#simplerpleasuresofexistence

[hood-ex]

Hey i hear youre taking batfam prompts Can you please do a fic which is set after the shit that went down in batman under the readhood between B and jay. Like after everything happens jayson goes to his hideout/apartment and finds dick waiting for him( he somehow figures out where he lives) anyway he just refuses to fight him and like they bond a bit. Or one where dick goes to damians parent teacher meeting cause bruce was busy or something

Dick wasn’t sure what woke him up until he noticed a fluffy black tail swinging back and forth over his head. He craned his neck upwards and was greeted by Alfred the cat looking at him through half-mast yellow eyes. Alfred looked content from where he was nestled on the rim of the couch. Dick could just barely hear his soft purrs over the sound of the TV. 

Shit. How long had he been asleep? Dick checked his watch and realized that it was almost three. Double shit. He should have already changed clothes and gotten the helicopter ready by now. 

Dick yawned and rubbed his hands over his face. He really didn’t want to get up yet. He was cozy in his corner of the couch with a soft blanket wrapped around him. It didn’t help that Damian was using his lap as a pillow and was acting as Dick’s own personal leg warmer. The downside about that was that Dick’s legs were feeling a little numb, and he knew once he got up he’d be hobbling around with pins and needles in his feet. 

Comfort aside, Dick was hesitant to wake Damian up since the kid had a cold. Alfred had told him about Damian being sick before he’d left for England. Dick hadn’t really thought much of it until he actually got to the manor the other day and realized that Damian hadn’t been sleeping at all because of his stuffed up nose. That—along with the fact that Damian could barely taste anything—had made the kid pretty grumpy. 

Now that Damian was finally sleeping, Dick wasn’t sure if he should stay put and let the kid sleep, or if he should wake him up to get ready for the parent teacher meeting. He knew that Damian wasn’t technically supposed to be at school for the meeting anyway. Dick could just make him stay home to rest. 

The more he thought about it, the more he realized Damian would insist on going with him since he’d been cooped up at the manor for the past few days. It also didn’t sit right with Dick to leave Damian alone when he was sick. At least if Damian stayed in the helicopter while Dick was in the meeting, Dick would be close by in case Damian needed him. 

With the decision made, Dick placed his hand on Damian’s back and gently shook him awake. 

“Hn?” Damian groaned softly. His eyes stayed closed as he tried to inhale deeply through his stuffed up nose. 

“You get some sleep, kiddo?” Dick asked as he rubbed circles on Damian’s back to get him to wake up more. 

“Mmm.” 

Dick smiled. “Careful. You’re starting to sound like Bruce.”

Damian scowled halfheartedly but still refused to open his eyes. 

Dick swatted Damian on the butt a few times. “C’mon. Up, up, up. I’ve got to change my clothes. You think you can go get the helicopter ready?” 

Having a job to do was apparently the incentive Damian needed to make an effort to wake up properly. He finally pushed himself off of Dick’s lap, and Dick helped guide him to his feet before he also got up. Just like he expected, the pins and needles wreaked havoc up and down his legs. He tried to shake them off while Damian took a few seconds to pet Alfred. 

“Do we have any tea left?” Damian mumbled in a way that sounded distorted from his stuffy nose. The dark circles under his eyes coupled with his sniffles made him look pitiful. 

“‘Course we do,” Dick said. He knew that wasn’t what Damian was really asking. What Damian really wanted was for Dick to offer to make tea for him. "Want me to get you a thermos of it for the trip?"

Damian didn’t answer for a moment, and Dick knew it was because he was trying not to sound desperate or needy in any way. If there was one thing Damian didn’t appreciate, it was being coddled like a child. 

“The Stitch one,” Damian said with a nod. 

“The what?” Dick asked. 

“The thermos,” Damian enunciated. “There’s one with Stitch on it. I want that one.”

Dick settled his hands on his hips and asked, “Since when do we have Disney themed thermoses?”

“Since Disney tried to partner with Wayne Aviation,” Damian said, reaching for a tissue from the box that was sitting on the arm of the couch. Dick had put it there when they were watching TV in case Damian needed it. “The thermos was included in their bribery package.”

“And they sent one with the character who was adopted by a family of orphans?” Dick smirked. “Hits a little close to home, don’t you think?” He didn’t bother bringing up the fact that Stitch and Damian probably had a little too much in common in terms of their creation and journey to become part of a family. 

Damian sniffed and nodded. “TT. I know. Trying to manipulate father’s emotions just like they do with every one of their foolish animations.” Dick tried not to laugh at how disgusted he sounded. 

"If they’re foolish then why did you keep the thermos?” he asked. 

A blush stained Damian’s cheeks and his shoulders tensed. He quickly turned away from Dick and put more effort into giving Alfred attention. 

“It’s practical,” Damian mumbled over the sound of Alfred’s increasingly loud purrs.

“Uh-huh,” Dick said knowingly. He decided not to give Damian shit about it even though it was extremely tempting. It wasn’t smart to poke at the kid’s pride when he was already a bit grumpy from his cold. Dick shoved his hands in his pockets and started walking backwards towards the door. “Well, if that’s the thermos you want, that’s the thermos you’ll get.” 

Damian’s shoulders dropped like he was relieved. Dick bit his lip to keep himself from smiling at how guarded the kid was about expressing his enjoyment for things he viewed as childish.  

Dick was nearly out of the room when Damian turned back around. “Thank you, Richard,” he said in that stiff way of his that practically screamed discomfort. 

Dick shrugged. He couldn’t hold back his amused grin any longer when he said, “No problem. That’s what ohana is for.”