A/N: Hey guys! Sorry it's been a while. Life gets in the way, you know?
Also, I know I had a list of prompts, but a lot of you wanted to see more Dami romance or at least a follow up to the SpeedDemon oneshot I wrote for chapter 2. So, I made it!
A fair warning, most of this was written in the wee hours of the morning (hehe, that rhymed) so I'm sorry if it's not my best work. I hope it's good, but my judgment is largely impaired when I'm tired...
Oh well. On with the story!
Also, I'm having some trouble with updating, so just hang in there...
Damian shifts nervously on the couch, keeping a respectable distance from Irey while under the intense stares of Bruce Wayne and Wally West, who both sit across from them. He practically sinks into the couch, trying to escape West's disapproving glare. He notices a similar discomfort in Irey as she hides from Bruce's gaze. The day they've been trying to avoid has finally arrived.
He and his girlfriend have been found out.
As soon as he and Irey walked into the living room, he knew the interrogation was coming. Instead of there being no one in the house like he thought – or had previously been told –, both his father and Irey's father were sitting stiffly on one of the expensive and largely uncomfortable couches, obviously waiting for the two of them to walk in. It was a trap, a set up for a questioning session. And they walked right into it like butterflies into a net.
The tension in the air is thick, and Damian briefly wonders if it was Grayson that revealed their secret. He promised he wouldn't, and Damian trusted him. He can't believe his former mentor would put him in such an uncomfortable position…
He'll have to kick his ass for this later.
Of course, there's always the possibility that Father figured this out himself. It's not such a distant possibility. Father is Father, after all. The World's Greatest Detective and such.
Speaking of the World's Greatest Detective, Damian sees that his eyes are firmly set on Irey, his intense and grim gaze intimidating enough to visibly frighten his girlfriend. Suddenly, Damian gets the urge to scoot closer to her and shield her from his father's gaze. Logically, he knows his father would never do anything to hurt her, but he can't help but feel the urge to protect her from this entire situation. It's instinct.
"How long have you two been seeing each other?" Father questions, breaking the tense silence permeating the air. Out of habit, Damian reaches over blindly to grab Irey's hand before he answers.
"About 6 months now."
The secret was out the minute they stepped into the room, but it's obvious by the looks on both his father and West's faces that neither of them expected Damian to admit to it so easily. A delicate squeeze to his hand makes it apparent that Irey didn't expect such an easy admission either. They've been hiding it so carefully for so long. Grayson was the only one who knew.
"In all these 6 months of dating, why didn't you feel the need to tell us?" West asks harshly, his withering gaze directed towards Damian. Though Damian is not intimidated in the least by the speedster, his father still feels the need to give Wally a sharp elbow jab to the gut and an ever potent bat-glare for trying to intimidate his son. Damian refrains from rolling his eyes. Though he appreciates the gesture, he doesn't need his father defending him from Wally West of all people.
"We didn't want to deal with this," Irey answers her father, scooting closer to Damian on the couch, still clinging onto his hand. "You're way too overprotective and Bruce is… well, Batman. We figured neither of you would be too happy."
For a moment, Damian considers what would happen if he were to reach out and wrap his arm around Irey's waist to pull her closer, but something about their parents being in the room stops the idea in its tracks.
Their presence completely ruins the mood.
"Don't you two think you're a little too young for this kind of thing?" West asks in exasperation, sitting up and waving his hand back and forth between Damian and Irey, as if to make a point. Father stays firmly in his place, rolling his eyes at West's complete overreaction.
"I just turned sixteen, and Irey will be sixteen in three months," Damian argues. "It is not unusual to be in a relationship at our age."
"Fair enough," Father responds with a shrug, seeming unusually calm in this situation. Damian can't help but think of West as the frantic father and his father as the calm, collected mother. It's a funny image, the Batman and the Flash as a married couple. At least Damian finds it funny.
"So, what do you see in my daughter, Wayne?" West asks, leaning forward in his spot with his eyes narrowed. Damian almost chuckles at the attempted intimidation. He was raised by the League of Assassins. The Flash is perhaps the least intimidating person he's ever met in all his sixteen years. He's fairly sure he could defeat him if need be. But, there's no harm in humoring him for now.
He looks over at his girlfriend, who still clings onto his hand like a lifeline. How can he pinpoint exactly what he sees in her? He sees everything in her, and he loves it all, a feeling he's never encountered before.
He loves her ability to get excited by small, seemingly insignificant things in everyday life. He loves her fiery temper and how she is quick and all too eager to yell right back in Damian's face when the two of them are arguing. He loves her unyielding curiosity and how she constantly asks questions about everything there is to know. He loves her boundless energy and that cute tendency of hers to vibrate – quite literally – when she gets excited about something. He loves her long, untamed red hair, her bright green eyes, and that cute blush she gets on her cheeks when he kisses her.
He loves everything about her.
… Is this what love feels like?
Shaking himself out of his rumination, he locks eyes with his girlfriend's father, standing his ground.
"I enjoy spending time with Irey," he answers simply. "I… care deeply about her."
Too early to use the word 'love', he decides. He still has to figure out what that tricky emotion entails.
"And I assure you, I would protect her with my life. I have absolutely no reason to hurt her. You have no reason to worry. She's safe with me."
West leans back in place slightly, relaxed and semi-satisfied. Damian assumes that he must have said something that pleased him. At least his interrogation is over for now.
Father looks at Irey, but his gaze isn't disapproving or stern like West's was. Thank god, because if anyone can do a withering gaze correctly, it's Batman.
It's almost gentle in nature, something to set her at ease. It reminds Damian of a look the predator would give his prey to put them at ease before pouncing. He hopes that this isn't the case.
"Well, Miss West, I believe this is the portion of the evening where I ask you what you see in my son."
Irey looks at Damian, giving him a small smile and squeezing his hand gently. Damian squeezes back and watches the way her cheeks lightly color themselves red when he gives her a small, almost imperceptible smile. His heart beats a little bit faster at her sight of her blush. The feeling is almost alarming.
He makes a mental note to himself to thoroughly research whether or not love can be the cause of a cardiac arrest.
"I don't know how to explain it," she admits, not taking her vibrant green eyes off her boyfriend. "Damian has something… special."
"You mean besides a special number of kills he has under his belt?" West mutters under his breath, earning another jab to the gut from Father. Damian just rolls his eyes at his girlfriend's father and pulls Irey closer, no longer considered about their parents' presence. He really can't be bothered to care.
"One last thing, and then you two are free to go," Father announces. Damian and Irey look at him expectantly, both ready to just leave already.
"Are you two using protection?"
Damian feels his cheeks heat up and an embarrassed lump form in his throat, making words hard to form. His fingers play with Irey's nervously. Did they really assume…?
"We… we… We aren't…" he stutters out, gesturing back and forth between himself and an equally embarrassed Irey, trying to make them understand what he's unable to say.
"Wait, you aren't sexually active?" Father asks in confusion, while West just looks relieved. Damian and Irey shake their heads, both too embarrassed to look their parents in the eyes.
"C'mon, Irey, I'll show you some new equipment I got in the cave," Damian mutters, pulling his girlfriend off the couch and whisking her away from the tense situation. Before they walk out of the living room, Damian hears his father mumble one more thing, more to himself than anyone else;
"Now Dick owes me $100…"
A/N: I have to admit; I like writing Dami romance.
Keep the suggestions coming! And remember; you can suggest something and still write me an actual review. It doesn't have to be one or the other. It seems like people forget that sometimes.