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“TODD!”
Jason stopped in his tracks. He was just about to enter the living room with his chips when he heard the distinct and scared sounding voice of Damian.
“TODD HELP!”
“Fuck, Fuck, Fuck,” Jason yelped out in fear as he sprinted through the doors to the kitchen, out into the main room, and up the great stairway to the second floor of the Manor. He thought he saw Tim following him out of the corner of his eye up the stairs, but right now he could care less what his boyfriend was doing. He turned the right corner of the grand hallway towards the Damian’s room and, breathing hard, wretched the door open.
Inside his room, Damian was crouched up on one of his dressers cowering from….. a large beetle? “The fuck Damian,” Jason breathed out. “You could've given me a heart atta-”
Jason’s exasperated complaint was cut off by the loud cackling of Tim beside him. Tim had erupted into a fit of weezing laughs, leaning against the doorframe for support.
“It isn’t funny Drake! Help me!” Damian cried out from his perch. The large bug seemed to have cornered him on one of the isolated dressers across from the windows.
“Alright, alright, I’m coming bud,” Jason said, trying to appease the little gremlin before a fight could break out.
“Kill it!” exclaimed Damian, scrabbling to get a better position on the dresser.
“You-” Tim wheezed, “You can kill people, but- but not bugs? What are you, four?” Tim managed to say before bursting into another fit of giggles. Damian just glared at the cackling seventeen year old.
Jason, ignoring the two, approached the bug. It was big, yes, but Jason had never been afraid of insects and their brood and had even once read an interesting book about them when he had first moved to the Manor as a child. He was about to mercilessly squash the insect under his boot when Damian objected.
“Wait, don’t kill it!”
“You just said to kill it!” Jason rolled his eyes. “ What do I do with it then?”
“Let it out! Let it out!” yelped out Damian. He was trying to back up against the wall atop the dresser since the large beetle had tried to scamper away from Jason towards him.
Jason looked around for something to catch it with. After a quick survey of the room (dirty clothes strewn everywhere, books in English and Latin, Arabic and Chinese, sketchpads sitting on every imaginable surface, American Sign Language school books still open on the bed) he saw a clipboard and an empty cup. Grabbing the two, he bent down and placed the clipboard flat on the floor and edged it towards the bug until it walked over it. Using the classic move he placed the wide-brimmed cup over the bug, successfully trapping it.
“Safe and secure kiddo,” said Jason.
Damian slid from the dresser to his feet, nose in the air and trying to regain his pride. Tim snorted. Damian glared.
“Take it outside, Todd,” Damian ordered. Jason raised an eyebrow before mock saluting. “Sir, yes sir.” Jason marched towards Tim, every step dripping with exaggeration and sarcasm.
Tim tried to back out of Jason’s way, but Jason walked closer, the bug pointed at the younger. Tim visibly cringed.
“Ha! Who’s afraid of the bug now Drake?” Damian said.
Jason continued to edge closer to Tim. “I wonder what will scare the bug off ol’ Timbers? Maybe a kiss?” Jason puckered his lips out over exaggeratingly.
“No, ew!” Damian shouted out. Tim grinned at Damian’s disapproval and leaned forward, placing a chaste peck on Jason’s lips. Jason broke the kiss and grinned, looking over at Damian’s cringed expression. “You two are disgusting savages.”
Tim snorted. “At least I can drive.”
Damian glowered at him. “I can drive!”
“Not legally.”
“The law can be bent.”
“Alright, you’ve been listening to me too much, kid,” said Jason. “Let’s go.”
The three of them marched down the stairs into back foyer and crossed it to reach the large, glass back door. They exited the house and walked off of the huge porch off into the grounds until Jason stopped.
“This looks about good,” he said. Bending down, he let the bug go. It crawled away for a bit and Damian cheered. Not a moment after cheering, a bird swooped down and grabbed the larged beetle in its talons.
“No!” Damian shouted.
“Shit,” Jason muttered, holding the cup and clipboard loosely out to his sides.
“Hey,” Tim shrugged. “Birds have to eat too.” He turned and started back to the Manor.
“Sorry Dami,” said Jason. “Circle of life, I guess.”
Damian sighed. “Its alright. All things die eventually.” The younger began to make his way back to the Manor as well, head down looking at the grass. Jason followed him a few paces behind.
Back inside, Damian went upstairs and Jason found Tim waiting for him. Reaching him, Jason punched his arm. “‘Birds have to eat too’? Really?”
Tim chuckled. “What else was I supposed to say?”
Jason grinned. “You’re an idiot.”
“Yep,” he said. They started walking back to the living room, bumping shoulders.