Lost in the Void, Found in the Stars | Damian Wayne Oneshots

'Til Death Do Us Part | Ace West

My OTP. It can be read as platonic, but like, why would you?

Summary: Ace brings up the idea of true love, he expresses his desire to spend the rest of his life hanging out with Damian.

.・。.・゜✭・»»--⍟--««.・✫・゜・。.

The sun hung low in the sky as Damian Wayne and Ace West walked down the street, the city buzzing with life around them. It wasn't often that the two of them got time to hang out without the constant chaos of missions, battles, or training breathing down their necks. And even now, in the relative peace of a late afternoon, Damian's eyes flicked to every shadow, every movement, as though he were expecting trouble to jump out at any second. Ace, on the other hand, was perfectly relaxed, his hands in his pockets, a carefree grin on his face.

"So," Ace began, breaking the comfortable silence between them. "What do you think of the whole true love thing?"

Damian shot him a side-eye, the question catching him off guard. "What?"

"You know, true love. The whole 'soulmate' deal, or whatever," Ace clarified, his grin widening as if he already knew Damian would have no patience for this topic. "People make a big deal out of it. What's your take?"

Damian exhaled sharply, clearly unamused. "I think it's an idiotic concept designed to sell greeting cards and cheap sentimentality."

Ace laughed. "Yeah, that sounds about right."

They walked a few more steps before Ace spoke again, a little quieter this time. "But, like... I don't know. I feel like it's more complicated than that. I mean, do you really think that's all there is to it?"

Damian glanced over, narrowing his eyes slightly as if trying to decipher if Ace was being serious or not. "I don't waste time thinking about things that don't matter."

Ace nodded thoughtfully, kicking a small rock along the sidewalk as they walked. "Yeah, I guess I don't really know what the fuck true love even is either."

Damian didn't respond immediately. The two of them continued walking, the sounds of the city filling the space between them. It wasn't that Damian didn't have thoughts on the subject-he just didn't see the point in discussing it. There was no place in his mind for the kind of sentimental, starry-eyed love people talked about in movies and books.

But Ace wasn't the type to let things drop that easily. "You know what I do know, though?"

Damian sighed. "What?"

"I want to hang out with you for basically the rest of my life."

Damian stopped in his tracks, turning to face Ace fully, his brow furrowing. "What?"

Ace shrugged, still smiling, but there was a sincerity in his voice that caught Damian off guard. "Yeah, man. Like, I don't know what the deal is with all the romance stuff. I don't know if there's some grand, destined thing out there for me. But I do know that I like hanging out with you. And I kind of want to keep doing it for as long as possible."

Damian blinked, clearly taken aback by the admission. Ace wasn't joking, wasn't teasing. He was being completely honest, and it threw Damian off more than any enemy ever had.

"I don't..." Damian started, but the words got caught in his throat. He wasn't used to this. Ace was his friend, sure, but the way he was talking felt... bigger. He didn't know how to respond to something like that.

"I'm not asking you to marry me or anything," Ace continued, sensing Damian's discomfort and trying to ease it with a light laugh. "I'm just saying, you're cool to be around. And if I'm gonna spend my life hanging out with someone, I figure it might as well be you."

Damian crossed his arms, more out of habit than anything else. "You're making this unnecessarily dramatic."

Ace grinned. "That's just my style, dude."

Damian looked at him for a long moment, his expression unreadable. Then, slowly, he let out a small sigh. "You really are an idiot."

Ace's grin widened. "But I'm your idiot."

Damian didn't respond, but the faintest hint of a smile tugged at the corner of his mouth, so quick and subtle that Ace might have missed it if he hadn't been watching closely.

"Fine," Damian muttered, his voice quieter now. "If anyone's going to put up with you for the rest of your life, it might as well be me."

Ace's eyes lit up, his grin turning from playful to genuinely happy. "So, you agree? Let's hang out to death?"

Damian rolled his eyes but didn't deny it. "Yeah, fine. Whatever. Just don't expect me to get sentimental about it."

Ace chuckled, clapping him on the shoulder. "Deal. I'll handle all the sentiment for both of us."

And as they continued down the street, side by side, the easy silence returned. But this time, there was something different in the air-true love? Maybe, maybe not. But the kind of friendship that lasts forever?

Yeah, Damian could get behind that.

End