Chapter Text
Jason runs up to his room the moment they reach the Wayne Manor. Or, he tries to. As he's running down the hallway to his room, he ends up colliding with someone. He hears a laugh that makes his eyes light up.
"What's got you in such a hurry, Little wing?"
Jason gives him a big, toothy grin. "Dick! I didn't know you'd be visiting."
Dick ruffles Jason's hair. "Aww. You missed your big bro, Jay?"
Jason sputters, swatting Dick's hand away. "Can it. Why're you here, anyways?"
Dick gives him a shit eating grin. He moves to pinch Jason's cheek, but Jason swats his hand away again. "Someone's a big boy now, huh? Too old for brotherly affection?"
Jason stares at him blankly until his grin disappears and he sighs. "Jeez, fine. I forgot to download HOJ on my new laptop and I'm scared of getting some sort of account transfer error. So I brought this-" he whips out a thumb drive and waves it around, "- handy-dandy little thing to save my progress. Super smart, I know." He wipes an imaginary tear from his eye. "No need to praise my genius, Little wing. Humility is a virtue I'm trying to maintain."
Jason rolls his eyes. And then Dick's words fully process. "HOJ? Like Heroes of Justice? My friends said you're a pro at that game."
Dick smirks, flipping his fringe. "Not just a pro, Jay. One of the best." He pauses, before shaking his head. "Nah. I am the best. There's no competition."
He leans in, stage whispering. "Just between you and me, they're turning some custom items on my skin into exclusive items. Pretty cool, huh? Feel free to brag about your big bro, go on, you have my permission."
Jason ignores Dick's shameless bragging. He takes a deep breath, swallowing his pride. "Actually… could you give me a run down on the game? I'm thinking of playing. Y'know, to bond with my friends and all."
Dick raises an eyebrow. "Friends? Plural? Jaybird, the only friend in school you have is Prime."
He grumbles, "I have other friends."
Dick huffs out a chuckle. "Babs and Steph don't count. Babs is a family friend and Steph only comes over to babysit Damian. Cass, Damian and I don't count either, we're your siblings."
He pauses, trying to think of other people. "I'm friends with…. Tim!"
Dick stares at him, trying to gauge if Jason is being serious. "Tim? As in our neighbor? You two barely talk."
Jason huffs, "Not true. He asks me to model for his photography thing and I help him out. Because we're friends and stuff."
He sighs, "You know what? Sure, that counts I guess. But I know for a fact you're not talking to little Timmy about Heroes of Justice. Anyone else?"
Jason clears his throat. "Ajina. We're, uh, friends."
Dick's shit eating grin is back. "Oh ho, Ajina? That kid you have a crush on? I see…" Dick slings his arm over Jason's shoulders, ignoring Jason's protests. "You could've led with that! No sweat, lil bro. With my expertise, you'll be a HOJ pro in no time. Then you can sweep your sweetheart off his feet with your pro gaming skills."
Then, he looks at Jason, eerily serious. "Actually…. how about you become Robin?"
"…Huh? How the hell would I do that?"
He clears his throat. "So, one of the features teased for HOJ is the mantle system. Usernames can be passed down from player to player. Or, if you manage to defeat a player you can take their username as a mantle. Even usernames they don't use anymore."
Jason blinks. "Interesting. And what happens when you give someone your mantle username thingy?"
"Well, you just make a new username. They pitched this as a big prestigious thing, but it's basically a recycling system for names."
He pats Jason's shoulder. "Anyways, I've been meaning on changing my username. Being Robin, the child gaming prodigy is cool and all."
Dick looks away and clenches his fists. "But I'm more than just my past. And I want people to know that I'm capable of so much more."
"We are talking about a game right?"
Dick ignores him. He looks back at Jason, squeezing his shoulder. "It's a win-win. I get to have a little change of pace, and you get a truck load of clout. Sounds cool right?"
Jason bites the inside of his cheek. Dick is just looking at him, but Jason feels like he's under so much scrutiny, even when he's not. "What if I'm not good enough?"
Dick's gaze softens. "You're my little brother, you'll be more than good enough. You'll be better even. And if anyone disagrees, I'll just get B to ban them!"
"Oh? Who am I banning now?"
Dick and Jason turn to look at Bruce.
"Hello you two."
Dick blinks. "I thought Alfred said you were having a meeting."
Jason takes Dick's momentary distraction to slip out of his hold and runs to Bruce who chuckles and pats Jason on the head.
"Did you have a good day at school, chum?"
Jason nods. "Mhm."
He smiles. "That's good." He looks at Dick. "The meeting got cancelled. Though, I should be the one questioning you. Not that I'm mad to see you, but you'd usually tell someone if you're dropping by."
Dick crosses his arms. "I didn't tell you specifically because the last time I said I was dropping by, a two day stay turned into a two week stay."
Bruce huffs. Alfred, who's been watching from the corner, shakes his head. This family has a serious huffing problem.
"Is it so wrong to want to spend time with my little boy?"
Dick sputters. "Now I didn't say that, B! I'm just saying, there's always some random sh-" Dick meets Alfred's eye, "…stuff that happens that makes me stay here for longer."
Bruce grins. "Calm down, I'm just pulling your leg. You can stay however long you want. It's your home too."
Dick smiles, heartfelt. It's quiet as they all soak in the moment.
"So, I take it you're staying the night?"
"…Yep."
"Knew it."
They both turn to Jason. Dick blinks. "I forgot you were here. I thought you went to play with Dami."
Jason points downstairs. "Look at him, how am I s'pposed to play with him?" Damian is sitting on the floor of the living room. The 2 year old is bundled up in a cat onesie, watching Ms. Rachel. "You know how he gets when we interrupt his alone time."
Dick shrugs. "Fair." He takes out his phone and snaps a photo of Damian. "Where's his mom?"
Bruce starts undoing his cuff-links, still in his business suit. "Talia's visiting Ra's. She'll be back at the end of the week." He looks at the two of them. "So. What did I hear about banning people?"
Dick grins. "Jase is gonna play HOJ. I said if anyone's mean to him, I'll get you to ban them."
Bruce sighs. "I'm not going to go around banning people willy-nilly. I need to use my power responsibly." Then he looks at Jason. "Jaylad, believe me, I'm over the moon that you want to play my game. But please be very careful. There's a whole host of trolls and bad actors on there, the worst being this fellow with the username J0K3R."
Dick grimaces. "Ugh, that guy. He's what we like to call a rogue player. Horrible enough to be a nuisance, but smart enough not to do anything ban worthy."
Jason raises an eyebrow. "Well, can't you just suspend him?"
Bruce sighs. "We do. Kind of. Because of our 'immersive concept', suspended players are thrown into area specific prisons. They can still play, but they're confined to those prisons until their suspension is up."
Jason nods. "Huh. Neat."
Bruce smiles. "Neat indeed. And it would be quite neat if you two would go back to your rooms. We can't be standing out here forever." He closes his eyes, feeling a headache coming on. "Unfortunately, I ought to head to the study. You two know how it is." Bruce smiles. "Dick, why don't you help Jason get accustomed to Heroes of Justice?"
Dick mock salutes. "On it, boss. See you at dinner." Dick pushes Jason towards his room. "C'mon, Little Wing, time for some brotherly bonding."
Jason looks back at Bruce and waves. "See you later, B!"
Bruce smiles and waves back. "I'll see you at dinner, boys."
As the two boys head off to Jason's room, Bruce makes his way to his study. He shakes his head fondly as he walks. "Ah, youth."