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Gently turning down young lovestruck heroes was all in a night's work for a veteran heartthrob like Nightwing, but this one-two punch hit different. It hit different because it was Damian, and it came out of nowhere, at least that was what it seemed to Dick — initially.
The night had started normally enough. Dick had taken Haley out for a walk, and halfway through, they'd both spotted some trouble brewing down at the bodega two blocks away from the apartment. One quick change later, and the robbers apprehended, Nightwing escorted his faithful sidekick back home to snooze at Babs' feet for the rest of the night.
Once he was headed out again, he got a request from Robin to meet at the top of Bludhaven City Hall, which he'd been happy to accept. It felt like he hadn't talked to Damian in ages, although realistically, he knew it was only a few weeks. There were some rumblings about him and Tim getting on each other's nerves again, with Bruce doing exactly nothing to alleviate the tension.
In Dick's more cynical moments, he suspected his former mentor thought that the competition between his sidekicks probably resulted in better outcomes overall. Capitalism at its finest, right? Dick couldn't really pick a side, at least not without getting called out. Everyone knew that Damian was still his Robin, even after all these years, and Dick (gratefully! So fucking gratefully!) getting back to his Nightwing identity.
He would've loved to get a jump on Robin, but since Damian had picked the time and place, there was no real way to do it. Even so, Dick was thrown for a million kinds of loops when he popped up on the rooftop, and before he could even say hello to his youngest brother, Damian attacked him — mouth-first — in the most awkwardly dangerous kiss Dick had ever experienced.
If he were a less experienced aerialist, Dick swore that he'd probably break his neck or something. As it was, he only punched Damian, and they both toppled over. Once Dick sprang up again and saw that Damian stayed down, his expression sullen but his eyes clear and not overtly mind-controlled, he spat out, "Robin, report."
Damian wouldn't look at him, not even when Dick stood over him and stared deeply into his eyes — or tried to. He was trying to pull his hood completely over his face, which was never going to work.
"C'mon, kiddo," Dick said. "What's going on?"
"Jon was here," Damian finally bit out. "A few days ago."
"Oh," Dick said. He sat down on the ground with Damian. "Yeah. About that."
Jon Kent had been here a few days ago, and it had been nice to see him again, and hard not to notice that he'd grown another couple of inches. He was probably going to be even taller and broader than Clark when all was said and done. Despite appearances, though, Dick still saw Jon as the sweet kid he and Bruce had rescued from the cave — really, not that long ago, in the larger scheme of things.
His heart had broken when Jon had told him how he'd wanted Dick to come and save him from spending all that time with Ultraman under the volcano. Dick wanted it too, and now the guilt of having failed him would just be part and parcel of the rich tapestry that was Dick Grayson's guilt complex.
But why was Damian here about that?
"Why are you here about that?"
Damian glared at him. "Don't be a fool, Grayson. Jon's made his intentions clear, hasn't he? He means to court you. But you're mine. And I'm here to stake my claim."
"Court me? Damian, have you swiped Jason's copy of Pride and Prejudice or something? You know he's going to lose his shit if anything happens to it. Why would Jon want to court me? I'm way too old for him. And you! For a lot of other reasons!" Dick said, remembering how this whole mess had started. He felt the beginnings of a migraine coming on.
He was supposed to be doing damage control. Young heroes got crushes on him all the time; it was usually nothing personal. All he had to do was crush their romantic dreams either gently or repeatedly and ruthlessly, and usually that was all right. Hell, it wasn't even the first time he'd have to deal with this from the House of El. Kara had been a recurring problem for years...
"Forget it," Damian said as he tried to rise. Dick pulled him back.
"Dami, c'mon. Jon's a kid. Even if he had a crush on me, I wouldn't reciprocate. And as for you —"
"I already know nobody cares about me!" Damian snapped.
"You know that's not true," Dick protested. "You have Flatline —"
"I see her once every financial quarter, if I'm lucky. Father still favors Drake over me, I'm still short, and now my best friend is trying to steal my brother?"
"First of all, a person can't be stolen," Dick huffed. “I mean, I can’t give my brothers away.”
His comms buzzed. It was Oracle. There was trouble brewing at the ports, and Nightwing and Robin were needed. It was almost a relief to throw themselves into the fray. It was like old times, almost. They were the most dynamic of duos.
*
It was early the next morning that Dick finally got a chance to pin Damian down a little. He slung his arm around his little brother's shoulder and shook him. "Kid. I know this is a hard time for you, but you're getting through this. You're going to go through a growth spurt. You'll be able to see Flatline more often once she joins the Titans. And as for Bruce — we'll work on him together. Just because he always does this doesn't mean it's right."
"What about you?" Damian demanded.
"Incestuous seductions are strictly off the table," Dick said seriously. He didn't like the expression on Damian's face. It wasn't defeated or accepting or anything like that. It was more considering than anything else. Too much like Bruce. Too much like Talia. Damian was thinking long term, and Dick dreaded what he would come up with. "... Promise?"
"I'm going back to Gotham in three minutes," Damian said. "I'll see you soon, Grayson."
(And Dick had no choice but to do wait and see what happened next.)