After his last encounter with Damian, Wally had been fairly certain that, if he had anything to say about it, he'd be seeing the kid of little as possible. Sure the kid had helped him realise his feelings for Dick (and Wally still had no idea how that had happened), and sure, now that he was dating Dick, awkward family dinners were bound to happen, but…Damian was scary. He was like one of those creepy, possessed kids you found in horror movies — replace one of them with him, and no one would ever notice the difference.

So yeah, he'd been pretty sure that he and Damian would not be having any bonding experiences anytime soon. Which was why he was totally questioning his sanity right now, as he stood awkwardly in the doorway of Damian's room, waiting for the demon child to lunge at his jugular, or however he usually greeted people.

Damian turned towards him slowly, his eyes narrowed, and Wally considered bolting. He was a speedster; he could totally make it out of here before Damian realised he was there.

"West."

Well — there went that plan.

"Damian. Hey," he greeted. "Uh…so…what are you doing?"

Damian pointed wordlessly at a nearby canvas.

"Oh…that's nice." Well, it really wasn't, because…Christ, was that a graveyard?

A part of Wally wondered why the hell the kid was painting a graveyard, but then the other, more rational part of him remembered that this was Damian Wayne. So of course he was painting a graveyard — what else would it be, a flying unicorn?

"It's the cemetery where my grandparents are buried," Damian told him, following his gaze to the canvas. "I enjoy visiting it. After all, I suppose that someday it will be my final resting place."

"Oh. That's…deep."

Damian snorted lightly. "Hardly. It's the Wayne family cemetery; I am a Wayne. It's no mystery."

And okay, yeah, a change of topic would be great right about now.

"Uh…speaking of the Wayne family…Dick!" Wally shuffled awkwardly. "Let's talk about Dick."

Damian's eyes narrowed. "What about Grayson?"

"Well…" Wally hesitated, and then continued. "Remember how we had that conversation about my…feelings for Dick?"

Damian sighed, impatient. "Yes, you assured me that you were not trying to murder Grayson." His eyes narrowed suspiciously. "I do hope you haven't decided to go back on your word. If you attempt to hurt Grayson, I will kill you. Slowly. And painfully."

Wally glanced back at the canvas, stared at the graveyard for a few moments, and then dragged his eyes away. Yeah — he had no doubt Damian was fully capable of doing just that.

"I'm not going to kill Dick, kid," he promised. "I get where you're coming from though — if anyone tried to hurt Dick, I'd be right there with you, making sure they got what they deserved."

Come on, that had to be enough, right?

"I doubt it."

Oh who was he kidding, of course it wasn't enough.

"You're too soft," Damian continued, "and rather useless in my opinion. Now, please get to the point; you're wasting my time, and I have half a mind to sic Titus on you."

Wally vaguely remembered the large dog that had greeted him at the doorway when Alfred had let him in, and swallowed heavily.

"Right," he coughed, "the point is…well, uh, remember how you accused me of planning to lure Dick into a dark forest, and I said, 'well actually, I think I'll just take him to see a movie', or, uh, something along those lines…"

Damian's jaw clenched. Wally hurried on.

"…so yeah, that's what I did! I took him to see a movie, I mean. So…uh, you're intimidating as hell, has anyone ever told you that?"

"You came all the way here, and interrupted my work, so that you could tell me that you took Grayson to see a movie?!" Damian took a threatening step forward, his eyes flashing dangerously. "Do you think I am a fool West?! Grayson is your long-time friend, and considering the fact that Grayson cannot get through a week without suggesting, "a disney movie night Little D, what do you say?!", of course you have gone to see movies together!"

It was disturbing how well the kid could mimic Dick's voice.

"Well yeah," Wally hurried on, "we've seen heaps of movies together. But this was…different. Because we weren't going as friends. I asked Dick out. And he said yes."

Damian rubbed his forehead. "Is there a point to this?" he growled. "I am not a fool. If you went to the cinemas together, then obviously you 'went out'."

"No — oh come on, you cannot be this oblivious — "

Wally paused, and studied Damian for a moment. Because, holy crap, Damian was only ten. And it was just his luck that the one thing the kid didn't understand was how relationships worked.

"Right, look," he sighed, "what I'm trying to say is, Dick and I are an item now." He paused. "Er, we're in a relationship." He paused again. "A couple." Another pause. "…You understand what I'm saying, don't you?"

Damian looked completely baffled so no, obviously he didn't understand. Wally resisted the urge to groan.

"You're...marrying Grayson?" Damian's looked utterly bewildered, and it would have been endearing if it were any other kid.

"No," Wally replied slowly. "Er, not right now anyway. We only just started dating. But…someday maybe."

"I…do not understand." Damian squinted slightly. "You…realise you cannot procreate with Grayson, don't you?"

Wally winced. "I don't want to, uh…procreate…with Dick," he said, and Christ, if why was this so hard to explain to a kid who knew what 'procreate' meant?! "I just want to date him. He makes me happy…and I'm pretty sure I make him happy too."

Damian scowled. "Well I make him happy, but that doesn't mean we share a romantic connection! What is the meaning of this West?!"

"Oh come on!" Wally groaned. "There doesn't have to be an ulterior motive in every relationship! What about your — "

He paused. He'd been about to ask 'what about your parents', but maybe that wasn't the best idea. After all, Talia al Ghul and Bruce Wayne weren't exactly Romeo and Juliet. Or…anything close to what you'd consider a loving, stable couple.

"…Look sometimes people just want to be together because they care about each other in a…special way," he said at last. "Yeah, you make Dick happy, but that's because you're his brother, and he loves you. My relationship with him is different."

"Yes," Damian agreed, and Wally almost sobbed in relief because, yes, he finally understood!

"You are not his brother."

Well — it'd been a nice thought.

"No!" Wally snapped. "It's because I'm in love with him! I — " He paused, breathing hard. "I…I'm in love with Dick."

Damian stared blankly.

"I…I don't just care about him Damian. I love him. And…I need go talk to Dick, right now."

He turned towards the doorway, and Damian let out a cry of protest.

"West, where are you going?!" he demanded. "Explain this to me now!"

"There's nothing to explain," Wally replied. "I…love Dick. I want you to know that I would never hurt him. And if you could support our relationship, that'd be great, because your opinion means the world to Dick."

With that, the sped off.

"Well of course it does," Damian muttered, scowling at the empty spot where Wally had once stood. "And West, I'll say it again: if you hurt Grayson, I will destroy you."

...

Dick cocked his head to the side. "So," he said slowly, "speaking to Damian helped you realise that you love me."

Wally shrugged. "What can I say. Your little brother is a total love guru."

Dick blinked, his expression a cross between baffled and pleased, and leaned in to kiss him.