[14]

                                    

                                          
Damian had been pacing in the third floor corridor by himself, trying to think of what he should do. 
It had been two days since his last interaction with Calmia that didn't end well. And ever since then she had tried not to bother him at all, considering he didn't want all the attention.
But then Bruce had mentioned in passing that she could also understand Arabic so if he had to swear in the language, he mustn't do so in front of her. And that realization settled in his heart with a terrible aftertaste.
That meant she had understood what he had said to her back then and he felt terrible about it. He didn't want her to know what he said but now the words were out and he had to fix things up.
Calmia had always been kind to him and he didn't want to seem like a spoilt brat for not acknowledging her efforts.
At last, he stopped in front of a door he didn't expect he would come to then knocked upon it twice. He waited for a while but then pushed open the door which was not locked.
"Drake, can you spare me a moment?" He asked, finding Tim swamped in his work.
"Oh hi Damian," he looked up with a smile, "how are you?"
"Fine, can we talk?"
"Sure, give me a second," he replied, saving all the files he had opened his computer and then took the chair out from behind the desk, "so what do you want to talk about?"
He took in a deep breath, "I messed up."
Tim was considering how big he had messed up for him to be discussing it with him. 
Usually Damian never told anyone when he messed up, he denied all knowledge of anything he could have done wrong as well for as long as he possibly could. And for him to confide in anyone about it was preposterous, especially for Tim because apparently the two of them seldom got along well with each other.
"Okay and what exactly did you do?"
Damian spoke up, "I might have said something hurtful to Miss Hardin."
He explained what had happened and Tim listened closely knowing he had to help Damian out or else the boy would never consider opening up to him.
"If I had any idea she would be able to understand exactly what I said, I would never have said that to her," he concluded, lips pursing into a frustrated frown, "now tell me what to do to fix this."
Tim considered before replying, "I mean apologizing is always a good option but I know you hate that so we can go for an alternative instead... How about you just talk to her and clear things up? I mean clearly she knows you didn't want to say that to her directly or you would not have switched languages."
"She doesn't know me that well to understand why I switch languages. What if she thinks I said that to her on purpose? I messed up, Drake."
Tim hadn't seen Damian be worried about something he had done to either of them earlier but then perhaps it was different with Calmia. "You know if I didn't know you, I would be very surprised that you of all people are worried right now over something you said two days ago... You are worried though, right?"
"Of course not," he huffed, crossing his arms defiantly, "I just want to know what I should do and since Grayson isn't here for advice and I don't want to bother Pennyworth, I came to you. Though I'm starting to think it was a bad idea."
Tim spoke up, "oh come on, I am trying to help. Just give me a moment to think, alright?"
"Fine..."
"You should talk to her," he suggested after pondering on it for a while, "I'm not saying go and say sorry but still, it would be better to clear things up. Tell her that you didn't mean to say that. Because I'm being honest with you, Damian, if anyone in her position heard that, they would get hurt. And I know you didn't want to hurt her feelings."
"Exactly," he mumbled, "but I'm not good at talking things out either. I don't want to mess up more."
Tim took the liberty of patting his shoulder gently, knowing full well he could lash out at that but surprisingly he didn't, "hey, she will understand. Calmia has been very understanding towards all of us so far. Talking to her won't be that difficult, trust me."
"Right," he considered his words before standing up, "I will try."
"Good. If you want though I can act as a mediator."
"No thank you Drake, I don't want your chaotic energy around while I attempt to sort things out."
He laughed, blue eyes crinkling slightly, "okay I won't show up. All the best though and loved this bonding time."
"This was not a bonding time."
He shook his head in amusement, "really? The way I see it, you came to your big bro for advice. Perfect bonding moment."
"Shut up." He was about to switch languages to add the word that had popped up in his head but paused at the last moment, knowing Tim would understand him.
"Go on," Tim remarked with a playful smirk, "I'll fire back something even nastier."
"I don't want to know. Thank you for your time, Drake," he snapped and Tim could clearly see those words were meant ironically rather than a genuine thanks.
Still it was more than what he would expect from Damian as he shrugged, "you're always welcome, baby bro."
"Call me a baby one more time and I'll pluck your eyeballs out."
"Challenge accepted. Though if you ever consider doing anything to me, just kill me and put me out of this misery," he remarked breezily, "I would appreciate that a lot."
Damian rolled his eyes as he stepped out of the room, "I'll let you know I have dug a grave out for you already in the family cemetery. If something happens to you which I won't be surprised if it happened soon, you'll have a place to go to."
Tim's eyes lit up with delight and it unnerved Damian, "really? That's so sweet of you. I told you we just had a great bonding moment together."
"No we did not."
"We totally did."
Damian slammed the door shut behind him, knowing it was impossible to make Tim agree to anything once he made up his mind himself.
Once outside, he took in a deep breath, considering when and how to talk to Calmia.
He knew she would listen to him and understand too but the difficult part was taking the first step. But he knew he had to do it because it was never his intention to hurt her feelings by saying that.
Checking the time, he knew she would come home from work in a short while. So he went down to the living room to wait for her. He hoped to get done with the talking to clear things up as soon as possible.
***