remember this old thing? i didn't until Alfred_Is_A_Badass asked for a part 2 a while ago so we're doing it

TW: There's gonna be some offensive language here

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Here's a reminder for those who don't remember the story

For the tenth time that month, Dick snuck into Wayne Manor. He'd just been out but not on patrol as his brother, Damian, had been well aware of. That's why he had been sitting in the dark waiting for him. He needed to talk about what Dick was doing to the Wayne name when he went on his "ragers." When he entered Damian turned on the light by the armchair, successfully scaring the ever-loving shit out of him. "Jeez Dami, you scared me. Why were you sitting in the dark?" he asked.

"Dramatic effect. This is the tenth time this month you've come home so late," Damian stated. His expression was hard and his eyes had that glare Dick remembered Bruce had. He almost laughed at the thought that glare could be hereditary. Damian motioned for him to sit down next to him and Dick sat down as a guilty child. It was uncomfortable to be the oldest yet feel the youngest. He was going to get told off, he knew it, and not by a League member. He wished it was a League member. Dick shifted under the harsh glare that was set upon him. "Did you want to talk to me about something?" he asked, faking a comfortable position.

"Your nights out are becoming more frequent," Damian stated. Dick nodded. Please don't let this go the way he thinks it's going. "More frequent means more journalists using it against you and by you, I mean our family. It's disgraceful."

Dick grimaced and tried to push down the outburst of anger he felt he needed. "It's not disgraceful, I'm just having fun. Am I not allowed to? It's not like I'm drinking either," he reasoned. 

"Then you go to have sexual intercourse with strangers?" Damian asked. A dark shade of blush covered Dick's face in moments. The little perceptive shit. They both knew the answer. He wished Damian didn't. "I'm a grown adult Damian!"

"A grown adult that still blushes like a thirteen-year-old in sex education," he countered.

"I learned about it when I was eleven actually," Dick corrected rather childishly. There was a roll of eyes from Damian and he sighed.

 "Grayson you have a family name to uphold. It is your duty to treat it with respect. Right now you may as well be dragging the name through a swamp." Again Dick grimaced. Was he that bad? He was just having fun. 

"Bruce was a playboy, why can't I be?" Damian's hands tensed as he gripped onto the seat. 

"He played a part he wasn't going out being a whore," he snapped.

"Language! I am not a whore Damian!" Dick snapped back. "Quite frankly I'm angry you would assume that about me."

"I'm not assuming I'm going off of fact. You're a slut and you know it. You're ruining my family name."

"Oh so now it's your family? Am I not a part of that family? Just because Bruce didn't adopt me doesn't mean-"

"Bruce didn't adopt you?" Damian interrupted.

He was genuinely surprised by this. Tim was adopted. Jason died before he could and it was made crystal clear Jason didn't want the status. That and it would look very suspicious to adopt an adult with the same name as his dead son. Dick was the first kid he took in so why was he the odd one out? "Yes Damian, I wasn't adopted! I am still a foster kid! Can I go to bed now? I'm tired and we have patrol tomorrow." He stood up but Damian sat him back down.

"We're putting a pin in the adoption talk. We still need to talk about this sluttish behaviour." Dick was losing it. Could he not have a private life? Could he not have fun? Did he have to play the part of Bruce 24/7? Couldn't he be Dick even if Bruce was gone? The questions fuelled his anger and his anger fuelled questions. He didn't know what to do or how to feel and uncertainty always made him angry. In short, he was pissed. Damian had pressed on too hard. He was going to get the horns of an otherwise tranquil bull. "Would you just shut up? I know what I'm doing and I don't need some brat to tell me that I don't! I'm sick of being told what to do by people who don't know jack shit about me!" he shouted. He was shaking with fury. His eyes blind in a rage with frustrated tears at the edges. 

"Grayson I'm trying to help," Damian argued. He hadn't expected this reaction. He had expected for Dick to be emotional yes but in a melancholy way, not an angry way. 

"I don't want or need your help! For God's sake I always have to live up to something, don't I? If I'm going out too much and having sex like most people do I'm a slut! If I don't stick that landing I'm losing my touch! If I don't follow Bruce's footsteps I'm a disappointment! How about I just jump off a fucking roof and follow their footsteps huh?"

There was nothing. No movement, no noise, no thought. Dick seemed to realize what he said and sniffled at the thought of it. "Richard, I am in no way saying you have to live up to Father's name. I would prefer you not to. I am simply concerned for your health. There are many STDs that I would rather you never get let alone the mental effect. You are a grown adult but that does not prevent me from worrying." he explained. Dick sniffled again and rubbed his arms. "Do you need to-"

"I'm fine Damian. Go to bed."

"But-"

"Just go to bed." Dick swiftly went upstairs and slammed his bedroom door. Something told Damian there was more wrong than he had once thought. Human eyes can only see so much.

So here's the part 2

Things had been tense in the Manor since the blow-up. A heavy atmosphere followed the brothers around and didn't let up when they went on patrol either. Everyone noticed the tension and for once it wasn't because Damian was mad. It was because Dick was. Alfred hated seeing the pair grow so far apart but he couldn't exactly blame the older. He had so much on his plate and his patience had worn thin. The patience that Damian had become accustomed to was gone and he was sent in a tailspin. He got told off more often or just ignored when it came to his comments. He'd even tried to apologize at one point so everything would go back to normal but Dick walked away before he heard the end of it. They mostly kept apart when they were at home, spending most of their time in their rooms when they would normally stand to be in the same room with one another quite often until a magazine came with that morning's mail.

Damian had been in his room when his older brother barged in and threw a magazine in his face. "You little shit!" he shouted, his face bright red with a mix of anger and embarrassment. The younger picked up the magazine to get an idea of why he was being yelled at and was met with a rather scandalous photo of Dick kissing a guy in a club. It looked like it was from a CCTV camera rather than a photographer who was in the right place at the right time. The headline read "The Billionaire Brat Seen Shoving Tongue Down Clubgoers Throat" and there was a shocked emoji beside it. "You fucking hacked into a camera didn't you? Is this to teach me a lesson?"

"I didn't send them this, I swear!" Damian responded. 

"You know how bad this makes me look? I was just trying to have some fun because God knows I can't have any of that these days!" he ranted, beginning to pace from one side of the room to the other. It was honestly quite unnerving to see him so worked up. He'd been wound so tight recently and Damian now had a front-row seat to his breakdown. "I don't enjoy patrol because I'm Batman! I never wanted to be Batman! If I wanted to be Batman I would've been Batman or some shitty variant on Batman." He brought his hands to his hair and pulled harshly as he continued his rant. "I have to train you and make sure I don't somehow fuck your childhood up because believe it or not I want the best for you! We hardly know one another because you keep pushing me away like like like something that pushes someone away!"

"Grayson, you need to calm-"

"Don't tell me to calm down!" Dick interrupted as he pointed a finger at him. "You listen to me right now because I can't deal with you and everybody else out there hating me!" He took to holding his arms so tightly his nails were digging into his skin this time instead of pulling at his dishevelled hair. He looked an utter mess. He was pale, his eyes had suitcases rather than bags and his eyes were bloodshot from lack of sleep. "I don't hate you," Damian insisted. The older paused his pacing.

"Then why would you call me a slut? Or a whore? Or say I'm basically a disgrace? Oh, to make you feel better about me sleeping with people, I did an STD test and I'm negative for everything so at least I'm a clean whore right?" He glared at the teen so harshly that the ex-assassin wanted to melt into the bed and out of existence. "I'm surprised you haven't gone for the fact I'm pan or the fact I'm from a travelling circus. I'll start you off with a few insults off the top of my head, shall I? Let's see-"

"Master Richard."

The young man looked to the doorway where their trusted butler stood with a stern expression. "I may not understand the situation just yet but I know there is no need to repeat any awful labels," Alfred continued. "I will kindly thank you to refrain from using them especially in front of young Master Damian." Being scolded didn't help Dick's bad mood and he hung his head to glare at the floor. "Can you be sensible enough to tell me what issue has you so upset? I could hear you yelling from downstairs though I didn't catch much of it."

"It doesn't matter, does it? Maybe Damian didn't put that picture in the magazine but now it's there and now I'm Batman and now I have to look after him. So fuck me I guess," Dick snapped. He barged past the elderly butler and stormed down the hall. They heard his door shut with an all-mighty slam that, if they didn't know better, shook the house with how hard it was.

"Pennyworth, though I don't much care, is he alright?" Damian asked quietly. He was very clearly lying through his teeth saying he didn't care because he did. He'd seen the older as a peaceful giant so to speak and the sudden change in character, well, it frightened him. He didn't like it one bit. "I'm afraid not. Do you have any idea what had him like this?" He passed Alfred the magazine and watched the man grimace before folding it up and putting it in the bin. 

"He thought I sent that picture in but I wouldn't have done such a thing. I may dislike his pass time but I wouldn't publically shame him like this. I'd gain nothing," he insisted. "He needs a break."

"He takes after your father in that he won't stop till he passes out. I suggest you continue to keep your distance whilst he's like this," Alfred replied. The younger shook his head. 

"Grayson may annoy me with his terminal kindness yet I have some kind of bond with him. I'd rather risk getting my head ripped off than leave him in such a state." That had the older smiling. "What?"

"He's been a good influence on you."

Deciding to let the acrobat cool off for a few hours, Damian went on the search when Dick didn't come down for dinner. He brought a plate with a sandwich on it in case the tantrum before had made Dick hungry. He went straight to the man's room and knocked on the door. When he didn't get a reply, he knocked again. This time he got a soft call to go away but by how weak it was he chose to ignore it. He tried the door and found that it wasn't locked. In his anger, Dick must've forgotten to lock it after slamming the door. Cautiously, Damian opened it and peered into the room. He found the older curled up under the covers, his head peeking out, with a lost look in his eyes as he stayed on the wall despite the sound of someone else coming into the room. He sniffled a few times so he must've been crying at one point. His hair had remained dishevelled. "I brought food," Damian announced to the dim room.

"M not hungry," the other responded pathetically. 

"You need to eat something. Pennyworth shall have your head if you don't." He walked over to the bed slowly but was surprised when Dick barely moved even when he awkwardly sat on the edge. He offered the plate but Dick cringed upon seeing it. 

"I'd rather die."

"You're still upset I presume?"

"Why are you in my room, Damian? Don't you have anything to do?" he snapped venomously.

"In all honesty, I do have things to do but you're more important than that."

They sat in silence for a while. It was uncomfortable and both wanted to break it but neither knew what to say. "I didn't give the picture to the magazine," Damian told him. 

"I know. Sorry for barging in like that. No excuse for it," Dick replied. He took his eyes from the wall and met the younger's. "I was a dick."

"You're under a lot of stress. Batman, raising me, trying to be someone you're not. I'd be temperamental too."

"You're temperamental anyway," the acrobat chuckled. He sat up a little, taking the plate only to pick at the sandwich on it. "Still, you didn't ask for this."

"Neither did you." There was another bout of silence before Damian decided to get something off his chest. "Grayson, you obviously care for me. You care for me so much that you didn't send me away as Father had. You care for me so much that you're clearly in ill health due to it."

"I'm fine-" Damian's hand raised to stop him.

"I'm not finished," he insisted. "I may not have shown my care for you in a way that was obvious nor have I ever really admitted that I care too. Despite your status as a ward, I've come to consider you as something closer. When you came home that night, I went about it the wrong way. Insults have always pushed me to do better but I see now that's not the encouragement you need. I found out that some people find sexual intercourse-"

"-gross-" Dick commented childishly.

"- a coping mechanism for loneliness and it all made sense. Father never adopted you, you're unable to be Nightwing, I don't believe you have a significant other at this point in time, you're overworked and so on and so forth. I'm aware of my inabilities to provide a solution but if...if you need someone, I'll deal with your whining." Dick cackled softly. His voice was crackly from his shouting session but there was something light about it.

"Thanks. I'm alright though." Damian hummed and moved forward, enveloping the older in a hug. 

"I appreciate the attempt but I believe I'm superior at lying."

The pair had been silent for a little too long for Alfred's liking. He hadn't heard shouting before the silence either. Perhaps they'd fought and knocked one another unconscious. He decided to check on them and hoped that he wouldn't have to deal with two bats on bed rest. Now that was hell. It hadn't been when Dick was younger (hint to an upcoming chapter ;)) but times change. He gently knocked on the door before opening it. Instead of seeing the pair sprawled out on the floor, the butler was met with something much more adorable. Dick was asleep with his arms protectively wrapped around Damian. The latter wasn't asleep and had taken to going on his phone. "I see you two made up," Alfred whispered.

"Indeed."

"What're you looking at?" he asked, taking the plate that had long been forgotten on the bedside cabinet.

"I'm buying a life-sized teddy bear for him."

"How sweet of you," Alfred cooed.

"Hardly, I'd rather not spend my spare time pretending to be a stuffed toy whilst he naps."

Hope you liked it!