Poisonous

Chapter 16 - Grandpaw Damian

I walked over to Damian's car. When I opened the car door, Damian scooted over.

"Good evening, Miss Isley," Alfred said from the front seat.

"Please, Alfred, you can call me Eva," I requested.

Alfred nodded as he drove me and Damian way from the cemetery. By now, it was early in the evening.

I was looking at Gotham City. We drove on the outskirts, away from the big city. We were passing some neighborhoods. I kept admiring the scenery.

I was starting to feel the cold rain through my jacket. I slightly brushed my arms.

"You cold?" asked Damian.

I shrugged. "Only a little. I'll manage."

Before I could I say anything else, Damian turned the heat up and gave me his hoodie. He was wearing a tight, black shirt under his hoodie. "Put this on."

I stared at the hoodie. "I can't."

"Why not?"

"Because you'll get cold."

Damian gave a small chuckle. I'm not the one with rain soaked clothes. Put the hoodie on."

I took my jacket off and put his hoodie on. It was warm and it smelled like him.

"Thank you," I said.

We drove through some forests. Pretty soon I could see Wayne Manor come into view.

Wayne Manor was like a small castle. It was built from rock and stone. Iron rods rose up from the taller pillars. Small evergreen trees lined the driveway. Although, it was winter and the grass was dead, it still looked absolutely beautiful.

I could've help but admire in awe. "It's so beautiful."

"Wait until you see the back," Alfred said.

I looked over at Damian to see if he could give a broader detail of what Alfred meant. He was just looking out the window, unimpressed. I guess you would get use to this if you lived here.

We pulled into a garage. The garage was filled with sports cars, motorbikes, antique cars, and limousine cars like what we were in.

We walked down a short hallway. The floors were dark oak along with the walls and ceiling. A dark red rug ran down the middle of the hall. Alfred went left, while Damian told me to follow him to the right. We walked into the kitchen.

The kitchen looked like something you would see as a restaurant kitchen. The countertops were marble. A refrigerator covered up one wall. The oven, stovetop, and microwave covered a different wall. A huge island was in the center of the kitchen. Five bar stools were placed on one side of the island.

Damian walked over to a cabinet grabbed a small pot. He added water to the pot and put it on the stove. He also grabbed a box out behind a door. The door probably led to a big pantry. He added the substance into the pot as well.

"Sit," he said, he pointed to a bar stool.

I sneezed. I think I was out in the cold too long. But I wasn't going to let Damian know that.

"Was that a sneeze?" he asked.

"No. Well, yes. But I had water in my nose," I lied. I sniffled as a talked so it seemed like I was actually trying to get water out.

A big, black Great Dane came bouncing in. Once he saw me, he ran and jumped onto me. Good news, I didn't listen to Damian when he told me to sit. Bad news, this dog almost knocked me over.

"Hi," I looked at his dog tag, "Titus."

Titus responded by licking my face.

"Titus!" Damian hollered. He grabbed the dog and pulled me up. "Sorry about him."

"He's fine. He's adorable."

Titus placed his head under my hand. I took it as a sign to pet him some more.

"I think all animals love me because of my mom," I continued.

"I thought she would be all 'animals bad. Plants good'," Damian mocked in a Frankenstein voice.

I laughed. "I like both. But I think animals don't like my mom too much. Probably has something to do with her being evil and all."

"Mmm."

Damian walked over to a cupboard and grabbed two mugs. He poured the brown water from the pot into the mugs. I realized he was making hot chocolate.

"Do you want marshmallows, peppermint stick, or both?" he asked.

"Both," I replied.

He grabbed the peppermint sticks and marshmallows from the pantry. He places serval marshmallows and a stick into my mug. I found it rather odd that he didn't have anything in his. I haven't met a person that hasn't not put something in their hot chocolate.

"Thanks," I mumbled.

I blew on the hot drink before taking a sip. Once I took I sip, I let the hot liquid run down my throat. I needed to clear somethings up with Damian. Somethings I didn't want to listen to before.

"On the roof the other day, I didn't listen to you."

He raised an eyebrow. "About?"

"About all of it. I was mad at you for your fake friendship. You also said you knew what death of a loved one was like. That you've seen death. I should have let you explain instead of running out. Maybe now you can talk."

"So you're actually going to let me? You're not going to storm off?"

"No!" I said playfully.

"Okay. Well, to begin, yes, I was only going to be your friend so I could keep an eye on you. But—"

"Ahh, so there is a but."

"—that was before I got to know you. You're actually really fun to hang out with. So yes, in the beginning I was just a 'monitor' for you." He put air quotes around monitor.

I looked down and stared at my hot chocolate. Did I feel stupid for thinking the bad in Damian? Yes. Shouldn't I have let him talk sooner? Yes. Did I think Damian looked cute right then, not to mention, his shirt displayed all is muscles? Yes. I mean. . . no! There was just a little charm and arrogance in him.

"Eva?" Damian waved a hand in front of my face.

"Huh? Oh sorry. Please, continue."

"As for the death, let's just say I have a dark past?"

I was invested to know his secret now. "How dark is dark?"

"My grandfather is Ra's al Ghul. He was pretty much invincible. There's this thing called a Lazarus Pit. It's got these healing powers. He used the pit to stay youthful for hundreds of years. That was until Slate Wilson went and killed him. That's when I was ten. My mother, Talia al Gluh, took me to my father. After a few. . . complications, I became the fifth Robin."

"So, did your father train you or is there more?" I asked.

"My father trained to become less violent. Before that, my grandfather and mother trained me. The Lazarus Pit can make someone go crazy. After a few dips in the pit, Ra's formed a group called the League of Assassins. I was part of that league."

"They trained you to kill?" I said in full shock.

"Yep."

"Before you were ten?"

"Yep."

I let out a laugh. "Now I see why you're so stubborn and grumpy all the time."

"I'm not grumpy."

"Like an old man."

"That's not funny."

"Yes it is, grandpaw."

He huffed as he took a sip of his drink.

Just then, Bruce Wayne walked in with a box of. . .

Christmas decorations?