𝕊𝕆𝕃𝕀𝕍𝔸𝔾𝔸ℕ𝕋║[ᴅ. ᴡᴀʏɴᴇ]

ᴇɪʟʟɪᴘꜱɪꜱᴍ

"Not so fast, pal!" Vin's voice was strained. "This thing is huge!"

"You must balance yourself, Bertinelli," Damian grunted, holding Vin's legs on his shoulders.

"You know I don't buy into that Yin Yang bull!" Vin threw back. "Just slow down; this is my first time."

Damian sighed, "I suppose this is my first time as well."

Vin grinned down at him, "Well, I didn't expect you to be the type to ever steal cookies from the top of a ridiculously large and tall fridge in the middle of the night." He pushed aside a few canisters, rummaging for the sweets. "Why is this so big anyway?" He muttered. "Well, I guess with a whole hoard of children and a man who lives 'protein or no-tein', one would need a militia tankard for food storage."

"I do not require much sustenance. I only consume what serves my bodily functions and no more." Damian carefully stepped to the right so Vin could reach the neighboring containers.

"No wonder you're short," Vin smirked at the silver tin labeled 'Christmas Cookie Cutters'. Pennyworth sure keeps this household tidy.

Damian glared up at the ever-so-slightly taller boy and roughly dug his nails into the skin of Vin's thighs where he was holding him up. Vin jumped at the sting; he would've yelped if the pain hadn't seemed so trivial compared to the time when his left foot was smashed under a fucking anvil. He had learned to stay away from his mother's book club after that fiasco.

"Alright, alright, calmati," He laughed and grasped the tin labeled 'Cookies I Allow You to Find'.

That Pennyworth, what a man.

Damian crouched down, and Vin climbed off of his shoulders. They occupied two chairs at the kitchen's island and pried open the vintage canister, revealing the treasure within.

"Like Pennyworth's other culinary works, they are immaculate." Damian frowned at the dessert with a single bite into its soft texture. He turned it over in his hand, counting the number of chocolate chips lodged in the baked dough. "However, I do not find myself a fan of such sugary confections."

Vin hummed, brushing his pointer finger and thumb along his chin thoughtfully. "Maybe you would enjoy the more bitter stuff. Like Devil's Food cake, it has a more concentrated amount of cocoa powder, which lightens up on the saccharine." He finished off his cookie and reached in to fetch another.

"Perhaps," Damian replied and closed his eyes, meticulously biting off another piece of the cookie.

They sat in pleasant silence for the next half hour. Vin watched the pristine view of the moon that the large windows in Wayne Manor allowed as Damian went through three more cookies.

Vin sat up from where he was leaning onto his elbows. "I don't know if it's the exhaustion or the pure insanity talking, but do you want to want to, ah, I dunno, play tag in that garden of yours?" He pointed shortly at the lush and full grounds just beyond the lanai and luxurious pool setup.

Damian looked to the outside, then him. "You will have to explain the rules."

"Sure? It's a hard game to learn." Vin joked with a grin.

Damian smirked, "I'm a fast learner."

"I would take that more to heart if you didn't have crumbs all over your cheeks, pal." He pressed a finger to Damian's face in jest.

"And perhaps I would be more inclined by your words had you not chocolate smearing your mouth." The young Wayne retorted, swatting his hand away.

Vin nodded in scholarly consideration, mouth pursed in thought. "Touché."