Chapter 2
As he opened his eyes, bright light flooded into them and immediately prompted them shut again, but he willed himself to stay awake and turned his head to the side, just in time to meet eyes to eyes with Raven, who was barely focusing on the open book floating in front of her. Though her expression was ever unchanging he could still make out a hint of lighten when she caught a sight of his movement. In no time at all she was already at his side with one hand on his forehead, examining for something wrong, her book left out of mind.
“How are you feeling?”
“A bit dizzy… I assume you patched me up?”
“You had already lost your consciousness when Nobody brought you back, just in time. I was able to fix you up a little but it’ll take a while to recover from that massive blood loss.” There was a gentle warm purplish light coming out of Rave’s palm as she spoke and under it, Damian felt the strain in his heavy body slowly let loose, the pain in his head subsided.
“Thank you, and sorry for the trouble.”
“It’s only natural. But I expect you to come to me every time you get an injury, fatal or not, not when you’re a breath away from death.”
“Well that’s a hard promise to keep.” Damian sat up slowly facing Raven’s direction, his head slightly nodded into her hand, seeking comfort from her magic, an act which brought crimson on the other’s cheeks, however faint it was.
“Try to. I’d hate to not have my favourite violinist around anymore.”
“And I was sure you thought I was an annoyance for the first few years we knew each other.”
“Don’t be mistaken, you are still an annoying brat. But your music soothes me, and sometimes your presence does too.”
“How are you holding up with your father?”
“I’ve been hearing him less lately.”
“That’s something you want to hear. I’m glad for you Rachel.”
Damian never really gets together with the Titans anymore as he realized the solitude suits his way better, but strange as it might be he got closer to them through some rare collaborations, especially to Raven. The witch’s control over her father’s imprisonment was getting worse and she was stuck in a whirlpool to hell, but for some reason, hearing Damian’s violin was the only thing that worked. The Bat plays when he is troubled, it helps him let go of the grimace he can’t reach in his heart, and apparently Raven can benefit from that too. From time to time the Titan even convinced him to audit at the local theatre, which he got first chair, and though he keeps reminding her this was just for her sake both of them know Damian needs this too.
“Maybe while I’m recovering here I can play for you. Exclusive performance for my favorite Titan.”
“Please, we all know that’s Richard.” She wasn’t wrong, but he can have 2 favourites, or 3. Nobody is kinda like a part-timer, but she’s an official Titan no less. “But I’d appreciate that, as long as you don’t push yourself.”
Damian just nodded obediently and shutting his eyes, letting comfortable silence sweep over them as he rested. But it wasn’t for long, just a few minutes when there was a knock on the open door of Raven’s chamber, and though none of them needed to look they knew who it was by the voice.
“Might if I interrupt?”
“Superboy, you’re interrupting nothing.” Raven said, sounding cold and stoic as her usual self again.
“Hmm.” Jon, however, isn’t a Titan, and they have never crossed paths in their line of work before, so he shouldn’t be having any business here, Damian thought as the Super walked over to him.
“You’re good?”
“Not dead yet, but my pride took a greater hit. There goes my perfect Ninja Zombie score.”
Superboy almost laughed at that, but he held back just in time and tried to keep up a stern face.
“It’s not a game you know. That was a real life all out zombie war. You should have called me.”
“Yeah, you’d have loved that.”
“I wouldn’t!
… Well, I would. But still, your heart was so weak it almost stopped beating. And when I superspeeded here they said you were as good as dead when Maya brought you in. I was worried sick!”
“Well, I’m fine now. So you can return to wherever or whatever you superspeeded from.”
Then followed an awkward silence, where Damian stubbornly tried to ignore Jon by not opening his eyes, Raven being Raven and Superboy standing awkwardly beside them with a distress expression on his usual cheery face.
“I’m sorry Raven, but can I talk to Damian in private, please?” Again Jon broke the silence. Raven hesitated in answering but complied when Robin gave her an approval nod.
“Thank you Rae, I’m good now. And I’m sure whatever Superboy wants to discuss it’s important.” Damian said and stood up, walked out the door while signaling the taller to join him. “This is her room Jon, she’s not going anywhere. Come on, we’ll finish this at my quarter.”
“They still keep your room after you left?”
“It’s a big building, and my family is paying so…”
And that’s the furthest extent of their conversation on their awkward trip to Damian’s place that felt like forever even though it’s on the same floor. Robin grunted sometime due to the pain recoiling without Raven’s care, and Superboy followed close behind in fear his ex-partner was going to fall. He wanted to put a supporting hand on the other’s hip, but taking into account of recent events decided against it.
Once they arrived at his quarter Damian wasted no time to get to the instant painkiller serum in the cabinet beside his bed and injected them, immediately the strain on his face relaxed with a relieving sigh.
“Hurts pretty bad huh?”
“Hardcore dark magic stuff… Even Raven can’t heal it right away.”
“Magical zombie ninjas. That should be on the next release of that game.”
Usually Damian is fond of game chit chat concerning his favorites, but blood loss and sleep deprivation plus a broken heart can make him too sore of an ass to humor others, a task which he doesn’t even do much anyway.
“Just say what you came to say and leave me be.”
They were followed up with yet another uncomfortable silence. Jon did look like he had a lot to say, so much that they all got stuck in his throat. It happens sometime, Damian is used to this behavior, being childhood/ best friends and all. Whenever he Jon thinks too much about what he is going to say he’d stumble. Like the many times he got hooked on some new hobbies and rambled on with mixed words that Damian soon learnt to rearrange himself in his head. But this time he probably wants to say it right, so Damian just sits and waits. He doesn’t have anything better to do in this state anyway.
After a while Jon took a deep breath to calm himself and finally said:
“You’re still mad at me for the day before aren’t you? I kept thinking about it and realized how much of a jerk I was to you.” Jon started with a few cautious steps, closing the gap between them. It wasn’t like Damian was keeping distance anyway as he just remained where he was on his bedside. The taller knelt down in front of him and looked up, his blue eyes saddened and Damian knew right away what he was trying to do. “I’m really sorry.”
The fucker has the ball to do puppy eyes now.
The ex-assassin is ashamed that it works every time. But he’s not letting go of his ground so easily like that.
“... Save that for your girlfriend instead.” He averted his eyes but it was too late, he had already taken damage.
“Well that’s what I want to talk to you about. See, I did meet up with Imra after that to come clear and apologize…” As expected of Superman’s son, Damian supposes, always has to be so damn righteous. “While I was on my way I rehearsed what I was going to say to her, I was ready to beg for her forgiveness, how it was just a mistake…” And again Damian got uncomfortable with this conversation.
“I can’t imagine how hard it’d be to forgive the Golden Child begging at your feet.”
“People need to stop calling me that, especially you.”
“I think it’s endearing.” Honestly to him that was not all just sarcasm, he does like the way the words roll on his tongue when he uses them to refer to Jon.
“So you kissed and made up I assume. Good you for you.”
“Well… Not really.” Did his ears deceive him or did that Saturn Girl really pass on the chance to keep her ‘One true Superman’ or whatever it was they kept calling Jon.
“Like I said I was thinking about how it was just a mistake, but the more I thought of it the more… uncomfortable I got from calling it that.”
“What?”
“I know I was the one who kept saying it was a mistake we should forget… I know that…”
Jon pressed his forehead on Damian’s kneels. “But it means far more than that for me…
I… I don’t know…
I just can’t stop thinking about that night. About you.
Your figure, your eyes, your voice… how you called my name, I want to hear that again… I was meeting my girlfriend and all I could make up in my poor little mind was you.”
For a rare chance in his life Damian was dumbfounded and it was being incredibly hard to take in what his best friend was pouring out from his heart. Jon took another deep inhale before letting go for courage, and looked up at him again.
“I think I’m in love with you.”
Damian thought it was unfair that Jon had super hearing and despite his protest kept listening in on his heart, because it just skipped a beat. Stupid heart, but he can always trust his face to remain stoic and his mouth to spout cruelty even in times like this.
“From a hookup? I’m flattered.”
“Damian I’m really sorry for the way I treated you that morning. You gave yourself to me and I gave you my word to treat you well yet I was such an ass.”
“...Just finish your story. How did Ardeen take it?” Honestly he couldn’t care less, but at the same time anything would do to help him stray away from that hurtful memory and the wild feeling in his heart.
“...She knew the moment I stood in front of her, asked if I could promise this was only a one time thing, and got the answer before I could say anything.
We broke up… I even got a punch from Lightning Lad when I left, he ended up breaking his hand though.
So I suppose I won’t be hanging around the Legion for a while, except for emergencies.”
“I see…” Then yet again they fell into another break, both unsure what to say next, busy with the disorganizing flows of thoughts and emotion running through them. The word was already said, and while Jon was being afraid that Damian would just decide to ignore it, the smaller was repeating it continuously in his head to make sure his tired mind didn’t mess something up due to the lack of blood.
“So…” At some point Jon just opened his mouth under the stress of silence still without a clue of what to say. But someone had to break it first, or else the both of them would just be sitting quietly in each other’s presence for the rest of the day. “... I was kinda wondering since I’ll be around a lot, and you’re not with anyone anyway… I mean with someone as a partner in crime- no partner in fighting crime!” He mentally slapped himself and took another breath to collect his thoughts so as not to sound so much like an idiot. “I… I was hoping that maybe we… you know… be the Super Sons again.
I-I understand if you don’t want to-”
“Good, because I don’t want to.” Damian just cut in bluntly, efficiently delivering a direct stab to Jon’s heart.
“I-I see… Sorry I asked-”
“At least for now. Constantine is stacking me up with missions that involve too dangerous dark magic to call a Super.” And at that Jon looked up again, with hope glimmering in his eyes.
“Ah… Magic may be my weakness but I can still help, lowering the risk of you getting wounds like this at least.”
“By charging in front of me and taking it instead? No thank you. You can help, but it won’t be necessary. You’re busy enough as Superboy here in this time too anyway.”
“... Then when you finish with them, would you think about my offer?”
“I’ll consider it.” Almost as soon as the words left his mouth Jon turned back to his sunshine overwhelmingly beaming again, maybe even brighter than usual, with the trademark smile and laughing eyes and all.
“That’s good enough for me.
Well, I guess I’ll leave you to your rest then.”
Then just when Jon was at the door Damian finally built up the courage to ask about the gigantic elephant in the room.
“About what you said…” His heart almost stopped as his hand did on the knob of the door, Jon half hope yet half dread that the other would bring up the subject of his confession after all. “... you know, before the Super sons ordeal. Did you mean it?”
“Yes.” Jon didn’t hesitate. He had been hesitating about facing his feelings for the person who was supposed to be his best friend for too long of a time it turned into an ugly outcome. So no more holding back. “I mean every word I said.”
From across the room Damian showed no trait of a reaction, except for the slight crimson hue on his ears that Jon caught with his enhanced vision.
“I don’t expect an answer, especially after what I did… I just want you to know.”
“Ok.”
“Sleep long, sleep well, Damian. You deserve it. I’ll see you later.”
It was indeed his every intention to spend the next of his forced day off in slumber. He hadn’t had a decent sleep on a decent bed for too long for a normal human to function. Yet right then he just knew as he slowly laid himself on his comfortable bed at the Titan tower he wouldn’t be able to sleep at all. One thing for sure he won’t be telling Maya this, or else his ears would be ripped apart as she goes on about how much of a pathetic pile he had let himself turn into. Or she would start giving him the look and giggle instead, which in his argument, is way worse.