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Chapter Text

Something every member of the Justice League, Outsiders, Titans, Outlaws, Teen Titans, and Young Justice has noticed over the years is that Batman’s kids each have the uncanny ability to go to sleep anywhere. They can nap through the sounds of everyone else else talking, moving, even fighting, yet will wake at the first suggestion of actual trouble or a single word in the right tone from their father or one of their siblings.

Dick is a natural cuddler, and this fact becomes prevalent when he’s sleeping.

The first time this was noticed, Robin had only just entered the scene. No one was sure what to make of the boy or his relationship to Batman. Then one day, they entered the Watchtower to find Batman working on the computer, which wasn’t anything unusual. But then Superman noticed that he wasn’t sitting against the back of the chair, but was perched forward more, despite sitting perfectly straight. Then he noticed that Batman’s cape was folded around something against his side.

The use of his x-ray vision showed that Robin was asleep behind Batman, tucked under his cape and curled around the man’s waist like a cat. The bulge under the cape were the boy’s knees. Batman continued working as if nothing were out of the ordinary. Clark’s super hearing picked up a quiet whimper later, when Batman and Robin were alone in the room. He checked through the wall and saw Batman gently stroking the boy’s hair. He could barely make out the man murmuring reassurances to the child. Then Robin settled in his sleep and Batman continued working until he found whatever he was looking for.

Clark had wondered how exactly Bruce and Dick ended up in that particular position occasionally, until a few months later. He felt a similar sensation to when Lois’ cat curled up behind him during a late (or early, depending on you looked at it) Justice League meeting. Realizing no one in the Justice League brought pets to the Watchtower, Clark glanced behind him and saw that Dick had curled up behind him and was using his cape as a blanket. The boy was already becoming something like a nephew to most of the members of the Justice League, Clark especially, so he simply tucked his cape around the boy better and shifted forward slightly to give him a little more room. He caught the tiniest hint of a smile on Bruce's face when he glanced at the man sitting beside him. He returned the smile and Dick slept through the rest of the meeting that way.

Jason tends to crawl under things to take a nap. Not the capes or arms of trusted heroes like Dick had, but solid, inanimate objects, like a row of chairs or tables.

The first time this was discovered, Diana was sitting at the meeting table in the Watchtower, looking over a file Batman had given her and seemingly ignoring Hal and Barry as they teased each other while entering the room. Until she suddenly reached out and grabbed Hal, jerking him away from the row of chairs. She spared him a glance as she warned, “Don’t step on Robin.” She released him and pointed downward, directing their gazes to the boy asleep under her chair and the neighboring chairs.

He slept through all of their greetings, the entire meeting, including an argument that broke out during it, and everyone's farewells, until Batman quietly said “Robin” on his way out the door. The boy woke immediately, shimmied out from under the chairs, and followed after his adopted father, returning the brief wave Diana directed at him as he did so.

Once, the Teen Titans thought Jason had taken off after they completed their task, since they hadn’t seen him for about half an hour after they’d returned to the Tower. When Garfield brought it up, Raven pointed out that he was asleep under the coffee table in the room they’d been hanging out in. They weren’t sure what to make of that, but they knew how crazy Gotham was and figured he needed the rest, so they just tried to keep it down and let him sleep. He slept through an entire movie, paused for a pizza delivery, under that table. Victor refused to let Garfield take a photo.

Cassandra always finds out of the way places to sleep where she can still keep an eye or ear on things.

The first time the Justice League realized this, they hadn’t even noticed Batgirl was there. Batman suddenly announced that he was leaving to help out Nightwing and would be back in a couple hours. No one was sure what to make of that, some thinking it was a new-found professional courtesy while others thought that raising several children had created a new habit. It wasn’t until they were closing up shop to call it a day just as Batman returned, that they learned why he had offered the information. His harsh look and somewhat subtle scolding informed them the reason had been that they were meant to keep an eye on his daughter and latest Batgirl, who was taking a well-deserved nap.

After glaring his allies into humility, Batman headed to the kitchen area, where the girl was asleep in the space above the cabinets. Despite having slept through everything else, she woke at a single word from him, hopped down, and silently followed the still-glaring man out of the Watchtower. She was apparently unaware of his response to them having almost locked her in alone. No one brought it up again, but Clark used his x-ray vision and Barry used his super-speed to check the Watchtower for any sleeping Batkids before leaving after that.

Barbara has worked through half the night with the girl asleep on her desk. Alfred has fetched her from a nap atop the kids’ Bat-lockers to tell her that she really must to go to bed. Tim has quietly worked around her while she slept in his office chair, rolled into the corner of his home office. Dick and Jason have both found her perched in different spaces in their homes and simply picked her up and dropped her on the sofa or their own beds. If anyone besides one of her brothers or father tries this, they end up with a broken arm before she’s fully awake.

Tim possesses the unique ability to sleep upright, either sitting or standing.

He just has to be able to support a certain amount of his weight on something, be it a chair, a wall, a steering wheel, his arm propped on a table, the arm of his father, Conner, or one of his siblings. That’s it. Once his subconscious is certain he isn’t going to fall and hurt himself, he’s out. Somehow, his mind still works on problem solving scenarios while he’s sleeping. He’s been known to murmur things about penguins with missiles, machine guns, attack dogs, man-eating plants, or weaponized drones in his sleep and then, if asked upon waking, lay out a plan or two (or three, or six) on how to handle such a scenario depending on different factors.

Once, Conner and Bart found him standing in the corner like a kid on a time-out, only to realize he was asleep propped against the walls. He slept that way while they discussed what to do for eight minutes, plus however long he’d been there before they found him. Then, Conner quietly said his name with a somewhat urgent tone and he stepped away from the wall, completely alert and ready to go as if nothing had happened.

Jason can now clean his handguns, operate the Red-computer, play any number of video games, read a book -paper or digital, and text full conversations with one hand, because he’s so used to Tim falling asleep against his arm. He knows he could just say Tim’s name in the right tone and the boy will be awake and alert in a fraction of a second. He doesn’t want to wake his little brother because he knows he doesn’t sleep enough and he never sleeps for long, especially when he has something else he thinks he should be doing, which is nearly always.

Damian demands a certain amount of space when sleeping and can claim nearly any space as his own when he needs a nap.

The only ones allowed to touch him when he’s sleeping are his pets, his father, Alfred, and his adopted siblings. No one is sure how he knows when it isn’t them or not, but anyone else who comes too close to a napping Damian is immediately threatened with violence, usually at knife-point.

Clark once moved to tuck the boy’s arm up onto the sofa when he’d fallen asleep at the Kent house. He would have been stabbed in the groin had he not been the Man of Steel. He assured Damian it was fine, despite the boy not seeming particularly concerned, and apologized for startling him. Then he told Jon and Lois never to disturb Damian if he fell asleep at their house again, just to be safe.

Diana once draped a blanket over him when he went to sleep curled in a chair at the Watchtower while Bruce was busy with the Justice League. She deftly caught the blade that he tried to slip into her shoulder and simply offered an endeared smile as she tucked it away and pulled the blanket around him. He went back to sleep and made no mention of it. Neither did she.

Everyone assumes this skill is something the kids each learned from Batman. That he somehow trained them to be able to rest when they could, when they were safe, despite any noises, lights, or discomfort that would normally prevent sleep. They figure that, even though Clark and Diana are the only ones to ever see Batman sleep, he must have this ability as well. It explained how he and his children appeared to be awake all night as vigilantes and then awake during the day as their civilian counterparts.

What they didn’t know, was that each of Bruce's children came to him with this ability.

Traveling with the circus meant that Dick had to grab sleep in some pretty tight spaces and with plenty of noises and lights around. Growing up in the East End, first in a crack house and later on the streets, meant that Jason learned to sleep in some very uncomfortable conditions. Being raised as a living weapon meant that Cassandra rarely slept in a bed or through an entire night. Between his parents fighting, stalking Robin, and possessing a mind that never seemed to stop, Tim was used to not getting enough sleep and sneaking in some whenever he could. Damian had traveled enough with his mother and the League of Assassins as a small child that he was accustomed to simply staking out some space and demanding to be allowed a nap if he wanted enough rest.

In fact, Bruce had more trouble figuring out how to get enough sleep while balancing a secret life as a vigilante than his children ever had. He’d learned several tricks from them that meant he could get in some catnaps himself. Not to mention the added exhaustion of parenting helping him become tired enough to sleep just about anywhere, provided he didn’t hear anything that might mean one of his kids were in trouble. He never napped in front of the Justice League or anyone else though. He just caught a few winks while the Bat-Computer sorted through some information or while he was waiting for an alert in the Batcave.

Alfred never commented when he caught Bruce sleeping like that. He was just glad the man was getting a little more sleep these days. On occasion, one of his children would come across him napping. Usually they just kept quiet to let him sleep. Sometimes, they tried to make him more comfortable or take over on whatever he’d been doing so he could sleep a little longer. Once in a while, they’d join him.

Alfred has caught Dick curled up beside his father while they both slept. He’s found Bruce asleep in his chair while Jason slept under the Bat-Computer. He’s found Cassandra asleep on top of the Bat-Computer and walked in to find Tim asleep sitting up, propped up on one arm or leaning against his father’s arm. He’s caught Damian curled up in a separate chair beside his father with his dog asleep beside him and his cat curled up on one of the humans or the Bat-Computer that he’s not supposed to be on. When they were smaller, he’d carried several of them to their rooms to sleep properly after finding them like this. Now, he simply tries to adjust them to be somewhat more comfortable.

Chapter Text

Dick has used most of the members of the Justice League and the Titans as a pillow or teddy bear at one point or another. Some -like Clark, Diana, Wally, or Donna- weren’t really surprised to find the boy asleep against, on, or below some part of them. Others, frankly, were.

The first time Dick managed to wiggle himself under Victor’s arm and fall asleep against his friend’s chest, Victor had first been surprised. Then, he’d been so touched he actually teared up a little. He hadn’t expected anyone, even a good friend, to find his hard, metal body comforting. Dick slept for good forty minutes, looking completely comfortable and peaceful. Everyone knew he couldn’t nap that long unless he felt perfectly safe. He’d apologized upon waking, saying he hadn’t meant to trap his friend there for so long.

Victor just smiled and said “Anytime.”

Raven had a similar reaction the first time Dick plopped his head in her lap and just fell asleep on the sofa in Titan’s Tower. She knew Dick was a kind, forgiving person. She knew he considered her a friend as well as an ally and she’d seen him do the exact same thing with Donna on many occasions. She still couldn’t imagine anyone being so comfortable with someone with her heritage...and history. He only slept for twenty minutes, which was normal for one of his quick ‘bat-naps’ as his friends called them. Finding herself unable to speak for the sudden lump in her throat, she only smiled and gave a short nod in response when he smiled at her after getting up and said “Thanks for the respite!”

Once, Diana had expressed concern upon entering the Watchtower and noticing Kendra sitting with one of her wings folded strangely beside her, as though protecting her side as she read through some notes on a villain she was pursuing. Diana was afraid her ally had been injured, but Kendra merely shushed her and lifted her wing enough to show Dick asleep curled against her side. “He was shivering,” was the only explanation she offered. She didn’t need to say anything more. Diana had plenty of experience with Dick curling up against her side and going to sleep.

Diana simply nodded. “He needs pants. Tights are for the circus, not space or dark city streets.” The women decided to bring the subject up with Batman the next time they saw him.

The first time Dick, then only nine, climbed up on Oliver’s lap and curled into him, falling asleep almost instantly, the man completely froze. The look he shot Dinah once his brain registered what was happening clearly stated ‘what do I do?’. The woman was clearly fighting the urge to laugh as she motioned for him to at least use one arm to secure the sleeping child. Not that Dick had ever fallen over during one of his naps, but no one wanted to be the first person to have the kid fall off them. As if they wouldn’t feel bad enough for not catching the precious child in time, they knew Batman would find some way to pay them back if his son was hurt.

Oliver kept the boy in place with his upper arm and continued mending his arrow with Dick asleep, curled up sideways in his lap. He never said anything about it, but Dinah noticed that he seemed more relaxed around the kid from that point on.

Bruce once asked Clark to meet him at the Watchtower computer, only to have the man come in with an arm held out in a circular position and Dick still asleep on the appendage, curled up like a cat. It took a full minute of Bruce staring at Clark, lips pursed and shoulders unnaturally still, before the Krytonian realized he was silently laughing at him. When he finally did speak, Bruce kept his voice low. “You could have just put him down somewhere.”

Clark only smiled. “I didn’t want to disturb him. He looks so peaceful.”

Bruce just shook his head and stood. Griping the boy under his arms and lifting without any warning. Dick, only half awake, curled himself around his adopted father, who carried him back to his chair and sat down. Dick tucked his head against Bruce's chest and went right back to sleep. Bruce presented the information he had to Clark with the same seriousness and suspicion Batman always possessed. Both men carried on as though there weren’t a child wrapped around Bruce like a baby lemur.

Clark couldn’t help but notice that Bruce never did that sort of thing when the others were around. He smiled to himself, at both the adorable scene before him and the fact that Bruce was clearly starting to see him as a friend. He had no doubt the boy had brought out that part of the other man. He reached over and stroked the child’s hair without thinking. Neither of the men reacted to that either. Clark wasn’t surprised when he found out the security footage from that moment had been ‘compromised’ and was unviewable.

The person Dick uses as his own personal sleep aid the most, however, is his father. Dick has fallen asleep curled around Bruce, tucked under various parts of him, atop various parts of him, and up against various parts of him. He never outgrew the habit either, he just doesn’t do it as often now that he’s an adult and doesn’t need quite as much sleep or comfort as he did as a child. Out of respect for his father and the image he’s worked so hard to cultivate among his peers, Dick doesn’t do it around people outside their immediate family or the Kents anymore. Alfred and each of his siblings have found him asleep against his father’s arm or chest, or using one of his legs as a pillow, or even laid out behind him on the sofa, partially curled around him. They’ve also found him under his father’s arm or cape plenty of times.

If the Cave or room is dark enough and Dick is in the city, Damian has been known to add “Goodnight Richard” upon leaving his father, just in case his big brother is there, asleep. The first time had been something of a joke, but then he’d heard his eldest brother sleepily murmur the words back to him from somewhere behind their father and realized Jason hadn’t been teasing as much as he’d assumed when he told him about their big brother’s napping habits.

Jason didn’t use people as pillows or teddy bears like his big brother. In fact, he always found places to sleep where he was generally protected from people. It wasn’t that he necessarily mistrusted any members of the Justice League or Teen Titans. It was just that he was used to making sure he was safe before going to sleep. However, over the years, certain people had come to make him feel as safe as sleeping under a secure table.

The first was Alfred. The man might be getting up there in years, but his mind (and tongue) were as sharp as ever and he was still pretty damn impressive in a fight. He also saw Jason. He never tried to fill in the gaps with assumptions or presume he knew why the boy acted out when he did. He always asked first. He made sure others extended the same courtesy when in his presence.

So if Alfred was in the room, it didn’t matter if Jason couldn't find as secure a place as he normally did to catch a nap. He was still safe, still protected. He could rest.

The next was Diana. That one surprised even Jason himself. The Amazon warrior was different from the rest of his father’s coworkers. He always felt like he was either an understudy or a time bomb when it came to the others. They either compared him to Dick constantly, which really, who could be expected to live up to the kid that had led everyone to using the term ‘Boy Wonder’ to describe Robin? Or, they saw his anger and his penchant for violence and became wary or suspicious, as though he were destined to become something other than a hero.

Diana wasn’t like that. She loved Dick, certainly, but she loved Jason too and she never compared the two boys. She saw Jason’s anger as passion fitting of a warrior. She saw his penchant for violence as the skills of a natural born fighter. She saw no reason for anyone to think the boy wouldn’t end up exactly where he was supposed to be, unless they screwed him up along the way.

If Diana was there, Jason had someone watching his back. He had someone who would defend him, physically or emotionally. Even if Diana wasn’t there when he crawled under some chairs or table to catch a nap, the woman would always seat herself somewhere above him, watching out for him once she entered the room. In fact, the rest of the Justice League (sans Batman) eventually started viewing Jason asleep under a chair as if that meant the seat was reserved for Diana.

Then of course, there were his Outlaws. He didn’t even have to crawl under something if he was just with any of them. He could simply fall asleep in his seat on their jet. They were his friends. They’d never hurt him. They’d never stand for someone else to hurt him while they were there.

Once, Jason had quickly awoken from a nap, his body immediately reacting to danger even before his mind caught up. The silent alarm was going off. Someone had entered their lair without permission. Roy was already standing beside him, arrow cocked at the ready above his resting head, prepared to defend his friend even as he said his name to wake him up.

Another time, he’d awoken to a sense of danger and the scent of cold, only to find Bizarro on one side of him and a startled Dick -as Nightwing- on the other side, a few feet away with a patch of frozen ground between them. His friend had apparently used his Arctic Vision to try to freeze his brother when Dick approached Jason in his sleep. Once Jason assured Bizarro that it was alright, that the reason he hadn’t reacted to Dick approaching was because his brother wasn’t a threat, they were fine. Still, he’d appreciated that his friend had defended him without thought, even against a known hero.

Finally, there was Tim. If anyone had told Jason, after the first time he’d met his little brother, that the boy would end up becoming the person he was closest to, he wouldn’t have believed it. If anyone had said that he would feel the most comfortable with the child he considered his replacement, he’d have thought they were completely insane, even by his standards. Yet here they were, with both things true.

If Tim was around, Jason could sleep anywhere. His little brother would stand between him and Doomsday if it came down to it and, crazy as it sounded, Jason's money would be on Tim every time. Not that Jason wanted his little brother to risk his life for him, but that was sort of par for the course with their family, and it wasn’t like he wouldn’t wake up at the first sign of real trouble or at a single word from Tim. But more than a huge attack of some sort, Tim was like Diana in the sense that he’d stand up for Jason against any type of threat or disturbance. He was never left vulnerable or without a defender if Tim was there.

He was perfectly comfortable bat-napping around the rest of the family too, he just usually stuck to his habits of seeking shelter. Still, he’d slept under many a table or chair with Bruce, Dick, or Cassandra sitting or standing over him. He didn’t with Damian. Not because he didn’t trust his youngest sibling to have his back, but because that was too much pressure to put on a thirteen-year-old, Robin or no.

Cassandra liked to find out of the way places that were both easily defensible and easy to escape when she took a nap. Part of this was for her own comfort, but a larger part of it was for the safety of those around her. She’d been trained, practically since birth, to seek out vulnerabilities and stay one step ahead of an opponent’s movements. While she had made the conscious choice not to follow the path of an assassin, the instincts remained. If she were to sleep somewhere that made it difficult to move around her with a comfortable distance between them or where she might feel trapped, she could lash out before she was fully awake. She could hurt someone, perhaps permanently, before she was even aware of it.

She wasn’t sure how to explain it to anyone outside of her family. She didn’t want to get into detail with the Justice League, the Outsiders, or the Teen Titans. It wasn’t that she mistrusted them, but she’d rather not have them try to prove they could handle themselves. Even after years of working with Batman and her brothers, most would underestimate the damage a single human could do.

A few didn’t.

She always felt more comfortable when one of the Kents were around. They didn’t pry into her past, but they also never underestimated her. They were each friends with one of her family members. They each knew what the family was capable of. They each would make sure anyone else around respected it. They respected her.

She’d stopped by Titans Tower to pick up Tim once, but her little brother hadn’t gotten back from his latest mission yet. She climbed atop a bookshelf in Tim's lab to take a nap until he arrived. She awoke quickly, the way she did when someone was moving too close. Before she could react, Conner had grabbed Bart and pulled his friend away, scolding him for rushing into Tim’s lab to begin with, let alone disturbing Cassandra. She’d appreciated that he’d not only removed the threat of her hurting Bart, but also made sure to take the focus away from said threat.

Her friends were good about giving her some space too. If Harper, Stephanie, Barbara, or Luke came around and found her napping somewhere less out of the way than usual, they knew better to touch or approach her. They didn’t want her to feel bad because they didn’t respect her boundaries. They would just call her name from a safe distance away if they needed her to wake or move.

She’d once woken up, completely alert but fortunately not in action, to find that Duke had stopped by their Blüdhaven headquarters and moved to wake her, only to be stopped by Harper and Stephanie. Both young women were standing a safe distance from her, directly in front of the hero, with their arms crossed as they scolded him. He’d apologized and made sure to keep a safe distance himself if he found her napping ever since.

Cassandra could sleep on Barbara’s desk while the woman worked on it. Certain that she was secure. Barbara not only respected her history and capabilities, but she was a very capable vigilante herself. If someone else -less respectful or more foolish- were to come around, if they inadvertently made themselves a target, Barbara would shield them. She would likely scold them until they felt like an idiot child afterwards, too.

Then, of course, there were her brothers. She wasn’t sure if it was because of how close they were or because of how well trained they were as well, but Cassandra never worried about hurting one of them. Maybe that was the reason why she didn’t react to their presence as she did others. They could approach her, even touch her, in sleep, and she never lashed out. She’d been picked up and moved by Dick or Jason and shaken awake by Tim or Damian, and never reacted as an assassin.

The first time she’d gone to sleep in a chair in the corner of Dick’s apartment, only to wake up in his bed and find him asleep on his sofa, she’d been confused. No one had ever been able to pick her up and move her while she was asleep before. She’d even injured David Cain once when she was seven for walking too close while she was asleep. She woke Dick up. He’d smiled sleepily at her and asked what kind of cereal she liked. He said she hadn’t looked comfortable, so he’d moved her.

She’d thought maybe she was just more exhausted than she’d realized. But then it happened again and again. The first few times were with Dick. Then she’d woken to Tim shaking her awake in the Batcave, telling her she should go to bed and that he’d take over on locating the criminal she’d been tracking. Another time, she’d waken up mid bounce on Jason’s sofa, when her big brother had apparently plucked her from the place she’d been sleeping and dumped her somewhere more comfortable. She hadn’t lashed out at all, at any of them.

Her father never tried to move her. But he had woken her plenty of times. He didn’t have to touch her to do so. Just the sound of his voice was enough. Her brothers told her it was the same with them.

Tim didn’t cuddle when he napped and he didn’t hide. He didn’t worry about attacking anyone in his sleep and he awoke easily enough that he’d react if attacked.

For him, the trick was making his body feel secure enough that he wasn't going to fall, especially since he always waited until he needed a nap and wasn’t about to head somewhere comfortable. He just propped himself up on an arm, or wall, or steering wheel, his bo staff, or occasionally, just face planted onto his arms folded over a desk and got in a few seconds or minutes of rest. Even more so, was the issue of getting his brain to shut down. That usually meant he waited until he was almost too tired to think and just propped himself up somewhere to grab a few minutes rest.

He’d surprised (and impressed) members of his family, Young Justice, the Teen Titans, the Outlaws, and the Justice League by falling asleep standing up, only to wake and return to whatever he was doing as though nothing had happened. He could also fall asleep between sentences, if he was tired enough and felt secure wherever he was. Some thought that was a little concerning, others found it amusing, a few thought it was adorable. Most didn’t react to it, having already grown used to Batman’s children and their assorted strange and unique abilities.

Normally, he left people out of it. Some people though, he just found that he relaxed around more easily. That made it easier to take in a restful nap.

The first time Conner felt Tim’s head fall against his arm while they were watching a movie, he immediately panicked, thinking his friend had some sort of injury. He used his x-ray vision to check him over, even as his best friend explained that he was just tired. Tim had felt bad about scaring his friend and had made it a point not to fall asleep on him like that again over the next few months. Conner found him napping in some odd places during that time, from sitting at the computer to standing and leaning against a telephone pole.

Then, one day, Tim had just been awake too long and was too worn out to fight sleep any longer. That time, when Conner felt his best friend lean on him, he just checked to ensure that he was only sleeping and then relaxed. The time after that, he just smiled and let Tim sleep. It never happened when anyone else was already around, and if one of their friends or brothers arrived, Tim usually woke up. If he didn’t, Conner made sure they knew not to wake him.

During his time as Robin, Tim fell asleep at the Bat-Computer, leaning against Alfred, on more than one occasion. He was still surprised the man hadn’t woken him and told him to go to bed.

Currently, Tim found that he fell asleep leaning against Jason fairly often. His big brother never panicked, never complained, and never woke him. He got his best sleep whenever he was with Jason.

The first time it happened, Jason knew that Tim had been running himself ragged, and wasn’t surprised when the boy’s head just dropped on him. He’d assumed Tim had been too tired to be selective about who he napped in front of, let alone up against. He hadn’t made much of it. He hadn’t thought much of it.

Then it happened again. Jason was surprised, to say the least. It hadn’t been long since he’d violently attacked Tim. He didn’t understand how the boy could trust him or feel comfortable enough with him to use him as headrest for a nap. He didn’t have long to dwell on it before Tim woke up and returned to work as though nothing extraordinary had happened.

Then Tim had quite intentionally used him as a headrest when Jason interrupted one of his catnaps on a remote rooftop. It was intentional on both ends, a sort of truce between them, and Jason had kept an eye out for his little brother while he got in a good twenty minutes of sleep. From then on, Jason was happy to be his brother’s headrest. He was happy for the sign of trust and the growing bond between them.

Tim had also used Dex-Starr as a pillow on a couple of occasions. He hadn’t intended to, he’d just been talking to his cat and working on whatever and suddenly he heard purring right under his ear and realized he’d fallen asleep. It was usually only for about twenty seconds or so, but he always took it as a sign that he needed to get in a nap. He’d rest his head on his arms and take one, with Dex curling up in his lap or next to his head.

Damian never had any trouble napping. He didn’t move out of the way or snuggle. He staked a spot -be it a chair, sofa, rug, bed, or patch of ground- and just curled up and went to sleep for however long he needed. He expected to be left alone when napping. Anyone who didn’t pay him the proper esteem by allowing him his rest was simply asking for a knife to be inserted upon their person.

His parents had both broken him of that habit in regards to themselves. As had Dick and Alfred, later. Their methods of how to do that were all quite different.

The first time he’d drawn a knife on his mother upon waking, she’d quickly disarmed him, then hoisted him up by his collar until she could look straight into his eyes. The warning she gave him had been cool and direct. He hadn’t done it again, somehow instinctively sensing the danger in it whenever she approached to wake him. Until the first time he’d gone to spy on his father and returned. Then, he’d drawn the knife again. A dislocated thumb and another firm warning later and he didn’t do it again.

The first time he drew a knife on his father, the man easily disarmed him and then just looked at him without emotion before telling him it was time to go and simply walking away. After that incident, his father woke him verbally whenever he caught him napping. He came closer before waking him each time, until Damian somehow recognized his father’s presence without having to wake fully. Once his youngest son could recognize him even in sleep, Bruce didn’t have to worry about waking him. He could even pick him up and move him without having to worry about being stabbed.

The first time he drew a knife on Alfred, he was again disarmed easily. The regal man simply arched a brow at him and reminded him he was not a common thug or a prison inmate. The next time, Alfred again disarmed him and told Damian he was expected to behave in a manner more befitting of his breeding. He continued this way, offering curt administrations and taking Damian’s knives until the boy ceased threatening him with them upon being woken up. Damian still has no idea how that worked.

Dick had laughed and ruffled his hair after disarming him the first time Damian attempted to stab him for waking him from a nap. “Sorry, kiddo. Didn’t mean to startle you. C’mon, its time for lunch.” With that, Dick had encouraged Damian to get up and led him to the kitchen, talking about his plans for the their new Bat-Bunker as if nothing noteworthy had happened.

Damian had been irritated at first, but after several similar incidents, he accepted that his adopted brother wasn’t trying to demean him by treating him like an angry cat or an ill-behaved child. He came to see that Dick simply saw his waking response as a result of his upbringing. Dick’s reaction to the threat wasn’t born from a lack of respect of it but rather, his inborn kindness. Damian wasn’t sure what to make of the apparent non-issue. As he came to bond with Dick, his brother could even pick him up and carry him without him drawing a weapon.

His other siblings simply let him sleep or stated his name if they needed to wake him. Jason occasionally threw light objects at him. Tim had somehow trained Titus to wake his owner on command, knowing the boy never reacted with violence toward his pets. Jon’s father had specifically told him not to be within arm’s distance of his friend should he ever need to wake him, so he always just yelled Damian’s name from across the room.

The human members of the Justice League and Teen Titans never tried to wake him. Those that didn’t have to worry about being stabbed had different reactions. Some seemed amused, which pissed Damian off. He was to be feared, not looked upon like an adorable red panda at the zoo. Others were shocked or scandalized, even after they were assured it wasn’t anything personal, that it was a result of being raised among assassins. Then they looked at him with pity or mistrust, both of which pissed him off nearly as much as the amused smiles.

The entire purpose of the action was to deter others from disturbing his sleep. Damian didn’t understand why that was so difficult to grasp. He didn’t need pity. That habit to defend himself, of all things, was no reason to mistrust him. If people would simply cease to disturb him while he was trying to rest, they wouldn’t find themselves endangered.

Alfred is the most skilled napper of the entire family. Its part of the reason why he is so effective at running the Manor and caring for the Waynes. He can sit down and sleep for however many minutes while the dryer runs or while the roast is in the oven. He can wake at the slightest movement, sound, scent, or change in temperature. Because of this, the family never catches him napping. No one does.

Like the children, this is a skill he’d developed long before he came to Wayne Manor. Like the children, he will never explain that to anyone outside the family. It adds to Batman’s legend for them to think he somehow instilled this ability into his family.