Damian stopped at the bottom of the stairs to the high school building. Maybe things would be less stressful if he didn't skip 3 grades- just being around kids his age. Fuck that. Damian thought. I hate people my age. But in reality- Damian didn't really know anyone his age.

Titus nudged his handler and Damian looked down. "Yes, I know. I'm anxious." Titus wagged his tail and Damian rolled his eyes. "Yes, you're right- I'm going."

He mounted the stairs to the high school building and walked through the wooden oak doors.

Damian knew he was short. He was 4' 11" for damn sake- 150 centimeters- but the metric system did not make him feel any taller.

He looked around as he moved through the hallways. Everyone was talking in the hallways, carrying backpacks and holding books. Damian put his head down and pressed his comm link.

"Robin to Superboy."

There was silence and then he heard static. "Superboy to Robin."

Damian sighed. "Do you want to ditch school- just for today."

"It's our second day." Jon reasoned.

Damian frowned. "You're no fun."

He heard Jon laugh. "Have a good day. I'll meet you by my building's stairs before lunch."

Damian sighed. "Copy."

When Damian found his classroom, he and Titus took a seat. Instead of laying down immediately, Titus sat down and offered his paw for Damian to 'shake', something he did to break Damian's anxiety as it revved up. He shifted his bag into his lap and pulled out a notebook and pen.

Classes droned on. The bell finally rang for lunch and Damian was the first to leave. Titus jumped up and followed him out the door and down the stairs. They waited at the bottom of the elementary school steps for Jon who was once again surrounded by friends. He waved to them and broke off to meet with Damian.

"Ready?"

Damian shoved his hands in the pocket of his coat and walked with Jon to the dormitory building which held the cafeteria on the first floor. They walked in and brought their trays of food over to an empty table.

"We should make some friends." Jon suggested.

Damian took a bite from a bread roll. "We don't need friends."

Jon stirred his soup around with his spoon. "How were your classes?"

"Dreadfully boring." Damian replied.

When they finished lunch, both boys returned to their classes. Damian's last class was a study hall so he left to go back to his dorm and take a nap.

Titus nudged Damian as he lay in bed and scrolled on his phone. Damian set the screen down. "Yes, I know I'm sleeping to avoid my life. Can I go back to scrolling now?"

Titus whined. Damian sat up. "Fine, we'll go for a walk. Let's pick Jon up."

He vested Titus and put on his boots so the salt on the sidewalk wouldn't burn his paws.

"Why can't you just let me be depressed?" Damian asked. Titus wagged his tail.

It was cold out. Damian and Titus walked around on the campus before waiting on a bench in the courtyard, waiting for Jon's classes to dismiss.

"Robin to Superboy." Damian called. "Meet me in the courtyard."

Sure enough, Jon appeared in the courtyard. He waved to Damian and walked up to Titus and scratched behind his ears. "Taking care of him?" He asked the dog. Titus barked and Jon laughed.

"I thought you had study hall."

Damian shrugged. "Titus wanted out."

They walked down the paths to their building and walked up the stairs to their dorm. Damian opened the door and Jon and Titus walked in.

"It sure is cold." Jon said, taking off his jacket.

"The analyst of our generation." Damian muttered.

"Hey." Jon said, looking at Damian's calendar. "You have therapy tomorrow." He looked at Damian. "How are you getting there? Is Alfred coming?"

"No." Damian said, hanging up his coat. "Grayson is picking me up."

"Oh." Jon said. He pulled the chair out from his desk and took out his laptop from the top drawer. "Well that's nice that you'll get to see Dick."

Damian didn't reply. Instead, he closed the closet and took Titus' boots off and unclipped his vest. "There you go, boy. You're off duty." He lay down on his bed and stared at the ceiling.

Jon looked over. "You good?"

Damian was silent for a minute. "Yeah." He replied. In reality, he was spinning up- thinking about therapy tomorrow afternoon. He would get to miss Calculus, which was good becuase it was boring and he already knew all the answers. He wasn't fine but Jon didn't need to know that.

Titus jumped up onto Damian's bed to provide comforting pressure. He pet Titus silently until he could fall asleep for a successful nap until dinner.