#did my dog have surgery today and I'm projecting on Damian

[zombiesbecrazy]

You're drabbles are amazing! Could I ask for ✈: reaching out for someone [bonus points if they mumble! their! name!] with Tim and Damian?

Tim was surprised when he walked in on Damian in the living room, sitting in the dark on the loveseat in absolute stillness and staring at the blank TV screen. It was just after noon and he had expected Damian to be holed up in his room, waiting for the call from the vet. Titus had been taken in for a procedure to fix an indolent ulcer on his eye – relatively minor but stubborn and refusing to heal – and they were expecting to hear how it went around two before being able to pick him up later.

“Hey.” Damian’s head snapped up at the sound, but then his eyes drifted back to the black screen on the wall. Tim hesitated for a second before sitting down on the opposite end of the sofa, one leg curled up beneath him and angled towards Damian. “He’ll be okay. I know you are nervous, but Titus will be fine.”

“I’m not nervous, Drake,” spat Damian, sharp but lacking his normal venom that tended to coat everything when he was talking to Tim. He took several slow breaths before shrugging in attempt to appear calmer than he was. “I’m concerned.”

It took a lot of effort, but Tim refrained from rolling his eyes at that claim, because if Damian wasn’t nervous, then Tim was an albatross. “Alright. Why are you concerned?” Damian said nothing, but clenched his jaw tight enough that Tim swore he could hear his teeth grind. “It’s a standard procedure and I know that you wouldn’t have trusted the vet if you didn’t approve of their skills.” He knew for a fact that before agreeing to the surgery that Damian had hacked his way into the vet clinic records and researched the outcomes of this procedure for all of the vet’s patients in the past five years. He had declared the vet ‘more than adequate’ which was very high praise coming from Damian regarding any professional in any field.

“He’s going to wake up alone and the medication will make him groggy. He’ll be scared and confused without me there. I want to be able to comfort him.” There was a deep sigh before he continued. “Or what if something goes wrong and he doesn’t wake up? After I was the one who left him there? He’s in excellent health but he’s not exactly young anymore.” Damian looked down at him hands clasped in his lap. “Anything can happen.”

Tim frowned, not quite knowing what to say. Nothing came to mind other than general calming and assuring words, but that wasn’t going to be useful when all they were doing was playing to waiting game. This wasn’t even like when someone was hurt down in the cave because then you could sit by their side and watch the recovery process, like they had all done countless times before. It was stressful, but at least they were there, for either the good or the bad.

Damian was helpless, which is one of the things that he always tried to cover up the most. This must be driving him mad. He knew that he wasn’t Damian’s favourite person – far from it – but he was all that was currently available.

What would Dick do?

Tim opened his arms and Damian hesitated before leaning sideways into him, head falling to Tim’s shoulder and he just let himself be held as Tim squeezed him lightly.

“Timothy,” mumbled Damian minutes later, quiet enough that if he hadn’t been in Tim’s arms, he wouldn’t have been heard. “What if he doesn’t wake up?”

“Then I’ll be here for you.”

#tim drake #damian wayne #drabble #this probably wasn't what the prompt meant #but this is what came out #did my dog have surgery today and I'm projecting on Damian? maybe #dog is ok #but she is old and it was stressing me out