A/N- This was supposed to stay on track with one thing, but it just got away form me. Enjoy anyways!
The aroma of a freshly cooked dinner filled the room as Jason sat at the table awaiting Bruce's arrival along with his brothers. The evening had been a quite one, their father at work and Damien had gone to visit his mother and grandfather, leaving no one to torment Tim. Dick had been locked in his room all day, studying for his upcoming exams. It was a quiet Saturday night, one Jason had spent playing video games and initializing how he would approach a certain conversation with Bruce. Considering Dick's advice of telling the whole family at the same time, Jason remained indecisive. He had never been a fan of ripping off the Band-Aid quickly.
Lost in thought, it barely registered to Jason that Bruce had taken his seat at the table. He was swiftly brought back into reality by a hard jab to his ribs.
"Ow!" Jason cried, rubbing the place of assault absentmindedly. "What the heck was that for?"
Glaring at his older brother, Jason gave Dick his full attention. Why did Dick have to have such long, bony and scrawny fingers anyways? It hadn't hurt all that much, but Jason was in the mood to over exaggerate the pain, hoping to make Dick feel bad.
Staring at Dick, Jason saw the urgent look being given to him. Dropping the angered façade, Jason raised his eyebrows, silently questioning what was going on.
"You idiot, Dad's home."
Okay, that drastically changes things.
Shifting his gaze towards Bruce, Jason mentally swore at himself for being so ignorant, how did he not notice the reason for all his self-torture walk in?
Giving them a curious look, Bruce seemed mildly interested in what was going on between his two eldest.
"Boys" Bruce said "Anything the matter?"
His tone was playful, he defiantly wasn't angry yet the slight, serious edge in his voice prevented Jason from relaxing completely.
Jason tried responding, looking up at Bruce, opening his mouth only to abruptly shut it and lower his chin.
"S'all good" Dick said, trying to draw the attention away from Jason.
Jason nodded in agreement, but it looked forced. Shaky movements with no eye contact.
"Are you sure" Bruce persisted the playful tone gone, replaced by worry and stronger curiosity.
Great, just great. Now Bruce was suspicious and Jason had a strong feeling that things weren't going to go well.
"Dinner is served" Alfred said, never having had better timing "and I expect you all to be washed up."
Jason let out a breath, relived that that some attention was diverted from him and toward the pot roast.
Smelling the thick scent of the rich food, Jason closed his eyes and let himself forget for a while.
This time, Dick kicked him in the shin.
"Shit, Dickface, what the hell is wrong with you?"
Dick eyed Jason seriously.
"You still have to tell him, you know?"
Grumbling an inaudible response, Jason slumped in his seat involuntarily and dinner began.
Tim played with his food silently, clearly lost in thought.
"How was the homework Tim?" Bruce asked, making conversation. The table was never silent, even if it was regular conversation.
"Great" Tim said "the demon brat wasn't around to distract me, so I'd say that's a plus.
Bruce gave a disapproving look.
"Timmy" Dick chided "That's not very nice"
Time snorted, disregarding manners completely.
"Well, neither is he."
A butter knife whizzed past Tim's ear, missing by less than half an inch. Tim didn't even blink, continuing to eat as the knife lodged itself into the wall.
Bruce sighed tiredly.
"Damien, that's the third time this week."
Jason snickered silently.
"You'd think with all that practice, he actually hit the target."
Dick punched his arm lightly.
"Shut up Jaybird"
Bruce rubbed his temples trying to ease the growing pain as it intensified.
Only when they had a common goal would his boys ever get along. In other words, rarely. Pinching the bridge of his nose lightly Bruce payed no attention to the argument as it began to heat up.
That is, until he heard it.
"You're just the poor boy Father took in out of pity."
Slamming his hand down on to the table harshly, Bruce silence the room with a single motion.
"I am tired. But more importantly, sick of how you boys speak to each other."
All four of them straightened their shoulders at the noise, turned to look at Bruce, but immediately lowered their gaze after noticing his apparent anger.
"Damien" Bruce said, directly speaking to his youngest son. "What you said was unacceptable. A terrible thing to say. Harsh because you decided to say it in front of everyone. And disgusting because you said it to your own brother."
The tone Bruce used caused his words to slice through Damien. Separate, individual, painful blows.
Feeling horrible, Damien didn't let his remorse show. His mother had taught his to do so.
"I apologize Father, it will never happen again" Damien said, forcing his voice to remain monotone.
Bruce nodded slightly in acknowledgement, not even bothering to look at Damien.
"See" Tim said scoffing as he poked at his plate full of food with a fork. "He doesn't even give a shit"
The comment itself was said under Tim's breath, but the silence of the room amplified his words, ensuring that it reached everyone's ears.
"That's enough Tim!" Bruce shouted clearly not approving of what Tim had said.
Tim dropped his fork and pushed his chair backward, standing up.
"Whatever" he said, covering his plate with a napkin.
"Oh, stop being so overdramatic, replacement" Jason said condescendingly. "Just east your godamn dinner"
Tim shot Jason a dirty look. But before he could retaliate, Bruce spoke up.
"Tim, please sit down. Jason keep to yourself. And, please, can we eat in peace?"
The tone Bruce chose to use this time, proved to be more effective. Without a single word, Tim shut his open mouth and sat down. Jason grumbled silently, but more or less followed orders.
A moment of silence passed.
Dick batted his eyelashes at Bruce theatrically.
"You see, this is why I'm Daddy's favourite." Dick said, clearly joking.
Bruce let out a dry chuckle.
"Sure, Dickie. Whatever you say."