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

Chapter Nine

Everyone sat at camp relaxing, having changed into sleepwear and chatting with each other while Dick finished setting up a make shift fire pit out of bricks and stones he found around the forested area they were spending the night. Using the cigarette lighter from the car and some scrap paper and dried foliage he got a small fire going. "Tada!" He called out to the three sitting in plastic chairs lent to them by a friendly couple neighbouring their tents. "Oh cool." Said Raven shuffling her seat closer the fire, Damian and Kori followed suit with Kori dragging an extra chair for Dick to join them. Taking his seat Dick stretched around into the opening of his tent and dragged out his backpack. "Anyone got the munchies?" He asked the group, who all nodded in agreement. "I could eat. Driving around actually worked up an appetite." Said Damian as Raven linked arms with him and rested her head on his shoulder from her seat. With a smile on his face Dick pulled out a large bag of roasting marshmallows, to everyone's excitement and cheer. Breaking out the mallows and a stick each the group enjoy the late evening treat as they made friendly conversation. "So you've heard about us. What about you and this engagement?" Damian asked the older pair. Dick and Kori smiled at each other. "Well, when I got back home after talking with Raven, Dick had set up a beautiful lunch for us with candles and roses. It was very romantic." Kori began as she leaned over to Dick while he smiled back at her. "Very corny." Damian teased only to receive a gentle punch in the arm from Raven. "It sounds wonderful." She said in an apologetic tone. Dick and Kori just laughed. "He's not entirely wrong Raven." Dick replied. "Indeed, at any rate, I was greatly surprised. Dick walked out of the kitchen dressed in a very alluring black suit that frankly I wanted to rip." "Kori!" Dick interrupted laughing as Damian and Raven smirked looking at each other, chuckling at the second time Dick has had to stop Kori from revealing too much personal information. "It was a lovely meal, grilled black peppered sea bass with lemon and stir fried rice and vegetables." Kori continued a smile still beaming across her face. "I didn't know you were such a proficient chef Dick." Said Raven with an endearing smile, enthralled in Kori's telling of their meal. "He took an interest in it when he joined my father at the manor and was given cooking lessons by Pennyworth from a young age. I'm not that surprised it was so extravagant." Explained Damian looking at Raven still hugging his arm tightly and resting her head on him as she took a bite out of one of the cooked marshmallows she had on her stick. "He did, Alfred is a very good and patient teacher." Dick said adding another marshmallow of his own to his stick holding it over the fire that was starting to die out already. "I'm not good with boy scout skills though" he joked at the poor attempt of a fire pit he had made. "After our meal Dick asked me if we could talk about how our relationship had been going and how he felt it should be going. At first I was worried, even with such a nice meal and how great he looked, I was worried something had changed between us and in a way, it had but not the way I feared. Dick got up and walked over to me, knelt down and pulled out a small box like he had at the H.I.V.E base with the apartment key in. Then the phone went, and he looked so annoyed." Kori laughed. "Father?" Asked Damian. "Yea. Bruce." Sighed Dick. "Dick was so angry on the phone and blurted out that he had just been down on his knee to purpose to me and that Bruce had just killed the moment. I gasped and ran over to him tackling him to the floor. We could hear your father apologising profusely down the phone. I told him 'of course' and that it didn't matter to me that the phone went or that moment didn't go according to plan. All that mattered were the plans we would make for the future, our future, together." Kori said planting a kiss on Dicks lips as they smiled. "Then Bruce told me the plan for the holiday, I told him my plan for this trip and setting you two up, which you ruined by working it out for yourselves like a couple mature people, he agreed and hung up, we changed, packed, then picked you up, set off, I got in a fight and here we are." Dick concluded. "He always calls at the worst time." Damian said shaking his head. "Doesn't he. I don't know how he does it." Replied Dick. "It's like he has an app on his phone, 'boys are in a serious talk, better call them' he'd say." Mocked Damian. "Exactly, 'would really suck if I phoned them for no other reason than it'll tick them off', every time." Dick carried on and the girls just watched grinning as the two bounced off each other. Then Dicks phone buzzed. "Ten bucks says that's Bruce now." He said reaching into his pocket to take the phone out. Damian smirked "I'm not taking that bet, it's guaranteed to be father so it be a waste of ten bucks." He said. Dick shrugged taking the phone out and flashing the screen to Damian with an eyebrow raised. "Hey Bruce, what's up? Other than you at this time of night." Dick said in jest. "Real comedian Dick. Just wanted to make sure you and or Damian, mostly Damian if I'm honest, hadn't killed anyone." Bruce said back flatly but not as sternly as his usual self. "You know, it's weird, we've been getting on great. I like this new side of him." Dick laughed as Damian looked on puzzled. "I'll tell you about it when we arrive, might be tomorrow or day after since we may as well come straight to the manor considering all my plans and ideas are shot now. Thanks for letting me know that little bit of information by the way." Dick continued causing genuine laughter from the other end of the phone. "I figured you'd still find it entertaining. And they deserved the right to tell you themselves when they were ready to." Bruce said in his defence prompting an agreeable hum from Dick. "Anyway, enjoy the rest of the trip and we'll see you when you get here. Alfred has already begun the preparations and Tim arrived early to help out so take your time." Bruce finished. "Okay Bruce, no worries, see you in a day or two. Bye." Dick said hanging up the phone. "As if on cue." Dick laughed throwing his phone into the open tent behind him and the four laughed for a moment. "Asking about the journey I assume." Stated Damian wrapping an arm around Raven who had begun shivering from the cold evening air. "Yea, seeing how we were and to let us know to take our time. Alfred is setting everything up and Tim's already got there to lend a hand so we don't need to hurry or anything. Let's turn in, no alarms, we wake up whenever we wake up." Dick told him as he stood up and began to put loose dirt onto the fire to kill it. Everyone nodded and rose to their feet stretching out, tired and ready to sleep. "D, You're in that tent." Dick said pointing to a tent, but not the one he'd thrown his phone into Damian noted. "You said girls in one, boys another when we left?" He questioned. Dick looked up from his crouched position with a smile. "I know. I also know that you're both mature enough to, well, you know. That talk is Bruce's job, not mine. Still, be good yea? Putting trust out there." Dick said continuing to smile as Kori crawled into the tent behind him before poking her head back out and sleepily wishing Damian and Raven good night. Raven mumbled a good night in return as she stood holding Damian's arm more or less asleep already. Damian smiled a nod to Dick, who nodded back and climbed into his tent with Kori and zipped it closed to go to sleep. Damian looked down to Raven as she leaned against him eyes closed. "Lets go to sleep." He said putting one arm around her back and the other under her knees picking her up and carrying her to the tent. The sudden weightlessness caused her eyes to spring open and she looked up into his eyes. She wrapped her arms around his neck and he lowered her to her feet outside their tent. Once she was on the ground she raised her head up and put a long kiss on his lips. "Sleep sounds great." She told the taller boy once they had parted. Making her way into the tent with Damian close behind, they turned in for the night, feeling happier than either of them had been for many years.