Im OBSESSED. (so have a low effort lil drabble)
Imagine Damian finally admiting he's- well not concerned, he and Tim had gotten closer but until before his birthday, they still kept their distance. But something was off and needed to be addressed.
Who would he talk to though? About Tim? Not many wouldn't take his words as something else. Who is he close with though? He'd talk to Dick but that would probably freak him out.
So he goes to Duke.
The brother he actually grew up with. And when he mentions all of the signs, the feelings of conflicted abandonment, and just- everything.
Its Duke, who looks him in the eyes and goes
"Don't you remember my sixteenth"?
"Dude- id been living at the manor for a hot second, but Tim was like the cool older brother who was never around" Duke explained "But then I was a month or so from my birthday and suddenly I couldn't get rid of the guy"
It was- an alarmingly familiar scenerio. The offers to "get away from it all" with increasing desperation, the random "bonding moments", the hovering.
But one detail was something Damian hadn't even recognized himself until Duke pointed it out.
Standing between them, and Bruce and Alfred.
The way he shifted seats, rearranged plans, and even outright dismissed the elders with a glint in his eye that promised reprocussions if they didn't back off.
Damian had assumed Tim and Father were fighting, and Alfred, ever one to take Fathers side, was just part of the problem at that point. He never looked deeper.
"So... Timothy around both of our sixteenths... just goes crazy"?
"Not crazy-" Duke shook his head "Its.. protective almost"?
Now that was crazy. "What on earth would he be protecting us from"?
"How do we not know"? Damian half pleaded, ignoring the flash of shame including himself in that ignorance.
Duke met his gaze again, though now his eyes looked almost haunted, a heavy question in the air weighting on them both.
That one sentence cut the strings that held Damians head so high, and he dropped, his hands covering his face as he tried to just breathe.
He could feel Duke set his hand on his shoulder, pulling him into an awkward side lean hug. They stayed, for several minutes in silence. Damian imaged Duke was doing the same as him, running over every moment asking for awnsers where there were none.
"What do we do"? Duke asked, finally breaking the silence
Damian took one last breath, filling his lungs and letting the motion move across his body as he straightened up to face his brother. For the sake of his other brother, he needed to get it together.
They needed to find Tim. But more than that, they needed to know the truth.
"We find Timo-Tim and we ask."
"Piece of cake right"? Duke chimed. But no- they knew better, if anyone didnt want to be found and could sucseed with it, it would be Tim.
They had both come so far, but Tim had come even further- he had always had that edge that Duke always admired and Damian had grown to truly respect. It would be one of the most difficult missions, even more so since there was no way they could involve anyone else.
But then again- Tim had done so much for them right? Even if they didn't quite understand why.
Damian met his gaze, fierce green with determined gold.
"Piece of cake."
stormborns
kaledo-art
baratheonpilled
jbbartram-illu
izzy806
tangentwithtanner
titsay
turnnoffyourmind
