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Damian leaned back heavily against the brick wall of the building he stood in front of. He was exhausted, having gone the past few nights without sleep while working on closing a case, his head pounded-
“Come on, pretty boy, why don’t you and I get out of here?”
-And the criminal he and Jon had just caught wouldn’t stop flirting with him. All in all, it was shaping up to be a spectacular night.
Damian ignored the man’s comment, it didn’t bother him all that much. This was Gotham, the people here were a ‘different type of crazy’, as Tim would say. Damian had been hit on by criminals plenty of times before, and he had seen the same thing happen to his brothers, it was just yet another thing that made Gotham so special.
Jon, however, never seemed to understand that. No matter how many times Damian explained it to him.
“Shut up.” Jon practically spat at the man. “He doesn’t want to go anywhere with you.”
“I wasn’t talking to you.” The man sneered.
Damian sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. He might have understood Jon’s annoyance if this man were a threat, but he wasn’t. He was in his early twenties, same as Damian, so he wasn’t old enough for the flirting to be creepy. Besides, he was currently handcuffed to a light pole. It wasn’t like he had the skills to get out of it and try to hurt Damian.
“Well I’m talking to you.” Jon retorted, leaning down to get in the man’s face.
The man looked over in Damian’s direction, Damian purposely pretended not to notice. “Think you can call off your guard dog, pretty boy?”
“Stop calling him that!”
“Fine.” The man smirked. “I can think of other things to call him.”
The man proceeded to let out a string of expletives so dirty that Damian was sure Jon would drop the issue, if only from the shock of it. However, that wasn’t what happened.
Instead, Jon grabbed the man by his collar, lifting him up off his feet. His eyes glowed bright red.
“Keep talking.” Jon’s voice was low in a way that Damian rarely heard. “Seriously, keep talking. See what happens.”
Damian pushed himself off the wall and walked over to Jon. He didn’t need any reports of Superboy threatening criminals. Technically, he wasn’t even supposed to be in Gotham thanks to the ‘no metas’ rule. If Bruce thought that Jon was overstepping during patrols, he might actually start enforcing it.
“Superboy, that’s enough.”
Jon looked over his shoulder at Damian, keeping one hand fisted in the man’s collar. “But he was calling you a- a…”
Jon’s words slowly drifted off, clearly unable to repeat the filth the man had said. His face was nearly as red as his eyes. Damian wanted to roll his own eyes, but part of him secretly found it endearing that Jon still got flustered like this, even as an adult.
Damian suspected that was also part of the reason that Jon got so upset when stuff like this happened. He was still very naive, and had an unflappable sense of justice. Of course a criminal continuing to flirt with Damian and saying inappropriate things to him, despite Damian clearly not reciprocating, would seem like a grave wrongdoing to him.
“I’m aware.” Damian sighed. “He won’t be saying those things anymore, will you now?”
The man shook his head wildly. He was very pale and sweaty, his eyes kept drifting towards Jon. “Nah, dude, I was just messing with you. It won’t happen again.”
“Good.” Damian nodded.
In the distance, he could hear police sirens. Took them long enough. Leave it to the GCPD to increase the likelihood of criminals escaping by waiting around for half an hour before coming to pick them up.
Damian nodded his head towards one of the nearby buildings. Jon got the message and dropped the man. He rushed over to Damian, picking him up and shooting into the sky.
They landed on one of the nearby rooftops. It was close enough to keep an eye on the criminal, just in case, but not so close that the cops would see them.
“You should’ve let me punch him.” Jon muttered as he put Damian down.
Damian shook his head and walked away. He perched himself on the ledge of the roof. “Save your strength for someone who deserves it.”
“He deserved it!”
“He didn’t even do anything.”
Jon was quiet for a long moment. So long that Damian glanced back out of the corner of his eye to make sure he hadn’t flown away.
“What if it had been me?” Jon finally said, prompting Damian to turn around fully and look at him. “What if someone had been speaking to me like that? Are you telling me that you wouldn’t do anything about it?”
Damian fought the urge to physically recoil at the thought. He, of course, couldn’t actually say how it made him sick to his stomach when people did flirt with Jon. If he admitted anything of the sort, then Jon would know that he… that he…
Damian shook that thought away. It was unproductive, at best. Besides, if he kept thinking about Jon and flirting and other people flirting with Jon, then his heart was bound to start racing. He didn’t need Jon hearing that.
“Depends.” Damian carefully replied. “In this hypothetical scenario, are you unable to defend yourself due to kryptonite, magic, or a red sun?”
“Uh, no?”
Damian shrugged. “Then you would be able to adequately handle the situation if you found yourself in a state of discomfort. There would be no need for me to step in.”
“Oh, okay.” Jon said, scuffing his shoe against the roof. “Listen, I think I’m going to call it. I’m tired.”
Damian just blinked at Jon in response. That wasn’t what was supposed to happen. Jon was supposed to stay with him, they’d barely been patrolling for two hours. Damian didn’t want him to go yet.
He would’ve stayed if you hadn’t been so cruel. A small voice whispered in the back of Damian’s mind. This is why no one wants to be around you.
Jon braced to take flight, Damian had to do something now before he did. He couldn’t say how he truly felt, but… but maybe Damian could give still give him some reassurance.
“I wouldn’t let anyone harm you.” Damian called out. “You know that, right?”
Jon slowly let himself float back down to the rooftop. “You could stand to say it more.”
Fair enough, Damian probably could. He stood up and marched over to where Jon stood. Once he was close enough, he put his hands on Jon’s shoulders, holding him firmly.
“Superboy, I swore to your father years ago that I would never put you in harm’s way.” Damian stated. His palms were sweating, and he was glad his gauntlets disguised it. “That includes preventing you from being harmed by other people. I will always protect you.”
“Uh, yeah, that- that’s…” Jon stuttered out. Damian could’ve sworn he was blushing, but it was hard to tell for sure in the dark. “I, um, know that.”
“Good. Now, would you like to accompany me to Bat Burger, or is it past your bedtime?”
Jon shoved at his shoulder. “Jerk.”
“I’ll race you.”
“Oh, you are so on.”
…
“On your right, D!”
Damian heeded Jon’s shout, dispatching the thug he was currently fighting and turning at the last moment to see another one running at him. Damian sliced his sword in an arc through the air, a hairsbreadth away from slicing the thug’s chest open. It forced the man to stop in his tracks.
“That’s no fair. Didn’t anyone ever tell you not to bring a sword to a fistfight?”
The man barred his teeth at Damian. They had all been filed into fangs. He lunged forwards again, seemingly not caring about the sword in his way any more. Damian side stepped and slashed out with his sword again, catching the man across the arm this time.
“Is that all you got, babe?” The man shouted. Damian cringed at the pet name.
The man ran at Damian again, seemingly unfazed. It was like he was hopped up on Bane venom. Which, considering the type of drugs he and his friends were producing, he might as well be. They were a very strong type of amphetamine that caused the user to feel as though they were indestructible- extra energy, higher pain tolerance, quicker reaction times. Based on how these guys were fighting, they must have all been on it.
Damian raised his sword again, striking anywhere that wasn’t vital. He was not going to win a fist fight against this man and he was out of all his useful tech, having used it on the other drug runners when the fight first started. His best bet now was to try to make the man pass out from blood loss.
Damian flipped away just as the man tried to grab his sword. The man smiled at Damian again, and, somehow, it was even creepier than before.
“Come on, baby, just give me the tip.”
Damian rolled his eyes, refusing to acknowledge the statement. He’d learned a long time ago that criminals usually just wanted a reaction when they spoke like this. He was trying to make Damian angry, get him to make a mistake in the face of his emotions. Well, too bad, that wasn’t going to work on-
Jon suddenly shouted from somewhere behind Damian. Damian turned around just in time to see him go flying into one of the warehouse’s brick walls. The impact created a decent sized dent in the wall, and Jon slumped to the floor. He tried to get up, but didn’t make it very far before falling back down to his knees.
Damian felt a sharp tug on his cape. His sword was knocked out of his hand. All of a sudden, he found himself on the floor with the man he’d been fighting on top of him.
Fuck. When did he become so easily distracted?
Damian tried to crane his neck to look at Jon, but the man grabbed his jaw and forced Damian to look up at him. His grip was bruising and the weight of him was crushing. Damian knew it wouldn’t be long before it became difficult to breathe.
“You’re a pretty bird, aren’t ‘ya?” The man leaned in, getting uncomfortably close.
Damian managed to shimmy a dagger out of his sleeve. Quickly, before the man could notice, he brought his arm up and stabbed the man right in the neck. He had gone a bit closer to the carotid than he had meant to, but he couldn’t quite bring himself to care. Not when this lowlife was standing between him and Jon, who was injured and fighting by himself at the moment.
Damian didn’t want to think about what would happen if he didn’t get to Jon soon.
The man became very still, and, for one glorious moment, Damian thought it had worked. Then, the man smiled his awful, fanged smile once more.
“How adorable.” The man pulled the knife out of his neck and threw it to the side somewhere. Too far away for Damian to reach. Shit. “You’re lucky I don’t wanna kill ‘ya.”
“Could’ve fooled me.” Damian wheezed out. Black spots dotted his vision as the man’s hand moved down to his neck.
The man laughed, it was a horrible sound. “Don’t worry, you’re too pretty to kill. Besides, you look real good underneath me. I think I’ll just keep ‘ya like-”
The man’s words were cut short as something knocked him off of Damian. Damian immediately pushed himself to his feet and grabbed his sword off the ground where it laid a few feet away. It was still a little hard to breathe, but Damian didn’t have time to waste.
Damian took note of his surroundings, noticing that every criminal in the warehouse was now unconscious. The man who Damian had been fighting was curled in a ball on the floor near the windows and Jon was standing over him. Relief flooded through Damian at the sight. Jon was fine, everything was going to be fine.
Jon grabbed the man and pushed him up into a seated position. He was barely conscious and had to lean against the wall to stay upright.
“You don’t speak to him like that.” Jon said through gritted teeth.
Without warning, he wound his fist back and punched the man straight across the jaw. There was an audible crack as his fist connected. The man groaned and keeled over to the side. He spit a wad of blood out of his mouth, a few of those revolting fanged teeth going with it.
Jon straightened back up. He was breathing heavily, his mouth still twisted into a scowl. The red glow of his heat vision seeped into the space around him and electricity crackled at his fingertips. He looked…
He looked beautiful.
Jon took a fistful of the man’s hair and dragged him to his feet. He pulled his fist back again, clearly not done.
“Superboy.”
Damian’s voice was little more than a whisper, but Jon heard him and turned around anyway. Jon always heard him.
The scowl melted off Jon’s face as soon as his eyes met Damian’s masked ones. He dropped the man back down to the floor and flew straight at Damian. He crashed into him so hard that he almost knocked Damian over, but Jon caught and rebalanced both of them at the last second. He wrapped his arms around Damian’s shoulders, hugging him tightly. Damian was quick to reciprocate, letting himself lean into Jon slightly.
It was over too soon, with Jon pulling away and moving his hands to inspect the damage to Damian’s jaw and neck. There must’ve already been bruises forming there because Jon got a hard look in his eyes that Damian knew only meant trouble. People tended to underestimate Jon’s wrath due to his bright personality, but his temper was one to be reckoned with.
“It looks worse than it is.” Damian tried to claim, despite the way his ragged voice betrayed him.
“You don’t even know how it looks.” Jon shook his head. “Are you alright?”
Damian nodded. “No major injuries, the bruising should go down in-”
“Not like that. I meant more, I don’t know, emotionally? With what that guy was saying to you.”
Damian just shrugged. He had long since gotten used to the bizarre things that Gotham criminals said. “I’m fine, Superboy.”
“Are you sure?” Jon asked. He was fidgeting with his cape as he spoke. “Because you can tell me if you’re not. I meant, he got really close to you, and was saying all that stuff. I think I would’ve been a little scared.”
Damian hadn’t been scared though, that was the thing. He’d been more concerned for Jon. Maybe that was something to be worried about, the fact that Jon’s well-being outweighed his own, but it only felt natural. It was the way it had been since they were kids.
Besides, the world could survive without Damian. Damian couldn’t survive without Jon.
“Fear is beneath me.” Damian said, raising his chin.
“Of course it is.” Jon muttered, an odd look passing over his face.
Shit. Damian had messed up again, hadn’t he? Jon was upset, and although Damian couldn’t fathom why, he knew Jon deserved more than a sarcastic response in return.
“Thank you. For trying to protect me.” Damian amended.
Jon grinned at him. “You protect me, I protect you, right? Come on, let’s get out of here.”
Jon grabbed Damian’s wrist and pulled him towards the door. He tried not to think too hard about how warm Jon’s touch made him feel.
…
“So, how about we go back to your room?”
Damian nearly choked on his champagne. “What?”
A quick glance over at Jon revealed him tilting his head in confusion. His wide, innocent eyes definitely were not indicative of the dirty thoughts his question had brought to mind. Maybe Damian needed to slow down on the drinks.
“You said we could go up to your room and play video games.” Jon clarified.
“After the gala.”
Jon let out a childish whine. “But we’ve already been here for hours.”
“Stop complaining, you knew how long this would be when you agreed to be my plus one.”
Jon opened his mouth, likely about to complain more, when Tim came barreling over to them. “Dami, I need you to go talk to Ms. Barri.”
Damian recognized that name as one of the investors in Wayne Enterprises. Anything W.E. related was delegated between Bruce and Tim at galas. Damian was not supposed to have to deal with any of it, apparently he lacked the social skills necessary for business deals.
“Are you actually pawning her off on me right now?”
“I wouldn’t if I didn’t have to.” Tim snapped, eyes darting around. “Unfortunately, my boyfriend got himself drunk on anti-freeze and is having a little trouble controlling his powers. I need to get him out of here before anyone notices.”
“You need some help?” Jon offered.
“Please. I locked him in the third-floor bathroom.”
“Geez, alright.” Jon nodded, then turned to Damian. “I’ll be back in time for us to play those video games, promise.”
“You better be.”
Jon winked at him before rushing off. Damian had to try very hard to pretend it didn’t make his heart race.
“So,” Tim said, forcing Damian’s attention back towards him. “Ms. Barri?”
“Father can’t do it?”
Tim sighed and glanced over to his right. Damian followed his gaze, only to find their father in his full Brucie Wayne persona. He was stumbling over his own feet, laughing too loud, grabbing on to whoever was closest to regain his balance.
“Fine.” Damian conceded. He supposed he had no choice since their father was pretending to be incapacitated and none of their other siblings were here. “You owe me.”
“I expected nothing less. Ms. Barri is over by the windows- dark hair, blue dress, can’t miss her. Try to be somewhat charming.”
Damian nodded and waved Tim off. Tim immediately made his way towards the door, leaving Damian to head over to Ms. Barri.
Tim had been right, for once, she was hard to miss. Damian had been expecting an older woman, but she was young, probably the same age as him. She had curly dark hair, and light eyes, and was wearing a tight blue dress with a slit up the side. Damian didn’t go for women often, however, if he were going to, he supposed it would be someone who looked like her.
“Ms. Barri?” Damian asked as he approached, extending a hand. “Damian Wayne.”
“Oh, Mr. Wayne.” Ms. Barri shot him a confused expression as she shook his hand in greeting. “I was expecting…”
“My brother, I am aware. Unfortunately he is… indisposed at the moment.”
“Well,” Ms. Barri smiled. “I must admit, this is a pleasant turn of events.”
Damian raised an eyebrow. “Is it?”
“Yes. I hope this isn’t too forward, but I’ve been trying to come up with an excuse to talk to you all night.”
“Why would you want to come speak to me?” Damian asked. “Your business tonight was with my brother.”
Ms. Barri reached out, running her fingers down his bicep. “Maybe I didn’t want to speak about business with you.”
Alright, that was certainly not what Damian had been expecting. He contemplated what to say, how to let her down easily. Being too harsh could ruin his chances of getting an investment from her.
“Ms. Barri, I am flattered-”
The rest of the words died on Damian’s tongue as someone threw an arm around his shoulders and pulled him back a bit, forcing Ms. Barri to drop her hand from his arm. Damian looked to his left and found Jon standing there. He was glaring at Ms. Barri as though she had somehow personally offended him.
“Sorry to interrupt.” Jon said, despite not looking the least bit sorry. “I need to borrow Dami.”
“Dami?” Ms. Barri quirked her lip at the nickname. “Cute.”
Jon dragged Damian away before he could respond. Damian wondered what could’ve happened to inspire such urgency. Maybe he and Tim had failed to get Kon out of the gala unnoticed, that would be very bad if so.
“What is so important that you had to interrupt a business conversation?” Damian asked, pulling away from Jon.
Jon stopped walking, eyes darting to those around them. They were still in the main hall where the gala was being held, but there were not many people where they stood by the far wall. They were a great deal of distance away from Ms. Barri now.
“Some business conversation.” Jon muttered under his breath, but Damian caught it.
“Was there something you needed me for? Is the Clone alright?”
“Yeah, he’s fine, Tim’s driving him back to their apartment.”
“Then what possible reason could you have for-”
“Why were you letting her touch you?”
Jon’s question stopped the lecture Damian had been building up to dead in its tracks. What the fuck was Jon talking about?
“What?”
“She was touching your arm.” Jon stated as if Damian hadn’t been there. There was a little bit of red seeping into the violet of his irises. “You barely let anyone touch you, and she’s a stranger.”
That wasn’t true, Damian let Jon touch him. He liked when Jon touched him. However, he did see Jon’s point. Normally Damian wouldn’t let some random woman touch him, but there were certain appearances that had to be kept up in public.
“Well, I couldn’t very well throw her off of me, now could I?” Damian retorted.
“You could’ve done something.”
“Why do you care?”
“I just…” Jon hesitated, his eyes slowly returned to their normal color as his features softened. “I just didn’t want her making you uncomfortable.”
Damian sighed, the annoyance that had been building in him slowly seeping away. Jon was just being sweet. He had been well-meaning, if a bit heavy-handed.
Besides, Damian would be lying if he said the thought of Jon being so protective didn’t send sparks through him.
“I appreciate that, but she is an investor in my father’s company.” Damian reminded him. “You can’t overreact like that with people like her.”
“So, she should just get to treat you however she wants because she’s important?”
God, Damian knew he could be stubborn, but Jon really gave him a run for his money sometimes. If there was something he was convinced of, there was little to no chance of changing his mind. This seemed to be especially true when it came to anything involving Damian, and, lately, anything involving Damian and flirting. Damian still hadn’t quite managed to figure out exactly why that was.
“I am not saying that.”
“Then what are you saying?” Jon nearly shouted, loud enough to draw the attention of the few people nearby. “I mean, did you want to sleep with her? Is that why you’re upset with me?”
“What? No.” Damian wrinkled his nose at the suggestion.
“You… didn’t?” Jon asked, his tone softening.
“Do you realize what a bad habit that would be to get into? Exchanging sex for business investments?”
“But, she was hot.”
Huh, maybe that was why Jon had gotten so upset when he’d seen Ms. Barri flirting with Damian. Perhaps he found her attractive and wanted to…
No. Damian shook that thought away. It would only serve to make him upset.
“She was, I suppose,” Damian said carefully. “But she…”
But she wasn’t you.
“She just wasn’t my type.”
“Oh, well, that’s, um, good to know.”
Damian rolled his eyes at Jon’s clumsy words. He surveyed the scene around him, people were starting to leave. He really should get back to Ms. Barri to continue their business conversation (although, thinking about it now, they had never even really started it). Tim would be quite mad if he found out that Damian had practically ditched her.
However, Damian was only human and the idea of Jonathan Kent in his bedroom was much more appealing. Even if it was only to play video games.
“Would you like to leave? I believe there are some video games waiting for us.”
Jon’s face lit up. “You read my mind.”
Yeah, fuck it, Tim could be mad at him.
…
Damian didn’t really understand the point of going out to a bar.
That wasn’t just him being a ‘buzzkill’, as Jason would put it. There truly was no point. Damian never had more than one or two drinks, too paranoid of not having all his faculties in case of an emergency, and alcohol had no effect on Jon.
However, Jon had wanted to go. Something about doing ‘normal’ stuff for once, and a local band he liked playing here, and how they didn’t need to drink to enjoy themselves at a bar. Damian heavily disagreed with that last point, not seeing how anyone could enjoy this many people and this much noise without being heavily intoxicated, but apparently his opinion didn’t matter much.
Damian took a few steps away from the wall he’d been standing by and looked through the crowd for Jon once more. He’d been gone for nearly fifteen minutes now getting them drinks- once again, pointless, however, there had been no use in arguing. Jon had claimed that it was part of the experience, completely contradicting his earlier point that they didn’t need to drink at a bar.
Damian sighed and began pushing through the crowd, searching for Jon. He eventually found him, leaning on the bar, talking to some guy.
Damian felt like he’d been punched in the gut. He knew he shouldn’t have, Jon could talk to whoever he wanted, but that knowledge didn’t make the hurt lessen. Jon had dragged him out to this bar, knowing Damian hadn’t really wanted to go, just to leave him alone to flirt with some guy.
Damian was about to turn around to leave when something caught his eye. The man had put his hand on Jon’s lower back (too low, in Damian’s opinion), and Jon flinched.
Damian couldn’t see Jon’s face from this angle, but now that he knew to look for it, he immediately noticed how tense Jon’s posture was. Jon shoved the man’s hand away, only for the asshole to not get the hint and lean in closer.
What the fuck? Damian moved closer, angling himself so that he could see both Jon and the man’s faces in the mirror behind the bar. The music made it difficult to hear, but a mixture of lip-reading and Bat-training allowed Damian to pick up their conversation.
“Come on, don’t be a tease.” The man said. Damian could now see that he was an older guy, much too old to be flirting with anyone in their twenties.
“I told you to get away from me.”
Jon shoved at the man, clearly trying to get some space between them. Unfortunately, the man didn’t budge.
Now, if Jon really wanted to, he could’ve picked up the man and thrown him all the way to Australia, Damian knew that. However, doing so would have most definitely revealed his secret identity. He was supposed to be a civilian right now, which meant that he couldn’t do much to defend himself.
“Just let me buy you a drink.” The man closed the small distance Jon had managed to create, his hand going way too close to Jon’s ass.
Jon immediately smacked his hand away. “No.”
“Fine, we can skip the drinks and you and I can just go somewhere more private.”
Damian’s blood boiled, both at the insinuation and this asshole’s refusal to leave Jon alone. Damian wanted to step in, but was not sure that he would be able to control his temper if he did.
“Yeah, no thanks.”
The man grabbed Jon’s upper arm, hauling him closer. “It wasn’t a question.”
Oh, absolutely not. Fuck this.
Damian rushed forward, reaching the bar in a few long strides. He grabbed the hand that was on Jon’s arm and yanked it backwards. At the same time, he took a fistful of the man’s hair and used it to smash the man’s face into the solid wood of the bar top.
The man screamed, as did the bartender, and a few people around them. There was blood on the bar, leaking out of the man’s nose and mouth. Damian had made sure to use enough pressure to break his nose, at the very least.
“I’m sorry, what was that you were saying to my friend?” Damian asked, wrenching the man’s arm behind his back in a painful position.
“Nothing!” The man squeaked out, confidence gone. “I wasn’t saying anything!”
Damian shoved his face into the bar top more firmly, making the man cry out in pain. “Really? Because I could’ve sworn I heard you-”
“Dames.” Jon cut Damian off, his voice filled with urgency.
Damian looked up and met Jon’s eyes. He followed his gaze to the left, where security was rushing over. Not that a couple of lazy bouncers at this shitty bar were any real threat, but he didn’t really want to see dozens of stories about himself getting arrested in the tabloids tomorrow morning.
Although, he would gladly spend a night in jail if it meant keeping Jon safe.
Jon, however, didn’t give him any more time to contemplate. He grabbed Damian’s hand and ran towards the emergency exit, forcing Damian to pick up his pace as well. They made it out the door and continued running. After a few more blocks, a safe enough distance from the bar, Damian pulled Jon into the closest alleyway.
“Holy shit.”
Jon braced his hands against his knees. He was out of breath for some reason, even though someone of his biology shouldn’t have been from that short of a run. Damian wasn’t out of breath, and he was fully human.
“Are you alright?”
“Yeah, yeah.” Jon waved him off, straightening up. “It’s not like he could’ve actually hurt me.”
“Tt.” Damian supposed it was true, but that didn’t make him any less angry, thinking about the way that man had spoken to Jon. Had touched him.
“Rao.” Jon shook his head, staring at Damian in awe. “I can’t believe you broke his nose for flirting with me.”
“That was not flirting, it was harassment.”
Jon raised an eyebrow. “You call it flirting when people speak to you like that.”
Damian couldn’t help but scoff. “No one has ever threatened to force me to go somewhere ‘private’ with them.”
“My point is, why is it flirting when it’s towards you, but it’s harassment when it’s towards me?”
“I just told you why.”
“Dames.”
Damian huffed at Jon’s disapproving tone. Technically, he had told Jon the reason. It was true that no one had ever threatened Damian as explicitly as that man had just threatened Jon.
Still, he knew that that wasn’t what Jon was getting at. He was hinting at something more along the lines of Damian being careless regarding his own well-being.
“Come on, Damian.” Jon sighed. “You lecture me about going overboard when someone flirts with you, but then you go and break this guy’s nose? Was what he said to me really so much worse than the things people have said to you?”
Yes, it was. Damian wanted to argue. It was worse just because it was said to Jon. Of course, Damian couldn’t actually say that without seeming like a huge hypocrite.
Jon was looking at him expectantly, waiting for a response, but Damian didn’t have one. What was he supposed to say? That it was worse because it made him furious to see someone make Jon so uncomfortable? That even if that man hadn’t been a creep, if he had been young and sweet and Jon had reciprocated, Damian still would’ve been upset?
Why did Jon even care? Damian was sure that if he asked him the same question, Jon would say that it was worse when people flirted with Damian, making him just as much of a hypocrite.
“You do go overboard.”
“But you get it now, don’t you?”
God, Damian wanted to shake him. No, he didn’t ‘get it’. Jon was overly protective because of his morals, Damian was overly protective because of his traitorous heart.
Unless…
No, Damian immediately forced away those thoughts. There was no way that Jon had gotten upset all those times that all people had flirted with Damian because he was, what? Jealous?
Except that, with the way Jon was looking at him right now- all bright, lilac eyes and flushed cheeks- Damian wondered if that, somehow, might actually be the case.
Maybe it was the lingering adrenaline, or the excitement from the sudden realization (as impossible as it was), but Damian didn’t seem to be able to hold himself back any longer.
He grabbed Jon by the front of his shirt and crashed their mouths together. He felt Jon gasp against his lips for a moment before reciprocating. His hands went to Damian’s waist, pulling him closer until they were flush against each other.
Damian felt a bit like he was dreaming, like he would wake up at any moment and Jon would fade away. Instead, however, Jon only felt more solid against him as they kept going. Jon kissed him so hard, held him so tightly, that it was dizzying.
Finally, Damian had to pull away to breathe. “Maybe we could continue this somewhere that is not a dirty alleyway?”
Jon nodded eagerly. He wasted no time lifting Damian up and shooting off into the air. In mere minutes, they were standing in Damian’s apartment and Jon was kissing him once more.
“Someone’s impatient.” Damian teased.
“Very.”
Damian blinked and found himself in his bedroom. Jon was standing in front of the bed, smirking at him. Damian raised an eyebrow in return.
“What?” Jon responded to Damian’s silent question. “I’m too tall for us to do anything on your couch.”
“Tt.”
Damian stepped forward and put a hand on Jon’s shoulder. He pushed Jon down so that he was sitting on the edge of the bed. Jon stared up at him, pupils blown wide. Damian’s own heart stuttered at the sight.
Jon suddenly reached out and hooked his fingers in Damian’s belt loops. He pulled Damian forward so that he was now standing between Jon’s legs. Damian caught himself with the hand still on Jon’s shoulder.
“By the way,” Jon said, hands roaming up and down Damian’s sides. “You never answered my question from before.”
“Which was?”
Jon’s hands on his body were making Damian feel a bit heady. He wasn’t sure he could remember what Jon had asked him if he tried.
“Do you get why I don’t like it when people flirt with you now?”
Oh. That question.
“No, not at all.” Damian shrugged, just to be difficult.
“Asshole.” Jon’s hands slipped beneath his shirt. “Are you really going to make me spell it out?”
Damian ran his hands through the curls at the nape of Jon’s neck in return, pulling slightly. “If you’d like me to understand, then yes.”
“Fine.” Jon’s gaze was intense, fully fixed on Damian. “I don’t like people trying to take what’s mine.”
Damian’s breath hitched. “Yours?”
“Yeah.” Jon grabbed his hips to pull Damian even closer, and squeezed tightly. “Mine.”
A million thoughts swirled around Damian’s head. Most of them involved Jon and this sudden possessiveness. Although, he supposed it actually wasn’t all that sudden. He thought back to every time someone had flirted with him in Jon’s vicinity. The looks Jon would shoot at them, the words he would spit out, the way he would get so aggressive in an effort to protect Damian.
Jon… Jon had been jealous this whole time- he’d wanted Damian this whole time- and Damian hadn’t noticed. He could’ve had this months ago, if he’d only paid attention and hadn’t let his own insecurities blind him.
Well, he certainly wasn’t going to risk Jon getting away from him now.
“Does that mean that you are mine in return?”
Jon smiled at him. That bright, genuine smile that made him look every bit like the celestial body that fueled his powers. Damian would never get tired of seeing him smile like that.
“Dames, I’ve always been yours.”
Damian’s heart raced, his face burned, and his thoughts melted together into one big blur. He would’ve been worried that he was having some sort of breakdown if everything didn’t feel so right.
“Yours.” Damian agreed. “Mine.”
“All yours.” Jon whispered. He tugged on the hem of Damian’s shirt. “Can I? Please? I want to see more of you.”
The only thing Damian could do was nod in response. The fact that Jon was asking Damian for permission was completely intoxicating. He was easily one of the most powerful beings in the universe, he could do whatever he wanted, yet he didn’t. Instead, he was sitting here staring at Damian with huge, violet eyes and saying please. It was almost too much, but in a good way.
Damian helped Jon pull his shirt off. Jon’s eyes went wide as he took in Damian’s exposed chest. It was nothing he hadn’t seen before, and Damian still had most of his clothes on, yet it somehow felt very intimate.
Jon leaned forward a pressed a kiss to a small scar right above Damian’s hipbone, never once breaking eye contact with Damian as he did.
Fuck.
Damian pushed Jon down on to the bed with a hand on his chest. He crawled on top of Jon and kissed him, hard. Damian wasn’t always good with words, with expressing the things his heart seemed to scream, but he knew Jon would understand everything he wasn’t saying in this moment.
Jon pulled back slightly. He reached out and cupped Damian’s face. Despite the power he held in his hands, his touch was feather-soft. It always was with Damian.
“Fuck, Dami.” Jon whispered breathlessly. “You’re so beautiful.”
Jon flipped them, so that he was now on top of Damian. He pressed open-mouthed kisses to Damian’s jaw and neck, biting down a little in certain places. Damian knew it would bruise, and would probably be a bitch to cover up, but he couldn’t quite bring himself to care about anything in this moment other than the feeling of Jon against him.
“Can I tell you something?” Jon asked in between kisses.
“Mhm.”
“I have…” Jon started, then paused to pepper little kisses against Damian’s cheeks and mouth. “The biggest crush on you.”
“Really?” Damian raised an eyebrow, even though he knew Jon couldn’t see it with the way he had buried his face against Damian’s neck. “I couldn’t tell.”
Jon laughed into Damian’s skin. It was the sweetest sound the entire universe.
Yeah, Damian was never letting Jon get away from him again.