Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It  had started as a joke.

They were relaxing on the couch. Jon was on one end, legs stretched out in front of him to take up all of the space, which had annoyed Damian, causing his lips to quirk down in the most adorable (but don't tell him that) frown.

Damian was now smushed into the corner, his oversized nightwing hoodie completely covering him, especially as he had his hoodie up.

Jon giggled, watching as Damian pursued his lips whilst drawing something in his sketchbook.

Jon had been mindlessly scrolling TikTok, for some reason his whole feed was purely filled with couple challenges, so, well.

He and Damian weren't dating, Jon didn't even think Damian was attracted to men like that, so really the whole thing was very one-sided, but a boy can dream.

And so he hit record.

"Dames?" Jon called out, to which Damian just grunted.

"You know what I'm really craving?"

Damian grunted again, brow furrowing even deeper as he pressed his face closer to the paper, as though that would help him draw the details better.

"An orange,"

Damian finally looked up, squinting at him as if he was the artwork.

It was always a little nervewracking having all of Damian's attention, his eyes had always held an intensity, whether he was 13 or 21.

"...Okay?"

"That's it? Okay? You won't even offer to get me one?" Jon pouted, giving Damian his best puppy eyes.

"Do your legs not work?" Damian tilted his head.

Jon rolled his eyes, "Dames, you're supposed to get the orange for me,"

"Why?"

"Because you're my best friend and you want to be nice to me,"

The look on Damian's face was priceless as he slowly got up from the couch, keeping an eye on Jon all the way over to the kitchen, where he got an orange and then threw it at him.

Jon thanked himself for having filmed the whole thing, the next time Damian tried to claim he wasn't overly suspicious, he'd show him this video.

Jon waited until Damian had sat on the couch before he threw it back at him.

"Can you peel it for me?" he widened his eyes again, looking at Damian from beneath his lashes, undeterred by the deeply distrustful look Damian was giving him.

"...Did you do something to all of the oranges in the house?"

Jon was going to give up.

"Why would you think that!" he asked, arms flailing as his voice got high pitched. 

"You're acting odd! You've never asked me to peel your orange before, on the contrary, every time I try to peel an orange for myself you steal mine so you can make your little animals!" 

Jon blushed, ducking his head so he could hide it behind his phone. So maybe he had been trying to get Damian to fall in love with him via peel art, it was romantic! Sure it had required him to spend one whole insomnia-filled night researching how to do it, and if he hadn't been kryptonian he would have gotten a bunch of cuts, but that's what you did for love!

"Please, D,"

Damian looked at him for another second before sighing. It was mesmorising, he pulled out a dagger and started cutting into the skin of the orange, precise with every sharp cut and smooth with every curve, and within the minute Jon had a peeled orange wrapped up to look like an elephant.

If anyone asked, Jon let out a very manly squeal.

Uploading it hadn't been so much an accident as it was a joke, he had sent the video to Kon, captioning it with "does he pass the test?" and Kon had responded with an excess of emojis and a comment on how he should post the video.

So that's what he did.

It went viral almost immediately, apparently Damian was an instant hit. Jon wasn't sure if it was because of his good looks or because of his charming personality, but he felt personally vindicated as thousands of strangers fell in love with him.

Such a Tsundere

As most of the commentors said.

After the first video it was only natural to make more, and it wasn't like it was difficult, not when they lived in the same apartment and hung out 24/7.

Sue Jon for wanting to pretend that Damian was his boyfriend by making these stupid challenges.

"Dames," Jon called out, he had set up hidden cameras so that there was one that could get the view of both of them, as well as the one he held in his hand that flipped between showing his own face and then showing Damian's.

"Yeah?" Damian called out, he was in the kitchen, cooking up their dinner as Jon sat by the island, snacking on some vegetables Damian had given him.

"Would you love me if I was a worm?"

Damian stopped up, turning around to arch a brow at him, and Jon had to physically stop himself from squealing by eating another cucumber slice. Damian's eyebrows did something to him. Maybe it was because Damian was wearing his oversized t-shirt and a pair of shorts that left his legs in full view, or maybe it was the fact that his raised eyebrows put more attention to his eyes that felt like drowning in a pool of kryptonite. Either way, everything Damian did had Jon clenching his knuckles until they turned white.

"In this hypothetical scenario, were you always a worm? Or were you turned into a worm right now?"

Jon giggled, he forgot how bad Damian was at answering hyporheticals, "Doesn't matter,"

"Of course it matters," Damian frowned, "if you had always been a worm, we would never have met, and although I respect the lives of all creatures, I cannot say I would've developed an emotional connection to you, specifically," 

Jon rolled his eyes, "Fine, if I suddenly turned into a worm, would you still love me?"

"Of course," Damian rolled his eyes as Jon blushed bright red.

"Really?"

"Yeah, I care for you deeply now, that won't change if someone comes in and turns you into a worm. Of course, should that happen, I would hunt them down and get them to turn you back, but I would not suddenly dislike you,"

"Then what if you couldn't turn me back? If I was stuck as a worm?"

Damian considered this, "I'd build you a very nice garden, and then buy other worm friends so you wouldn't be lonely,"

"Awww, D, you sap!"

Damian scowled, turning back to his food, "obviously with time my affections would dim, and I'd one day completely forget about you, and then I'd drive over the garden with a bulldozer,"

Jon snorted, falling backwards and hitting the ground with a thump.

Yeah, that sounded like Damian, even though he'd never actually do that.

Chapter Text

This one was more difficult, purely because of the logistics. Setting up the camera was easy, but making up a situation where they would be in the same room and Jon had to change clothes…. That was more difficult.

Still, he made it work.

“Hey, D, can you leave the room?” it was maybe a little weird for him to suddenly stand up from the bed where they were sitting (definitely not cuddling, nope, if their legs were intertwined and Jon had his face buried in the other’s neck then that was definitely not cuddling).

“…Why?” Damian frowned,  he had just gotten comfortable underneath all of the pillows and blankets, like a hibernating bear, he didn’t seem keen on getting out.

“I want to change clothes,”

Damian frowned, “Can you not do that in front of me?”

“I just don’t really feel like doing that today,”

Damian continued to frown before sighing and turning around in bed, burying himself even further underneath the blankets.

“Go, get naked, or get clothed, or whatever,”

Jon sighed, “I need you to leave the room, idiot,”

“I’m comfortable here though, trying to get me to leave is akin to torturing me,” he turned around enough so he could look Jon in the eyes with a pout, “Would you torture me?”

That got him a pillow to the face, which he took admirable, if only because he found the extra pillow gave his head the perfect height as he turned around again.

“Jon, I have seen you unrobed too many times for this to be a serious concern, I’ve even turned around, I cannot see you, I would blind myself if I could, but you are not getting me up from this bed. Can’t you just change in my room?”

Jon let out a long, drawn-out sigh before sitting on the bed.

“D,”

“What?” from the sound of his voice, Damian was annoyed, but he dutifully kept looking away, eyes closed and body relaxed, he was probably minutes away from sleep.

“I’m having one of those days where I’m feeling insecure about my body,” it wasn’t the truth, he was actually feeling fine about his body, he usually did. The only insecurity about those things came from the fact that he hadn’t worked at all to get them, and he felt bad for others who could train every day for their whole lives and never achieve what he had by simply being born.

Damian finally looked at him and rolled his eyes, “you’re attractive, people like you, I could grate cheese from your abs, also you worked hard for these things, even if you think you didn’t,”

Then he promptly turned around and went to sleep, not seeing the fire-hydrant red blush on Jon’s face.

The camera saw though, the camera always saw everything.

This one, surprisingly, came from his followers.

You two are so black cat and golden retriever coded, what would D do if you told him you were queer?

How the internet had found out he was queer he would never know, maybe it was because he only posted videos where he was looking at Damian with heart eyes.

“Dames,”

His head shot up from where he had been laying on the couch, stuck in-between the worlds of reality and dreams.

He hummed, blinking a couple of times to get the sleep out of his eyes. Yeah, he definitely saw the black cat vibes.

“What was the first thing you thought of when I came out to you?”

He didn’t even consider his words, “Wow, Clark only has queer children,”

Jon laughed, falling down on top of Damian to trap him between himself and the couch. He would deny it till his dying breath, but Damian loved having something heavy on him.

“And after that?”

“Please don’t have my brother be your queer-awakening,”

This time the laugh was softer as he settled on top of the older.

If only he knew.

“D,” Jon sighed, “I’m trying to figure out how your perception of me changed,”

“Oh,” he contemplated for a bit, it was adorable the way Damian would stop to consider his words before saying anything, as if he was trying to figure out how to gentle his words. “It didn’t really, I guess I had a small realisation of you having grown up, of becoming your own person, but nothing really changed,”

In many ways it was what he wanted to hear, that nothing had happened, that Damian’s opinion of him would never be shaken by something as inconsequential as his sexuality.

Still, he wished it had. He wished Damian had suddenly realised that Jon could be a candidate, that Jon liked men, which meant he could like Damian, which meant that they could actually be a… well, a them.

Chapter Text

The next one required a lot of setup.

"D," Jon said, knocking on Damian's bedroom door.

"Yes?" Damian said, not looking up from where he was reading a book.

"Do you want to do something fun?"

If Damian said no, Jon would have to clean the whole dining room, which would be annoying, but not impossible. He had covered the table in tarp and set out multiple different coloured paints on each side of the table, so they'd each have one copy of the colour. He also had a mixing palette set aside so they (probably mostly Damian) could mix colours as needed. 

"Never," Damian deadpanned.

"Great! Meet me in the kitchen!"

"This is ridiculous," Damian said, looking at the dining table.

"It's fun!"

"You're ridiculous,"

"And fun!"

Damian didn't complain any more as he took his seat, "You know I've drawn you loads of times, right? I gave your parents a family portrait last Christmas, that was an oil painting, as in, a drawing of you,"

"Yeah but this time I'm also drawing you, and then you get to make fun of my drawing skills, don't you want that?"

Damian hummed, considering, "I do like making fun of you,"

It should hurt, to hear that from the person he'd been in love with for years, but it didn't, not at all, actually. It was just so Damian, so honest. He was smiling, just barely, the corner of his mouth ticking up like he was telling a secret joke only he himself was privy to, and he never looked more gorgeous than he did when he was smiling. Jon loved him. Sometimes he loved him so much it hurt. Almost always, actually, even now, with Damian just sitting there, lip caught between his teeth as he sketched out the image of Jon he wanted to portray before he even touched the paints. The feeling squeezed at his heart until it got stuck in his throat, something painful that felt like choking, and dying, and felt like every bit of his body would flare up and explode into a supernova.

It felt like living.

He picked up his brush, deciding to forgo the sketch. He had only brought in seven colours: blue, red, yellow, orange, green, black, and white, none of which really screamed "Damian's skintone" so he decided to stick to orange, dipping his brush in and making an oval before filling that in, realising too late, as he tried to paint the green eyes, that paint needs to dry.

"I'm giving you eyeshadow," Jon said, smudging the colour out, unsure whether it became worse or better, before doing the same on the other side. It was definitely not better. Now Damian was an orange egg with green smudge.

"Did you forget to let the paint dry?"

"...no,"

Damian chuckled, finally finishing his sketch and going to mix his colours.

"I can't help but notice that you haven't mixed any colours, should I assume my skin will be orange?"

"...no,"

Jon glanced up at Damian to see a tiny smile.

He dipped his brush in the blue colour to distract from the way his heart squeezed at the smile. Whilst he waited on the paint to dry he could colour in the background.

"I'm guessing these will be speed paintings?" Damian asked.

"I'll let you know when I'm five minutes from being done so you know when to hurry up," Jon responded, sticking out his tongue as he tried not to let the orange and blue touch.

He sighed, Damian would probably look good with blue blush anyway.

He copied the same on the other side so it would at least be symmetrical before finishing the rest of the background.

"When you draw, how do you usually do it?" Jon asked, the videos wouldn't do well if they just sat and drew in silence, and he rarely talked to Damian about his art anyway.

Damian shrugged, "I either see something, or I remember something, then I draw it,"

"That's not very exciting,"

"My art isn't very exciting," Damian looked up, "Most of the things I make are scenes from real life, impressionism, it isn't supposed to be exciting,"

Jon smiled, resting his head on the palm of his hand as he looked at Damian. He could imagine that, he could easily see that being Damian's favourite genre of paintings. Could see Damian, who always had the weight of the world on his shoulders, sit down with his papers and his pens and just drawing life. Drawing everything he was protecting, everything that made humans worth it, everything that made the world worth it.

"That's perfect," he said, chest tight. He was choking again.

Damian ducked his head, focusing on his drawing again, "I don't know about perfect, it is how I choose to express myself,"

It felt like a loss, to no longer have Damian's eyes on him, but it was probably for the best, as the choking feeling abided.

"It's perfect," you're perfect.

"Are you ready?" Jon asked, getting read to flip his image.

"Yes,"

They flipped it at the same time. Jon's orange egg with a black toupée, smudged green eyes ("It's eyeshadow Dames!"), blue blush ("You're experimenting!"), and bright red lips, stood in sharp contrast to Damian's.

It was him. Quite literally. He was sitting at the very table he was sitting at now, head down as he focused on his drawing, tongue sticking out in concentration and hair falling over his face in a much more stylish way than it probably did in real life.

"You've made me into Humpty Dumpty," Damian deadpanned.

"It's slimming!"

Comments:

I like how Jon is the least subtle person on the planet and D still doesn't realise.

Hey is it just me or does D look like Damian Wayne?

Wait is D Damian Wayne?

Jon are you in love with Damian Wayne?

Chapter Text

"Do you think you could land a plane?" Jon asked, tilting the camera so you could see Damian's face.

Damian raised a brow, looking especially judgemental.

"What type of plane? Is there damage? Where am I landing it?"

"Standard commercial airplane, no damage, but both the pilots are having heart attacks, and you're landing in the place airplanes usually land, but like, there are no other planes, so lots of space," Jon should've known that he would need to specify.

"Then yes of course," Damian looked back down towards his magazines, scowling as he saw more and more of his shares tanking. 

"Really?"

"Jon, I've already done that like... three times, once where an engine was about to catch on fire, I think I can handle a completely calm situation like that,"

"Gotham is crazy,"

"I know, I don't think I've ever flown commercially without an attack,"

"If I was in the plane, and I was knocked out, and it was going down and impossible to land, would you try to save me first?"

Damian looked up, staring into Jon's eyes as if he could see right through him, and for a second Jon's heart started beating faster, as he worried about having come across as too obvious. This was it, the moment Damian would realise that Jon was completely smitten with him and was desperate to be a priority in his life.

"Yes,"

Chapter Text

Jon set up the phone and took a step back, he had cooked just enough food to make one huge plate of food and then one with barely anything. He was slightly worried that the footage wouldn't be usable, as Damian might comment on his Kryptonian heritage. But he could live with that.

"Hey Dami, how was the lecture?" Jon asked, getting Damian to sit before putting down the plate in front of him.

"It was okay," Damian said, side-eying Jon's plate of food, "Are you going out tonight?"

"No I thought I'd just chill at home, watch some movies or something, did you want to join?" Jon beamed at him, a bit confused as to why Damian hadn't commented on the food difference yet.

"I would, but I'm actually going out to eat with Richard, so I can't eat much," Damian said, switching their plates in one fluid motion that almost meant that Jon, with super speed, didn't see him do it.

"Oh but it's your favourite! I'm sure Dick will understand," Jon said, switching back the plates.

"I suppose," Damian looked to the side before striking up a conversation about motorsports, as Jason had, somehow, gotten a one-year contract with MotoGP.

"He's very excited, apparently the team was nice," Damian said, swiping his hands around wildly.

Jon smiled, nodding along and forgetting about the food as he watched Damian get sucked into his storytelling. Focusing on anything but Damian's expressions became especially difficult when he suddenly felt a pressure by his ankle, as Damian hooked theirs together and leaned closer over the table.

Wow, his skin was smooth.

And his hair was styled so perfectly, unlike the ridiculously spiked thing it was in their youth, now it looked natural and was longer, and-

Somehow, Damian had an empty plate without eating anything (Jon would know if he ate, he had been staring at his lips for way too long) and Jon's own plate looked suspiciously full.

"I have to go meet up with Richard, I'll see you later," Damian said, leaving quickly.

Chapter Text

“I still don’t understand the rules,” Damian said, tilting his head from where he was sitting on the couch. They were sitting right across from each other, their knees touching, and phones stuck onto their foreheads with a band, they were both set to record, as that was the default setting of the app.

“Something will come up on the screen, one of us will describe a situation where you would say it, and then you say the word,” Jon said.

Damian looked dubious but nodded.

“I’ll start, so you just have to guess what I’m describing,”

Right on cue his screen changed, now saying “-TT- and then looks away”

Jon smiled, “The thing you say when I do something and you think I’m being an idiot but what I did was also really nice,”

Damian thinks for a second before seeming to realise what it is, his shoulder bunching up as he looks to the side slightly “-TT-“

“Yes!”

*

“The thing you said when I fell down the stairs yesterday,”

“TT”

“Correct!”

*

“Yesterday, when I came into bed late and asked if you wanted to go get ice cream, you said…”

“TT, of course,”

“You’re really good at this,” Jon said, genuinely impressed.

“Well, the answers to all of your questions have been the same,”

Jon pouted, sure he knew the other was right, but it was still rude of him to point it out. Damian smiled at him, pulling down one corner of his mouth as if he was trying not to laugh.

“Not all of them, we just haven’t gotten to the others yet,”

“I’ll believe it when I hear it,”

*

“The thing you call me when I’m acting a little annoying,”

“Hayseed,”

“Ding ding!”

*

“The thing you call me when I’m acting very annoying,”

“Jonathan,” Damian said, pitching his voice down to the exact tone he uses. It usually only happens on the field, when Jon does something reckless that goes directly against any of Damian’s plans.

He shivered, “that was way too accurate,”

*

“You say this to literally anything. I once saw you say it to the ground because it, quote unquote, caught you,” Damian said, looking thoroughly unimpressed.

“Uhhhh.” He wasn’t sure what that could be, there were few things he said directly to things.

“You tell me this whenever I’m about to go out, and it’s the first thing and last thing you say to your parents whenever you see them,”

“Oh! I love you.” He smiled, pleased at getting the answer right and completely missing the way Damian smiled back.

*

“Whenever someone cries,” Damian said, already raising his hands to prepare for what came next.

Immediately Jon broke out into song, jumping up from the couch to do the dance that followed. Damian covered his ears, mostly as a joke as he booed for fun, unable to help the laugh that bubbled out of him as Jon pointed at him during the spelling portion of the song, shouting “ridiculous”.

Jon ended the dance back on the couch, leaning back and slightly out of breath as he looked at Damian with lidded eyes.

“I’m pretty sure my soul just ascended,”

“Hm, a shame the answer was wrong, phone says you’re supposed to give them a hug,”

Jon stared at Damian.

Damian stared back.

“I’ll give you five seconds to run,”

Damian sent him a sharp grin before he sprinted out, jumping out of the window and onto the roof.

Chapter Text

Damian was in the kitchen.

He was just grabbing some water, but this was the perfect time for Jon to do a trend he had wanted to do for a while. It was a lot more forward than some of the other ones he had done, but, well...

His fingers twitched with the need to touch him. He wasn't wearing anything special, just a t-shirt and some slacks, but it still drove Jon crazy.

Damian made him crazy.

His followers had already told him that, and who was he to argue with strangers on the internet?

"Hey Jo- woah." Damian grabbed onto Jon's shoulders as he was picked up and roughly placed on the counter, Jon slotting in closer until they were chest to chest, faces centimetres from each other.

"Hi," Jon whispered, leaning forward slightly as he used his grip on Damian's thighs to slide him closer.

"Not that I don't enjoy your tactile nature, but why am I on the counter?" he raised an eyebrow, looking slightly amused.

Mentally, Jon was sighing. It wasn't that he had expected Damian to jump him afterwards, or even to just kiss him. Still though, he was practically shouting out his emotions and Damian refused to even acknowledge them.

He leaned down so he could rest his head in the crook of Damian's neck, smiling to himself when Damian started carding his hands through his hair.

"Rough day?" he whispered, so quietely Jon probably wouldn't have heard it if he didn't have superhearing.

"Kinda," he whispered back, grip tightening ever so slightly before he let his hands slowly trace a path upwards, past his thighs until they reached Damian's waist, where they went around him so they were actually hugging.

"Love you," Jon whispered, squeezing his eyes shut.

"Love you too," Damian whispered back.

And for a moment, Jon let himself believe Damian meant it the same way he did.

Chapter Text

The first minute is the worst.

As Jon gets his head up, out of the Earth's atmosphere, there is a minute of panic. His breathing grows erratic, lungs expanding so quickly that the air is barely let in before he's breathing out again. It's pure insinct, as his mind screams that he can't breathe, oh God I'm going to die, I can't breathe.

Yet he doesn't die.

For a minute, he hyperventilates, broken into his base instincts to the point that there are no rational thoughts, there is nothing except for breathing. Inhaling-exhaling. He can't even move, paralysed by the need to use the limited oxygen on things that are worthwhile that moving seems like a bad idea.

He can feel his heart beating against his chest, which is the only thing that reminds him that there are other things in life than breathing. The erratic lub-dub-lub-dub being a waking call that he is more than just lungs.

It takes a full minute before his heart can control his brain and his brain can control his diaphragm. 

After that it takes seconds.

The first step to breathing normally is breathing deeply. He inhales, holds it for a second, just to make sure he can't inhale any more, then exhales slowly. 
Except for instincts it's peaceful. Sounds are muted, so all he can hear is his own body. His slow heartbeat, the sound of his blood rushing through his veins, his bones moving.

Damian's heart

He hadn't meant for anything to go wrong, the videos were harmless, really.

And sure, maybe he should've told people about the videos, instead of just posting them without consent, but it's not like they were incriminating! He made sure to edit out anything that could be bad, it was just a funny way for him to admit his feelings.

Really it was Vicki's fault, if she hadn't asked them about it, they never would've found out, and then he wouldn't have had to see Damian look at him like that.

He couldn't describe the emotion, all he knew was that he hadn't seen it on Damian before, and that was bad.

He had gotten really good at catagorising Damian's expressions, happiness, disappointment, anger, hope, there wasn't a single emotion that he couldn't place.

Except this one.

It was terrifying.

If it had been anger he could've taken it, Damian would have screamed at him for hours before shutting down completely and ignoring him for a week, then they would be friends again.

But this wasn't anger, he didn't know what this was. All he knew was that Vicki had asked Damian about how it felt to be a TikTok star, and then showed him the first video. Damian had given her an answer that answered nothing before getting out of the event as quickly as possible so he could confront Jon.

"You can't hide from the world," a voice beside him said.

Right, just because Damian couldn't breathe in outer space, that didn't mean no one could.

"I really messed up." Jon looked up at Kon, eyes going glassy as he bit his lip.

"Damian won't hate you because of a couple of videos," he sighed, flying closer so they were shoulder to shoulder.

"Oh but he will! You should have seen how he looked at me!" Jon hid his face in the crook of Kon's neck, letting his older brother block out his struggles.

Failing to block out Damian's heartbeat

"Jon,"

He didn't want to look up, didn't want to look into Kon's eyes and see the disappointment.

"Jon,"

It seemed he wouldn't get a choice as Kon roughly grabbed his face so they could stare at each other. 

"Even if he does hate you, which he doesn't, shouldn't you at least give him the chance to tell you? You messed up kiddo, the least you can do is let him shout at you,"

Chapter Text

It had never really been awkward between Damian and Jon before.

Now though?

Well, Jon had no other way to describe the mood in the room.

Damian was sitting on his bed, chin resting against his bare knees, a soft frown on his face as he stared him down. He looked soft and it was killing Jon that he couldn't reach out and touch. Damian was wearing fluffy socks and one of Jon's shirts.

"You've been gone for twelve hours," Damian said, his voice rough, and oh, he had been crying.

His eyes were puffy, and he was wrapping his arms around himself so tightly it was as if he wanted to disappear.

"I'm so sorry, I'm so-" Jon stopped himself, biting his lip before taking a couple of steps forward so he was touching the edge of the bed. If Damian stretched his legs they'd be touching and Jon was shaking with the need to close the distance.

"Why would you leave?" Damian sat up straighter, as if realising he was being too vulnerable, and Jon got to watch in real time as he slowly built up every single defence Jon had worked so hard to break.

He could lie. He could tell him that there had been a crisis somewhere on the other side of the world. China. Maybe. Or Australia.

He could give Damian another reason to never trust him. He could give Damian another reason to never let anyone in.

"I couldn't bear the thought of you hating me," he said, breathlessly and honestly.

"I hate you a lot more for leaving than I ever would for a couple of videos where you... what? Test my loyalty? Test our friendship?" He was getting properly angry now, eyes burning with a fire he hadn't seen since they were children, at least not directed at him.

Jon looked away, he couldn't look at him as he had to say the next part.

"It was never to test you," he mumbled. The city was really beautiful in the early morning hours, the sun not yet high enough to shine through their windows, instead painting the sky gold.

"Then what?" he sounded angry, he sounded hurt, "For god's sake Jon, would you look at me!"

Jon snapped his head towards Damian, tearing his vision away from the window so he could focus on his best friend, who was now sitting right in front of him so they were inches from each other.

"I'm sorry," he whispered.

"Stop apologising and start explaining,"

Jon leaned closer, letting their foreheads rest against each other so he wouldn't have to look him in the eyes.

"The tests? They're boyfriend challenges, just stupid videos couples make to post, but, well,"

Jon had spent years of his life hiding his crush from his best friend. He had been through multiple relationships in an effort to get over him, and had tried drinking himself under the table to forget about the way Damian looked in the morning. None of it worked. For one, alcohol didn't effect him, and for another, no matter what he did, he could never completely let go of Damian.

"I've wanted to be yours for years, the videos were my way of being yours without you knowing,"

Jon was ready. He was ready for Damian to flinch back and shout at him, to tell him he was crazy for living in a fantasy world where he would ever be good enough for Damian. He was ready for Damian to swear up a storm and call his siblings to bring the kryptonite. He was ready for Damian to take his heart and break it.

He was not ready to be kissed.

He was not ready for Damian's hands to reach up and cup his face, slowly and softly as if he was scared he would break Jon. Which was ridiculous, Jon was indestructable.

He was not ready for Damian to tilt his head and press their lips together, barely even moving as he pressed close for barely a second before pulling away.

It was okay though, Jon only needed a second, for in the next he was surging forward so quickly they were falling onto the bed, Damian letting out a grunt as he hit the matres which promptly turned into a moan when Jon parted his lips with his own, pressing down until every inch of their bodies were touching, as if he could fuse them together if he just pressed close enough.

"Jon," Damian mumbled between kisses, leaning his head back in an effort to get them back to the conversation, but all that did was give Jon access to his throat.

And what a throat.

"Jon, we need to talk,"

"Why? I've been in love with you for years, and apparently you're willing to entertain my fantasies of living inside of you, what do we have to discuss?" he was doing a wonderful job both speaking and creating a necklace of bruising for Damian to admire later.

"That's precisely why we need to talk," 

Jon whined as Damian started tugging at his hair, guiding him away from his throat.

"Jon," Damian said again, his tone harsh as Jon finally relented.

"Please make it quick,"

"Fine, why did you run away?" Damian asked. Jon wasn't the only one who wanted to get on with the program, but, he wanted answers.

The only things Bats hated more than communication was not having all of the answers.

"I love you, and I thought you would hate me for loving you when that would ruin our friendship,"

It was easy to be honest when he could feel how little Damian hated him by just shifting forward a bit.

Damian laughed, seeming a little bit delirious, "You love me,"

Jon wasn't sure whether or not it was a question.

"I've loved you for years,"

Damian initiated this time, connecting their lips briefly before letting go, "No more secrets, you cannot keep secrets from me if you're supposed to be my boyfriend,"

"Yes, yes, yes," Jon kept repeating, leaning forward so he could speak the words into Damian's lips, as if that would make them more real.

"And you have to show me the videos before you post them,"

"Damian, can we please do this after we've broken the bed?"

"Jon this bed is from Vindö, it costs more than everything you own put together, if you break this I am going to kill you,"

"That sounds like a challenge,"

"It very much is not-"

Damian didn't get to make many more complete sentences after that, although the bed made it out alive, so they were both happy.

Chapter Text

Jon was sitting by the counter eating some cereal, the camera showed both him and Damian who was behind him making tea.

Jon picked up his phone, pretending to accept a call as the words 'calling my boyfriend my husband' faded from the screen.

"Hey Kon," Jon said, voice casual as he placed down his spoon, "I don't have any big plans today, just hanging out with hubby,"

Damian looked up, glancing at Jon with a sneer.

"Yeah I think we might go to a restaurant or the spa, married life comes with a shocking number of discounts to couples activities,"

Damian walked over to him, slowly stirring his tea before stopping right in front of him, only separated by the kitchen counter now, the camera could see both of Damian's hands, that were devoid of a ring.

Damian cleared his throat with a sweet smile on his face, and Jon perked up as he looked at him, love oozing from him.

"Sorry, I think my husband wants to speak to me." Jon pretended to end the call before looking back up at Damian, a picture of pure innocence on his face.

"Beloved," Damian started, voice dipping into a sensual tone that made Jon gulp, especially as Damian leaned further forward onto the counter, the shirt he was wearing (which was actually Jon's) dipping low to give Jon the delicious view of his collarbone, "if you ever call me hubby again-"

Here Jon opened his mouth, wanting to interrupt, but Damian grabbed his jaw roughly and pulled him forward so they were breathing the same air.

"If you ever call me hubby again, I will castrate you, gouge your eyes out, and when you think you're finally finished with all of your suffering, I will have you dig your own grave in a bed of poison ivy,"

The words were spoken softly into Jon's mouth--that he still hadn't closed yet--before Damian turned back around so he could clean up the kitchen, packing away the leaves he had used for his tea and then the honey.

Jon took a second to calm himself before jumping over the counter and throwing Damian onto his shoulders and disappearing away to somewhere the camera couldn't see.

Chapter Text

When Jon posted videos, he tended to make them with as little cuts as possible, only cutting when there was too much silence or something that could reveal their identity. He wanted authenticity.

Damian had never posted a video, but this would soon change.

The video started with a smirking Damian, mouthing along to the words "I wish I could synthesize, the picture-perfect guy," as he smirked lightly to the camera.

As "six feet tall" was song, the camera cut to a small montage of Jon hitting his head on different doorframes.

When the lyrics went "and super strong" the video changed again, to one of Jon accidentally ripping out a doorknob and trying to stealthily put it back.

The video went back to Damian, who stepped a bit away from the camera so it showed a made-up couch and a little sign saying "dog house" as the lyrics went "we'd always get along,".

In the description of the video, Damian wrote This is what he gets for not telling me I'm internet famous.

Jon pouted for the rest of the day, sad that Damian didn't at least choose to make a cute video that proclaimed his undying love for him as his first. It's what Jon had been doing the entire time!

Chapter Text

The TikTok started with a still picture of a young Jon.

He was in the middle of picking up a big chicken that was about half his side, and his big blue eyes were squeezed shut as he grinned widely, his little overalls dirty with mud.

Over the picture, a white text read: Me as a child, thinking my future partner will be an adorable and sweet girl who comes from a small town and thinks travelling to a different state is as international as she's ever going to get.

Swiping, the next picture was one of Damian, he was about the same age as Jon had been in his picture, laying in the middle of a desert, what looked to be a fortress in pure gold (at least it looked that way with how the sun was hitting it) standing tall behind him. Damian was sleeping, mouth open slightly as he rested his head on top of a panther that was looking into the camera as if daring the person behind it to attack the baby that had fallen asleep on top of it. Around them both there were multiple other panthers, although these looked to be children, joining their human brother for a nap.

The white text this time read: my future boyfriend, asleep in a random desert in Asia because his mother wanted to see if they should buy a castle there, surrounded by a random momma-panther and her babies because he was adopted by them.

The video went viral immediately, not only because they were absolutely adorable in the pictures, but also because no one had realised what kind of life Damian had actually lived before coming to Gotham.

He had toned down his "I am a prince!" comments ever since growing older, so people just assumed that he had only said them because he was a child, and children are dumb.

How foolish.

Damian had never really been a child.

(Jon got sad just thinking about it, and he had the sudden urge to find his boyfriend and hug him).

Still, it pleased Jon greatly that he now had more stuff to make content out of.

Jon fixed his hair before going live, smiling at everyone and giving them a wave as he sat down his phone on a standee, so the camera was pointed so everyone watching could see him sitting on the couch in his apartment.

"Heya! Just thought I'd go live since the picture I posted yeterday kinda exploded," 

instantly the stream was filled with viewers and the chat exploded with comments.

Jon you're so hot!

Tell Damian that you like his shoelaces!

Do you know what an aglet is?

Jon ignored them for the time being, smirking slightly, "I'm gonna get Dames to join me in a second, and then you guys can ask him any questions you want,"

Somehow, the chat exploded even more, which only got even worse as Damian actually appeared on screen, freshly showered with dripping wet hair, sweatpants and a white shirt that had Jon considering stopping the live altogether.

Wow his boyfriend was hot.

"Hey babe, mind if I play reporter for a sec?" Jon asked, following a drop of water as it made its way down from Damian's cheek to his neck.

Damian scanned the set-up, but seemed to relent as he sat on the sofa with him, subtly leaning closer to Jon. Which turned out to not be so subtle as Jon reached around him so he could hold Damian around his waist.

"Ask away,"

Jon grinned, already seeing a few question pop up on the stream.

"Do you still keep in contact with your panther brothers and sisters?" 

Damian laughed, leaning further into Jon, "I do, Diora and Hercule live with my mother, as they have unfortunately had some horrible injuries, but the rest are still living out in the wild. I don't see those as much, but the two that live with my mother I see often,"

"Have you tamed any other wild animals recently?" Jon asked, letting his fingers push up Damian's shirt a bit so he could feel his bare skin against his palm.

Damian smirked, licking his lips once as he looked Jon up and down and it was as if all the air had been sucked out of the room. Jon let his fingers drum against Damian's waist as he swallowed harshly, mouth falling open as he just stared and was once again reminded of the only universal fact in this world.

His boyfriend was so hot.

"Just the one,"

"Oh?" Jon tilted his head slightly, ignoring the camera completely as he thought about how lucky he was that his very attractive  boyfriend was on this couch with him, in the privacy of their own home, so he could do whatever he wanted to.

"Her name is Penny, she's a black rhino and is currently pregnant! Which is very important, since they are unfortunately going extinct." Damian moved his head so he was facing the camera, starting a long rant about relief funds for endangered animals and how best to help raise awareness. Jon knew he should listen, because Damian was very passionate about these things, but Jon was very passionate about other things.

Like breaking this couch.

It was ugly, it needed to go, and the best way to send it off would be to break it, great excuse to also get a new one. One that was bigger, now that he didn't need an excuse to cuddle Damian.

"We gotta go now everyone, send your questions on insta and don't forget to spread endangered animals and send relief funds to spread awareness, okay bye!" Jon shut down the streams and that was the first stream Jon ever did.

And probably also the last.

At least when Damian was so close.