Raven Roth and Damian Wayne: The Walk of Life (Book 1 Of 2)

Chapter Eight

Damian pulled the car to a stop at the spot they had been assigned by the duty staff member of the campsite they had found. The sun had long since set, Dick and the girls had fallen asleep while Damian continued to drive on. "Dick." Damian said quietly trying to wake his brother without disturbing the two in back. "Hey. Grayson. Wake up you oaf." He said louder, punching Dick in the arm. Dick jumped up, almost out of his seat at the abrupt awakening. "Agh, what? Where? Hey, what's going on? Where we at?" He said sluggishly, taking in his surroundings. "The what, I hit you. Where, still in the car. Going on, you and I will set up camp and let the girls get some more rest. Finally, we're at a campsite I found. All good? Good, hop to it." Damian replied quickly and silently getting out the car. Dick stretched his face wide as he yawned and stumbled out the car with far less grace than Damian. When he got to the back of the car, it was already open and Damian was carefully rummaging around looking for the tents. Dick raised an eyebrow. "What are you looking for?" he asked, causing Damian to display a 'seriously' expression on his face. "The tents, you dolt. What else would I be looking for, a readymade room with an en-suite?" He jabbed quietly, turning back to the bags he was sifting through. Dick tapped him on the shoulder and pointed to the roof of the car where a few items had been stored, including two disc shaped bags on top a suitcase. "Oh, well, that would be a more practical place for them given their size." Damian said looking to the roof and closing the boot (trunk). He and Dick walked to the side of the car and pull the two bags down from their place on the roof of the car. Damian looked across to Dick who had started to unzip his bag. "So how do you put this up? I've never camped before. Not in a tent at least." Damian said looking down at his bag like it had landed in his lap from outer space. Dick chuckled to himself. "Easy, watch. Undo the bag, take it out and throw." He told his brother who watched more intently than intended as Dick gave the bunched up contents of the bag a little throw away from himself. The bundle sprang open and became rigid as it took shape, larger at one end than the other with a circular zipper around the circumference for easy entry and exit of the now clearly recognisable tent. Dick walked around the tent and unravelled six guide ropes that gave the tent extra support and took twelve pegs out of the bag. He pegged down the tent at the twelve marked points, one for each rope and six more points on the tent itself. Giving the tent a gentle rock he turned to Damian with a triumphant grin on his face. "Simple, does all the hard work for you." He said. Damian opened up his bag and pulled out the tent, which promptly popped open in his face. "AGH! What the?!" He yelled as Dick fell to the floor laughing his heart out. Awoken by the ruckus the girls blinked their eyes open and looked out the car to see Damian falling over with the tent on top of him. They giggled to themselves and large smiles spread across their faces as they looked to find Dick practically rolling on the ground, clutching his sides as he laughed. "It's great to see them bonding like this." Said Kori as she placed a hand on Ravens shoulder. Raven smiled with joy while continuing to watch the pair. "Kori, I want to say thank you." She said turning her attention around to the woman next to her. Kori looked to Raven still smiling but also not entirely sure what Raven was thanking her for. "I took you're advise and spoke with Damian about the, our, dream. After a little talk he and I have decided to see where things go, together, as in, having an exclusive relationship, like what you and Dick have." She said as she started to blush. Kori's eyes widened and she jumped into a hug with the girl. "That's great news Raven. I'm so happy for you. Puts a lot of Dicks plans out the window but this will be a great trip either way." She exclaimed with one of the largest grins Raven had ever seen on her face. "Shut up idiot, how was I to expect that to happen. Just show me what I do now." Damian said while Dick continued to cry with laughter. "Just put the pegs in the ground like I did, captain can't handle a tent attack." Dick mocked causing Damian to frown deeply. Raven and Kori climbed out the car and walked over to the pair. "That looks, fun." Raven said to Damian, her words drowning in sarcasm and jest. Damian looked up at her still frowning but it softened once his eyes met hers. "We were trying to let you get more rest while we set up for the night. Obviously the loud mouth woke you up laughing his head off." He said shooting a scowl at Dick who had taken to sitting on the ground, one leg stretched out and the other bent to rest his arm upon its knee. Dick shrugged as Kori took a seat next to him weaving her arm through his and resting her chin on his shoulder. "We'd have woken them up eventually either way." Damian just sighed at his brother's nonchalant attitude. Kori leaned in closer to Dick he lips millimetres away from his ear and whispered to him. "What?!" Dick yelled in surprise. "But, the plans. The set up. The fun it would have been." He finished looking at Kori who was smiling while shaking her head. "What's going on?" Damian asked as he and Raven put the last of the pegs in and securing the tent to the ground. "I told Kori about you and I while we watched you and Dick, frolic, with the tents." Raven said to Damian playfully. Damian looked to her, not completely impressed with her description of what had happened. "Well, I'm still glad you guys decided to give things a try." Dick said as he watch the younger pair look into each other's eyes. He then suddenly shot up and ran to the back of the car and started digging through bags. For a moment Kori looked as confused as Damian and Raven, until she realised what Dick was likely looking for and chuckled to herself. Dick slowly walked back around holding what looked like white cloth behind his back. "These are for you." He said dropping one into Ravens lap. "This is your one." He said jumping at Damian, wrestling with him as he tried to get the jumpers he had brought with him onto his younger brother. Kori and Raven laughed as after a couple of minutes Dick stood tall, gleeful in his victory and Damian stood irritated in his defeat, wearing a now grass stained white jumper that had the words 'New Couple' printed in big red letter on the front. As all but Damian laughed Raven stood up and walked over to him. She slipped her matching jumper on, took his hand and kissed him on the cheek. Dick and Kori cheered as Damian and Raven blushed but smiled at one another. Around the campsite other campers had been looking on at the antics, elderly couples held hands smiling while reminiscently watching the younger generation and the family fun they were displaying.