Synopsis: The first time Dick meets Damian, he saw a misguided child regardless what Jason and Tim says.
The first time Dick saw Damian, the said boy reminded him of a half drowned kitten. No, cross that, he reminded Dick of a half drowned kitten that had recently been abandoned to a world run by wild, rabid dogs AND had just witnessed his food stolen by a flock of birds. Yes, that was what Damian Wayne looked like when they first met.
Tim had immediately rejected this theory and, with Jason's support, had quickly nicknamed their newest resident, and brother, a Demon-brat. Damian wasn't bothered, he took the name with pride and relished in the supposed fear it could breed, but Dick had seen the flash of sorrow even before Damian himself could understand the emotion he had been trained so long to ignore. And Dick, being Dick, would not let one of his brothers wallow away in their own sadness.
Dick is a social butterfly. It's in his nature; it's practically in his blood. But for the same exact reason, because it was Dick, Damian had been avoiding him like the plague. The younger remained cooped up in his room, a single but large guest room, and has since shown no interest in interacting with anyone else though, in all honesty, Jason and Tim gave him little reason to try.
So Dick set out on his singular duty as the eldest brother of the Wayne family, the batfamily as he so fondly like to call them, to turn his new and youngest brother into another social butterfly such as himself, … or at least a semi social caterpillar.
"Damian, can we talk?" Dick spoke to the guest door having knocked only seconds before. There was no answer, but Dick could hear the slightest breath from Damian clearly standing in front of the door, most likely with katana in hand. Dick sighed good naturedly before continuing towards the silence. "Before you skewer me, I have a proposition you may like."
There was a slight creak, probably a shift of weight as the katana was lowered, before the door cracked slightly ajar with Damian staring back from the gloom with angry eyes and a scowl like Batman. Indeed, scowls must have been one of those genetically inherited things. "There is nothing you could possibly give me of interest, Grayson," the boy said menacingly with eyes narrowed and blade still waving dangerously close to Dick's side though how the kid had managed to sneak the said blade past Alfred's prying eyes was beyond Dick's comprehension. "Oh, I'm sure this will interest you," Dick only responded with a wide grin. "I can teach you in the art of social interactions."
Damian glare only worsened (how was that even possible?!), clearly showing his disapproval. "I'll pass, Grayson," he said with a visible sneer after a moment's pause, causing Dick to pout in disappointment. But that wasn't nearly enough to waver Dick from his quest. "Oh, come on! You might like it! You never know unless you try," Dick pointed out. Persistence was one of his best qualities, despite Jason and Bruce thoroughly disagreeing. But Damian seemed to be on their side this time because he only turned away from Dick before his arm retracted, preparing to slam the door in the other's face. But stubbornness was another one of Dick's great qualities as the said boy shoved his foot through the gap and pried the door back open with one hand.
"What do you want?" Damian asked, getting more annoyed by the second. "Don't think I'm that easy to lose," Dick pronounced before adding. " Just think of all the benefits you could reap. Think about politicians; think about Bruce Wayne. Surely such skills would benefit you as well?"
There was a slight pause, a moment where Dick wondered if the other would simply slam the door in his face as he had clearly been planning to do since the beginning, but instead, Damian seemed to hesitate, contemplating over the other's reasoning before seeming to have come with a conclusion. "Talk," he muttered harshly with an air of authority as Dick tried to hide a smirk from dancing across his lips in victory.
Grayson then strided forward into the room as Damian reluctantly let him pass, crossing his arms in defiance. "I'll be glad to teach you," Dick said. "I never said 'teach' me. I said talk," Damian shot back, eyes still narrowed in a heated glare. It would have been kind of cute, actually it was really cute, if it wasn't for the fact that there was a blade still hanging loosely from the boy's fingers who had the skills, no doubt, to skewer Dick in half if he didn't react quickly enough.
"It's okay to admit you're not ready yet," Dick said mockingly which only caused the boy's grip to tighten on the blade's handle. "But don't worry. I come free of charge!" Dick continued, not at all phased by the katana's presence, but really he had no need to be as danger was a daily thing that came from Gotham's streets and the circus alike.
"I don't need your services!" Damian snapped angrily.
"It's not services. It's advice from one brother to another," Dick said with an innocent smile though his words seemed only to add more fuel to the fire.
"I do have one request though," Dick said and watched in slight amazement as Damian's eyes turned to him, suspicious but, for once, not angry. "I'll tell you all my secrets, anything you'd like to know if you never wear a mask around me."
Damian frowned. "I am not wearing a mask now, Grayson," he remarked in a scathing and incredulous tone. "No," Dick said softly. "You are, you just don't know it." And it was true. It seemed Damian, so used to trying to be the perfect something he was not, had lost himself in his own mother's whims. But Dick shook the thoughts aside and only turned to smile at Damian with a wide grin that Alfred had once said was reminiscent to a cat having stolen a pigeon from the coop and an innocent egg while he was at it.
"But don't worry little D. We can work on that later. For now it's dinner time and trust me when I say you don't want to miss out on Alfred's cooking!" Dick then cart wheeled away as Damian only stood there in shock, too slow to even shout that his name was not "little D".
But there was only silence in the hall afterwards as Damian watched from the open confines of his room. He then wondered, pondered over the meaning of what Dick had said. Was there truly something he was missing? Something he had yet to fix because even he, as great as he was, had not realized it was there? He did not know, and that was what Damian feared most. So the next morning, when Dick was abruptly awakened by Damian sitting on top of him, katana surprisingly missing, and the said boy demanding Dick teach him everything he knew, Dick only smiled in response.
"You know you're actually really cute when you're not threatening me." That had earned Dick a punch to the jaw.
AN- This is a collaboration with my friend, Slash, because I'm trying to get her out of her comfort zone. Admittedly this is also my first time working on a batman fanfic (or any DC fanfiction for that matter). Usually I update every Saturday, but today I made an exception. We hope you like the first chapter and constructed criticism is always welcome! But not too far, or we're going to get you...