Chapter Text
Whatever Drake said, Damian was not hiding. That would be unfit and cowardly for the true blood son of the Bat. He was merely sitting in the shade with Skylar and Mia, discussing the latest art project they were assigned. If this particular apple tree happened to be tucked away from the rest of the school, that was hardly his fault. What was it Brown was always saying? Right—plausible deniability and all that. One thing’s for sure: he did not expect Jon, Lian, and Colin to find him so quickly. Though he wouldn’t be surprised if they had just resorted to Jon using his X-ray vision. Damian still felt guilty about Jon’s disappointment at the last briefing, so he had resolved to letting them find out some more, albeit useless, information about him.
“Damian,” Jon said, with all the cheer of someone who had never seen death. (He had, which is what made everything ten times weirder.)
“Jonathan,” Damian groused, clearly annoyed at being found.
“What?” Lian snarked. “Not happy to see us?”
Damian folded his arms, lips pressing into a thin line. “No, I’m merely disappointed you interrupted the very interesting conversation between me, Skylar, and Mia.”
“Oh, don’t worry, Damian. Me and Sky were going to play chess in the library anyways,” Mia reassured him.
Damian glared.
“Have fun with your new friends!” Skylar said, clearly excited at the prospect of Damian making more friends, giggling slightly as she and Mia skipped away.
“Soo… Damian, Real talk—why's your ego so big?” Colin asked. Damian's mouth twitched.
“Colin!” Lian scolded him before bringing her voice down to a whisper. “We’re supposed to be befriending him, remember!”
“Sorry bout him, I promise he doesn't mean that! He’s just stressed about the art project,” Jon said, frantically waving his hands, trying to change the subject. “Speaking of which, you like art, right?
“Well, I—“ Damian started to speak but was immediately cut off by Jon.
“Is it because of one of your siblings? You’ve got such a cool family!”
“No, ar—” Damian attempted to answer and was once again cut off by Jon.
“You guys are all adopted, right? Do y’all share the same middle and last name?”
Colin snickered. Lian elbowed him. “Shush, this is the interesting part.”
“If you actually allow me to speak,” Damian started, shooting a pointed glare at Jon who apologized sheepishly, “I would tell you that no, we do not share the same last and middle names. My siblings have all chosen to hyphenate their names in order to honor their parent's memories, rather than to take on the Wayne birthright. As the only true heir, my full name is Damian Al Ghul Wayne, preserving my mother’s and father’s legacy.”
“Oh, that’s so cool!” Jon said, bouncing in place. “Hey, wait—doesn’t Al Ghul mean ghoul or something in Arabic?” He cocked his head, eyes wide with curiosity.
A beat.
Lian narrowed her eyes suspiciously “Did you know Al Ghul means ‘demon’ in Arabic?”
“My mother is Arab,” Damian replied dryly.
.....
They were locked in a staring contest for a solid 90 seconds before Colin attempted to break the tension.
“Anyone else really hate the art teacher? Because I swear, she’s out to get me!”
“She is nothing but a mere peasant,” Damian scoffed. “Father would certainly allow me to acquire a pet goat in order for it to feast upon her papers.”
Damian received three gobsmacked stares after that proclamation.
“Ok so, maybe not that much hate,” Jon chuckled warily.
“That is... way too complicated” Lian drawled.
Colin shook his head profusely.
“Dude, no."