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Tim watches suspiciously as the demon brat seems to count everyone who enters to eat. The boy already has his food, but he seems to be playing with it.
What the hell is he up to this time?
…Was Tim’s question up until Jason came in— he’d rejoined the folds of the family recently. Jason says it’s all because of Tim ‘relentlessly seeking him out and acting like a kicked puppy mixed with a wet paper bag’ (whatever that means), but Tim doesn’t buy it. He’s probably here for, like, Dick or someone—and sat down at the table haphazardly. The moment Jason reaches a hand out for a fork, Damian pushes his chair out and stands up tall.
”I have an announcement to make.” He says simply.
”Is it that Shadow the Hedgehog's a bitch-ass motherfucker?” Tim finds himself asking before he can think.
The eyes that were previously on Damian turned to Tim and Jason burst into laughter, alongside a cackling Steph.
“Yeah, Damian!” She cheers, “Did he piss on your fucking wife?”
Tim hates to say it, but the second she says that Bruce’s face goes from mildly confused at the situation to an astonished Victorian housewife.
”Did he take his hedgehog fuckin' quilly dick out and say his dick was ‘this big.’” And holy shit that was Jason who said that line. Tim’s eyes drift back over to Damian to see a surprisingly muted expression of disdain. Had this happened a couple of months ago, he would have been coming at them with knives. Tim is kinda proud. Don’t tell him he said—thought(?)—that.
”Guys, leave Dami alone!” Dick pleads, “He probably has something serious to say!”
”Seeing as it’s Damian…” Tim says, “Dick’s probably right.” With Tim’s dismissal, the quoting dies down. He almost thinks he catches a look of thanks on Damian’s face. Either that or the Zesti Colas really are radioactive and making him hallucinate.
Damian clears his throat, “Right. As I was saying before you imbeciles decided to interrupt me,” Steph mocks sadness at the insult, “I have no plans with this ‘Shadow The Hedgehog’ or his genitalia.” Tim finds himself snorting at Damian’s way of speaking at the same time as Jason. They look over at each other in some kind of surprise and Tim believes he saw something in Jason’s eyes.
Damian just looks at them like they’re idiots, which, is fair.
”Sorry Damian, go on.” Tim urges him.
”What I had planned to announce is that…” Damian seems to pause for a second with an internal battle, “…I will be having an… acquaintance… over for a school project Friday night, and I am here to tell you all to keep your noses out of it.”
”Damian has a friend!?” Duke exclaims and then shrinks back when Damian spins around to glare daggers at him, “Sorry.”
”And it isn’t Jon?” Jason decides to ask.
”No, not this time,” Damian replies, “You act as if he’s the only friend I have—“
Damian is cut off by Class speaking up, “Fenton.” She states rather than asks and Damian sighs.
”…Yes, it will be Fenton at the manor on Friday.” Damian relents.
Just last week Tim had found Damian watching Danny through his window, and now he’s bringing the boy over! He hasn’t had time to lecture Damian on not being too invasive yet!
”Aweeee, baby bat!” Richard surges over towards him and attempts to smother him, “You’re already making friends with the neighbor boy!”
”Friends is one thing to call it…” He can hear Drake mutter under his breath.
”Shut it, Drake!” He snaps at him, “You have no idea what you are saying.”
”Oh yeah?” He asks with a smirk when he looks at Damian, “Then what about the ‘recon’ I walked in on last week—“
Damian reaches for the nearest thing—a roll, not a knife, sadly— and throws it at Drake to shut him up.
”WOOOW!” Drake drawls, “I didn’t realize you were so embarrassed by being caught doing reconnaissance!”
Damian glances down at his plate and notes the lack of food, “If that's all you have to say, Drake,” he spits out the name, “Then I will be going.” He walks away and does not stomp or huff!
As he leaves the dining room, he walks through the foyer and up the carpeted stairs. He glides through the halls for a moment before stopping in front of a beautifully crafted mahogany door. Behind it was a small room with books lining the walls, a couch and two chairs in the middle of the room surrounding a rug, and a coffee table atop the rug. Damian has decided it is adequate for his workspace with Fenton.
Restless, Damian removes his phone from his pocket and opens his messages with Fenton.
Fenton
Yesterday at 4:37 PM
Yeh so that’s why I’m not allowed to be in the kitchen alone without supervision
Yesterday at 9:49 PM
VLAD SENT ME ANOGHER GIFT 🤢
6:30 AM
ELLIE WOKE ME UP WHILE QUOTING BRAINROT
7:32
I have informed my family of the fact that you will be accompanying me here for our project.
7:34
Reallg? Sweet!
Really*
7:35
I am aware of what you meant.
7:36
ope anyways
i come over @ 6 on friday rig hr?
right*
7:36
Yes, that is the time we agreed on.
7:37
👍
see ya then
I’m pretty sure Ellie’s tryna sell my used hairbrush to a demon
Damian turns off his phone and puts it in his pocket. Should he be concerned about that last statement? No, this is Fenton; it probably doesn’t mean anything.
…He hopes. He’d rather not have to deal with a demon owning Fenton’s hairbrush.
Maybe if he fights the demon, Fenton might be appreciative… No, that’s weird. And stupid. And illogical.
⏤͟͟͞͞✧
School could not end fast enough, Danny had decided.
It would be his second time going to Damian’s house, and this time he would get to go farther than the dining room!
Danny doodles on the corner of his rough sketch for his battle robot that is going to totally destroy Damian’s. Just a few more minutes and he’ll be free…
Yes!
The bell rings and Danny immediately picks up all of his stuff and shoves it into his arms, he turns his head swiftly over to Damian to see he’s already packed up.
”Let’s go!” He cheers and Damian nods at him.
It doesn’t take long for them to arrive at their neighboring lockers and put everything away. After shoving his math book—he’d forgotten to put it away after 7th period—he yanks his backpack out and shoves it onto his shoulders, turning to Damian excitedly.
“Oh you’re done already,” Danny notes, “Well let’s-a-go!”
”Hm” Damian hums and turns on his heel as he marches his way through the halls and to the parking lot. Danny follows him and feels like he’s tailing a ghost with how swiftly Damian maneuvers through the crowds of teenagers.
Soon enough, they reach the large front doors and escape the jail that is high school. Damian pauses on the steps for a moment, looking around, before marching off in another direction. Danny is quick to match.
He easily sees their destination when he spots Alfred standing next to an expensive-looking car, and the two of them hurry over to him.
”Hi, Mr. Alfred!” Danny greets him.
”Pennyworth.” Damian acknowledges the butler.
”Hello to you as well, Danny,” Alfred replies, “And Master Damian.” He says as if tacking it on as an afterthought. The kind butler then turns to the car and opens the door.
”Thank you, Pennyworth.” Damian nods and gets into the car.
”Of course Master Damian,” Alfred replies and walks over to the right side of the car.
Damian looks over at Danny, “Well, Fenton?” He asks, “Are you going to get in?”
”Oh shit, yeah, sorry!” He rushes over to the car and climbs overtop Damian to get to the other side, much like what he and Ellie often do in Dan’s truck when Jazz has the passenger seat.
He settles into his seat and removes his backpack to place it in his lap before buckling up.
He turns to Damian and the boy has a face that Danny can’t decipher.
”Something wrong, Damian?” He tilts his head.
Damian is silent for a moment as he turns and closes his door, before facing Danny once more, “Why…” He seems to lose his words, “Why did you climb over me?”
”To get to the other seat?” Danny answers, like, duh.
”You could have just… walked around and opened the door.” Damian explains.
Danny blinks once. Twice.
“OHHHHH,” He says in realization, “Sorry ‘bout that Damian. Ellie and I usually go with Dan, and the right side of his truck’s back seat door’s child safety lock is broken so we can’t open it. When we have to sit back there, Ellie and I usually just crawl over each other. Forgot that wasn’t the norm.”
”I…” Damian responds, “See?”
”Sorry if I, like, messed up your clothes.”
”My clothes are fine.” Damian assures Danny immediately.
“Oh thank the ancients,” Danny replies, “I saw how much these uniforms cost, cause I was trying to see how much it’d affect Vlad, and these things are expensive!”
”It’s nothing compared to my Father’s wealth.” Damian says.
Danny sighs at that, “Rich people…” He smirks a little when he hears Alfred chuckle from the driver’s seat.
༅✧
It didn’t take too long after Danny’s spectacle for the boys’ conversation to drift to other, more excitable things. Danny seemed especially excited about the two’s project.
Soon enough, they arrived at Wayne Manor and Alfred pulled up to the driveway before parking outside and leaving the car to open both boys’ doors.
”Wha?” Danny says when Alfred opens his, “Oh ancients you don’t have to do that Mr. Alfred! I swear I know how to open car doors!!”
”Yes, because evidence has certainly proven that.” Master Damian says from where he had wandered over to Alfred’s side.
Danny groans half-heartedly and hops out of the car.
”Okay!” He cheers, “Let’s do this!”
Alfred follows the two boys and heads to the front door. They wait in front of it for a moment, before Alfred reaches them and opens the door.
”Huh,” Danny says, “Thought it’d be locked.”
”We do not lock the door if there are people home,” Master Damian answers, “And I suspect that there are going to be plenty of people present.”
”Oh, my family does the same thing. I just didn’t expect you to have anyone at home I guess.”
The three of them enter through the door.
Right as Danny enters the foyer, his ears pick up the sound of scuffling feet and hushed voices. He knows he should probably be suspicious, but he has better things to do.
Danny turns to Damian and asks, “So, are we gonna just go straight in, or do you wanna, like, hang out first?”
Damian almost seems to consider it for a second before answering, “I have set up a spot for us to work on our project, I say we go ahead and begin.”
”You’re the boss!” Danny grins.
Alfred clears his throat and the two look at him, “Would you boys be interested in some snacks while you work.”
”Oh, no no no, it’s totally fine Mr. Alfred!” Danny replies, “You don’t need to do that!”
In a perfect example of the universe using Danny for its entertainment, his stomach grumbles immediately after.
Alfred smiles at him, “I’ll get you boys some dried fruit, how does that sound?”
”That sounds good,” Danny ducks his head and blushes in embarrassment.
———
Danny gnaws on the chewy dried mango piece as he gestures wildly to their poster's rough draft.
”Okay, so just to recap,” Danny says, “We’re going to have two bears, the larger standing protectively in front of the smaller. Above them, we’re going to have Ursa Major and Minor displayed in the night sky… We’ll have them standing on the grass with a moon behind them as well,” Danny pauses for a moment, “That’s all for the imagery, right?”
”Yes, I believe so,” Damian replies.
”Cool, cool,” Danny hums, “And then we’ll have snippets of Callisto’s tale kinda just floating there? Like little clouds saying stuff like, ‘Callisto believed Zeus to be Artemis…’ or, ‘Hera in a fit of misguided anger turned Callisto into a bear…’ yeah?”
”That seems the best option in my opinion,” Damian answers, “Should I go get some large paper for the poster?”
”Totally!!”
Damian leaves to retrieve the poster and Danny sits anxiously at the love seat he had gotten comfortable on.
In truth, he was undeniably fearful regarding this project. He did not doubt that Damian would not judge him and his love of the stars trumped his worries, but he still felt restless in discussing his wanting to do Ursa Major.
He’s always been one to enjoy the tales behind the stars, and Ursa Major’s was always a sad one.
Callisto, a hunter of Artemis, had been separated from Artemis and the other hunters when she ran into who she believed was Artemis. She interacted with her as usual, that is until ‘Artemis’ began to give her ‘non-virginal’ kisses, but it was far too late. Even though she attempted to fight off Zeus, he overpowered her. In the end, the real Artemis arrived and called Callisto to her, but poor Callisto ran in fear that she was Zeus until she noticed the other hunters with her. Callisto's resulting pregnancy was discovered several months later while she was bathing with Artemis and her fellow hunters. Artemis became enraged when she saw that Callisto was pregnant and expelled her from the group. Callisto later gave birth to Arcas. And Hera transformed Callisto into a bear. Sixteen years later Callisto, still a bear, encountered her son Arcas hunting in the forest. Just as Arcas was about to kill his mother with his javelin, Zeus, the bastard and one truly at fault, averted the tragedy by placing the two amongst the stars as Ursa Major and Minor. Hera enraged that her attempt at ‘revenge’ had been frustrated, appealed to Tethys that the two might never meet her waters. [1]
Danny had always felt sorry for Callisto in the myth, but never had he resonated and related to it.
Until he did.
Until he met Vlad, until the asshole tortured him, until he had cameras hidden throughout his house and especially his room until the disgusting Fruitloop didn’t take no for an answer, and then— the thing that tied it all together.
Danielle. Danny’s Arcas.
His child, who planned to kill him. Like Arcas had planned to kill Callisto, even if he hadn’t known the bear was his mother.
Ever since Ellie’s birth, Danny has connected to Callisto’s myth on a deeper wavelength than ever before.
He just hoped Damian hadn’t caught on.
”Pardon the wait, Daniel,” Speak of the devil, “I had to stop to retrieve some of my finer artistic utensils.”
Danny snaps his head up to Damian and out of his thoughts, “It’s okay Damian— Wait.” He cuts himself off, “Did you just call me Daniel!?”
Danny watches in amazement as Damian’s cheeks seem to take on a darker hue.
”I… Yes, yes I did,” Damian admits, to Danny’s surprise, “It seems I subconsciously saw you as adequate enough for me to refer to you by first name.”
”Really!?” Danny cheers, “Awesome! I never thought I’d see the day…” He jokes.
”Don’t make me regret it,” Damian chides.
”Yessir!”
The boys set to working together on the poster and mapping plus positioning everything out onto it.
———
The project had been going so well and so quickly, that something like this was bound to happen eventually.
”Uhm, Damian,” Danny addresses him, “Could you possibly… tell me where your restroom is?”
”Down the hall and to the left,”
”Right, thanks!” Danny thanks him and heads off to find the aforementioned room.
Surprising himself, he was able to find it and finish quickly before washing up and leaving to head back to Damian. Which is, of course, when things decided to go off-script.
As he took his time making his way back, his nose was assaulted by the most horrendous smell. It burned his nose and made him lightheaded, the stench seemed to have an aura that just simply reeked and induced nausea. He couldn’t even begin to ponder what could be causing the smell before it turned the fucking corner and came straight towards him.
“Oh dude that is nasty!”