Work Text:
Damian was slumped against his desk as he stared down at his phone for the umpteenth time that day. He had invited Jon to hang out approximately six hours and forty-nine minutes ago. It was a simple invitation really. An offer to go out and browse bookstores (a comic they were both interested in had a new release) and then get some food and catch up with each other's lives. It wasn’t as if they never talked, but with Jon in his second year of college and Damian busy with his pre-med programs, there had been a bit of a lull.
So, Damian sent over a quick text with the idea to hang out.
He had since then been waiting for a reply. It wasn’t as if Jon had to answer him immediately, but it was odd not to get a response from him during the day. Damian chalked it up to either classes or unexpected criminal activity that required Superboy. He was just being impatient. He needed to focus on other stuff and get his work done.
Ding!
Damian lunged for his phone at the notification sound. He felt anticipation bubble in his chest as he looked down at his screen, seeing one notification from Jon Kent. Damian smiled and quickly tapped it, typing in his password to see the message.
Reading it however made Damian’s thoughts halt for a second.
Jon - hey, have you guys seen the newest hell dog movie?
This didn’t make much sense as a response to Damian’s previous messages, nor the usage of his plural, ‘you guys’, so this must be- ah yes. It was the group chat between him, Jon, Billy, and Colin. It wasn’t a chat Damian often spoke in as he was not used to the rapid conversation between the other three in it. He would often find his phone spammed with messages and read through them when he had time, responding only when he was mentioned by name. Otherwise, he was what the others deemed a ‘lurker’.
Damian exited the chat and reloaded the app. Clicking onto his private messages with Jon showed his texts to still be on received, not even read yet.
Okay, that was fine. Maybe Jon just opened his phone for the first time today and had wanted to ask this question first. Totally normal thing to do, he’ll probably get to Damian’s messages soon enough.
Another notification popped up. This time Colin.
Damian clicked on it and re-entered the group chat.
Colin - no, not yet. wanted to watch it with people who are actually fans of the franchise lol
Jon - haha nice, we should all go see it later this week. heard the cgi was a bit off but it being overall a pretty awesome movie
Billy - Oh shoot! Sorry guys, I totally just saw that with Freddy a few days ago!
Jon - aw man
Billy - Sorryyyy!! I’ll totally rewatch it with you guys though!!
Colin - lolol you’re all good billy, you don’t have to
Billy - No, I want to! It was really good and it’ll be fun to see your guys’ reactions :D
Jon - hell yeah! When are you guys all free??
Damian stared at his phone, biting his lip and tapping a finger against his desk as he read the conversation.
After a minute or two, he exited the group chat and once again reloaded the app. Still no response was shown in their private messages.
Maybe Jon just hadn’t seen it.
Damian sent out two more texts. Just a simple up arrow to his previous messages and a ‘ Jon? ’.
He continued to work his bottom lip between his teeth as notification after notification from the group chat popped up and still no response.
Was Jon ignoring him? Did he truly just not see Damian’s texts? Should he send another one? That seemed a bit much though, Damian didn’t want to come off as needy. He could ask Jon to read his messages in the group chat, but for all the people who harped on about his lack of social skills, even he knew that’d be awkward.
Did Jon not realize he was in the group chat?
Damian went back to the group chat.
They were talking about schedules and he wondered if he sent a message corresponding to the topic that it would jog Jon’s brain that Damian was in this chat as well, and that maybe he should mosey on over to their private messages and actually respond to him.
It did show Damian as the second person in the chat at the top though. Even if Jon didn't look up at that, would he not also see the ‘ Read by Damian Wayne’ under each message?
The thought that Jon was ignoring him re-entered his mind and Damian felt insecurity rearing its ugly head in the pit of his stomach.
He shook his head.
No, no, Jon wouldn’t do that. Even if he didn’t want to hang out, he would just say so.
Damian went back to their private messages.
It wouldn’t hurt to send one more text.
Just a question mark.
Damian waited with bated breaths (a bit extreme, he knows) as he waited for any sign of response.
Read by Jon Kent
Oh! Damian subconsciously leaned closer to his phone.
Jon saw it, thank goodness. Damian was just being dramatic over a simple thing like messages for no reason.
He waited a couple of seconds for Jon’s icon to show he was typing.
Damian waited for a while.
His grip on his phone tightened ever so slightly. What was taking Jon so long? A simple yes or no was adequate enough. Maybe he had been pulled away from his phone?
A notification popped up at the top of his screen and Damian stilled as he read Jon’s name and some message from the group chat.
What?
Why hadn’t Jon responded?
Did he just not… want to? Damian wouldn’t think Jon would so blatantly ignore him, it was just something Jon had never done. Why would he even read the texts and not respond, yet continue to talk in the group chat he had to know Damian was in.
Or did he not realize that Damian was still active in that chat? I mean it was obvious for Damian that he read all those messages, but maybe Jon just simply didn’t realize he did. Maybe he had even forgotten Damian was in it at all.
Either way, Jon was blatantly ignoring him. Jon being aware of whether Damian knew it or not… he didn’t know what option was better.
As another notification popped up from the chat, confirming the date they would see the movie, Damian slammed his phone against his desk. His fingers dug into the hard plastic of the phone case, glaring at the rectangle thing as if it was the cause for all of this.
He felt it buzz against his hand and tried to squash down the sudden feeling of hope. Turning the phone slightly turned the screen on and just showed another notification from the group chat. Damian slid the phone across his desk, standing up angrily, and shoving his chair to the side.
Damian stomped over to his bed and flopped down next to Titus with an annoyed groan that was muffled by his blanket.
His fists were clenched so hard that he knew his palm would be covered with small crescent moon indents, but he couldn’t bring himself to care. He was just so! So! Confused! And irritated!
Admittedly hurt as well.
The feeling of being ignored, of having it blatantly shoved in his face, it made Damian feel small.
Which was ridiculous.
It was just messages. Who cares if Jon didn’t respond? Who cares if he read the messages and disregarded them while continuing to converse with other people about making plans for Damian to see? Who cares if it was intentional or not. It didn’t even matter.
Damian curled up in his bed and leaned against Titus. Whatever, he didn’t feel like hanging out anyways .