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Damian and Alessia were used to spending their holidays together. No one else within the team really did celebrate the same ones anyway. Christmas maybe and New Year's maybe. But that was really it. Anything else was really Asia-specific or wherever else the rest of the team was from. Or like...Easter. Jon and Henry celebrated that, Alessia too to some extent.
But no matter the holiday, Alessia and Damian knew that the other would understand. Ramadan was a big one especially for Alessia but Damian's was the Lunar New Year. It wasn't the biggest, but it was the biggest one they shared together. Most years, Gotham would have some sort of celebration or at least Star would, and both did this year. Except things kept them on their toes.
First of all, Alessia barely went out on Lunar New Year, the sounds and the lights too distracting for her to handle. Once upon a time, Damian would've teased her for this but now, he just didn't have it in his heart anymore to do so. That was his partner, he couldn't do that to them. Her. He'd get it eventually. But for now, his Alessia would do.
Second of all, he was in Gotham, she was in Star. Opposite sides of the country. While the Zeta tubes existed and Alessia had their magic portals but...well. It was exhausting and while Damian would do anything and while she would, it was still draining. And they could've gotten away with it had they not had clearly Asian-looking members of the family. That generally meant at least one celebration each family. And they had to join because that's what the Lunar New Year was about. Family.
But it wasn't unusual for their families to combine every once in a while. Most of their siblings were with each other anyways and who knew what Bruce and Ollie did behind closed doors.
And so they snuck off. Not to do anything bad or y'know, sexy: just to get away from the noise of the world. To be alone with each other in scratchy clothing, with money in their hands, staring into the night sky, the whistling of the fireworks deafening them.
That's where it would all go wrong though.
Being a child vigilante usually meant you witnessed one explosion in your lifetime. However, for most kids, you didn't see your mother go up in flames right before she died. You didn't see your mother combust as you hid under the couch, scrambling for cover as she tried assuring you that you were going to be fine. Alessia knew fire was destructive from the moment it appeared in front of her eyes, small flame flickering from her father's lighter, resting against the cigarette in his lips.
And the fireworks looked exactly like that. But it was played for entertainment. The colours, shining across the sky, lighting up Gotham's moody atmosphere. But it loud and shocking and at least half of her multiversal relatives had been in a war. She didn't need to be around that at all. It made her feel like an animal: terrified and skittish.
There was a balcony where Damian sat to draw sometimes, Titus in his lap while he painted. It was the furthest away from the main city, looking off into the sea beyond. You couldn't see what was going on on the other side of the manor, it felt like a whole different world there.
And with Alessia? Even better.
There was a silence that came with being with each other, no matter the battle. There was a serenity to their storm, a calm to their chaos. It became particularly evident when they started dating. Ew. Dating sounded juvenile. Intertwined? No, they were already intertwined before all this. Together? That didn't cover what they were.
Fuck, they had no word for it. maybe that was the best. Indescribable chaos that barely tidied itself up with a bow.
But it was a family dinner that the Queens and the Waynes elected to have with each other, the table big enough for both. While not sitting next to each other, they did stare at each other from across the table, as if two lovers separated by time and space, not by a long plank of wood. They smiled at each other every once in a while. She kicked him under the table and he kicked back. Problem was that Titus loved standing next to Alessia whenever she came over, even though Alessia would need to wash her hands every time she touched him. They said they weren't religious but they followed the slightly lesser known rules. It came with the territory of the big guy being your grandfather and your father who was never properly christened.
The older boys went outside to prepare their own homemade fireworks. The rest of them sat in the living room, Titus' head in Alessia's lap.
"Are you sure you don't want me to move him?" Damian sat by them. He trusted Titus completely, it's just...
"Yes, I'm sure, don't worry about it."
"Then you'll have to wash yourself again."
"I don't mind-"
"This is cute but you both have your lover's quarrel somewhere else?" Ollie raised an eyebrow.
Alessia nudged Damian, signalling to go upstairs.
"Not alone." Bruce eyed them.
"Honestly, Bruce, do you think we're going to have sex in front of Titus? If Damian can even get him off me, that is." They rolled their eyes, hand resting on the dog's head.
“We trust you crazy kids.” Steph grinned like a madman. She nudged Rena, who smiled a little more reservedly. Understandable. Youngest siblings.
They stalked their way upstairs, Alessia having to manoeuvre a little more than usual. She wore leggings under her cheongsam; she wore the usual type, higher on the neck, pankou knots running their way down her collarbone. It was a light turquoise, the slit slightly up her thigh.
"You look beautiful, by the way." He seemed to stutter through his words, less elegant than usual.
"Thank you." She responded shyly. Titus was still be her side, creating a barrier, as if he were her guard dog and not his pet.
Damian led her down a hallway that the girl had never seen before. Or maybe she had. Everything starts looking the same at some point in a gigantic manor like this. He held onto Alessia's hand like he was going to lose them in the winding ways.
Titus nuzzled open a large door, leading onto one of the lesser used balconies. A plastic tarp sat on the ground, with an easel propped up. The dog stood guard in one of the corners, staring the two teenagers down.
"Why here?" Alessia asked as they sat down onto the plastic, ruffling it between their fingers.
"You can see the fireworks that City Hall arranges but you can't hear them." Damian kicked the easel to face him, the back leg to her.
"That's the only reason?" They gave him a wary eye, seeing how the easel was placed.
"Yes, only reason."
"Not because your supplies are out here and you have been begging me for a portrait?"
"Of course not."
"Sweetheart." Their eyes filled with a sense of sorrow, hand reaching out to his. "Is tonight the night you really want?"
Their figure shifted, shaking slightly, arms wrapped around themselves. Tears welled, just at the thought of the night sky shooting bright.
"You look beautiful, why wouldn't I?" Damian peered from behind the canvas.
"I mean..." She gestured vaguely at the sky.
Titus barked at the door, ear pressed up against it. He raced down the hallway and came back in record time.
"Good boy." Damian petted the dog gently. "Titus says the fireworks have started already. The ones Harper placed and as far as I'm aware, we're too far from Gotham proper to hear it."
The first firework shot up in a flurry of green and blue, highlighting both their shining eyes as it took them by shock. Titus pushed Alessia closer to the balcony.
"I can't hear it...I really can't hear it!" She realised in awe. Swinging her legs over the railing, she settled there.
Damian had already primed his canvas, getting ready to just sketch out her figure. He took a photo in case he needed to continue and he was glad he did because his own loyal dog pushed him to the railing too.
"Titus. Titus. Titus, be reasonable." The boy grumbled as he dug his heels in.
He gave in and leaned against the same wood. Alessia grinned a full smile at him, playing with his hair between her fingertips.
"People keep wishing me prosperity, but really, who needs it when I've got you?" Their smile was fighting with the fireworks, brighter than any light could've been.
Damian felt it then and there, heart pumping out of his chest, wonder brought to his eyes. Perfection sat in front of him as his own, realer than any blessing or wish that was thought of him. They were right, he didn't need money or riches when his lifeline sat in front of him. His whole life, his love; he didn't need to fight anything anymore, he had them. He could fight but he wouldn't be alone. He was loved. This was all the gold he needed.
But then Titus started trying to create a barrier between the two. "Bad boy." Damian pushed him away gently.
"No!" Alessia looked offended for the dog and the subject of the question rested his chin on her right side instead. "You're the bad boy, Dami!" They playfully slapped his arm.
"Hey, what?"
"I'm joking." They whispered, as if Titus could understand. "I love you, Damian. Thank you for this."
"Always. Forever until eternity."
As his lover gazed into the sky, the whirring fireworks exploding into a litany of colours, at different speeds and different patterns, he couldn't help but stare at her. He had done wrong, yes, but this felt like his one and only blessing that he could achieve in his life. They were his good fortune.
And he'd never lose it. Not for as long as he would live.