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Okay, so after four scratched stories, I've settled on something cute and fluffy and not complicated and multichaptered as @lexiconallie ‘s Christmas present. It's very late; thank you for your patience and I hope you like it!! <333

Also, thanks to @minchen0897 for saying she liked it and I trust her so now I actually feel like I might have written something nice once again <33

Dead Robins Society

Summary: It's Christmas Eve and Damian is perched on a roof instead of celebrating at home

[Read on AO3]

“Okay kid, what are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be back at the manor, celebrating?”

“I don’t like Christmas.” Damian shrugged as Jason sat down beside him on the roof top. “I have to be nice to everyone - including Drake.”

Jason knew a joke when he heard one. The little bean had been getting along with the family for quite some time now. He was a good kid but he did like teasing Jason. Rubbing his neck, Jason bit his lip to stop himself from smiling.

“Okay, fine,” Damian whined, not suppressing his own smile. “Tell me what you got him.”

Chuckling, he pushed his hands into his pockets, grabbing hold of the lighter inside. “Naa, you’re just gonna make fun of me.”

“Of course I will,” the kid amended. “It’s my prerogative as your younger brother, isn’t it?”

“Brother?” Jason grabbed the lighter tightly, glancing at the kid from the corner of his eyes.

Damian’s face was flushing, a faint dusting of red on his dark cheeks that wasn’t just from the cold. “You’ve been adopted into my family for years now, Todd. Get with the program.” After a beat, the kid huffed, straightening his spine and looking anywhere but Jason. "It has come to my attention that people give presents to those they care about during these holidays."

"Astute observation, bean bag. What gave it away, the noisy TV ads or Pennyworth asking for your wishes since the season started?"

Damian huffed, his breath a steamy cloud in the cold air. "You're obnoxious, Todd. I don't know why I made the effort."

With a jerk, Jason slipped the lighter from his jacket, trying to disguise his reaction as he patted his pockets down for cigarettes.

And, it really was strange. Jason wasn’t quite sure how to take that statement - Damian was thoughtful, of course. Damian wouldn’t just buy random things, instead, he’d take the time to find the perfect present. That’s what he had been trained for - Talia wouldn’t have it any other way. She had poignantly told Jason to make sure he knew his mark’s heart, their deepest desire. It was a thing an assassin more than often needed to know. So it really shouldn’t have come as such a surprise Damian had made an effort with his present. Deep down, Jason knew that wasn’t what had surprised him.

“Didn’t have to get me anything,” he grumbled, lighting his cigarette.

“That is true.” The kid fidgeted, producing a red envelope with Jason’s name on it in Damian’s ornate cursive. “But I wanted to. I’m not sure I got it right, though.”

The lump in Jason’s throat made it hard to answer, so he hid by taking a drag before even looking at the boy. People didn’t give him presents. It didn’t happen. Sure, once or twice, he’d been offered a freebie by some of the working girls he had saved, or got offered money by some asshole for this or that, like letting them live, and, sure, Alfred did buy some things, but they both knew Jason wouldn’t come to pick them up. By now, Jason was pretty sure the old butler was re-using last year’s gifts. And the gifts from the year before that and so on. Jason Todd didn’t get presents. Not present presents. Not the kind that actually counted.

Damian’s hands were shaking almost as much as his own when Jason put the burning cigarette aside and took the envelope. They would both blame it on the cold, of course, but they knew either would be telling a lie.

The envelope was light, not much more than a few pages inside tops - probably just a card. People did hand out cards around Christmas, right? They still did that, right?

Carefully, Jason pushed a finger under the seal. Because the pretentious little bean would not just use glue, oh no. It had to be a good, old-fashioned wax seal with his initials on it. Not wanting to break it, Jason pulled back, reaching instead for the knife he was carrying in his boot.

“Just rip it,” Damian scoffed, blowing on his hands to keep them warm. His eyes flitted between Jason and the letter, only to stare straight ahead when the kid noticed Jason grinning at him. “It’s just some thing. Nothing of value.”

The knife cut through the thick paper almost effortlessly, satisfying in a way little else was. Jason put the tool aside, keeping the envelope in his hands for a while, only marveling at it. Maybe it wasn’t anything expensive, maybe it was just a stupid Christmas card, but it was for him. The kid couldn’t know, couldn’t even fathom what that meant.

“It is to me.” His voice was low, getting swept away by the icy wind blowing and tugging at their clothes, but Damian understood.

“You haven’t even seen--” The accusation veering off into a shriek when he saw the first tear roll down Jason’s cheek. He could not tell if it was because of the sentiment - or the present itself as Jason had pulled the card out by now. Only a little bit, but it sure was enough to recognize the likeness of one Catherine Todd.

Damian hadn’t had too many pictures to work with, but he was still a little proud of that drawing. It was small, just a little charcoal on some good paper, but it did look like the woman he had only seen in a handful of newspaper clippings and mugshots.

“I... I hadn’t seen her in any of your safe houses. It... It wasn’t because you don’t want her around, do you?”

The kid sounded weird. Uncomfortable. Like he hadn’t just pulled out Jason’s heart with his bare hands. They both had their mommy issues alongside the obvious daddy issues. They both knew their mommies could’ve been better and maybe Jason should’ve hated Catherine. Maybe he shouldn’t even call the woman who had raised him his mother at all. She wasn’t actually biologically related to him, was she?

“Thank you.”

Damian blinked, not understanding the tone of his voice and Jason couldn’t blame him. He wouldn’t have understood the strange love-child of a croak and a whisper that left his throat either. Instead, he reached out, making sure the kid knew what he was doing before clutching Damian to his chest.

“Thank you,” he repeated, his face buried in the kid’s shoulder.

“It’s fine,” Damian said. “I’m glad you like it.”

Chuckling, Jason squeezed the boy a little, wiping his face with the ball of the hand still holding onto the envelope. He refused to let the brat go. Not right now, at least. Not completely.

“That why you were outside tonight?” Jason looked down at the kid who frowned at him in return. He probably hadn’t wanted Jason to see the tears and snot run over his own face, but hey, they were both giants messes and that should’ve been common knowledge, so Jason didn’t comment on it.

“Maybe I just don’t like Christmas.”

“Or maybe you just don’t like everyone pretending that they do.”

Sniffing, Damian leaned into his shoulder. “Or maybe I just plain don’t like Christmas, Todd. Don’t make this a big thing.”

But it was, right? Damian cared too much for all those assholes - including the biggest asshole, Jason himself. The little nugget cared and it was no secret.

“Wanna go back there and exchange the decorations for Halloween themed ones?”

“What?”

Whatever the little bean bag wanted, Jason would get it for him. And if that meant finding a way to keep the family from pretending and lying all night just because they were supposed to be ‘happy’ during the holidays, Jason would do just that.

“We could just fuck things up a little. Make it less serious, less... you know.”

Wiping his face with both hands, the kid turned to look at him. “You’re serious.”

“Like a heart attack.”

“You think if we take away the pretense for them to act all...” Damian waved his hand about, trying to convey his hatred for all the false cheer waiting at home.

“Christmas-y”

“That’s not even a word.”

“It so is.” Throwing his forgotten cigarette off the roof, Jason stood, motioning for the kid to follow. “D’you know Tim and the old man didn’t even celebrate before they got to know Dick? Christmas is not such a big deal as they make it out to be. They’re just looking for an excuse to make everyone else happy.”

“Yeah, well.” Damian straightened his jacket before looking up to frown at Jason again. “They should stop. It’s making me uncomfortable.”

Laughing, Jason tousled his hair. “They could definitely learn a thing or two from you. -- Care to teach them a lesson?”

“Are we really going to...”

“We’re gonna steal Christmas. It’s kinda tradition anyway.”

“How’s that tradition?” Damian grumbled as he followed Jason off the roof.

“Hatchling, have you never heard of the Grinch? We really need to get you more books.”

“Maybe I should put it on my wish list.”

“Maybe you should.”