alternatively Damian keeps Jason a secret once he gets to Gotham so he can keep getting away with stuff.
like, Damian grew up attached to Jason's side. they know each other better than they know themselves, and Jason especially has a certain affinity for knowing exactly what Damian's thinking at any given point.
of course. he's also Damian's older brother. was he a bad influence? yes. but he was also a protective motherfucker that was an EXPERT as ruining Damian's fun whenever he decided to act responsible. Damian couldn't do SHIT without Jason knowing.
but then? they get split up. Damian's sent to Gotham. Jason gets caught up with the outlaws and then Crime Alley. Damian is, for the first time since his beloved brother rose out of the pit, without the Red Hood's supervision.
the bats are sweet of course, they try their hardest; but they have no idea what Damian's life was like pre-Gotham. it's not like Talia gave Bruce a manual of how to take care and rule over a rebellious Damian Al Ghul. the only knowledge they ever get about how Damian lives comes straight from Damian's own mouth.
Damian uses this to his advantage. he feels as the youngest of a shitton of overbearing older siblings, he at least deserves that.
Bruce, catching Damian with a bottle of whiskey straight out of his office cabinet: Damian! you can't drink, what are you doing!??!? do you WANT me to take Robin away??
Damian, three glasses in and pure bullshitting: ...grandfather would demand i drink alcohol twice weekly to ensure my tolerance of intoxication stayed up to his standards. is that not the case here?
Bruce, devastated: *quietly takes bottle* ok well... you aren't in trouble... but please don't do that again...
like. they have no way to prove ANYTHING Damian says is wrong. Damian is getting away with EVERYTHING. so when Red Hood starts getting into trouble with the bats of course Damian is 'loving' enough to not let anybody know that Jason's alive. he doesn't want his big brother coming around and snitching on him.
of course, Dick is too persistent. Tim is too lovable. Bruce is too apologetic. and Jason misses his kid demon brat too much. it was only a matter of time. the first time he gets foiled is precisely a week after Jason fully makes good with Bruce and agrees to start coming back to the manor after patrols. it's almost 2 AM, Damian has school in the morning, and he wants to finish playing that video game Tim got him hooked on a few days prior.
"I'm going to start up the Xbox in the main living area, if you plan on socialising please keep to the kitchen," He informs everyone, shrugging off the last of his Robin gear and heading towards the stairs. everybody else only hummed their agreeal, not even blinking at his behaviour. Jason, however, instantly snorts, stopping Damian in his tracks with a heavy hand on the nape of his neck.
"Uhm, 'scuze me you little shit," He says, raising an eyebrow down at the scowling child pointedly. "I don't think so. You know your bedtime is 10PM."
"We went on patrol," Damian gritted out quickly, reminding him. "Bedtimes are null, surely you know."
Jason laughed. "And surely you know that Ra's told you that on the occasions when missions kept you up later than 10, you havta' go to bed the second you're finished with no electronics or caffine. Patrol's the same deal habibi, up you go."
"Wait..." Dick interuppted, sounding confused. "Damian had a bedtime at the league?"
Damian shut his eyes in resignation, knowing he was caught.
"Course he did," Jason said skeptically. "You think Ra's and Talia were stupid? No way he would have gotten through training without passing out if he wasn't made to get enough sleep for his age. They were harsh, not illogical."
Bruce furrowed his brow, now starting to sense that he'd been duped. "But he told me that he had been trained since birth to not need as much sleep as children his age; that he'd been modified in Ra's labs to do so and had never had a bed time or curfew."
Jason looked at the confused faces of Tim, Dick, and Bruce as if they were stupid. His head whipped down to stare at Damian, who refused to make eye contact.
"...Fuck you been telling these guys, Day?"
Damian spun on his heel and quickened his pace up the stairs without a word, eager to escape. He stopped just after rounding a corner, holding his breath or eavesdrop right as he heard Tim inquire, "So uh... yo, Jason? I have a question about whether or not Damian was allowed to smoke cigarettes at the league. Because that's what he told me and Dick."
"You've been letting him smoke cigarettes-?" Bruce started, scandalised. Dick's voice cut him off.
"He TOLD us that Talia LET HIM."
"Hey hey hey, you're the one that believed it was part of his home culture to eat nothing but caramel covered pancakes for dinner every Thursday!"
A pause. Sounding betrayed, Bruce asked, "...So is that not true?"
"Jesus fucking Christ." Damian heard Jason drawl from the cave, sounding both severely unimpressed and slightly amused. "Kid's been fuckin' runnin' circles round you lot, ain't he?"
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