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Danny was delighted to find Kyle’s Kitten Cafe was only a short bus ride away from the townhome. It was closer to Gotham University, which Sam and Tucker would be coming from. He was so excited to see them. This was one of their first times really able to hang out as a group in a little while without college looming over Sam and Tucker. They’d both been a bit out of it, around midterms. Now that those were over, they could relax a bit. Plan what their Halloween costumes were going to be. Let his friends de-stress a bit. Pretend they were normal college kids. In Gotham. Pretend.
Danny sighed, leaning against the window on the bus. They honestly weren’t that bad, the buses in Amity had been worse. Probably because the ones back home were older, from the seventies and on their last legs. They probably hadn’t been cleaned in the last four decades either. Gotham’s buses looked like they’d been cleaned in the last year. Probably due to either being covered in gas, pollen, having broken all their windows, or whatever else the Rouge of the week put the city through.
Arriving at his stop, he stood up and made his way to the doors. Stepping out, he pulled his hood on a bit tighter, as the misty rain fell around him. A little colder, and the rain would be snow. Danny’s breath swirled out around him, looking like he was breathing out smoke. On short walks like this, from the bus stop to a store, he didn’t bother bringing an umbrella. It was too much of a hassle. That being said, he did always keep some miniature respirators on him. His parents Jack and Maddie had sent a bunch to Jazz, after she’d told him about the incident, they’d send a bunch of them. Apparently - apparently they’d asked about him. About Danny. Their ‘wayward son’. He wasn’t sure he’d believed that. There’d been no messages from them.
He hurried up, spotting Tucker in the window of the cafe. He was wearing dark blue jeans with a bright red sweater. It looked great with the gold beads and jewelry in his dreadlocks. There was already a kitten climbing up his friend’s jeans, and based on Tucker’s face, he had no idea what to do about it. Chuckling to himself, Danny made his way inside and approached his friend.
“Need some help?” Danny teased, hands on his hips.
“Yes! Please! I don’t want him or her to fall and hurt themselves!” Tucker pleaded.
Danny knelt, helping remove the sharp little claws from Tucker’s pant leg. “There ya go buddy. Off you go.” he said, placing the orange and white kitten on the floor, watching it scamper off.
“Thanks man.”
“Really Tuck. You’ve been around Orion. You know how to deal with cats.”
“Orion is chill! He’s not trying to scale Mt Tucker!”
“Who’s trying to scale Mt Tucker?” came a voice behind them.
“Sam!”
“Hey Sam!”
“Boys.” She said, greeting them. She looked gothic and fabulous as always with her purple knee length dress with little bats all over it. It matched her bat pendant necklace and the hanging bat earrings. She had black stockings on and was wearing her signature heavy black platform boots. Her jacket, if it could be even called that, was made of black lace and was entirely see through. Danny had no idea how that kept her warm. It probably didn’t. Sam didn’t mind suffering a bit to look peak goth.
“What do you want? Coffee with sugar and cream for Tuck? Sugary no coffee monstrosity for Danny?” She headed off to the counter once they’d nodded in affirmation.
Danny sat down across from Tucker, letting his eyes roam around the place. There were scratching posts and beds everywhere. There was also a proverbial obstacle course for the cats over their head, shelves and bridges had been built to give the cats a highway safe above the human visitor’s heads. Toys were relegated to a smaller fenced area, but the menu indicated that they would be given some wand toys with a food or drink purchase (the toys would have to be returned after the visit) and buy treats for their feline friends.
Sam came back with their drinks. She also had some wands in her hand. One had a long, multicolored string attached. Another just had a tuft of feathers at the end. The third had a long black string at the end, which led to some bright red feathers. They were perfect for playing with cats.
Seeing the toys, a variety of kitties were making their way over, excited for a chance to play. Orange cats, tabby cats, black cats, tortoiseshell cats, and more were approaching their table.
Danny grabbed the wand with the thick multicolored string and began to twitch it, catching the eye of a chunky orange cat and a tiny black and white kitten. The orange cat appeared disinterested, but Danny could see its eyes tracking the string and the way the cat’s body shifted.
“Thanks Sam, how much do I owe you?”
“Don’t worry about it ghost boy. You either Tuck. My treat. Although,” she said, a smirk spreading across her face, “maybe next time, your sugar daddy can pay for it. He did give you some money to have fun and spend on yourself, no?” Tucker cackled at Sam’s words, enjoying Danny’s embarrassment. The sugar baby, very embarrassed, had a blush on his face and was trying to hide it in the table and his crossed arms.
“SAM! Why would you say that? I don’t - He’s - I -” Danny struggled to say, his face beet red.
His two traitorous friends snickered and laughed at his predicament. They happily sipped at their drinks and began attempting to play with the cats. Well, Sam was succeeding, expertly twirling the feather on a string toy, causing the kitties to jump and leap in attempts to catch it. One would, and she’d let them enjoy catching their prey for a few moments before having the feathers skitter away once their grip was loose, starting the cycle all over again. Tucker was struggling. The cats were not as interested in how he was flopping around his own wand of feathers. He got a couple of glances, but there wasn’t much interest.
“I uh - that’s actually something I want to chat about. My uh,” Danny’s face burned and he whispered the last bit, “my s-sugar daddy.”
Their heads turned to look at him.
“Is it about the fact that you’re falling for him?” Sam asked.
“Or that you wanna hang out with him more?” Tucker added.
“And that you talk about him all the time?” Sam continued.
“He also definitely wants to meet his sugar daddy.”
“True, true,” Sam agreed.
“Ancients, I get it guys. I’m… falling for him. It’s kinda obvious. That’s part of what I want to talk about. I want to know more about him. And I want - I want to get him to stop paying for things, because I don’t want to be in a - a sugaring relationship. I want, well, I want a regular one. I also have no idea if he even likes me. He could totally just be lonely.”
His friends glanced at each other.
“Danny, I’m pretty sure the dude wouldn’t be droppin fat stacks if he didn’t like you. He also watches, like, every stream. He’s got to be at least a partial simp for you.”
“I really hate the term simp,” Sam muttered. “I agree with Tucker, though. Red Ghul is definitely interested in you. You seem to like him, and enjoy talking to him. Good luck though. If he’s anything like me, since you know he’s wealthy, he’s not going to believe that you like him for him. You’ve got an uphill battle ahead of you.”
“Wait, but Sam, you know that we like you for you, it wasn’t that hard for us to become friends with you.” Danny objected. She raised an eyebrow.
“Yeah, and how long did you know me before I told you my family was rich?”
“She has a point.”
“I - ugh. I just - I want to know more about him. To get closer to him, quickly. I want to meet him.”
“Patience young padawan. You have time. Besides, he’s going to start to distrust you if you move too fast. Learn his name first. Play some games together with him outside of stream.” Sam advised, drinking more of her latte.
“I have. His name is Damian.”
“Dude! So he is probably Damian Wayne!”
“Shhhh! Keep it down! You don’t just name drop the Waynes like that in Gotham!” Danny hissed, looking around. Thankfully it was busy enough, despite the fact that it was a Tuesday. No one seemed to have heard them.
“Why can’t we say their names?”
“Because trouble usually follows. According to the internet, it’s like saying Macbeth in a theater or saying it’s quiet in a hospital. How do you not know this? You’re online more than either of us.” Sam responded.
“Hey. I’ve been busy trying to set up some street cred as a hacker. And I’ve been working on this little side hustle thing.”
“Side hustle thing?”
“We all aren’t made of money like you Sam, some of us have to work. Sooooo. I’ve been getting people pdfs of their college textbooks. For a reduced price of five dollars per textbook.”
“That’s,” Danny paused, “that’s pretty illegal Tuck. Don’t you wanna impress Oracle? Do you really think she’ll approve?”
“I mean, probably? She works with the Bats, which are vigilantes, which are also rather illegal. The only people it hurts are the textbook companies. And they make a shit ton of money off of students.”
“Aren’t you doing the same thing? Making money off of broke students?” Sam countered, unimpressed with Tucker’s scheme.
“Hey! I’m not scalping them and asking them to pay hundreds for a textbook! Just five dollars, for my time. I need money too, to pay for school and all that jazz.”
“You could get a job, like I did. Or how Danny streams.”
“Wait, you got a job Sam?” Danny asked.
“Sure did! It’s at this cute little plant shop not too far from campus. It’s run by a nice green skinned meta woman and her peppy girlfriend.” Sam said proudly, a grin on her face. “It’s rather nice there, and my boss let me take home some cuttings to propagate.”
“Congrats Sam! That’s great!”
“Yeah! Way to go!”
“Thank you,” she said with a happy smile, “Back to the topic though, Tucker, what the hell. Is this Oracle person that important? And really? Danny at least has a shot with his internet crush, but I don’t think this Oracle person knows who you are.”
“Oracle is the BEST hacker in the world! She’s incredible! And I’m not like Danny, I don’t want to date Oracle, just… want her to… recognize me.”
“Oh my god.” Sam said, a shocked look on her face that shifted to glee. “Oh my god, you’re one of those ‘notice me senpai’ people.” Danny choked on his iced drink while Tucker sputtered beside him.
“I am not! You take that back!”
“Hey, if you see a spade, call it a spade.”
“Sam does have a point.”
“Oh, not you too!”
“Sorry dude,” Danny grinned, “if you get to tease me about the sugar daddy thing, I’m gonna tease you about your senpai.”
Tucker wailed dramatically, before swiping Danny’s cat toy.
“Assholes. I’m ditching you guys to play with some cats.” Tucker’s affectionate tone betrayed the fact that he wasn’t really mad with him as he stalked off, letting the string trail behind him, along with a variety of cats. Danny and Sam sat in silence for a moment, enjoying their beverages.
“So. Do you think - do you think you’re going to join Tucker and I at Gotham U?.”
“I - I don’t know Sam.”
“You’re not Phantom anymore. You have time to focus on school. Maybe you can't be an astronaut anymore, but maybe - maybe you can be an astrophysicist. Or make inventions that go on spacecrafts.”
“Sam.”
“No, hear me out Danny. I know you still love space and the stars. I also know there’s no way they’ll let you in the space program. We both know that. That door is,” Sam paused, watching Danny’s face carefully, “that door is closed. But there are still other opportunities. Other things you can do.”
“I don’t know Sam. I like streaming. It’s fun!”
“I’m not saying you stop streaming. It’s clear you love it, and you have a great time doing it. But that doesn’t mean you have to give up on your other dreams just because you’re starting to make it as a streamer. In fact, you may actually be in a better position to pursue your other dreams.” She sighed, putting down her mug. “I don’t - I know we’re not together anymore, but I don’t want you to give up on your dreams. I do want what’s best for you.”
“Thanks Sam,” Danny said eventually. “I appreciate it.”
“Hmmm.” She looked over at Tucker, who was being climbed by three different cats and laughed. “Should we go rescue him?” Danny grinned.
“Yes, yes we should.”
“He does know that they like him so much because he tends to ignore them, right?”
“You know Sam, I don’t think he does.”
***
Drake was not Damian’s favorite brother. That honor went to Richard. His favorite sister was obviously Cain. So when Drake showed up, asking to go out to lunch, Damian was suspicious. If it was work related, Drake would have ordered lunch and they would eat in one of their offices. It couldn’t be something Bat related, as that they would have hashed that out in the Bat Cave or Drake’s Nest. No, for Timothy to come here, during a work day and ask Damian out to lunch with him, it could only mean one thing. Timothy wanted to learn more about something in Damian’s life. He could hazard a guess to what that was.
His infatuation with UndeadNebula. Aka Danny.
Sighing, he put away his work and checked his phone. Danny had sent him some pictures of cats. He’d gone to a cat cafe with his goth friend Chaos and his IT friend Friar. There was something familiar about the place where Danny had gone, but he couldn’t place it. Damian had visited all of the cat cafes in Gotham, but Danny’s photos were focused on the cats, not the surrounding area, so he wasn’t sure which one Danny had gone to.
He smiled. It was sweet though, that Danny had thought of sending him pictures from his kitty adventure. They were all rather adorable. A chunky orange kitty asleep on the floor. A black and white kitten bunny kicking a red feather toy. The final picture was a tabby cat climbing someone’s pant leg.
Damian put his phone away, before steeling himself. He headed to Drake’s office, walking in without knocking. Timothy looked up from his computer, seeing Damian, before grimacing and checking his watch.
“Damn. Time sure does fly when you’re having fun,” Drake remarked sarcastically, closing some applications and locking his computer.
“Alright, our reservations at a lovely Mediterranean restaurant are in around half an hour. They have plenty of vegetarian options for you, I checked. Hopefully traffic isn’t too bad.”
“Tch. It is Gotham. There is always traffic. We will be late.” Damian remarked, holding the door open for his brother as they exited the office.
“Must you always be so pessimistic?” chided Timothy.
“I am merely realistic.”
“Uh huh. Sure.” Timothy’s tone was dripping in sarcasm. Damian clenched his fists. Drake had an incredible talent for annoying him.
“Do you want me to come or not? You are the one who is inconveniencing me.” Timothy sighed, stepping into the elevator.
“Sorry, sorry. I’ve been awake far too long, and I hate dealing with all these - these assholes who like to have dick measuring contests.”
“You are referring to Hobbs and Dinkle?”
“Yes. They’re trying to oust each other, and it’s just a massive headache.”
“You could just fire them both and be done with it.” Timothy gave a short, harsh laugh.
“I’ve been really trying not to do that, but they’re not listening to reason and are at the point where they’re starting to sabotage each other’s departments.”
“Fire them Timothy, they’re not worth the stress. Not only that, if they are sabotaging each other, then they are at the point they are harming the company. Would you rather fire two, or have to potentially fire or lay off more due to their selfish decisions and competitiveness?” Damian asked, stepping out of the elevator once they’d reached the ground floor.
“Ugh. I hate that you’re right. I just really wanted to find a better solution,” Timothy grumbled.
“You have tried, and have exhausted yourself doing so. Some situations, there is nothing to be done but the easiest solution, even if that makes you look like a ‘bad person’.” Timothy gave him a searching look as they entered his car.
They sat in silence for a while as Drake pulled out of the parking garage and onto the street. They were halfway to the restaurant when Timothy spoke.
“You’re used to being the ‘bad guy’ aren’t you? Even after all this time, after all the good you’ve done, you still don’t fully see yourself as a good person.”
“Please. You really think I think so little of myself?” Damian scoffed.
“Yeah. Yeah I do. I don’t really think our family or the media have really done you any favors when it comes to self esteem. Or forging your own identity. Your confidence and aloofness… it’s an act, isn’t it? Sorry I haven't really noticed before.”
“What are you on about, Timothy?! You are spouting nonsense!” Damian growled.
His heart, though, was pounding. He could feel the nervousness within his very bones. There was some truth to what Drake was saying. It was not a truth Damian wanted anyone to know. It was not one that he was willing to accept, despite touching on it in his discussions with Quinn.
The car was silent once more, till they reached their destination. Stepping out once they arrived, Damian made his way inside, letting Drake trail behind him. After speaking with the hostess, the pair were led to a quiet booth in the back. They ordered, before Timothy attempted to engage in conversation once more.
“So. How’s your online friend?”
“He’s fine. Richard told you about him?”
“In a sense. It was rather obvious that you’d met someone online. He just confirmed it.”
“What sort of public persona do you want to have?” Damian gave Drake an incredulous look.
“Aloof. Cold. Uninterested in the masses. What does that have to do with my new friend?”
“Hmmm. Well. I happen to know that Red Ghul is Damian Wayne, and that he’s been sending a certain Twitch streamer quite a bit of money.” Timothy said nonchalantly, though there was an amused glimmer in his eyes.
“It seems you already know everything.”
“I wouldn’t say that. UndeadNebula does have rather impressive cyber security, more than I would expect for a Twitch streamer.”
“One of his friends is in IT. Apparently he built Nebula’s computer and set everything up.”
“That is a possible explanation, I suppose. Has anyone been particularly interested in you, per say?”
“What do you mean?”
“You have been donating quite a bit of money. Honestly, the five K you donated for the cat was more than most people make in a month.”
Damian was silent. The waiter arrived with their entrees, refilling Drake’s water glass.
“You were aware of that, right? That five K is a lot?”
Damian busied himself with placing the napkin on his lap, ignoring Drake’s question. He picked at his food with his fork.
“Damian.”
The younger man began to eat, unwilling to answer his elder brother’s question.
“Oh my god, you didn’t.”
“How was I supposed to know?” Damian snapped, irritated that he had been unaware of this gap in knowledge, “I have never been destitute, and even when I took over this position at Wayne Enterprises, I have only ever been dealing with vast sums of money. Never such trivial amounts.”
“Alfred needs to take you to a grocery store. Honestly. This also explains so much in terms of people’s salaries.”
“There is nothing wrong with paying employees living wages.”
“Agreed. But you’ve approved some pretty massive hikes, which isn’t really a bad thing, because it’s been driving a lot of good employees our way, despite the fact that it’s, well, Gotham. It’s more the fact that your idea of a living wage is kinda skewed by how much wealth you’ve had growing up, so you think it’s far higher than it actually is.”
“Besides a few of the more ornery board members, no one has complained about the fact that I have increased the salaries of workers in the company.” Timothy gave him an amused grin.
“That’s because most of them are rather intimidated by you. You’ve got Bruce’s height, and while you’re not as broad as him, you’re still a big man. Plus, while Bruce does the whole ‘Brucie’ thing, you’re out there openly glaring and scowling at people. Most of them don’t have the guts to cross you.”
“Good. They should be intimidated by me.” Drake raised an eyebrow, unimpressed.
“Anyway, back on topic. If you have a reputation for being cold and aloof, that is all gonna fall apart once people learn you’re supporting a Twitch streamer. People are going to automatically assume that you’re a fool and are being scammed. Either way, your reputation is going to change drastically. I have no idea how, but it will.”
“You speak as if anyone is ever going to find out that I am the one donating to UndeadNebula.”
“Someone already has.” Damian stilled at the news.
“Who?” Damian asked in a sharp, dangerous tone.
“That, I don’t know. They hacked into UndeadNebula’s Twitch and then into your Discord chat with him.”
“Our phones are encrypted.”
“They are. But your chats are hosted through Discord. So someone just needs to hack into that to get your conversation. Which they did.”
“How bad is it?” Damian asked bluntly.
“Well. They know Red Ghul is Damian Wanye. But that’s about it. I didn’t see any indication that they actually went through your chat with the streamer. They were only interested in learning who you were. I suspect in an attempt to get money from you. So. Back to my earlier question. Has anyone shown an interest in you? Like messaging you on Discord?” Damian frowned.
“I have been receiving quite a few direct messages on Discord from accounts I am unfamiliar with, but I had assumed it was a spam issue. I have blocked all of them and reported their accounts.” Timothy snorted.
“Okay, that’s good at least. Should probably keep that up.” Drake sighed.
“I don’t think whoever this is will be quiet forever. They’re probably going to want to blackmail you into keeping quiet about your crush on UndeadNebula. So. Think about it. It’s going to come out that you watch this streamer, and donate quite a bit. We’re going to need to figure out how to handle that, media wise. And,” here Timothy paused, keeping a close eye on Damian’s face. More than likely trying to gauge his reactions. To Damian’s surprise, his brother’s tone shifted to be quieter, gentler.
“And you need to make a decision. Do you want to pursue UndeadNebula or not? Romantically, I mean.”
They ate quietly for a while longer. Timothy watching him, and Damian - Damian pondering his brother’s words. Damian put his fork down.
“I wish to be romantically involved with UndeadNebula, with Danny. As much as I wish for it, that does not mean he will return my affections. I hope to be friends first.”
“You’re not trying to - ugh,” Drake grimaced, “be by his side and hope that he’ll eventually fall for you? And get upset if Danny never returns your affections?” Damian scowled.
“Of course not. My feelings are my own, and I will not burden him with them unless there is a possibility of them being reciprocated. Should he reject me, I will not retaliate in any way, and will remain his friend, as long as he is comfortable with that. I am not the child you once knew Drake. I have grown up, as I have repeatedly told you and the rest of the family.”
“I know, I know, but you’re the baby of the family.” Timothy said with a wry grin. His expression shifted again to a surprisingly proud look, “We’re all aware that you’re not the same as the ten year old child that arrived in Gotham a decade ago. You’ve grown so much Dami.”
“My guess is that you have a few months, at best, before whoever this is will get tired of us attempting to stall them. I’m going to increase the security around your Discord chats with Danny and see if I can’t set up an alarm for the next time the hacker comes snooping.”
“Thank you, Timothy.”
“No problem.”
“Timothy.”
“Yes?”
“Do you have any advice for how to woo someone online? Richard was… unhelpful.”
“Oh boy. Uh, well, you already have a sugaring relationship, right? I kinda gathered that much from the compilations on YouTube.”
“Sugaring relationship?” Timothy groaned.
“I have a power point ready for you to go over later tonight about the internet, both in regards to safety and lingo. Look it up now, or learn about it then, I don’t care. I kinda take back some of what I said. When it comes to the internet, you have barely grown at all. Jeez, Dami.”
“Do you have advice for me Drake or not.”
“My only advice is to get to know each other more, meet in person, and work on changing your relationship from a sugaring one to an actual one.”
“Tch. That is unhelpful.”
“This entire conversation has been wild from start to finish, Damian. Give me a day or two to process all this and I’ll get back to you on that.”
The conversation lapsed once more.
“Drake. I have - I want Danny to know who I am. I have not been very careful with my identity. I even used myself and you as an example of young executives. He was distrustful of the idea that I was so young and so wealthy.”
“As he should be.”
“I want him to know who I am. I want him to see what I look like, and to see what he looks like. I wish to meet him in person. I am unsure how to bring this to fruition.”
“Uh, well? You know his name? I was more concerned with who was looking into you, that I never really looked into him. I could do that, if you want. Help you orchestrate a meeting.”
Damian thought this over. He appreciated the offer, but it felt wrong to try and force a meeting. There were already things that he was hiding from Danny, mainly Robin. And him being a Wayne for now. He disliked the idea of lying and keeping things from Danny. He was aware that it was necessary in some areas, but he wanted to limit it as much as possible.
“As much as I want to know exactly who he is, he does not know who I am either. We have been getting to know each other on a rather even playing field, something I have not had the pleasure of having with other potential paramours.”
“You also clearly like Danny much more than all the others you’ve gone out on days with.”
“Yes,” Damian admitted, “I have continued to be surprised by the extent of my desire for him. I originally assumed it was merely a physical attraction, and it would fade once he opened his mouth. I was quickly proven wrong. Talking with him, one on one on Discord has caused me to care for him.”
“I have to admit this is really weird.”
“What is?”
“Seeing you crushing real hard on someone.”
“It was going to happen eventually.”
The rest of the lunch went rather smoothly, discussing other topics, although Damian made note to look up what a ‘sugaring’ relationship was. And to expect a power point from Timothy. He doubted it would teach him much.
***
He was wrong. Oh how wrong he was.
Damian had unfortunately learned what a sugaring relationship was. He hated to admit that it made sense to describe his relationship with Danny this way. That being said, from what he learned from the power point and further research, there tended to be a negative connotation to such a relationship, and there often was no love between the partners, only a physical relationship.
That was not what he wanted.
He wanted a romantic relationship, one with emotions and care for each other. Physical relations were unnecessary. It would be nice, but considering what he’d learned about Danny, he was aware there was a good chance it was off the table.
He was getting far too ahead of himself.
They were merely friends at the moment. With this added sugaring aspect?
Did that imply there was potential for romance in their relationship?
Did he have a chance?
He was potentially on a time table now.
He might as well test the waters.
***
“I’m a massive, massive fan of all the advocacy that Aquaman, Aqualad, Aquagirl, and all the Aqua peeps do. Huge fan. They’ve done so much for the environment, their activism has caused so much trash to be removed from the ocean, and reduced the Pacific garbage patch by half. Pretty impressive stuff! Let’s give them a round of applause! Or at least some clap emojis or something! Yes!”
Danny clapped his hands, a grin on his face. Not that his audience could really see it behind the mask. He’d been discussing the Aquamen. He’d only touched slightly on the Aqualads and Aquagirls. Danny needed to look into them a bit more before he devoted a whole Hero Hour to them.
“Ancients, I’m weird sometimes. It really blows me away that you guys don’t mind though. It’s nice.”
“Anywho! I did have a point to the whole environmentally conscious stuff! I kinda wanted to try something new, and turn these last oh - how much time do we have left? Ten minutes? Ah, well, I don’t think you’ll mind if we end up going over a bit, do you chat? Yeah, that’s what I thought.”
Danny relaxed, leaning back against his chair. He really should get a new one. He should have enough for a new one next month.
“Where was I? OH! Yes! So, I thought about calling this Villainous Vixens, but they’re not all ladies, and I certainly don’t find all villains attractive. Some definitely look nice, but certainly not most of them. Is that harsh? I don’t think so.” Danny rested his mask-covered chin on his hand, contemplating.
“So that didn’t really fit. I wanted alliteration, like I did with Hero Hour, so I thought of a couple. Antagonist Allotment! Which is okay? But not great. There was also Inconvenient Interlopers. ‘Cause I gotta say, man are those villain attacks really inconvenient when you’re just trying to go about your day.”
Danny paused, tilting his head slightly. He was in a Spoiler hoodie today. He may have also looked through Jazz’s accessories to find a purple headband which was helping hold his long hair back. He kept forgetting to get his haircut, and was currently suffering for it. That being said, besides a couple rude people, no one gave him any shit for it.
He was actually rather proud of his little community. They were rather LGBTQ friendly, and in general, his coming out had been very well received. It was really heart warming. He felt incredibly seen. There was still so much he was hiding from the world, but this little part of him was now out in the open, and he was accepted for it. Those who said asexuals weren’t real, or that he’d just must have had a bad relationship in his past were few and far between. Between himself, Jazz, Sam, and Tucker, they banned those assholes pretty quickly.
He was really tempted to get some Robin themed bows. For his hair.
Damian would like that, wouldn’t he?
But would Damian be turned off by how he sometimes enjoyed feminine things? Like make up? Nail polish? Hair bows?
He didn’t wear them often, just when the mood struck him.
A ping brought him out of his thoughts.
“AH! Sorry guys! I was flying through the cosmos in my brain! My mind was elsewhere!”
“Inconvenient Interlopers also really makes light of the people who are killed during their attacks. So that’s a definite no go! How about you guys think of a good name while I chat about some villains who are basically eco-terrorists. Just put some ideas in chat and Discord and I’ll look through them later,” he was pretty sure he wasn’t going to regret asking chat to come up with a name. Pretty sure.
“If they’re not eco terrorists, they at least have good motives, but go about it in highly illegal ways. Poison Ivy comes to mind, not that she’s really been terrorizing Gotham much, if at all recently. Like, cool motive, still eco terrorism.”
“This might be a controversial opinion, a hot take, if you will, but I would say that at times, what they do is just as beneficial to all the advocacy that the Aqua peeps do. I - Guys. Aqua peeps. Could you imagine Antalntian marshmallow peeps? I am right now and it’s glorious. Such a cursed idea. They melt when they touch water.” Danny stared off into the distance, imagining the Aqua peeps dissolving as they hit a bowl of water.
“Back to my hot take. Back in the day, Poison Ivy attacked a factory that was definitely doing some illegal pollution, and the heavy metals were poisoning the waterways. This was then going into the soils and affecting the plants in the area. Her attack stopped that chemical from being dumped into the river, since you know, the machines inside were kind of destroyed, and the company got a slap on the wrist and a measly fine for the illegal dumping thing. BUT! Carcinogenic - wow, I’m impressed I pronounced that right the first try - carcinogenic chemicals weren’t being dumped. Carcinogens are basically chemicals that are known and proven to cause cancer. Which is super bad to get into your water supply.”
“So, her attack actually brought light to an important issue, and she stopped some illegal dumping. I have to say that’s doing more for the environment than the people throwing soup onto paintings at museums. Just my two cents.”
“Anywho, that’s it for this Hero Hour, and whatever this villain slash anti hero section is. Please send suggestions! I totally need help picking a name! Just a reminder to all my lovely stars and galaxies out there that asexuality week is next week! And Halloween is right after! I will be doing my normal streams as scheduled, but I do have a couple fun surprises planned, so keep an eye on the stream schedule! I should be posting that later today. On both Discord and Twitter, although Twitter is currently a dumpster fire. Goodbye my lovelies! Make good choices! Or don’t, I’m not your mom. Bye!”
Danny waved to his viewers. He stopped after he switched to the stream over card. He stood up and stretched. Orion looked at him from the cat bed.
“I’m not going anywhere interesting, bud. No treats for you. Just gonna stretch and then see if Damian wants to chat.” Danny moved in front of the cat bed and crouched down, eye level with the cat, who regarded him with annoyance.
“I know, I know. You’re all comfy and I do have a bad habit of bothering you. But that’s totally not me, that’s my viewers. They love you, and want me to show you. Through treats and pets.”
“Hey Kit kat, do you think Damian would be willing to be one of my mods? Probably, right? But like, what sort of reward is that? You hang out on stream a lot, send a shit ton of money, here’s some work for you. Seems like a shitty prize.” Danny stood up, sighing. It was a habit to run his hands through his hair, but all it did at this point was dislodge the purple headband.
Grumbling, he wandered around the room some more, trying to stretch. Headband back in place, Danny made his way back to the computer, pulling up his private Discord DM with Damian. He could already feel his cheeks starting to heat. Time for their usual post stream call.
Okay, usual was maybe a bit strong. It used to be usual DMs, but had transitioned to voice calls after that first one. Oh Ancients, he still had the stupid mask on. Danny took it off.
Danny clicked the button to join the call.
“Hi Damian!” he said cheerfully. It was dumb, but just being able to talk to the other man made him smile.
“Danny. Your stream was wonderful. Discussing Rogues though? I’m rather surprised,” came Damian’s smooth voice.
“Well, I feel as though it was kinda missing part of the whole aspect of the heroes. The whole reason they have to go out and fight is because of the villains and rogues, so why not discuss them too? And their motivations? This is probably a bit too optimistic and pie in the sky, but if we could maybe address their motivations for going out and causing trouble? Then maybe they won’t attack as much, or attack less. I know it won’t work for all of them, I mean, the Joker is a complete nutcase, and he strikes me as someone who does what he does for chaos’s sake, but maybe some of the others could be persuaded. But like, didn’t Poison Ivy basically stop once Wayne Enterprises set up that charity branch thing to fight climate change and stop pollution? Argh, I can’t remember the name of it!”
“The Isley Climate Relief Fund and the committee on Social Awareness and Environmental Restoration,” Damian offered without any emotion in his voice. Strange.
“Yeah! That! Thanks!” Danny smiled. He kept forgetting that Damian was more than likely Damian Wayne. Damian was just… Damian to him. His friend/crush.
“Hmmm. Your knowledge of environmental causes and cases is rather extensive. I don’t think much of the public is as well read as you are.”
Was that a compliment? It felt like a compliment, but he could usually hear a teasing or affectionate tone in Damian’s voice. There wasn’t any though. Danny frowned.
“Yeah, Chaos is a real big environmentalist. I’ve been to quite a few marches and rallies with her and I’ve listened to her talk about the evil corporations that are destroying the planet and using their PR machines to place all the blame on individual people and turn the focus away from themselves.”
“She sounds like a lovely friend,” came the generic response. Okay, something was up.
“Are you alright? You’re not your usual self.”
Damian didn’t respond. Worry and fear gripped Danny’s heart.
“Damian?”
“My apologies, Danny. I am afraid my nerves and some recent information that I learned are weighing heavily on my mind.”
“Do you wanna talk about it? And what are you nervous about?”
“I - I supposed I should just get this over with.”
Danny’s eyebrows furrowed, confused as to what Damian was talking about. He didn’t have to wait long.
The screen changed. Instead of Damian’s red tinted Robin profile picture, there was now a video.
It was a video of Damian. He’d turned on his camera.
He was leaning back, relaxed in a simple yet expensive looking leather office chair. There was a large bed in what could have only been the center of the room. To the left was a large window with a nice reading nook. Left of the mahogany desk Damian was sitting at was an easel with a variety of finished and unfinished paintings leaning against the wall. Danny recognized some of them as art that he’d been sent recently. There were some in progress that he did not recognize.
Damian himself…
Well.
To be frank, the man was beautiful.
Handsome.
Pretty.
All the good adjectives.
Damian had a strong jaw, with sharp emerald eyes. He had thick eyebrows and angular cheekbones. It was later in the evening, and Danny could see the hint of a 5 o’clock shadow on the man’s jaw. His hair was thick and black. It was slightly messy, tousled, even. At the same time it looked as though it was purposeful. The other man was wearing a dark green turtleneck sweater that complimented his eyes. The sweater looked perfect with the black slacks that Danny could see the tops of.
Damian looked incredibly put together, like a fashion model.
Danny could feel himself gaping.
Look, he’d seen pictures of Damian Wayne before. He was well aware of what he looked like. But there was something different about seeing him in a soft comfortable sweater in his own home, relaxed. Not only that, but this was the person he’d been talking to the last year.
Damian took Danny’s breath away.
Ancients, how could he compete with the other man’s beauty?
Damian was the whole package, incredible mind, great personality, breathtaking beauty, and wealth?
What in the world did Danny have that could possibly attract such an incredible person? He felt like a complete fraud. A liar. He must be tricking Damian somehow. There was no other explanation.
“Danny? Are you still there? There is no pressure for you to reciprocate, I do not wish to coerce you to turn your camera on,” came Damian’s concerned voice.
“Oh, no, it’s okay! I’m not feeling pressured, I just was surprised! You surprised me! Give me a sec and I’ll turn my camera on!” Damian probably didn’t believe him. His voice was a bit higher than usual.
Fumbling, he went to turn on his camera. His mask was off, so Damian would get to see his face. Plus he was still wearing the purple headband. Danny did not look his best. Oh well. This - This was him. He wasn’t nervous about his looks at all compared to such an adonis. Not at all.
Bravery, where were you?!?
“There! Camera on! Ta da! This is my full face!” Jazz hands. Well, if Damian didn’t know before, he probably knew now. The last time he’d done jazz hands had been when he came out on stream and was nervous as hell. Fuck.
Danny sat there, sweating, as Damian’s eyes roamed over his face, taking him in. Was it a good thing or a bad thing that Damian wasn’t talking? Probably bad. Oh no.
“You are more than I imagined,” Damian whispered softly, his words barely being picked up by the microphone.
Wait.
What?
More than Damian imagined? Did that mean he was prettier? And that Damian had imagined him?!?
Danny let out a strangled surprised sound, his face turning red.
“Ah. I believe that is the verbal equivalent of a keyboard smash, no? Your favorite?”
“I only use them a lot with you,” Danny responded weakly, his face still burning. His eyes caught the faint smirk on Damian’s face. Was - Was Damian proud of that?
“Well,” Damian said casually, “now that we have our cameras on, do you want to continue our conversation? About your stint of environmental activism with Chaos?”
“Oh! Right, right.”
Ancients, how could Damian just want to talk like normal, as if they hadn’t just revealed their faces to each other? It probably didn’t mean as much to him. Yeah, there was no way Damian was crushing on him. Damian was totally out of his league. Friendship, he could do that. He’d stayed friends with Sam after their breakup, he could stay friends with Damian. He’d get over his crush. Eventually.
For now, act natural.
“So, when we were like fourteen, there was an exhibit for the rare purple backed gorilla. Chaos, Friar, and I went to the exhibit to get some extra credit for a class and…”
***
His smile.
That had been the best part of turning on their cameras and turning their voice calls into video calls.
Danny’s smile had been mesmerizing. It had filled him with such warmth and joy seeing it - seeing Danny happy. Seeing the rest of Danny’s face had been a mere bonus.
Danny had pink full lips that looked like they would be fantastic to kiss. The other man had a dusting of freckles under his eyes and on his cheeks. Damian just wanted to cup Danny’s angular face in his hands and press kisses to each and every one of those freckles. They deserved appreciation.
Danny deserved to be worshiped in general.
Damian would be happy to do so, if Danny wished for that.
***
Danny fiddled with the asthma inhaler thing he’d been given by Red Robin. It had been a while since he’d been given this. He’d been thinking. Sam’s words about college and what he wanted to do rattling around in his head. Along with his thoughts about how to protect his friends and sister. He reached into his jacket and pulled out the rebreather-esque mask his parents had sent Jazz. He stared at the two objects.
He wanted to make something.
Something that could help his loved ones and potentially others when there was some sort of fear based attack.
He was a master of taking his parents' inventions and modifying them. He’d had years of practice doing that, and reading their shoddy blueprints that were often more of a hindrance than a help when it came to determining what something was.
Was he smart enough though?
He’d never built anything from scratch, just taken already made inventions and made them even better. Not only that, but he’d failed so many classes in high school, and had been told over and over again that he wouldn’t really amount to anything. Mr. Lancer had tried to motivate him. Freshman year. After that though, he hadn’t tried as much. Probably because Danny hadn’t shown any change in behavior. There were still ghosts to catch and return to the Ghost Zone. Ghosts to rescue from both his parents and the Ghost Investigation Ward.
He hadn’t had time to study.
He hadn’t had time to be a normal teenager.
Danny had that now though, didn’t he?
He wasn’t the same person. Not anymore. Not after everything he’d been through.
He’d gotten his GED. That proved that he had some intelligence, didn’t it? Or at least the ability to memorize shit.
He was going to take these two pieces of tech apart, figure out how they worked and make them better! Or at least attempt to. Feeling motivated, he went to reach for a screwdriver. Oh. He didn’t have any tools. Well. Danny checked the time on his phone. There was still an hour before sundown. It’d be fine. He’d been out at night a few times since the disastrous Scarecrow incident. Partially to prove that he could. He wasn’t always a walking bad luck magnet.
This past year, he’d actually been rather lucky. It was almost as if leaving Amity had removed this aura of bad luck from around him. Or perhaps Gotham was just so insane that it simply felt that way. It could honestly go either way.
Making a decision, he grabbed his phone and sent a message to his friends and sister.
GhostBoi: Yo gonna try inventing something
GhostBoi: Promise you’ll stop me if i start getting all weird and wanting to be one of batmans rogues
ChaoticPlantMom: lol
FriarTech: good luck dude
ChaoticPlantMom: good luck nerd!
FriarTech: don’t like half kill yourself again
TalkToMe: Am I the only one who’s concerned about that last statement?
***
Since they’d seen each other’s faces, Damian and Danny had been sending each other more pictures. Damian treasured every one. His favorite was Danny and Orion in bed. Danny’s eyes were only half open with sleep, Orion pressed against Danny’s chest, the two surrounded by blankets looking warm and cozy. Danny apparently wore a gray T-shirt to bed. Damian couldn’t help but be a little disappointed that he didn’t sleep shirtless. Perhaps he’d get lucky next summer.
No.
Stop.
Another of Damian’s favorites was Danny’s joyful face, clearly laughing with mirth as Orion was handing out around his shoulders. There were a couple from different places around Gotham. He’d finally recognized the cat cafe as Kyle’s Kitten Kafe. He was oh so tempted to go and surprise the other man, make it a ‘coincidence’. They were in the same city after all.
Danny had to realize he was Damian Wayne, right? They had not addressed it specifically, but he had to know. Although. Danny was not a Gothamite, perhaps he was not as aware of who made up Gotham’s supposed ruling family. He had to make sure.
Red_Ghul: We have not addressed this, but you have seen my face. Do you know who I am?
UndeadNebula: yeah i know who you are
UndeadNebula: which like Dami
UndeadNebula: you had balls to just straight up use yourself as an example of a 20 year old who was high up in a company
UndeadNebula: kudos
Red_Ghul: I will admit that I was not very careful with my identity. Part of me wanted you to know
UndeadNebula: about that
Red_Ghul: Yes?
UndeadNebula: So i may have known who you were for a couple months before you showed me your face
UndeadNebula: i didn’t ask him to
UndeadNebula: but Friar went off and hacked your phone and stuff
UndeadNebula: he wanted to make sure you weren’t some creep or something
UndeadNebula: there are some horror stories on the internet about stalkers and stuff and how utterly useless the police are when it comes to that shit
UndeadNebula: well
UndeadNebula: i could actually rant about the police a lot
UndeadNebula: Dami?
UndeadNebula: i have felt a bit bad about it
UndeadNebula: he didn’t know for sure that it was you
UndeadNebula: Damian?
UndeadNebula: im sorry
UndeadNebula: ill leave you alone now
Red_Ghul has started a voice call
“Damian?”
“Danny.”
“I’m so so sorry Damian! I didn’t ask him to do it, he didn’t look really deep into you or anything, he just wanted to look into who my -”
“Danny.” Damian said a bit louder, cutting the other man off.
“I understand a friend or family member looking into me. I am aware that anonymity online is both a blessing and a curse,” Damian was far more aware of it after Timothy’s Power Point. Not that he would ever outwardly thank his brother for it.
“It would also be incredibly hypocritical of me to be angry at you for something your friend did without your consent. I hope you would extend me the same curiosity, since I am fairly certain my elder brother Timothy has been attempting to look into you and hack into your devices and accounts.”
There was a moment of silence before Danny began to laugh.
“So,” Danny laughed some more,” you’re telling me that the person aggravating Tucker the last couple weeks,” more peals of laughter,” is your protective older brother?” Damian couldn’t help but bristle a little at that.
“I do not need protection. But yes, that is my brother. Timothy is rather impressed by your friend’s abilities. Or at least, that is what I can gather between all of the cursing and expletives.”
Danny laughed even harder at that. It was rather amusing, he could feel his own lips curl into a smile hearing Danny’s giggles.
“How long are we going to let them do their whole hacker vs hacker thing?”
“Indefinitely.”
“Awwww, no. This is stressing my friend out. We can’t let it go on too much longer.”
“You have already mentioned his name. Tucker.”
“Shit. Oops. Uhhh. Can you pretend that I didn’t say that?”
“I can. For now. Your friend must have some incredible skills if he has been infuriating my brother. Once Timothy gets over himself, I’m sure he would be interested in offering your friend a job.”
“As much as Friar would love a job at Wayne Enterprises, I think he would want to wait a bit.”
“He wishes to complete college?”
“That, but like,” Danny sighed, “okay, hear me out, it’s a little wild. Friar thinks that there is like, this supreme hacker named Oracle. Oracle is apparently behind a lot of leaks from companies and is associated with the vigilantes of Gotham and the Justice League. Oracle has apparently been active for ten or so years? I don’t know, Friar can go on about Oracle for an hour or so. He’s apparently planning something to get Oracle to notice him.”
“That is… concerning.”
“Yeah. Chaos and I have been trying to find out more about it. Because we do not need for T - Friar to become the latest Gotham rogue. We also feel like there are better ways to get Oracle to notice him. Should Oracle exist.” Danny sighed, “if only we could think of some better ways.”
This was getting uncomfortably close to his nightlife. Perhaps there was a way he could prevent this Friar/Tucker person from doing something dramatic to get Barbara’s attention.
“Hmmm. Timothy is rather well versed in the online hacker community. It is possible that he knows this ‘Oracle’ person. Granted, I would have to disclose that you know Friar, but that should be a small price to pay to prevent Friar from doing something drastic.”
“And we can’t enjoy Friar’s and Tim’s little hacker spat. Ah well. It’s - it’s worth it.”
“There is a good chance that I will find out who you are, Danny,” Damian warned him.
“I - I am fine with that. It’s only fair,” Danny’s voice shifted, becoming softer, more vulnerable, “I have - Please don’t judge me on my parents. They’re - All I can say is that I know what it feels like to be judged based on who your parents are, and to not be seen as anything but extensions of them.”
“Is that part of why you left? Why you were disowned? You did not want to be like them?”
“I - it’s a part of it. They have some bigoted views. They are surprisingly progressive and accepting in some areas. Like, they believe that I’m Demi and Panromantic. They would always tease me when I was single about when I would get a girlfriend, boyfriend, or enby partner. They believe in climate change. They were totally cool with cooking only vegetarian food when I decided to become vegetarian for a girlfriend. They believe in prison reform, in Medicare for all, in increased protections for workers, and so, so much more,” there was affection in Danny’s tone. It was clear that Danny loved his parents. That he missed them.
“Yet when it came to people with powers and abilities, they hated them. They also didn’t really like vigilantes. They could rant for hours about the Justice League. They were all for Lex Luthor’s plan to have all metas registered. Which, what the FUCK! One of my best friends, S - Chaos, is Jewish. It’s pretty much always a bad thing when you need to register people, especially for something they can’t control or were born with.” Danny took a shaking breath. Damian’s heart went out to him, Danny’s pain was clear as day.
“They tolerated my love of Superman and Martian Manhunter because they were aliens. They weren’t humans who’d. Who’d changed.”
Damian could read between the lines. Danny must have developed some meta powers at some point. Changed, somehow.
“So please,” Danny pleaded, “don’t judge me based on them.”
“I would never. In return, please don’t judge me based on my father and siblings,” Damian responded, trying to lighten the tone of the conversation. He was rewarded with a watery laugh.
“I would never,” Danny whispered, repeating Damian’s own words back to him.
“Sorry for bringing the mood down,”
“No, that is never something you should never apologize for. Especially when it comes to something that is hurting you so deeply.”
“You’re so sweet Dami. I’m so lucky you’re my friend.”
“I am the lucky one.”
“We’re both lucky.”
“Indeed.”
Once they finished their impromptu call, Damian received a single message.
UndeadNebula: Daniel James Fenton
***
Danny’s hands still shook a little as he hung up with Damian. It was hard, talking about his parents. Jack and Maddie Fenton. He kept going back and forth. Should he keep considering them his parents or not? He loved them, he really did. And he suspected they loved him too. It was just their own ideas and views that were getting in the way.
He needed to stop thinking about this, this was just going to make him upset.
UndeadNebula: hey T
FriarTech: yo whats up
UndeadNebula: i know who your hacker rival is
FriarTech: the fuck you do
FriarTech: that’s not funny dude
FriarTech: ive been working on this fucker for weeks!!
FriarTech: i’m so close! Im gonna break into this dude’s computer and make them regret stalking you!!!
UndeadNebula: cool cool
UndeadNebula: that’s super nice of you
UndeadNebula: but like
UndeadNebula: what if I told you that it was Damian’s brother
FriarTech: wut
UndeadNebula: a one Timothy Drake-Wayne
FriarTech: no
FriarTech: noooo
FriarTech: noooooooo
FriarTech: please
FriarTech: you have to be fucking with me, right?
UndeadNebula: sadly, i am not
UndeadNebula: talked with Dami
UndeadNebula: turns out we have something in common!
UndeadNebula: friends/brothers who are totally willing to hack on our behalf!
FriarTech: NOOOOOOO
FriarTech: DANNY
FriarTech: WHAT AM I GONNA DO
FriarTech: I WANTED TO WORK FOR HIM ONE DAY
FriarTech: NOT PISS HIM OFF
FriarTech: I’VE BEEN LEAVING A BUNCH OF SUPER CRASS AND MEAN READ ME NOTES EVERYWHERE I’M ABLE TO BREAK IN
UndeadNebula: i’ll ask Dami to put in a good word for you
UndeadNebula: besides, he’s probably gonna be impressed with your skill
UndeadNebula: and didn’t you say he’d been doing it back to you?
FriarTech: i mean i did it first
FriarTech: but he totally copied my idea mean Read Me notes
FriarTech: and he’s being super mean back
FriarTech: even meaner that i was!!!
FriarTech: he implied that it was only my meta abilities that were keeping him out and that he would ruin my life after he found me
FriarTech: which
FriarTech: not wrong on the meta part
FriarTech: but not cool dude
UndeadNebula: well
UndeadNebula: Dami said he’d ask Tim if he’s heard of Oracle
FriarTech: noooo
FriarTech: there’s no way he would tell Damian
FrairTech: he’s totally going to lie since i pissed him off so much 😭 😭 😭
UndeadNebula: uh. Im trying to help here?
UndeadNebula: get you two to stop committing cyber warfare with each other
FriarTech: ugh. Fine. I’ll stop attacking for like a week. I’m still defending my stuff
FriarTech: if he doesn’t stop trying to get in during that time, then truce is over
UndeadNebula: i’ll let Damian know
UndeadNebula: thanks
FriarTech:: yeah yeah
FriarTech: FUCKING Tim Drake-Wayne
FriarTech: FUCK
***
Red_Ghul: Danny
UndeadNebula: yes honey?
Red_Ghul: Please reassure me that your parents will never be coming to Gotham
UndeadNebula: uh
UndeadNebula: as far as i know they have no plans to?
UndeadNebula: why
Red_Ghul: I fear that they would become Gotham’s latest Rogues
UndeadNebula: 😂 😂 😂
UndeadNebula: you’re not wrong
***
Danny smiled as he took down the decorations. He would be leaving one up. His ace flag and his pan flag, which he had put under the print of the Ghost Nebula that Jazz had gotten him for his eighteenth birthday. Streaming during asexuality week had been lots of fun! His community had been so supportive! And those that hadn’t had been swiftly removed. He’d been surprised by how many had remained. He’d honestly thought that he would lose a ton of viewers, but it had actually garnered him a lot of support, which had not been why he’d come out in the first place.
Danny had received so many comments, chats, tweets, and more that thanked him for coming out as Demi. He’d read all of them. They warmed his heart and his core, happy to hear from all of the others on the ace spectrum. All those who’d had similar experiences as him, had struggled with defining the absence of something.
Danny’s world had been rocked the first time he’d felt sexual attraction for Sam. He’d spent time he should have been sleeping to frantically research why an asexual would feel sexual attractions. That’d been when he found the label Demisexual. It had made him feel less alone, less strange and different, to have a label, a name for what he was feeling. It also comforted him to know that he wasn’t alone out there. Others felt the same way.
He sighed as he took down the purple string lights. He’d left them up for a little while after asexuality week. Partially due to laziness and partially due to him being proud of who he was. What he was.
He was feeling things. The beginning of things for Damian. Danny had been falling for the man before he’d even known his name or seen his face. They’d been able to have deeper conversations once they’d found out who the other was. Danny had fallen even more and faster than before. He could only hope that Damian was feeling the same.
He wanted to hug Damian.
He also kinda wanted to see Damian shirtless.
Run his hands along the other man’s arms, down his pecs and chest.
It wasn’t sexual desire.
Not yet.
But Danny wouldn’t be surprised if that started to appear soon.
He really wanted to see Damian in person. Damian had been open to them meeting. They were in the same city for Ancients sake! All it would take was a picture of Damian somewhere Danny recognized, and he could show up there. Total coincidence. It was bound to happen, right?
Hell, he could transform into Phantom for the first time in months to traverse the city quickly if he had to. All he needed was a chance.
***
UndeadNebula: Dami
UndeadNebula: all i’ve heard from you the last like two weeks has been how you’re been working
UndeadNebula: staying up all night for a project
UndeadNebula: meeting after meeting
UndeadNebula: Dami
UndeadNebula: Honey
UndeadNebula: Sweetheart
UndeadNebula: you need to take some time off
UndeadNebula: do something for yourself before you burn out
UndeadNebula: i don’t want to see that
UndeadNebula: burn out isn’t fun
UndeadNebula: you’re burning the candles at both ends dear
Damian blushed reading the backlog of messages from Danny. Danny had started calling him these endearments, these pet names. After Damian hadn’t said anything after the first one, Danny had taken that as permission to call him all sorts of things. They made Damian feel warm. Loved.
He’d been thinking of a perfect first date to take Danny one. Should he accept.
His top contender was to take Danny ice skating. Danny was from the midwest, so he more than likely adept at it. If not, Damian could assist him. It would also be a wonderful way to have Danny close to him, to potentially hold on to his hand or his arm. There was a luxury chocolate shop a block or two away from the rink. They could sit in the cafe, drink hot chocolate together. He could find out what kind of chocolate Danny liked, then purchase him some.
It would be cold out, possibly raining or snowing. If it was raining, they could share an umbrella. If not, they could press against each other as he walked Danny back to his bus stop or his house.
Or could he hold out till spring, then take Danny to the botanical gardens? Go on a private boat ride and have dinner, with fairy lights strung up overhead. Danny would look positively angelic like that.
He was getting far ahead of himself.
Damian sighed.
Red_Ghul: You are right. I am exceptionally tired.
Red_Ghul: You have been encouraging me to ‘treat yourself’. So I will ‘play hooky’.
UndeadNebula: !!! OMG !! YES
UndeadNebula: You deserve it!
UndeadNebula: you work your ass off and kick butt!!!
UndeadNebula: go have fun!
Red_Ghul: I shall. There is a museum exhibit I have been meaning to visit. It will be gone by the new year.
Red_Ghul: This will more than likely be my only chance to see it here in Gotham.
UndeadNebula: that sounds perfect!
UndeadNebula: you should go enjoy yourself
UndeadNebula: you tots deserve it hon!
Damian smiled, before standing up and telling his secretary to cancel all of his meetings today. He was off to visit the Monet exhibit. He honestly couldn’t remember the last time he’d taken a day off.
***
He couldn’t believe he’d done it. He’d convinced Damian to take a break! Score! He smiled to himself as he went back to taking apart the regulator. He didn’t have the blueprint of this invention, but he was sort of reverse engineering one as he slowly took it apart, making notes and sketches as he went along. Danny’s mind was already whirling with ways he could shrink the device. Jack and Maddie always tended to make large, clunky inventions, with few exceptions. If Gotham’s populace could have small rebreathers they could place in their pockets or purses? To have on hand whenever an attack happened, it could possibly prevent deaths or give people more time to get to safety. If the rebreathers could even be used to protect people against Joker gas? Then they could potentially save hundreds. He was getting a bit ahead of himself though. Those were goals for if he was even able to do this.
Danny worked for a while, before his phone dinged with a discord notification from Damian. He put down his tools and smiled. Damian had sent him some pictures of paintings, specifically, waterlilies. His brow furrowed. He recognized those. That was that exhibit at the museum of fine arts.
Wait.
Damian was there right now.
In a spur of the moment decision, messaged Damian.
UndeadNebula: pretty! is there room for one more? no pressure
Danny’s face turned red. Oh Ancients. Why had he done that? He was such an idiot! He clicked the message, getting ready to delete it when Damian responded.
Red_Ghul: You are always welcome
Red_Ghul: I can wait for you
UndeadNebula: oh i don’t want to make you wait long
Red_Ghul: How long would it take you to get here?
Danny looked up how far it was in maps. It would take around 40 minutes by bus. But if he transformed into Phantom…
UndeadNebula: i could be there in about 20
Red_Ghul: Wonderful. See you soon. I will return to the entrance of the exhibit and shall wait on one of the benches near there.
Danny scrambled out of his chair, racing to pull on some shoes, grab a jacket, check his hair, and sprinted down the stairs.
“Jazz! I’m heading out! See you in a bit!” he yelled, not waiting for her response.
Taking a deep breath, he transformed into Phantom, turned invisible and flew over the city. Oh no. In Amity, he was familiar with what the city looked like from above. He’d yet to fly in Gotham. He was going to do his best not to get lost.
***
Damian sat on a plush bench, facing Monet’s Water Lilies from 1919.
He resisted the urge to check his watch. Danny said he would be coming. He had no idea where in the city Danny was coming from. It was approaching the twenty minute mark. Damian was doing his best to not tap his foot impatiently. He was nervous and incredibly excited. He could hardly believe his eyes when Danny had asked if he could tag along.
It wasn’t a date.
But deep inside, he wanted to pretend it was one.
He turned his head as he heard someone speaking with the guard. He held his breath, as he’d done with every person to enter since Danny had messaged that he was on his way. He was rewarded when stepping through the doors could only have been Danny.
His inky black hair was just a touch messy. Windswept, one could say. He hadn’t thought it was windy today. Those mesmerizing crystal blue eyes were looking around, looking for Damian. Danny was tall and lanky, wearing a worn, soft looking pair of light blue jeans with a few small stains on them. He was wearing red converse, with a gray N.A.S.A shirt. That also had a few small, dark stains on them as well as a few dark streaks on Danny’s arms. Danny also had a gray windbreaker that he’d tied around his waist.
Damian stood up and approached. He saw the moment Danny saw him, his eyes widening and a smile spreading across his face. Damian gave his crush a responding smile, his heart fluttering. He’d done that. He’d made Danny smile. A video camera did not do Danny’s beauty justice. He desperately wanted to hold Danny’s hand.
“Hey there!” Danny said with a grin, giving Damian a small wave, “thanks for waiting for me! And for letting me tag along! I appreciate it.”
“Of course. I am thrilled that you wanted to come. It is rare enough that I can come to a museum. Even rarer that I have someone to view art with me, willingly.” Somehow, Danny’s smile got even brighter.
“Awesome! Glad I could make it then. Fair warning though, I don’t know a lot about art.”
“No worries Danny. I can teach you plenty.” Damian said smoothly with a smile. Danny blushed.
“I - um - lead the way casanova!” Danny stuttered. Damian laughed before leading the other man into the exhibit.
“I am fairly certain you are the only one who considers me one, Beloved.”
***
They had finished the Monet exhibit and migrated to the small cafe attached to the museum. Damian’s heart felt light. When he had decided to take a day off, he had never expected it to go as well as it had. He’d heard horror stories from his father and his siblings about how whenever they tried to take a break, that is when every shoe dropped. Metaphorically. Though that was usually when they took breaks from vigilante work, which is not what Damian was doing.
Walking through the museum had been incredible. Danny had listened with rapt attention to every word he said. He had also never tried to rush him though, like Richard or Timothy. Jason would let Damian take his time, but was often uninterested in his words about the artist, their style, and Damian’s opinions on them. As for Stephanie and Cassandra, he’d never been to a museum with either of them. Brown had indicated no interest and Cassandra was often away, their schedules never coinciding for them to go to. It was not as if going to a museum was as important to him as attending one of Cain’s dance performances.
Damian watched as Danny sipped at his hazelnut hot chocolate. It was far too sweet of a drink for him, but it suited Danny. He was just as sweet, if not sweeter than his drink choice. They had spent the majority of the museum with him talking. He wanted to learn about Danny. He was going to start with those stains on Danny’s attire and arms.
“I am curious. What are those on your arms?”
“The what?” Danny asked, twisting his arm to get a look at the dark streak on his forearm. “Oh no,” Danny moaned, his face turning red. “Please tell me I don’t have these all over.”
“I am rather afraid you do.”
“Noooo. That’s so embarrassing! First time I meet you and I'm covered in oil.”
“Oil from what?”
“Um, I was taking apart some tech. I wanted to take it apart, to see if I could. And to maybe improve on it. It - um it was something I did a lot with my parents. Take apart their inventions. I usually actually modified them, so they weren’t as dangerous. I’ve um, been thinking a lot about what I want to do with my life - not that I’ll quit streaming, I love that! But - I want to do something.” Danny rubbed his arm behind his head bashfully.
“You know how Red Robin saved me all those months ago? He gave me this inhaler thing that had an antidote. I was able to help so many people get to the clinic over on Sea Scape. I really really enjoyed helping others. It made me feel so good, you know? And I. I’m not really very book smart. But I like doing things with my hands, always have. So. I want to invent something, something to help others.”
“That is really rather admirable, Danny. I think that is a wonderful goal.” Danny blushed once more, ducking his head to stare down at his hot chocolate.
Damian felt himself falling even deeper for Danny. Danny cared about others, and wanted to better the world in his own way. It was admirable.
They continued to chat, before it was time for them to head out. Damian didn’t really want Danny riding the bus too late at night. Additionally, while he could skip his duties at Wayne Enterprises for a day, he could not say the same for his duties as Robin. He walked Danny to the bus stop, staying with him and chatting till it came. When Damian saw the bus approaching, he turned to Danny.
“Can I hug you?” he asked sincerely. Surprise flashed across the other’s face before he was rewarded with another smile.
“Of course.” Danny said, opening his arms.
The two embraced. Danny was a bit shorter than Damian. It felt incredible to have his arms around him, holding him close. They hugged for a few minutes, perhaps longer than acceptable between just friends. Damian did not care.
“You will let me know when you arrive home safely?”
“Sure. But only if you let me know too, okay?”
Danny stepped onto the bus, before looking at Damian though the window. Damian didn’t want him to go. He wanted Danny to stay.
The two kept their eyes on each other till the bus took Danny out of sight. Sighing, Damian made his way back to his car, to take the long drive back to Wayne manor.
Notes:
Well. I wrote this quickly. Do you know how badly I wanted Danny to visit a cat cafe? He didn’t get to visit one with Damian yet, but I’m hoping to have them go there for one of their dates. Although they’re gonna need a responsible adult with them to prevent them from adopting all the kitties, lol.
I was absolutely blown away by all the comments in the last chapter about Danny being ace spec and demi. It was absolutely wonderful. 😭 I am basing Danny’s experiences as a Demi person on my own, and I know that everyone experiences different levels of sexual attraction and desire, even between demi people and people on the acesexual spectrum.
As is tradition with this fic now, here are some of the inspirational songs for this chapter!
Can’t Help Falling In Love With You - cover by Annapantsu
Running Up That Hill - Covered by Annapantsu
Waiting On A Miracle - from Encanto sung by Stephanie Beatriz
Rainbow Connection - Cover by Reinaeiry
Thank you, as always, to the wonderful Harthic for betaing my fic! And to Wulfie for reading my fic, helping me fix some grammar stuff, and hyping me up.
