Hello all! Surprised I'm updating so quickly? Well so am I. Frankly, I'm very proud of myself u.u
Anyhow, read, enjoy, and review. Also shout out to seeds123 who is lovely and wonderful and whom I love very very much. Xoxoxox my dear.
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'94, 95, 96, 97,'
Damian silently counted as he lifted himself, over and over. He'd been doing his morning training regime for hours, and he was nearly done.
Just as he reached one hundred pull ups, however, there was knock on his door. Grunting, he dropped to the floor. Rolling his shoulders, he opened the door. He stared at the two people in front of him with a scowl.
"You're early."
Instead of the response he'd expected from the girl, Pennyworth answered.
"Actually Young Sir, I informed you that Ms. Rowan would be arriving early just last night."
"I wasn't listening," he replied, glancing at the fidgeting girl in front of him.
"I am well aware Sir. Anyhow, I'll leave the Young Miss in your care for now. As always, I am here if you need anything." With one last smile towards Rowan, Pennyworth took his leave.
Damian stepped back from his doorway with a glower. He'd known she was coming, but he'd planned for her to be there at 10 am, well after he was done with his workout.
He directed her to the seat by his desk before going to get a towel to wipe off the sweat that had accumulated on his body. After drying himself, he switched out his shirt for something drier.
"Did you bring the movies?" he called from his place across the room. He didn't even need to really ask considering the fact that they were the only reason he'd even invited her over. A few months ago while they'd been practicing different patterns, they'd run out of string. He'd been dismayed and ended up telling her to pick a movie to occupy herself until her mother came for her. He'd never even looked at the massive DVD collection in the game room before, so he'd had no idea what she picked. Curious, he'd watched only to find out that it was some odd combination of a musical, cartoon, and nature documentary that she'd called The Lion King.
For the most part he'd spent the duration of the movie picking out various flaws. She'd laugh, and sometimes even give her own input on his opinions, albeit very quietly. It became a sort of game for them. To his surprise, he'd actually enjoyed himself. He'd told her to put in another movie, and they continued on much the same way. At some point, he had even felt relaxed enough to fall asleep.
His internal clock had woken him up at 5 am the next morning, and he'd been startled to find Rowan still there. Confused, he'd called for Pennyworth and asked him what was going on. The butler had told him that Rowan's mother had allowed her to spend the night.
"Why?" he'd asked, blunt as ever.
Pennyworth had explained something about not wanting to wake her up so late and letting them enjoy each other's company. Damian had scoffed and told him to prepare breakfast. He'd gone back to the game room hours later, fully intending to wake her up, get her fed, and send her on her way. Instead he'd found her already awake and watching another movie. He'd sat down and they'd continued their 'game' almost as if they'd never stopped. Somehow they'd managed to eat breakfast and go through his entire Disney collection before she went home.
On her way out, she'd mentioned that she lived above the ice cream parlor her Grandmother owned, and that he was welcome anytime. Rowan had given him the name of the establishment as well as the location. He supposed that it was really her mother who had extended the invitation, but he'd decided not to say anything.
For a while, he'd simply forgotten about it, but then one night on Patrol he'd passed by a small two story building with a sign that said 'Rose's Sweet Treats'. Remembering what she had said, he'd decided to go the next day. After all, since Richard had introduced him to the wonderful world of junk food, he'd seemed to have quite the sweet tooth. To his chagrined delight, he'd found that not only did they sell delicious ice cream, but they sold pastries as well. It was because of that very reason that he found himself at the shop once again, not two days later.
When he'd gone, a demure looking old woman had been behind the counter. He'd assumed that she was Rose, but decided to not to mention her granddaughter. The second time he went, however, was greeted by the sight of Rowan sitting at one of the small round tables reading a book. He'd gotten his sweets and ignored her for the most part, but he knew she would notice him eventually. When she did, it was rather obvious, for he caught her staring over her book from her tiny pair of glasses.
He'd raised one eyebrow, and then asked her if she planned to sit there and stare all day. Blushing, the girl had gotten off her ass and walked over to him. It had been painful watching her stand there and practically exuded awkwardness, so he'd told her to sit down. She followed his instructions, and satisfied that he'd fulfilled all of his social duties for the day, he'd eaten his ice cream in silence.
Or at least he had until she finally found her voice and spoke up.
"What flavor are you eating?"
He'd looked at her with a blank expression and replied "Coffee."
She'd smiled and he remembered thinking that her dimples made her look even younger.
"Coffee is a good flavor, but it's even better if you get it with chocolate almond. Oooh, and it's even better with an almond tart."
As she spoke her voice had risen, and she had been practically jumping in her seat.
"You know I think I've seen less enthusiastic people begging for their lives," He'd told her, smirk on his face.
She'd blushed crimson and simply shrugged, effectively calmed. By then he'd been done with his treat, so he'd gotten up to leave.
"Maybe I'll try it next time," he'd told her on his way out.
And he had. It had been delicious, and as he ate she gave him even more suggestions that had him coming back, day after day. Every time he went, their conversations seemed to slowly drift into other topics like books, and TV shows. He had even ended up helping her with her disgustingly easy homework a few times. (Although he had to admit that she wasn't stupid, she just had atrocious hand writing and she simply needed him to make sure it was legible.)
Eventually, after talking about their impromptu Disney movie marathon, she'd mentioned something about Pixar movies and Studio Ghibli. Intrigued, he'd and invited her over the upcoming Saturday without so much as asking Alfred, let alone his father. After calling her Mother to confirm, she'd bid him goodbye for the day with a small smile and a promise to bring over all over her movies.
When he'd told Alfred that he would be having company soon, the butler had wasted no time in informing his father. Not even an hour after he'd told Alfred the news, Bruce had gone to Damian's room to inquire if it was true.
"Of course," Damian had said, "of course if you'd rather not have her over-"
His father had cut him off quickly with a quick stream of encouragements. That is, until the situation fully sunk in.
"Wait, her? Do you mean Irey or Lian?"
Damian's thoughts had gone fleetingly to the two girls and he rolled his eyes. He'd only met them briefly a few weeks ago. They weren't horribly intolerable, unlike Drake. But still, after a while they grated on his nerves.
"No, Rowan's coming over. We are watching movies Father."
"Rowan? Oh, you mean that server's little girl from the gala we had a few months ago."
"Of course," he'd replied.
At that point, it seemed even Richard had been informed, because he had been standing in Damian's doorway.
"I didn't know you even still talked to her, Dami."
Damian scowled at the pet name Richard insisted on before he replied.
"Well it was none of your business in the first place."
"Wow, someone's defensive." Richard had retorted, throwing his hands up in defense.
"I'm not defensive. I am simply stating a fact. What are you doing here anyway? Don't you have some harlot to bed somewhere?"
Richard had pulled a face and put his hand over his heart.
"Ouch Dami, that really hurt. Is that what you think of me?"
They'd continued like that for a while before his father put an end to it. Damian had continued to go to the ice cream parlor every day for the rest of the week, and at that point he had to face the fact that he was no longer going just for the ice cream. Eventually the week had flown by, and Saturday had come.
And now here she was, sitting completely silent.
"Well?" he said while turning to face her. She was staring at her lap, and jumped when he spoke. Her eyes darted towards him, and then back down as she blushed.
"Um, yes. They're in my back pack."
He rolled his eyes before making his way to his bedroom door.
"Come on then, let's go."
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Rowan shuffled behind Damian awkwardly as they made their way towards the game room. It wasn't that she didn't like him, it was just that he was a bit… Intimidating. He was taller than her, and she was pretty sure he was a lot stronger too. On top of that, he had very strong opinions and he wasn't afraid to voice them.
She'd figured that out when five minutes into The Lion King, he began ranting about just about everything. From the singing to the way the animals looked, he always had something to say. Honestly, it had been kind of funny… So she'd laughed. The first time, she'd clapped her hand over her mouth, afraid of what he might do. To her surprise, he'd simply took one glance at her and continued. Encouraged by his behavior, she'd began to relax, and actually had fun. They managed to continue the easy mood the following morning, and everything had been great.
Things had gotten even better when he'd started coming to Gran's parlor. As grumpy as he was, she found that he was actually pretty easy to talk to. Gran watched her every day after school, and it was nice to not have to sit alone as she tended to the customers.
Her Mama had been really happy when Damian had invited her over again. Rowan didn't have a lot of friends, and her Mama was excited that she'd finally met someone she got along with. On top of that, she'd also jumped on the chance to smooth things over after the whole party incident. All in all, Rowan's Mama was probably more excited than she was.
Clearing her throat, Rowan worked up the courage to say something.
"So do you know what kind of movie you want to watch?"
It took a while before he answered, and for a second Rowan thought that she'd spoken to softly.
"What kind of movies do you have?"
His voice was even, and he didn't sound annoyed like he had when she'd first came. That wasn't to say that his voice wasn't without infliction, however. After two months of talking with him, she'd come to learn that half of everything he said came out slightly offensive. Almost as if he was ready to bite your head off if you made one wrong move. She found that after a while, however, he softened quite a bit.
"I've got romance, fantasy, sci-fi, and adventure. Fantasy is my favorite though."
He hummed in acknowledgment as they reached the game room, and walked over to the entertainment center before he answered.
"We can watch a fantasy movie then. I think I'll rather enjoy picking out all of the improbabilities."
Even as she once again took in the sheer splendor of the room she was in, she found that she was smiling softly at his words. The room was exactly the same as she remembered, but somehow in the midst of her fatigue, she hadn't been able to quite catch the true essence of how amazing it really was.
Now however, after a full nights rest, she could see that was far bigger than she had realized. Directly in front of her there was, of course, an entertainment center. It held the biggest TV she'd ever seen, and boasted surround sound speakers and comfortable leather couches. Next to the TV, there was a case that had to be at least seven feet tall filled to the brim with DVDs and video games. Behind the entertainment center, there was a pool table off to the left, and a mini bar that she knew contained candy and popcorn kernels as well as alcohol. To the right there was an actual full sized popcorn machine. Not only was everything in the room state of the art, but it was kept spotless as well. In conclusion, she was absolutely terrified to touch anything and kind of wanted to leave.
That would be rude, however, so she simply made her way to towards Damian and sat down on the other end of the couch. She unzipped the back pack she'd brought, and began to pull things out. She unloaded her movies, and smiled once she reached the containers at the bottom of her bag.
"Do you like peanut butter cookies?" she asked, turning towards Damian.
He looked away from the TV he was changing to the proper channel to answer her.
"Yes, why?"
She grinned brightly, and showed him the two containers filled to the brim with the cookies she'd made the night before. Last year her Gran had taught her how to bake, and ever since she'd been baking at least once a week. So far she could only make peanut butter and chocolate chip cookies, but she was going to try to make a cake soon.
"I brought some. I have chocolate chip too."
He stared at her before saying "Well what are you waiting for? Open them up."
She laughed before pulling the tops off and setting them carefully on the dark coffee table in front of them.
She watched with bated breath as he took a chocolate chip cookie and bit into it. As he chewed, he noticed her staring.
"Did you make these?" he asked.
She nodded, and chewed on her bottom lip.
He simply continued to eat the cookie as he messed with the TV. By the time he was done, the cookie was gone, and he was looking at her expectantly.
"So which movie did you pick?"
She quickly picked up her favorite movie of all time without even thinking about it. She handed it to him and watched as he slipped it into the DVD player while reading off the title.
"Princes Mononoke?"
She kicked off her shoes before pulling her knees up to her chest and answering.
"Mhm, it's my favorite."
He silently read the back cover while walking over to the couch. As the trailers played, he paused in his tracks. He was glaring intensely towards the door, so Rowan turned.
She felt her face heat as she caught site of Damian's older brother, Richard, almost completely filling up the doorframe with a camera in his hand.
"Say cheese!" he said, camera flashing.
She watched as Damian shot off towards him with a yell.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?"
Richard laughed and lifted the camera above his head as Damian made a grab for it.
"I'm capturing memories! To think, our little Dami has finally made a friend."
She watched, trying not to laugh as Richard wiped away an imaginary tear. And then immediately afterwards she gaped as Damian aimed a high kick at his brother's stomach. To her utter amazement, Richard caught Damian's foot.
Damian wrenched his foot out of Richard's grasp and righted himself.
"Give me the camera, Grayson," he said, voice as low as he could possibly get it at his age.
"Oh so now we're back to Grayson? And to think, I was sure we had made so much progress."
"You better not show those to anyone or so help me Grayson I will take your camera and shove it so far up your a-"
Richard cut him off before he could finish his threat.
"Oh would you look at the time, well, I'm off to do other things now. Have fun you two!" and with that he was gone.
Damian let out a sound of frustration before stalking back towards Rowan. By now all of the trailers had finished, and the menu screen was on. Damian sat down and pressed play, while Rowan sat and watched him from the corner of her eye. He looked kind of like an angry puppy to her in all honesty. Except he was an extremely mean, extremely mouthy angry puppy who apparently knew martial arts.
Eventually, when she saw that Damian had begun to calm down, she let herself get distracted by the movie. About 20 minutes in, Damian finally spoke.
"They're really good."
Startled out of her movie trance, Rowan turned towards him with an "Hm?"
He was eating another one of her cookies, not looking her way.
"The cookies, they're pretty good."
She felt a genuine smile bloom on her face, and it only seemed to widen at his next comment.
"But that wolf, on the other hand, is ridiculous."
"Well it has to be big enough for her to ride."
He let out the odd "Tt" sound she'd come to think of as completely Damian.
"She could have just ridden a horse like normal people."