LINK: Cause you're a nightmare that i've not been dreaming of
Summary: It's all come down to this one event. Their friends have planned out the perfect moment and all Damian and Jon need to do is say the words. Easy as pie.
ft. Jason and Roy as chaperones, road trips, Ferris wheels, and some really cheesy fireworks confessions
“Alright, Squirts, listen up, for those of you who don't know me, my name is Jason and that’s Roy.”
Jason was turned around in the driver's seat, going over introductions. The man next to him had a trucker cap on and was wearing a dark red tank top, showing off the full sleeve of tattoos running up his right arm.
He waved, propping his chin up next to the headrest on the passenger’s side. “I’m going to do a quick roll call, just to make sure we are not missing anyone. Once we get that, we’re good to go.”
A cheer went up, and settled quickly as Jason began naming people. Damian offered an earbud to Jon, who took it, settling back and shutting his eyes.
Skylar and Akira were scribbling onto the sketchbooks they’d brought, Kathy and Maya were behind them, dictating what they thought should go on it. Colin was avidly asking questions to the driver's seat.
“We’ve got a four hour drive, and we’re only making two pit stops, this is the last offer i’m making before i start the car.”
No one got up and the car started the radio being flicked on and soft music filling the car as they started on their journey.
Within thirty minutes, Jon had conked out against Damian’s shoulder, still with the shared earbud in one ear, the other in Damian’s. The boy himself was half asleep, head leaning on the glass of the window. Colin had propped his phone up and was playing a random downloaded movie, Akira and Skylar sharing a random game of tic-tac-toe.
After the second hour and a half, they were beginning to get rowdy. Jon was arguing with Akira about some inane topic that was probably not legal, Colin was playing keep away with Damian’s phone and backpack, Maya was hissing at them all to shut up as Kathy had fallen asleep in the midst of their chaos somehow.
The car screeched to an abrupt halt and they all yelped, grabbing onto another or a part of the car. Roy turned to the back, Jason tapping his fingers impatient on the steering wheel.
“Alright, that’s much better. Colin, give the bat brat his stuff back, Jon and Akira, both of you are wrong, it’s much easier to do the third option. Keep the noise to the minimum if you would all like to stay alive on this trip, because my husband is much less nice than he seems, contrary to appearances.”
“Yes sir.” Six kids chorused back at him.
“Not a brat.” Damian grumbled.
“Kind of are.” Jon poked his cheek. “What’s with the Bat part though?”
From the front of the car, Jason snorted. “Oh boy, now that’s a nice story.”
“Jason, please don’t-”
“You all know Batman, right?”
They all nodded, the tips of Damian’s ears burning red and he attempted to hide himself in Jon’s shoulder.
“Baby Damian was obsessed with anything Batman, for some unknown reason. Every single one of his toddler pictures have him in some kind of Bat reference, and he had this little bat hoodie with ears he’d wear all the time, and put the hood up and would say “I’m the Bat!” in this tiny little squeaky voice.”
The car had gone up in laughter, and Jon had put an arm around Damian, whose face was now burning in embarrassment.
“Shut up, oh my god.” The plea was muffled, and his older brother paid absolutely no attention to it, continuing on.
“Went on until he was maybe eight, and then he got back into it because of a show that would play on cartoon network? And I don’t think it’s ever returned to that level but there is no one in this family who does not call him a nickname without adding the bat.”
“That’s adorable .” Jon said, Damian groaning and attempting to disappear. Skylar agreed with the sentiment, Colin, Akira, and Maya attempting to quell their laughter. Kathy was sneakily snapping a picture of Jon and Damian in their position, since the words that accompanied had been less than platonic.
It tapered off into a quieter buzz, most of them being occupied by a phone balancing on the drivers headrest and playing a random movie.
By the time they arrived at the Brandens’, all of them were either sleeping or half-asleep. Before Jason could stop the car and make the announcement, Maya hissed ”Wait!” silently and urgently.
In the backseat, Jon and Damian were curled into each other, Damian on Jon’s shoulder and Jon’s head on top of his, hands loosely intertwined.
”shit, SHIT, someone take pictures!!” Six phones were promptly whipped out, all taking care to turn off the flash and taking pictures from different angles.
“Send all of those to me,” Jason instructed, turning off the car. At the motion, they stirred, everyone in the car whipping around to give some sense of normalcy as if they had not all been cooing over them.
“Oh.” Jon sprang away from him. “Sorry, sorry, did I crush you?”
“I’m not as weak as you innately believe me to be.” Damian grumbled, ears flushed pink as he looked out the window, their hands still resting together. “I’m perfectly fine.”
“oKay, on that note, we’ve arrived. Please disembark from the vehicle in an orderly fashion, and do not slam any of the doors or you will have a very unpleasant return.” Roy got out first, opening the driver’s seat door for a very pleased looking Jason.
They clambered over each other to get out, sighing dramatically as they all stepped out. “Freedom!” Colin shouted, jumping up and down a few times.
“My legs went numb.” Akira muttered, holding onto the side of the car. Skylar patted their arm sympathetically, backpack jangling.
“This is pretty big.” Maya looked at the surrounding farmland appreciatively. “How much of this is your folks?”
“Bit farther down, I'll take you by the boundary line sometime, there’s a nice little place me ‘n Jon would go play as kids.” Kathy pointed to a place in the unseeable distance, coming a bit closer to her.
“That sounds nice.” Maya said, trailing off into a silence until Jon came running out of the car and slinging an arm around Kathy’s neck.
“Ooh, i have missed this place. Our treehouse still up?”
“All of our hideouts are alive and kickin’.” Kathy said, “You should take your boy down to one of them sometime.”
Jon looked around, before dipping his head down and mumbling, “Not my boy.”
“Not yet .” Kathy poked him in the stomach, and as he doubled over, ruffled his hair, dashing off with a laugh.
“HEY!” He took off after her, the two of them laughing. Damian came up besides Maya, watching them chase each other.
“You know, I don't think I've really seen him act like this.” Maya remarked. Damian only smiled, mind flooding with flicks of moments and the sound of childlike laughter.
“It’s not something he had much reason to be like, I suppose.”
“It’s cute.” She nudged him. “Puppy-like.You like puppies, don’t you?”
“It is… endearing. ” The last part was much quieter. “It feels wrong. But right, at the same time. The feeling is…new, yet curious. And not entirely unpleasant.”
“You two will figure it out.” Maya smiled, pushing his shoulder a bit. “I’m gonna go and get ready, we’re going out to the fair today.”
“Okay.” He brushed his hair back, watching his small group of friends, eyes trailing after Jon’s form, his laughter keeping the soft smile on his lips.
“You know, I think we have a history of this kind of thing.” A voice came from behind him, wiping the smile off of his face in place of a scowl.
Jason came up behind him, Roy playfully putting the hat he was wearing onto Damian's head.
Stupid older brothers.
“So I heard.” Damian drawled, turning to look pointedly at the both of them. “Tutoring, boy on the wrong path and a nerd. Except I was just better, not a nerd.”
“Fuck you, i was a cool nerd.” Jason crossed his arms. “Had an A in P.E. and everything.”
“You were also a scrawny little shit who carried books everywhere, had glasses for a short amount of time and could quote Jane Austen at the drop of a hat.” Roy set his chin on Jason’s shoulder. “Sorry, babe.”
“Well, you married this nerd.” Jason sniffed, before turning to Damian. “ You were like four, you can't tell me shit.”
Damian scowled. “You’ve simply come along to antagonize me, haven’t you?”
“That, to intimidate your friends and future boyfriend, and because ask yourself, would any of them have been any better?”
“Richard would have.”
“Dickhead and Wallance would have played showtunes the whole time, been sickeningly in love, and would have shown all of your baby pictures and embarrassing stories within the first five minutes of the drive, especially if he saw you and Jon.”
“Whatever.” He huffed. “Will you both be escorting us to the fairgrounds?”
“Yeah, and we’re leaving in thirty minutes, so change if you want to, baby bat.” Jason took the hat off and ruffled his hair, causing Damian to squawk and swat at him, before glaring at them both and leaving.
They all met back up in front of the car, dressed in a new pair of clothes and eager. It was about 12:30 by the time that they managed to make it to the grounds, seeing as they’d left early in the morning.
“Okay, ground rules before I unlock this car.” Jason and Roy turned around, and everyone but Damian snapped to attention.
“You have our numbers, I have yours, and if all else fails, you have a Damian. I don’t expect you to actually stay with us, but please try to stick together, if not a buddy system or something. Try not to get banned, maimed, or sick within the first four hours.”
He turned off the car and grinned. “Oh yeah, and have fun.”
That startled a cheer from them, and the doors unlocked, everyone filing out of the car. They elected to stick together as one big group until they found something that would separate them, Jason and Roy following behind before stopping at a concession stand and losing sight of them.
“Okay, so Colin, Kathy and I are gonna go check out the roller coasters,” Maya said. “Akira and Skylar are at the booths and Damian and Jon…”
“Are playing the games.” Jon finished.
“And I’m going to kick your ass, Kent.” Damian smirked.
“I’d like to see you try.” Jon shot back. Colin and Akira mimed gagging, the other three rolling their eyes.
“Take your weird flirting away from here, go, shoo.” Kathy pushed them away, both boys flushing as her words caught up to them.
As they left, their hands swung between them, just barely touching. They all shared a looked, the thought of absolutely hopeless running through their minds.
“I can't take this anymore.” Maya sighed. “I give, what time are those fireworks?”
This was driving them both insane . Jon glanced down, Damian’s hand brushing up against his for the millionth time. He wanted to reach out and grab it, but how would the other react?
He’d done it before, but now it felt different . He wasn’t leading him anywhere, and he wasn't gonna do the platonic hand holding thing he and Kathy had researched in middle school.
His eye caught on a shooting game, and grinned. There we go, he could challenge Damian, they’d chill, and bam, awkwardness diffused.
“Hey, D, betcha I can get a higher score.” He pointed to the game, watching as Damian’s gaze went directly to the plush puppy hanging on the side of the booth.
Perfect.
“You’re on, Kent.”
They raced to the game, slapping down their payment. The worker at the booth seemed rather amused by their playfulness, starting up the game.
“What the hell?” Jon squeaked as Damian began shooting with an insane accuracy, looking over to the side to grin, still getting the target.
“This is unfair !” He pouted. Plan foiled .
“Tough luck, J.” Damian pointed to the plush he wanted, shoving it at Jon. “Carry. Let’s go find another thing for me to kick your ass at.”
He huffed, accepting it anyways. The booth worker laughed, shaking their head. “Wow, if I didn't know any better, I'd say you’re whipped.”
Jon sighed wistfully. “If only he knew that, too.”
He chased after Damian, the both of them challenging each other to various games. Jon managed to win a small kitten, presenting it to Damian, who looked away laughing.
“I’ve already won several, Jon. I don’t think you should add more.”
“You should win something for me, then.” He said, half playing. “Then you'll have less.”
“Okay.” Damian looked surprisingly serious, taking his hand and pulling him down the aisle. “Your wish is my command, my Prince.”
Jon flushed at the sincerity, giddy at the hand-holding. “Would this make you my Knight?”
“I suppose I would.”
“Then, onwards, brave Knight, and pick your prince the most delightful of plushes.”
After a few minutes, Jon had a white puppy plush that he affectionately named Krypto. They fell back into the silence, dropping off the rest of the plushies at the car, before looking at the sky.
“It’s sunset. The fireworks will be starting soon. We should probably find the others.” Jon said, the puppy plush still under one arm. The kitten he’d won for Damian was peeking out of the bag the other boy had over one shoulder.
“Probably.” Damian threaded his fingers with Jon’s, swinging them idly between them. It had seemed completely natural, and suddenly, something clicked.
He needed to do something about this, and he needed to do something about it now. It was terrifying, the very thought, but if he really thought about it, nothing they’d done for weeks, months by now, really qualified as strictly platonic.
Damian was blunt, unclear with his emotions, and a jumbled mess on the inside of his cool, put together and prickly persona.
He could do this. Anxiety would not best him.
They met up in front of a picnic bench by the ferris wheel, the sun dipping deeper and the dark night coming to overtake it.
“All of you gremlins accounted for?” Roy asked, Jason besides him as they shared cotton candy.
“Yes sir!” Akira and Skylar had a large bag of kettle corn between them, Colin sneaking handfuls every few minutes.
“You guys empty every booth or what?” Maya grinned, Kathy poking her in the side to subtly motion to their intertwined hands.
“Dami here kicked my ass in almost everything.” Jon grumbled.
“Could have warned you against that.” Jason grinned, also taking note. “Anything interesting happen? Life changing developments we should know?”
“No.” Damian scowled, following his gaze and attempting to hide their joined hands. “What are we doing now?”
“Well, I think the ferris wheel is still open. We could catch that before the fireworks begin,” Colin began, everyone catching on.
“Yeah, sounds like fun!”
“You two should go ahead of us,”
Damian and Jon were ushered onto a cart, and strapped in before they could say anything, being shot thumbs up and teasing grins.
“What the hell?” Jon squawked as they were lifted into the air. “Jesus Christ, you swear the world was going to end if we didn’t get on this thing.”
“We’re friends with imbeciles.”
“Oh, have I been elevated to not-an-imbecile?”
“Ugh.”
Damian shoved him playfully, and the silence settled in. Suddenly, they were much more aware of the atmosphere, high up on a creaky metal wheel, spinning them into the darkening night sky.
“The stars are nice. You can’t see them this clearly from the city.” He said quietly. Their hands found each other again, and tentatively, Jon leaned his head on Damian’s shoulder.
“I’ll bring you down here again, we can go stargazing and you can tell me your smart people stuff.”
“It’s basic astronomy, Jon.”
“There are a bunch of things that I don't have the patience to memorize.”
Damian laughed, resting his head on Jon’s. “Hey, Dami?”
Jon’s voice came in a shaky whisper, his hand growing clammy. This had been building all day, and Jon was sure he’d explode if he didn’t say something soon.
“Yeah?”
“Gotta tell you something.”
Damian lifted his head up, and bit his lip. “I have something to say to you as well.”
“You can go first.” Jon squeaked, looking down and suddenly finding the railing of the cart extremely fascinating.
“Wouldn’t you prefer to go?” the pitch of Damian’s voice began rising and he coughed, willing it back down. “You began, of course.”
Shit.
“Ah, um, okay.” Jon breathed in. “So, we’re like, friends, right? And uh, gonna be real, at first, I don’t think we like each other much? Well, i mean, i definitely liked you, or like, the look of you which explains a lot when we think about cause holy shit i was a douche-”
Damian’s quiet laughter startled him from his ramblings, and with pink cheeks he looked up, seeing the light of the ride shine on his face, ears tinged pink.
“You are…very cute.”
Jon made a noise that in any other situation, would have severely wounded his pride, but right now the words were playing on repeat in his mind.
“That-that’s not fair!” He whined, taking his hand from Damian’s to use both to cover his burning face. “You can’t do this to me!”
“I think I can.” Damian whispered into his ear. “Might I pick up where you left off?”
Jon only nodded, still hiding his face in his hands. Damian shook his head, just slightly, and shut his eyes.
Okay. Don’t chicken out, Wayne. You’ve been waiting. You can do this.
“Hm. You were correct, with your earlier statements. We did not like each other very much. But we’re friends now, and every new thing that I find out about you draws me closer. A bit back, I believe that my affections may have begun to stretch a bit further than, say, strictly platonic.”
He paused, exhaling and attempting to quell his thoughts in a way that made sense. Jon lifted his face from his hands, eyes wide and hopeful.
Jon was dreaming, right? Was this some kind of dream?
"Judging by your poorly thought out speech, I was wondering if you might return the sentiments. Of course, it's perfectly acceptable if you don’t, i do not wish to force you into something or make you feel obligated-"
He was the one rambling now, but for the love of all that was holy, Damian could not shut himself up . He had one hand rubbing the back of his neck, the other still resting in his lap. The ride came to a stop at that moment, a whistling noise signaling the start of the fireworks began sounding. They were at the top, swinging a bit.
Jon grabbed his free hand, giving an affectionate, “Damian, shut up .”
Damian clicked his jaw shut and Jon cupped his face with his other hand. “I’m going to kiss you now.”
“Okay.” he whispered, shutting his eyes. Their lips met as the night sky burst into an array of color, hand in hand. Damian’s arm went around Jon’s neck, and his hand dropped to the smaller boy’s waist, bringing them closer together.
It was clearly inexperienced, but as they broke apart, stupid grins on their faces, that couldn’t have mattered more.
Jon leaned down, forehead resting on Damian’s, the sky still exploding behind them as the wheel cracked, signaling their movement.
“If that wasn’t clear, I really like you.”
“I ‘really like’ you too.” Damian hesitantly leaned up, pressing his lips to Jon’s again in a chaste kiss, pulling away and covering his mouth, quiet laughter escaping him.
Jon caught it, pulling it away from his face and into his own. “I keep telling you to stop doing that; it’s adorable and you shouldn’t hide it.”
Damian huffed, looking away but squeezing his hand gently. They got off the ride, walking towards the hill where the rest of their friends and Damian’s family were seated, gasping over the fireworks. They came up behind them, quiet enough not to disturb them. Jason noticed them, however, sending a subtle wink and smirk their way.
They were all seated under a tree, and Jon leaned against it, sitting down and opening his arms. Domain leaned back against his chest, Jon’s folded hands resting on Damian's stomach as the show went on.
Once it began winding down, the others took notice of their presence, and their positioning. Upon asking the question, Damian pulled Jon down by the collar of his tshirt and kissed him, letting go just as quick.
A cheer came up between all of them, whoops and jeers being thrown playfully at them. “Operation Damijon is a success!”
The two chose to ignore that last statement, settling into each other. They had their friends, each other, and a blossoming relationship.
Really, what more could they ask for?
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