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Duke sighed as he looked down at the small assassin child that had made his home burrowed under the blankets of the couch. The couch which Duke had just been about to watch a movie on.
Damian Wayne had just been dropped off at the manor a little over two weeks ago and Duke still hadn’t gotten used to it. For one, Talia Al Ghul dropped him off personally. Talia Al Ghul. The kid’s mother. Bruce slept with an assassin. Duke honestly wasn’t sure whether to be amused (THE Batman and THE Talia Al Ghul? What was next? Catwoman?!), or extremely alarmed. Because Damian was an angry little chicken nugget whose first instinct was to stab.
Duke, unfortunately, was not aware of the kid’s more violent tendencies, and had to learn the hard way. With lots of stitches. Bruce had lectured his son for almost two hours about his behavior, but Duke knew it wouldn’t do any good. If he wanted Damian to trust him, Duke had to let time and good actions do the work.
And so Duke found himself for the past couple of weeks trying to befriend the ten year old whilst keeping his distance. He thought that Damian might be warming up to him, but Duke couldn’t be sure.
And so, when the teenager found the child asleep on the couch, cocooned in blankets, Duke turned to leave. It wasn’t often Damian relaxed and let his guard down in any kind of public space, so respecting his boundaries seemed like the best option.
That was, until Duke heard Damian whimper. He whirled around, caught off guard by the noise, and his eyes rested on the frowning face of Damian. The smallest Wayne shifted in his sleep, his deep frown morphing into a trembling lip. Duke took a step forwarding, pausing. He continued, however, as soon as he heard a sharp intake of breath a choked sob come from Damian.
“If I get stabbed again,” Duke muttered, as he knelt by the couch, “I’m making Bruce remove every. Single. Sharp. Object from this manor.”
Duke reached out a hand tentatively, slightly shaking Damian awake. The kid sat up immediately, scooching away from the touch, and Duke could see that his eyes were wet.
“Tt, what do you want, Thomas?” Damian asked with a scowl. He still refused to call Duke by his first name.
Duke sighed. “You were having a nightmare, I wanted to see if you’re alright.”
The boy scoffed. “I don’t know what you mean. Al Ghul’s don’t get nightmares. I must have just shifted in my sleep.”
Yeah, Duke thought as he stared into slightly red, glistening eyes, That must be it.
Istead, Duke replied: “It doesn’t matter what kind of dreams you have, I just need to know you were okay. Besides, everyone gets nightmares. I know I do.”
Damian scoffed - a rather repetitive sound - “Maybe you do Thomas, but you are inferior. I had such weaknesses trained out of me.”
Okay, that was awful. Both in Damian’s treatment at the hands of the League, and Duke’s handle on the situation.
Duke sighed and stood up. “Scooch over.”
For once, Damian was confused. He blinked, once. Twice. “Pardon?”
“You heard me,” Duke said, moving some pillows so he could sit beside the ninja.
Damian complied, his brow furrowed, and Duke silently cheered at the victory. He grabbed the remote and settled down, pulling some of Damian’s blankets over his lap. The child sat stiffly, clearly unsure of what was going on.
“You ever seen Finding Nemo?” Duke asked, cueing up the movie.
Damian frowned, and Duke had to admit it was quite cute. “What is … Finding Nemo?”
Duke grinned. “Oh, it’s a classic. You have to see it!” Damian nodded, still confused.
The movie played, and Damian slowly relaxed. About halfway through the movie, the ten year old leaned to the right, resting his head on Duke’s chest. Duke remained very still for a long moment, before slowly, ever so slowly, wrapping his arm around Damian. The pair of them remained wary for some time, but eventually both relaxed. Duke started to twirl his fingers through Damian’s hair. The kid himself sighing in a way not unlike a kitten purring.
“For the record,” Duke murmured after a while, “I don’t think less of you because of your dreams. I think you’re quite brave.”
Damian stiffened, and Duke thought he’d made a huge mistake, when the kid sniffled and relaxed. “Likewise, Thomas.”
Duke couldn’t hold back a grin as he looked down at Damian. He went back to watching the movie, a light happy feeling covering the both of them. It was at that moment that Duke decided he wouldn’t mind having Damian as his brother. He might have to make a rule against knives though.
The movie ended soon enough, but Duke couldn’t find it in himself to move. It was warm and comfortable on the couch, and Duke was tired. He wasn’t the only one. As he turned off the TV Duke heard a soft snore coming from Damian. The kid really was adorable. Duke smiled lightly as he leaned his head back and closed his eyes.
He would make a good Robin, Duke thought, as he drifted off to sleep.