03:

the sundial informs me i'm too early for the universe's heat death

OCTOBER

A cool chill clings to the air now, as the humid, summer heat has finally lost its grip on the city. Surprisingly, the month of October has been rather mild in its weather department. Granted, they were only a week into the month, and much could still change. But they'd only had one day of nonstop rain, which led the leaves lining the streets of Gotham to fully turn their vibrant reds and oranges and yellows.

Ellie had invited Damian out to an "outing", with her and Danny. What the "outing" was, she wouldn't describe to him at first, other than giving a simple address and time. While Father was a bit paranoid of letting Damian loose in the streets of Gotham, doing a bit of research onto the date and location led them both to find out that it was an annual fall festival in the "artsy" part of the city.

The "artsy" part of the city, being in a place where Father would generally allow any of his children to run free, as long as they had the proper precautions. Multiple vials of antivenom for Joker Venom or Fear Toxin, and at least two gas masks that can easily shrink down to the size of a bottle cap for easy storage.

Damian had managed to grab three of the gas masks before he'd left the manor. He trusts Danny, that he would be smart enough to have something on hand; but he doesn't particularly trust their sister.

Most of the streets are packed with artisanal vendors. Some are selling handmade jewelry or trinkets, others are bakers selling small packaged amounts of homemade baked goods. There are few corporate vendors out and about at the event, but Damian has seen at least one for Wayne Enterprises and another for, of all things, LexCorp. But they are few and far between, and don't get the same attention many of the others are getting.

They make it halfway through the crowded street before Danny excuses himself to find a bathroom. Luckily, there are port-a-potties close by, and Damian thinks it's rather brave of him to even consider using them.

But that leaves Damian alone.

With Ellie.

Great .

"Hey, Dami!"

"What do you want?"

"Aw, I can't talk to my best friend?" Ellie asks, trying to make herself look as polite and innocent as possible. Through the last few months of knowing the girl, Damian recognizes the face all too well. It's not a cute or innocent look, it's one full of mischief.

Damian sighs. "I would not consider us 'best friends', Ellie. What do you want?"

"Sheesh, tough crowd!" Ellie waves off his callous remark easily. For Damian, there is a little respect behind that. Not too many of his peers are able to deal with his attitude, all that often. But Ellie takes it like a champion. Perhaps she is used to it, with how often she interacts with her brother, Dante? "Look, since Danny's gone for a sec, I just wanted to… thank you, I guess?"

"Thank me?" Damian repeats incredulously.

"Yeah. Look, I know you kinda know what's been happening with our family, but…" For a brief second, Ellie's facade breaks, and Damian can see a bit further into the girl's soul. "Danny's been having a tough time adjusting with stuff after our bio parents went missing. Obviously, since he was raised by them and all, it's been the hardest on him than it has been on either Dan or me."

She looks down at the palms of her hand. Damian notices how cut up they tend to be, a lot; small bandaids decorate her fingers and her left palm, and she has a brace on her left wrist. Damian has never asked about that, because he's at least gained enough social skills in school to recognize the difference between a question and a rude question, but he does wonder.

He wonders about the scar he sometimes sees, that trails up Danny's right right arm and towards his neck.

"But!" Ellie snaps up, sporting a wide grin. She jabs a finger at him, having never been taught the lesson of 'personal space'. "You have been really good for him, you know that? I love him to bits and pieces, but between you and me, Dami, Danny's too trusting as a person sometimes. He always sees the best in people, and it can get him into trouble sometimes. But you weren't one of those rich kid assholes who took advantage of it. You're a really good guy. And he really cares about you."

Oh. Yes, Damian had noticed that Danny was a little too trusting with some of his classmates; but he hadn't thought of it as too much of a bad thing. It was something that Damian envied sometimes. To be able to interact with others without worrying about the different ways that your opponent could end your life.

Something… normal . Envy was not something Damian allows himself to feel very often, but he did envy the normalcy of his classmates around him. Danny was no different, in some cases.

"I... I care about him, too."

"Aw! You can show emotion!"

"Tt." There it was; Ellie bounces between her emotions like a bouncy ball. Damian rolls his eyes in response.

She waves it off, as she normally does. "So, anyway, what I was trying to say, I fully give you my blessing."

A beat.

Damian looks at her, confused. "What?"

"My… my blessing? Oh, ancients, please tell me you're not as oblivious as he is."

"I am not oblivious." Damian crosses his arms, feeling a scowl form on his face. "Whatever are you referring to?"

"Um. You totally have a crush on Danny, and he totally likes you back?"

Another beat of silence. It feels like something cracks around Damian.

Is… Is that what he is feeling?

He has… he has a crush? On Danny?

It makes… sense to him, in a way.

He wasn't usually one to be attracted to people, and he didn't know if he could say much about Danny's looks, of course. Danny was an attractive person. And Damian had been the receiver of many love confessions in his years at Gotham Academy. His rejection of many girls (and some boys, too) is what ultimately led him to the given name of Ice Prince of the school. But he was being honest, that's what he was told to do.

His mother had never really talked much about romance to Damian, when he was training in the League, either. She mentioned, off-and-on, her love for Father, and how it could never be reciprocated the same way, but he had never thought too much about love.

In general! He never thought too much about it!

He hadn't even considered whether or not he liked boys, or girls, or any other kind of person. Sure, most of his classmates were in the process of figuring those things out, and Damian supposes it would hit him too, eventually (blasted teenage hormones), but he hadn't even thought about any of that. Not that it would matter much of what he liked romantically, given the sorts of partners his brothers found themselves with half the time, but the fact still remains.

He just hasn't thought about it.

Yet Damian feels like he's entranced by Danny. He didn't know if he could completely say it was romantic, but it was something powerful . Something strong. Much like the gravitational pull of a moon orbiting a planet, something has pulled Damian to be closer to Danny.

Love? Respect? Admiration?

"Um. Damian, you good, buddy? You're spacing out on me."

"I am fine." Damian replies, though he tries to not grit his teeth too much.

"Oh, ancients. You didn't realize–"

"I have much to think about. Thank you for the… advice."

He needs to talk to someone about this.

But who?

The question boggled his mind for the remainder of the afternoon with Ellie and Danny. He pushed it aside enough to enjoy the time with his friend (and love? Crush? ) and Ellie, but it haunts him, like a specter or a shadow, all the way home, and for the next few days.

He mulls over what he should do. The first person who comes to mind, who would know about this normal-human-stuff would be… Ironically, Danny himself. Damian respects his classmate and friend above all the others, of course. He has seen how Danny is able to stumble his way through social interactions successfully, even if they are quite clumsy in the process.

So, surely, Danny would know what to do about this.

But he cannot. Cannot. Discuss a potential crush on a person with that person themself.

Todd, strangely, springs to mind second. Despite the man's anger issues after his unfortunate resurrection, he is still a romantic at heart. His collection of classic novels by Austen and Bronte prove that, without a shadow of a doubt. But not only is Todd usually unavailable at times whenever Damian seems to need him most, something has been happening in Crime Alley over the last few weeks that has put him on edge, and he hasn't been around much.

His other siblings are on a never-tell list. Drake would torment him for it. Brown– while not an official sibling– would do the same. Cain would be of no emotional assistance to him, as much as Damian admired her. Not only was she away in Hong Kong at the moment, she was also maybe not the best to go to with advice about love and crushes.

Thomas was present, of course, but there was still an awkwardness to their interactions. He never knew what to think of Damian; no doubt having been fed stories and propaganda and lies by Drake about Damian's younger years. He hasn't threatened to stab any of his siblings in over six months. Is that not progress enough?

The only two left are Richard and Father.

Richard was probably the least "emotionally constipated" of all the Waynes. Perhaps it was his time in the circus before his biological parents died, constantly put on show. Perhaps it was his natural attitude and personality. Either way, Damian finds himself leaning towards the idea of going to Richard, first, out of everybody else.

Father… Well, at times, the Brucie Wayne persona blurs fiction and reality. Some of it is, genuinely, Father. The warm smiles he puts on, the laughter, all of it is genuine. Playing up the Playboy-To-Adoptionholic With Seventeen Kids was the least genuine part of it, but even then, some of that is based in truth.

But…

Something is slightly embarrassing about going to Father about all of this. He doesn't know what to pin the blame on. Damian's pride? Ego? Does he not trust his own father?

…Richard it is.

Even though he quit his job as a police detective in Bludhaven, that is still where his apartment is, that is still where he patrols in, it's his "home turf", as Todd's is Crime Alley. Richard visits a lot; usually at least once a week for their Sunday Brunch, but sometimes he is unable to make it. And Damian feels silly asking him over text messages. As convenient as they were, he would also not put it past the more technically literate of the Wayne brood (one Timothy Drake-Wayne, specifically) to get curious or bored and hack his phone.

Which is why, that Saturday evening, when he'd overheard (and totally not spied on) Father's call with Richard, he'd nearly cheered upon hearing Richard would be over for Sunday Brunch.

Sunday Brunch is a festival of feasts in the Wayne family. Drake, Thomas, Cain (if she is available), Richard, Father, Alfred, and Damian himself, under one roof for one meal. Occasionally Barbara, Brown or Todd, too; however, Todd's issues with Crime Alley are underway and Damian doubts that he will be around for a while. He never knows when Brown will be there or not until day-of.

Alfred makes every sort of breakfast food he can think of, and lays it all out buffet-style. Sunday Brunches are a family tradition, meant for catching up on everybody's lives. When everybody lives different lives– Drake is the CEO of Wayne Industries, Father is… Father, Richard is in Bludhaven, Brown and Thomas are in university, and whenever Barbara stops by, it's a treat. It's… fun, in a way.

Of course most of the talk is whatever someone is personally investigating (unless non-vigilantes are ever present), so it's child's play to ask Richard to step aside with him for a moment to talk about something privately.

Richard is smart. He was not just a police detective for nothing, of course; he was the top of his classes in school, naturally, as any of the Wayne family should be. But where some of the Waynes struggle with people skills, Richard excels. So it makes sense to Damian that the best person he can go to is, in fact, Richard.

"What's up, Damian?"

"I need to ask you a… personal question." Damian admits. He glances away. "You are the least socially inept of our family, so I hope you know the answer to this question."

"Is everything okay at school? Are you getting bullied again? Do I need to–"

"No, Richard, it is not that." Damian scoffs. "Tt. You do not trust me to handle any sort of bullying at a high school?"

He sighs. There was only one way to go about this, and that was to rip the metaphorical bandage off.

"… What does a crush… feel like?"

"A… A crush?" Richard repeats.

"Yes." Damian feels his face flush, a bit. Damn emotions. He was trained to be better than this! But no, some friend of his had to apparently be the object of his affections? He tries to not grit his teeth. "A crush. What does it feel like?"

"Oh." Richard blinks at him. Something clicks in his brain, it's embarrassing it took that long. And then he gets a big, stupid grin. "Oh!"

Maybe Father was the right first choice, Damian thinks, already regretting his choices.

"Aww! Your first crush, huh?" Richard's grin is ridiculous looking.

"Grayson, I swear to god–" Damian feels his progress of not threatening to stab anyone for six months in a row quickly fading.

His fingers twitch at his side, as if he has a sword easily in reach. Of course, Damian does tend to hide weapons around the house in secret places he knows about, but after a bit, they always end up back in his room. Alfred probably returns them, understandably. But he knows he's stashed a dagger in the vase to his left, and he could easily…

No! He takes a deep breath in.

"Answer my question." Damian pauses. " Please."

"Okay, okay…" Richard takes a second, and scratches at his chin, thinking. "Well, whenever I got a crush on a girl I liked, it always made me feel… floaty and mushy. Like, I just spent a whole day in the air on ropes. I'd sometimes get nervous and shy around her, too… But that when I was younger. Now I kinda just let people know when they're attractive."

Floaty and mushy. Damian takes a second to ponder those words.

Did he feel… floaty and mushy around Danny?

He's sitting in Danny's room as they work on their mythology project. Both of them are sitting quietly, working on their own parts. Damian glances over at Danny, and it all feels incredibly natural to do this. It feels… right.

He and Danny are walking through the streets of Gotham. Danny has a large lemonade cup from one of the stands, with a ridiculously bendy straw. They walk side-by-side, hands not quite holding each other, but sometimes they brush and Damian wonders what it'd be like to hold their hand.

Damian is watching Danny float across the ballroom, in their blue flowy jumpsuit, and thinks he looks amazing. He's jealous of how freely Danny seems to be able to move, and dress, and speak to others.

"Hm." Damian hums to himself. Floaty and mushy would not be the words he would use to describe what he's feeling. Perhaps it is different for everybody? Perhaps he is feeling a crush in his own way? "How do I deal with it?"

"...Deal with it? You're supposed to hit on a person you like, not put a hit out for them." Richard laughs, as if the joke is funny. Damian doesn't find the humor in it. "Well, the best thing you can really do is be honest with them. Ask them out on a date, or see if they feel the same way."

"But what about our friendship? Does this not often ruin them, if one admits attraction to the other?"

Richard shrugs. "Eh, sometimes it can be a little awkward for a bit. But life's kinda messy sometimes. It's all about embracing the messy."

Hm. Well.

"He totally likes you back…" Ellie's voice rings out in Damian's head. Surely their sister would know them very well. Even if Danny was as oblivious as she had claimed them to be, perhaps Danny had expressed similar sentiments to her, and Ellie was trying to… wingman her way into things?

Wing woman ? Gendered terms are rather ridiculous.

"Thank you, Richard. Your advice is… somewhat of use." Damian says.

"Of course, baby bat. Now, I smell Alfred's muffins, and I don't want Tim eating them all." Richard steps back towards the dining room, motioning for Damian to follow.

Ask them on a date… Surely, Damian could figure out something for him and Danny to do that would be a good 'date'.

He spends most of the brunch in silence, listening in to his family, and not reporting much. Drake is concerned with the state of the Batcomputer's file organization, and how he spent ten minutes looking for something that could have easily been found within five, with Father retorting that it's just how the system operates. Thomas complains about his college classes to Richard, who looks a little out of his league with things. Their brunch this week is small, but loud enough for Damian to lose himself in the noise.

Danny admires space, a lot. He has mentioned photography before as well. We both enjoy art… Where could I take him?

The Planetarium closes the next week, and Damian feels like something shatters inside him. Which is, in all fairness, a bit dramatic, in all fairness. He even used his 'allowance' (a budget of funds allocated to a debit card in Damian's name, Father's attempt to teach him financial independence, even though he doesn't need it) to purchase two tickets to their newest show, and made sure the seats were of the highest caliber.

But no, Man-Bat had to make a horrible return on Sunday evening and completely wreck the Gotham Planetarium right after he'd made the purchase. Of course, Damian got his tickets refunded, but even seeing the green positive numbers in his bank account made him irritated enough to take it out on a few training dummies in the Bat Cave.

It wouldn't be open for another two weeks. Expensive equipment was damaged. Drake was the one who finally took Man-Bat down in the end, and Damian resists the urge to pin the blame all on Drake.

Think, Damian, think.

What else was there to do around Gotham for a… date?

He hovers outside of the door to Father's study for too long sometimes. He wonders if Father ever dealt with this teenage… nonsense. Danny was not at all nonsense, of course; Damian cares deeply for them, whether or not romantically he hasn't quite settled on yet, but a date would definitely solidify those feelings.

He tries to not take the rough feeling to school the next few days, but Danny has somehow begun to tell the difference between Damian's scowls. He didn't even know there was a difference between them!

"Everything okay, Damian?" Danny asks, as the bell rings for their Mythology class to let out.

"Everything is fine." Damian replies, though he can even hear the grating tone in his voice. He clears his throat, and tries again. "Everything is fine. There were some…. Personal plans that fell through, and I am just upset about it, is all."

"Ah, that shit always sucks." Danny shrugs on his school bag, standing up. "Do you want to talk about it before we get to environmental science?"

"I…" He is usually more verbose than he is, but something in Damian loses his composure when Danny asks just the simple question. I had purchased us tickets for the planetarium. I wanted to ask you on a date. If that is okay with you.

But none of those words come out.

"You don't have to, I just… One of the things Dan's always talking about from his therapy sessions is the importance of talking it out, and our older sister Jazz always agrees." Danny nervously adds, as they walk out the door and into the hallways. Some of it is slippery from the day's rain. Students hunch over in rain-coats and carry their umbrellas between buildings and let mud and water and grime soak up the tile floor.

And, well, Damian knows how clumsy Danny is. It isn't surprising that Danny slips on the wet floor immediately, and Damian reaches out to grab him before he can fall down and hurt himself.

Danny's cold. It's a bit of an unnatural cold, his skin feels like freshly fallen snow, cold enough to the touch to make Damian's hands warm up. Even through the thick layers of shirt and blazer, a chill runs down Damian's spine as he makes sure his friend-slash-crush is able to stand on his own two feet before walking again.

"You are a walking human disaster." I think I have a crush on you.

Danny laughs, his sharp canines on full display. "If you think this is bad, you should have seen me freshman year!"

"Freshman year?"

"I– I got banned from holding any glassware in my chemistry class, because I kept dropping and breaking everything."

"You what ?"

"It's not my fault. I just had– Well. Um." Suddenly, their face falls, and Danny glances away. The crowds of students around them are overwhelming, but Danny keeps his arm linked around Damian's and keeps them held together. "It's actually a long story. I'll tell you more at lunch? Just us."

Just us. "Alright. If you feel comfortable doing so."

"Yeah, it's not a pleasant story."

"I am more than capable of handling it."

"Uh, yeah. You're Damian Wayne. You're just cool like that."

Damian feels his heart stop. They manage to get all the way to their science classroom, and stand right outside the door. He feels himself pull away from their linked arms. "I am… cool?"

Of course, Damian is cool. It naturally comes to him, as it should. He is the blood son of Bruce Wayne, multimillionaire. The son of bat. The current Robin. The future Batman. The heir to the Al Ghul name. Trained from birth to be an assassin. Raised to kill, then raised to save. He knows this.

But hearing it from Danny brings a warm feeling into his heart. Not a mushy or floaty feeling, more like… A content feeling. The feeling of getting the last after-patrol cookie and being the one to savor it, over all his siblings.

"Yeah, obviously ."

Oh. Oh. Damian wishes their assigned seating was still next to each other, but they're on other sides of the room, now. Still, he can't help but steal an occasional glance over at Danny during their lecture that day.

Is this even a crush?

"So, it's, uh… Where do I start?"

"Most stories have a beginning. Perhaps there?"

"Shut it, smart-ass." Danny tries to kick the beanbag chair, but his legs are too short, and he misses. Not that he seems to wish to do any damage with it, or maybe, even could. He is smiling, after all.

The two of them have chosen to skip eating lunch in the cafeteria, and hole themselves up in the library for the period. Lunch at Gotham Academy was long enough that they could, feasibly, still get food afterwards, but Damian knows the librarians and knows if they don't see or hear any food, then certainly, it does not exist . Especially if it is not close to any computers.

Damian and Danny hide in the furthest corner of the library. Large shelves of older tomes surround them, and Danny's pulled two floppy bean-bag chairs closer together.

"Well. You know how I said before, uh, my bio parents are missing?"

Yes. Damian will not admit it aloud, but he did do some… preliminary research into Danny's parents. Not to dig up on any past dirt, of course. He merely wished to see if he could help. But the case seems all too confusing for him, and he would not pass it along to Drake or Father if his life depended on it. It was too personal for Damian's friend. He did not want either of their noses digging into his friend's business.

Madeline A. Fenton, 48. Jackson D. Fenton, 47. Supposedly left home one night and have not been heard from since.

There wasn't even an official missing person's report. As far as the police could tell, they went voluntarily.

The only documents Damian could find were files regarding the adoption of Danny's siblings and papers signed by one Alicia Walker signing guardianship of Danny over to one Vlad Masters.

"Yes. You have mentioned that before."

"Yeah, so… Okay, this might sound crazy, but they're, um. Ghost hunters."

Ghost… hunters…

…Not what Damian was expecting, but certainly, not the weirdest thing Damian has heard of.

"And?"

"W-What do you mean, and? Isn't that a little weird to you? My parents are ghost hunters. I was a social pariah at my old school for that."

"You are in Gotham right now. We had a half-man, half-bat creature tear through the city the other night. A man dresses up in a bat suit to fight crime. Aliens and magic have been proven to exist. Why should this be any shock to me?"

Danny looks down at his fingers, sighing. "Ancients, I hate it but you're right." He shakes his head, clears his throat again. "Well, anyway. Yeah. My parents are less salt-and-burn ghost hunters, and more of a… Well, they both have degrees in mechanical engineering, so they built a lot of ghost-hunting technology in their lab, and they're not the best when it comes to safety protocols."

Oh. Oh. Damian has an awful feeling he can see where this is going.

"They spent months working on this thing called the Fenton Ghost Portal. It didn't exactly work at first… Well, a few friends and I decided to check it out one day, and…"

He watches Danny shrug off their blazer, and they roll up their right sleeve. The small scar, lichtenberg figures that Damian has seen many times in just passing, is a lot larger than he's expecting. It tessellates up Danny's arms, fractals around their fingers and elbows, and past where they can't roll up their sleeve anymore.

Oh. Oh, no.

It's horrifying, and beautiful.

Danny pushes their sleeve back down, and pulls their blazer back on. Their face is flushed slightly pink.

"The nerves haven't been the same, so once I got out of the hospital and back to school, I just kept dropping stuff all the time. It's gotten better with practice, but it still bothers me, sometimes."

"I… I am sorry, Danny."

"Eh, it was like, two years ago, now. But that's, um. Yeah, that's my tragic backstory, I guess."

Damian doesn't know what to say. He felt… A lot. A lot of things. Anger at Danny's parents, for being so lax with their safety in their laboratory that Danny was able to get that hurt in the first place. Sadness, or some sort of odd guilt or pity, at the state it left Danny's arm in. And yet– not quite honored, not quite glad, but he feels different , hearing this from Danny.

"I… We do not like to talk about my biological mother a lot in my family." Damian says, without thinking. He doesn't know why he's saying it, but he feels– Danny shared something dark about his life. Perhaps Damian could share something about his, and try to show him, I understand. I understand. I understand. "For the longest time, my father did not even know of my existence. My mother kept it well hidden from him, until she dropped me off at Father's home when I was ten years old."

Danny looks at him, and reaches out a hand, setting it on Damian's own.

"I was not the nicest when I arrived at Father's home. My mother had…raised me in a cult for most of my life, and then abandoned me when I was only ten to a man I had been told I was meant to look up to." Damian continues. He glances down at the hand Danny has set on his own. The one without the scars. Underneath it is his hand, covered in small scars, from training with all of his blades when he was younger. He can still pick out his first scar, one on his middle finger, where he'd dropped a sword on his finger when he was four.

It was the worst pain he'd experienced ever, at four years old. Slicing his finger on a sharp blade. He wasn't coddled for his wound, but lectured for his weakness.

"We may have different pains. But I understand pain. I understand you."

Danny's eyes well with tears, before he quite literally pounces Damian from the other beanbag chair and wraps his arms around him in a hug.

Damian freezes like a deer in a car's headlights. He's been hugged before. Father gives particularly good ones, but so does Richard (and though he'd never admit it aloud, Todd does, as well). Hugs after huge battles with rogues are common. Even the occasional awkward side-hug for media purposes brings a warmth into Damian's chest.

But this… Even though Danny's skin is awfully cold, Damian feels warm and content.

It felt inappropriate to just ask Danny out following such an emotional interaction, especially with nothing specific in mind. But he allows himself the peace, for just a moment, as Danny starts a story about some trouble Ellie got into over the weekend.

He is overthinking this.

It shouldn't be this difficult to ask someone out on something as trivial as a date. He just needs to pick a place, and they can figure out the rest together. Right?

Damian glances online at things that will be open the following weekend. The Planetarium is still closed, unfortunately. A quick look into it, and there seems to be a delay in shipment for reconstruction. What a shame. Perhaps he should ask Father–

No. Not yet, a voice in the back of his head says. Later, if it becomes a problem.

Eventually, he settles on the aquarium as the place. Tickets are discounted for students, and can be purchased day-of. So whichever day they decided, he would not have to worry about purchasing ahead of time and having to cancel or reschedule.

The last thing Damian has to do is, of course, ask. Just ask them on a date. Or see if they feel the same.

Easy-peasy, a voice like Richard's says in his mind.

…No. Not really.

Somehow, to Damian's surprise, he finds himself a little nervous at the thought of asking. He's only known Danny for a little more than two months, nearly three months, but somehow, that has managed to foster not only a strong friendship between them, but also, Damian's own feelings.

And he hesitates because he is quite content with them already as friends. He does not want to ruin their relationship with this romantic stuff. Perhaps, if Ellie had never mentioned it to him two weeks prior, things could just be as they are. Comfortable and nice.

But life is about risks and change. It's always a little messy. He needs to just embrace it, not push it away. That's what Richard says, at least. Damian trusts his word. Not just because they're brothers, but once upon a time, they were Batman and Robin.

Damian manages to catch Danny as the final bell rings, and students are leaving for the day.

Most of the school is abuzz with excitement for the upcoming Halloween Dance, an annual occurrence on the aforementioned day. Originally it was meant to keep the teenagers of Gotham Academy out of the streets on the most chaotic day of the year, but Damian has never been able to attend.

Unfortunately, as Robin, he has more pressing matters than that.

The weather has managed to stay perfectly autumnal all month, with less rain than normal. Leaves have already fallen off in large piles, but there is still a golden hue to the air, and the afternoon light glimmers through what leaves remain.

"Danny–" Damian's glad he's able to catch up to his friend before he's too late. Ellie and Dante have run ahead, no doubt heading towards Dante's truck. "May I speak to you? For a moment?"

"Uh, sure, dude." Danny replies, casually but confused. They step off the main pathway up to the front doors, but not too far away. Just enough to not be noticed by any prying eyes.

Damian looks at Danny, in his icy blue eyes, and, wow. He's nervous.

But, at the same time, he's cool. He's Robin! He goes toe to toe with the worst of Gotham's underground. Villains, cultists, assassins, The Joker, you name it. He's killed people before. He was trained to be an assassin from the moment he could pick up a sword.

It's stupid. Being nervous is stupid, so he does what he was trained to do in the League. He pushes through it. Not the smartest thing to do in some cases (like when he is wounded) but in this case? It will have to work.

So he takes a deep breath.

And, simply, asks.

(And, to his surprise, Danny says yes. )

It's a quiet, rainy day, when they eventually get to the aquarium.

Thus far, Damian has been lucky enough to ward off any suspicion from any of his family members. The only one who might know would be Richard, due to his questions at the beginning of the month, but he didn't tell Richard who Damian felt that way for, though with how he might have talked about Danny, it could have been obvious.

But the important enemies are unaware of Damian's… infatuation? That sounds about right. Drake and Brown and Thomas and Todd are seemingly unaware of what Damian is going out to do that rainy Saturday in Gotham, other than going to meet a friend at the aquarium. They're curious, of course; but they don't know, know. They're unaware of important, missing details.

Good. Father was curious about it, and Damian gave him a half-hearted answer before Alfred dropped him off at the aquarium, and that was it. It might annoy his family to keep this from them, but for a little bit, he feels like it's necessary.

He nervously pulls at the collar of his button-up shirt, as he waits awkwardly inside the aquarium's main hall. It's strangely quiet for a Saturday morning, but it was also just a little bit after opening, of course. Damian had figured it would be best to arrive early, so they would be out of the building in the afternoon, and perhaps they could go somewhere for lunch, as well. Danny said that they were down for whatever to eat, which was a bit more pressure on Damian's shoulders to make a good decision, but he's the one who asked, so…

It's only about five minutes after he arrives that Danny enters the building as well. Damian thought he was dressing as nice as he could without alerting his siblings of something else going on, with a simple button-up and sweater-vest combination, but Danny walks in completely casually. They're wearing an oversized sweater over a long skirt, with thick socks over a pair of Doc Marten loafers.

"Hey, Dami!"

"Danny. You look… good." Is this how a date works? Is this how flirting works?

Even if it was stiff, Danny takes the compliment wonderfully. "Aw, thanks! You look great as well, you know." He pauses, before reaching up to Damian's neck.

The brush of Danny's hand around his neck sends a shudder down his spine, but all Danny does is adjust Damian's collar. .

"It was crooked, a bit."

"Thank you." Damian nervously clears his throat. "What exhibit would you like to see, first?"

Danny shrugs, looking around the large lobby of the Gotham Aquarium.. "I've never been here before. What's your favorite exhibit?"

Damian couldn't name his favorite exhibit, so they start from the leftmost room to work their way around. The Gotham Aquarium is rather large, but there's also a lot to see. The leftmost room has many different types of sharks; even a rare goblin shark.

It's very peaceful. They make their way through the tunnels, surrounded by the blue water and large shadows of sharks swimming happily through the water above them. There's only another family ahead of them a bit, a father and his younger daughter, who is dressed in a shark-themed dress, and seems enthralled by the big fish around them.

The goblin shark swims by, the large nose catching Danny off guard. They snort, and mutter something under their breath that Damian can't quite catch, but it's nice.

Most of their date is like that– they peacefully wander through the different rooms in the aquarium, making comments about the different fish as they pass. Damian tries to provide what information he can about whatever they pass. Only a handful of sharks are actually dangerous to humans. A human is more likely to die from a crocodile or a mosquito than a shark. Otters are a part of the Mustelidae family, so they are related to skunks, wolverines, and weasels. Some goldfish are able to live for decades.

But most of their interactions are quite simple. Eventually, they come to the aquarium's jellyfish room– a large room with nothing but different types of jellyfish, floating calmly and serenely through the water. There are a few spots where people are able to stand underneath the glass of the aquarium and almost stand inside the tank, where the jellyfish can almost surround them on all sides, and Danny doesn't hesitate in dragging Damian into one of the small cubbies.

It's a very small cubby, though. Even though Danny is short for their age, and Damian has yet to hit his growth spurt– surely he's inherited some of Father's height– it's a bit tight. He feels like he's practically standing on top of Danny.

Something's been bugging Damian, though. The date has been fun– Danny has been enthralled by the different sorts of fish and aquatic creatures in the aquarium (even though he prefers space more, Danny says they appreciate a good trip like this), and admittedly, so has Damian. He's pooled a lot of his "donation money" that Father gives to him and his siblings into the aquarium and the zoo, after all, to ensure the spaces are the best quality they can be for the creatures that live in them; but despite that, it's Damian's first trip to the aquarium. Seeing how the funds he requests to be sent to the aquarium is being used makes him feel good.

But the date itself. The date itself hadn't been that… Well, romantic .

Do I even like Danny? Damian feels comfortable at Danny's side like this, as they both watch the jellyfish slowly float through the water around them. It feels natural for them to stand side-by-side, even though he hasn't known Danny for that long, he can see himself knowing Danny for a long, long time. Is this not what romance is? Being by your beloved's side through thick and thin, no matter what?

He likes Danny. He likes Danny a lot, but is it in the way that is romantic?

"-Dami?"

Danny's voice shakes him from his thoughts.

"Yes?"

"You were getting a little space-y there. That's my thing." Danny laughs, showing off their sharper than normal canines, before they cock their head to their right. "Are you okay?"

"I am fine. I was just… lost in thought, for a second."

They're standing by themselves, the two of them, in a small cubby surrounded by soft light and jellyfish swimming around them. This would be a perfect time to do something romantic, wouldn't it? Damian won't argue and say he didn't sneakily watch as many romantic films as he could before the date actually came, in order to research what he should do on a date , but he would die before admitting it aloud to anyone in his family.

"Can I… Can I kiss you?"

Danny's face flushes pink, but he doesn't shake his head.

So they kiss. Damian isn't sure what he's expecting from a kiss– it is his first kiss, after all, but he's overheard the many stories from his classmates about the joy and euphoria of their first kisses. They put so much onus and depth into an action that they will do throughout their adult lives. It never made sense to Damian, the kissing stuff.

And it still doesn't. It's just a wet, awkward movement, no more than a peck before they pull back from each other, and look at each other.

Maybe… Well, maybe Damian doesn't like Danny that way? But in what way? He sees them together. He likes Danny, he really does, but maybe… Maybe Ellie was wrong? Damian doesn't have a romantic crush on Danny, and, well, that's rough, because he thought he had for so long, but it isn't romantic, is it?

Danny's face falls, a bit, as they pull back, and he bites his lip. "I'm… Y'know, Damian, I've been having a really great time, but I don't think… I don't think I like you like that."

Oh.

Oh.

Well, that makes the situation easier for Damian, then.

Danny continues, before Damian can get a word in. "I mean, like, I like you a lot, but I don't think it's a romantic kind of love? I loved spending time with you and this has been really, really great, don't get me wrong, but I'm, like, not sure about the kissing and stuff. I'm sorry if I lead you on with anything, and I totally understand if you don't wanna be friends with me–"

"Danny." Damian interrupts, and it's cute how Danny freezes mid-sentence. "... I believe I may feel the same way."

Danny stares at him for a second, before he snickers, his nervous laughter echoing through the empty room. The reflection of the water from the aquarium looks stunning on them, but not in a way where Damian could imagine himself romantically in love. It was artistically beautiful, and would make quite a portrait, if only he could ingrain the memory of it in the future "Oh. Okay. Uh. What?"

Damian hesitates.

He could just tell Danny that it was Ellie who first got the thought into his head, the thought that Damian likes Danny romantically; but that felt weird to pin the blame completely on her. Even though it was her thought, it stuck with Damian, and developed into his, and he ought to take responsibility for that. And part of it was what he thought was expected to happen, in situations like this; he thought that he was supposed to go on a date with Danny, and they'd start a relationship, and maybe it wouldn't end well, but they'd be together in that way, but now that he's thought about it, and now that he hears Danny feels the same way, too, it somehow simultaneously makes more sense and less sense to Damian.

Eventually, he finds the words to explain. "I had thought that I was feeling romantically interested in you, and I asked you on a date because I thought that is what I had to do. But I don't really wish to kiss you, either." Damian sighs. He looks down at his hands, before looking Danny in the eyes again. "But I do feel something... strongly, for you. I don't know what exactly it is, though."

"...Like, you can see us spending the rest of our lives together, but not romantically? Like. Uh. Elevated besties?"

He tries to not roll his eyes at Danny's response. "Perhaps not that verbiage, but yes. Something similar."

Danny grins, and they pull him out of the small cubby, more into the main room. There still weren't a lot of people at the aquarium that morning, which was nice. "Oh, that's how I feel too, then! Like, I want to spend a lot of time with you. I like you, but not in a date way. But it's more intense than a friendship, too. Does that make sense?"

Damian nods. "Yes. Something non-romantic, but more intense than a regular friendship."

They're quiet, for a second. The only noise around them is the hum of the machines keeping the aquarium filtered out, and a distant chatter of a family coming close to the room. Danny's icy blue eyes glimmer in the light, and he smiles.

"Well, let's figure it out together, then!"

"What?" Damian asks.

"I don't see myself dating anyone any time soon. Do you?"

Damian thinks about it, and... No. He's never dated anyone before, he's been asked out on dates, of course, but he's never gone to them. He usually says he'll be too busy, or he's honest with the girls who ask him out. And he doesn't plan on dating anyone anytime soon. "No, I do not."

"Then we'll figure out exactly what we want to be, and what we want to do, together!" Danny freezes. "If that's fine with you, of course. Whatever you wanna do."

Figuring it out together, with Danny. That... that would be nice. That would be good. "...Yes, it is fine. We will figure this out together." Damian pauses, and looks down at his hands again, and then to Danny's. "Can I hold your hand?"

Danny smiles, all sharp teeth, but it's charming. "Sure!" They reach out, and link hands. That feels... nice.

Yes .

They will figure out whatever their relationship is together. That works for Damian.