It was time for Tim to leave for patrol. He had just had dinner and was about to head upstairs in order to change into his suit when the doorbell rang, making him pause in his tracks.
"I'll get it," Sayuri called from the kitchen as she had been piling the dishes in the dishwasher.
"It's alright, Sayuri, I'm near the door anyways."
Tim opened the door and was surprised to see Damian standing there, dressed up fully in his Robin suit. Seeing him standing outside, Tim immediately spun around, making his way to the staircase.
He let himself in and shut the door behind him though he was a bit startled at Tim's quick escape, "Drake, where are you going?"
"I said I won't show you my face for a week, there are still two days left and I keep my word."
"Screw that and just come back here this instant," Damian's voice had a hint of an order in it which surprised Tim as he turned to face him.
In the meanwhile, Sayuri emerged from the kitchen and she too was just as surprised to see him there as Tim had been, "oh, hello there, Demon spawn."
It was hard to see whether the greeting had flustered him as usual or not since his face was covered with the mask and the hood was pulled over his head, "hello to you too, Yuri."
"Aw, look who's all dressed up for trick or treating," Sayuri had a playful smile on her face, she was surely enjoying teasing the kid a lot, "though I have to say, the upgrades on your suit look adorable."
A slight flash of red could be seen on his cheeks as he defiantly replied in attempt to disguise it, "I'm the son of Batman. Being adorable is not my type."
"Why are you here?" Tim blurted out the question that had been pestering him ever since Dami had unexpectedly showed up, "though I'm pretty sure neither Bruce nor Alfred know that you've come here and they would be getting anxious for you."
"Of course they know," the boy replied offhandedly as if he had made the dumbest assumption ever, "I came here to pick you up."
Blue eyes widened in astonishment, "excuse me?"
Sayuri also had no idea what Damian could mean by that, "and here I thought I could shoo you away with some candy. How pitiful."
Damian's eyes flashed in irritation but he chose to ignore her remarks, turning his attention fully on the younger Drake, "you're accompanying me on patrol tonight."
It took a few minutes for Tim to digest what he had exactly said and soon as he realized it, his jaw dropped in shock, "what the... Stop pulling my leg."
"Do you see me pulling your leg, Drake? No. Now do as I say, go and get dressed. I'm waiting for you so you have to manage it in less than five minutes. We don't have enough time."
His eyes narrowed as he deeply scrutinized Damian's expression, "as far as I know, Bruce made it very clear that you weren't joining any of us on patrol until or unless you learnt your morals. You're definitely lying, I know it."
Damian took in a sharp breath, "father wants me to go with you on patrol, so that I can learn the ropes from you. If you're not coming then fine, I'll let him know that you're a piece of disobedient scum."
"Language, Damian!" Sayuri rebuked though she had retreated to the kitchen, leaving the two to their own devices since she was well aware that their banter wasn't going to end anytime soon.
A scowl spread on Tim's face as he made his way to the staircase, still eyeing the kid suspiciously, "I don't believe you."
"You better believe me, Drake, or else I'm going to make this night hell for you."
"I'm already accompanying you, what more hell can dawn upon me?"
"Touche."
Tim disappeared in his room so Damian made his way inside, locating the kitchen and perching up on the breakfast counter. Sayuri took one look at him then resumed working as if he was not even there in the first place.
A while passed in silence after which she spoke up, "has anyone ever told you that you suck at lying, Dami?"
"I do not suck at lying," he replied, "I convinced your brother just fine."
"Oh so you do admit you were lying to him," her tone had a playful edge to it which didn't go unnoticed.
"Yuri, I swear if you say a word of this to Drake..."
She left the crockery at the counter and came to stand right in front of him, grey eyes boring intimidatingly into his green ones, "you know your threats won't work on me."
After a few minutes of staring daggers at each other, Damian finally spoke up, "fine, I admit, father hasn't asked me to go on patrol with him."
"And he probably doesn't know you're here either?"
"He doesn't."
"Then what ulterior motives do you have? Though I'll let you know if you're intending to kill my brother off at patrol, you'll have me to deal with first."
He rolled his eyes wearily, "how many times do I have to tell you that I have absolutely no intentions of killing Drake?"
"You can say that a hundred times and I still won't believe you."
"I mean he might be a dreadful pain in the ass but still... He's family, whether I like it or not," judging by Dami's face, it took a lot of will from him to say that out loud.
Sayuri's brow furrowed suspiciously, "looks like spending time with Grayson is finally changing you for the better."
"Look, Yuri, I want Drake to come back home," Damian finally decided to get it over with, "therefore, I'm trying my best to make amends. I am taking the first step here so I entreat you not to make it any difficult for me than it already is."
She kept silent for a considerable amount of time as if letting his words sink in, "wow. Damian Al Ghul Wayne trying to make amends...? Just wow."
"It's not that unbelievable, kindly stop looking at me as if I'm an alien."
She suppressed an urge to laugh, "seriously, Damian? You want Tim to come back to the the Manor?"
He huffed in annoyance but nodded, "yes. I... Well how do you humans put it exactly? Yes.. I miss him."
"What!" she drew back as if thoroughly shocked.
"I meant to say that he is not entirely intolerable," he quickly rephrased the sentence, "and that I would prefer him to come back since Brown has become a disaster for me ever since he left." Footsteps could be heard descending from the stairs indicating that Tim was coming down. Damian looked at her and spoke, "keep this between you and me only. I don't want Drake to have any ideas himself."
She nodded, a soft smile creeping over her features, "guess I was right earlier, staying with humans is doing you good, Demon spawn."
"Will you ever stop calling me that?"
"It's either I stop calling you Demon spawn, or I tell Tim that you missed him," she remarked with a fully satisfied smirk on her face, "your choice."
Damian's eyes flashed as he replied, "Demon spawn it is then."
***