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Damian could tell when he walks into Dick’s apartment something is wrong. To be honest, this was the apartment that he and Dick shared for five years, so noticing the furniture was unnaturally shoved against the walls was not hard. This was the first place Damian ran to after leaving Father and Gotham, but after turning eighteen, Dick and Kor’i’s wedding, and subsequent pregnancy, Damian wanted to move out as to not cramp the new family and make his own home. This leads to Damian to this moment, picking up the last of his things and all the dangerous weapons from Dick and Kor’i’s apartment while Kor’i is choosing the major pieces of baby furniture in town.
But slowly walking his way into the living room, Damian pulls up short, because in the middle of the floor is Dick with his head in his hands, slightly shaking. Gently as he can, Damian asks, “Dick? Are you alright?”
Dick’s head pops up quickly, making Damian grimace at the speed, then turns toward Damian. “Damian? What are you doing here? Not that you aren’t welcome b—”
Damian gives Dick an unimpressive look at the change of subject but rolls with it. “I was going to collect the last of my things, but that does not matter right now. What is wrong?”
“No—”
“If you say ‘Nothing, I’m fine,’ then I will be calling Kor’i. Be honest with me, Dick,” Damian threateningly pleads.
Damian's words seem to be the final straw on the metaphorical camel’s back, because Dick begins to breath heavily and ramble, “What if I’m not a good dad? What if they don’t like me? What if I don’t love them enough? What if they get hurt? What if—”
“Baba! Calm down. Take a deep breath, slowly,” Damian instructs as Dick starts throwing himself into a panic attack. These Damian knows how to deal with, he has worked through his own and calmed others (including everyone in the bat family) through enough over the years that his training kicks in. Sliding down on his knees in front of Dick, Damian gently grasps the older man's hands and says, “Hey, eyes on me. Focus on the present. We are in the apartment, everyone is safe. Breath in slowly and hold it for a few seconds… Good, now let it out.” After a few more minutes of calming Dick down, Damian asks, “Are you better? Or do you need a few more minutes?”
At that Dick shakes his head and lets out a soft denial and, “Thanks, Damian. I didn’t mean for you to see that.”
With another unimpressed look, Damian points out, “You have talked me down through worse, this is literally the least I could do. Now, can you tell me what is the cause of all these thoughts?”
Dick shrugs and points around the place as he begins to explain, “I was moving the furniture to where Kor’i wanted it, then I realized that everything is changing again. For the most part, becoming better. I guess I was waiting for the other shoe to drop. There have been so many great things happing lately, I’m thinking when will the universe screw me over again. Life is good now, but next week? Or a month? Or after the baby comes? Something will turn bad soon, it’s inevitable at this point.”
“So you think because your life presently is peaceful and joyful, soon your reality will become horrible?”
Dick nods his head before saying, “That’s how my life usually works, Chikno.”
Damian decides to not touch that minefield, leaving Dinah to help in Dick’s therapy sessions, but tries to comfort Dick as much as he can. “What if this is the universe giving back after hurting you so many times? After taking so much from you, this is how the universe, karma, whatever, is how you get what you want. Did you ever think of that?”
A few minutes roll by before Dick says, “No, but I—”
Damian cuts Dick off, saying, “No ‘but’s. Everything will work out; you just have to let it. At least that is what you told me.”
“You’re right. I’ve been too pessimistic lately, time to look on the bright side,” Dick agrees then leans on Damian’s shoulder, “Thanks Chikno.” The younger man just hums in return, too used to Dick’s need for touch after living with him for so long that it doesn’t phase him anymore. “Hey Damian, do you need help moving the rest of your stuff? I saw the mountain of boxes you have left earlier.”
Damian’s head drops to Dick’s as he lets out a tired, “I would appreciate the help. I underestimated how many weapons Kor’i had brought when she moved in. It is impressive, if anything else, how quickly she moved from Jump City to here within a few days.”
Laughter erupts from Dick at the end of Damian’s statement, then answers, “She is quick but with the baby on the way, the weapons aren’t needed here. Not allowed, at least not for a few years, when the baby isn’t a baby anymore.”
Damian scoffs then says, “Of course the weapons are not needed, the small one has two of the strongest people I know as parents. The mother is an alien with star bolts and a heart of gold, and the father is quick to action and to love. If anything, the small one is going to have the best parents the universe has to offer.”
Dick’s heart skips a beat and melts simultaneously when Damian speaks and he wonders just when did the small ten-year-old, prickly assassin turned into the eighteen-year-old, hero that says things this sappy. But if Dick points that out Damian might close up, so instead he gives Damian a hug and asks, “What if we finish packing up everything here, head out to lunch, then finishing up at your new place, sound good?”
“Yes, I would offer to cook, but none of my kitchen crockery are unpacked. Some of the others are showing up tomorrow for an ‘unpacking party’ as Ducard and Kent put it,” Damian explains as he gets off the floor with Dick in tow, and slowly making their way to the new nursery.