a/n: I'm sure this has been done before, but I got the prompt 'architecture' a couple of days ago (this was actually my 7th prompt, but I wanted to post Military first) and I wanted to do a ficlet involving more than just Damian and a bunch of side characters. I've mentioned it before, but I'm not super familiar with the comics and all that they've covered, so some of this might be inaccurate. I know what I know based on the Batman wiki, the various DC cartoons, and a few random issues that I've found online, so don't judge too harshly. As always, happy reading!
8. Architecture
Dick stared up at the manor apprehensively. Bruce Wayne was beside him, stoic and intimidating in the mute light of the dingy gray morning. The grandeur of the man was magnified tenfold once Dick saw his house—although house wasn't quite the right word for it. It was nothing like the cramped, disorganized living arrangements that accompanied the circus. The building—mansion—was cold, and it made every lot the circus had ever used look tiny. Dick shrank back into the plush leather seat of the town car, feeling thoroughly out of place in the face of such wealth. The dark corners and sharp turrets and the sheer vastness of it all made the child miss his parents more than ever.
Mr. Wayne was looking at him now, his eyebrows furrowed the tiniest bit. He was doing that thing that adults do when they want to watch something, but they don't want anyone to know their watching it, and it made Dick feel more uncomfortable than any of Haly's spotlights had. Nevertheless, he straightened slightly in his seat and attempted to hide his distaste for the manor. Mr. Wayne had been incredibly nice to him, and Dick didn't want him to think that he was ungrateful or anything. Still, Dick had always had a bit of a problem with oppressive silences.
"Aren't you lonely?" the child blurted out. Dick bit his lip immediately afterwards, unsure if that had been rude or not. His parents had always told him that he needed to be a little more subtle…
Mr. Wayne looked rather taken aback by the question, and the car quickly grew tense. Dick sighed and returned his gaze to the window, where they were just starting up the path to the gargantuan mansion. Alfred, the driver, had pointed out the manor as soon as it became visible, but Dick hadn't realized how long it would actually take to get there.
After several moments, Mr. Wayne cleared his throat. "A little," he answered slowly, looking a bit pained. Dick turned to face him again, eager to rid the car of its silence. "It belonged to my parents."
And as much as Dick wanted a reason for conversation, that really said it all. He looked forward, equal parts anxious and awed as the manor continued to grow in enormity as they rolled slowly closer. He found that he had a new respect for the intimidating home, and he studied the dark corners and sharp turrets once more. Now, it looked kind of like a challenge.
Dick Grayson could certainly brighten this place up. After all, he wasn't a Boy Wonder for nothing.
Jason was nearly giddy with excitement, but he kept himself cool. He had a ratty bag at his feet, filled with the meager belongings he'd felt too valuable to leave behind. Jason had no idea what the Batman was planning to do with him—especially after telling him to pack all of his belongings—but it was very clear that Jason wasn't going back to his crumbling apartment any time soon.
He probably should have been nervous; the Batman had caught him in the middle of committing a crime, after all. The man didn't seem angry, though, and he hadn't made any attempt to manhandle the boy. That already made him loads better than most of the people Jason met in Crime Alley. Plus, Batman had seemed more concerned with where Jason had been holed up—and Jason swears, the building hadn't been condemned for that long, which made it fairly safe for a kid with no money—than his illegal activities. Jason had a good feeling about this.
"Holy shit!"
Jason knew where they were, of course. Everyone knew what Wayne Manor looked like, even the street rats that had no business being anywhere near it. The gossip rags made sure to include the massive building in their front page news at least twice a year. Jason was quickly finding, as the Batmobile quietly purred its way around the grounds, that the gossip mags did not do the impressive architecture justice.
Jason could feel the disapproving glance directed at him, but he couldn't pull himself away from the passenger window to give his usual 'I'm a street hardened criminal, I say what I want' smirk. The mansion was such a grandiose display of the wealth that Jason had never known, he didn't know whether to be impressed or disgusted. He was impressed either way. The home was all sharp angles and large windows, imposing and magnificent against the pitch-black of the typical Gotham night.
Jason's mouth fell farther and farther open as Batman continued to approach the manor, and he was sure he was on the verge of dislocating his jaw when Bruce—because this man couldn't be anyone other than Bruce Wayne, not with a dig like this—when the Batmobile was guided underground and smoothly parked in a cave.
"Master Bruce. I see you've picked up a stray."
A cave complete with its own butler, it seemed.
Yeah, Jason could totally see himself getting comfortable here.
The manor shouldn't be as impressive as it is, honestly. Tim has been Bruce Wayne's neighbor—though he uses the term lightly—for all of his life, so it really isn't a huge surprise.
No, what makes Tim's jaw drop is what's under the manor.
While Bruce is bustling around, designing something or another in their rare time away from training, Tim takes a moment to admire the décor around him. The computers that are somehow wired up despite being in the depths of a cave. The large T-Rex, lounging in a corner with a penny larger than any coin has the right to be. The shiny bikes that line the wall. The Batmobile that almost blends into the inky blackness of the shadows.
It's not the grand shows of wealth that impress Tim. It's the ingenuity of the Batcave that gets him, and what Bruce does with it. It's what Batman symbolizes, even though Bruce would argue with him. It's what Tim hadn't realized he'd lost until he picked up the mantel of Robin.
Hope.
Damian, as a result of traveling and training with his mother, had lived in many places. Some of them had been thoroughly unremarkable and unpleasant, such as the shacks that he had used for survival training, and some had been extravagant structures, such as the gleaming palace of Ra's al Ghul. Despite his wide variety of experience with architecture, the Wayne Manor was able to extract something from Damian that none of these buildings had.
Excitement.
Damian was much too well trained to let it bubble over, but he could feel it in the pit of his stomach. It wasn't even that the manor was extraordinarily remarkable; the massive size and amount of turrets served as an obvious indication of wealth, and the brickwork made the home look gracefully aged, and the gardens emphasized the pride that the owner had in his land. Still, none of these things mattered very much. There was only one thing that could make this place so much more pleasing to Damian.
His father was in there.
This house was a part of Bruce Wayne, part of the legacy his parents had left behind, and something that had roots in Damian's blood. He was finally meeting his father. The Batman would meet his son, welcome him with open arms, and Damian would rule over Gotham at his side. Right in this manor.
At last, Damian was home.
end notes: So I wanted to mention that I know that Jason's backstory is wrong in this. I'm pretty sure Batman lets him go after jacking the tires on the Batmobile, then monitors the kid, then picks him up as Bruce Wayne. I just like the idea of Bruce seeing Jason and going 'I must have him for my collection' and carting him off on the spot. It makes me happy. Also, Tim's section is short because he's my least favorite Robin and that makes him hard to write. I know that the Drakes were close to the Waynes in terms of distance and financial resources, so I thought that Tim would be more appreciative of the innovation of the Batcave rather than the showy architecture of the manor. Lastly, as I've mentioned before, I think Damian's a snotty little shit because he's afraid to show how totally invested he is in something. His mother had built his father into this god-like figure, and I think that Damian's first impression of the mansion would be incredibly optimistic, because it was supposed to be 1) something he inherited as a birthright, and 2) somewhere where he would be accepted and praised for all of his skill.
Alright, justifications are over. Thanks for the positive reviews, and constructive criticism is always appreciated!