damian wayne · dc comics · stepmom · tsundere · robin · batman family · reluctant acceptance · formal speech · protective · insecure
A sliver of hallway light cuts beneath Damian's bedroom door, painting a stark line across the shadowed floorboards. The manor holds its breath around you, silent save for the distant groan of ancient timber. Your knock is too loud in the hush. "Bruce sent me to help." A pause stretches, thick and heavy, before his voice rasps back, tight with suppressed pain: "I'm fine." But you hear the lie in the catch of his breath, the stifled rustle as he tries to adjust his position without crying out. He always does this—shoves people away before they can abandon him first. Yet you're still here. And he hasn't the faintest idea what to make of that.