Chapter Text
This was going nowhere. It had been over two hours since the search for the child had begun and while multiple of his siblings had had strange encounters, no one had yet to see head or tail of the mysterious new child. Damien sighed and opened the door to his room. At least they would fit in well with the rest of the family. He took his katana down from the wall and started polishing it as he thought. Searching for the child was obviously not working, so the next obvious maneuver would be to lure them out somehow. Damien had always been better at the stick than the carrot, but there had to be some bait he could use to set a trap? What did normal children enjoy? Candy? Stuffed animals? Hugs?
Damien cringed at the last thought. Hopefully not. He wasn’t sure he was willing to go that far. Then again, if it meant victory over the others…
“Is that a real sword?”
Damien immediately leapt to his feet and pointed his sword in front of him where the voice had come from, but there was no one there, just a voice…a young voice.
Perhaps he wouldn’t need to resort to hugs after all.
“Yes, it is.” He said, thinking quickly. “I can give you a practice blade of your own if you’d like. I will even teach you how to wield it. As part of the bargain, however, I will need you to show yourself and take a photo with me to prove to my siblings that I was the first to find you.”
There was no hesitation. A young girl immediately became visible directly in front of him, right at the point of his still raised blade. She didn’t look afraid, though, instead, she was excited, “you know how to use a sword?! And you’re willing to teach me?! Score!!!”
Damien noticed with interest that the girl was floating a foot or two above the ground. That and the invisibility were unexpected but unsurprising considering the nature of the pranks being pulled around the manor. He stood and grabbed a black carbon-fiber practice sword from the basket of identical swords he kept around for training purposes.
He held it out to the girl. “Tch, of course I’m willing to teach you. If you are truly to be a member of this family, you must be capable of defending yourself against enemy threats.”
“Oh, I can already do that,” the girl waved her hand dismissively. She saw Damien pull his phone out of his pocket. “Oh right! The picture! I’m not sure your siblings will count it if you don’t have both of us.”
Damien froze, “Both?”
“Mmhmm!” the girl nodded cheerfully. “I’m a twin! My brother’s around here somewhere. We split up so we could mess with more people.”
“A valid strategy. “Damien said absentmindedly. “Would he like a blade as well?”
“I mean, probably.” the girl shrugged. “But I’m not sure he’d like it enough to stop playing. You guys are a blast to play hide and seek with, you know?”
“Very well, what does he like?”
“I dunno.” she shrugged again. “He really likes stars and astronomy and stuff, but it’s not like you can give him a star.” Damien glanced over toward his art supplies. He hardly ever let anyone see his art, but this seemed like a dire enough situation to make an exception. He grabbed another practice sword. “We shall see. Bring your brother and I will try to have his gift ready for him by the time he arrives.”
As the blood son, it was his duty to rise to any challenge. If the boy wanted the stars, then the stars he would have.
Jason entered the library and put two boxes down next to his favorite armchair, then picked up a well-worn copy of pride and prejudice and settled in to read. Things down in the cave had gone well. Tim had been so focused on finding the twins that he didn’t even notice that the “upgrades” Jason was making weren’t on his own suit. Thank goodness for the costume fabricator that did most of the heavy lifting for him. It had taken a good two hours, but Jason now had two non-descript gift boxes and a stomach full of nerves.
He could only hope he was doing the right thing.
Damien lost himself in the flow of drawing. The practice sword wasn’t a conventional canvas by any means, but the black carbon-fiber created the perfect backdrop for stars, planets, and galaxies. He was using metallic paint markers that glittered and almost glowed against the black as he drew. He saw something appear in the corner of his eye and smiled slightly. It seemed the twins had returned, which means he won.
He glanced over his shoulder at the boy floating there. He was completely identical to his sister with the exception of his hair, which was shorter than hers was. His eyes were wide with wonder and Damien could practically feel the joy raditating off him. The girl sat on the bed on his other side, grinning widely as she watched her brother, her new sword sitting on her lap. After a few minutes, Damien finished and capped his pen.
“Here are your stars.”
He stood and offered the finished sword to the boy, who took it reverently.
The girl’s smile widened, “I can’t wait to show Jay our swords!”
Damien smirked and sat back down on the bed, grabbing his phone, “Alright, now smile.”
He snapped a selfie and looked at the finished picture. He was smiling, as he had every right to do as the victor. The girl was sitting beside him, beaming and brandishing her sword. The boy hadn't been able to tear his eyes away from Damien’s artwork and was still looking at his sword in wonder.
Damien’s smirk deepened and he opened the sibling chat.
Sibling Chat
Damien: First of all, Todd, you are the last of our siblings that I would expect to inherit the adoption gene. Second of all, Twins?! Even at father’s worst he was never bad enough to start picking kids up off the street two at a time. And third of all…
Picture attached
Damien: I win
Stephanie: Wait, Jason?!?!
Dick: Wait, TWINS?!?!
Tim: No wonder multiple cameras kept going out at once.
Duke: I think we’re glazing past the big issue here. Jason? He’s the least likely to adopt. Damien must be wrong. No offense.
Damien: Nonetheless, I am correct.
Stephanie: No way, sorry.
Dick: I kinda have to agree, I can’t even imagine Jay taking in a single kid, nevermind twins.
Tim: agreed, Jason would never.
Jason: Damien, did you just give my children swords?
Stephanie: It was you?!
Dick: I did not see that one coming.
Duke:...wow…
Damien: They are only practice swords, do not worry. I am not cruel enough to give real weapons to those as yet incapable of using them safely.
Jason: Good. the kids heal fast, but I still don’t want to deal with unnecessary injuries.
Cass: Aw. Good Dad.
Jason: middle finger emoji.