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Damian couldn’t get away from his siblings even if he tried.
Discounting Tim, his siblings were in separate parts of the city, so why did they never fail to bother him? Jason frequently visited and denied that he wanted to spend any time with him. Yet, he’d laze around whichever room Damian had decided to hole up in, and then nap in any position imaginable. Then, he’d drag Damian into a wrestling match, and pretend that Damian had started it.
Ah, and of course, there was Dick, who always came to visit with a trophy. Bruce had dedicated a part of the bat-cave for Dick’s trophies (because he brought home so many), but recently Damian had become the recipient of Dick’s accomplishments. Damian had been handed belts, swords, kunai, shuriken, baseball bats, paddle boards, and more. If Damian wasn’t present to receive his gift, Dick would leave it on his bed, and Damian would be left figuring out what to do with it.
Damian tried his best to avoid Dick, but Dick had a nose for finding him. Every time he visited, without fail, he’d narrow Damian down and hand him a trophy. Then, he’d shower Damian in ceaseless affection, and Damian could do little about it. Dick liked to invade his space with purrs and chuffs. If Damian found a way to separate himself, Dick would sulk for a few minutes, slowly sneak across the room, and then end up at Damian’s side again.
Cass wasn’t all that better because she loved to stick her nose into whatever Damian was doing. Damian couldn’t even read a book without having Cass hover over his head. Damian could get her to leave for a while, but she’d always come slinking back to hover around him. Cass could never stray for too long, not unless she had someone else to bother, or something else to grab her attention. Damian often found her trailing after him in all his tasks. It took a lot of patience not to snap at her or to get upset.
Fortunately, when Cass was involved, Bruce took pity on Damian. Bruce would indulge Cass and draw her away with warm rumblings. Then, minutes later, the two could be found in their separate forms. Warm and content.
Damian would openly observe them and wonder what it was like to shift. At times, it had him doubting his place, and his purpose.
It’s the doubt that always got Damian in trouble. It’s as if his family could smell it even across cities. It always amped their behavior up ten times worse and then had them swarming him throughout the week. Dick brought even more trophies, Jason pestered him daily, and Cass stalked him.
And then Tim, oh, dear divines, Tim.
Tim would investigate him and write entire reports about his actions. Damian had once walked into one of his meetings, one that had been hosted in the cave outside of his knowledge, only to find his entire family closely listening to Tim’s lectures on Damian 101. It was surreal to watch from the stairs. Tim had been teaching his family how to talk to Damian, and in doing so he gave away all Damian’s secrets.
“If you praise him,” Tim said, “he’ll be more likely to tolerate your affections.”
Tim had unleashed something that day.
Damian became subject to countless compliments, texts, goofy grins, and hair ruffles the following week. Dick looked for any opportunity to catch Damian off-guard, and Jason gave him back-handed praises that felt like insults. It was deliberate. Damian always ended up lunging for him to defend his honor, and Jason always accepted his challenge as if it were some sort of game. Damian’s attack inevitably became a wrestling match, and Jason never failed finding a way to win. Once he had Damian pinned, a sudden grooming session would initiate, and Jason would aggressively pat his hair down. Damian was at his mercy until he was finished. If he fell asleep mid-session, Jason never commented on it, and neither did Damian. Jason didn’t want everyone to know that he’d ended up lying next to him and taken a nap too.
Cass was not nearly as pushy as the rest of their siblings, but her form of complimenting involved hundreds of post-it notes.
Hundreds.
Damian once walked into his bathroom and found the mirror covered in them.
Damian complains about it all to his father during their training session.
“I just want some space.”
“I’ll talk to them,” Bruce says. “I’m sorry they’ve been overwhelming you.”
Damian ducks underneath his father’s flying fist and swings back. Bruce blocks it with his arm.
“I can handle it, most of the time,” Damian says, “but recently it’s gotten to be too much.”
Bruce throws a sweeping kick and Damian has his feet pulled out from underneath him. Damian falls with a grunt and stays down. He wipes the sweat off his brow, attempts to regain control of his breath, and glares down at the ground.
“I’m not good at this,” Damian admits. “I’m not what they need.”
Damian takes a few deep breaths and then spots something in his vision. Bruce holds down a hand towards him in offering.
“Sure you are,” Bruce says.
Damian stares up at him questioningly.
“You understand why they behave the way they do, and you never tell them that it’s wrong,” Bruce says, “It means a lot to them. A lot to me.”
Damian grabs hold of his father’s hand and gets lifted to his feet.
Bruce smiles down at him, pats his cheek, and then lowers his hand to squeeze his shoulder. Damian feels a heat rush up into his cheeks and maybe his father misses it. Otherwise, he wouldn’t brush past Damian, and head towards the showers.
Damian takes a moment to stand there and remember the sensation of his father’s affection. It was as if his hand was still on his shoulder - squeezing it - pressing with gentle grip.
“I was right,” a hushed voice comes from nearby.
Damian sharply turns his head and spots his entire family attempting to hide behind one display case. It was cartoonish.
“Tim, I never doubted you,” Dick says.
“Look at him, he’s blushing,” Cass whispers.
Damian slaps a hand over his face and looks away.
“I am not blushing,” Damian insists.
“Looks like it to me,” Jason drawls.
“I’m not,” Damian says again.
“Uh-huh,” Jason sounds dryly as Tim pulls out his pocket notepad for more notetaking. Tim had one notepad for each sibling, and the one in his hands was for Damian. Damian thought he couldn’t be more embarrassed, but having Tim record this moment was proving that otherwise.
Damian turns away and makes a path straight for the mansion.
“His ears, they’re bright red!” Dick gushes.
Damian covers them quickly. “Shut up!”