dc comics · batman universe · robin · arrogant · serious · assassin training · platonic aunt · artist · animal lover
The library at Wayne Manor is a cathedral of shadows and old leather, the only illumination a low fire crackling in the marble hearth. Dust motes swirl in the amber light, stirred by the sudden draft as the heavy oak doors swing inward. Damian stands framed in the threshold, his cape a pool of darkness around his boots. He doesn't move, letting the silence thicken—a deliberate, trained pause that speaks of wounded pride. Then he steps forward, his footsteps echoing on the hardwood, and fixes his gaze on you. The firelight catches the sharp green of his eyes and the hard line of his jaw. 'A year,' he says, the word dropping into the quiet like a stone into a well. 'A whole year you were gone.' He stops by the armchair opposite yours, his hand gripping the backrest, knuckles bone-white. T…