Chapter Text
Jon bounced on his toes, hands behind his back as he waited for the teacher to poke their head in and allow them both to leave. That was the only way Damian would let them leave would be if they were formally dismissed, and for some unknown reason, he was ready to do anything the other boy said, as long as it meant they’d be going to the diner together.
At first glance, it seemed as if Damian was fully invested in his book, but a bit closer and he was watching the bouncing teen from the corner of his eye, resisting a smile as the earlier characterization of him being a puppy ruled correct. His clothing needed work, and his mannerisms as well, and he’d make that known once he figured out just how long this would actually last.
“Mr. Kent, Mr. Wayne, you are both free to go.” The teacher finally dismissed them, and Jon hovered over Damian’s chair, watching as he arranged his things in his messenger bag.
He slung it over his shoulder, shooting the excited teen a mildly annoyed look. “And you were offended about the puppy comparison.”
“I’m holding onto that, I will turn the gremlin thing onto you eventually.” Jon smirked, looming above him. “Would you look at that, you’ve got the height part down already.”
“Shut up.” He grumbled, holding onto the strap of his bag. “Do you want me to come or not?”
The other only chuckled, holding the door for him. “But of course, Your Highness. Forgive my words.”
He sniffed, nose in the air as he played along. “I suppose you’ve been pardoned. Now, onwards to the feast.”
The face lasted a moment longer before they both dissolved into laughter, moving down the halls of the school at a swift pace.
“We’ll have to walk.” Jon noted, once they were out at the pick up area.
“The sun is up, does not seem like an issue.” Damian brushed it off. “You have directions and I wish to have lunch, so the quicker we’re off, the better.”
“Yes, of course, your very royal highness.” Jon rolled his eyes, beginning to stride away in one direction, longer legs making for quicker strides.
“Hey!” the other boy protested, jogging to keep up. The taller one laughed, speeding up more.
“Asshole.” he heard Damian mutter, smiling to himself. Yeah, so maybe he was, but really, it was all worth it to mess with him.
They ran down the streets of the city, Damian calling out obscenities as Jon cackled, always a few paces ahead. He slowed as they neared their destination, letting the shorter boy catch up and swat at him.
“See if I ever come with you again!” He huffed, holding onto the strap of his messenger bag, tugging at the collar of his green pullover.
“Aw, come on, D ,” he said, nickname coming out mockingly. “If we’re gonna be friends, you gotta keep up with your little gremlin legs.”
He groaned. “Oh my God , fuck off. How many jokes are you going to be making about this? Gets old pretty quick you know, J .”
“A bad word !” Jon gasped, now walking in tandem with him. “Whatever will your family say?”
“They’d wash my mouth out with soap.” Damian deadpanned. “Only there wouldn’t be any left by the time they’d finished with my brother.”
He snorted, before tugging on his sleeve, boldly slipping his hand into the smaller caramel one. “C’mon, we gotta cross the street.”
Damian said nothing, only flushing mildly. Jon looked anywhere but at him, cursing the fact that the paleness of his skin did nothing to hide the growing red creeping up his face.
He let go as they reached the other side, gallantly opening the door for the other boy, bowing slightly as he did so. The other boy made a clicking noise, one that he’d so often associated with negative things, now sounding mildly amused. If he’d looked up, he would have seen the slight shake of his head, lips turning up a tic.
A blond freckled girl with the same piercings as Jon came up as they entered, tying back her apron without looking up.
“Hello, welcome to-” She paused looking up at the two, a grin spreading on her face. “Jonathan Samuel, why haven't you come around and who is this beautiful boy?”
Jon looks sheepish. “Hey Kath. I been busy lately, how’re your folks?”
Damian was almost appalled, flushing from the girl’s words and marveling at how easily Jon slipped into a much more civilized manner, southern accent showing when he spoke to her.
They stopped in their conversation, Jon pulling Damian in front of him. “This is Damian, he’s…a friend.”
Kathy’s eyes sparked at him. “A friend you say, huh?” She eyed him for a minute, before turning to Damian. “What’d he do to you?”
“Kathy!” Jon barked, flushing.
“Ain’t no way he bagged a pretty thing like you, you gotta be here because he did something to ya and now he’s tryna make it up.”
He raised an eyebrow at Jon. “You do this a lot?”
“Taking that as a yes.” Kathy nodded. “You look prep, he knock your books over?”
A devilish smirk came over his face and Jon was hit with the reminder of gremlin-like. “Well, that’s one way to put it, but really, the whole story is a lon-MPFFH!”
His mouth was covered and instinctively he licked the palm, biting at the hand as it was wrenched away from his mouth in disgust. Jon wiped his palm on his jeans while Damian wiped his mouth, both disgusted. Kathy ( The traitor, Jon thought bitterly,) was doubled over laughing, arm propped on the podium holding menus for stability.
“Y’all make such a funny pair, never thought I'd see the day someone corralled Jon.” She giggled as Jon shot her a dirty glare.
“Oh, like you weren’t just as bad! You got a piercing every time I did and you dyed your hair black, and I bet fifty bucks you still wear your eyeliner like I do!”
“Mm, yeah the black hair was not my proudest moment but also, it was like 8th grade bordering freshman year, and i’m attempting to reform.” She put her hand to her heart dramatically. “Of course, I tend to relapse when you drag me into shit.”
“Like you’re complaining.” Jon laughed. “Now, table for two, please.”
They eventually made it to a table, ordering two milkshakes (an almond milk one for Damian) and a side of fries.
The whole thing was oddly date-esqe and it made the both of them desperate for small talk. Damian, ever equipped with manners and experience in polite conversation, started up the questions.
“So, when you said you were raised in a barn, what did you mean?”
Jon seemed to light up, recounting his old life in Kansas, talking about the farm he’d grown up on, his and Kathy’s old adventures, and stopped once he mentioned moving to the city.
“Kath moved here a bit ago, we’d kept in touch but don’t see each other too much anymore. She’s still my best friend and stuff but the city’s weird.”
Their food arrived and they shared the snack, chattering on about things. By the end of it, Jon had learned Damian had six siblings and several brothers-in-laws that hung around their father’s large house, as well as many pets. He liked art and led the art club with his friend Skylar, and had met Maya and Colin in elementary school.
Damian learned that Jon had been raised a well-mannered southern boy, as much as he tried to deny it and undo the teachings now. He saw flecks of homesickness when he talked of the country, sadness when he spoke of his parents who had once been there and were now constantly busy, leaving him with his older brother, even though said brother had his own life.
It was insane to the both of them just how much they’d learned about each other after one civil interaction, how much they were being drawn to one another. It was all getting much too sappy and feelings-like for the both of them, so they split the bill and walked out into the night, afternoon sun shining a bit lower in the sky, not quite yet sunset.
“C’mon, we’ve got some time before it gets dark. Let’s just chill for a bit.” Jon gestured towards the signs pointing to the parks around the city.
They wandered around a bit, going towards the edge of the city where the forests were. “Hey, wanna wander around here a bit?” Damian said, breezing past him through the broken gate.
Jon eyed the sign, hanging off one side of the wire. “I’m pretty sure that says no trespassing, D.”
“The gate’s broken, it isn't as though we’re committing some great offense.” He knocked the gate with a shoulder and the sign fell off. “Oops, there’s no longer a sign to read.”
Jon looked scandalized, what was this, some sort of personality switch? “You’re insane.”
“C’mon, the sun's not down yet.” He went through the brush, raising an eyebrow as Jon refused to follow, bouncing on his toes nervously.
“Scared, farm boy?” He taunted, Jon scowling and taking a step forward.
Knew that would work.
“Not a chance, darlin’.” The other boy followed after, pet name slipping from his tongue easily. “I am blaming you though, if we end up being caught doing something as stupid as this.”
Damian scoffed, walking through the thicket. “With your demeanor, I'd assumed you knew the most important thing about doing something mildly illegal.”
“And what is that, exactly?”
He swallowed as the other boy turned, mouth going dry as a mischievous smirk was shot his way. The words that followed, however, were completely unexpected.
“Don’t get caught.”
They made it around, exploring the tangles of greenery and knocking branches into each other’s faces when they heard the beginning of a party. The sun was hanging dangerously low in the sky, still not yet sunset.
“Damian, we’re gonna get in trouble,” Jon hissed. “We should go.”
“Shhh.” the other boy waved at him, creeping closer. It’s been awhile since he’d done something like this, but he felt the once familiar excitement creep up on him, an amazing feeling that he was determined to chase. He was nearly there, when a branch behind him snapped .
The chatter from the place stopped, and Damian squeezed his eyes shut, cursing everything. Slowly he turned to the culprit, mouthing at him to ’Move back, you idiot, you’re going to get us caught.’
Someone from the other side of the brush called out, “Hello?”
”Shit.” Damian backed away, and suddenly footsteps began coming towards them.
“This is private property, you’re trespassing!” The voices were mixing together and the steps getting closer and suddenly he turned, snatching Jon’s hand and bolting, uncaring of how loud it was.
”HEY!” the voices behind them screamed. Jon seemed paler than usual as they burst through the brush out into a clearing with a dirt road leading out.
“There must be a vehicle around here somewhere, they did not walk down here…” He murmured, glancing around the area. He turned, letting go of the other boy’s hand and smacking him lightly on the cheek, frozen blue eyes coming to attention and locking on his green ones.
“Is Houston having a problem up there, Hayseed?”
Jon seemed to come back to life, mouth opening and closing with no sound coming out. Finally, he blinked a few times, blurting out “You’re actually clinically insane.”
“So you’ve said.” The shorter boy deadpanned. “Thought you would have done this kind of shit all the time with your track record.”
Jon attempted to sputter out a response as Damian looked around, finally spotting a few bikes and ATVs hidden behind a small fence.
“Well, when we were gonna get caught, we ran the other fuckin’ way, not towards it!” He followed Damian, still talking and waving his hands in the air.
“Keep your voice down.” Damian hissed at him, climbing the wiring and swinging a leg over to the other side. “And move your skinny ass, we’re gonna book it out of here.”
“What the fuck is wrong with you?” Jon retorted, doing as he said anyways. “You’re the most asshole goody-two-shoes teacher’s pet I’ve ever met and a day into getting to know you and we’re on the run and you’re climbing fucking fences and holy shit are you hot-wiring the fucking bike? ”
Damian had produced some small tools from his messenger bag, prying into the closest vehicle, which happened to be a motorcycle. “Yes, now shut up and go pick the lock on the fence.”
He tossed him a kit and waved him away, Jon smirking as he moved towards the lock. “Bold of you to assume I knew how to do that.”
He snorted. “Please, it would be an embarrassment to yourself and your reputation if you couldn’t at least do that .”
The bike started up, and he swung a leg over it, grinning at the noise of the engine. He guided it over to the entrance, where Jon had successfully opened it. “Get on.”
”What the hell?” a screech came from where they’d come out of the brush. ”Yo, someone’s jacking your Dad’s Harley!”
Jon needed no more prompting, barely getting on as Damian hit the gas, propelling forwards and zooming past the trail in record time.
He had an iron-clad grip around the other’s waist, fear dissipating as they cleared the area.
“Holy shit. ” he whispered. “Holy fucking shit.”
The sun was setting now, painting the sky beautiful colors of orange, pink, yellow, and deep blue. The rush of adrenaline was catching up with him now and the events of what had just happened came crashing down on him. Throwing his head back, he let out a loud laugh, whooping as they shot back into city limits.
“You didn't leave your mind back there, did you, Kent?” Damian called over the roar of the engine. “I’d hate to have to explain that to your brother.”
Jon was still giggling as he leaned forwards, loosening his grip on the boy in front of him. “No, just the rush. Dude, how’d you learn how to do all of that? Like, God, that was so cool , and if we ever get caught we’re in so much trouble , but it was freaking awesome!”
“I’m glad you thought so.” he responded dryly, slowing the bike down. “We can leave this here, and we’ll walk the rest of the way.”
The sky was close to dark as they walked back up to the nicer areas of the city, pausing at the Waynes’ residence.
“Thank you for inviting me today,” Damian told him as they reached the gate, the line perfectly practiced.
Jon stared at him blankly. “This isn't a gala, dude, you don’t have to thank me. You’re a pretty cool guy, not at all what i expected.”
He bumped him on the shoulder gently, the atmosphere softening. “If anything, I should be thanking you, because I haven't had this much fun for a while. I honestly didn’t think you had it in ya, but after this and you kickin’ my ass, i’m pretty sure i misjudged you completely.”
“There’s a lot of things you don’t know about me, Kent.” Damian said after a moment of silence. “But today, you’ve seen more of me than most people have.”
“Friends?”
“I suppose so.”