Hello! Remember me?
It's been a while since I've posted anything. This was a departure from Young Justice and my first foray into the wonderful world of Damian Wayne and friends. It's likely very AU, since I don't know a lot of the back story. Do me a favor and leave a review if something feels off; that way I can make sure to correct it and avoid it in the future.
This was written for the wonderful and insanely-talented DreamRabbit as a surprise birthday gift. Happy Birthday, my friend! :)
As per usual, I own nothing. I'm just playing in DC's playground for a while. This is rated K.
Damian woke to the smell of something sweet, the warm scent flooding his nose and gently coaxing him awake. His eyes fluttered open and as he looked around his room, he noticed something quite out of place and he slammed his eyes closed again. Balloons. Cardboard signs. Confetti. And crepe paper. How tacky. And how irritating. For all intents and purposes he didn't have a birthday, therefore there was no point in celebrating one. He wasn't sure why they bothered with all of this.
The only one who could have done all of it without waking him was Dick. He hated to admit it, but the man was annoyingly talented where stealth was concerned. Damian rolled his eyes and climbed out of bed, noticing it was only half past seven. He tugged a pair of pajama pants and a clean tee-shirt from his wardrobe, heading to the bathroom for a shower before he went down to the kitchen to investigate.
Fifteen minutes later, he silently descended the stairs and stopped about halfway down, hearing hushed voices and laughter coming from the kitchen.
"Dick, you have to be quiet! He'll hear you!"
Damian sat down on a carpeted step and cocked his head, listening. The first voice was definitely Tim, and it sounded like the only voice that wasn't amused. Damian smirked slightly.
Figures.
"Lighten up, Tim. He likely heard us ages ago anyway. Knowing D, he's sitting on the steps listening to us right now."
Damian froze, then scowled. Steph. How did she do that?
There were a few laughs, then another voice spoke up. "She's probably right. Don't worry about it. I'd be more afraid of Alfred seeing the mess we've made," Dick added. A chair scraped across the tile floor and someone rifled through the silverware drawer.
Damian huffed and stood, continuing on toward the kitchen to confront everyone.
"Have any of you heathens even slept yet?" He pushed the door open and entered the kitchen, watching as everything came to a halt.
Steph was holding a container of frosting and a spatula, hovering over a chocolate cake cooling on the counter. Dick was standing in front of the freezer with an ice cream scoop in one hand, and Tim was sitting at the island across from Steph resting his chin on his hand, looking as bored as ever. Steph smiled brightly and went back to frosting the cake.
"Nope, not with the surprise we had planned. I assume you slept well, since we managed to decorate your room without you waking up." She glanced up and grinned.
"If you call that decorating, Grayson, you need to have your head examined. It's not festive. It's tacky." Damian approached the counter, watching as Steph quickly spread the white frosting over the cake.
"Like you would know how to decorate for a party," Tim muttered.
"Oh, come on, little brother. Don't be such a grouch." Dick placed a small stack of plates next to the pint of vanilla ice cream on the counter. "And if you hate this? Blame Steph. It was all her idea anyway," he laughed.
Damian looked at Steph, who paused a minute and bit her lip.
"You were behind all of this?" Damian asked. She simply nodded and finished frosting the cake. "Why?"
"I figured you'd never had birthday cake, let alone any kind of surprise party."
She picked up a small tube and removed the cap. "Isn't it a bit early for junk food?" He gestured to the cake and ice cream.
"That's exactly what I was thinking," said Tim, who was now rummaging through the refrigerator. Steph just shrugged and began writing something on the cake. Damian watched, somewhat curious, as she finished the word 'Happy' and moved on to 'Birthday'.
"Was my assumption right, then? You've never had birthday cake?" she asked. She looped the 'y' in 'birthday' and kept writing.
"No. I've never had a birthday cake. It's only sugar, flour and a few other things that aren't good for you, anyway. They're a waste of calories." He tilted his head as she finished writing his name. She turned the platter so he could see the cake right-side up.
It was round and covered in white frosting, with 'Happy Birthday, Damian!' written neatly in red icing.
"You're missing the point," Dick said. He stood next to his younger brother and affectionately clapped a hand on his shoulder. "Birthdays are about having fun and spoiling yourself a bit."
"You certainly spoiled my morning, all right," Damian grumbled. Tim barked out a laugh but said nothing. Steph directed a subtle glare in Tim's direction and went back to adding candles to the cake. Dick took after her, lighting each one.
"Candles? Please." Damian cocked an eyebrow and looked at Steph.
"For a genius, you sure don't know much about the most important stuff," she teased.
"Tt."
Dick finished lighting the candles and rubbed his hands together. "Now's the part where we get to sing." He grinned devilishly.
Surprise flashed across Damian's face before he narrowed his eyes at Dick, who merely winked in return. "If any of you even try to sing that song, I'll kill all of you in your sleep."
Damian's threat went unacknowledged as Steph made eye contact with Dick and smiled as they started to sing.
"Happy birthday to you.."
"Please don't sing. I hate this song."
Dick nudged Tim with his elbow and he quietly started to sing along.
"Happy birthday to you.."
"I asked nicely once. I won't be so nice the next time. Stop. Singing."
"Happy birthday dear Damian.."
"I hate all of you."
Steph darted around the island and stood behind Damian, hugging him tightly so he wouldn't get away. She noticed he didn't exactly try and break the hold, either.
"Happy birthday to you," she sang softly into his ear, grinning when Damian shivered slightly and gave her a sideways glare. "Now blow out your candles and make a wish, you crabby birthday boy."
"You want me to blow these out and make a wish, expecting it to actually happen? That's nonsense."
"At least humor us and blow out the candles, Damian?" Dick asked, holding up the ice cream scoop. "We're kind of hungry."
She relinquished her hold on Damian and ruffled his hair before leaning down over the cake. He glared at her in protest. "Fine. If you won't blow them out, I will." She closed her eyes and paused for a moment before opening them with a small smile and blowing out all the candles. Dick handed her a knife and opened the pint of ice cream.
"What did you wish for?"
Before she could answer, Damian spoke. "If she tells you, Grayson, it won't come true."
Tim, Dick and Steph all paused in stunned silence, turning to look at Damian.
"Just because I think it's all nonsense doesn't mean I'm naive."
Steph only smiled and put a piece of cake on the plate, handing it to Dick. He added a scoop of ice cream and handed the plate to Damian. "Here you go, you get the first piece."
She cut three more pieces and Dick added a scoop of ice cream to each plate. They all stood around the center island in peaceful silence, enjoying the sweet treat. Tim finished first and wandered upstairs to go to bed. Dick finished next and put the ice cream away. Steph waved him off and sent him to bed before he could help any more.
"I'll finish the rest, don't worry about it. Go on, get to bed."
"Fine," Dick said with a grin. "I'm going. Thanks for making the cake. It was excellent."
"Thanks for decorating. I knew your crazy ninja skills would come in handy one day."
Dick rolled his eyes as she gently pushed him out of the kitchen before rejoining Damian at the counter.
"Did you like the cake, D?"
He shrugged. "It was edible. But I have no idea why people eat ice cream with it. It makes everything soggy."
"That's why I always eat the ice cream first- it's the best part." She put her plate and fork into the dishwasher, looking to Damian for an acknowledgement that he was finished. He gave a polite nod and pushed his plate across the counter.
"Thanks."
"You're welcome. It is your birthday, after all. I should be nice to you." She winked and started wiping down the counters, brushing crumbs into the trash can.
When her back was turned, Damian swiped his finger through the frosting along the bottom edge of the cake. She turned back to the counter and caught him with his finger in his mouth. He pretended not to notice her and licked the frosting from his finger. From the corner of his eye he watched as she retrieved two spoons from the drawer and flicked one of them across the counter. He caught it and grabbed it, watching as she opened the nearly-empty container of frosting she had been using earlier. She scooped a bit of frosting from the container and tasted it.
"The frosting is the best part of a cake." She handed the can to him and leaned on the counter, watching him. "Go ahead. Try it."
He pulled a face and looked into the can. "This is definitely not sanitary, but whatever." He dipped his spoon in and scooped some out, following her example and tasting it.
"Well?"
"I can feel my teeth rotting already," he muttered.
He continued sitting at the counter eating frosting while Steph finished cleaning up. After a few minutes of relatively amiable silence, Damian set the spoon down and tossed the container into the trash can across the room. She whirled around, startled at the noise.
"I've created a junk-food eating monster, haven't I?" she asked as she sat down across from him.
"Hardly."
"So you've never had a birthday party?" She leaned her chin on her hand, her exhaustion starting to catch up to her.
"No. I was never given one, but I never wanted one."
"I really didn't like all the fuss, either. As long as I had ice cream, I was happy. I didn't need parties."
Damian grew uncomfortable at the direction the conversation was headed and changed the subject abruptly.
"What did you wish for?" He picked up his spoon again and nimbly twirled it in his fingers.
"I thought you said it wouldn't come true if I told anyone?" She bit the inside of her cheek at his fidgeting, and when he raised an eyebrow waiting for an answer she shrugged her shoulders. "I wished that you would like this impromptu birthday party and that you always remember your first piece of birthday cake."
The spoon clattered to the counter and he looked up at her. She was still leaning her head on her hand and smiling at him, but she wasn't scheming or teasing or plotting. She was happy, pure and simple. Damian nodded and Steph stood up, ruffling his hair again as she passed by. Instead of trying to dodge her hand like he usually did, he let her do it.
"I'm going to go get some sleep. Happy Birthday, Damian." She continued walking and got to the door before Damian spoke up. Although she could barely hear him, her smile widened when he said it.
"Thank you for the cake, Fatgirl."
Several Years Later
Batgirl sat atop the Wayne Foundation Building, her legs dangling over the edge of the roof, blonde hair gently moving in the breeze.
It was hot.
Thankfully the night had been a quiet one, as the unsavory characters in Gotham apparently didn't like causing trouble in this heat, either. Having no one to fight with, though, still left her hot, tired and a bit crabby. On her birthday, none the less. With nothing to do she had plenty of time to sit and think about how warm she was, if she had any ice cream at home, and if she didn't have any, where to get some at this hour. Of course, knowing her luck, the minute she considered hanging it up for the night something would come up and keep her busy.
With a sigh, she looked down at the twinkling lights of the city below and smiled.
"You forget I've been doing this longer than you, Robin. I know you're there."
Damian stepped from the shadows and stood behind her, looking down over her slumped shoulders.
"Figures. I knew you would be sitting up here while I finished with that bank heist."
"I knew you could handle it. You're not a kid anymore. Besides, it's hotter than hell down there," she chuckled. She patted the concrete ledge next to her. "Care to sit a spell?"
He sat next to her and a moment later she felt a sharp elbow jab her ribs.
"Ouch! What was that for?" She turned and noticed Damian holding a dish of ice cream out to her. "This is for me?" She took the dish and stared at it for a moment. "Thanks, but why the nice gesture?"
"Come on, I know you're not that dense. Last time I checked, today is your birthday, is it not?" He took a bite of his own ice cream and looked down, studying the city. "And I should be nice to you, since it's your birthday."
Steph looked down at her ice cream and smiled, her chest tightening a bit as she noticed the sprinkles. "Thanks. What kind did you get?" She peered into his dish, then back at hers.
"Mint chocolate chip."
"Oh, taking a walk on the wild side, are you? Last time I saw you eat ice cream, it was boring old vanilla. What changed?"
"There were only two flavors left, and yours didn't sound appetizing. And I thought it was more appropriate for you, after all." He took another bite and looked at her. "You aren't going to eat it?"
She shook her head and took a bite, frowning when she couldn't decide what flavor it was. "What kind is this? It tastes like.."
"Birthday cake."
"What?"
"It's birthday cake-flavored ice cream."
Steph felt the sting of tears in the back of her eyes as she took another bite. "I didn't know they made such a thing. But it really does taste like cake." She turned and held her dish out to him. "Want to try some? I feel like sharing," she teased.
He made a face and leaned away. "I'm not sharing with you. Mine tastes better anyway."
"But it's got all the flavor of cake and ice cream, but nothing is getting soggy. Use your spoon and try it. C'mon." She held the dish out to him again and he hesitantly dipped his spoon in to taste it.
"Not nearly as disgusting as I thought it would be." He took several more bites of his before speaking again. "Candles don't really work in ice cream, which is why you don't have any."
"Nah, I don't need candles all I need is.."
"Ice cream, I know. It's why I didn't get candles; I knew you wouldn't mind."
"When did I ever tell you that?" She glanced at him curiously as she continued eating her ice cream, noticing his was nearly gone already. The kid sure enjoyed his ice cream.
"I guess I can't expect a brain as old as yours to remember, but you told me that several years ago when you threw me the party in the kitchen at the manor. It was the same day you said you said you had to be nice to me because it was my birthday."
Steph thought about it a moment, remembering that morning with a smile. "I did say that, I remember now. But hey, you have to admit I'm nice to you most of the time, even when it's not your birthday."
Damian gave a half shrug and kept an eye on the street below. "Yes, you are."
A few minutes passed as they sat in silence, the sounds of the city filtering through the air below them.
"You know you don't need candles to make a wish."
Steph nodded. "I know."
"Did you make one?"
"No."
"You should. You shouldn't break tradition."
"Ah, good point. Let's see." She closed her eyes for a minute and thought hard. "There. Wish made."
"Good." He turned and looked at her. "I assume you aren't going to tell me?"
"I can't if I want it to come true, right?"
"Right."
She looked down at her dish and laughed. "Did you buy this while you were dressed like that?"
He ignored her question for a minute, finishing his ice cream.
"Well, did you?" She was grinning widely now.
"Perhaps."
"And what did the vendor say?"
Damian's hood cast a dark shadow over his face, but she could see the actual smile there, replacing his normal smirk. "You could say I made him nervous, until I told him I only wanted to buy some ice cream."
Steph tossed her head back and laughed. "I bet he'll never forget that, Robin buying ice cream at four a.m."
Damian nodded, noticing her dish was now empty too. "Did you like it?" He took the dish from her and stacked it in his own.
She nodded. "Yeah, I did."
"Good. Happy Birthday."
She looked up at him and smiled widely, not bothering to hide how touched she was that he remembered. "Thanks. Does this mean we have to go back to fighting and arguing now?"
He looked at the enormous clock on the building across the street and shrugged slightly. "It's still your birthday for another twenty hours or so, so not yet, no." He stood and looked down at her, seeing her sitting up a bit taller. "I'll meet you down in the alley."
He disappeared back into the shadows behind her, leaving her alone again, but this time with a smile on her face.
Steph thought about the wish she'd made three years ago. He had definitely remembered the birthday cake, but he'd also remembered what it's like to have people actually care about him. And the very idea he had wanted to do the same for her was incredibly touching.
It made her wish tonight that much more important to her. She hadn't wished for anything for herself, because she had everything she needed. She simply wished that Damian would never forget he had a partner, that he had an entire family, really.
Noticing the sky beginning to lighten, she stood up and turned to go home. She had a feeling they would both remember tonight, even if it was just a small dish of ice cream on a rooftop above Gotham. She chuckled as she realized she was quite fond of Damian, even when he was being his moody, irritable self.
His voice came through the comm piece in her ear. "Are you coming? I'm tired of waiting for you to climb down here. Perhaps I should have given you frozen yogurt instead, had I known ice cream would have slowed you down."
She sighed and rolled her eyes. "I'm coming. Way to ruin the moment, you twerp. Thought you were being nice to me." She fired her grapple into the early morning and hesitated a minute.
"I am being nice. Should I tell you what I was really going to say?"
"No, keep it to yourself, squirt."
"Fine. Just hurry up, will you? At the pace you're moving, you'll be ready for a retirement home by the time you get down here."
"I'm coming. Have to be careful. Don't want to break a hip at my old age."
Damian shook his head and smiled, just barely, as her laughter tickled his ear.
"You're lucky it's your birthday, or I would have been long gone by now."
She landed softly next to him and reached beneath his hood to ruffle his hair. He grabbed her wrist and pushed her hand away.
"Aww, I'm touched. Let's get out of here. I'm exhausted."
"Lay off the ice cream, then."
"Says the one who brought it to me."
"Somehow I doubt that's the only time you eat the stuff, considering how tightly that suit fits you lately."
"Ah. Now there's the Robin I know and love. Glad to see you're not going too easy on me."
"Someone has to keep you in shape."
"And you volunteered?"
"I wouldn't call it volunteering."
"I'm touched, kiddo." She grabbed him in a sideways hug and squeezed.
"Would you stop touching me, then?" He lightly shoved her away.
"Thanks for remembering my birthday."
"You're welcome."
"Does that mean you actually like me?" she teased.
"Tt."
She smiled and continued walking. "Good. I don't like you, either."
"Now that that's settled, would you stop talking?"
"One more thing. I think you should lay off the ice cream. Your suit looks a little snug."
She could feel the eye roll he gave her without actually needing to see it.