30 Days of Demonfire

Damage

It's been a week since Damian and I–well, I guess we're sort of dating. In the way that we can't actually go on dates and the only person who knows is Lian and I haven't told Damian that she knows.

It's a little bit complicated.

I'm starting to do the vigilante thing full time. Now that I'm taking a semester off there's no reason not to. My grandfather's happy about that. As for my day job, I've contacted Donna Troy's photo company again. Robbie's mom owns her own company. Back in the day she was a freelance photographer, and I guess she liked it enough to make a business out of it. I go there, they take pictures of me, they send the pictures out to people who need models, I get hired. Then I show up wherever for the photoshoots, usually with a photographer from Ms. Troy.

It's really not as prestigious as it seems. I got the job easy because I know Ms. Troy, that's all.

There's a knock on my door and I shout that it's open. I'm sprawled out on my rug in front of my tv, emailing back one of the photographers.

"What are you doing?" Damian asks as he closes my door behind him.

"Selling my body," I reply. "You know, in the legal way that's not so frowned upon."

He clicks his tongue. "You should not refer to it that way."

"Okay, dad." I wince after I say that. Like I said, we can't really go on dates and stuff. And that's largely because of my dad.

I really don't know how he would handle this whole thing. He probably wouldn't be angry. But he certainly wouldn't approve. We're just having fun right now. There's no need to get our whole family involved, anyway. That's way too much pressure on both of us. Besides, with Damian being Damian Wayne, going public means paparazzi, and that's even more pressure.

"I was just joking," I add.

"I realize that," he says dryly.

Alfred scurries over to the door and he meows at Damian, who kneels and scratches him under the chin. I didn't see this coming, but they really became fond of each other while I was gone. It's adorable.

"Did you miss the kitty at work today?" I coo in the voice people use to talk to babies.

Damian scowls at me, but then he says, "I missed you at work today."

Hearing that shouldn't make me as happy as it does. I smile stupidly at him and return to my email so I can finish it and kiss him within an inch of his life.

Damian sits down next to me on the floor, looking at the screen curiously.

I finish typing and close my laptop, then push it out of the way. "So," I say, grinning. "You missed me."

"Tt. A bit," he mumbles.

I put my hand over my heart, pretending to be offended. "Ouch. And I was almost gonna kiss you."

Damian rolls his eyes and he takes me by the arm and pulls me so that I'm sitting between his knees, then he tilts my chin up and kisses me.

I've had quite a few boyfriends and I've kissed even more guys than that. And I know Damian's had a few girlfriends, even though doesn't date much. He's not like Bruce that way. And I'm not saying that this is, you know, it. But this feels different. Maybe it's just because I'm a grown up, and I'm not living with my dad right now, and I don't need permission to see Damian and in fact I'm specifically not asking permission. Maybe it's just because we have six weeks to catch up on. I don't know.

I lean into him and push him back until he's leaning with his back on the couch, and stops kissing me long enough to get my shirt off. I know it's only been a week, but this isn't the first time we've done this. Six weeks to catch up on and all that. Besides, living across the hall from your boyfriend is really convenient and distracting. We spent more time together the past few days than we have the whole time we've been living across from each other. Most of it wasn't even on purpose. I'd just get bored and use it as an excuse to see him, and he's been almost as bad.