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Being the oldest meant a lot of things to Damian. It meant automatic entitlement to the front seat. It meant making fun of his younger siblings. It meant being obligated to watch over his idiotic brothers. It meant getting the biggest piece of cake, and it should mean he was the tallest.
However, that was unfortunately not the case.
Tim was the first to pass him.
To be fair, Tim had never been all that shorter than him. Tim was the closest in age to Damian. He was only two years younger than Damian, and Damian had never been the tallest person. When his father had adopted Tim, they had already been arround the same height. Damian was about an inch taller than him for a few years. However, his luck had run dry when Damian was about sixteen.
Damian was making himself leftover soup from yesterday. He had skipped out on lunch earlier because he hadn’t necessarily been very hungry, but that had been a few hours ago. Now, Damian was starving. His stomach was cramped with hunger, and Damian impatiently waited for his soup to heat.
After an agonizing wait time, it was finally done.
Damian opened the cabinet to grab a bowl, scowling when he saw they were on the top shelf.
In any other situation that wouldn’t be an issue. Damian was short, but he wasn’t a child. He could usually reach the top shelf’s anywhere else, after all he was sixteen, but this was the manor. Everything was built to suit the Wayne’s hulking height. Unfortunately Damian was the only Wayne who wasn’t tall. He was quite the opposite, actually.
Damian pursed his lips in annoyance, going up on his toes and reaching his full height. He couldn’t reach the bowls. Damian’s cheeks burned in embarrassment. Damian was sixteen but still couldn’t reach the top shelf. How embarrassing. He felt like a helpless child.
“Here, I’ll get it.” Tim offered, making Damian turn in surprise. He hadn’t even heard Tim enter. Damian moved away with a scoff.
“Like you're going to be able to reach it.”
Tim reached it smoothly, and handed Damian the bowl.
Damian gaped at him, soup long forgotten.
“Ho- wh- wait. Stay here. ” Damian turned towards the exit of the kitchen. “ Father!”
“What are you doing? ” Tim asked, shifting his weight from one leg to another.
“I need to check something.” Damian answered, holding Tim’s shirt to make sure he stayed in place.
“Check what? Why are you holding my shirt? What’s wrong?”
Damian heard familiar big footsteps of his father approaching, and Bruce entered the kitchen.
“Son?” Bruce asked, looking concerned. After all, it’s not every day Damian loudly called out for him with such urgency. “What’s wrong?”
“Is Timothy taller than me?” Damian demanded.
Their father studied them for a second. Tim had stopped protesting, now interested.
“Stand back to back.” Bruce orders, walking closer to the two boys. Although, judging by the amused look on his face, he already knew that answer.
Tim turned around, and so did Damian. They stood back to back, and Damian willed himself to magically grow in an instant. Anything to make him taller, because his younger brother was not going to be taller than him. That would be humiliating.
Damian’s stomach dropped when his father chuckled, and studied their height difference. “He is. By at least an inch.”
“ What?!” Damian screached.
Tim laughed in triumph.
—————————————-
Unfortunately that wasn’t the only time one of his younger brothers outgrew him.
It couldn’t have been anymore than a year later when Jason passed him. This one took him by complete surprise, since Jason had been nowhere near passing him in the start of the year. Jason was only thirteen when he passed Damian - seventeen years old- and Damian was pissed.
Stupid growth spurts. Stupid younger brothers. Stupid.
The worst part is that Damian knew that if he hadn’t injured his back when he was a kid, he would be nearly his fathers height, possibly even taller.
When Damian was about ten, he was shot in the back numerous times on patrol. He had his spine replaced with a metal rod, and that stupid rod was the reason for all his troubles.
Damian, Tim and Jason had finally made it to the front of the line. Dick had been begging to go to the Gotham fair for weeks , and they finally went. Damian’s youngest brother was not a fan of big rides, despite his past as an acrobat. Bruce had taken him to the smaller rides, while Damian had opted to take his younger brothers on the bigger rides.
Damian had been patient and waited in line for two hours with his brothers all because they wanted to go on some stupid dropper ride.
Before they could step through the gate, the worker stopped them. “Hey man, you're too short to ride.”
Damian was about to tell Jason to just wait outside for them, and that the ride would be quick. After all, Jason was only thirteen. He wouldn’t be tall enough to ride every ride. This would just be a learning experience.
Not that Jason was short. On the contrary, he was very tall for his age. However, Gotham was full of stupidly tall people, meaning the rides were built for stupidly tall people. Perhaps Jason had just missed the mark.
Then he noticed the worker was looking straight at him .
“ Me ?” Damian asked in shock.
“Yup. Sorry man.”
When his brothers started laughing, he mentally promised to get them back for this. They shouldn’t be laughing. They should be pointing out how stupid this worker was.
“But I’m taller than him, and he’s tall enough?” Damian asked in exasperation, pointing towards Jason.
The worker looked at Jason, then back to Damian. “No, he's definitely taller than you.”
“He is not.” Damian was offended.
“I am?” Jason asked, only for his confused face to morph into a large smile. “I am! Ha! Take that Damian!”
Damian scowled at him. “ Shut it.”
“Can’t he just come?” Tim asked. “He can’t be that much shorter than the required height. Fair’s make exceptions all the time.”
The worker looked too tired to argue. “Whatever. Just don’t fly out. If you die, I’ll probably get fired or something.”
Damian scoffed, but pushed past his brother heading straight towards the ride.
Jason laughed. “If you do fly out, I’m not catching you.”
“Me neither.” Tim smirked.
Damian rolled his eyes. “Such loyal brothers I have.”
As it turns out, Damian had been denied entry for a reason. They had made it all the way to the top, and when the ride dropped Damian had to hold onto the seat for dear life. He was, as it turns out, too short to ride.
And as soon as the ride dropped both Tim, and Jason scrambled to hold Damian into place. Everyone on the ride was yelling, including his brothers. However Damian didn’t know if his brothers were yelling because they thought the ride was fun, or because Damian was about to fly out of his seat.
Afterwards Damian ended up with sore fingers from his hard he was gripping to the seat, and bruises from how hard his brothers were gripping onto him.
“Let’s never do that again.” Tim was breathing hard, looking like a deer in the headlights, still gripping Damian like his life depended on it.
“Never.” Jason agreed, loosening his hold on Damian’s arm.
Damian didn’t say anything, just blinked in partial shock, and partial annoyance.
——————————————-
Damian groaned when he felt someone gently rub his arm in attempts to wake him.
He had received a nasty head injury two weeks ago that had put him in a coma for a solid three days. The first few days after he had awoken he truly wished he were still in a coma. His head had throbbed every time he did anything.
Although the pain was significantly reduced now, that didn’t mean it didn’t hurt.
Damian allowed his eyelids to flutter open, and he looked into the face of his very concerned youngest brother.
Dick was five years younger than him. The thought that his little brother was already sixteen made Damian feel old.
“How are you feeling, Dami?” Dick asked, careful to keep his voice low for Damian’s benefit.
“Fine,” Damian grunted, pushing himself to a sitting position. He winced when his head throbbed.
“Lay back down. I made lunch. You need to eat something.” Dick ordered.
“Lunch?” Damian asked, feeling overly disoriented.
“It’s twelve. I let you sleep in. I wanted to let you sleep in for a little longer, but I was worried...” Dick explained.
Damian understood his brother's concern. Damian had received a nasty concussion. He had been awake after the initial blow, only to slip into a coma during his sleep. After that, his family had been paranoid it would happen again.
“Where is everyone else?” Damian asked. He was sure his father would have woken him up earlier if he had been here. Were Damian and Dick the only ones in the house?
“They got a lead on the guy who hit you.” He said, his eyes darkening at the mention of the man. “As far as I know he fled to the next town over somehow believing we wouldn’t find him. He hurt you and he believed he could just get away with it.”
His younger brother's voice was darker than he had ever heard it. Dick was usually the happiest bubbliest kid he knew. He could also be the darkest one when someone he loved was hurt.
“He also sold drugs.” Damian reminded him. “That’s a real crime.”
“I don’t care about that.” Dick shook his head. “He hurt you, and nobody is allowed to touch you.”
Then, Dicks face softened. “I love you.”
Damian gave a weak smile, as much as he could do with his throbbing head, and ruffled his brother's hair. “Love you too.”
“I’ll get the food.” Dick made to stand, but Damian grabbed his hand to stop him.
“I’ll come with you.”
“Damian, you shouldn’t stand.” Dick insisted. “You're still hurt. I don’t want you to fall.”
“I’ll be fine.” Damian assured him. “I haven't left the bed in two weeks, and I’ll go crazy if I have to stay in it any longer. I think I’ll be fine to walk around for a bit.”
Damian managed to swing his legs off the bed with much effort, and stand. Dick swung Damian’s arm over his shoulders. He leaned heavily on Dick for the first few seconds, his vision swarming and his head pounding. Damian steadied himself, and held most of his own weight, although Dick was still supporting.
“Are you sure you're okay to walk?” Dick asked, his voice unsure and full of concern.
Damian was about to reassure his brother. He turned to look Dick in the eyes to tell him that he was okay, only to pause. He had to look slightly up to look Dick in the eyes.
How had he only noticed that now?
Unlike the two other times this had happened, Damian wasn’t annoyed. He only felt…strange. His youngest brother was officially taller than him. All of his younger brothers were. Damian couldn’t find it in himself to be mad at Dick. Now when the poor kid looked so worried.
“I’m okay, Dick.” Damian promised. “Let’s go.”
————————————————
Damian cracked a smile at Dick’s joke. Today was his youngest brother's twenty-first birthday, and Dick had suggested they stop at a store to get some drinks. They could have just gone to a bar, or a fancy restaurant, but Dick had wanted to buy his own beer from a store. It was an odd request, but he was the birthday boy after all.
Jason and Tim had checked out with no problem. Even Dick had checked out with no problem. That’s why, when the lady asked to see Damian’s ID, he mentally paused.
“I’m sorry?” He asked, ignoring the hardly muffled laughter of his brothers.
“Can I see your ID?” The lady repeated, popping a piece of gum.
Damian scowled, took a deep breath, and then pulled out his ID.
The lady looked at it, and then back to Damian. She didn’t look convinced. “Your twenty six?”
“ Yes .” Damian gritted. Sure, he may not be the tallest person, and sure , he had inherited his mothers young looking genes, but surely he didn’t look that young.
The lady looked unconvinced, but she checked him out anyway. “Have a nice day.”
Damian refused to return the kindness, and turned to angrily walk out the door.
Damian ignored Jason’s wheezing and Tim’s snickering as he huffed.
“You know.” Dick started, his long legs easily matching Damian pace even though Damian was attempting to speed walk. He was smiling the bright smile only he could do. “Looking young isn’t a bad thingI think it’s cute.”
“I’m not supposed to be cute, Richard. I'm a fully grown man.” Damian growled.
“Doesn’t look like it.” Jason laughed.
“ Shut. Up.”