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Damian was up earlier than normal. He usually woke up at 5AM in the morning to start his day slowly. He would shower, eat breakfast already prepared by Alfred, drink a cup of tea, and finally start training right afterwards.
Maybe now was different because he knew what day it was and couldn't actually sleep at all. It was the fourth of September, his birthday. Damian never had issues not celebrating his birthday when he was younger, especially since his mother herself believed birthdays were worthless days, only to be celebrated by worthless people.
However, ever since he was sent to his father by his mother Damian very slowly warmed up to celebrating his birthday. Grayson celebrates his, so does Drake and even Todd, who tries to hide the fact he doesn't want his birthday to be celebrated, but he clearly still enjoys it. Damian himself never told anybody when his birthday was. Maybe his mother told his father, but he doubted that, since his father loves him and he would definitely celebrate it now. Not like the first few years when he was here.
He wanted to tell Alfred, his father, Grayson, anybody that it was his birthday on the fourth of September, but he didn't. Damian didn't know why exactly he didn't, he thought that maybe a part of himself felt like he didn't deserve to be celebrated like his siblings. He always wanted to do something nice for them, he painted Grayson in a circus with his parents, which was met with the tightest hug he'd ever received from him.
Damian helped Jason with missions for a week long without telling his father, and Jason actually said he appreciated his help and time fighting criminals and that they should do it more often whenever.
Drake was a difficult one to help out. So he asked him instead of trying to figure out what he would like. At first Drake refused his help, stubborn as ever, however eventually he budged and wanted a whole day with Damian to get to know him more on a personal level and that day did genuinely make them grow closer. Damian learned more about him than he'd ever had wished to know at first, but he was happy to have grown closer to Tim, since despite everything, Tim is still his brother.
For his father he, Richard, Jason, Tim, Alfred, Cass, Steph and Duke went all out with a surprise party with lots of close friends of his and even managed to invite an old friend turned villain, Harvey Dent. Damian really went out of his way to get him to come, telling him he didn't have to show up with everybody else, but just be there to have a talk with his father.
He didn't actually think he would come, but was met by Dent at the gates of Wayne Manor and he knew he and his father had a nice talk together. They all didn't know how Bruce wasn't aware of this planned surprise party, but they all suspected Alfred having something to do with it.
Before they went to sleep that night his father came to his room and thanked him for having convinced Harvey Dent to come over for his surprise party and gave Damian a hug almost Grayson-like.
Steph, Cass and Duke were surprisingly easy to please with custom made dolls of themselves, but almost chibi like. He first made one for Steph on her birthday because he figured she'd like one of her in her super suit, but Cain and Thomas were almost begging him to make them one as well, which he happily obliged to.
Pennyworth was the hardest to get a present for. He wanted to paint something for him, spend a day with him, go out with him or even plan a big surprise party for him. He even asked him, but he said he was already happy and had everything he ever wanted.
So he and Tim came up with the idea that Alfred should rest for a few days. The day of his birthday, their father decided to take over Alfred's duty as a butler of Wayne Manor and give him the day off. After that it was Grayson's turn, then Todd's, then Drake's, then Steph, Cass, Duke, and finally his.
Alfred still wanted to do his duties, but instead was able to rest fully for about a week and expressed his gratitude towards everyone every single day he was taken over as butler. They all definitely gained more respect for him as they did all struggle taking over his job, but were all happy to do so. Even promising that every month all of them would take over at least one day.
And now it was his birthday again. He always dodged the question when his birthday was, because Damian believed that despite his reforming, despite his close relationship with his family that he still didn't deserve a birthday celebration. He knew that they'd still want to celebrate him, despite his constant avoidance of talking about his birthday and he was grateful to everybody, but a part of him couldn't accept a celebration. His mother's impact must have been scratched so deep.
He stood in the kitchen now at 2:30AM as he couldn't sleep and didn't know what to do. Pennyworth usually woke up around 4AM to prepare everybody breakfast, so he might return the favor and make everybody breakfast himself, but didn't know what yet. He brewed up a pot of coffee at first and start his day of with a cup of coffee. Damian looked through the cupboards deciding on what to make for his family and stumbled upon flour and baking powder sitting neatly right next to each other.
He grabbed both ingredients and put them down, deciding on what to make. Damian then walked over to the fridge to grab some milk, butter and finally a few eggs. He put the ingredients down right next to the flour and the baking powder, before looking for cinnamon, sugar and salt. The final ingredients for easy pancakes. Though he didn't want the pancakes to be easy, he wanted to put some effort in and headed back to the fridge, grabbing some cream, blueberries, strawberries and finally raspberries.
He wanted to make a special breakfast for everybody. He took a while making the simple batter and cooking up the pancakes, though he did take small breaks and had a few more cups of coffee. It was now 3:37AM and he knew Pennyworth would almost arrive in the kitchen. He whipped the cream by hand, getting at least a little bit of 'training' in by working his arms and placed all the pancakes on four separate plates, but covering them up to keep them a little warm, having made a lot of them.
He set the big bowl of whipped cream with sugar added covered up in the fridge and a big bowl of the fruits he washed nicely right next to it as well. As he was about to go back to his room, satisfied. Tim walked in, not expecting to see his little brother up this early. "Hey, why are you up so early Dames?" That nickname he started to use after his own birthday never failed to make Damian smile a bit, he was truly happy they grew closer.
"Well I could ask you the same thing Tim, what are you doing up so early?" Damian tried to turn Tim's question back to him, but should have known better.
"Nuh uh, I asked you first." He grinned playfully, but was curious why Damian of all people, who always followed the same routine in the morning, was awake so early. He himself had an inconsistent sleep schedule, so he could be awake at any time, but never Damian.
"Well if you must know. I felt kind and simply wanted to give Pennyworth a break in the morning by preparing breakfast for everybody." Damian showed the plates of pancakes to Tim and also the whipped cream and fruit, leaving his older brother stunned.
"W-woah that's so lovely Dames! You made so much! And everything from scratch too? May I-"
Damian cut him off. "Tt, of course not. I want everybody to eat together." He had a smile on his face, which Tim thought was sweet.
"Fine, fine. Anything I can do for you then? I was looking to have breakfast myself, but I'll wait. If only I had a cup of coffee though."
Damian was in the middle of pouring him a fresh cup of black coffee right as he finished his sentence and handed it to him, he was met by a grateful Tim and they decided to stay in silence in the kitchen, not needing to communicate to enjoy each other's presence. Alfred arrived right as it was 4AM. "Ah, Master Timothy, Master Damian, what are you two doing up so early? I was about to start preparing breakfast for everybody."
Tim was about to say Damian already made breakfast for everyone, but before he could talk, Damian spoke instead. "First of all, good morning Pennyworth. We hope you had a proper amount of rest. And secondly." Damian glanced at Tim, still wearing a sweet, warm smile on his face. "Tim and I woke up early and agreed to make breakfast for everybody, so you could take it slow in the morning." Tim was surprised by Damian's words, but quickly regained his composure. He looked at his little brother who smiled at him and he decided to play along, but still giving main credit to Damian.
"Y-yeah we did, but Damian came up with the idea. I just followed his lead." Tim laughed awkwardly and began ruffling Damian's hair.
"Tt, I told u to quit that Tim," Damian said, mildly annoyed, but didn't move away" Alfred chuckled amusingly at the scene in front of him.
"That is rather sweet of you two and appreciate that lots, but you didn't have to." Alfred, despite not showing it, was truly happy to see them getting along after seemingly hating each other for the longest time.
"Nonsense Pennyworth. Tim and I appreciate everything you've ever done for us. So making breakfast in your place is nothing."
Tim pulled Damian closer. "Exactly. Thank you for always being here for us Alfred!" Tim smiled and right as Damian wanted to pull away, Alfred took a picture of them being so close together.
Tim laughed at Damian's feigned annoyance when Alfred took a picture of them, while the younger boy finally pulled away. "Tt, you can't just take pictures of us like that Pennyworth," He said with a smile and started speaking again after. "Anyways, since breakfast has been prepared you should get some more rest too." The butler nodded and excused himself back to his own quarters.
"Damian," Tim said his name with a little bit of confusion, but also something else that Damian couldn't exactly put his finger on.
"Yes, Drake? What is it?" Damian knew where this was going.
"Why did you-"
Damian cut Tim off. "Because I simply wanted to do something nice for Pennyworth. And since you were here I might as well have given you part of the credit for it. I was quite amused when he looked at us two with adoration."
Tim knew something wasn't right. Damian turned a new leaf, especially when it came to him, however Damian also wouldn't just break his closely followed morning routine to just make breakfast. "What's the real answer? The Damian I know doesn't just break his morning routine to go out of his way and do something like this, unless..."
It clicked for Tim, it must be someone's birthday, he went through everybody in his head. Bruce's was on the nineteenth of February, Dick's was on the twentieth of March, Jason's the sixteenth of August and his own was on the nineteenth of July. Stephanie, Duke and Cass also weren't born on the fourth of September and neither was Alfred. Then a thought popped back in his head. "I never noted it down. When is your birthday Damian?"
Damian froze and took a few seconds too long to compose himself, he knew Drake was smart, but why ask him this purely based on the fact he broke his routine. Tim must've known it was unnatural for him to break his routine, unless it was someone's birthday and Tim knows everybody's birthdays. He tried to push back a little bit.
"Tt, I told you before, so it's not my fault that you didn't remember." Damian lied, he never told Tim his birthday. He never told anybody, all that was needed was Tim to back off a little so he could retreat back to his bedroom. But of course Tim saw right through him.
"Hmm, no. You never told me, you never told anybody whenever the subject of your birthday comes up, I'm not an idiot Dames. When's your birthday?" Tim pushed back against Damian's stubbornness.
"It doesn't matter, okay! I-" Damian hesitated, he didn't know what to say at that moment. He got caught between a rock and a hard place. But Tim didn't push any further, seeing his little brother frozen up like this for the first time ever.
"It's okay Damian, I..." Tim really wanted to ask further, but the bond he had with Damian now was too precious to him to ruin by pushing too much or overstepping any boundaries. "I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable asking you. There's a reason why you never talked about it before and kept changing subjects to keep it from being the main topic of discussion and I respect that. But come to me when you need anyone to talk to okay? I know you prefer Richard, but I'm happy with how close we've gotten." Damian was stunned, but instead of staying in place he ran towards Tim and hugged him, burying his face in Tim's chest for the first time. "W-woah hey now! Are you really our Damian Wayne?" Tim joked, and Damian pulled away, unable to hold back a soft smile and jabbed his older brother in his side.
"You dick. Tt."
"Someone say my name?" As if on cue, Dick Grayson walked into the kitchen.
"Ah good morning to you Grayson, why are you up so early?" Damian asked, still close to Tim. But the eldest brother threw his question right back at Damian.
“Well Dami, I could ask you the exact same thing. With Tim I understand, since he’s always awake, but with you?” Richard then noticed the covered pancakes on the counter and also knew that something was up. “Whose birthday is it? You only do these things when it’s someone’s birthday.” Tim chuckled, noticing how Dick immediately knew it was someone’s birthday just by how Damian acted.
“Nobody’s. It’s nobody’s birthday Grayson.” He said while avoiding his gaze, Damian knew that his oldest brother would know the truth if he let him keep pushing. But he didn’t deserve a happy birthday.
“I’ve been awake quite early, so I am heading off to bed. Tim could you please come and get me once it’s time for breakfast?” He didn’t wait for an answer and headed back to his bedroom. Tim and Dick looked at each other, knowing there was something off about Damian.
“Tim, you know something. Don’t you?” Dick asked his younger brother, who was a bit nervous to be put on the spot like this.
“You’re really going to do this to me this early?” Tim chucked his coffee back first before responding again. “I thought the same thing as you when I caught him preparing breakfast to be honest. I never see him break his routine until it was somebody’s birthday, because he really goes above and beyond for all of us. So I started to go by process of elimination and remembered he never told us his birthday and that whenever any of us tries to bring it up he manages to strive the conversation a different way. So I asked him when his birthday was and he genuinely looked caught off guard and almost uncharacteristically didn’t know what to say in response to my pushback.” Tim poured himself another cup of coffee as he saw his older brother deep in thought.
“You know what, you’re right. I remember asking Bruce and he didn’t know Damian’s birthday either. I don’t want to be worried, but I may already be.” Richard went to Damian’s room to try and talk to him and Tim followed, curious if Damian trusted him enough to have another heart to heart. However, when they got to his bedroom, Damian wasn’t anywhere to be found. “The hell?” Dick looked all around his room and couldn’t find a trace of his youngest brother. His room was as tidy as always, with no exception. Tim put his coffee on Damian’s desk and grabbed some of his sketchbooks, curious if they could tell him anything about Damian’s birthdate. He flipped a few pages and saw a beautiful drawing of him, Jason, Dick and Bruce together, dated last year this day.
“Hey come take a look at this.” Tim called Dick over, hoping he could figure something out.
“Oh wow that’s beautiful… Last year, this day huh? Hey wait a minute, wasn’t that the same day he made all of us those gifts?”
“That day he was also uncharacteristically up early, I remember Alfred catching him and overheard them talk, because I went to get a drink.” Tim thought back further. “Two years ago it was the same, when he was at the dinner table by himself after making cupcakes for all of us. He sat at the dinner table and pretended to blow out a non-existent candle on his cupcake…” Back then Tim didn’t think much of it, but looking back now he knew something was up.
“Today must be his birthday.” He concluded, as there was no other explanation for Damian to act so out of character on a day other than that. The two brothers stood in silence in his room and they didn’t know what to think and wanted to find him.
Damian meanwhile was on his way to Wayne Enterprise, not to do anything bad to himself, but just to spend his birthday away from his family. He left the mansion the second he got to his room and wanted to go in his Robin suit, but figured someone would be able to track him down with ease. The sky was still dark as it was still super early and the air was cold, at least it felt that way sitting on top of his father’s building.
They clearly know it’s my birthday, so why did I run away? Why can’t this part inside me just accept that I deserve a birthday?
I’m wrong. I don’t deserve a birthday. I don’t. It doesn’t matter I grew and it doesn’t matter that I did anything right. This is the one thing I don’t deserve in life, besides happiness.
Damian curled up and stayed like that, he didn’t bring his phone because he’d been tracked by them or Oracle who had been in Europe for the last few years. So there was also no music for him to listen to. Instead he started to quietly hum his and Jon’s favorite song to listen to together. This was nice and he hoped back at Wayne Manor they would enjoy the breakfast he prepared despite his disappearance definitely noticed by either Timothy or Richard.
One thing he didn’t remember was agreeing to meet up with Jonathan today, as they planned to play some games, watch some movies and sleep over. It entirely slipped his mind and once the sun rose and it was early in the morning Jon heard Damian humming on top of Wayne Enterprises as he was already on his way, too excited to not come to Gotham this early. He had his backpack on with everything he needed, even some nice snacks for him and Damian to munch on, knowing that there were more than enough snacks at Wayne Manor, but the thought counted, right?
As he flew over to Wayne Enterprises he saw Damian curled up, wearing a sleeveless shirt and shorts. He didn’t know what to make of the sight, he knew Damian wasn’t crying as he didn’t hear him cry, nor was he angry or overwhelmed. Damian’s heartbeat also didn’t give anything distressing way, so Jon lowered himself, assuming his best friend would notice his presence. But he didn’t.
“Hey.” Is all he managed to say, right as Damian’s head shot up, looking who could be there.
“A-ah Jon, hello there.” He was an idiot, how could he forget their agreement of meeting up today, did he have that much fun last time that he completely forgot meeting up with his best friend? He wasn’t sure, but now he was here.
“What are you doing here Damian?” Jonathan tried to make small talk as he sat on the rooftop with Damian now, right in front of him and hugging his backpack.
“I’m simply here for a nice breath of fresh air.” Jonathan focused on Damian’s heartbeat, he knew his friend was good at covering a lie up, but nevertheless by focusing purely on his heartbeat he knew his friend was lying. However, he didn’t want to make that known to Damian just yet.
“It’s definitely nice up here, isn’t it?” Jon smiled warmly, the one that always had Damian return a soft smile to him. He opened his backpack and threw Damian some candy, taking some for himself as well. “You know Damian, I always like soaring through the skies early in the morning or very late at night, it’s just so peaceful. Maybe you’d want to join me on one of those one day?” He moved to sit next to Damian, leaning on his shoulder playfully.
“That’d be quite nice to experience one day Jon.” Damian leaned back against Jon and grabbed his hand, he was so lucky to have such a wonderful friend in his life. Jon squeezed Damian’s hand and Damian squeezed his as they sat together in silence for a while.
After a bit Damian fell asleep on Jon’s shoulder, still holding his hand, but just sleeping. “You really needed that huh?” Jon chuckled as he caressed Damian’s hand with his thumb, slightly blushing, thankful his friend was asleep. He stayed like this for the next couple of hours, not daring himself to move and accidentally wake Damian up. When he caressed Damian’s hand again he felt his own hand being caressed this time. He looked at the older boy who looked at him, almost sad. “What’s wrong Damian?” Jon gently squeezed his hand again.
“It’s my birthday today.” Damian averted his gaze, squeezing Jon’s hand tighter.
“It is? That’s awesome! Happy birthday Damian!” Jon enthused, but noticed Damian not returning that same enthusiasm. “What’s wrong?” Damian sighed at his question.
“I don’t know why I said that, I just feel confused Jon. I want to believe I deserve a happy birthday, but a part of me…”
“Believes you don’t deserve to be happy. Is that it?” Jonathan tried to finish what Damian was saying, as he saw his friend hesitate to continue. Damian nodded to his guess, so he wanted to make him happy or at least cheer him up a little bit. “Hey.” Jon made Damian look at him as he lifted his chin, unconsciously moving closer to his friend. “You deserve to be happy Damian. I understand you may not believe you deserve happiness, however I think you do! So if you disagree then I’ll be mad!” Jon jokingly pouted, but quickly grinned at Damian as he saw him hold back a smile himself.
“Tt, you’re such an idiot Jon.” Damian retorted, not removing Jon’s hand from his chin, as he himself also moved closer.
“But I’m your idiot!” Jonathan once again grinned, but was caught off guard as he felt Damian’s lips crash against his, he wanted to kiss back, but Damian immediately pulled away.
“Sorry about that…” Damian looked away as he curled up again.
“N-no no it’s okay.. I liked it. H-hey you got something on your face Damian.” Jon grinned as Damian fell for his trap and lunged himself at Damian, kissing him this time, now on top of him. This time Damian didn’t push him off as he kissed Jonathan back, they slowly got more into it as they kissed without any experience, but once it was a bit too much they both finally pulled away.
“A-ah that was too much…” Damian wiped his mouth, both as red as tomatoes.
“S-sorry Damian, count that as your birthday present from me.” Jon laughed, pretending to be hurt as Damian jabbed him in his side.
He grabbed Damian’s hand again, this time more lovingly. “We can stay here for a while longer you know?” Jon softly said. Damian humming in agreement.
“Can you text one of my brothers that I’ll be home with you later then? I feel better thanks to you.” Jon didn’t let go of Damian’s hand and texted Tim that he was with Damian and that they’d be back at Wayne Manor later today.
“Hey…” Jon looked at Damian as he was pecked on his lips, giving Damian a kiss back himself.
“You look pretty when you’re blushing Dami.” Jon grinned.
“You do as well Jon…” He snuggled up, remaining on top of Wayne Enterprises for a little longer.