Chapter Text
Chapter 1
When Damian found out that he would be attending school with Jon he had been…well…less than enthused. Jon, of course, was not the problem, it was the tedium of sitting through courses he had easily mastered as a young child, the being forced to “interact socially” with “his peers”(Tt- didn’t they know he was peerless?), and the disruption to his carefully established routine. Despite his protestations, however, he had been enrolled and placed in classes. The classes, of course, had proven to be as big a waste of time as he had anticipated, with teachers clearly ill-prepared to educate someone of his ilk. He often spent lessons casually making notes of fallacious statements or inaccuracies in the lesson and providing full debriefs to the teachers at the end of the day with corrections and cited sources. What had surprised him most, though, was the sheer number of ways his sensory system could be overloaded by rooms full of boisterous students who never stopped talking or moving or touching (why so much touching?) and whose lights were always on maximum outdoor level brightness. Was it ever even this bright in Gotham? He thought not. It was a far cry from his quiet homeschool with expert tutors with the league and then Alfred’s guiding hand at the Manor.
It constantly shocked him how easily and effortlessly Jon seemed to navigate all of it. Where Damian had seemingly no friends, Jon had what seemed like an endless pool of hangers-on who were drawn in by his casual charm and easy smiles. Damian always took a quiet pleasure in how Jon always searched him out, despite who was around him and how Jon always would look in his direction and smile, seemingly pleased just to see him there. Honestly and secretly, Damian was very pleased that he had been sent to West-Reeve and not Gotham Academy, where so many of his siblings had been enrolled because Jon was at West-Reeve. Damian would never tell Jon any of it, but he was happy that he got to spend time in the same space. Glad that he didn’t have to sneak in and pretend to be someone else when he wanted to keep an eye on him, though Jon had seemed to come more into his own lately and needed less watching over ever since his powers stabilized. It was still reassuring that they were so close, though.
While he couldn’t stand the amount of touching that his classmates casually doled out, Jon was the absolute exception. Whenever they saw each other, he found that he took an abnormal amount of comfort in Jon’s casual touches and endless enjoyment of everything. He felt himself relax and unwind a bit as Jon looped a casual arm around his shoulders and droned on about whatever inane thing had caught his attention at the moment. Every morning, he looked forward to Jon’s casual eye roll as Alfred dropped him off and approached. He would never admit it, but he enjoyed how Jon always included him, defended him, and ran interference when others dismissed him. Not that he needed it. He knew that he was an acquired taste, and he was fine with that. When Jon’s annoying “friend” attempted to poke fun at him, Jon was quick to cut her off at the knees. He wasn’t blind. He could see the questioning glances and furrowed brows as people tried to work out their connection and why they were so close. Jon didn’t care and would simply respond with, “He’s my best friend,” and a shrug, and that’s all there was to it.
While he generally did not appreciate the classes, he did appreciate the school’s approach to individualized learning, which allowed multi-grade leveled students to engage in classes together. This meant that occasionally, despite their age difference, he actually got to have classes with Jon. Those were his favorite, he could tutor Jon in what he needed to know from the course, and Jon was…there. That meant that he always had someone to work with and talk to and collaborate with. These were usually creative writing and journalism classes in which Jon excelled. Damian usually eschewed extracurriculars, but Jon convinced him to join a couple, like chess, the newspaper, and the art club. Jon also played a variety of sports, and Damian joined the archery and Kendo teams. As necessary evils go, school, with Jon, became a tolerable one.
By the time Jon entered the Upper School in 9th grade, and Damian entered his 11th, the queries and questioning glances disappeared. They were a unit, a package deal, and everyone knew that where one was, the other could be found not far off. Both in school and out of school they were inseparable, they spent evenings and weekends together usually patrolling, but sometimes just hanging out. They spent holidays and breaks together. They bickered and made up and bickered and made up. When tragedies came, they weathered them together, and when triumphs came, they celebrated together. They trained constantly, and as a result, they became not only better fighters but were completely in sync. They could read each other’s glances and body language as if they were having full conversations, which translated easily and fluidly into their day-to-day interactions. Often people remarked that it was like the two could read each other’s minds, and to be honest, sometimes it even felt that way to them.
For Jon’s part, he always felt like he was chasing behind Damian, who was always older, cooler, and smarter. When he had first met Damian…well…maybe not when he FIRST met him, but not very long after, he had been awestruck by Damian’s skill and intelligence and how he always just seemed to have an answer for everything. He worked hard to create opportunities to see him and be around him. He rushed to get to school early every day so that he could meet Damian as he arrived. He took advanced classes so that he could be together during class time. He always made sure that they ate lunch together and nagged Damian until he joined clubs and sports so that they could leave school at the same time. He always asked to go to Damian’s house whenever his parents were going to be out of town and had Damian over for sleepovers as often as he would come. He volunteered to attend WE events where Damian usually sulked in corners attempting to avoid people and played the part of his outgoing counterpart who drug what charm he could out of the reluctant older boy. He let Damian drag him out of bed all hours of the night to go on missions and train him incessantly so that he could become the best partner possible.
Perhaps his favorite time that they spent together was in their very own personal secret base and clubhouse, “The Fortress,” as they called it. They had long since dropped the “Attitude” from the title, even though they still did sometimes reminisce and laugh at their younger selves over the name. When they were in The Fortress, those were some of the best times of his life. They were able to be their best and most authentic selves. They didn’t have to watch their words or hide little parts of themselves away. He didn’t have to slow every movement down or pretend like he couldn’t see and hear everything going on around him all the time. He also loved the Damian he got to see when they were there as well. He was relaxed in a way that he never was outside of the fortress. He wasn’t afraid that he might hurt Jon or that Jon would reject him if he started ranting about whatever was on his mind. If Damian wanted to sit quietly for hours and just draw or read or even just shut down, he could do that. There were no pretenses between them, so every second of connection felt so real and genuine.
It was during one of those quiet moments where they were just enjoying each other’s company that suddenly, as Damian poked fun at him, breaking out into a laughing fit over one thing or another that Jon, without thinking of it, sped up, and everything slowed around him. He was confused as to why this happened. It had been at least 2 years since his powers had done anything of their own volition. He looked around, trying to determine the source of the glitch. He didn’t think that the noodles or rice in front of them had triggered anything. He didn’t see anything in the environment. Maybe something Damian did? He thought back to a few seconds ago when the smile finally broke through the straight face that Damian had been holding as he teased Jon and Oh! There it was, Jon thought, and it felt like a flush spread out across his entire body, starting in his torso and burning its way up to his face. The second the flush burned its way onto his cheeks, realization spread, and Jon dropped out of super speed, crashing to the ground in front of the chair he had just been sitting in.
Damian looked up at his friend, now crumpled on the floor, questioningly, “Jon? What…?” Then with a sigh, it seemed like his brain caught up, “Your powers are misfiring again? It’s been years. Are you sick?”
“I don’t get sick.”
“Poisoned? None of the criminals we encountered seemed as if they were the type to carry any type of Kryptonite. Let me scan you.” Damian shifted to the computer to initiate a full-body scan.
“No…” Jon whispered, clearing his throat as he sped over and gently laid a hand over Damian’s, “No, it’s nothing like that. I just fell.” He explained as his hand fell away.
“You just fell,” Damian restated, “While I would not be opposed to that explanation if you were falling, why would you not just stop yourself?”
“Ah,” Jon huffed breathlessly, “I…can honestly say that I did not consider catching myself at all.”
“Tt,” Damian tutted, rolling his eyes, “Sounds like you need more training, Corncob.”
“Ugh,” Jon groaned, “Not tonight D. It’s the first night of our Summer break! Let me enjoy at least SOME of my last summer before High School in peace.”
“I can give you a week, and then, we will resume training before we take off for the Tower.”
“Ugh, D, you always make it sound like you are in charge.We’re PARTNERS. We decide together.”
“That’s because I’m older, and I’ve been training longer. You’ve got years of training to do to catch up with my skills. And I let you make decisions all the time. Why do you think we are eating this swill and watching movies instead of patrolling right now?”
“D, it has BEEN years, and you being older is just…no. You wanted this as much as I did, admit it.”
Damian crossed his arms and looked away from the younger boy, “I will admit no such thing.”
Jon chuckled and ruffled Damian’s perfectly coiffed hair, then dodged away quickly as Damian swatted at him, “Okay, Birdboy, let’s finish the movie.”
As they settled back in with their popcorn and snacks on opposite ends of their small couch, Jon couldn’t help but think back to what had just happened and what it might mean. He was sure that something was changing, at least for him it was, though he was fairly certain that Damian didn’t see him any differently than he did 3 years ago when they met. In that time, they had become the best of friends and partners, and that was more important than anything else. Jon didn’t know if Damian would ever look at him that same way, but honestly, tonight was the first time that Jon had really looked, so, maybe it wasn’t Damian necessarily, maybe it was just…Jon mentally shrugged and backed away from prying too deep into his feelings and decided to just enjoy their time together.