinking about tomorrow. You said there was a fair coming in Smallville this weekend? We could go and then stay at your grandmother’s for the rest of the weekend. If she’ll have me, of course.”
Jon rubbed his eyes and then blinked a few times.
“Ugh…like Ma would miss an opportunity to stuff you with pie and have you help around with the animals.”
Damian smiled and laid down, still looking up at Jon.
“So, it’s a plan?”
“Yup. Sounds great.”
Jon placed the laptop on the nightstand and the now empty box of chocolates in the trash can with a trick shot (“Show off” “I was not getting up”) and laid down facing Damian.
“Night, D”
“Goodnight, Jon.”
Damian snuggled his way into his arms, like they had been doing since they were kids and Jon held him tight.
Jon knew Damian loved him back, and that made things complicated.
Like, logistically. Damian was still a bit hazy from his break-up and was still figuring out his feelings. It was hard on him.
So, Jon did his best to somehow balance the “Hey, if you really want to date me, I’m very much interested and you would literally make me the happiest creature in the world. No need to rush, though. I’ll be right here.” and “What I’m doing for you is absolutely not with the condition that we’ll date. This is all because you’re my best friend and it will never change. I just also happen to be in love with you.” energies while still reassuring him that “Confessing to me will change nothing about our relationship if you don’t want to. I promise I won’t view you differently. I’m not gonna be mad at you, I promise.”
He had settled with making passing comments and gestures that could be easily read as romantic that were not typical of him before, telling him that he was his best friend first and foremost every chance he got and reminding him that, hey, people confess to him every day, sometimes his friends, and he doesn’t mind at all. It’s all fine, no awkwardness.
He just wants to give Damian space to figure things out, which means that he needs him to know that it’s safe to tell him, that he does have a chance so he doesn’t need to dismiss it and forget it and, if he suspects that his feelings are reciprocated that he doesn’t need to act on them or rush in fear of losing him.
He doesn’t know if it’s working perfectly, but Damian feels okay with letting him see him blushing and other people calling him his “boyfriend” (Another way he tries to hint towards it: Not correcting people when they say he’s his boyfriend when Damian is around.) so, he wants to believe it is.
He fondly looked at Damian’s now sleeping form. He’s always so calm when he’s with him now. He remembered their first few sleepovers, when Damian would thrash and mumble and wake up screaming in the middle of the night. Until they shared a bed for the first time. Then, Damian would just cling to Jon for a bit in his sleep and then calm down.
He pulled Damian flush against his chest.
Kryptonians didn’t need sleep, not really, but in moments like these, it was so hard not to.
“Are you seeing this?!?”
“This cannot be happening.”
“Is he actually allowing this? He has never been big on physical affection.”
“Getyourhandsoffhimgetyourhandsoffhim get. your. hands. off. him.”
“Shut up, Jason, the gremlin will wake up.”
“No! I will not shut up. In fact, I’ll go up there and have a talk with him right now.”
“I agree with Jason.”
“Shut up, old man I-...what?”
“This is crossing a line. It can’t-”
“What? What’s going on?”
“Shit.”
They stared at the empty spot where Jon’s sleeping form used to be.
Suddenly, all four of them found themselves sitting in the living room, two stories below Damian’s room, outside of which they were just standing.
With a very annoyed Kryptonian staring at them with eyes that glowed in the darkness of the room, while sitting on an armchair opposite of them, with a leg over one arm and his elbow propped on the other, supporting his head.
It was hard not to feel unnerved. An atavistic reaction towards the creature in the room with them.
“You wanted to talk?”
“Listen here you little shit-”
“Your behaviour with Damian has been wildly inappropriate-”
“We’re cuddling. We’ve been doing that since we were kids.”
“But you aren’t a kid anymore. You are a very hormonal teenager-”
“And you’re getting way too handsy with Damian. He’s too young for this-”
“He is literally older than me?!”
“Don’t talk back, brat.”
Jon rolled his eyes.
“Listen to me. I have no idea why Damian chose you to be so open with, but, if you insist on taking advantage of that, know that if you do something to hurt him, you’re gonna have to deal with all four of us,”
The boy laughed.
“We’re serious, if you break his heart-”
“Y’all have some nerve . Oh, no, sorry, let me get lectured about romantic relationships by “I have been playing the same two women for years, one time sleeping with one of them the night before my engagement party to the other”, “I have cheated on every partner I’ve ever had” and…”
He looked Jason up and down.
“Well, ‘nough said,”
He turned to Bruce, like he just remembered he was there.
“Oh and of course “Things literally could not be more messed up, but let’s focus on the fact that I am a whore for my own villains.”
Jon smirked as their eyes looked like they were about to pop out of their sockets. He got up with a fluid motion and turned his back on them.
“But, don’t worry, I would never hurt him. You’ve done enough of that.”
The moment right after he was back up in Damian’s room, softly lying next to him away, trying to calm his tossing and turning.
“Mmm,....Jon?”
“I’m right here. Just had to take care of something, go back to sleep.”
Damian placed his head under Jon’s chin and he was out again a minute later.
The next day, Jon immediately flew them over to the farm. Their barn cat had just had her litter and Damian was more than thrilled to help Martha care for them.
“You know, they need volunteers at the vet clinic. I think I can put in a word for you. If you’re staying over the summer again, of course,”
Jon thinks that whoever believes Damian covered in kittens and with a shy excitement written all over his features isn’t the most perfect sight in the world needs to reevaluate their life choices.
“Thank you Mrs Kent.”
“I’ve told you to call me “Ma”, dear.”
By the time the sun had set, they had finished their chores and they were free to enjoy the fair.
They ate something of everything, played every game and sometimes talked to people they knew and ran into.
Jon refused to let Damian pay, no matter how much the other insisted and grumbled. Even the stall owners themselves always turned to Jon when it was time to pay, something that irritated Damian to no end.
“I’ve been staying here every summer for years. They know who I am. Why do they look to you for money?”
Damian was getting pouty, which made his lips look soft and plump, making him look even prettier than he already did, but today was supposed to be a fun day for Damian so they absolutely couldn’t have him pouting.
“Hey, look at that.”
Jon pointed with his head to a giant, round plush of a black cat, whose only visible features were its bright green eyes that were embroidered into an expressive yet standard happy, cute expression.
Damian’s face visibly brightened, but it wouldn’t be Damian if he went along easy.
“-Tt-, aren’t you tired of winning and carrying gifts?”
He could manage.
“Nope.”
“Well then, I guess there’s no point in all this muscle and strength if you don’t use it.”
“You like doing that.”
“What?”
“Making me use my powers for you.”
Jon hasn’t forgotten how their partnership started, with Damian trying to use him as an attack dog…not that Jon wouldn’t attack anyway, but it’s the principle of the thing.
“You let me do that, so I believe you like it too. Using them for me.”
“Mhm, maybe I do.”
They stared eachother down for a while before bursting into laughter.”
“Come on, hayseed, I think you promised me something.”
Winning the game was a breeze and Damian was soon holding the plushie, giving it a little squeeze.
“I’ll hold it. You can barely use your arms.”
Jon felt his heart melt.
He quickly went home to store Damian’s other gifts and, as he returned, he didn’t stop, throwing Damian into his arms and continuing his flight. That earned him a little yelp.
He landed on top of the water tower, in a spot that was obviously set up for someone to sit.
“What was that for?”
He placed Damian down and sat beside him.
“It’s the best place to see the fireworks.”
The sky was soon illuminated in bright colours while they leaned into eachother. As the light show died down Damian sat up. It was obvious he wanted to tell him something and that he had been thinking about it for some time.
“Jon…is this a date?”
Oh, boy, here we go.
“Well, not by intention, I just wanted to have fun with you. Would you like it to be?”
Damian opened his mouth, then closed it, looking away.
“It’s fine if you did. I have no problem with it being a date.”
“I…uh, I don’t think so? I mean, I would love it in theory, but I just don’t know-”
“Hey, it’s fine. It’s okay.”
“I mean, I know this is nothing new for us, but you’ve been acting different lately and I thought…I love it, but I don’t want anything to change.”
“Nothing has to change. We can stay the exact same but also kiss and…stuff.”
“I don’t want to lose what we have.”
“We won’t. Nothing will change if you don’t want to. You know how it is on my end. No problem staying friends with crushes.”
“...I…I think I need more time.”
“That’s cool. I’ll be right here, waiting for you. Take all the time you need.”
He could see the thoughts forming in Damian’s face. You could do better. You should go after someone who is ready for you. You don’t know if you’ll find someone you’ll like better. I may never be ready, you shouldn’t waste your time.
“I love you. I have for a while. I don’t think I could be with anyone else. I will wait for you. Forever, if that’s what it takes. You don’t have to love me back, or date me. I’m happy just the way things are.”
“...Promise?”
How could he ever say no to those eyes?
“Promise.”
Damian smiled, returning to his side and they stayed there, together.
They had all the time in the world.
“What do you mean you can’t find them?”
“I mean, they were there and suddenly they were not. And there are no means to track them.”
“Are you sure? There has to be one tracker Damian didn’t manage to find.”
“Nope, they’re all gone. No cameras around either. Satellites are jammed too.”
“I’ve seen you do shit that would impress even the worst maniac in their absurdity. He was showering him with trinkets all night and paid for everything. This is dire . WORK ON IT.”
“HEY, no fighting…what was that? Oh, me? I’m overreacting? Oh, I think it’s you who are too unwilling to set your son straight, Clark, and I have to deal with the consequences. Wha-, I’m sorry? How I used to be when I was young is completely unrelated. The issue here is that your delinquent of an offspring has taken Damian somewhere we cannot find them. I think you understand the severity of that…wait, no, no, get your other spawn over here what did he say?...”
The three squabbling boys turned around as the phone cluttered to the ground.
“What? What did they say?”
Nobody before has seen the Batman looked so defeated.
“He said they’re probably at…”that quiet secluded spot he likes”...”
…
“What is it?...they’re here, aren’t they?”
“Yup.”
“Freaking out?”
“An understatement.”
“Well, that’s on them. Let them suffer a bit more, I like it here.”
“Gladly.”
