Robin Prompt filled.
It had started as a joke.
Damian had began following Tim around for the sake of amusement. It was satisfying that the older boy had no idea he was being followed, just another way that Damian was superior to him in his mind. He had to admit though, it was the secret identity thing that had caught his attention. To Damian the concept of hiding who and what you were was so ignorant that it didn't even register for him to think about. To walk as a normal person, talk with the rest of the cattle...it was just too frightening a concept to the young boy. Yet all of the rest of them had one. Father played the drunken fool, Grayson pretended to be a cop, least he thought it was pretend, and Drake went to high school.
Why, Damian had no idea.
He didn't like Tim but he had to give him credit that he had intelligence. From what he had observed from the other idiots walking around campus Drake was as smart as any twenty of them so the reason he came here couldn't be to learn. The girls, though fair, were of no greater quality than any other he had seen, so he wasn't here seeking companionship. In from the way that Tim rarely spoke to anyone, it wasn't because he was socializing.
Yet he came every day, and Damian followed.
It was during the second week, when the boy was about to give up and find another way to spend his time when he saw the fight. Well not a fight as per say since a fight takes at least one person on either side for conflict. There was three of them and one of Drake, which meant nothing since there could have been fifty of them and they would have posed no risk. They had caught him coming out of the restroom, one of them making sure that the hallway was clear of any witnesses.
Damian leaned forward, finally some bloodshed.
There was a main one of course. Packs of hunters always had an alpha and the red headed boy must have been it. He towered over Drake by almost a foot, which again meant nothing since Damian knew for a fact that as Robin, Tim had danced toe to toe with Killer Croc. The boys school uniforms looked wrinkled, shirttails untucked as if they were skating the very edge of what was acceptable on school ground and no more. They were rebellious, angry, Damian knew their kind well and welcomed seeing their bones broken.
“Where ya going queer bait?” the red head asked, stepping in front of Tim's path.
Damian saw the way Tim's weight shifted to his back leg, he was ready to swing, his right arm pulled back, already clenched into a fist...
And then he opened it. “Class Ronald, please let me by.”
If Damian had been so sure of his ability to read lips he would have thought he had been mistaken in what they had just said. But he knew his skills were beyond measure, which made what they had just said make no sense. He shook his head and pulled out a listening device and aimed it at the window, on the off chance the afternoon sun was blocking his vision.
“Please let me by!” the older boy mocked, looking over at his friend. The other two boys laughed as if it had been the funniest joke ever uttered. The other two were kiss asses, lackies who were craving the approval of the alpha in any way possible. There was no clear beta, which meant the two boys were in contention for 2nd in command, which made their laughter that much more desperate. “Can you believe this queer?” Ronald asked.
“No way Ron!” the other boy answered quickly. “Sounds like a total fruitcake, I think he likes you!”
The boy guarding the hallway, no doubt feeling left out called down to them. “Yeah, they think those pants really show off your ass!” Both boys stopped and looked back at him with angry glares for a second.
“I'm not gay.” Tim said trying to push past the two boys. “I'm going to be late...”
Ronald grabbed Tim and pushed him back. Damian had seen the way Tim's hand moved to grab the other boy's wrist from reflex, it would have taken no effort at all to twist it and make the older boy submit instantly. The other boys would see their leader bested and run off in a cloud of dust rather than risk humiliation. Damian knew Tim knew this yet he did nothing. He allowed the boy to push him back, he even made a good show of tripping over his own feet, making it look like he stumbled.
“I think you are.” Ronald said looming closer to Tim. “I think you're a Lady Gaga loving fag and just lurk around school dreaming of slobbering on my knob.” The voice was crude and supposed to be intimidating but it just sounded strained to Damian. He knew Drake could make the boy wet himself with minimal effort, he had stared down the league of assassins, a teenage bully surely held no fear.
Yet he did nothing.
Damian watched as the three boys teased him mercilessly for almost ten minutes. Hurling homophobic remarks left and right, each of them trying to get a rise out of Tim. Yet the other boy did nothing! Finally an adult walked by and told the rest of them to get to class, they broke up and went their separate ways. Damian watched for a good, long while to see if Tim was going to do anything, anything at all.
Yet he did nothing!
He waited in the foyer for him to get home, sitting on the small love seat that sat next to the coat rack. When Tim walked in Damian pounced at him. Without missing a beat Tim brought his backpack up and used it to block Damian's charge. He deftly used the leverage to toss the smaller by across the room in one shove. Damian flipped in midair, landing on his feet with no problem. By the time he faced Tim the other boy was in a fighting stance.
“What the fuck Damian?” Tim screamed. “Are you rabid or did someone forget to take you outside to pee today?”
Damian ignored the words and pointed a finger at him. “Why did you do nothing to them?”
Tim looked confused, not dropping his hands since he knew Damian loved to throw people off guard. “To who?”
“The hooligans that accosted you at your school? Why did you allow them to speak to you as such?”
Tim dropped his hands, but his face got angrier. “You followed me?”
“I've been following you.” Damian replied sounding bored. “You have terrible observation skills by the way. If I wanted to kill you you'd be fish food.”
“You followed me to school?” Tim asked again, taking a few steps towards the younger boy.
Damian sighed. “We went over this, are you deaf as well as...”
He never finished the sentence.
Tim kicked Damian's legs out from under him, the smaller boy falling back in surprise as he was pounced upon. He hit the wooden floor hard as Tim jammed his forearm into his throat. “You want to be a little dick around the house? Fine. You want to be a little asshole on patrol? Fine. You even want to berate me about how I live my life? Fine. But if I find you following me again I swear to god...”
Damian smiled under him. “What? You'll kill me? Beat me? I doubt it since you did nothing to those idiots earlier.”
Tim pressed down on Damian's throat, cutting off his ability to talk. “They couldn't handle it, you can. I don't use my skills against normal people, none of us do. We aren't trained like this to beat up people we don't like, we train like this to be able to handle people with actual skills. You think I give a damn about what three jackasses at school think of me? You think it is worth my time and effort to beat them up when it is no challenge at all?” He let up on the hold and let the other boy take a breath. “We need to be better than that, we are better than that. We use our skills against untrained people we are no better than the bad guys.”
Damian said nothing for a few seconds before admitting. “Fair point.” Tim let him up off the ground, but kept one eye on his “little brother” in case of payback. “I had never considered that before, that acknowledging the lesser people can effect us is in some small way surrendering the high ground.” Tim rolled his eyes as he began to walk away.
“You're hopeless.” he said as he walked towards the kitchen.
“I wish I had thought of that earlier.” Damian said.
Tim stopped and slowly turned around. “What did you do?” Damian said nothing. “Damian! Did you attack those boys?”
He shook his head. “No, but it would have been in my right to do so. No one speaks to you like that.”
“Except you.” Tim added.
“That goes without saying.”
Tim counted to a very high number in his head before asking. “What did you do then?”
“They were obviously homophobic and had issues with other's sexuality. A clear sign that they themselves suffer from some form of homosexual attraction.”
Tim nodded. “Ok, yeah. And?”
“So I might have put some of Ivy's lust pollen in their backpacks.” Damian said slyly. Tim's eyes widen in shock. “Not enough to brainwash them...just enough to ensure...well let's just say they won't be calling anyone else gay for a long time.”
Tim just started at him, not speaking for a long while.
Damian sighed and in a bitter voice said. “You're disappointed in me and are going to tell father right?” Without even waiting for an answer he kept talking. “Fine, I don't care. Though I am loath to admit it, you do share my last name and I am not going to allow some common...”
“I love you too Damian.” Tim said, cutting the other boy off.
Damian's face turned red and he sputtered in confusion and anger. “I didn't say that! I would never...I mean I didn't...!!” He shook in place and lifted his head to the ceiling. “Arrgghh!! I hate you Drake!!!” He stomped up the stairs, cursing with each step.
Tim just watched him, a small smile on his face. It wasn't a lot, but it was a start.
Damian had began following Tim around for the sake of amusement. It was satisfying that the older boy had no idea he was being followed, just another way that Damian was superior to him in his mind. He had to admit though, it was the secret identity thing that had caught his attention. To Damian the concept of hiding who and what you were was so ignorant that it didn't even register for him to think about. To walk as a normal person, talk with the rest of the cattle...it was just too frightening a concept to the young boy. Yet all of the rest of them had one. Father played the drunken fool, Grayson pretended to be a cop, least he thought it was pretend, and Drake went to high school.
Why, Damian had no idea.
He didn't like Tim but he had to give him credit that he had intelligence. From what he had observed from the other idiots walking around campus Drake was as smart as any twenty of them so the reason he came here couldn't be to learn. The girls, though fair, were of no greater quality than any other he had seen, so he wasn't here seeking companionship. In from the way that Tim rarely spoke to anyone, it wasn't because he was socializing.
Yet he came every day, and Damian followed.
It was during the second week, when the boy was about to give up and find another way to spend his time when he saw the fight. Well not a fight as per say since a fight takes at least one person on either side for conflict. There was three of them and one of Drake, which meant nothing since there could have been fifty of them and they would have posed no risk. They had caught him coming out of the restroom, one of them making sure that the hallway was clear of any witnesses.
Damian leaned forward, finally some bloodshed.
There was a main one of course. Packs of hunters always had an alpha and the red headed boy must have been it. He towered over Drake by almost a foot, which again meant nothing since Damian knew for a fact that as Robin, Tim had danced toe to toe with Killer Croc. The boys school uniforms looked wrinkled, shirttails untucked as if they were skating the very edge of what was acceptable on school ground and no more. They were rebellious, angry, Damian knew their kind well and welcomed seeing their bones broken.
“Where ya going queer bait?” the red head asked, stepping in front of Tim's path.
Damian saw the way Tim's weight shifted to his back leg, he was ready to swing, his right arm pulled back, already clenched into a fist...
And then he opened it. “Class Ronald, please let me by.”
If Damian had been so sure of his ability to read lips he would have thought he had been mistaken in what they had just said. But he knew his skills were beyond measure, which made what they had just said make no sense. He shook his head and pulled out a listening device and aimed it at the window, on the off chance the afternoon sun was blocking his vision.
“Please let me by!” the older boy mocked, looking over at his friend. The other two boys laughed as if it had been the funniest joke ever uttered. The other two were kiss asses, lackies who were craving the approval of the alpha in any way possible. There was no clear beta, which meant the two boys were in contention for 2nd in command, which made their laughter that much more desperate. “Can you believe this queer?” Ronald asked.
“No way Ron!” the other boy answered quickly. “Sounds like a total fruitcake, I think he likes you!”
The boy guarding the hallway, no doubt feeling left out called down to them. “Yeah, they think those pants really show off your ass!” Both boys stopped and looked back at him with angry glares for a second.
“I'm not gay.” Tim said trying to push past the two boys. “I'm going to be late...”
Ronald grabbed Tim and pushed him back. Damian had seen the way Tim's hand moved to grab the other boy's wrist from reflex, it would have taken no effort at all to twist it and make the older boy submit instantly. The other boys would see their leader bested and run off in a cloud of dust rather than risk humiliation. Damian knew Tim knew this yet he did nothing. He allowed the boy to push him back, he even made a good show of tripping over his own feet, making it look like he stumbled.
“I think you are.” Ronald said looming closer to Tim. “I think you're a Lady Gaga loving fag and just lurk around school dreaming of slobbering on my knob.” The voice was crude and supposed to be intimidating but it just sounded strained to Damian. He knew Drake could make the boy wet himself with minimal effort, he had stared down the league of assassins, a teenage bully surely held no fear.
Yet he did nothing.
Damian watched as the three boys teased him mercilessly for almost ten minutes. Hurling homophobic remarks left and right, each of them trying to get a rise out of Tim. Yet the other boy did nothing! Finally an adult walked by and told the rest of them to get to class, they broke up and went their separate ways. Damian watched for a good, long while to see if Tim was going to do anything, anything at all.
Yet he did nothing!
He waited in the foyer for him to get home, sitting on the small love seat that sat next to the coat rack. When Tim walked in Damian pounced at him. Without missing a beat Tim brought his backpack up and used it to block Damian's charge. He deftly used the leverage to toss the smaller by across the room in one shove. Damian flipped in midair, landing on his feet with no problem. By the time he faced Tim the other boy was in a fighting stance.
“What the fuck Damian?” Tim screamed. “Are you rabid or did someone forget to take you outside to pee today?”
Damian ignored the words and pointed a finger at him. “Why did you do nothing to them?”
Tim looked confused, not dropping his hands since he knew Damian loved to throw people off guard. “To who?”
“The hooligans that accosted you at your school? Why did you allow them to speak to you as such?”
Tim dropped his hands, but his face got angrier. “You followed me?”
“I've been following you.” Damian replied sounding bored. “You have terrible observation skills by the way. If I wanted to kill you you'd be fish food.”
“You followed me to school?” Tim asked again, taking a few steps towards the younger boy.
Damian sighed. “We went over this, are you deaf as well as...”
He never finished the sentence.
Tim kicked Damian's legs out from under him, the smaller boy falling back in surprise as he was pounced upon. He hit the wooden floor hard as Tim jammed his forearm into his throat. “You want to be a little dick around the house? Fine. You want to be a little asshole on patrol? Fine. You even want to berate me about how I live my life? Fine. But if I find you following me again I swear to god...”
Damian smiled under him. “What? You'll kill me? Beat me? I doubt it since you did nothing to those idiots earlier.”
Tim pressed down on Damian's throat, cutting off his ability to talk. “They couldn't handle it, you can. I don't use my skills against normal people, none of us do. We aren't trained like this to beat up people we don't like, we train like this to be able to handle people with actual skills. You think I give a damn about what three jackasses at school think of me? You think it is worth my time and effort to beat them up when it is no challenge at all?” He let up on the hold and let the other boy take a breath. “We need to be better than that, we are better than that. We use our skills against untrained people we are no better than the bad guys.”
Damian said nothing for a few seconds before admitting. “Fair point.” Tim let him up off the ground, but kept one eye on his “little brother” in case of payback. “I had never considered that before, that acknowledging the lesser people can effect us is in some small way surrendering the high ground.” Tim rolled his eyes as he began to walk away.
“You're hopeless.” he said as he walked towards the kitchen.
“I wish I had thought of that earlier.” Damian said.
Tim stopped and slowly turned around. “What did you do?” Damian said nothing. “Damian! Did you attack those boys?”
He shook his head. “No, but it would have been in my right to do so. No one speaks to you like that.”
“Except you.” Tim added.
“That goes without saying.”
Tim counted to a very high number in his head before asking. “What did you do then?”
“They were obviously homophobic and had issues with other's sexuality. A clear sign that they themselves suffer from some form of homosexual attraction.”
Tim nodded. “Ok, yeah. And?”
“So I might have put some of Ivy's lust pollen in their backpacks.” Damian said slyly. Tim's eyes widen in shock. “Not enough to brainwash them...just enough to ensure...well let's just say they won't be calling anyone else gay for a long time.”
Tim just started at him, not speaking for a long while.
Damian sighed and in a bitter voice said. “You're disappointed in me and are going to tell father right?” Without even waiting for an answer he kept talking. “Fine, I don't care. Though I am loath to admit it, you do share my last name and I am not going to allow some common...”
“I love you too Damian.” Tim said, cutting the other boy off.
Damian's face turned red and he sputtered in confusion and anger. “I didn't say that! I would never...I mean I didn't...!!” He shook in place and lifted his head to the ceiling. “Arrgghh!! I hate you Drake!!!” He stomped up the stairs, cursing with each step.
Tim just watched him, a small smile on his face. It wasn't a lot, but it was a start.